InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ the jewels wish ❯ the jewels wish ( Chapter 1 )

[ A - All Readers ]

There they sat. Not together, not apart, just there. Kagome on one side of the well and Inuyasha leaning on the other side. They were both in the Sengoku Jidai era and both were having the same thoughts.
The search was over and so was Naraku. Kikyo had taken him with her to hell in one clear moment. Inuyasha wasn't supposed to go to Hell, Naraku was. Before she had gone, she had told Inuyasha that.
Kagome sighed. So it was finally over. She could go home. Back to tests and friends and dates with Hojo and...
Who was she trying to kid? She couldn't get really enthusiastic over it at all. Her friends were great, but she had other friends here that she didn't want to leave. The tests were boring and time-consuming. Hojo? She was supposed to want to go back to Hojo?
On the other side of the well, only a few feet away, Inuyasha was trying to think. Kikyo was gone and he didn't have to go to Hell. Okay. What now? Become a youkai? What did he really want?
His stomach rumbled. Ramen, he thought. I want ramen. I wonder if Kagome-
Kagome.
Stomach forgotten, he realized what he really wanted. The problem was how to get it.
"Inuyasha?"
"Yeah?" he growled.
"What are you thinking about?"
Uh... He shouldn't answer that. "Ramen."
"Oh." Kagome lifted the jewel to look at it. "You know what I think? I wish-"
"Hey!"
"I'm not wishing on it! I'm just saying that it would be a good thing if we could just rely on the jewel to give us what we wanted."
"Huh," he snorted. "That's stupid."
Kagome scowled. "It is not! If we could just wish on the jewel to solve our problems." She was quiet until she heard his stomach growl. Sighing, she got to her feet. "Come on. Let's go find some dinner."
"It wouldn't work anyway. I don't trust that jewel to know what anyone wants."
***
Would you listen to that rubbish? It doesn't even start with 'I wish'!
And Inuyasha with his 'I don't trust the jewel to know what anyone wants'. Yeah, I know what you want better than you do, puppy. I ought to turn him into a real dog, transport him to the future, and find him a nice doghouse to live in.
No one has ever asked me for help with a wish before. Just 'do this' or 'do that'.
Hm... This requires some thought...
***
No, I can't alter the world's perception that much.
I could do that...
I wonder how she'd look as...
No.
Uh-uh.
Now that's possible. He thought mentally stumbling over his words.
***
Kagome woke up and rubbed her eyes. Shippo was still sleeping near her. Miroku was leaning against the wall and Sango was curled up with Kirara on the floor. Inuyasha was asleep sitting up, but Kaede was stirring around fixing breakfast.
She sat up and Shippo didn't even notice. Inuyasha's ears twitched and he opened one eye. "Good morning," she whispered. He snorted and closed the eye.
She helped Kaede with breakfast and by the time it was done, everyone was awake. Miroku kept staring at his hand and trying not to grin. Sango was sad. Kohaku had been killed before the last battle and they didn't know exactly where his body was.
After breakfast had been eaten, Kagome glanced down at the jewel. "What are we going to do with you?" she said softly.
"It has been purified," Kaede told her. "It could stay in the village."
Miroku shook his head. "That would bring men and youkai here."
"It can't go to the future," Inuyasha warned. "There are youkai there, too. She'd lose it in a day."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Thank you for that vote of confidence."
"What?"
"Never mind," she muttered. "Like I said last night, it would be great to trust the jewel to know what we want."
Hanging around her neck, the pink marble began to float upward. Kagome's eyes widened and she tore it away from her. It rolled on the floor and a sound like a sigh came from it. "You ask for my help and then you don't want it. Typical."
Kagome blinked. "What?"
A soft light filtered from the jewel and a girl that looked much like Kagome emerged. "Hi," she said happily. Her hair was shorter and she was dressed differently than Kagome in a sweater and jeans.
Inuyasha got to his feet and the jewel looked at him. "Yes?"
"Why do you look like me?" Kagome asked.
"Because I spent fifteen years inside you, of course." The girl approached and sat beside Kagome. "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you."
"You asked what I thought. No one's ever done that before. So I decided to help you." The jewel grinned at her. "I spent all night thinking about the options."
Inuyasha growled at her and Kagome shot him a look. He sat down before she said the word.
"I can only offer suggestions. You have to choose. I'd request that you listen to all of them before you decide." The jewel cleared her throat and began.
"All of you can decide to stay in this time. Kagome could leave the future behind and everyone would live here. You could also move to the future."
"Not possible," Kagome said, shaking her head. "They don't have the paperwork or know the right stuff or-"
The jewel held up a hand. "Whatever you decide, I'll make sure that it works. Fabricating a few pieces of paper isn't anything for someone who is offering to bend time."
"Why are you doing this?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously.
"Because this will be the last wish for a while," the jewel said. "I'm going to go back inside Kagome after this one." Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. "She lived for fifteen years without anyone noticing the jewel. When I'm inside her, no youkai or human notices."
"I can also make Inuyasha human." He looked away. "It would mean not being able to defend Kagome. Would you be willing to make that choice? You'd live in either time you wanted, be human, and I'd be inside her so youkai wouldn't come for her."
Inuyasha closed his eyes. "No."
Kagome gasped.
The jewel smiled. "Good. You really do care for her." She spread her hands. "As a matter of fact, that was a lie. I can't turn you human or youkai. You're perfectly balanced now. To disrupt that balance makes you insane, either as a youkai or as a human. On your human night, you're fine because that too is balance."
"The only ones I can change are Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Kirara, Kaede, and Shippo. Youkai to human or hanyou and human to youkai or hanyou."
The jewel looked at Kagome. "I know what you want, but for how long? How would you deal with the problem of your lives? Would you put him through the agony of watching you grow old and die while he was still young?"
Kagome glanced at Inuyasha. "I could be a hanyou?"
"No!" Inuyasha objected.
"In the future, hanyous are not seen as they are now," the jewel told him. "They are not treated any differently than full youkai."
"Sango and Miroku could live here or they could live in the future. I can even bend time so that they live and die here and then are reincarnated for your time, Kagome. If I do that, they would be human in your time and would die."
"Why so many options?" Inuyasha demanded.
The jewel shrugged. "The wishes on the jewel are always stressful. With these options, I have to tell you there will be consequences. Make the right decision for you and I will tell you what they are before you wish. But listen to all of the options first."
"You can live in the future or the past. Miroku and Sango can live in either or they can live in both. Inuyasha cannot change what he is, but the rest of you can. That is your main problem. Where to live and as what."
"How much time do we have to think about it?" Kagome asked.
"As much as you want."
"Good." Kagome got up, said she was going for a walk, and went out the front door. The others followed except for Shippo, the jewel, and Kaede.
"You know what I'll do, don't you?" Kaede asked.
The jewel nodded. "Yes. You want to stay here as a human. You do not wish to be reincarnated by me, but by someone else. I respect and honor that." Kaede agreed.
***
Though they all began their walking apart, two couples formed before long. Miroku and Sango had just barely begun to think of a future in which they could possibly be together. Now they had more decisions to make.
Kagome was torn between wanting to have everything stay the same and wanting to have the possible changes. After walking aimlessly for half an hour she had realized one thing. She wanted to be with Inuyasha. Her time or his, it didn't matter. What did matter was she wanted as much time with him as she could have.
Someone cleared his throat and Kagome smiled at the white-haired boy in the tree. "Hi. Thinking about the jewel?"
"Yeah."
Kagome stood below the branch and looked up. "What have you thought?"
He shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. "Not much."
She smiled. "We're never going to make a decision unless we just say what's on our minds, are we?" She sighed. "I want to stay with you."
Inuyasha dropped down in front of her. She looked up to find his face not more than a couple inches away. "Are you sure?" he whispered. She nodded. "Stay with me how? As friends?"
"Yes," she said with a shrug. "If that's all you want. If you want more...?"
"More? Like... something like what Kikyo and I planned before?" He tripped over it and mentioned Kikyo.
Kagome didn't mind, though. She knew what Inuyasha was trying to say. "Live with me, love me, family, home, everything," she promised.
The look in his eyes was all she could've wanted. The promise of someone who would stay with him until she died. Children to protect, somewhere permanent to live... He dipped his head to meet her lips and they didn't separate for a long moment.
***
The jewel looked up as they entered the house again. "Still thinking?"
Kagome shook her head. "I want to be an inu hanyou."
Miroku and Sango looked at each other. "We don't want to be separated from our friends so that's our choice as well."
Kagome sighed. "So what time are we living in?"
Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest. "In the future." Kagome stared at him, her jaw slack. "Family's important and yours is over there."
Miroku nodded. "Ah. So we will live in the future as hanyous."
The jewel laughed. "A good decision."
"Do I have to be a hanyou, too?" Shippo asked. Kagome picked him up and reassured him that he did not. He was very happy to hear that news.
"Hanyou and future," the jewel murmured to herself.
"Is that a problem?" Inuyasha asked roughly.
"Maybe to you, but not me." The jewel grinned and stuck her tongue out at the hanyou. "Now... Let's see..."
"See what?"
"Hush," Kagome told Inuyasha. "This is what you want, remember?" Inuyasha grumbled something about wishing on the jewel without its assistance.
"Kagome first," the jewel decided. Her expression sobered. "As hanyou, you will be protected by an illusion. That's how it works. Your friends... You're aware that if they find out what you are, they may no longer be your friends?"
Kagome froze. Her friends? She looked down at the floor. "I already have other friends and I trust the ones in my time."
The jewel smiled and nodded. "You're all going to feel uncomfortable. Can you imagine going back to the future? No more running around with this much freedom. It's comforting to be looked after, but you will feel smothered. You're used to being on your own for weeks at a time. Can you handle your mother thinking that you're still just her baby girl? She'll remind you about breakfast, nag you about leaving your clothes on the floor, fuss about your messy room... When you've been cooking for yourself, lucky to have clean clothes, and picking up after yourself? She'll be upset over a splinter when you've had much worse. She won't understand how much you've grown."
Kagome nodded. "She's Mom. We'll get along somehow."
The jewel nodded. "Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango... You'll have the information you need. When you encounter something you've never seen before, you'll know what it is without it having to be explained to you."
"Like toasters and bathrooms?" Kagome asked.
"Yes," the jewel said. "Have you thought about where you'll live? What you'll do? You're all underage and will have to go to school. I'll make sure that you're at your age level, but there won't be any more walking around looking for youkai. You'll be sitting in a classroom for most of the day. It's a big change."
They exchanged glances and agreed. The jewel shrugged. "Your choice. I will say that the well will be worn out with your final trip. There's another way to return if you think hard enough about the well's source."
Her eyes fell on Shippo. "And you, small kitsune. Where will you live? Who will take care of you?"
The jewel looked at Kagome. "In your time, you're not old enough to adopt him. Your mother would have to."
"Mom would be happy to," she said.
"You know your mother that well?" the jewel mused. "She's going to take in four more people just because they're your friends? I wish I had your confidence."
The jewel sighed. "Make your goodbyes and we'll leave when you're ready."
***
That evening, they were gathered at the well. The jewel was still in human form. "Okay, everyone!" she called. "Everyone has to hold on to one another or it'll be bad."
"How bad?" Inuyasha asked.
The jewel shrugged. "You'll return here. Join hands and jump down."
Kagome cradled Shippo in one arm and he clung to her. Inuyasha took her other hand while Sango took his. Miroku clasped hands with Sango. The jewel shrank again and floated in the center of the well.
"Goodbye, Kaede," the group said. They stood on the edges and jumped at once.
Kagome and Inuyasha were used to the trip, but Sango and Miroku both were astonished. Their hands gripped each other tightly.
Shippo's hands loosened from Kagome's shirt and a passing light tore him away from her. "Shippo!" she screamed.
The lights faded and they fell to the bottom of the well. Kagome began crying. "We've got to go back."
Inuyasha picked her up and jumped to the top of the well. He returned twice for Sango and Miroku. Kagome was thinking furiously. "There's a way back... The source of the well." She shook her head. "It's the jewel."
"No," Miroku said suddenly. "The source of the well is the tree."
Kagome's eyes widened and she ran up the steps of the wellhouse. Inuyasha cursed and followed her. The door shut behind him with a clatter.
Sango and Miroku looked at each other. "How about we wait here?" she asked.
He nodded. "I have no wish to see what the world looks like five hundred years in the future without a guide."
***
"Where are you going, wench?" Inuyasha called after her.
"To get Shippo!"
He caught up to her and they ran toward the tree together. "Not without me, you aren't!"
They stood in front of the tree. "Here," Inuyasha said, pointing at his spot. He took her hand and they both pressed on the tree. It flared with light and they passed through.
The first sound they heard was crying. "Be well, child. They'll come back for you," Kaede soothed.
"When?" he wailed.
Kagome burst through the trees. "Shippo!" The kitsune barreled into her arms. "I've got you," she soothed.
Kaede looked at Inuyasha curiously. "The tree is a gateway," he explained gruffly. "Come on, Kagome. We left the pervert alone with Sango."
She nodded and hugged Kaede again. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and they walked back to the tree.
***
Kagome opened the door to the wellhouse and the two blinked at her. "Well, we can get back to the past through the tree," she said cheerfully. "Come on up."
Sango began walking up the steps and Miroku followed her. They stood in Kagome's yard and looked around amazed. The sky was much dimmer because it was almost dark and they were in the middle of a city. Kagome waved them on and the whole gang followed her into the house. "Mom!" she called.
"Honey, you're back," Mrs. Higurashi said, coming down the stairs. "Oh! And you've brought guests."
Kagome ran and gave her mother a huge hug. "I'm home, Mom."
She looked down at her daughter. "Home to stay?" Kagome nodded. She hugged her daughter even harder.
Kagome caught her mother up on what was happening. She smiled at the four in her living room and greeted them. After making them comfortable with drinks, she went into the kitchen to make dinner.
"Now what?" Kagome asked.
"Well..." The jewel materialized. "There are a few more things to do. You're in the future. Now we take care of turning you hanyou."
"Now?" Sango asked.
The jewel shook her head. "Later. Eat dinner, have a good night's rest." It faded again and shrank inside Kagome's body.
***
Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Inuyasha all bedded down in the living room. Kagome went up to her room and slept.
When she woke up, she yawned and went to the bathroom. She began brushing her teeth when she looked up into the mirror.
The toothbrush clattered into the sink and she leaned closer. She spat the toothpaste out into the sink and rinsed her mouth out. "Those," she said slowly, "are longer teeth than the ones I went to bed with. And my ears are on top of my head."
She reached up and brushed the tips of her delicate black furred ears. She had to contain the squeal she felt like making and instead said, "I'm so cute!"
Kagome ran down the stairs and crouched down by Sango. "You've got them, too."
"Keh."
She looked at Inuyasha who was sitting on the sofa. "Aren't they the sweetest thing you've ever seen in the world?" she asked, rubbing one of her ears.
Inuyasha looked at her as if she'd gone insane. "They're just ears."
"And I've a question about those ears," the jewel Kagome said. "What do you think of her now? She's an inu hanyou, just like you. Do you care for her any less? Any more?"
Inuyasha stared at the jewel. "Wh- Of course I don't! She's still Kagome." A candle could not hold a flame in the presence Kagome’s beauty.
The boy found himself with a lap full of newly turned hanyou. "Thank you!" she said happily.
"Is it time for breakfast?" Miroku asked. He looked at Inuyasha and Kagome. "I didn't mean to interrupt. Please carry on."
"Pervert," Sango muttered. "Kagome, did you know that you've got ears on top of your head?" Kagome giggled and looked at Sango's ears. She sighed and reached up. "I've got them, too."
"There'll be other things today which will be just as shocking," the jewel said mischievously. "I'm going to take a long nap. Bye everyone!" she said and winked out.
"That thing has always been trouble," Inuyasha said with a sigh.
***
Sango and Miroku both had to look at themselves in the mirror. Miroku's ears tended toward brown/black and Sango's had a bit of beige in them. Kagome's were pure black and she twitched them happily.
Their sense of smell had grown. They all knew when breakfast had been started and found that they had distinctive scents.
After breakfast, Mrs. Higurashi sat them down in the living room. "Your guests will arrive soon."
"Guests?" Kagome asked.
Her mom smiled her. "Not yours, dear. Theirs."
There was a knock on the door and Mrs. Higurashi answered it. Two people walked in and immediately focused on Shippo. He sniffed at them and his eyes widened. "Mother? Father?" They held out their arms and he jumped into them. They babbled for a few minutes which was not understandable to anyone else.
They heard another knock and another couple came in. Miroku's eyes widened as he made a match between his six-year-old memories and now. He didn't remember the woman, but that was his father!
"Miroku," his father said. "Do you remember your mother?" He shook his head, but the woman was quick to hug him.
"We'll explain when everyone arrives." Miroku's dad told him.
There was another knock and five people walked in. Three went to Sango and the other two walked to Inuyasha.
Once they had all been introduced, they sat down. "Hi!" the jewel said. "I'll explain." She gestured to the adults in the room. "I said there would be consequences."
She giggled. "You're all going to be smothered. Everyone's parents and Kohaku are here. You're going to be going home with them. You're all enrolled at the same school except for Souta, Shippo, and Kohaku."
"You're all hanyous while they are still human. You have them back, but only for a short while. You're hanyou, so we fixed the lifespan problem. But you're going to watch everyone die and you have to adjust to being a hanyou. You're not going to be together as often."
The jewel smiled. "But you're here and together." Miroku and Sango reached for each other's hands and Inuyasha and Kagome shared a glance. Shippo tugged away from his parents and ran to Kagome.
"We're still going to be together, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," Kagome said, hugging him. "We're going to be all right."
When summer deepened and was beginning to wane all the gang went to the beach one last time before school began again. Soon enough the couples formed and went their separate ways on the beach. Inuyasha and kagome, Sango and miroku, and the newest couple sesshoumaru and rin.
Inuyasha and kagome stopped to sit on the beach out of reach of the surf. Kagome reached out and picked up a concha seashell and held it to her ear. She actually heard the sound of the sea with her improved hearing.
So sad the time at the beach had to come to an end but, a beautiful sunset reflected upon the water, the sky turned gold as the sun sunk lower on the horizon. no worries as soon as school starts they will be together again. Inseparable friends forever.