InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forever Yours ❯ Chapter 22

A/N: Wow, it was exactly one year ago today that I watched Inuyasha for the first time. So much has happened since then. I have seen 112 episodes, three of the movies, read thousands of fan fiction and wrote three stories. And it is still is my favourite anime.

 

Reviewers are the best people in the world! I was so surprised when I saw the number of new reviewers. Thank you for all the support, it means the world to me!

 

**********

Forever Yours

Chapter Twenty-Two

 

Kagome didn't know how long she stared at the jewel. Thinking she was losing it, she blinked several times only to find it still there, sparkling in the sunlight.

 

Hesitantly, Kagome reached over and carefully picked it up. There was no doubt about it, this was the real Shikon no Tama.

 

Oh Kami-sama, what have I done to deserve this?

 

Kagome stood up and headed over to the house of the one person who could explain; Kaede.

 

**********

 

“Kagome, `tis wonderful to see ye again,” Kaede greeted warmly, as she led Kagome inside her tiny hut.

 

It was funny, but ever since the final battle with Naraku, Kagome and Kaede were closer than ever, even though Kagome still visited rarely.

 

Kagome heard a small mew and looked down to see Kirara lying on the floor. Kagome opened her backpack and presented the cat treats to the small youkai. Kirara jumped into her arms and started nibbling at the treats happily.

 

Kagome smiled at her, but said, “Kaede something terrible has happened and I need your help.”

 

Kaede looked alarmed. She motioned for Kagome to sit down across from her.

 

Kagome dived right in. “I got here about half an hour ago and I went to visit my friend's graves,” she paused, “I was just talking and then I felt a strange presence surrounding me.”

 

“Strange how?” Kaede questioned.

 

“It's difficult to describe but…it kind of felt like I was in cold water, except for the fact that I couldn't move for a few minutes.”

 

Kaede had an odd look on her face but Kagome continued, “When the feeling stopped, I sensed the presence of the Shikon no Tama and…it appeared right in front of me, on Inuyasha's grave.” Kagome opened her palm, revealing the jewel.

 

Kaede had no expression on her face. Wordlessly, she held out her hand, silently asking to examine it. Kagome gave it to her.

 

Kaede looked at it for several moments before she spoke. “Kagome, the first time ye came back here, a year after Naraku's demise, ye said that ye were surprised that the well let ye come back here without the Shikon no Tama. I was too shocked to see ye to ask what had become of the jewel. However, now I want to know. What happened to it after Naraku's death?”

 

“Do you want the short story or long story?” Kagome said flatly.

 

“Short story.”

 

“I gave it to Kikyo to take to hell so that Inuyasha could protect it even in death.”

 

Kaede's eyebrows flew into her hair and her hand tightened around the jewel. “Okay, now I want the long story. What on earth possessed ye to give something that powerful to my sister, who was returning to the netherworld, where many deceased youkai rest?”

 

Kagome gently stroked Kirara's fur and looked into the fire pit. “Well…after Inuyasha's death, I was so broken that I thought I could never survive on my own. I found myself wishing that I had died with him. I felt no sense of triumph for defeating Naraku…only a terrible pang of sadness and loneliness.” A lone tear ran down Kagome's cheek as she spoke.

 

She swallowed hard and continued, “Just after we had spoken and you had taken Kirara in here, Kikyo showed up.” Kagome paused to wipe her eyes and struggled to keep her voice under control, “We spoke to each other and I told her how upset I was. I don't remember our conversation exactly but in her own way, she reminded me that Inuyasha sacrificed himself because he wanted me to live and that I couldn't let that be in vain. She told me that it wasn't too late to say goodbye to him and that I would see him again someday.”

 

“At that moment, I felt that we had a bond that was more than just sharing the same soul. The two things that have kept me going for the past year were knowing how hard Inuyasha tried to keep me alive and Kikyo reminding me of that. If it weren't for Kikyo, I would have died from the depression, or lived as an empty shell,” she said.

 

Kaede looked deeply moved and Kagome could see pride for her older sister, shining in her eyes. “Kagome, how come ye didn't keep the jewel?”

 

Kagome was ready with an answer this time. “Everybody I had ever met in this era had directly or indirectly been hurt by the jewel. I didn't want it to exist on earth anymore. I knew that nobody could protect it better than Inuyasha, alive or dead. I trusted Kikyo to take it to him. Until this day, I thought it was gone forever. I have no idea how it returned.”

 

“I have a theory,” Kaede said quietly, turning the jewel over in her hands. “Miko's are the only people who can protect the jewel without tainting it or bending over to its power. Anyone else, no matter how good-hearted they are, could not keep it as pure.”

 

“If the jewel was tainted, I would have felt its presence when it returned. However, I felt nothing, which means that hell has not tainted it.”

 

Kagome listened with a blank look on her face. “So what are you saying?” she asked nervously.

 

“I'm saying that the Shikon no Tama never left my sister's possession in the netherworld. It was not delivered to Inuyasha,” Kaede summed up.

 

Absolute silence. Kagome didn't know what to say. “But…but hell is a big place, right? Maybe...she just couldn't find him…” Kagome croaked out feebly.

 

Kaede shook her head. “ `Tis a big place, aye,” she agreed. “However, it doesn't matter how big it is, my sister has a connection to Inuyasha that would lead her directly to him.”

 

“I know,” Kagome said sounding hurt. “So…if he's not in hell and he's not on earth…then he must be in heaven!” Kagome said, feeling happy for the first time since the conversation began. “I knew he would go there! He protected so many people-”

 

“I'm sorry child,” Kaede said, cutting her off. “I highly doubt that Inuyasha went to heaven, even with his big heart. Heaven is a sacred place where the Kamis and Buddha reside. I don't think Inuyasha would even want to go there.”

 

Kagome knew she was right. Once Miroku told Sango and her the same thing. “But if he's not in heaven, hell or earth, where is he!” she exclaimed, standing up.

 

“Sit back down Kagome,” Kaede said firmly. Kagome did, feeling ashamed of her outburst. “I do not know where Inuyasha is resting, but I'm sure that it isn't in one of the three worlds.

 

“I understand,” Kagome said shakily, willing herself to keep the fresh tears at bay.

 

Okay enough talk about this. New subject, new subject!

 

“So, how did Kikyo send the jewel back to earth?”

 

“I'm not entirely sure, but Kikyo is a powerful miko…I think she somehow used her powers to send the jewel back to earth.”

 

“At the exact time I was there?” Kagome asked skeptically. “Why didn't she just keep the jewel? She could protect it better and it caused enough trouble.”

 

Kaede smiled gently. “She is protecting it…through you. As for your other question, I think she sensed you there.”

 

Kagome nodded, allowing her eyes to wander around the tiny hut. They rested on a familiar boomerang and staff. After the final battle, Kagome had taken all that was left of her friends to keep in her possession. However, the only thing in her time was the Tetsusiaga. The staff was kept in the feudal era to assist Kaede in making barriers. Hiraikotsu was kept there so that Kirara could have a part of Sango.

 

“Oh Kagome, I have something for ye,” Kaede said, taking something out of her miko robes.

 

“Kaede, you don't have to-” Kagome began but Kaede waved it aside. She attached the Shikon no Tama to it and placed it in Kagome's palm.

 

Kagome looked at it. It was a necklace used to carry the Shikon no Tama, exactly like the one she had received on her first day in the feudal era. Kagome smiled. “Thank you Kaede, I'll do my best to protect the jewel.” Kagome glanced at her watch, 2:54. “Oh Kami-sama! I have to go! I'm meeting Inuyasha at my house.”

 

“Go ahead child. I wouldn't want to keep ye from seeing your friend,” Kaede said with a knowing smile.

 

Kagome put down the sleeping Kirara, dashed out of the hut and ran toward the well. It's not like that; Inuyasha Takahashi is just a friend. I made a promise to my Inuyasha… That was her last thought before the well consumed her.

 

**********

“It's 2:59, I made it,” Kagome muttered as she climbed at of the well.

 

“No you didn't,” said a voice. “Time to die Kagome.”

 

Kagome looked up into Kuro's dark, hate-filled eyes. Without warning, he grabbed her neck and started squeezing as he pushed her over the edge of the well.

 

Kagome was so busy trying to breath that she didn't notice the blue light surrounding the two of them.