InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ It's A Wonderful Feudal Life ❯ The Wish ( Chapter 1 )

It's a Wonderful Feudal Life

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and related characters are creation and copyright of R. Takahashi. The movie It's a Wonderful Life is a Christmas movie directed by Frank Capra, starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, originally released in 1946. Since my name is not Frank Capra and I was not alive in 1946, you tell me if I own it.

Chapter One

It was finally over.

After Kami-only-knows how many years chasing after the shards of the Shikon no Tama, the jewel was finally reassembled. Naraku was dead, slain by one of Kagome's purifying arrows. But the victory did not come without its price. Though Kikyo had fought bravely, she was no match for the mighty half-demon. All that remained of her now was bits of clay and bone, rapidly decaying as the dead souls she had fueled herself with were finally released to the next life. But worse, Naraku had struck Kagome in his death throes. Tentacle after tentacle had snapped at her before Naraku finally crumbled. Her injuries were grave, nay, life-threatening. At present, she lay half-conscious in Kaede's hut. While Miroku and Kaede worked desperately to heal her wounds, Inuyasha perched in the nearest tree. He held the reforged Shikon Jewel between his claws.

~Half-breed no more,~ he thought. ~At last, I can become a full-blooded Youkai.~ He stopped, shaking the thought out of his head. ~No, I don't care about that anymore. What's the use of being anything if Kagome's not there?~ It was at last beginning to penetrate Inuyasha's thick skull that he was in love with Kagome.

He held the jewel aloft, prepared to wish Kagome's wounds away. He stopped halfway through as a new thought struck him.

~It's my fault she's lying in there dying. It's my fault she was there for Naraku to hurt her.~ An audible sigh escaped his lips. ~As if she didn't hate me enough already. They all do. And they're right. I'm a jerk, an idiot. None of them would miss me if I fell out of this tree and cracked my skull open. They'd all be better off if I had never been born.~

There was a massive explosion of light. Inuyasha's hands flew up to cover his eyes, but the sudden movement knocked him from the tree. He closed his eyes and screamed, expecting to hear the crunch of his bones against the ground any second.

It never came.

When he opened his eyes, he was floating in a white void.

"Hello?" he called. The only answer he received was a hundred different echoes. He snarled, then tried. "Anybody here?"

Again the hundred echoes. But this time, they were followed by a loud, ear-piercing squeal. A small girl came bounding through the void, a shrill shriek of delight on her lips. Her hair was a light brown, and her eyes shone like silver. Before Inuyasha could react, she had leaped upon him, wrapping her surprisingly powerful arms around his neck.

"Inu-sama!" she shrilled, tightening her grip until he nearly choked. "It's really you! I didn't believe it at first when Mission Control told me what I was supposed to do, but now I'm here and you're here and it's really, really you!" She degenerated into a long string of incoherent babble, never once pausing for breath. " Say, you OK Inu-Sama?" she added after what seemed like eternity.

"Air…" Inuyasha wheezed. The girl blushed and relinquished her grip.

"Oopsies. Sorry about that. I forgot you materials have to breathe," she said. Before she could say anything else, Inuyasha grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up to his eye level.

"Who in the Seven Hells are you?" he snarled. "And where the heck am I?"

"Chibi-Kaitlyn. Angel, second class," the girl replied, suddenly overtaken by a very business-like tone. "You're in Limbo." She wrenched herself from his hands and floated just out of his reach.

"Angel, second class? Does that mean you can't attend Kami's company barbecues or something?" Inuyasha asked, quietly sniggering at the joke.

"Actually, yes." Chibi-Kaitlyn said. "I'm currently a sort of intern angel. I haven't earned my wings yet, so I don't have all the powers or privileges of a first class angel. But with your help, that's all gonna change!"

"And how am I supposed to help?"

"By letting me help you, of course!" the girl exclaimed brightly.

"You mean you'll heal Kagome?" Inuyasha inquired. (Alliteration!)

"She doesn't need my help, Inu-sama. You do." She produced a massive book from nowhere, and started flipping through it.

"This is a record of everything you've ever done, said, or thought," she explained. "Ah, here's the part that's concerning us." She cleared her throat and read. "They wouldn't miss me if I fell out of this tree and cracked my skull open. They'd be better off if I had never been born. Textbook case of depression. And you, Inu-sama, can't be depressed right now. You've got a lot more to do, so Mission Control told me to give you some accelerated counseling-angel style."

"What does that involve?" Inuyasha asked. "Visits from a bunch of crazy ghosts or something?"

"No, but that's a good idea. I'll have to remember to run that by Mission Control later. But you, Inu-sama…you're gonna to get your wish."

"You mean the lifetime supply of ramen?" Chibi-Kaitlyn thumped him on the head.

"No, silly," she said. "I mean that, as of your arrival in Limbo, you were never born."

"Feh," Inuyasha sniggered. "Nice try, kid. But if I had never been born, I doubt I'd be so substantial."

"Ohh, an eleven letter word! I'm impressed!" Chibi-Kaitlyn giggled. "You made a wish on the Shikon no Tama, big guy. I've been sent to show you the consequences of that wish before it becomes irreversible. Consider it a second chance or something like that."

"Okay, let's say, just for the sake of argument, that I believe you-which I don't." Inuyasha said. "So I've never been born. So what? I'm sure the world's much better off without me." Chibi-Kaitlyn smiled enigmatically.

"Ya wanna test that theory?"

She snapped her fingers, and the void pulled away. They found themselves standing in the middle of Kaede's village…