InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Years Pass On ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha, but I did spend a long time coming up with this story so if you steal it, watch your back.

Sorry about the wait…I kinda forgot to post this originally, and it is kind of crucial to the story, so…here it is.

Prologue.

It was the aftermath. But it was completely different than they'd ever imagined beating their enemy would be. Or perhaps they'd just never given thought about what total freedom, life after revenge, would be like. No, their thoughts had always been focused on the battle itself, not what would happen after. So, what would happen after? Or rather, now?

They were all gathered there - all of them, now eyeing each other warily, for under normal circumstances they were not the best of friends. In some cases, they were the best of enemies, only for the unspoken truce created by their mutual enemy. Inuyasha, the `hero' of the epic that had begun when the Shikon no Tama had been shattered, stood up straight and shouldered his Tetsusaiga - the fang-sword that was longer than he was when transformed. Normally, he would have sheathed it, returning it to its normal form, that of an old, beaten up Katana, but considering the company he was currently keeping, that he wasn't out of the woods yet. His pointed dog-ears pivoted cautiously. He was a hanyou - that is, half human, half dog demon, as the direct translation of his name clearly stated. Aside from his ears he had white hair down past his waist, claws, and golden eyes, and even though otherwise he appeared human, he was never to be mistaken as one.

Kagome was standing next to him, clad as always in the strange garb she called a `school uniform' from her time. Though upon their meeting he had tried to kill her for the sacred jewel (before she'd shattered it with her sacred arrow), now he was used to having her at his side. What would happen to her now? Would she go home to her side of the well and leave him? He frowned at the thought. He got antsy when she left to do her `tests.' How could he possible cope if she left forever? He didn't want her gone; he wanted her here, by his side, forever. He glanced over at Miroku, who, predictably, was staring at his right hand, which no longer had a black hole in the middle that sucked everything in. But, perhaps to effectively counter Miroku's fortune, Sango the demon-slayer was bent over her dying brother Kohaku. Previously, a the power of a shard of the Shikon no Tama had kept him alive, but Naraku had taken the shard, the thing he'd controlled the boy with at the beginning of the battle, and freed him - to death. But the boy hadn't died immediately, it seemed, but continued to suffer.

Surprisingly enough, the little human girl who had been hiding behind the one he had been most nervous about ran over to kneel by Kohaku as well. "Sesshoumaru-sama?" She trailed off. Inuyasha's eyes flicked to his brother. It was Sesshoumaru that had kept him from putting his sword away - whenever he and his full demon half-brother met, they fought, and at the moment, he really didn't feel up to it. Hopefully the Demon Lord didn't either. All in attendance had fought hard to defeat Naraku, so his brother should be just as tired as he, right?

In response to the little girl's silent question, Sesshoumaru walked forward, his hand on the hilt of one of his two swords. Inuyasha's jaw dropped, Kohaku had once almost killed the little girl, but he'd been under control then. Certainly Sesshoumaru had figured that out and wasn't going to…

"No!" Sango cried, and covered her brother's body with her own. Miroku stopped staring at his hand, and he and Inuyasha rushed forward, Kagome not far behind…though not fast enough.

In one deft movement, Sesshoumaru drew his sword and slashed both Sango and her brother. The three rushing forward stopped in shock, but there was no squirting of blood from newly opened wounds. Sango slowly sat up. Inuyasha stared in shock.

"Tensaiga." Kagome said. "I completely forgot."

"H-he…healed Kohaku?" Miroku stuttered. And it was true. The boy, previously on death's door or worse, opened his eyes.

"Sister?" He said, looking up at Sango in confusion. "Where are we?" He'd obviously gained his memories back.

That little crisis over, Inuyasha looked over at his rival - Kouga. But for once the wimpy wolf wasn't fawning all over Kagome, so Inuyasha didn't really feel an inexorable need to attack him outright. Must be his exhaustion again. And then, his eyes caught Kikyo's. She was watching him, she, the resurrected form composed of mud and human bones in the likeness of his lost love, more than fifty years gone. That fateful day, the day when the red string of fate had been cut - when she'd taken the Shikon no Tama to meet him, so he could use it to become fully human to be with her. They'd died that day, he sealed to the Goshinboku tree by her enchanted arrow, and she from wounds she thought she'd received from him. Only they'd been tricked by Naraku into killing each other - and it had worked.

Fifty years later, Kagome had popped out of the well from the strange world of the future she called Tokyo, with the Shikon no Tama that Kikyo had ordered burned with her remains buried in her side. Fifteen years old, she'd been attacked by a centipede demon and the Jewel of the Four Souls had been freed and brought back into the world. To save her life, she had dissipated the spell that her previous incarnation Kikyo had sealed him with, and the Hanyou Inuyasha was revived to what he thought was the scent of the girl who had betrayed and killed him. Days later, Kagome accidentally shattered the sacred jewel, marking the beginning of their strange relationship. At first her presence had annoyed him, but now he didn't want to think of a future without her. She was the first person to accept him as he was - even Kikyo had wanted him to become human to live with her. She'd put up with a lot from him over their travels, and yet she still stayed with him. What was he to do when she returned to `Tokyo' for `tests' and didn't come back? What if the well closed up while she was on the other side? What if…

But in reality, he could see no real way for them to realistically be together…she had a whole other life on the other side of the well, in a world that he could never hope to really understand. He'd visited there before, and managed to survive it, but...to live there? Not to mention that Kikyo…Kikyo's soul rested with Kagome, her reincarnation - her reincarnation, though one could never be mistaken for the other - and the only reason she still walked the earth was because of the blind rage she'd felt upon her resurrection for Inuyasha. Without killing him, taking him to hell with her, she could never rest. He couldn't just leave her…it was an impossible situation…he couldn't be with Kagome, and he couldn't just leave Kikyo to forever wander the earth. He didn't want to die, he didn't want to go to hell, but…

Inuyasha's thoughts were interrupted. "Now what are we going to do? The Shikon no Tama?" Kagome looked over at him.

Sesshoumaru turned indifferently away. "I have no interest in such a thing. I have all the power I possibly need."

"I don't need it either." This from Kouga, which was quite a surprise, since he'd been carrying shards in his legs ever since they'd met him. "Unlike the mutt, I don't need outside help."

"You needed up until now." Inuyasha muttered. Something was different today. Nothing seemed even remotely able to affect him. Normally he would have risen at being called a mutt, but today, the insult seemed petty. He had a lot on his mind.

"Nor do I." Kikyo said. "The Shikon no Tama has brought me nothing but sorrow and pain."

Kagome walked over to where Naraku had once been and picked up the small pink bead. "To think that such a small thing could cause such trouble and pain." Then she tossed it to Inuyasha. "Well, it appears that now you're the only one who wants this wretched thing."

Inuyasha looked down at the sacred jewel he now held in his hands. Once, it was the thing that he would have given anything to possess, but now? Now he saw it only as the source of his sorrows, and perhaps even an extension of Naraku. Either way, he didn't have anything to wish for…or did he?

He closed his hands over the jewel and closed his eyes. When he opened them, everything was as it had been. `Seems my wish must have been impossible.' He thought. Then something hit him. It was the only possible solution to the problem. He looked at Kagome, and she seemed surprised at the look in his eyes - of absolute decision, for better or worse. He walked over to her and dropped the Shikon no Tama in her hand. "Kagome, you are the guardian of the Shikon no Tama, you take it." He closed her hand around it. "Please don't be angry with me, Kagome. It's the only possible way. But I swear, I will return to you someday, if I can possibly manage it." Then, as he had so long ago on the day he'd tried to prevent her from ever returning to the era of the warring states, Inuyasha swept her into his arms and held her tightly, resting his chin on top of her hair. It was the round-about way, and he didn't want to do it, but…

Then he let her go, and stalked over to Kikyo, who had watched all this almost impassively. "All right Kikyo, lets go." He ignored the gasps at this statement.

"Inuyasha…" Kikyo seemed surprised.

"You can only rest if I die, right?" He asked her, and then didn't bother to let her respond. "I can't possibly let you continue to wander. You'd probably come after me again and hurt Kagome. So, I'm ending your imitation of existence."

Kikyo didn't wait for him to ask twice. As the light rose from the ground around he and Kikyo, and the ground began to give way, Inuyasha sent one thought upward before oblivion. "Don't cry, Kagome."