InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Goodbye to You ❯ Vindicated ( Chapter 3 )

Author's Notes: Yayness for part three of 'Goodbye to You'! Will Kagome get her happy ending, or will the sight (Or lack there of) that greets her kill her once more? (Since when did you become an announcer for your own stories? Isn't that my job?!) Uh... no comment! Now, go on and read my next installment to my masterpiece! I got this out at the same time as number two just cause I knew I could and I made you guys wait so long... so enjoy!!! ^.^ (-.-;;;)

Disclaimer: Let me just say, that if I owned Inuyasha, I would have a couple of dollar, dollar bills y'all! But sadly I only have a penny and a pair of lint balls, so that could only mean Inuyasha does not belong to me... :::Sigh:::

~Goodbye to You~

:::Part Three: Vindicated:::

Kagome sighed as she once again stared up at the Sengoku Jedai's passionate night sky. Her feet dangled on the outer side of the well as she sat on the rim rather precariously.

Kagome was scared senseless.

No. Scared wasn't the word.

More like petrified.

What in the blue hell was she doing here!? What demon possessed her into thinking that this even might be a good idea? She was in a bad situation here, and only one thing would result in this catastrophe of being in the Sengoku Jedai.

Heart break.

Or, more like MORE heart break, but still. It would hurt none the less.

Kagome only sighed wearily once again as she turned her head from the calming sky that hung above her ever so faithfully towards the woods that guarded her vigilantly. Inside her mind she knew what had brought her here.

And that was the ever hated emotion named hope.

Hope

Dangles on a string...

Like slow spinning redemption.

Winding in,

Winding out

The shine of it has caught my eye.

Kagome couldn't help but feel it beating along her heart. No matter how hurt she was, until she saw for her own eyes how happy Inuyasha was, she still held hope that they could... may be... quite possibly...

Be together.

That may be he had suffered as much as she had in the course of the year she had gone. Or even missed her in the slightest.

Stupid, right?

Well, Kagome couldn't help it! Hope was an emotion that held you in your spot and just... captured you in a haze of belief.

The fact of the matter was that no one can crush someone else's hopes... but you could crush your own.

And roped me in so

Mesmerizing, and so

Hypnotizing...

I am

Captivated,

I am...

So Kagome got up from her spot on the well and began to walk down the oh so familiar path that lead to the oh so familiar village.

Now I know what you're thinking. Why not just go back down the well and forget this ever happened!? Why subject yourself to all sorts of sadness or quite possibly hate that lied in this time and place!?

Well that's a simple question with a equally simple answer. What would get resolved then? You would just be shutting yourself into a worse emotion called regret, and then you'd live a bitter life full of what-if's and may be's.

And who wanted that?

Besides...

Kagome tried jumping down the well all ready, and it wouldn't let her through.

So as Kagome walked down the path that would inevitably give her the answers she desired more than anything, she wondered about her family and how they had been doing.

And hoping against hope that they didn't hate her.

Hopefully. (SEE!? The dreaded emotion at work once again!)

Yet even if her old comrades did hate her, she would do whatever it took to get them to understand that...

She was only human.

She made mistakes. All she could do...

Was try and correct them.

Vindicated,

I am selfish,

I am wrong,

I am right,

I swear I'm right!

Swear I knew it all along

And I am flawed...

But I am cleaning up so well!

I am seeing in my now the things you swear you saw yourself.

She was getting to the edge of the forest...

Oh gods...

Could she really do this?

What if...

What if they didn't even want to look at her? What if they hated her so much that they wouldn't even give her a chance to explain? Could she really deal with that?

Could Kagome really deal with their hate?

Oh, how broken she would be if they hated her... because...

Her family was all she had left.

What was worse to think about was what if she had hurt her friends so bad that they didn't even THINK of her as family anymore! They knew that when she left, even though hurting them weren't her intentions...

The hurt was still there to be created.

And that couldn't be ignored.

She only wanted to see them though. Only wanted to catch a glimpse of them and see how they were doing in life.

May be she could sneak by them and look at them from afar, and then they wouldn't even know she was-

"MAMA!"

Too late.

So clear,

Like the diamond in your ring

Cut to mirror your intentions;

Oversized

And overwhelmed

The shine of which has caught my eye...

Wait... mama?

Before Kagome could even rationalize the meaning of that simple word, a small bundle of orange, brown and blue tackled her to the ground. All Kagome could register after being so brutally pushed down was the sounds of sobs and the sudden hot, wet stain being left on her shirt.

"Shippou... ?"

Kagome picked herself up with Shippou still clinging onto her shirt like life itself depended on it. The sobs kept racketing his poor little body and all Kagome could do was hold him close and pat his back, as if to reassure him she was there.

He had called her mother...

That meant...

There was still hope!

And rendered me so

Isolated,

So

Motivated

I am

Certain now that I am...

May be... they didn't hate her after all?

"Shippou... my baby boy... I'm home."

With those simple words, Shippou finally looked up towards Kagome's face, his own jade green eyes meeting her azure ones.

In that one moment, no words were needed to express what they both felt.

Finally, the tears stop making tracks down the baby demon's face and the sniffling cut itself down to a minimum. The mother and son duo only stared at each other for a few more moments before the silence was finally broken.

"This isn't a dream, is it mama?"

Kagome smiled down at her son's face as she gently wiped the tears away from his visage before shaking her head in amusement.

"No baby. Come on, let's go to the village. I wanna see... what's changed and what's stayed the same. Is Keade still...?"

Shippou nodded his head feverently in a 'yes' fashion before jumping out of her arms and running towards the village with energy only a child could have.

"I'll race you mama!"

Kagome truly smiled for the first time in over a year as she walked down the familiar road in a gentle speed.

There was no rush for her. Besides...

She always used to let Shippou win anyways.

She had a feeling that he also was going to announce to the whole village that she had returned, and who was she to turn down a proper entrance?

Woah... she had been hanging around Inuyasha for too long.

...

...

... Oh well.

She was bound to pick up some bad habits being with that hanyou for three years, and one year away from this place wasn't going to change that so easily.

She was after all, only human.

Vindicated

I am selfish

I am wrong

I am right

I swear I'm right

Swear I knew it all along

And I am flawed

But I am cleaning up so well

I am seeing in my now the things you swear you saw yourself.

As she entered the small village, her smile widened at the sight she was greeted with.

Now picture this:

All the villagers staring at her in total shock, with Shippou in the middle of the road pointing at her with a huge smile on his face as three very familiar humans behind him stared her in astonishment with their mouths wide open.

Very humorous, no?

Kagome calmly walked towards her brother, sister, and grandmother and grabbed her son from the ground as she held him tightly to her chest.

"Hello everyone."

That simple statement seemed to bring everyone out of their stupor as she was then pulled into a two-way hug in between Keade and Sango with herself and Shippou in the middle.

"Kagome! We thought... Inuyasha, he had tried, but... you're here, you're really here!"

"Oh, child. It is a pleasure to see you once more. We had almost given up hope... but I knew you would return once more! No length of time could suppress you from us."

As she pulled away from the hug Kagome nodded to each of their statements before turning to Miroku.

"I share both Sango's and Lady Keade's sentiments as well. I would hug you Lady Kagome, but..."

Sango gave Miroku a well sought out glare as he sweat dropped in nervousness. Kagome could only smile blissfully at the scene in front of her.

Oh how she had missed their little tousles.

"That's quite all right, but for now all I want is to know WHAT has been going on since I've been gone! What exactly have I missed?"

Before anyone could answer, a familiar voice cut through a conversation like a knife that twisted painfully in Kagome's gut.

"Feh. Why the hell should we tell you? You should of been here to see it all yourself anyways."

Kagome stiffened at the remark and held Shippou a little tighter to her chest.

He was behind her. Right behind her.

Shit.

Sango and Miroku stopped their interaction long enough to stare at Kagome then to look over her shoulder, to where he stood.

She...

She...

She couldn't do it.

Not yet.

Before either Sango and Miroku could protest to it, Kagome grabbed their arms and pulled them away from their spot. She was certain he wasn't following her, and that was just fine.

She needed to do this, but not yet.

He would have to wait. How long, she didn't know.

But he would wait.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It had been over a week since she had heard his voice last. Not see him mind you, just heard his voice.

But that was just as well, considering she also was trying her best to avoid him.

Luckily for her, her family had understood that and made that one of their first priorities ontop of telling her of all the events that had past since her heartbreaking departure.

The first thing they had done when they sat her down was tell her about the last couple of shards they had caught, and apparently what a fuss Kouga had made when he had found out that his 'woman' had gone off because of dog-shit.

Eh. Oh well.

They got the shards in the end though right?

That's all that mattered.

Sango and Miroku had FINALLY gotten married! When they told her all Sango could do was blush a bright magenta that matched her eyes while Miroku had grinned proudly. Kagome didn't prod her best friend, but she could tell that she was a bit hurt that she wasn't here for her ceremony.

How badly Kagome herself wished she could of saw her sister's face.

They also told her that she wouldn't have to worry about guarding the Shikon no tama either, but nothing more than that. Why they told her this, she didn't know. It was obvious Inuyasha had used it in some way, shape, or form, so why did she even care?

She had been MOST surprised to find out that Kikyou had been put to rest. That had been the most unbelieving thing they had told her.

Kikyou? At rest?

Then what the hell was Inuyasha still doing here?!

Hmph. Probably didn't want to waste all his new power by just going to Hell.

Bastard.

She didn't share these thoughts with her family though. She had let them tell her their tales and acted accordingly to whenever the situation called for such well placed emotions. Didn't want to bring them down with all pessimism.

But now, at this moment she was in peace.

She had put Shippou away for a sleep awhile ago, and Sango and Miroku were off doing married couple stuff, and Kaede had been meditating. Kagome had asked if it was necessary, but Kaede had only smiled serenely before she walked inside the hut. And with that, Kagome had gone for a walk to clear her mind, but everything still lead back to one thing.

Was it time yet to finally confront the reason why she was here?

Kagome only sighed as she stopped in front of her unknown destination...

The Goshimboku.

Her soft hands lightly trailed the bark of the tree as closed her eyes in remembrance... memories drifting through out her mind's eye.

Drifting away a place well hidden in her heart...

Drifting away to where she could be free inside her soul...

Driftin-

Before Kagome could even react a pair of arms encircled her waist and trapped her to their chest. As the young miko opened her mouth to scream, a roughened hand covered it up.

"Stop."

Kagome immediately stopped her squirming as the voice made its way to her ears.

Just her luck.

She relaxed in Inuyasha's embrace and sighed in his hand as she waited for the release from his arms...

But that release never came.

He slowly slid his hand from her mouth, but instead of just letting go...

He began to trace her lips.

Slowly, but surely he steadily brushed his fingers against her lips, only stopping for moments at a time.

"I missed your smile..."

So turn

Up the corners of your lips,

Part them

And feel my fingertips...

Trace the moment,

Fall forever.

Kagome gasped at the sudden turn of the conversation. How could someone be so demanding one moment, but so endearing the next?

"Inuyasha..."

"I said stop. Don't even speak, because you said everything you needed to say before you left. Now... it's my turn."

Kagome blinked as he said this, surprised at the familiar set of words. Before she could give him a retort though, she stiffened in even more shock as she felt something softly press itself against her neck.

'Did he just... kiss me on the neck?!'

Defense is paper thin, just

One touch

And I'd be in too

Deep now to ever swim

Against the current...

No... not again... she couldn't be falling all over again!

So let me slip away...

What was he doing...? Didn't he know what he did to her?

So let me slip away...

He couldn't possibly care about her... not after all this time!

So let me slip away...

"Kagome... it feels like forever passed us by hasn't it? I know you felt it too. Even though it was only one year, it's feels more like an eternity has swept over the both of us."

He had felt it too? But how...

"Inu-"

"I thought I said no speaking Kagome? Now where was I? Ah, an eternity... I bet you're wondering a lot of things..."

"May be..."

But no matter how haughty that may be came out of Kagome's lips, the questions she had managed to push aside during the week came stumbling back to her.

Not only that, but it was pretty hard to concentrate when the man you love was pressing against you in such an intimate manner.

It almost felt like... she was slipping all over again...

So let me slip

Against the current...

Was it really like that? Just slipping away...?

So let me slip away...

Ok, so it wasn't so much like she was slipping... more like falling head first on a concrete made floor.

So let me slip away...

But Kagome couldn't help it...

So let me slip away...

Oh, how she loved him!

So let me slip away!

"You told me so many things that day Kagome... And a lot of those words, well... they hit the right spot if that's what you're wondering. If you were trying to hurt me, you definitely succeeded."

Hurt him...? What?!

"But... I know that you didn't say those things out of hatred for me. No. You're just not that kind of person. Besides, I don't think you tell someone you love them and then hurt them deliberately just to prove a point. At least, you wouldn't."

Kagome blushed at the memory of her little confession. It hadn't been exactly thought out, just said at the heat of the moment!

Besides, she had thought she wasn't going to come back here ever again! A slight miscalculation, but she was only human!

Vindicated

I am selfish

I am wrong

I am right

I swear I'm right

Swear I knew it all along

And I am flawed

But I am cleaning up so well

I am seeing in my now the things you swear you saw yourself.

Kagome gulped as she felt his arms tighten around her middle. What the hell was going on?!

"I missed you Kagome... and I know you missed me."

With that, Inuyasha's arms loosened from her waist and hesitantly let go altogether. He took one step back, and she knew he was waiting for her to turn around... and finally look at him.

"I lost so much that day Kagome. Please... tell me. Tell me I have the right... to just-"

Inuyasha took a deep breath and Kagome wrapped her arms around herself in nervousness.

"Please tell me I have the right to hope."

With that final statement, Kagome's resolution broke as she turned around-

Like hope

Ready to look into demon like eyes of who knows what color...

Dangles on a string,

Too look into-

Like slow spinning redemption.

Violet eyes.