InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Easy as 1, 2, 3... ❯ The End is Only the Beginning ( Chapter 25 )

I really don't want to see this end either, but the time has come! Thank you everyone who reviewed and stuck with this story and gave me the inspiration I needed to continue with it and see it through until the end! You have given me a lot of encouragement with my writing. I have never put such a huge effort into a story before, but it was a lot of fun!

Oh, yes, and stay tuned for a bonus! ^_^

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha but any profits I make off this story (reviews) go towards supporting my confidence.

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Easy as 1, 2, 3…

Chapter Twenty-Five

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The old well house was dark and dusty, but Kagome didn't seem to even notice her surroundings as she continued to cry. The storm outside still raged, and a very warm, heavy feeling of moisture hung in the air. It was a sensation nearly stifling to the senses.

The sobbing girl was sitting on the steps leading down to the dry well, her back facing the door. Water dripped from every strand of hair, running down her face and mixing with the tears that were still flowing freely from her eyes. Her shoulders were hunched over, and she had the aura of someone who would just love to curl up and disappear.

The rain was falling so heavily that it masked the sound of approaching footsteps outside until it was too late for her to do anything about it. When she heard the door slide open, she didn't even bother to turn around.

"Just go away." She whispered in a faint voice. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Tough." The familiar voice of Inuyasha answered her. "Because I do. And even if you won't talk then you can at least listen to me."

His voice was strong and very determined, as well as infused with the hope Mrs. Higurashi had given him with her last statement. No one knew Kagome better than her own mother, and why would she give him false hope?

Kagome didn't reply to him.

Sighing in exasperation, Inuyasha moved down the steps and sat down next to her, careful not to alarm her even though he really, really had to work hard to force himself not to touch her. She looked so pitiful with her wet hair and sad eyes, and all he wanted to do was hold her and tell her it would all be okay, and confess his feelings. But unfortunately for him, it just wasn't that easy.

Inuyasha decided to start off by informing her of her mother's secret. "I don't know how you're gonna take this, but your mother told me that she knew about us all along. It seems someone told her."

When this information registered, Kagome whipped her head around to look at him, and in the process some of her wet hair flew out and slapped him in the face. She couldn't help but smile a little at the grimace on his face.

"Don't look at me like that, it's not funny."

Faint amusement tinted her voice. "Yes it is."

"Not, it's not!"

"Keep telling yourself that if it will make you feel better."

Both of them started laughing when they remembered her saying the exact same phrase once before. Inuyasha was the first to speak after the bout of amusement blew over.

"I thought this was going to be a serious heart-to-heart talk. You aren't supposed to beat me up with your hair! That picture you took of me beat up my ego bad enough." Raising his eyebrows, he thought of something. "If for no other reason, you owe me this talk after sending Sesshoumaru that picture!"

Kagome looked down at the ground guiltily. "I'm so sorry I sent that picture. I shouldn't have done it and that's part of the reason I feel so bad now. You've been trying so hard and waiting so long and I just keep ruining things for you like you said earlier."

Inuyasha placed one of his hands under her chin and forced her to look up at him. He wanted to see her eyes, something he could do even in the darkness of the well house. His demon eyesight was almost as good as his hearing.

"Kagome, I don't care about the picture. I understand why you did it, especially looking at it from your point of view. The only thing that concerns me right now is that I still want to know more than anything why you reacted the way you did the day you left. I want to hear the truth from you, and I don't want it put off any longer."

Kagome knew she had to answer him truthfully, but facing her feelings had to be the hardest thing she'd ever done in her life! 'What if I tell him, but he doesn't feel the same? I know he cares, but does he love me? After all, I'm surprised he doesn't completely hate me for sending that picture!'

The silence stretched on for several moments as Kagome sorted out her thoughts, and Inuyasha forced himself to wait patiently. After all, he'd waited so many years that a few more minutes couldn't hurt, or so he kept telling himself.

"I wanted you to tell me that y-you didn't just want me because I'm a miko."

Inuyasha smiled slightly. "That isn't all, is it?"

Kagome shook her head, not wanting to voice the next part.

"Please tell me Kagome." Inuyasha brushed some of her wet hair out of her face with a gentle hand, careful so he wouldn't scratch her with his sharp claws. The caress made Kagome catch her breath before she forced herself to ignore it and concentrate on what she wanted to say. She owed it to him to be as truthful as she could.

After several moments of working up the courage, Kagome closed her eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. "No, that isn't all. I……I also wanted to know if you felt the same way about me as I do about you."

A tense silence followed this statement, before Inuyasha's hand found her arm and gripped it tightly. It was almost as if he were fearful she would try to leave before they got to the most important part, what he had been waiting for so long.

"What is it you feel about me?" His voice was rough, yet at the same time hopeful as he stared at her with his heart in his eyes.

Kagome watched him carefully for a moment, and her face suddenly relaxed as she really saw him for the first time through the darkness. For some reason all her previous fears melted away when she looked into his eyes and saw his emotions written plainly there. Strangely enough, he was more frightened and unsure than she was!

This more than anything else gave her the courage to finally speak. "At some point I fell in love with you Inuyasha. Dog ears, white hair, claws, fangs, and all. I'm not even sure how it happened, I just know that it did." She smiled. "I love you, Inuyasha."

She had barely gotten out the final words of her little speech when Inuyasha shook off the stunned feelings that had resulted and pulled her to him in a tight hug, nearly crushing her! But instead of complaining she returned the hug with as much strength as she possessed, now knowing that all her fears had been completely unfounded.

"I love you so much Kagome. I wouldn't care if you were a miko or not because you're the only one I want. Please tell me you'll never leave me again." His voice was muffled since he had his face nearly buried in her hair.

"I promise I'll never leave you again."

Inuyasha sighed and pulled back slightly, but only to get into a much more comfortable position with her in his lap once again, causing her to blush.

"Why are you so embarrassed?" He teased. "It hasn't been that long since you were in the same spot!" A very pleased smile crossed his face, and the arrogant hanyou was back full force. Kagome had to admit that she loved his confidence, even if it was annoying at times.

"Maybe I don't want to sit here! The step was much more comfortable than it looked."

Inuyasha smirked. "I don't care, now that you're going to be my mate then you have to sit where I want you to sit. So 'sit' here!"

Kagome stuck her tongue out at him. 'The nerve of him, telling me to sit, as if I were a dog or something!'

"Don't stick that tongue out at me unless you want to find out what I'll do with it."

Kagome blushed again, looking slightly flustered. "I don't think I'm going to talk to you anymore! Better yet, maybe you should be the one to stop talking if you plan on saying anything else like that!"

"I'll gladly stop talking but only if you kiss me."

Kagome turned really bright red then and wondered in passing if she was going to spend the rest of her life looking like a tomato.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha continued to laugh at her embarrassment. If such little things could cause her to act like this, he couldn't wait to see how she would react when they officially became mates!

He tugged on her earlobe playfully when she crossed her arms and refused to look at him. "We've slept together twice and you're still shy! I guess I have plenty of time to fix that little problem though!"

"Pervert! Keep this up and you might find yourself sleeping with Buyo for a long time, and then Mama won't get those grandchildren she wants so badly!" Kagome retorted.

He stared at her in surprise. "How did you know that's the main reason she interfered? I couldn't believe it when she said that!"

Kagome scoffed. "Are you kidding? I should know, because she's been knitting baby booties since I became old enough to date!"

Inuyasha's eyebrows lowered thoughtfully, and Kagome slapped a hand over her mouth when she realized what she said. "Exactly how long ago was that? Or should I say how many dates ago was that?" He gave her a hard stare.

"Uhhh…" Kagome hastily tried to think of an acceptable answer and stay in control. She wanted to tease him about it a bit before she started laughing. "I've only dated one other guy, if that's what you're asking."

He didn't look happy with her answer. "How many dates, Kagome?"

She avoided the question with a sudden compliment, hoping to make him forget that he wanted to know something that she didn't really want to tell. "You are a better kisser than he was!"

For a moment he looked pleased until the full meaning of that statement sunk in and she laughed at his stunned look. "You kissed him?!?!"

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she finally decided to stop teasing him. "Oh, and all I did was kiss him once so don't look at me like that!" He gave her a funny look, and she rolled her eyes. "And ALL we did was kiss that one time, are you happy?"

Telling him that had smoothed his ruffled feathers and Inuyasha nodded and wrapped possessive arms around her waist, content with her answer for the moment. He could learn the name of this human brat later and tear him to shreds then. It could wait.

Kagome would have bopped him over the head if she knew exactly what he was thinking, but she didn't. But she still managed to say the right thing anyway. "The little bit of time I spent with him will only be a drop in the bucket compared to how many years you and I will have together. And it will be MUCH more fun! I get the feeling life with you and your family will never, ever be dull."

In response, Inuyasha planted a light kiss on Kagome's lips but didn't take the time to deepen it like she wanted him to. When he moved away, Kagome gave him a half-curious, half-disappointed stare.

"That's it?"

Inuyasha suddenly looked uneasy. "Yeah, I don't want to stay in here much longer, and I don't know about you but I certainly don't find the atmosphere exactly romantic. Is it just me, or does this place give you the creeps too?"

Kagome giggled and tugged on a handful of his long, silver hair. "What, are you scared that a big bad monster is going to pop out of the well and get us?" She didn't admit it, but now that he mentioned it the place did give her a really creepy sensation of déjà vu. Especially the well itself. Kagome shivered as she thought about what it would feel like to fall in.

"Let's get out of here." Inuyasha said instead of answering her. "The rain has let up a little, and we can walk back to the house now and get dried off. I don't want you to get sick. Then tomorrow we can go home and tell my family, I mean OUR family, the good news."

"Okay." She smiled at him and his protectiveness, as well as the way he said 'our family'. She supposed she could forgive him for the pathetic kiss if he kept acting like that!

Kagome and Inuyasha stood up and headed back up the stairs to the sliding door, before stepping outside into the warm, soothing rain. When they were completely outside, Inuyasha turned to her with a sudden grin and an interesting glint in his golden eyes.

"Now that we're out in the rain I'm suddenly feeling much more romantic. Don't all girls dream of getting kissed in the rain or something like that?"

Kagome looked over at the house and then back at Inuyasha with a dry expression on her face. "With my whole family watching through one of the windows of the house? Yeah, I've always dreamed of it."

Inuyasha's grin widened. "Then I guess we'll just have to give them a show! That ought to give them a good idea of how things went and then maybe they'll stop being so nosey."

"HA! Not likely!"

Ignoring her words, he wrapped his arms around her waist and met her soft, rainwater-covered lips with his own. Without even thinking about it, she responded by wrapping her own arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, suddenly not caring if the whole world was watching!

'I can't believe she's finally mine!' Inuyasha's mind shouted in triumph. It was the only coherent thought he had at the moment, but he felt it with his entire being.

When they reluctantly had to come up for air and pulled away, Kagome smiled at him and wiped a damp strand of hair out of his face. "I'm so glad you don't have to be alone anymore. All that time waiting must have been so lonely for you."

"I'd wait and be alone for a thousand years if it meant getting to be with you." He whispered. "Even longer."

Kagome suddenly felt her throat clog with tears and she hugged him around the waist. They stayed like that for several moments.

"So, ready to go back inside and face your family?" He finally questioned, pulling back some. She nodded and grabbed his hand with hers, threading her fingers through his.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

As they turned to walk back, Kagome suddenly remembered one more thing she wanted to tell him, something very important.

"Oh, and Inuyasha?"

"Hmm?" He hummed lightly, wrapping one arm around her waist.

"From now on, you can kidnap me anytime you want."

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So that's the end, folks! I enjoyed writing this story so much and I'm sad to see it end, but I hope you were happy with it and that it provided you with a lot of entertainment and laughs. ^_^