Other Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kagome's Trial ❯ Chapter 21

I know I don't update soon enough; I'm sorry. I've been gone, and when I've had free time, I've been studying for Physics and Calculus (my grades were horrible). I don't know why I'm not understanding some of these concepts, but I'm working on it. Anyway, enough about me. Here's the next chapter!

 

~*~

 

The children grew rapidly. It seemed like in just the blink of an eye, they went from infants crawling around their playpens to young seven-year-olds running around the forest. Almost every week their parents would take them to Vale to be with other children their age and to see their grandparents, and the children loved it there, but they always seemed to be glad to be back in the forest.

 

The children considered the adults that weren't their parents their aunts and uncles. It didn't bother them in the least, and they all looked out for the younglings. It troubled Kagome that she still didn't have any children to show for ten years of marriage, but she considered her friends' children like her own, so she was able to push it aside for the most part.

 

“Aunt Kagome,” she heard herself called from the path.

 

She didn't turn around, just remained kneeling in front of her friends' graves. “Yes, what can I do for you, Jasmine?” she asked.

 

The bouncy redhead knelt next to her. “Why are these here? Are they holy stones?” she asked innocently.

 

“No, sweetie,” Kagome said. “This is just where some of my friends are buried. I like to be here because I feel closer to them.”

 

“Oh.” Jasmine was silent for a moment, then started chattering again. “Mommy said to ask you if you and Uncle Felix wanted to eat dinner with us.”

 

“Let's go inside and ask, shall we?” Kagome rose, the little Jasmine mimicking her. “Felix, Jasmine's here,” she called.

 

He entered the room. “What can I do for you?” he asked the much smaller girl.

 

“Mommy wanted me to ask you and Aunt Kagome if you wanted to eat dinner with us,” Jasmine told him.

 

He looked at his wife. “What do you think? Should we join them?”

 

“I think we should,” she answered, a twinkle in her eyes. “Come on, let's go. Maybe there's still time for me to help Mommy make the food.” They walked out the door, Jasmine between them, using their hands to swing herself forward and backward.

 

Garet was waiting by the door when they came into view. “So, you decided to join us,” he said, smiling at them and his daughter.

 

“I didn't feel like eating Kagome's food again,” Felix said, earning himself a glare from his wife. “Just kidding,” he said, smiling cheerfully.

 

“Jenna's setting the table right now. I'll go tell her you're here.” Jasmine bounced after her father, and the other two followed. “Jenna, they're joining us,” Kagome heard Garet call.

 

“I know,” Jenna called back. “I figured they would. Just sit down and we'll eat.”

 

Kagome and Felix sat beside the other two adults while Jasmine and her siblings came in. There were four children to show for their seven years of marriage, and Jenna was expecting another one very soon. They chatted about how things were going, and Felix told them about Vale and how it was progressing. Jasmine told them how she and Robin, Isaac's son, had found some more of Aunt Kagome's berry bushes somewhere out in the forest.

 

When they finished eating, the adults sat around and spoke about the past, how they'd made friends and wished they could see them again. Kagome mostly listened during this since she hadn't been with them for that part of their journey. Once they finished that topic, it was late, and Kagome and Felix had to walk back. They said good-bye to their friends and headed home. “Felix,” Kagome said as a thought struck her. “How old am I?”

 

He glanced at her. “Is this a trick question?” he asked warily.

 

She shook her head. “Just answer.”

 

“You're about thirty now. Why?”

 

Stopping in the middle of the path, she waited for Felix to face her. “Look at me. Really look at me. How old do I look?”

 

“You look the same as ever,” he answered, sounding and looking confused and more than a little concerned.

 

“Exactly. I haven't aged at all for twelve years. I still look like I'm eighteen, and so do you. So does everyone, for that matter. None of us have aged since we turned eighteen.”

 

“Kagome, I think you're just a little tired,” Felix stated. “Yes, you look young, but that's not a bad thing.”

 

“I should have wrinkles or something by now,” she said, frustrated that he wasn't taking her seriously. “This isn't right!”

 

“It's fine, love,” he said, pulling her close to him. “Do you want to be old?”

 

“Well, no,” she admitted, “but something isn't right here.”

 

“Kagome, there isn't anything wrong with you, me, or the rest of us,” Felix said firmly. “Just let it go.”

 

Kagome fell silent, but didn't forget. After that day, she looked in the mirror almost every day to see if she was aging. She never did.

 

Sheba seemed to be preoccupied with something. One day while she was visiting, Kagome took her outside into the garden and asked her what was wrong.

 

“I just feel like I need to see Faran again,” she replied despondently.

 

“You miss you family in Lalivero?” Kagome guessed.

 

The blonde nodded. “Faran cared for me for fourteen years, so I feel like I need to at least see him.”

 

“Well, why don't you? I mean, you haven't seen him since he went to Vale last year and you showed him your children.”

 

“I don't know what I'll do with Tristan, Jeremy, and Fiona, though,” Sheba said slowly.

 

“Ivan can take care of them,” Kagome assured her. “Besides, if he needs help, there are three other females in the area that can take over.”

 

“Thanks,” Sheba said gratefully. “I'll pack tonight, and probably leave tomorrow.”

 

She looks like she's eighteen, too, Kagome thought as she waved good-bye. I'm not losing my mind.

 

“I heard that Sheba's going to go back to Lalivero for awhile,” Felix commented as he and Kagome prepared to go to bed.

 

“Yeah. She misses Faran and her family there, so she's going to leave the kids with Ivan.”

 

“She's going alone?” Felix asked skeptically. “She knows better than that.”

 

“I'm sure Sheba can take care of herself.”

 

Sure enough, Sheba left before the sun had reached them from over the mountains, alone. Ivan did the best he could with his three children, but like Kagome had thought, needed help after Jeremy got sick. He moved in with Kagome and Felix since they had plenty of extra room and no children of their own. Kagome didn't mind, and Felix never complained, so she assumed it was fine with him as well.

 

Things went well until Sheba didn't return after a couple weeks. Ivan started getting restless, pacing at night and watching the path for his wife's return.

 

“I had a premonition that something happened to her,” he told them after the third week she was gone. “I'm going after her.”

 

“Not alone, you aren't,” Felix stated, rising from his chair. “I know you're strong, but I'm not going to let you go off by yourself.”

 

“I'm leaving tomorrow. You stay here with Kagome; I'll see if I can get Isaac to go with me. Will you take care of the kids for me?”

 

“Of course,” Kagome cut in. “You find Sheba and make sure she's okay.”

 

Ivan left, presumably for Isaac's home. “I don't like this,” Felix muttered.

 

“Felix, I know you're close to Sheba, but Ivan's closer to Isaac. I mean, he originally met up with Isaac to stop you, so it's understandable that he'd go to him,” Kagome soothed her husband's ruffled feathers. “I'm sure they'd let you go, too, if you asked.”

 

He shook his head. “No, he's right; I need to stay here with you.”

 

Isaac and Ivan left the next morning. Mia seemed sorry to see them leave; not surprising, since her husband was leaving her with two young children. Life still went on as usual. Tristan, Jeremy, and Fiona were glad to stay with their Uncle Felix and Aunt Kagome and helped whenever one of them asked something of them. No one worried about the travelers; they were seasoned fighter, all three of them, and even if something had happened to Sheba, they were confident that Isaac and Ivan would be able to rescue her. That confidence waned the longer they were gone.

 

After nearly four weeks passed since they started worrying about Sheba, and Mia was almost out of her mind with worry and was all set to go after them, and would have, except for her children. It got to the point where the adults sent their kids out in the back to play and watched Mia storm around the main room of her home. “I have to go after them,” she raged. “Something happened to Isaac, I just know it.”

 

“What would your kids do?” Garet asked reasonably. “If you're that upset about it, I'll go find them. Isaac's my buddy; I'm sure we'll eventually run into each other. Felix'll go with me, won't you?”

 

He nodded. “Yes. This way, you can stay with your children, and Piers can help look after them.”

 

“I don't see why I should remain and Garet leave,” Piers stated. “It would be more prudent for me to go, as I have no wife or children.”

 

“If any more people wander in here needing treatment, then we'll need you,” Jenna piped up, holding her five-month-old on her lap. “You have to stay here.”

 

He sighed. “I will go with you on this, though I believe you are mistaken, and they need me more.”

 

“All right. Felix, we'll leave in a few days,” Garet addressed the Venus Adept.

 

“A few days?” Mia repeated heatedly. “Why aren't you leaving tomorrow, at least?”

 

“We need to pack and get rested,” the Mars Adept informed her. “They left without much time to get ready, and look at what happened. I'd rather not get caught by whatever has Isaac, Ivan, and Sheba.”

 

True to his word, Garet wouldn't leave for four more days, packing bandages and medicines, just in case they needed them. When it seemed like Mia would set off by herself and leave her children to someone else, he and Felix left. Kagome missed her husband terribly, but the children kept her pretty busy, so she didn't think about it much except at night.

 

Now she had a bad feeling in her gut. She wasn't a true Jupiter Adept, so she didn't have premonitions like Ivan or Sheba, but she could get bad feelings, and this was a major one. It almost felt like there was a permanent miasma around her, making her edgy. The three kids living with her picked up on it and tried their best to make things better, though they didn't know what was wrong.

 

“Aunt Kagome?” Tristan asked her one day while she was sitting under the Goshinboku. “Where are Mommy and Daddy?”

 

“They went to Lalivero,” she replied.

 

“But why didn't they take us?” he asked, his childish voice full of hurt.

 

“They weren't going to stay too long. I'm sure they didn't know they'd be gone this long, or else they'd have taken you with them.”

 

“When will they be back?” he wanted to know.

 

“I don't know,” she answered honestly.

 

“Aunt Mia and Aunt Jenna are worried,” he said. “Jasmine and Robin overheard them talking about leaving to go look for Uncle Isaac, Uncle Garet, Uncle Felix, Uncle Ivan, and Aunt Sheba.”

 

“I see.” Looks like I need to talk to them. “Let's go over to Aunt Jenna's. Go get your brother and sister.”

 

He ran to obey, and as soon as they showed up, all four of them set off to Jenna's home. Her three immediately ran to Jenna's four, and Kagome went to Jenna, who was holding her youngest daughter. “Tristan told me some interesting news,” she said, getting straight to the point. “He said you were going after the others yourself.”

 

“I have to,” Jenna responded, looking desperate. “Ivan was right; something must have happened. There's no other explanation. I have to find out. Mia and I will leave our kids with Jenna's parents in Vale and go after them.”

 

“I don't think so,” Kagome said hotly. “Do you have any idea how long you'll be gone? You two aren't going by yourselves. This time Piers will go with you. If someone else wanders in, then I'll take care of him or her, but three of you WILL go. And I can take care of your children. They love the forest more than Vale; this is where they grew up.”

 

“Kagome, you already are caring for Ivan and Sheba's children. We couldn't ask you to take ours, too.”

 

“Yes, you can, and I'd accept. I'll just run over to Piers' and Mia's to tell them what's up. When will you leave?”

 

“Now that I know where my children will stay, I'm going tomorrow.”

 

“I'll call them over. Be back in a few.”

 

The others came when she called, and they all reassembled at Jenna's home. “So we're leaving tomorrow?” Piers asked.

 

Mia nodded. “I don't like leaving Kagome alone like this, but she already volunteered to watch our kids. We'll try not to be gone too long,” she said.

 

“Just be careful,” Kagome warned them. “Find them as quickly as possible. We'll be waiting.”

 

The next morning Jenna and Mia brought over their children. Kagome sent them into her home and hugged them good-bye. Walking them to the path, she also hugged Piers, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Come back soon with everyone.

 

“Aunt Kagome?” Robin asked. “Why's Mommy leaving?”

 

“She's going to look for your father, Aunt Sheba, and your other uncles,” she said, managing to keep her voice from shaking.

 

That didn't stop the children, though. Apparently they associated their parents' disappearance with not coming back, and they started crying. “Mommy's not coming back,” Gaven, Jenna's second-born, sobbed.

 

“No, sweetie,” Kagome said, kneeling by the distraught children. “They'll come back. They all will.”

 

The children crowded around her, taking comfort in her presence. The infant started squalling, and she had to feed it, but returned to the kids after the bottle was prepared. That night they all slept together in the main room, even Kagome.

 

Time passed. People still wandered into Inuyasha's Forest, as Kagome had named it, and she took care of them and the children. Every day she looked down the path, waiting to see her friends' familiar forms, but never did. She still took the children to Vale every week, but after a while, she started taking them every month, then randomly.

 

After a few years, men began looking at her in ways she didn't appreciate; she was married, after all. Still, the men seemed to think that Felix wouldn't come back, and began making advances on her. That helped her to make the decision to remain in Inuyasha's Forest and leave only when necessary.

 

She still looked the same as ever, an eternal eighteen-year-old. She was now thirty-five, but didn't look it at all. She didn't know why she didn't age; it couldn't be the forest since the children were growing rapidly. It didn't seem to be hurting her, though, so she didn't pay much attention to it.

 

The children had all but forgotten their parents. The eldest ones still remembered, but Kimi, Jenna's infant, didn't know any parent but Kagome. They had long given up on them returning and had accepted Kagome as their mother, though they still called her “Aunt Kagome”. They loved her like she was their mother, and didn't question her when she said that they wouldn't be returning to Vale for some time.

 

~*~