InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Future Past ❯ Chapter 10: Good-Bye ( Chapter 10 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

 

 

Chapter 10: Good-Bye

 

 

They had a week left of their vacation. Now that it was coming to an end, Kagome felt sad, sadder than when she'd left to go to school in the first place. It felt as if she had a stone in her chest. When push came to shove, she didn't want to leave. She walked around the village and the woods surrounding it in a daze. She wanted to imprint everything on her memory, experience everything one last time.

 

Inuyasha grabbed her from behind. “Come on, I want to show you something,” he whispered in her ear. Kagome shivered, thinking romantic thoughts, and indeed they started off walking through the woods, just the two of them, hand in hand. It was beautiful here even in winter. She sighed.

 

Not very far from the village was a stone grave marker. Inuyasha stopped in front of it and bowed his head. “I wanted to see her.” He spoke softly, gazing down at the small marker barely visible under a pile of dried out brown blossoms. Tenderly he brushed the dead flowers away. “I haven't got anything to leave her,” he said, sounding a little forlorn.

 

Kagome knelt beside him. “I'm sure she understands, Inuyasha.”

 

Neither of them spoke for a long while. Inuyasha regarded the grave in front of him while Kagome closed her eyes and said a quiet prayer.

 

“I miss her,” Inuyasha said suddenly. “Even after all this time, I still miss her.”

 

“You loved her, Inuyasha. I know that she will always love you. Somewhere she's watching over you.”

 

“You think so?”

 

Kagome reached over and squeezed his hand. “Yeah. I do.”

 

“I wish you could have known her,” he continued.

 

“I feel like I already do, because I know you.”

 

Inuyasha looked up, surprised. He didn't think he was anything like his human mother. She was kind, she was beautiful, she—

 

“You have her heart,” Kagome went on.

 

“Mother,” Inuyasha murmured. He didn't say good-bye, but it was understood.

 

 

Sango wanted to take one last trip while her friends were still here and before it became too difficult for her to move about. Miroku teased her. This would be the third `last trip' she had taken since Kagome and Inuyasha came back.

 

They decided on an overnight visit to the slayer's village at Miroku's suggestion. Ideally, he had wanted to settle there with Sango and raise a family, but Sango wasn't ready yet. He thought if they all went up there as a group, it might be easier for her. Kagome liked the idea. She wanted to see Sango's home again, too, and maybe even stop to visit Midoriko's cave.

 

Miroku and Sango had been up to the slayer's village a few times and had started clearing out some of the debris, but there were too many memories for Sango to be comfortable there for long. She would throw herself into physical work to chase away the ghosts, but at night, in the comfort of Miroku's arms, her tears would fall. She had long since come to terms with the gruesome deaths of her clan; she knew they were now at peace. Actually, it was to honor them and to carry on the slayer traditions that she even tried to make a home there at all. It was the memories of happier times she'd spent in the village growing up that haunted her now. Miroku hoped that having Kohaku along this time would help remind her that not everything was lost. Kaede's village was safe, comfortable and familiar. But it wasn't Sango's home.

 

At first, Kohaku had declined their invitation to accompany them on this trip. His face, usually expressionless, looked panicked, and if he could have disappeared at that moment, he would have gladly done so. “I can't,” he finally replied. “I must stay to guard Rin.”

 

It didn't work. Even Kaede thought it would be an educational experience for Rin to visit the tomb of the great miko Midoriko. Kohaku winced. He had forgotten his people's connection to Midoriko. He finally gave in, but he wouldn't look his sister in the eye. It was because of him that their father and the other slayers had died. It was because of him that Naraku was able to send his hordes of demons to slaughter the remaining villagers in their own homes. Sango may have forgiven him. He hadn't forgiven himself.

 

Kohaku caught Inuyasha's gaze and a look of understanding passed between them. Inuyasha came closest to knowing how he felt. Kohaku nodded. Enough feeling sorry for himself. He could do this.

 

Sango was overjoyed.

 

 

The slayer's village sparkled in the bright sunshine. Parts of the stockade fence around it had fallen, some from the original damage, more from time and neglect. Miroku promised himself he'd repair it in the spring.

 

Sango and Kohaku went together to pay their respects to the dead. The others hung back to give the siblings a little privacy. Rin, however, held on to Kohaku's hand and watched him anxiously as he prayed for his fallen family. He gave her a reassuring smile.

 

A few of the dwellings were habitable. Kohaku hesitated on the threshold of what had once been their home. Eventually he turned away. He couldn't bring himself to go inside. Sango gazed after him in sympathy.

 

“Kagome, why don't you and Inuyasha stay here,” she suggested. It was the cleanest of the abandoned homes. She and Miroku stayed there sometimes. Tonight she'd choose another place to sleep, one that didn't evoke so much pain for Kohaku.

 

They spread out among three fairly intact houses, and spent the afternoon salvaging what they could from the more heavily damaged ones. Sango showed them the main storeroom which housed the youkai parts they used to fashion their slayer weapons. It was here that she had repaired her hiraikotsu once when it was damaged.

 

Rin stopped in her tracks. She could feel a lingering aura from the bits and pieces of shattered lesser youkai as soon as she entered the room. She shuddered. It wasn't a good feeling. Kagome put her arm around the younger girl's shoulders. “See? This is why you need to learn as much as you can about your miko powers. These things are harmless now, but their power still calls out to other youkai, who are drawn to its—Inuyasha!”

 

Against his better judgement, Inuyasha reached out a hand to touch one of the youkai objects which was lying in a corner. At Kagome's words, he started, and quickly drew back his hand. “What?” he asked a little defensively. “I was only looking.” He huffed, and turned away to look at something else. He was careful not to touch. This place gave him the creeps.

 

They all gathered together for their evening meal in the house that Sango had chosen. Tomorrow they would visit Midoriko's cave before they headed back. Sango drew her little brother close beside her, much to his embarrassment. “So many memories we shared here, you, me, Kirara.” Kirara mewed in agreement. Sango's eyes filled with tears. “I'm glad you came.”

 

Kohaku tensed, uncomfortable with Sango's open display of emotion. Everywhere he looked there were reminders of his sin. He couldn't get past them to remember the good times.

 

“These old houses are that important to you?” Inuyasha spoke up. “Seems like a lot of work to save a few wooden huts,” he commented. “Wouldn't it be easier to just raze the whole village to the ground and start over?”

 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome couldn't believe her ears. How could he trample on Sango's feelings like that? It took her a minute to realize he was doing it deliberately, to spare Kohaku's feelings, and maybe to offer them both a fresh start. She smiled and reached for his hand.

 

“If only it were that simple,” mused Miroku, stroking his chin in thought. “It would be time-consuming to tear down the existing structures. But then, in the spring, we could start building again.”

 

“It's simple enough,” said Inuyasha. He drew his sword, untransformed, and held it in the flickering light of the cooking fire. The reflected flames danced across the blade. “I can take it down with my kaze no kizu.”

 

Kagome watched Sango out of the corner of her eye. She seemed resigned rather than upset.

 

“Maybe that's for the best,” agreed Sango. “Do it, Inuyasha. Destroy it all. Cleanse this land so we can rebuild it and make it our own. Right, Kohaku?”

 

Kohaku wasn't sure how he felt. Without the constant reminders of his past, he might be able to live here some day. This wouldn't be a bad place for Rin, either, he thought. A slayer village with youkai ties would be the perfect place for a miko for youkai. He nodded cautiously. Kirara jumped up into his lap and started to purr.

 

In the morning, everyone stood in a semi-circle behind Inuyasha as they tried to figure out the best way to go about dismantling the village. Earlier, Sango, Kohaku and Miroku had salvaged some of the youkai pieces Sango wanted to keep for new weapons and repairs. These sat in a pile over by the old entrance, surrounded for the moment by Kagome's barrier.

 

“Try not to dig up the land with your kaze no kizu,” advised Miroku, who was thinking ahead to all the work he was going to have to do come spring.

 

“Keh,” Inuyasha snorted. “I have better aim than that. I'll take down the buildings and won't even scratch the ground, how's that?”

 

“Be careful of the burial site,” cautioned Sango.

 

“I know that, Sango!” Inuyasha flexed his claws. “Don't worry. I will respect their graves. I'll use my hands for the fine work.”

 

“And watch out for my barrier!” called Kagome.

 

“Yeah, yeah. I got it!”

 

Inuyasha got to work. The others shielded their eyes with their hands as Inuyasha's kaze no kizu blew a triangular patch right through the center of the village. When the dust cleared, there was no sign of the buildings that had once stood in that spot. Everything had been obliterated, leaving behind a fine scattering of sawdust. True to his word, the ground itself was unmarred.

 

“Well, that certainly takes care of clean-up,” commented Miroku.

 

Inuyasha blasted the kaze no kizu twice more, on either side of his initial strike. He tackled the area close to the burial plots and the main entrance with his claws. A cloud of sparks flew up whenever his sankon tessou came close to Kagome's barrier. When he was done, he looked around him in satisfaction. Where once was a dilapidated fortress village, now was an open field on top of a small rise. It was a good location, defensible, pretty even. It would make a good village again.

 

 

The cave which housed Midoriko's remains and the remains of the youkai she fought so valiantly long ago had no distinguishing features. That was the way the slayer village had wanted it. Inuyasha helped Sango carry the warded youkai pieces she had salvaged to the mouth of the cave. They would be safe here until she and Miroku could rebuild.

 

Sango walked right in, followed by Kagome, Rin and Shippo. Kirara darted ahead of all of them and was soon lost in the darkness of the cave. Inuyasha, remembering his first time at Midoriko's tomb, cautiously poked his toe forward, and sighed when it met no resistance. He walked forward and deposited his armful of youkai parts close to the front of the cave, but out of sight of the entrance. He glanced back, to see Kohaku hesitating at the entrance, as if he weren't sure of his welcome.

 

“Get in here,” Inuyasha told him. “She let me in, didn't she?”

 

Doubtful, Kohaku entered the cave. He, too, sighed when he entered unopposed. Up ahead, he could hear Kagome tutoring Rin as they approached the miko and youkai who were perpetually frozen in time. Who Midoriko was, what she did, how the jewel came to be, and what happened in the end. . . it was a story for the ages. Rin listened, rapt, to the story she'd only heard bits and pieces of before, when the jewel's story intersected with her own life.

 

“She's pretty,” Rin said as she gazed up at the larger than life statue of what had once been a flesh and blood miko.

 

Shippo was the first one who noticed something different about Midoriko. “There's no hole in her chest!” he exclaimed. Sure enough, the ancient miko was unblemished. The spot in her heart from which the jewel had burst forth was healed.

 

“It must be because the jewel is gone,” said Kagome in wonder. “She's finally at peace—they all are,” she said, referring not only to Midoriko but also to the frozen images of youkai who surrounded her. Could it be that Midoriko and the other youkai had gotten their souls returned at last? Is that why the hole in Midoriko's heart was finally healed?

 

Sango and Kohaku stood on either side of Kirara and said a silent prayer. Midoriko was their ancestor, after all, and it was only right that they honor her. Eyes closed, Sango prayed that Midoriko would watch over their new village.

 

 

Kaede prepared a huge feast for their last night in the village. Sesshomaru returned for Rin and Kohaku as he had promised. He declined to remain for the feast. Inuyasha thought that was just as well. It would have been awkward to explain that he and Kagome were going away. Sesshomaru couldn't find out about the well, at least not yet.

 

Kohaku had come to respect Inuyasha over the weeks they had spent together. He exchanged glances with Inuyasha. He would make sure to tell Sesshomaru about Kouga's settlement and the hanyou villages. Inuyasha nodded his farewell to the boy. The seeds were sown. That was all Inuyasha could hope for. Time would tell if they took.

 

Inuyasha took Kagome for a final walk around the village after dinner. The moon was high in the sky and shone gently on them. In the morning they would return to the future and school. Would they be able to come back here again or would Sesshomaru's words prove true? Kagome noticed Inuyasha's eyes were drawn to a certain spot every time they passed by one particular corner of the village. It was time.

 

“Inuyasha, let's pay our respects to Kikyo,” she said quietly. She guided him to the spot where Kikyo had been buried the first time. She wasn't there anymore, but the place contained a small shrine that served as her memorial. Kagome knelt down and pulled Inuyasha down beside her.

 

He stayed like that, unmoving, while Kagome said her prayers. He knew Kikyo wasn't really there. He had held her in his arms while her body dissolved into light. But this place was dedicated to her memory. He liked to think that some small part of her remained here, in her family's village, close to her sister, close to him. He closed his eyes and breathed her name, “Kikyo.”

 

Beside him, Kagome twined her fingers in his, lending him her unconditional understanding and support. Her voice echoed his as she gave greeting to the dead miko. “Kikyo,” she said. Lost in his own thoughts, Inuyasha almost missed Kagome's next words. “Don't worry about him,” she said with a small laugh. “I'll take care of him for both of us.” Inuyasha's throat felt tight.

 

As Kagome finished speaking, she felt something click as a faint light gathered, then coalesced into a pinpoint and shot into her chest. She cried out with the suddenness of it. Immediately, Inuyasha shot to his feet, searching for the source of the light.

 

“It's all right, Inuyasha,” Kagome said, awe in her voice. Her face lit up. “It's my soul—it's whole again!” When Kikyo had died the second time, the piece of their shared soul had remained with her instead of returning to Kagome. Until now, Kagome had never really missed it. Now that she had it back, she felt complete.

 

“We're together now,” she whispered, more to herself than to Inuyasha. He cocked his ears. What was she talking about? Kagome didn't elaborate. She felt a strange sense of finality, as if things had now come full circle. “Are you ready?” she asked Inuyasha. He nodded, and helped her to stand.

 

“Good-bye, Kikyo.”

 

The morning dawned cold and overcast. It felt like snow. Kagome and Inuyasha said their farewell to Kaede at the village. The old woman hugged Kagome after the custom of Kagome's time, and pressed a wrapped bundle into her hands. “To remember,” she said. Kagome's eyes glistened, and she thanked the old miko as she placed the bundle carefully in the top pocket of her backpack. She had a feeling she knew what it was.

 

Miroku, Sango, Kirara and Shippo accompanied them back to the well to say their last good-bye's. They all knew that this might be the last time they ever saw each other. Shippo traveled on Kagome's shoulders the entire way.

 

Kagome had that heavy feeling in her chest again. Now that her soul was complete again, she had a foreboding that her purpose here was finally finished and when she went back this time, it would be for good. She didn't want to voice her greatest fear out loud, however, that the well might only allow her to return, and not Inuyasha.

 

Kagome and Sango clung to each other and cried. Miroku put his arms around the both of them, and they let him. Even Inuyasha didn't protest too much. When he thought enough time had gone by, he none too gently pried Miroku's hands off the two women and led him aside. “Take good care of that wife and kid of yours,” he said gruffly.

 

“I will,” promised Miroku. “You take good care of our Kagome.”

 

Shippo had been sitting on the backpack near the well, watching. He wanted to cry, too, but he didn't want them to think he was a baby. He sniffed a few times, and looked up to see Inuyasha regarding him. “Good-bye, Inuyasha,” he said in a quavering voice. “I'll miss you.”

 

Suddenly the kitsune was engulfed in red as Inuyasha picked him up and held him to his chest for just a second. It happened so fast he wasn't sure if it really happened or if he had just imagined it. Then he was being dangled at arm's length, staring directly into Inuyasha's intense amber eyes. “Don't forget,” Inuyasha was saying, “you're a youkai. Remind these puny humans of it every now and then so they don't get too full of themselves. Got it?”

 

Shippo puffed out his chest. “Got it!” he answered. Then he scrambled out of Inuyasha's grasp and launched himself at Inuyasha's chest where he gave the startled hanyou a real hug. Inuyasha let him.

 

Finally they stood on the lip of the well. Kagome wrapped her hands in Inuyasha's clothes. He could feel the apprehension rolling off her. He felt melancholy, too, at the thought of leaving their friends for good, but this was something more. “What?” he asked her.

 

“It's nothing,” Kagome replied. They prepared to jump. “It's just. . .”

 

Inuyasha stopped and waited for Kagome to continue.

 

“I'm worried that the well won't let you come with me,” she finally told him in a whisper. “What if now that I have my soul back, I'm supposed to go back to my time? What if the well knows you don't belong in my time?”

 

“Keh! You worry too much,” he retorted, and he pulled her with him and jumped through the well.

 

 

“And they're gone,” remarked Miroku.

 

 

On the other side, Kagome looked frantically around for Inuyasha. Her heart beat wildly. Her mouth was dry. Did he make it through?

 

“Damn phone,” Kagome heard him mutter. She whipped around just in time to see Inuyasha take the cellphone out of his sleeve and shake it. “It ran out of battery again.”

 

 

THE END - Again

 

 

 

a/n Thanks to everybody, especially those who reviewed. I'm relatively new at this and it's been a lot of fun. I hadn't intended to do this second part, but I'm glad I did. It sort of begs for a Part 3 to finish the story, though. I didn't want to close it with the well definitely shutting. Who knows what the future has in store? At this point, not even me!