InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Ever After ❯ Chapter 25

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi


Chapter 25


It had been a long time since they had traveled cross country with Kagome on InuYasha’s back.

After a little initial awkwardness, including learning things like how high Kagome needed to hike up her skirts, and her relearning how to hold on securely, and InuYasha dealing with the fact that she was a little taller than the last time he did this, they began to move, slowly gathering more speed as the two got settled into a rhythm with InuYasha running and taking long leaps through the landscape, sailing through the trees.  The miles began to pass.

Kagome squeed after a particularly wild leap. “For some reason, this is more exciting than when we used to chase after Naraku,” she said.  “Or maybe it’s just because I can enjoy it now without looking for an attack.”  She brought her mouth next to InuYasha’s neck, and gave him a small kiss there.

“Behave, woman,” he said, giving her thigh  a little squeeze.  “Don’t want to make me lose my footing.  We might never get there. I forgot how it felt to carry you like this.”

“Did it always feel this good?” she said, brushing her cheek against the side of his face.

“Yes,” he said. “But back then I was kind of busy keeping us alive and chasing the bad guys and trying to behave myself all at the same time to enjoy it much.”  He grinned, and launched into the air again. “Still there were times it was a good thing you couldn’t read my mind.”

“Or you read mine, either,” she said, giving him another little kiss. “We might have gotten into some serious trouble.”

He laughed.

The ground began to rise, and the trees, too, as tall, stately evergreens began to dominate.  After jumping across a rather narrow pass,  InuYasha reached a place where a meadow opened up to the spring sun, filled with nodding white and purple blossoms reaching up above the pale green of new grass.  They could hear a stream not far away, and to one side, there was a stand of trees behind a tumble of rock.

“It’s a half a day’s walk to the nearest village from here,” InuYasha said, as he let his wife slip off his back.  “I heard the locals think it’s haunted, and they stay away.”

Kagome took a deep breath and turned in a slow circle.  “It doesn’t feel haunted.”

“Never seen anything up here to cause trouble.  Deer, the occasional hunter.  No ghosts.” He took a deep breath, and let his arm circled her waist.  “Today, just us.”

“Umm.  That sounds good,” she said, leaning into his touch. “Getting hungry?”

“Yeah.  Let’s set up.”

Together they gathered wood near the edge of the meadow, and InuYasha scraped the weeds off a place where the grass was thin so they could make a small fire.

“We’re going to need some water,” Kagome said as she untied her carry cloth.  Opening her basket and taking out a small pot, she handed it to InuYasha.

He nodded, and headed to the stream.  Not far from where he scooped the water, it cascaded down the rocks in a small waterfall and into a brush-lined ravine below it.  The stream was swollen with the spring melt, and was noisy as the water rushed across the fall.  InuYasha stood for a moment on a rock outcrop that let him watch it.  Somehow, it pleased him to watch it.  Bits of branches and other things flowed on the rapid current, and even a tree had been undercut and now spanned the water as a natural bridge.  While the water was running this high, all the obstacles that blocked  the water’s flow got pushed aside, while the stream ran free in its channel.

“Kind of reminds me of destiny,” he said, thinking of how when destiny was in full flow, there was nothing that could stop it - not evil jewels, or grief, or even obligations to the past.  Not even centuries of time. “It has to be destiny,” he said, softly.  “I sure the hell don’t deserve it.”

“What's so interesting?” Kagome said, walking up behind him. “You do want so tea, don’t you?”

InuYasha turned and looked at her standing in front of him. He smiled as he watched her, dressed in the simple kosode and wrap skirt of a farmer’s wife.  She deserved more, he thought, but that would have to come later.  What was important, most of all, was that their destiny had brought them back together, and in spite of mean-spirited villagers, and kami and even his own awkwardness, Kagome was there, watching him, happy, warm and alive, her ebony hair stirring in the breeze. She had grown a bit in the three years they had been separated, but her blue-gray eyes still gazed at him with all the warmth they ever had, and even more. And he felt very grateful to destiny at that moment.

“I was looking at the stream.  It’s running really fast right now,” he said. “I guess I got lost in my thoughts and forgot I had the tea water.”  InuYasha took a step closer, and caught her hand in his free one and laced his fingers between hers. “But I tell you what’s really interesting today. Being here with you.”

Kagome's smile was like the sunshine and she moved close to him, lifting a hand up to brush  his cheek with her fingers. “You think so?”

“I know so,” he answered.  He put down the little pot and wrapped her in his arms.

Tilting her chin up with a claw-tipped finger, he let his lips brush across hers, felt her arms circle his neck as she relaxed into his embrace, and her own lips part to the gentle caress of his tongue. Together they explored each other's taste and texture. They broke contact reluctantly, meeting together for several smaller but lingering kisses until InuYasha loosened his hold enough to take a step back.

Kagome, not yet willing to let him go, kissed his chin. “If we keep this up, we’ll never get to lunch.”

He ran his fingers through her dark hair.  “Would that be so bad?”  He pulled her back for one more brief, tender kiss. “Maybe it’s not food I’m hungry for.”

“Oh, you’ll like this,” she said, pulling out of his arms and picking up the water pot. “I’ve got something special just for you.  Sango fixed it while you were waiting.”

“Yeah?” He reached out and caught her hand again.

She laughed, and reaching up, tweaked his ear, and laughed. It was a pleasant sound, not teasing at all. “She made noodles.”

“Noodles?” he said, looking rather surprised. “I haven’t had noodles in a long time.”

“Yes,” she said, nodding. “It’s not ramen, but I think you’ll like it anyway. And we can’t get to eat  until you come back.  I need you to get the fire started.”

“You’re not the only one with a surprise,” he said, following her back to their little campsite.

“Oh?” she said, turning to look at him.

“After we eat,” he said, giving her a knowing, playful smirk.  “You brought me noodles, after all.  Can’t let them go to waste.”  

InuYasha started the fire with an ease that made almost Kagome jealous.  She had tried making a fire a few times already, but she found that holding the flint and steel felt awkward in her hands, and blowing the sparks into a flame made her wish she had brought some matches or a lighter with her in a pocket when she left.   As he fed it with small bits of wood, she prepared her tea pot.

“So tell me, when did Sango decide to send you off with noodles?” InuYasha asked.

“She had made them yesterday for lunch today,” Kagome said as she continued to prepare their meal.  “When she heard where we were going, she thought it’d be nice to send our share with us, so she hurried up and cooked them while Miroku kept you company.”

“Hustled me, you mean,” InuYasha said.  “You bring any pickles?  He was trying to get me to agree to help him re-roof that little temple building of his.  It leaks already.  We had a typhoon blow through last fall, and it got damaged.” He added a few more sticks of wood to the fire, then moved to sit next to her.

“Yes, I brought some pickles,” she said, unwrapping a small covered dish, and putting it out where he could reach it. “Don’t eat them all.  I want some, too.”

“Would I do that?” he asked as he opened the dish and took out a slice.

“Not if you want a happy wife,” she replied, putting the water on to heat.

“I’ll remember that,” he said, chewing the pickle slowly.

Kagome handed him a rice ball, a bit battered from its wrapping and being carried in her basket and a small wooden container that had his share of the noodles.  They were cold, but had a tasty sauce with bits of vegetables and fish mixed in.

“Those look good,” InuYasha said.

“Tell me if you like them,” Kagome said, handing InuYasha his chopsticks.  “I’ll get Sango to teach me the recipe.”

He took a bite, and then another.  “They’re good,” he said.  “Not quite ramen, but I like them. Do people eat cold noodles a lot?”

“Sometimes,” Kagome said.  “People like them cold when the weather’s hot, especially.”

She finished her noodles long after InuYasha did, but he comforted himself with a rice ball and his share of the pickles while she did.  By then the water was hot enough to make tea.

While they sipped their tea, Kagome asked, “So you’ve had your noodles.  Now what surprise did you have for me?”

“How would you like a bath?” he said.

“Not in that river,” she said.  “It looks way too cold.”

“What if I told you that behind those rocks and near to those trees over there,” he said, pointing to the area at the edge of the meadow, “there’s a hot spring.  A nice one.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  That’s why we’re here.  Nobody to bug us, lots of quiet, and a hot spring, too.”

The smile she gave him was all the answer he needed. They finished their tea, put out their fire, and packed back up, and then, getting back on her husband’s back, they moved over the rock outcropping to find a perfect little hidden valley dominated by a warm and inviting spring.  

“Oh, it’s nice,” Kagome said, as InuYasha let her slide off of his back.

The spring itself was half-shaded by the trees that grew near the water. On one side, through a narrow neck, the waters from the spring moved on to join the stream before it cascaded over the falls, but here, it was clear and still and rock-lined.

“I’ve used it before.  Deep enough to take a proper soak, not too hot that we’ll cook ourselves,” InuYasha said.

“Considering how hot you think is hot, there’s no chance we can get cooked,” Kagome said, smiling.

“I’m not the one with a little brother who likes to take boiling baths,” he said.  “So, will this do?”

“Very much so,” Kagome said, nodding.

“Good.”  He took off his suikan and laid it on the ground, a place where dappled shadow from a nearby tree only blocked some of the light, and laid the bundle that held the remains of their meal next to it. “Well, are you just going to stand there, or get into the water?”

They undressed and slipped into the spring.  Kagome ducked under the surface and came back up, shaking her head and splashing her husband as InuYasha watched.  He raised an arm to keep the splashing out of his face.

“And you complain when I shake off,” he said, chuckling.

“Oh, it’s been too long since I was able to slip under hot water,” she said, wiping the water out of her face.

“There’s a nice rock over there.” InuYasha said, pointing to the far side of the spring.  “It’s underwater, but makes a nice place to just sit and soak.”

Nodding, she made her way there, and he followed.

His hair made silver patterns floating on the water behind him, patterns that danced and shifted slightly as he slid his arms around the woman next to him and she relaxed against him.

“Is this all right, Kagome?” he asked. “Warm enough?”

She nodded, looking very content as she leaned on his shoulder.  The  water was almost up to her shoulders.

For a few minutes they just sat there in the warm water, listening to the wind in the trees and the sound of the stream in the distance.  A bird suddenly began singing.

InuYasha pulled her closer. “Wonder what that bird’s fussing about?”

“Us, probably” she said, leaning into his hold. “This is a beautiful place.”

“Yeah. I don't know if many people even know it exists. It's kind of hard to get to,” he said, taking her left hand in his right. He planted a small kiss in her palm. “I found it one day by accident after the well closed, and knew if . . . ” He swallowed, as if the words were hard to say. “If you came back home, I'd want to take you here.”

She snuggled into his arms, letting her lips brush against his neck. “Home. I like the sound of that word,” she murmured. “Even though things have been a little crazy, it feels right.  I came home, where I belong.”

His hands threaded through her hair, tiling her face up to meet his amber gaze, looking at her with an intensity that sent a tingle through her entire body. Leaning forward, his mouth found hers, his lips brushing gently against hers in a kiss meant to signal everything he could not put into words. The kiss deepened and became hungry.

When they broke, Kagome, her eyes glittering, asked, “Ready to get out?”

“Damn ready,” he said, giving her a smirk that warned of more to come.  “Time to get dirty again.”

She laughed as he picked her up, cradling her to him, and bounded out of the water.  He laid her gently on his suikan, which he had left separate from the rest of her clothes.

“You planned this?” Kagome asked.

“Maybe,” InuYasha replied. “Or hoped it.”

His damp hair clung to his back, sending little droplets dripping down over his shoulder and onto his arms as he hovered over her on his hands and knees.  She ran a finger down one track then slid that hand under his hair and over his shoulder blade.

“So perfect,” he said, before letting his lips brush across hers.  

“Perfect day,” she asked, “perfect location, perfect activity?”

“All of them,” he replied.  “And perfect person.”

He found her mouth again, and lowered his body on hers.  Neither of them had much more to say.