InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tumbleweed's Ficlet Corner ❯ The World You Love ( Chapter 6 )

I got a story it's almost finished
All I need is someone to tell it too
Maybe, that's you.

 

 

Kagome had cried herself to sleep the night before. She had finished her job with the Shikon no Tama. Inuyasha and she shared their first consensual kiss. Sango and Miroku had gotten married. Shippo had gotten permission to call her Mother. Everyone was happy. She was considering staying in their time for the rest of her life. She went back to her time to say goodbye. She said her teary goodbyes, and went back to the well with everything she thought she'd need. Jumping through, she almost broke her ankle landing on the hard ground. The well wasn't working.

 

 

Shock was her first feeling, and she quietly denied it. “No, no...” she said. Then the tears came as she realized she couldn't go back to her love. She couldn't go back to her son. She couldn't go back to the best friends of her life. “NO!” she screamed, pounding on the dirt and trying to dig with her nails frantically. “Inuyasha! Shippo! Sango! Miroku! Inuyasha! No!” Souta, Mama, and Gramps had come running, only to find a wretch of the girl they once knew sobbing on the floor of the well. “Inuyasha...” she sobbed, “No... I love you...”

 

Our time is borrowed and spent to freely
every minute i have needs to be made up
but how?
I'm looking for a nice way to say
"I'm out."
I want out

 

Inuyasha, after a week of worrying his head off, had jumped down into the well to find it wasn't working. There was no flash of magic to show that time was being sped up. There was nothing. Just silence. “No,” he said in denial, placing a hand on the dirt. “No, Kagome, no!” He shouted, clawing at the dirt, chanting no and please, two words contrary to one another, one falling off his lips easily and the other only used as a desperate measure. He considered this a very desperate measure. “KAGOME!!”

 

 

She was gone. That was his only thought as he sat emotionlessly in the Goshinboku tree. He had been up there for a full month, with no word from his love. Sighing as he did so, he leapt down from the tree to move back to the village. As soon as Kagome was named Shippo's mother, it was only natural that he'd be his father. Shippo was his son. He had a duty to take care of that boy, and he knew Kagome would have it none other way. If he bided his time, he might actually be able to live through the five-hundred-year gap between the two.

 

I fall asleep with my friends around me
only place I know, I feel safe
I'm gonna call this home

 

Shippo and he set out into the forest in a silent agreement to get as far away from the reminders of the girl as possible. They promised Miroku, Kaede, and Sango that they'd come and visit as often as they could, but their first intent was to create a home for themselves. Over the years, Shippo indirectly taught Inuyasha patience. Inuyasha fended off any and all threats to his new home with his son, and taught Shippo how to live for himself, even if the two were bound together to stay alive for the raven-haired girl who was so far out of their reach.

 

 

During every visit to Kaede's village to see all of Sango and Miroku's many children, Inuyasha tried the well. Shippo awaited his return every time, only to find him come back empty handed. Over time, the boys came not to expect it to work, but Inuyasha never stopped trying. No one blamed him.

 

The open road is still miles away
Hey nothing serious
we still have our fun
oh we had it once

 

 

Kagome finished school, putting her all into it with nothing else to focus her attention on but pain and loneliness. She hadn't even thought that the two might live through five hundred years, so she just continued with her studies. The only clue that she was still longing for Inuyasha was the fact that she always left her bedroom window open, rain, snow, shine or sleet, it was always open. She performed her homework under the God tree where Inuyasha had been pinned, feeling closer to him there more than anywhere else. The memories were painful, though.

 

 

Despite her pain, Kagome worked through it. She knew that even if Inuyasha couldn't reach her, he'd want her to live as full a life as possible without him. She had many suitors over the five years that the well wasn't working, but turned every single one down in Inuyasha's memory. She kept a photograph of him in modern clothes, looking uncomfortable but still rather cute in his little pout, on her mirror. She also had framed photos of Sango, Miroku, and Sango up around the room. She had an entire book full of the times she shared with them, though she never looked at them. It brought back far too many painful memories.

Windows open and close
That's just how it goes

 

One rainy day, Kagome sat right next to the window and writing a paper for her English college professor. She looked back from the rain and then to her screen. Deciding it could wait, she stood up and headed outside and downstairs. Unknowing of just how much time passed she sat, her eyes closed in thought, under the massive tree where so much happened. It was one of the rare times where she allowed herself to think of the lost love she had, and mourn for her lost son. Her tears meshed easily with the rain and it was hard to see that she was sobbing. Each sob wracked her body, making her shake and tremble.

 

 

It wasn't from the rain and cold either. The rain finally stopped and a beam of sunshine hit her across the face. Her eyes opened and she peered around the grounds of the shrine. She knew all of it by heart, and Gramps was probably going to leave them soon. In the five years he had been out of her life, demons had begun showing themselves. They were almost a common thing now, though the prejudice against them was horrible. Her heart went out to them. She knew they were misunderstood, and now every demon she came across was given trust and a friendly smile, usually something they didn't see. Just the other day, she'd seen a little boy with his mother come through the shrine. He reminded her of Shippo, and she handed him a lollipop that he accepted excitedly.

 

Don't it feel like sunshine after all
the world we love forever, gone
we're only just as happy
as everyone else seems to think we are

 

It was true that she loved the world that she had unintentionally left behind, but maybe there was a future for demons yet in this world. She may have lost her love, but it didn't mean that she should hate his kind just because they reminded her of him and their son. She knew he probably raised Shippo to the best of his ability, and she prayed that they had a full life together. Everyone saw her as a happy woman, even if she was always alone. The few that knew what she had lost knew that when she sat by the humongous tree, she wasn't daydreaming. She was reminiscing of the few times she had with her love.

 

 

As much as she loved living she loved Inuyasha more, and she had considered suicide on many occasions. Every time, she had rationalized that Inuyasha wanted her to be happy, but she couldn't without him. Then again, she brought up the fact that he had always hated death, and he had told her once that killing oneself was idiotic at best. That thought alone kept her going. Inuyasha wouldn't want it, so she wouldn't do it, no matter how appealing it was. Death was the wrong lane to go into, she told herself, and it wouldn't bring her any closer to Inuyasha.

 

I'm in love with the ordinary
I need a simple space
And rest my head
Everything gets clear
Well I'm a little ashamed for asking
But just a little helps
It gets me straight again
Helps me get over it (over it)

 

 

In her heart she knew she'd never get over her loss, but then again, her father had been gone for almost fifteen years now and her mother still hadn't started dating. She wondered if that was her fate, to become a lonely housewife. The only problem with that idea was that she refused to remarry or even date. Adding onto that fact, she didn't have any children with Inuyasha before the well stopped working. She had nothing going for her, besides school. School, on the other hand, seemed so much more trivial compared to what her life used to be like.

 

 

Still, she knew that was the only way to get by in her world and she continued her education. She had nothing better to do. It was either that or lean on her mother, and she couldn't do that to the woman. Gramps was hanging by a thread nowadays, and she had enough to worry about. Souta was becoming a rebel... Shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts, she continued to think on her problem of the well. She'd tried everything she thought of to get it working again, and nothing worked. What hadn't she thought of...?

 

It might seem like a dream
but it's real to me

 

 

Gramps had suggested a few things, but none of that worked either. She'd tried calling upon the power of the Jewel of Four Souls, but it refused to grant her wish for the well to reopen. She settled with a wish to see Inuyasha again. The jewel had flashed after she made the wish and then it went into dormancy, not glowing or swirling at all. She had left it in her jewelry box atop her desk. If she couldn't feel its power, there was little doubt that demons couldn't either. It was hopeless... Even if she did see Inuyasha, it'd probably be just his photograph.

 

 

Don't jinx it, she mentally berated herself. If there was anything in the world that could save her relationship, it was the jewel. She had given up hope lately... she had made the wish years ago, and the wish was yet to come true. Lately, she'd heard tell of a new Irish architectural company that was in the rise, called Farmer's Wishes. She didn't know why the company came to mind, but she brushed it off and returned to hoping and praying that she'd see Inuyasha soon, if at all. She needed him, not only mentally, but physical. The bodily ache of being away from Inuyasha was getting worse with every day that passed, and she could do nothing but pray.

 

Don't it feel like sunshine after all
the world we love forever, gone
we're only just as happy
as everyone else seems to think we are

 

As her eyes swept the grounds, she spotted a silver-haired demon standing beside an auburn-haired one, both with their backs to her and looking as if they were confused. Foreigners, probably. The two were tall, undoubtedly demons. One had a reddish fox tail. Smiling, she stood to help the boys out. “Looking for something, sirs?” she asked as she walked over, hoping her soaked clothing wouldn't hinder her reputation for cleanliness around here. “I could help... I've lived here for a long time, and I work here full-time...” she added.

 

You should see the canals are freezing
You should see me high
You should just be here
Be with me here
It doesn't seem there's hope for me
I let you down
But I won't give in now
Not for any amount

 

Shippo and Inuyasha had, almost miraculously, lived through the centuries. They had moved to Ireland, where demons were a little less conspicuous, and awaited the day where they could go back to Japan to find their mother and love. Only five years after she lost them, they calculated, they were able to return to Japan. They had to cross Japan to get to her, but neither minded. She meant the world to both of them, even after all of those years.

 

 

“Maybe you can help us,” said Inuyasha, turning around to look upon the girl he'd missed for five hundred years. Shippo's tail flicked and he turned to look as well. Inuyasha gave off that annoying smirk he still had. “I'm looking for a girl, about your height, brown eyes, black hair... Really high-pitched, nagging voice, obsessed with school.” he teased. “Named Kagome.”

 

 

“Inuyasha,” the girl breathed eyes wide in shock. She moved forward a step and raised a tentative hand to rest on his cheek, eyes searching his. “Is it really you?” Disbelief filled her heart. How could they have possibly lived so long? Shippo looked to be maybe in his mid twenties, Inuyasha maybe early thirties. Inuyasha nodded and his look turned tender. Kagome threw herself at him, tears beginning as she clutched at him almost desperately. “Inuyasha... I've missed you so much.”

 

 

Don't it feel like sunshine after all
The world we love forever, gone
We're only just as happy
As everyone else seems to think we are

 

 

The half-demon embraced her tightly to him. Feeling her form against his was so refreshing, and it erased many of his scars on his heart that he had created in her memory. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed in her scent, itching to kiss her. She had her face buried in his red t-shirt, sobbing uncontrollably. “Shh, love, I'm here... I'm really here.”

 

 

“It's a dream,” she said quietly, allowing her tears to dwindle into hiccoughs. “I'm going to wake up and you're going to be gone again. I'll be alone, like always.”

 

 

“No,” he said sternly, rubbing her back and pulling away slightly. “It's not a dream.” He leant down and kissed her gently on the lips. Five-hundred years of emotion he poured into that tender gesture. Kagome had five years to her name, but it didn't hinder the feeling. Pulling away, he hugged her again. “I love you.” he spoke quietly in her ear. The tears worked her up again and she hiccoughed, this time tears of joy.

 

 

Shippo pouted from beside the reunited couple, his arms crossing over his broad chest. “Don't I get a turn?” Kagome gave a watery laugh and pulled out of Inuyasha's arms to hug Shippo tightly. He had grown from the just-under-a-foot-tall runt to towering over her at a little over six foot. He was about Inuyasha's height, but Inuyasha, too, had grown. His hair reached his lower back in a silver braid.

 

 

The reunion of the family was watched by Kagome's mother from the kitchen window. The woman, now getting on in her own years, smiled and returned to her dishes. She hadn't told Kagome that she'd seen Inuyasha on the news as president of the Irish architectural company, Farmer's Wishes, with a grown Shippo standing beside him as CEO. Kagome never watched the news anymore anyways, claiming that it was too depressing and there was too much anti-demon advertising. The three talked and laughed, Kagome staying in Inuyasha's arms happily.

 

 

Kagome was smiling out of true happiness for the first time in years.

 

 

 

 

The song is called The World You Love and it's by Jimmy Eat World, on the album Futures. Buy it. Listen to the song. It's great. Recommended muchos... I might continue this. If you're lucky...

 

 

MORON