InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ To Return to Love ❯ Scroll Three: The First Reunion ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Note: I originally had a different idea as to the outcome of To Begin Again when I was writing the fifth chapter and as a result, Inuyasha's fortune reflected that idea. I kinda tried to stick with it in saying that it was Inu's idea Kagome and the baby go back to her time to a doctor, but I just kinda half-assed that part to make it work. I'm thinking I'm gonna go back and change his prediction to reflect the sequel instead.........

Vandreador: I will say that Kagome gets reunited with Inuyasha. What I won't say is if she gets to go back to Sengoku Jidai (or if she gets to stay with Inuyasha). That remains to be seen. *evil laughter*

Crystal Strawberry: Yay, you love me again!

Scroll Three: The First Reunion

Hours later a blur of red came to a stop at the door of the taijiya’s home. The screen was pushed aside and he rushed in only to be shushed by the woman in charge. She sat on a blanket in the floor feeding the babe. To her left was the kitsune practicing his letters on a sheet of parchment. His golden eyes lifted to the woman, uncertain and begging for an answer to his unspoken question.

“Shhh,” Sango warned once more and then looked to the corner on her right. “I guess this means that Kouga found you and you left him in one piece long enough to hear his message.” She nodded her head to the pile of blankets in the corner. “He found her in the well last night and brought her to me. She wanted to stay awake until you got here, but she was so tired. I decided to let her sleep until came.”

He moved cautiously to the blankets and pulled the top one back to reveal the dark haired head. Her thick, wavy tresses now hung around her face, flowing in a short sea of dark gray. Her eyes fluttered in her sleep, but she didn’t wake. As carefully as he could, he brushed the bangs away from her forehead and lightly caressed her cheek, hardly daring to breath lest she wake and scramble away. She was bigger than he remembered, but other than that, she looked just about the same as the three year old who he had cradled to his chest years before.

But when she finally did open her eyes, those rich golden eyes so much like his own, it wasn’t fear that registered there, but recognition and slight confusion. “Papa?”

“Hey.”

“Papa?” ; She whispered again. She knew that scent, remembered it from long ago and she had memorized his face from the pictures her mother had shown her. Still, she had to ask to gain confirmation. When he nodded, she kicked the covers off and leapt at him, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck, burying her face in the folds of his haori as she crying.

His arms went around her and he kissed the top of her head, inhaling her scent that was just as calming as her mother’s and just as gentle. “Shh…don’t cry little one. I’m here now.” He stroked her hair, gently rubbing her back and made soothing noises, trying to calm her. When she had stopped her tears she stayed latched onto him afraid to let him go.

The feeling was mutual.

When both father and daughter were satisfied that the other was not going to disappear into thin air, Inuyasha let her go and turned to the others. “You don’t have anything that would fit her, do you, Sango? What about you, Shippou? You‘re about the same height…”

“Nuh-uh! I’m much taller than she is!” The kitsune protested.

For the first time since Inuyasha had disentangled the six year old from him, the child spoke. “No you’re not.”

“I am!”

“You’re not!”

“Ahem,” the taijiya interrupted throwing a glare in their direction, “I’m trying to get Haruko to sleep.”

The kitsune stared at the ground, looking properly scolded and Hana blushed. “We‘re sorry, Sango-chan,” they stated in unison.

“Am too.”

“Are not.”

This time the argument progressed in hissed whispers and the taijiya sighed, giving it up as a lost cause while the monk simply chuckled and the hanyou tried to hide a grin. The disagreement would have probably continued in the same way for much longer had the young girl not spoken those two simple words. “Prove it.”

And that having been said, she stood making sure that the hem of her nightgown was short enough they could see she was standing on nothing but hardwood floor and bare feet.

“Go on Shippou, prove just how much bigger you are,” Inuyasha prodded, enjoying the fact that his daughter seemed as relentless and fearless as he was.

The kitsune sent a perfected glare in his direction and stood up, right in front of the hanyou’s daughter and scowled as the others started to laugh under their breaths. Despite their significant age differences, Shippou’s nose came level with the top of the girl’s head. He snorted in disgust. “I’m still taller than she is.”

Hana giggled and put her arms around Shippou’s waist. “It’s okay, Shippou-nii-chan. You’re still my big brother.”

The kit wrinkled his nose. “Feh!”

Yep. Much too much time with the hanyou.

“Now that we’ve settled that, give her something to wear.” Inuyasha lightly bopped him on the head and the kit scuttled off to dig out a pair of hakama and a yukata for her to change into.

Sango took her behind a screen and helped her dress in the foreign clothing and when she came out, she wore a pair of blue hakama that ballooned out in the legs and were tight around her ankles and a white haori. The woman then proceeded to braid her hair and tie it back in a blue ribbon.

They had looked everywhere and her mother was preparing to call the police. Kagome sat on her knees before the Goshinboku with her head bowed in prayer. Souta said something to his grandfather and then walked across the courtyard to his sister. “I never thought you were one to pray to the sacred tree,” he commented.

“I’m not praying. I’m trying to talk to Inuyasha,” she answered simply, never opening her eyes or raising her head. “I did it once before when I was fifteen and we weren‘t even married then. That’s how I figured out how to get back through the well after Kikyou pushed me in. Remember, when we had that big snow.”

Souta nodded and knelt beside her. “You think he’ll hear you?”

“I can only hope. If not, then I’m going to try to open the well,” she answered quietly. “If anyone can find our daughter, Inuyasha can.”

Souta nodded. “I’m sorry, Nee-chan.” He sighed. “What would make her leave the house in the middle of the night? There’s no sign of a forced entry or a struggle.”

“If I knew that, Souta, I’d probably know where to find her.” She stood up and brushed her knees of her blue jeans off. “This isn’t working."

Hana! Don’t be scared! Mama’s coming, baby, I swear!

With a new found determination, she marched towards the well house.

But Hana wasn’t scared. At that moment she was walking with her father in the opposite direction. He had picked her up and had her balanced on his shoulders while she giggled over his ‘super kawaii’ ears and he tickled her bare feet with his claws.

“So, you’re Mama told you all about me and the others, huh?” He asked, smirking a bit at the fact that Kagome hadn’t tried to hide what Hana was. “How’d you get down the well? What were you doing out that late? Kami kid, you could’ve been hurt.”

Hana shrugged and tweaked his ears in her tiny hands. “I dunno how I got here. I was in the well shrine and that baka neko, Lin, knocked my flashlight into the well. If Mama found out I was there, she’d be mad so I had to get the light but I fell and when I looked up, I was here. Then there was that wolf man who got me out and took me to Aunt Sango and nii-chan. He smelled funny.”

Inuyasha laughed and was about to make a smart comment back when a familiar scent reached his nose.

“It’s not very good manners to talk about your savior like that, squirt,” Kouga’s baritone reached them from the tree line and when Hana looked around the wolf was leaned against a tree, smirking. “I coulda left you in that well, you know.”

“Shit,” Inuyasha muttered. “What do you want, ookami? I ain’t kicked your ass enough in the past?”

Kouga wagged his finger in the hanyou’s direction. “Nuh-uh-uh…now, now, dog breath, you should be thanking me for bringing your kid to you. I’d hate to have to beat the shit out of you in front of the her.”

“Really, Kouga-kun, what kind of example are you setting for our pups?” A new voice questioned from behind him and Inuyasha smirked when Ayame appeared two wolf pups trailing behind and a third in her arms.

She didn't feel she had much of a choice if she wanted to find her daughter. Just like Souta had said, there was no sign of a forced entry or a struggle, so if her mother called the police they would likely say that Hana was simply misbehaving and hiding from them somewhere on the shrine. But she knew her daughter and she knew that, while the child was mischievous, she wouldn't pull a prank like that.

Taking a deep breath, she sat on the lip of the well and swung her legs over. With a final prayer to the kamis, she closed her eyes and shoved off, free falling towards the bottom.

Inuyas ha glared at the wolf prince, but nodded in Ayame's direction to acknowledge her. She was familiar enough with the two men to know that his ire had nothing to do with her.

Kouga smirked, not taking his eyes off Inuyasha. "I was just coming to see if dog shit felt like saying thank you. After all, I did find his pup for him."

Hana scrambled down from Inuyasha's shoulders, using her youkai agility in much the same way that Shippou used to. She stood next to her father with her hands on her hips, looking from Kouga to Ayame, not liking the way that Kouga was speaking to her papa.

The little girl on Ayame's hip batted large green eyes at her own father and then looked down at Hana. She'd been sucking on her finger, but when she spotted the other girl, she grinned and held out her hand, waving a greeting. Her brothers, however, were much more interested in what was going on between the men.

Only the children and Ayame seemed to notice the wind begin to suddenly pick up and the sky darken slightly as clouds covered the sun. Before Inuyasha could respond to Kouga's antagonizing there was a slight pop noise and a flash of gold light, almost as if lightening had hit the spot where Inuyasha and Hana stood. When it was gone, neither inu remained.

Just as Kagome was about to hit the bottom of the well, there was a brilliant flash of gold light and she was engulfed in something like the time warp. Only this seemed a bit off and she would have sworn she heard two unified voices chanting, but she couldn't make out the words.

And then it was over and she stood in the center of a lush, green jungle.