InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mating Season ❯ Past, Present, and Future ( Chapter 20 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: SplendentGoddess 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.27.2006 | Updated On: 07.12.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.4K | Visits: 15.8K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.27.2006 | Updated On: 07.12.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.4K | Visits: 15.8K | Status: Completed
Blanket Disclaimer:
Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.
========================
Chap ter 20 – Past, Present, and Future.
They strived to make the next morning as un-awkward as possible, and deliberately waited until after Souta had gone off to school and her grandfather was tending to the shrine grounds before vacating her bedroom.
Before that, they’d spent the good two hours since they’d woken to discuss further plans involving their hut, which was still in need of completion, among other things.
“Maybe we could construct some sort of septic tank.” Kagome mused, before shaking her head free of the idea. She didn’t want to risk altering history with too many modern conveniences that hadn’t been invented yet.
“One of your ‘water heaters’ shouldn’t be too hard.” Inuyasha offered.
“True, a metal cylinder should be easy enough to forge.” she agreed.
“Keh.”
“We’ll need one to keep up with the amount of ramen you go through in a day.” she teased.
Inuyasha was chuckling along with her, until her sudden serious expression caused his ears to flatten, as he cautiously asked “What?”
“I was just thinking…” she began, but then paused.
“Thinking what?” he encouraged. He couldn’t help but take advantage of the opportunity to throw “We’re supposed to communicate, remember?” in her face.
Sighing, she conceded, and mumbled, “I’m just not sure we’ll always be able to go back and forth like we do now.” in a barely audible whisper.
“Why wouldn’t we?” he asked on autopilot, before his brain answered his own question for him. “Once we complete the jewel, and purify it…” he trailed off.
“Who’s to say that the well will still work.” she finished for him.
“But who’s to say it won’t?” he countered.
“But how would we test it?” she pointed out. “The one time you tossed me down it without any shards, it let me go through, since I was born in this time, I suppose, but I couldn’t get back, not without a shard.”
His ears flattened at the memory. He had known…he did know, that the jewel was the reason why she could pass through the well. The well’s magic was its own, but the jewel was what made Kagome powerful enough to use it. The reason he could pass through the well without a shard was probably because he was just powerful enough on his own, or, then again, had he ever attempted to come through to her time when she wasn’t already there? Maybe that was the key, because he was tied to her somehow. Hell, maybe it was the rosary that did it, since that linked him to her with the magic of the spell, or maybe being pinned to the damn Tree of Ages for half a century had something to do with it, if his youki had somehow merged with the aura of the tree. The two of them did reach each other through that tree once, so there was definitely a connection there, not only between the two of them, but between the two of them and that tree. The well was made from its wood, hence the time traveling and all that, but Kagome was right, how would they test the theory that the well would still work after purifying the jewel? No, it was too great of a risk.
Reading his mind she spoke again, with “What if it lets me pass through after we purify the jewel, but then I can’t get back?” Her voice didn’t really sound panicked at the possibility, as if she’d already considered all others, and had come up with the required solution.
“I could go with you.” he offered, but she shook her head. That wasn’t the solution she’d come up with.
“Still too risky.” she began, listing off the various reasons. “One, it could simply deny you, and I could pass through while you don’t. Two, it could do the reverse of that on the return trip, and allow you to pass through, but not me. Three, it could trap both of us in my time, and besides, even if you could still pass back and forth, but I couldn’t, it would still be like we were trapped in my time.”
“You’ve given this a lot of thought, haven’t you?” he spoke softly, realizing just how much this must have worried her, for quite some time apparently, while he hadn’t really given it much thought at all. He’d simply always assumed Kagome would stay with him, at least, now that they were mated. Sure, he’d feared in the beginning that once the quest was over and done with she’d go home and never return, but had assumed it would be by choice, not because the well would stop working.
“I have.” she answered his hushed question, eyes reflecting the smile that was firmly upon her lips. “And I’ve reached a decision.” she concluded.
“Which is?” he asked, though the only remaining choice was fairly obvious.
“Simple, you are my mate, and it’s with you that I belong. Once we complete our missions, and the jewel is purified, I’ll remain with you in your time.”
“Ya know, we could always keep the jewel intact, and not wish on it.” he suggested, but she brushed that idea off too.
“I’ve thought about that too, but that’s too risky for a whole bunch of different reasons.” she explained. “Besides the fact that we’d be a walking beacon for trouble wherever we went, luring youkai from all four corners who seek the jewel, putting us in constant battle after battle, fighting off everyone who comes after us, should one of them actually succeed, we could have a whole new Naraku on our hands.”
Inuyasha nodded in understanding and agreement, something of a small realization behind his eyes, something that Kagome easily noticed.
“What?” she asked curiously, dumbfounded by the weird expression of humor on his face.
“You’re not worried about me running off with the jewel, are you?” he asked, his tone of voice implying that he knew she wasn’t, and he wasn’t truly asking her whether or not she was, but it was more of a simple statement.
“Of course not.” she answered regardless, a sweet smile upon her lips as she leaned forward slightly, and pressed them swiftly against his own. Backing away quickly, she kept her hand placed upon his in his lap, as they sat upon her bed together, and softly whispered “I wouldn’t have mated with you, if I doubted our love.”
“That’s good.” he answered, suddenly sounding rather serious, which took her off guard because she would have assumed such a response would have held an air of lightheartedness. “Don’t ever doubt me Kagome, ever.”
“Of…of course not!” she sputtered, wondering where this side of him had come from all of a sudden. She soon had her answer.
“When Naraku finds out we’re mated, he’s sure to try to use it against us. He loves to play with people’s minds. He doesn’t just kill people, he likes to make them kill each other. He will try to trick us, to turn us against each other, because it will taint the jewel.”
Kagome’s face was also suddenly very serious, as she realized that what Inuyasha had just said was very true, and that likely, if he found out that the two of them were mated, which isn’t hard to do, he likely would use it against them.
“I will never, never aim one of my arrows at you.” she said slowly and firmly. “If I ever do, I’m not in control.” she added, remembering the two times she had pointed an arrow at him, but her body had been possessed by an enemy’s curse during both occasions.
“At least we’ll be able to tell each other apart in close proximity because of our marks. We’re connected in that way, in a way Naraku cannot duplicate.”
He emphasized his point by rubbing his mark, causing Kagome’s to tingle, and when she responded by rubbing hers, he felt his tingle in response.
“But he can duplicate scent.” he warned her. He’d learned that the hard way, fifty years ago.
“I understand.” she whispered solemnly.
“Also, Kagome…” She looked up to meet his gaze, amber piercing chocolate. “I will never, never use my claws on you.”
“I know.” she answered reassuringly.
“I know I say a lot of stupid stuff sometimes…” he continued. “But you know how great I am at putting my foot in my mouth.” He chuckled, earning a small chuckle from her in return. “But I will not be cruel and hurtful, and say things that are obvious lies.”
“Neither will I.” she assured him. “I love you as a hanyou, always have, always will. When we are ready to have children, I don’t care how youkai they look, if they have your ears instead of human ones, claws or fangs.”
“We need to get this out in the open now.” he added, pausing to smile at her warm words regarding their children. “I refuse to let that bastard get one up on us.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be ready, whatever he may try to pull.” she assured him.
“We should also take into consideration that he may impersonate somebody else, Miroku or Sango for example.” he added thoughtfully.
Kagome nodded, mumbling “That occurred to me too, but we know how they feel about us, about…everything. If they seem weird, out of character, we should leave them immediately and try to find each other.”
“Agreed.” he said. “We don’t want to attack them, when it might actually be them, but…controlled.”
“Agreed.”
There was a brief pause, and through the silence both Inuyasha and Kagome heard the tell tale signs of her grandfather leaving the house to go tend to his outside shrine duties for the day.
“Well…that was a total buzz kill.” Kagome tried to chuckle. “Shall we try to enjoy some breakfast?” she offered.
“Yeah.” he agreed with a smile, leaning forward himself this time, to initiate the chaste kiss.
`````````````````````
Nodoka Higurashi met the young couple in the kitchen and offered them each a knowing smile before setting down a small breakfast in front of them. To her credit, she wasn’t going to bring up how she’d been awoken in the middle of the night to the sound of Inuyasha’s howl.
“Heading back to the feudal era today?” she asked instead, as she softly sipped her tea.
“Yeah…” Kagome answered, blushing, but grateful.
“I hear that house of yours is really coming along.” her mother added with a smile. “My little bird is leaving the nest.” she sighed.
“I’ll always come back to visit as often as I can…for as long as I can.” Kagome replied softly.
Mrs. Higurashi picked up on what her daughter was not telling her, and being fairly aware of everything regarding their mission, perhaps minus the more gruesome details of their battles, which was by choice, she had a sinking sensation that she knew exactly what Kagome had meant to imply.
“You’re worried that when you purify that jewel, the well will close up.” she said suddenly, yet softly, and with understanding. It wasn’t spoken as a question.
Kagome merely lowered her gaze and nodded slowly, while Inuyasha was more surprised for a moment at how accurately her mother had perceived the situation.
“Keh…that ain’t gonna happen for a while yet.” he finally said after a moment. “Still need to find the whole thing, remember?” he stated, addressing both women.
“Well, when you do…” Nodoka began, pausing to sip her tea again. “You be sure to come back one last time, to say your farewells.” she murmured, making sure to keep her tone of voice pleasant and encouraging.
Kagome couldn’t understand how her mom could be so…understanding…about the whole thing. From the way she saw it, her moving to the past was worse than moving away to another country. Even if a parent never saw their child again, they could usually still talk on the telephone. All things considered, Kagome’s mother had handled the news incredibly well. The why became apparent, then, when she innocently acquired something that neither Kagome nor Inuyasha had realized until that moment.
“How long will you live?” she asked out of the blue. “Around three hundred or four hundred years?”
Discretely scenting her mother revealed that while she was saddened by this conversation, generally speaking, she was also feeling hopeful, presumably in regard to the answer of her last question. Smiling to herself, Kagome knew she would like her mate’s answer.
“More like seven hundred or eight hundred years.” Inuyasha stated matter-of-factly, smiling at the wave of relief he felt coming from Kagome’s mother, as he too had picked up on her emotions regarding their topic of conversation. “Hell, if we take our vitamins, maybe even nine hundred or a thousand.” he added in a playful tone, pleased to see her chuckle along with his joke.
The truth was, he wasn’t sure exactly how long they would live, since he’d never heard of a hanyou actually living long enough to reach old age before. But he was bound to live much longer than weaker hanyou, because his father was a Taiyoukai, and since he was still so young, he definitely wouldn’t grow old and die centuries before Kagome did. They would age, very slowly, but they would age together.
Nodoka chuckled lightly at his joke about “vitamins”, knowing he must have learned that from her daughter. She then managed to plaster on a genuine smile, as she realized her small fear had been made much smaller.
“Well then…” she said softly and sweetly. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”
It finally hit Kagome, like a big ton of bricks, each one with the word Duh carved into it.
“Of course!” she blurted out. “In fact, I’m sure our older selves are probably already sniffing around, just waiting until the time is right to show themselves.” she finished with a smile.
“Huh?” Inuyasha asked, confused now. “Our older selves?”
“It’s a time paradox.” Kagome stated, deciding to leave it at that, but Inuyasha wasn’t as stupid as he usually allowed people to believe.
“Oh…” he mumbled, then looking up, he said “Yeah, if we don’t fall at an enemy’s hand, then we’ll still be alive and well in this time.” he muttered through understanding. “But yeah, if I were my older me…I mean…never mind…if I were him, I wouldn’t want to risk being smelled by my younger me. I mean…”
Kagome busted up laughing and placed her hand upon his shoulder, rescuing him from his train of thought before he had a nervous melt down.
“Okay…” she said trying hard to stop her fit of laughter. “We still have at least another year of going back and forth, but Mama…” she trailed off, addressing her mother.
“I know…nothing is certain…” She left it at that.
They’d pretty much silently come to the same conclusion, that should they still be alive and well in her time once the well seals up on their younger versions, that they’d make their presence known rather instantaneously. So that would then lead to the conclusion, that should they never show up, Mrs. Higurashi will know that something happened to them, something bad, and…considering they have only one major enemy, whom they were currently engaged with, it would likely indicate that that bad thing would have happened rather early on, as opposed to later. Of course, if all goes as planned, they’ll slay Naraku before purifying the jewel, so then she’ll at least be able to settle her nerves knowing that the greatest danger to her daughter and her mate had already passed. The only sadness that lingered now was that she’d realized she may miss out on her grandchildren, or at least, while they were still children.
````````````````````
Back on the other side of time, both Kagome and Inuyasha released a simultaneous sigh of relief to once again be breathing fresh air. They agreed to focus on the tasks at hand, completing the hut, and the jewel, and defeating Naraku. No more talks of time paradoxes and their own doubles. But in the back of her mind, the simple knowledge, that should some unforeseen tragedy not strike, they would still be alive by her century, once it came back around to them through the natural course of time, brought a smile to her face. The thought brought her comfort, because in a way, she wouldn’t really consider herself as having left her world, or her family, forever. She was pretty sure that Inuyasha could come up with something to keep her mind occupied while the years passed.
He couldn’t help but notice the way her arousal would occasionally spark, though mildly, then quickly fade away again, and it brought a smirk to his own face. Just what was his Kagome daydreaming about while they were constructing their home? Shaking his head, he decided he’d better distract her, before he got too distracted to function.
“Oi, Shippo!” he called.
“Yeah?” the kit responded, as he dropped the crayons and headed over towards his adoptive father.
“Go help Kagome, she’s strong, but not as strong as us men.” he said, knowing just the right thing to puff up the young one’s chest with pride, as he marched over towards where Kagome was nailing up the remaining wall that wasn’t yet completed, while he was sawing down more logs into workable planks.
Kagome sent a smile in her mate’s direction at overhearing his instructions to their kit. She attempted, and failed, to stave off a mild blush at the realization that he must have been picking up on her…distracted…frame of mind, but it still touched her heart in a more motherly fashion to hear how well he was getting along with Shippo these days.
One big happy family, she thought with a smile.
Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.
========================
Chap ter 20 – Past, Present, and Future.
They strived to make the next morning as un-awkward as possible, and deliberately waited until after Souta had gone off to school and her grandfather was tending to the shrine grounds before vacating her bedroom.
Before that, they’d spent the good two hours since they’d woken to discuss further plans involving their hut, which was still in need of completion, among other things.
“Maybe we could construct some sort of septic tank.” Kagome mused, before shaking her head free of the idea. She didn’t want to risk altering history with too many modern conveniences that hadn’t been invented yet.
“One of your ‘water heaters’ shouldn’t be too hard.” Inuyasha offered.
“True, a metal cylinder should be easy enough to forge.” she agreed.
“Keh.”
“We’ll need one to keep up with the amount of ramen you go through in a day.” she teased.
Inuyasha was chuckling along with her, until her sudden serious expression caused his ears to flatten, as he cautiously asked “What?”
“I was just thinking…” she began, but then paused.
“Thinking what?” he encouraged. He couldn’t help but take advantage of the opportunity to throw “We’re supposed to communicate, remember?” in her face.
Sighing, she conceded, and mumbled, “I’m just not sure we’ll always be able to go back and forth like we do now.” in a barely audible whisper.
“Why wouldn’t we?” he asked on autopilot, before his brain answered his own question for him. “Once we complete the jewel, and purify it…” he trailed off.
“Who’s to say that the well will still work.” she finished for him.
“But who’s to say it won’t?” he countered.
“But how would we test it?” she pointed out. “The one time you tossed me down it without any shards, it let me go through, since I was born in this time, I suppose, but I couldn’t get back, not without a shard.”
His ears flattened at the memory. He had known…he did know, that the jewel was the reason why she could pass through the well. The well’s magic was its own, but the jewel was what made Kagome powerful enough to use it. The reason he could pass through the well without a shard was probably because he was just powerful enough on his own, or, then again, had he ever attempted to come through to her time when she wasn’t already there? Maybe that was the key, because he was tied to her somehow. Hell, maybe it was the rosary that did it, since that linked him to her with the magic of the spell, or maybe being pinned to the damn Tree of Ages for half a century had something to do with it, if his youki had somehow merged with the aura of the tree. The two of them did reach each other through that tree once, so there was definitely a connection there, not only between the two of them, but between the two of them and that tree. The well was made from its wood, hence the time traveling and all that, but Kagome was right, how would they test the theory that the well would still work after purifying the jewel? No, it was too great of a risk.
Reading his mind she spoke again, with “What if it lets me pass through after we purify the jewel, but then I can’t get back?” Her voice didn’t really sound panicked at the possibility, as if she’d already considered all others, and had come up with the required solution.
“I could go with you.” he offered, but she shook her head. That wasn’t the solution she’d come up with.
“Still too risky.” she began, listing off the various reasons. “One, it could simply deny you, and I could pass through while you don’t. Two, it could do the reverse of that on the return trip, and allow you to pass through, but not me. Three, it could trap both of us in my time, and besides, even if you could still pass back and forth, but I couldn’t, it would still be like we were trapped in my time.”
“You’ve given this a lot of thought, haven’t you?” he spoke softly, realizing just how much this must have worried her, for quite some time apparently, while he hadn’t really given it much thought at all. He’d simply always assumed Kagome would stay with him, at least, now that they were mated. Sure, he’d feared in the beginning that once the quest was over and done with she’d go home and never return, but had assumed it would be by choice, not because the well would stop working.
“I have.” she answered his hushed question, eyes reflecting the smile that was firmly upon her lips. “And I’ve reached a decision.” she concluded.
“Which is?” he asked, though the only remaining choice was fairly obvious.
“Simple, you are my mate, and it’s with you that I belong. Once we complete our missions, and the jewel is purified, I’ll remain with you in your time.”
“Ya know, we could always keep the jewel intact, and not wish on it.” he suggested, but she brushed that idea off too.
“I’ve thought about that too, but that’s too risky for a whole bunch of different reasons.” she explained. “Besides the fact that we’d be a walking beacon for trouble wherever we went, luring youkai from all four corners who seek the jewel, putting us in constant battle after battle, fighting off everyone who comes after us, should one of them actually succeed, we could have a whole new Naraku on our hands.”
Inuyasha nodded in understanding and agreement, something of a small realization behind his eyes, something that Kagome easily noticed.
“What?” she asked curiously, dumbfounded by the weird expression of humor on his face.
“You’re not worried about me running off with the jewel, are you?” he asked, his tone of voice implying that he knew she wasn’t, and he wasn’t truly asking her whether or not she was, but it was more of a simple statement.
“Of course not.” she answered regardless, a sweet smile upon her lips as she leaned forward slightly, and pressed them swiftly against his own. Backing away quickly, she kept her hand placed upon his in his lap, as they sat upon her bed together, and softly whispered “I wouldn’t have mated with you, if I doubted our love.”
“That’s good.” he answered, suddenly sounding rather serious, which took her off guard because she would have assumed such a response would have held an air of lightheartedness. “Don’t ever doubt me Kagome, ever.”
“Of…of course not!” she sputtered, wondering where this side of him had come from all of a sudden. She soon had her answer.
“When Naraku finds out we’re mated, he’s sure to try to use it against us. He loves to play with people’s minds. He doesn’t just kill people, he likes to make them kill each other. He will try to trick us, to turn us against each other, because it will taint the jewel.”
Kagome’s face was also suddenly very serious, as she realized that what Inuyasha had just said was very true, and that likely, if he found out that the two of them were mated, which isn’t hard to do, he likely would use it against them.
“I will never, never aim one of my arrows at you.” she said slowly and firmly. “If I ever do, I’m not in control.” she added, remembering the two times she had pointed an arrow at him, but her body had been possessed by an enemy’s curse during both occasions.
“At least we’ll be able to tell each other apart in close proximity because of our marks. We’re connected in that way, in a way Naraku cannot duplicate.”
He emphasized his point by rubbing his mark, causing Kagome’s to tingle, and when she responded by rubbing hers, he felt his tingle in response.
“But he can duplicate scent.” he warned her. He’d learned that the hard way, fifty years ago.
“I understand.” she whispered solemnly.
“Also, Kagome…” She looked up to meet his gaze, amber piercing chocolate. “I will never, never use my claws on you.”
“I know.” she answered reassuringly.
“I know I say a lot of stupid stuff sometimes…” he continued. “But you know how great I am at putting my foot in my mouth.” He chuckled, earning a small chuckle from her in return. “But I will not be cruel and hurtful, and say things that are obvious lies.”
“Neither will I.” she assured him. “I love you as a hanyou, always have, always will. When we are ready to have children, I don’t care how youkai they look, if they have your ears instead of human ones, claws or fangs.”
“We need to get this out in the open now.” he added, pausing to smile at her warm words regarding their children. “I refuse to let that bastard get one up on us.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be ready, whatever he may try to pull.” she assured him.
“We should also take into consideration that he may impersonate somebody else, Miroku or Sango for example.” he added thoughtfully.
Kagome nodded, mumbling “That occurred to me too, but we know how they feel about us, about…everything. If they seem weird, out of character, we should leave them immediately and try to find each other.”
“Agreed.” he said. “We don’t want to attack them, when it might actually be them, but…controlled.”
“Agreed.”
There was a brief pause, and through the silence both Inuyasha and Kagome heard the tell tale signs of her grandfather leaving the house to go tend to his outside shrine duties for the day.
“Well…that was a total buzz kill.” Kagome tried to chuckle. “Shall we try to enjoy some breakfast?” she offered.
“Yeah.” he agreed with a smile, leaning forward himself this time, to initiate the chaste kiss.
`````````````````````
Nodoka Higurashi met the young couple in the kitchen and offered them each a knowing smile before setting down a small breakfast in front of them. To her credit, she wasn’t going to bring up how she’d been awoken in the middle of the night to the sound of Inuyasha’s howl.
“Heading back to the feudal era today?” she asked instead, as she softly sipped her tea.
“Yeah…” Kagome answered, blushing, but grateful.
“I hear that house of yours is really coming along.” her mother added with a smile. “My little bird is leaving the nest.” she sighed.
“I’ll always come back to visit as often as I can…for as long as I can.” Kagome replied softly.
Mrs. Higurashi picked up on what her daughter was not telling her, and being fairly aware of everything regarding their mission, perhaps minus the more gruesome details of their battles, which was by choice, she had a sinking sensation that she knew exactly what Kagome had meant to imply.
“You’re worried that when you purify that jewel, the well will close up.” she said suddenly, yet softly, and with understanding. It wasn’t spoken as a question.
Kagome merely lowered her gaze and nodded slowly, while Inuyasha was more surprised for a moment at how accurately her mother had perceived the situation.
“Keh…that ain’t gonna happen for a while yet.” he finally said after a moment. “Still need to find the whole thing, remember?” he stated, addressing both women.
“Well, when you do…” Nodoka began, pausing to sip her tea again. “You be sure to come back one last time, to say your farewells.” she murmured, making sure to keep her tone of voice pleasant and encouraging.
Kagome couldn’t understand how her mom could be so…understanding…about the whole thing. From the way she saw it, her moving to the past was worse than moving away to another country. Even if a parent never saw their child again, they could usually still talk on the telephone. All things considered, Kagome’s mother had handled the news incredibly well. The why became apparent, then, when she innocently acquired something that neither Kagome nor Inuyasha had realized until that moment.
“How long will you live?” she asked out of the blue. “Around three hundred or four hundred years?”
Discretely scenting her mother revealed that while she was saddened by this conversation, generally speaking, she was also feeling hopeful, presumably in regard to the answer of her last question. Smiling to herself, Kagome knew she would like her mate’s answer.
“More like seven hundred or eight hundred years.” Inuyasha stated matter-of-factly, smiling at the wave of relief he felt coming from Kagome’s mother, as he too had picked up on her emotions regarding their topic of conversation. “Hell, if we take our vitamins, maybe even nine hundred or a thousand.” he added in a playful tone, pleased to see her chuckle along with his joke.
The truth was, he wasn’t sure exactly how long they would live, since he’d never heard of a hanyou actually living long enough to reach old age before. But he was bound to live much longer than weaker hanyou, because his father was a Taiyoukai, and since he was still so young, he definitely wouldn’t grow old and die centuries before Kagome did. They would age, very slowly, but they would age together.
Nodoka chuckled lightly at his joke about “vitamins”, knowing he must have learned that from her daughter. She then managed to plaster on a genuine smile, as she realized her small fear had been made much smaller.
“Well then…” she said softly and sweetly. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”
It finally hit Kagome, like a big ton of bricks, each one with the word Duh carved into it.
“Of course!” she blurted out. “In fact, I’m sure our older selves are probably already sniffing around, just waiting until the time is right to show themselves.” she finished with a smile.
“Huh?” Inuyasha asked, confused now. “Our older selves?”
“It’s a time paradox.” Kagome stated, deciding to leave it at that, but Inuyasha wasn’t as stupid as he usually allowed people to believe.
“Oh…” he mumbled, then looking up, he said “Yeah, if we don’t fall at an enemy’s hand, then we’ll still be alive and well in this time.” he muttered through understanding. “But yeah, if I were my older me…I mean…never mind…if I were him, I wouldn’t want to risk being smelled by my younger me. I mean…”
Kagome busted up laughing and placed her hand upon his shoulder, rescuing him from his train of thought before he had a nervous melt down.
“Okay…” she said trying hard to stop her fit of laughter. “We still have at least another year of going back and forth, but Mama…” she trailed off, addressing her mother.
“I know…nothing is certain…” She left it at that.
They’d pretty much silently come to the same conclusion, that should they still be alive and well in her time once the well seals up on their younger versions, that they’d make their presence known rather instantaneously. So that would then lead to the conclusion, that should they never show up, Mrs. Higurashi will know that something happened to them, something bad, and…considering they have only one major enemy, whom they were currently engaged with, it would likely indicate that that bad thing would have happened rather early on, as opposed to later. Of course, if all goes as planned, they’ll slay Naraku before purifying the jewel, so then she’ll at least be able to settle her nerves knowing that the greatest danger to her daughter and her mate had already passed. The only sadness that lingered now was that she’d realized she may miss out on her grandchildren, or at least, while they were still children.
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Back on the other side of time, both Kagome and Inuyasha released a simultaneous sigh of relief to once again be breathing fresh air. They agreed to focus on the tasks at hand, completing the hut, and the jewel, and defeating Naraku. No more talks of time paradoxes and their own doubles. But in the back of her mind, the simple knowledge, that should some unforeseen tragedy not strike, they would still be alive by her century, once it came back around to them through the natural course of time, brought a smile to her face. The thought brought her comfort, because in a way, she wouldn’t really consider herself as having left her world, or her family, forever. She was pretty sure that Inuyasha could come up with something to keep her mind occupied while the years passed.
He couldn’t help but notice the way her arousal would occasionally spark, though mildly, then quickly fade away again, and it brought a smirk to his own face. Just what was his Kagome daydreaming about while they were constructing their home? Shaking his head, he decided he’d better distract her, before he got too distracted to function.
“Oi, Shippo!” he called.
“Yeah?” the kit responded, as he dropped the crayons and headed over towards his adoptive father.
“Go help Kagome, she’s strong, but not as strong as us men.” he said, knowing just the right thing to puff up the young one’s chest with pride, as he marched over towards where Kagome was nailing up the remaining wall that wasn’t yet completed, while he was sawing down more logs into workable planks.
Kagome sent a smile in her mate’s direction at overhearing his instructions to their kit. She attempted, and failed, to stave off a mild blush at the realization that he must have been picking up on her…distracted…frame of mind, but it still touched her heart in a more motherly fashion to hear how well he was getting along with Shippo these days.
One big happy family, she thought with a smile.