InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Making Things Right ❯ Reviving The Past Pt 1 ( Chapter 11 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: inufan625 
Memories are revealed...
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 01.09.2005 | Updated On: 07.06.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.6K | Visits: 4.2K | Status: Work In Progress
Memories are revealed...
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 01.09.2005 | Updated On: 07.06.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.6K | Visits: 4.2K | Status: Work In Progress
(**) a dream/vision
(~~) a note/letter
(*****) a scene/time change
This is a lemon chapter... The clean version on fanfiction.net
________________________________________________________ _____________
When Kagome woke, she found herself surprised that she had so easily fallen back asleep. InuYasha, as usual, was already up, since he never slept much past dawn. Once dressed, she went out to the living room to find that she had been the last to wake.
“InuYasha told us about last night,” Sango offered.
Kagome nodded. “I guess there’s no point in putting it off,” she sighed. “I have to tell all of you something about last night, as well.”
“Is it your dream?” InuYasha asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “I was told that we all need to go to the shrine if I want to find out what happened and why I am having these dreams.”
“Well, that seems easy enough,” Miroku interjected. “When should we go?”
“Today,” Kagome replied. “We have to go today.”
Miroku, of course, understood that a miko’s visions were to be taken seriously, and Sango was not one to doubt her friends, so they both trusted that if Kagome thought this trip was important that it must be.
Kagome went inside to explain to her mother why they had come and the others gathered under the Goshinboku.
“This tree is very old,” Miroku said. “It has a connection to all things. I have never felt an energy quite like it.”
InuYasha turned at Kagome’s approach. “What are we supposed to do?” he asked.
Kagome walked up to the Goshinboku and kneeled. She placed her hand on the stone at the base of the tree, motioning for the others to do the same.
As soon as they were all touching the smooth surface of the stone, a torrent of visions of the lives of her friends flashed through her mind, culminating in the final battle against pure evil and the wish on the Shikon no Tama that changed everything.
While the others didn’t see the things Kagome saw, each was granted a vision of who they once were:
Miroku saw himself in the robes of a monk and around one of his hands were a sealing string of prayer beads. Sango saw herself in the clothing of a demon exterminator holding a giant bone boomerang. Shippou saw a much younger version of himself, and InuYasha saw himself wearing a red kariginu and hakama, holding a sword that looked like a giant fang. The beads Kagome had purchased were around his neck.
They all pulled back and looked at Kagome. Her hands were trembling and her eyes were filled with tears.
InuYasha went to touch her, but Miroku shook his head.
“Wait,” he said. “She is still being shown what she needs to see.”
Finally, after a few tense moments, Kagome leaned back and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath trying to keep from crying and trying to process several lifetimes worth of memories. Her head hurt, but the core of her pain came from her heart. What could these wonderful people she was so close to have done to have deserved the suffering inflicted upon them, and could she bear to inflict it upon them again?
“Kagome, are you all right?” InuYasha asked.
“Not really,” she replied, “but I’ll deal with it.”
“Kagome, have you found the answers you were looking for?” Miroku asked.
“Yes, and more,” she replied. “And then, there were some things I wish I’d never had to know, that I’d never seen.” She looked at each of them in turn.
“Long ago, there was a great warrior priestess. In a battle with several youkai, she found herself with no hope of victory. She used the last of her energy to cast out her soul and trap the youkai with her inside, thus creating the Shikon no Tama. The battle would continue to rage on in the jewel until it was purified.
“The jewel was protected for many years by powerful mikos and, at last, came to rest in the hands of the priestess Kikyou. Kikyou sought to purify the jewel so that she could free herself from her life of service. When she met the hanyou InuYasha, she saw her chance. Both InuYasha and Kikyou felt a terrible loneliness and were drawn to each other. InuYasha hoped to steal the jewel and become a full demon so that he would no longer be an outcast among both demons and humans, but instead, he ended up caring for Kikyou. She said that if he were willing to use the jewel to become human, she would be with him.
“Willing to do anything in order to no longer be alone, InuYasha agreed, but they were never meant to be together. Kikyou had as a miko taken on the care of a thief called Onigumo, and he in turn, came to desire her. When he learned of her and InuYasha, he offered his soul to demons and became the hanyou Naraku.
“On the day Kikyou was meant to bring the jewel to InuYasha, Naraku laid a trap. Posing as, InuYasha he mortally wounded Kikyou, who then sought out InuYasha in her final hours to repay him for his suspected betrayal. When Kikyou attacked, InuYasha he went to the village and stole the jewel. While trying to escape, Kikyou shot him with a sacred arrow, pinning him to this sacred tree, sending him into an eternity of darkness where he was neither alive or dead.
“Kikyou, in her last breath, asked that her body be burned with the jewel so that she would carry it into the next life.”
“So they never knew that they didn’t betray one another?” Sango asked.
Kagome shook her head. “Kikyou held in her heart a deep hatred for all youkai. Though her soul was the one destined to bring peace to InuYasha, she was not ready to be with him as she was. She could not trust nor truly accept him as he was. It was that lack of trust that allowed Naraku to trick them, and had InuYasha made his wish, it would have meant their destruction, since Kikyou’s hatred of youkai would have tainted the jewel.
“For the next fifty years, InuYasha remained pinned to this tree, until the reincarnation of Kikyou was pulled into the well on her family’s shrine, because of the Sacred Jewel inside her body, and found herself 500 years in the past.”
“And you are that reincarnation, are you not?” Miroku asked.
Kagome nodded. “This is where it gets confusing. I now have two sets of memories for the same time in my life. In the new ones, on my fifteenth birthday, I was pulled into the well by a centipede demon who wanted the jewel. I met InuYasha that day, wrapped in vines and pinned to this very tree. He appeared to be sleeping.
“Then, I met the village miko Kaede and found out that I was her older sister Kikyou’s reincarnation. The centipede demon came after me in the village, so I ran into what was called the Forest of InuYasha to lead it away. I once again found myself before the strange boy with the cute dog ears, only this time, he was awake. It seems my soul simply reached out and grabbed his, recognizing it, breaking part of the spell that had held him so long. He thought I was Kikyou at first.
“The demon came after me, and I grabbed onto InuYasha. He offered to save me if I could free him, so I pulled on the arrow and it disappeared. He destroyed the demon and I retrieved the jewel that had been ripped from my body. ”
Kagome lifted her shirt to reveal a scar. “Until today, I always thought I got this scar when I fell down the stairs in the well house and was cut open on a jagged piece of wood. I remember it clearly, but I also remember the feeling of Mistress Centipede’s claws.”
“What does this have to do with Miroku, Shippou, and I?” Sango asked.
“I’m getting to that,” Kagome replied. “InuYasha wanted the jewel, and he tried to kill me to get it.”
“I thought we agreed that I was missing you on purpose,” InuYasha said.
“So we did,” Kagome agreed. “Anyway, InuYasha tried to get the jewel, and Kaede sent a rosary around his neck that would give me the power to subdue him with a word.”
“Don’t say it,” InuYasha said, blushing.
Kagome rolled her eyes. “The first word I thought of was ‘osuwari’.”
The others started laughing.
“When I said the word, he would be pulled face first into the ground. As it was, though, InuYasha wasn’t the only one who wanted the jewel, and demons began to come for it. InuYasha fought to protect me, since I had the jewel and he was trying to find a way to steal it.
“Then a crow demon stole it, and I managed to shatter the jewel with a sacred arrow scattering across Japan. So InuYasha and I set out on a quest to gather the shards, and in our travel, we discovered Naraku’s deception and met an orphaned kitsune, a proud demon exterminator, and a lecherous monk. The monk, exterminator and hanyou had a common enemy, Naraku, so they banded together to form an unlikely group of friends. That friendship is what allowed the wish I made, to purify the jewel, to be granted.
“It’s hard to explain this clearly. I’m not even sure I understand exactly what happened.”
“We understand Kagome,” InuYasha prompted. “Just do your best.”
The others nodded.
“InuYasha already knows some of what happened when we finally came face to face with Naraku, when I told him about a dream I had,” she stated and then continued explaining.
“My wish bound all of our souls together so that I could bring you with me into this time. I am Kikyou’s reincarnation, but I am not Kikyou. I am Kagome. I had a life in this time, and so when I was born as myself, all of you were reborn with me, only, you are not reincarnations.
“Sango, you are the demon exterminator, Sango, only, without memory of your first life. Miroku, you are the same lecherous houshi, Miroku. Shippou, you are the same orphaned kitsune, and InuYasha is the same hanyou that was pinned to this tree. It is in all of you to be the same people you were before, as well as the people you have become after leading a different life.
“I have been granted the power to show you all what happened from when you lived before. The reason for this is my wish had an unexpected side effect. So many things had to change for this to happen, and slowly over 500 years, these changes took place.
“I was reborn with more power, and since I brought with me more good than was originally intended to exist in this time, I was forced by the youkai in the jewel to bring more evil as well. Before I went through the well, there were far less demons in this time than there are today, those both good and evil.
“Now, it is up to all of you to decide. I can show you the past, and you can join me in fighting against the rising evil, or you can continue as you have been. Before you decide, I must warn you that each of you have painful memories. Some things occurred in both lives that were necessary to bring us together, but others were changed, lives were spared.”
For what seemed like and eternity, no one spoke. InuYasha, being central to the fight, had of course already had things decided for him, and everyone knew without it being spoken that he and Kagome were in this together. Surprisingly enough, Shippou was first to speak.
“I want to know,” he said. “Since I had that dream, I can’t help but think about it. I know I won’t be able to help fight, but I want to be a part of anything that will effect you and InuYasha. InuYasha took me in, and you have been so nice to me, accepting me and treating me like family.”
Kagome smiled at the kit. “If it’s okay with InuYasha. Your memories, at least, the bad ones, are going to be almost the same as they are now.”
“I want to know to, Kagome,” Sango said. “You’re my best friend and have never let me down when I needed you.”
Kagome turned her eyes on her friend. She knew what Sango was referring to.
Sango’s brother Kohaku had always been troubled, and had once even tried to kill Sango. That incident had prompted them to get him serious help, but Sango had faced severe depression as a result blaming herself for her brother, even though it had nothing to do with her. She had even tried to kill herself. Kagome had been the one to find her, and eventually, Sango had worked through her issues. Most of their friends had turned against her and considered her crazy, but not Kagome. She had stood beside Sango and helped her recover. It had taken a long time, but they came out of it closer than ever.
Kagome gave Sango a knowing smile.
“I would choose to know as well,” Miroku told her. “I may be a hentai, but let it never be said that I would abandon my friends or my darling Sango. Also, my spiritual energy is urging me to open myself to my other life.”
“If you’re sure,” Kagome said. “I am going to show you each what happened up until the night before we faced Naraku. That… I have to show you all together.”
“I guess I’ll start with Shippou since he has the fewest memories.” Kagome put both hands to the sides of Shippou’s head. “Are you ready?”
The kit nodded.
Kagome gave in and let her instinct guide her, and before she knew it, she could see the memories as they rushed through her and into Shippou. She saw a small kit playing with his parents. There was the attack of the Thunder Brothers and the day the met. She saw all the battles they fought from Shippou’s point of view, and last, she saw him saying goodbye as they left him with Kaede the night before they would face Naraku.
She dropped her hands.
Shippou had his eyes closed, still trying to process all the new memories he had now. “When you said some things changed and some had to stay the same, you meant my parents, didn’t you?” he asked at last.
She nodded. “Not just yours, though,” she told him, looking at InuYasha.
Shippou nodded but remained silent.
“Still up for this?” she asked Sango and Miroku.
They both nodded.
“I just wanted to apologize in advance, Sango. He may be unbearable after this. Ready, Miroku?”
“Yes,” he replied.
Kagome repeated the same process she had done with Shippou, showing Miroku his life as a houshi.
He saw his father sucked up into his cursed wind tunnel, a ‘gift’ from Naraku, and his training with Mushin. He saw his meeting Kagome and InuYasha, and how they became friends and fought together. He saw himself falling in love with Sango, and that he was even more of a hentai them than he was now, but it was the last memory, the one the night before the battle, that caught his full attention...
“Do you think Kagome and InuYasha are all right?” she asked suddenly.
“I am sure they are. They both simply wanted to be alone with the person they love most, on what could be their last night on this earth,” he replied. “As did I.”
“H-H-Houshi -sama?” she stammered.
“I thought we agreed, my dearest Sango, that when we were alone, you would address me by name and not by title,” he said sounding a little hurt. He got up and went to sit beside her. He put a hand to the side of her face. “Sango, despite your promise to bear my children should we live, I find myself wanting more. I know I have made it seem as though that was all I desire, but I have simply been too afraid to voice my true wish for fear of what effect it would have if I were to die. I love you Sango and wish to have you as my wife.”
Tears shone brightly in Sango’s eyes. “Miroku...” she breathed. “I... I love you too.”
He found himself smiling brightly and could no longer contain himself. He leaned forward and kissed her softly on her mouth. When she didn’t resist, he pressed onward and his tongue bade entrance into her mouth, which she granted. Finally, after a long moment he pulled away.
“Sango, marry me, here ,now before they eyes of the spirits. I know it is not the same, but let us pledge our lives to each other this night, so that if I should die, it will have been as your husband, and you my wife,” Miroku said. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she replied.
He pulled her to her feet and took both of her hands in his own. “My dearest Sango, here before the eyes of the heavens, I, Miroku, wish to pledge my, life to you. I give my solemn vow from this day forward to love you, care for you, and provide for you in all the ways a husband should, you, and only you, Sango, for the rest of my days.”
His hands went to her cheeks and wiped away her tears.
“I, Sango, pledge my life to you, Miroku, and promise to love you, care for you, and bear your sons as your devoted wife, without fail, until the day that I die,” she replied.
“I pray that the good spirits bless our union,” Miroku finished, leaning down and kissing Sango once again. He decided to risk a slap by sliding his hand down and cupping her bottom gently in his hand. He waited for it, but no slap came.
Her acceptance emboldened him. He hadn’t only asked her to marry him so that he might touch her more intimately, but he was looking forward to it. His other hand joined the first and he pulled her tightly to him.
She moaned softly into his mouth.
He was surprised when one of her hands came up from the place at her side and gripped his robes.
Could he dare dream that she would agree to be with him as his wife now, before they were properly wed? He relished the thought.
Boldly, he slid one hand into the front of her yukata and cupped her breast, squeezing it gently. She stiffened at first, but relaxed almost at once, giving into the sensations he was causing.
He tugged her shirt out of the wrap like skirt she wore, and it fell open, so that the only thing covering her chest was the simple cloth she used to bind her breasts. Her lack of protest spurned him onward and he began pulling at the tie of her skirt.
She stepped back.
He saw a trace of what he thought was fear in her eyes.
“Miroku?” she asked softly.
“Forgive me, Sango. I got carried away,” he said softly.
“I am afraid,” she whispered. “I have never...”
He stepped closer to her and pulled her into his arms. “Would it comfort you to know that this is a first for me as well?”
She looked up at him, disbelieving. “Surely you have... With all the women that-”
He shook his head. “It may have seemed so, and though I am not completely innocent, I have never been with a woman, my darling Sango. If you would permit me, I would like to experience that with you, but if you are not ready, then I will understand.”
Sango sighed.
He could tell she was considering it.
“I would like that very much,” she whispered, not meeting his eyes. “We may not have another chance, but I do not know what to do.”
His lips sought hers. “We will learn together.”
He removed his robes and stood before her wearing only the thin pants that served as his undergarments. He urged Sango to lay down, and sat beside her, untying her skirt. He began to kiss her softly to ease her nervousness.
When she started to relax, he began to use his hands to explore her body. When he was sure she was ready he finished removing their clothes. He laid over her and looked at her face. Her eyes were tightly closed.
“Sango, look at me,” he said gently. He waited until she opened her eyes. “I love you. It is my wish that you enjoy this as well. Please trust me.”
She nodded.
Slowly, he started to press himself into her. She tensed slightly, but did not seem to be in pain.
Before long, he found himself completely inside her and was surprised that he had never come across a point of resistance. He had been certain that she was pure. He looked at her with confusion.
She seemed to understand. “I swear there has been no other,” she said quickly. “In my training once, before I became a woman-”
He kissed her to silence her. He knew she would not lie, and he realized that it didn’t matter. “Shh, aisai. Relax. There is no need to explain,” he told her.
Soon, he was moving within her and her body began to respond to his. Her soft sounds of pleasure were driving him closer to his release, and he had to resort to remembering his teaching to force himself to wait for her.
Almost without warning, she cried out his name loudly and he felt her tense beneath and around him. It sent him over the edge and he joined her cry with his own.
He moved to lie beside her and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
“I must thank you Kagome, for such a wonderful memory,” he said. “Of course, there were some that I could have done without, but the last one was one I can’t believe I ever forgot.”
Kagome groaned. “Uh. Ready, Sango?”
“Kagome, what were you apologizing for?” Sango asked in reply.
“You’ll see,” she said placing her hands on the sides of Sango’s head.
At once, Sango was shown her past as a demon exterminator. She saw her brother kill her fellow villagers and wound her. Then, she was given the discovery of Naraku’s trickery. She saw the day she joined InuYasha and the others on their quest, all their battles, and finally that night with Miroku.
When Kagome dropped her hands, Sango understood why she had apologized. Now the hentai would definitely be harder to deal with.
It was hard to process all the memories when the last one had been something wonderful and amazing, but slowly, it started to sink in, and she felt tears sliding down her cheeks. She looked to Kagome.
“Do you think Kohaku’s problems in this reality are because of his problems in the last?” she asked.
“Yes,” Kagome said softly. “Kohaku was tied to the jewel for so long I fear that some of its taint may have followed him into this life as well. I’m sorry I couldn’t save him for you.”
“It’s not your fault, Kagome,” Sango told her. “You have always done everything you could to help.”
“So, are you ready to see what happened with Naraku?” Kagome asked.
“Oi, Kagome, aren’t you forgetting someone?” InuYasha asked.
She shook her head. “I didn’t forget you, InuYasha. I could never forget,” Kagome said with a shudder. “I’m not going to show you. I refuse to.”
“Uh, Miroku, perhaps you and I should take Shippou with us to get something to eat,” Sango suggested.
He looked at Kagome and InuYasha. “I think that is a wonderful idea. Let’s go,” he agreed.
Miroku led the way down the main stairs of the shrine, followed closely by Shippou and Sango.
“Now, Kagome,” he said. “I want you to show me.”
“I won’t,” Kagome said softly, “and you can’t make me.” The tears that had been threatening to escape now made their way down her cheeks. “Please don’t make me.”
InuYasha couldn’t bear to see her cry. He pulled her to him. “All right, koibito.”
“Would you do something for me?” she asked. “Would you take me into the Goshinboku and sit with me?”
In reply, he grabbed her more tightly and jumped. He leaned against the trunk as they sat together on the lowest branch.
She leaned her head against his chest and let him soothe her. She hadn’t expected the effort it took to return her friends memories to be so tiring.
Kagome lost herself in his strong steady heartbeat and fell asleep.
Off in the distance, there was a large group of buildings that in the distant past would have been a palace.
She found herself standing beside a small stream.
Then she felt it, the approach of a strong youki and the warm aura of a loving soul. She turned unafraid.
Standing before her was the tall and imposing figure of a man she knew, without a doubt, was InuYasha’s father. It wasn’t just the single purple slashes across the taiyoukai’s face, the silver hair, or even the amber eyes that betrayed him as such. His youki was so similar to InuYasha’s, comforting and warm, it spoke to her.
Beside him was a beautiful hime with warm smile and kind eyes. She had to be InuYasha’s mother.
Kagome bowed deeply in respect. She felt a soft hand urging her to raise her head. Slowly, she stood erect.
“You need not bow before us, dear one,” Izayoi said. “It is we who have come to pay our respects to you and offer the small help we are able.”
“Me?” Kagome asked. “What have I done?”
“More than you will ever know,” Izayoi replied.
“You, our daughter, have given new life to so many and asked nothing in return,” the former Inu no Tashio told her. “We have watched you over both lifetimes and seen the sacrifices you have made for everyone, and most especially, for our son. Our debt to you can never be repaid.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Kagome insisted.
“But you did. You have loved him as he was. You freed his heart and saved his soul,” Izayoi told her. “Now you must return to him what was lost.”
“I can’t,” Kagome said softly.
“You must,” he told her. “He will need to remember in order to face the times ahead; to give you both the chance a the life you were meant to have.”
“I know you wish to protect him, to spare him the pain of reliving the life you spared him from, but it is what must be,” Izayoi said, and went to Kagome. “It will give him the strength he will need to protect you both.”
“I will show him,” Kagome replied, and she took comfort in their words. “I wish he could be here. I know he misses you both. I think he wonders because of Sesshomaru, if you would be proud of him.”
Kagome watched as Izayoi gave her mate a playful poke to the ribs and smiled at him.
“Yes, you were right,” he said. “You are always right.”
“You have the power to bring him here,” Izayoi told her, “but you must hurry. Our time is short.”
Kagome closed her eyes and called out to InuYasha. When she opened them he was standing in front of her.
“Kagome?” he asked.
“There are some people here who want to see you,” she said gently. “Turn around.”
InuYasha turned around. “Mother? Father?”
Izayoi smiled and nodded at her son. She opened her arms to him and he went to her. She hugged him tightly. “My sweet koinu,” she said softly. “You have become such a fine man. I am sorry I had to leave you.”
She released him and he stepped back, only to be pulled into the arms of his father.
After moment, his father released him as well. “We have watched you in both lifetimes, and in both, you have made us proud to have you as our son. You carry with you all the strength of the Inu Youkai. You have lived with honor and found your aite. She is truly the one with which you belong,” he said.
“Protect her, and treasure her. She is more valuable than you will ever know,” Izayoi told him.
“I have only one request for you, my son,” his father said. “There will come a time when your brother realizes the mistakes of his past and seeks to make amends. I ask only that you give him that chance. He never understood that his mother was not my true aite.”
“I will do as you ask,” InuYasha replied at last. He felt Kagome come up beside him and take his hand.
“We have to go now,” his mother said. “We love you both.” She gave them each a kiss on the cheek and they faded away.
Soon, the world around them changed and they were once again sitting in the Goshinboku.
“We have to wake up now,” Kagome told InuYasha. “We have things to discuss.”
(~~) a note/letter
(*****) a scene/time change
This is a lemon chapter... The clean version on fanfiction.net
________________________________________________________ _____________
When Kagome woke, she found herself surprised that she had so easily fallen back asleep. InuYasha, as usual, was already up, since he never slept much past dawn. Once dressed, she went out to the living room to find that she had been the last to wake.
“InuYasha told us about last night,” Sango offered.
Kagome nodded. “I guess there’s no point in putting it off,” she sighed. “I have to tell all of you something about last night, as well.”
“Is it your dream?” InuYasha asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “I was told that we all need to go to the shrine if I want to find out what happened and why I am having these dreams.”
“Well, that seems easy enough,” Miroku interjected. “When should we go?”
“Today,” Kagome replied. “We have to go today.”
*****
The journey to the shrine was a quiet one.Miroku, of course, understood that a miko’s visions were to be taken seriously, and Sango was not one to doubt her friends, so they both trusted that if Kagome thought this trip was important that it must be.
Kagome went inside to explain to her mother why they had come and the others gathered under the Goshinboku.
“This tree is very old,” Miroku said. “It has a connection to all things. I have never felt an energy quite like it.”
InuYasha turned at Kagome’s approach. “What are we supposed to do?” he asked.
Kagome walked up to the Goshinboku and kneeled. She placed her hand on the stone at the base of the tree, motioning for the others to do the same.
As soon as they were all touching the smooth surface of the stone, a torrent of visions of the lives of her friends flashed through her mind, culminating in the final battle against pure evil and the wish on the Shikon no Tama that changed everything.
While the others didn’t see the things Kagome saw, each was granted a vision of who they once were:
Miroku saw himself in the robes of a monk and around one of his hands were a sealing string of prayer beads. Sango saw herself in the clothing of a demon exterminator holding a giant bone boomerang. Shippou saw a much younger version of himself, and InuYasha saw himself wearing a red kariginu and hakama, holding a sword that looked like a giant fang. The beads Kagome had purchased were around his neck.
They all pulled back and looked at Kagome. Her hands were trembling and her eyes were filled with tears.
InuYasha went to touch her, but Miroku shook his head.
“Wait,” he said. “She is still being shown what she needs to see.”
Finally, after a few tense moments, Kagome leaned back and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath trying to keep from crying and trying to process several lifetimes worth of memories. Her head hurt, but the core of her pain came from her heart. What could these wonderful people she was so close to have done to have deserved the suffering inflicted upon them, and could she bear to inflict it upon them again?
“Kagome, are you all right?” InuYasha asked.
“Not really,” she replied, “but I’ll deal with it.”
“Kagome, have you found the answers you were looking for?” Miroku asked.
“Yes, and more,” she replied. “And then, there were some things I wish I’d never had to know, that I’d never seen.” She looked at each of them in turn.
“Long ago, there was a great warrior priestess. In a battle with several youkai, she found herself with no hope of victory. She used the last of her energy to cast out her soul and trap the youkai with her inside, thus creating the Shikon no Tama. The battle would continue to rage on in the jewel until it was purified.
“The jewel was protected for many years by powerful mikos and, at last, came to rest in the hands of the priestess Kikyou. Kikyou sought to purify the jewel so that she could free herself from her life of service. When she met the hanyou InuYasha, she saw her chance. Both InuYasha and Kikyou felt a terrible loneliness and were drawn to each other. InuYasha hoped to steal the jewel and become a full demon so that he would no longer be an outcast among both demons and humans, but instead, he ended up caring for Kikyou. She said that if he were willing to use the jewel to become human, she would be with him.
“Willing to do anything in order to no longer be alone, InuYasha agreed, but they were never meant to be together. Kikyou had as a miko taken on the care of a thief called Onigumo, and he in turn, came to desire her. When he learned of her and InuYasha, he offered his soul to demons and became the hanyou Naraku.
“On the day Kikyou was meant to bring the jewel to InuYasha, Naraku laid a trap. Posing as, InuYasha he mortally wounded Kikyou, who then sought out InuYasha in her final hours to repay him for his suspected betrayal. When Kikyou attacked, InuYasha he went to the village and stole the jewel. While trying to escape, Kikyou shot him with a sacred arrow, pinning him to this sacred tree, sending him into an eternity of darkness where he was neither alive or dead.
“Kikyou, in her last breath, asked that her body be burned with the jewel so that she would carry it into the next life.”
“So they never knew that they didn’t betray one another?” Sango asked.
Kagome shook her head. “Kikyou held in her heart a deep hatred for all youkai. Though her soul was the one destined to bring peace to InuYasha, she was not ready to be with him as she was. She could not trust nor truly accept him as he was. It was that lack of trust that allowed Naraku to trick them, and had InuYasha made his wish, it would have meant their destruction, since Kikyou’s hatred of youkai would have tainted the jewel.
“For the next fifty years, InuYasha remained pinned to this tree, until the reincarnation of Kikyou was pulled into the well on her family’s shrine, because of the Sacred Jewel inside her body, and found herself 500 years in the past.”
“And you are that reincarnation, are you not?” Miroku asked.
Kagome nodded. “This is where it gets confusing. I now have two sets of memories for the same time in my life. In the new ones, on my fifteenth birthday, I was pulled into the well by a centipede demon who wanted the jewel. I met InuYasha that day, wrapped in vines and pinned to this very tree. He appeared to be sleeping.
“Then, I met the village miko Kaede and found out that I was her older sister Kikyou’s reincarnation. The centipede demon came after me in the village, so I ran into what was called the Forest of InuYasha to lead it away. I once again found myself before the strange boy with the cute dog ears, only this time, he was awake. It seems my soul simply reached out and grabbed his, recognizing it, breaking part of the spell that had held him so long. He thought I was Kikyou at first.
“The demon came after me, and I grabbed onto InuYasha. He offered to save me if I could free him, so I pulled on the arrow and it disappeared. He destroyed the demon and I retrieved the jewel that had been ripped from my body. ”
Kagome lifted her shirt to reveal a scar. “Until today, I always thought I got this scar when I fell down the stairs in the well house and was cut open on a jagged piece of wood. I remember it clearly, but I also remember the feeling of Mistress Centipede’s claws.”
“What does this have to do with Miroku, Shippou, and I?” Sango asked.
“I’m getting to that,” Kagome replied. “InuYasha wanted the jewel, and he tried to kill me to get it.”
“I thought we agreed that I was missing you on purpose,” InuYasha said.
“So we did,” Kagome agreed. “Anyway, InuYasha tried to get the jewel, and Kaede sent a rosary around his neck that would give me the power to subdue him with a word.”
“Don’t say it,” InuYasha said, blushing.
Kagome rolled her eyes. “The first word I thought of was ‘osuwari’.”
The others started laughing.
“When I said the word, he would be pulled face first into the ground. As it was, though, InuYasha wasn’t the only one who wanted the jewel, and demons began to come for it. InuYasha fought to protect me, since I had the jewel and he was trying to find a way to steal it.
“Then a crow demon stole it, and I managed to shatter the jewel with a sacred arrow scattering across Japan. So InuYasha and I set out on a quest to gather the shards, and in our travel, we discovered Naraku’s deception and met an orphaned kitsune, a proud demon exterminator, and a lecherous monk. The monk, exterminator and hanyou had a common enemy, Naraku, so they banded together to form an unlikely group of friends. That friendship is what allowed the wish I made, to purify the jewel, to be granted.
“It’s hard to explain this clearly. I’m not even sure I understand exactly what happened.”
“We understand Kagome,” InuYasha prompted. “Just do your best.”
The others nodded.
“InuYasha already knows some of what happened when we finally came face to face with Naraku, when I told him about a dream I had,” she stated and then continued explaining.
“My wish bound all of our souls together so that I could bring you with me into this time. I am Kikyou’s reincarnation, but I am not Kikyou. I am Kagome. I had a life in this time, and so when I was born as myself, all of you were reborn with me, only, you are not reincarnations.
“Sango, you are the demon exterminator, Sango, only, without memory of your first life. Miroku, you are the same lecherous houshi, Miroku. Shippou, you are the same orphaned kitsune, and InuYasha is the same hanyou that was pinned to this tree. It is in all of you to be the same people you were before, as well as the people you have become after leading a different life.
“I have been granted the power to show you all what happened from when you lived before. The reason for this is my wish had an unexpected side effect. So many things had to change for this to happen, and slowly over 500 years, these changes took place.
“I was reborn with more power, and since I brought with me more good than was originally intended to exist in this time, I was forced by the youkai in the jewel to bring more evil as well. Before I went through the well, there were far less demons in this time than there are today, those both good and evil.
“Now, it is up to all of you to decide. I can show you the past, and you can join me in fighting against the rising evil, or you can continue as you have been. Before you decide, I must warn you that each of you have painful memories. Some things occurred in both lives that were necessary to bring us together, but others were changed, lives were spared.”
For what seemed like and eternity, no one spoke. InuYasha, being central to the fight, had of course already had things decided for him, and everyone knew without it being spoken that he and Kagome were in this together. Surprisingly enough, Shippou was first to speak.
“I want to know,” he said. “Since I had that dream, I can’t help but think about it. I know I won’t be able to help fight, but I want to be a part of anything that will effect you and InuYasha. InuYasha took me in, and you have been so nice to me, accepting me and treating me like family.”
Kagome smiled at the kit. “If it’s okay with InuYasha. Your memories, at least, the bad ones, are going to be almost the same as they are now.”
“I want to know to, Kagome,” Sango said. “You’re my best friend and have never let me down when I needed you.”
Kagome turned her eyes on her friend. She knew what Sango was referring to.
Sango’s brother Kohaku had always been troubled, and had once even tried to kill Sango. That incident had prompted them to get him serious help, but Sango had faced severe depression as a result blaming herself for her brother, even though it had nothing to do with her. She had even tried to kill herself. Kagome had been the one to find her, and eventually, Sango had worked through her issues. Most of their friends had turned against her and considered her crazy, but not Kagome. She had stood beside Sango and helped her recover. It had taken a long time, but they came out of it closer than ever.
Kagome gave Sango a knowing smile.
“I would choose to know as well,” Miroku told her. “I may be a hentai, but let it never be said that I would abandon my friends or my darling Sango. Also, my spiritual energy is urging me to open myself to my other life.”
“If you’re sure,” Kagome said. “I am going to show you each what happened up until the night before we faced Naraku. That… I have to show you all together.”
“I guess I’ll start with Shippou since he has the fewest memories.” Kagome put both hands to the sides of Shippou’s head. “Are you ready?”
The kit nodded.
Kagome gave in and let her instinct guide her, and before she knew it, she could see the memories as they rushed through her and into Shippou. She saw a small kit playing with his parents. There was the attack of the Thunder Brothers and the day the met. She saw all the battles they fought from Shippou’s point of view, and last, she saw him saying goodbye as they left him with Kaede the night before they would face Naraku.
She dropped her hands.
Shippou had his eyes closed, still trying to process all the new memories he had now. “When you said some things changed and some had to stay the same, you meant my parents, didn’t you?” he asked at last.
She nodded. “Not just yours, though,” she told him, looking at InuYasha.
Shippou nodded but remained silent.
“Still up for this?” she asked Sango and Miroku.
They both nodded.
“I just wanted to apologize in advance, Sango. He may be unbearable after this. Ready, Miroku?”
“Yes,” he replied.
Kagome repeated the same process she had done with Shippou, showing Miroku his life as a houshi.
He saw his father sucked up into his cursed wind tunnel, a ‘gift’ from Naraku, and his training with Mushin. He saw his meeting Kagome and InuYasha, and how they became friends and fought together. He saw himself falling in love with Sango, and that he was even more of a hentai them than he was now, but it was the last memory, the one the night before the battle, that caught his full attention...
**
He was sitting beside a small fire and Sango was across from him. She looked like she was thinking about something very serious, and he supposed she was worried about her brother and what the fight tomorrow might mean for him. She glanced up and saw him watching her. He noticed a slight blush in the firelight.“Do you think Kagome and InuYasha are all right?” she asked suddenly.
“I am sure they are. They both simply wanted to be alone with the person they love most, on what could be their last night on this earth,” he replied. “As did I.”
“H-H-Houshi -sama?” she stammered.
“I thought we agreed, my dearest Sango, that when we were alone, you would address me by name and not by title,” he said sounding a little hurt. He got up and went to sit beside her. He put a hand to the side of her face. “Sango, despite your promise to bear my children should we live, I find myself wanting more. I know I have made it seem as though that was all I desire, but I have simply been too afraid to voice my true wish for fear of what effect it would have if I were to die. I love you Sango and wish to have you as my wife.”
Tears shone brightly in Sango’s eyes. “Miroku...” she breathed. “I... I love you too.”
He found himself smiling brightly and could no longer contain himself. He leaned forward and kissed her softly on her mouth. When she didn’t resist, he pressed onward and his tongue bade entrance into her mouth, which she granted. Finally, after a long moment he pulled away.
“Sango, marry me, here ,now before they eyes of the spirits. I know it is not the same, but let us pledge our lives to each other this night, so that if I should die, it will have been as your husband, and you my wife,” Miroku said. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she replied.
He pulled her to her feet and took both of her hands in his own. “My dearest Sango, here before the eyes of the heavens, I, Miroku, wish to pledge my, life to you. I give my solemn vow from this day forward to love you, care for you, and provide for you in all the ways a husband should, you, and only you, Sango, for the rest of my days.”
His hands went to her cheeks and wiped away her tears.
“I, Sango, pledge my life to you, Miroku, and promise to love you, care for you, and bear your sons as your devoted wife, without fail, until the day that I die,” she replied.
“I pray that the good spirits bless our union,” Miroku finished, leaning down and kissing Sango once again. He decided to risk a slap by sliding his hand down and cupping her bottom gently in his hand. He waited for it, but no slap came.
Her acceptance emboldened him. He hadn’t only asked her to marry him so that he might touch her more intimately, but he was looking forward to it. His other hand joined the first and he pulled her tightly to him.
She moaned softly into his mouth.
He was surprised when one of her hands came up from the place at her side and gripped his robes.
Could he dare dream that she would agree to be with him as his wife now, before they were properly wed? He relished the thought.
Boldly, he slid one hand into the front of her yukata and cupped her breast, squeezing it gently. She stiffened at first, but relaxed almost at once, giving into the sensations he was causing.
He tugged her shirt out of the wrap like skirt she wore, and it fell open, so that the only thing covering her chest was the simple cloth she used to bind her breasts. Her lack of protest spurned him onward and he began pulling at the tie of her skirt.
She stepped back.
He saw a trace of what he thought was fear in her eyes.
“Miroku?” she asked softly.
“Forgive me, Sango. I got carried away,” he said softly.
“I am afraid,” she whispered. “I have never...”
He stepped closer to her and pulled her into his arms. “Would it comfort you to know that this is a first for me as well?”
She looked up at him, disbelieving. “Surely you have... With all the women that-”
He shook his head. “It may have seemed so, and though I am not completely innocent, I have never been with a woman, my darling Sango. If you would permit me, I would like to experience that with you, but if you are not ready, then I will understand.”
Sango sighed.
He could tell she was considering it.
“I would like that very much,” she whispered, not meeting his eyes. “We may not have another chance, but I do not know what to do.”
His lips sought hers. “We will learn together.”
He removed his robes and stood before her wearing only the thin pants that served as his undergarments. He urged Sango to lay down, and sat beside her, untying her skirt. He began to kiss her softly to ease her nervousness.
When she started to relax, he began to use his hands to explore her body. When he was sure she was ready he finished removing their clothes. He laid over her and looked at her face. Her eyes were tightly closed.
“Sango, look at me,” he said gently. He waited until she opened her eyes. “I love you. It is my wish that you enjoy this as well. Please trust me.”
She nodded.
Slowly, he started to press himself into her. She tensed slightly, but did not seem to be in pain.
Before long, he found himself completely inside her and was surprised that he had never come across a point of resistance. He had been certain that she was pure. He looked at her with confusion.
She seemed to understand. “I swear there has been no other,” she said quickly. “In my training once, before I became a woman-”
He kissed her to silence her. He knew she would not lie, and he realized that it didn’t matter. “Shh, aisai. Relax. There is no need to explain,” he told her.
Soon, he was moving within her and her body began to respond to his. Her soft sounds of pleasure were driving him closer to his release, and he had to resort to remembering his teaching to force himself to wait for her.
Almost without warning, she cried out his name loudly and he felt her tense beneath and around him. It sent him over the edge and he joined her cry with his own.
He moved to lie beside her and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
**
Kagome dropped her hands, a dark blush shading her cheeks. Of course Miroku didn’t help matters.“I must thank you Kagome, for such a wonderful memory,” he said. “Of course, there were some that I could have done without, but the last one was one I can’t believe I ever forgot.”
Kagome groaned. “Uh. Ready, Sango?”
“Kagome, what were you apologizing for?” Sango asked in reply.
“You’ll see,” she said placing her hands on the sides of Sango’s head.
At once, Sango was shown her past as a demon exterminator. She saw her brother kill her fellow villagers and wound her. Then, she was given the discovery of Naraku’s trickery. She saw the day she joined InuYasha and the others on their quest, all their battles, and finally that night with Miroku.
When Kagome dropped her hands, Sango understood why she had apologized. Now the hentai would definitely be harder to deal with.
It was hard to process all the memories when the last one had been something wonderful and amazing, but slowly, it started to sink in, and she felt tears sliding down her cheeks. She looked to Kagome.
“Do you think Kohaku’s problems in this reality are because of his problems in the last?” she asked.
“Yes,” Kagome said softly. “Kohaku was tied to the jewel for so long I fear that some of its taint may have followed him into this life as well. I’m sorry I couldn’t save him for you.”
“It’s not your fault, Kagome,” Sango told her. “You have always done everything you could to help.”
“So, are you ready to see what happened with Naraku?” Kagome asked.
“Oi, Kagome, aren’t you forgetting someone?” InuYasha asked.
She shook her head. “I didn’t forget you, InuYasha. I could never forget,” Kagome said with a shudder. “I’m not going to show you. I refuse to.”
“Uh, Miroku, perhaps you and I should take Shippou with us to get something to eat,” Sango suggested.
He looked at Kagome and InuYasha. “I think that is a wonderful idea. Let’s go,” he agreed.
Miroku led the way down the main stairs of the shrine, followed closely by Shippou and Sango.
“Now, Kagome,” he said. “I want you to show me.”
“I won’t,” Kagome said softly, “and you can’t make me.” The tears that had been threatening to escape now made their way down her cheeks. “Please don’t make me.”
InuYasha couldn’t bear to see her cry. He pulled her to him. “All right, koibito.”
“Would you do something for me?” she asked. “Would you take me into the Goshinboku and sit with me?”
In reply, he grabbed her more tightly and jumped. He leaned against the trunk as they sat together on the lowest branch.
She leaned her head against his chest and let him soothe her. She hadn’t expected the effort it took to return her friends memories to be so tiring.
Kagome lost herself in his strong steady heartbeat and fell asleep.
**
She found herself in an unfamiliar place.Off in the distance, there was a large group of buildings that in the distant past would have been a palace.
She found herself standing beside a small stream.
Then she felt it, the approach of a strong youki and the warm aura of a loving soul. She turned unafraid.
Standing before her was the tall and imposing figure of a man she knew, without a doubt, was InuYasha’s father. It wasn’t just the single purple slashes across the taiyoukai’s face, the silver hair, or even the amber eyes that betrayed him as such. His youki was so similar to InuYasha’s, comforting and warm, it spoke to her.
Beside him was a beautiful hime with warm smile and kind eyes. She had to be InuYasha’s mother.
Kagome bowed deeply in respect. She felt a soft hand urging her to raise her head. Slowly, she stood erect.
“You need not bow before us, dear one,” Izayoi said. “It is we who have come to pay our respects to you and offer the small help we are able.”
“Me?” Kagome asked. “What have I done?”
“More than you will ever know,” Izayoi replied.
“You, our daughter, have given new life to so many and asked nothing in return,” the former Inu no Tashio told her. “We have watched you over both lifetimes and seen the sacrifices you have made for everyone, and most especially, for our son. Our debt to you can never be repaid.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Kagome insisted.
“But you did. You have loved him as he was. You freed his heart and saved his soul,” Izayoi told her. “Now you must return to him what was lost.”
“I can’t,” Kagome said softly.
“You must,” he told her. “He will need to remember in order to face the times ahead; to give you both the chance a the life you were meant to have.”
“I know you wish to protect him, to spare him the pain of reliving the life you spared him from, but it is what must be,” Izayoi said, and went to Kagome. “It will give him the strength he will need to protect you both.”
“I will show him,” Kagome replied, and she took comfort in their words. “I wish he could be here. I know he misses you both. I think he wonders because of Sesshomaru, if you would be proud of him.”
Kagome watched as Izayoi gave her mate a playful poke to the ribs and smiled at him.
“Yes, you were right,” he said. “You are always right.”
“You have the power to bring him here,” Izayoi told her, “but you must hurry. Our time is short.”
Kagome closed her eyes and called out to InuYasha. When she opened them he was standing in front of her.
“Kagome?” he asked.
“There are some people here who want to see you,” she said gently. “Turn around.”
InuYasha turned around. “Mother? Father?”
Izayoi smiled and nodded at her son. She opened her arms to him and he went to her. She hugged him tightly. “My sweet koinu,” she said softly. “You have become such a fine man. I am sorry I had to leave you.”
She released him and he stepped back, only to be pulled into the arms of his father.
After moment, his father released him as well. “We have watched you in both lifetimes, and in both, you have made us proud to have you as our son. You carry with you all the strength of the Inu Youkai. You have lived with honor and found your aite. She is truly the one with which you belong,” he said.
“Protect her, and treasure her. She is more valuable than you will ever know,” Izayoi told him.
“I have only one request for you, my son,” his father said. “There will come a time when your brother realizes the mistakes of his past and seeks to make amends. I ask only that you give him that chance. He never understood that his mother was not my true aite.”
“I will do as you ask,” InuYasha replied at last. He felt Kagome come up beside him and take his hand.
“We have to go now,” his mother said. “We love you both.” She gave them each a kiss on the cheek and they faded away.
Soon, the world around them changed and they were once again sitting in the Goshinboku.
“We have to wake up now,” Kagome told InuYasha. “We have things to discuss.”
**