Kagome sat down next to the demon lord, pulling her jean-clad knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Sesshomaru had chosen to join their motley group after Kagome and Inuyasha had saved his young ward, Rin, from Naraku.
“Sometimes the stars make me feel so insignificant,” she told him. He did not look at her. “In my time, we search and search for life on other planets, but we’re barely out of our own solar system. There could be creatures out there that we will never know about.”
“Your time?” Sesshomaru couldn’t help asking.
“I thought you knew. I’m from five-hundred years in the future.”
Sesshomaru was silent.
“It’s very different. There have been men on the moon. We’ve learned that the Earth revolves around the sun, rather than the sun around the Earth. Gravity causes it. The sun has a larger mass, so the Earth revolves around it the same way the moon revolves around the Earth. There’s a tiny rock at the edge of the solar system that was made a planet. Then the scientists changed their minds and said it wasn’t. We know that the universe is still expanding. Every second, it’s a little bigger. It can really make a person feel small.”
“How did these “scientists” place a man on the moon?”
Kagome was startled out of her reverie. She looked at him a moment then turned her gaze back to where the moon should have been. “First, they had to get people into space. They started by making rockets. Rockets look kinda like…” she demonstrated with her hands, “this. They have fuel attached to them. Before they sent people into space, they sent animals, just to make sure life could survive. The poor creatures died in space, because they hadn’t figured out how to get them back safely. That was the next thing they figured out. After that, the first person went to space. I think it was a Russian, but I’m not sure. There was a thing called the “space race.” Different countries wanted to be the first to put a man on the moon. The Americans succeeded. They sent a team of astronauts to space. The rocket sent out a smaller space ship to the moon with a few men on it, while the rocket orbited the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon.”
Sesshomaru stared at the spot where the moon should have been as well. “When was this?”
“The nineteen fifties and sixties, I think. I’m not so good at scientific history.” Kagome stood and stretched. “Thank you for letting me talk to you, Sesshomaru-sama. It’s nice to be able to speak with someone who is able to understand.’
Sesshomaru did not acknowledge her as she left. He stared at the stars instead.
The next night, Kagome again found him sitting under a tree. She again sat beside him, leaving a few feet of space.
“Were the men able to breathe on the moon?”
Kagome smiled. “There’s no air in space. Have you ever flown really high on your cloud and found that it was harder to breathe? Or gone to the top of a tall mountain? That’s because there’s less air up there. There’s this thing called the atmosphere around the earth. It’s held here by gravity, I told you about that. So the closer to the ground, the more air. Other planets have different atmospheres, none that we’ve found with enough oxygen for humans to live on them. Space doesn’t have very much of anything because the gravity from planets and such draws in the matter. It’s impossible for any life form that needs oxygen to live in space. So humans invented oxygen tanks. They hold the air and feed it through a tube into the astronauts’ suits. Humans use a similar concept when they dive beneath the water.” Kagome paused. “I’ve always wanted to go diving. They have these things called “videos” in the future. They’re moving pictures. For years, scientists have been sending people to the bottom of the ocean in things kinda like spaceships, but for the water. Almost every time they go to the bottom of the ocean, they find a new species of creature. What I think I would really enjoy is reef diving. Reefs look like stones, but they’re really living creatures. They are colorful and are a home to all kinds of beautiful fish and sharks.”
“Do the sharks not kill the humans?”
Kagome shrugged. “Sometimes. But we’ve learned that sharks aren’t really aggressive animals. There’re only around a hundred shark attacks every year. People are still terrified of them. Especially because of a movie – a moving picture – called Jaws. It’s about a shark that goes around killing people. Not a movie I’m particularly fond of. I have a lot of respect for sharks. They’re big and beautiful and elegant. Actually, the Great White, the largest meat-eating shark in the world, refuses to survive in captivity. Humans have never been able to keep one alive for more than a few weeks I think. We don’t know as much about sharks as I think we should.”
Sesshomaru mulled that over for a moment. “What is the largest shark in the world?”
“Huh?”
“You said the great white was the largest meat-eating shark. What is the largest shark?
“Oh, that’s the whale shark. It’s as big as a whale, but it has gills, like sharks and other fish. It eats plankton, I think. Plankton are microscopic creatures that live in the sea. We can’t see them with our eyes. Humans made things called microscopes to see things that small. The whale shark gapes its mouth open and swims through the plankton. If it gets a fish on accident, it spits it back out. Some whales eat plankton too. Some are meat eaters like sharks.” Kagome paused. “Animals are really very interesting.” She sighed. “If I can get into college, I might study to work with them.”
“College?”
“In my time, everyone is educated up to the 9th grade. At that time, they’re 14 or 15 years old. Then, they can choose to go on to high school and continue their education, or to go into the work force. It’s not the same in other countries, but that’s the way it is in Japan. If you want to go to high school, you have to pass the entrance exams. It’s a similar thing if you want to go to college. There are entrance exams you have to pass and you have to get good grades. I had a really hard time getting into high school because I was always here, but I studied hard and did a lot of extra work.”
“All women are educated?”
Kagome nodded. “In Japan, everyone, including girls, is educated until they are fifteen. In Japan, it’s still customary for the woman to be a housewife and stay at home mom, but in other countries, women are expected to work as much as the men.”
“What of the children?”
“Children are often sent to daycare or a baby-sitter until they reach school age. But like I said, in Japan it’s still a bit of a faux pas to work as a mother. Oh, a faux pas is like… a socially non-accepted action. Like… Miroku’s groping is a faux pas. Not something a person should do around classy people.”
“Hn.”
Kagome sat with him in silence for a while. Finally, she looked at her watch. “I should go to sleep.” Kagome stood. “Goodnight Sesshomaru-sama.”
When she had turned away, Sesshomaru looked at her with an inscrutable gaze.
Weeks passed, each night a new topic was discussed. Kagome discovered Sesshomaru had a curiosity more vast than any she had ever seen. He hid his eagerness well, but Kagome could tell from his pointed questions and his gleaming eyes. As the day got shorter and darkness came earlier, their conversations lasted longer. Months passed and the conversations bled into the days. Sango and Miroku would watch, mystified as the demon lord and the untrained miko would walk at the head of the group, talking softly. The children, Rin and Shippo, thought nothing of it. They would join in whenever possible and ask questions as well.
Inuyasha, however, glared suspiciously and – sometimes – jealously at the pair. He knew his brother had no interest in Kagome as a woman the same way he had no interest in her as a woman. But he also knew that Kagome was the first person other than his mother to accept him as he was. He was afraid that she would be hurt by Sesshomaru, whether by falling for him and being rejected, or some other way. And he could never stand to see her hurt after all she had done for him.
So he confronted his brother one evening, after Kagome had returned to her sleeping bag.
“Don’t hurt her,” Inuyasha growled quietly. “She may think that you’re good, but you think of nothing but your own gain. Don’t you dare hurt her.”
Sesshomaru stared at his younger half brother. Finally, he spoke. “Did you know, little brother, that she wants to be a marine zoologist? She wants to study animals in the sea. However, to be able to be one, she must go to college. Without doing well in high school, she will never achieve her dream. She had to tell you she was sick, just to be able to study to get into high school.” With that, Sesshomaru stood and walked calmly to the campsite, leaving Inuyasha alone by a bare sakura tree.
After that, Inuyasha walked beside them, never partaking in the conversation, just listening to it.
When Kagome would go home, Inuyasha would either wait in the village or in a tree by the well, depending on how long she was supposed to be gone. Sesshomaru took Kagome’s absences as a chance to return to his lands and check on his lordly affairs. It was after one such trip that Kagome found him brooding beneath the Goshinboku.
Kagome watched him for a moment, head tilted to the side, before she walked over and sat next to him. Knowing his personality, she said nothing, just looked up into the sun-speckled leaves of the tree. “Do you know, next month I will have been coming to the past for two years? I was pulled through the well on my birthday by Mistress Centipede. She is the one that tore the Shikon Jewel from my body. Inuyasha saved me from being centipede food, but he tried to kill me as well. Even Sango has tried to kill Inuyasha before. But to think, such powerful people have chosen to stay at my side through these struggles makes me wonder why I am so lucky. Through things trying to kill me I have found a purpose and I have found family.” Kagome fell silent, thinking. “Despite all the injuries I’ve suffered, the people I couldn’t save, and the enemies we’ve made, I’m thankful to that beast that pulled me through the well. Without her, I would never have met any of you.”
Then she truly fell silent. The only sounds were her soft breathing and the sounds of the birds in the trees.
“Kagome, will you become my mate?”
Kagome was startled out of the soothing silence. “What?”
“Will you become my mate?”
Kagome threw her head back and laughed while the taiyokai remained silent. “Of course not, Sesshomaru. You don’t want me as your mate. And as much as I love you, it’s in the same way that I love Miroku and Inuyasha. You’re my friends, brothers almost. I don’t love you in the way that a man loves a woman.” Her tone softened. “Are you being pressured to choose? You must be highly desired in yokai society. You’re handsome and powerful.”
Sesshomaru nodded. “Keh,” Kagome said in a derisive manner. “Let them come. You just ignore them until you find the right woman. Those other women don’t matter and whoever is pressuring you doesn’t matter. You are the Lord of the Western Lands and you can choose whoever and whenever you want. You’ll know when you find the right woman. Knowing you, she’ll have to be a strong, intelligent woman. You’d get too irritated with any other. Don’t worry about it. When the time comes, you’ll know.”
“Hn.” Sesshomaru hesitated. “Thank you for rejecting me.”
“Any time, milord,” Kagome told him, making a bow from the ground.
Sesshomaru barely contained a snort. He stood and offered Kagome his hand, like any gentleman would do.
As they walked back to the village, Kagome started their conversation. “What do you think happens when humans die? What do you think will happen when I die?”
“Are you planning on dying soon?”
“No, but I’d like to have some idea of what will happen to me.”
“Perhaps it is best not to know. It will leave some element of interest when you do die.”
“Well, what happens when demons die? Your father’s body was in the black pearl, but what about his soul? What happened to the part that made him who he was?”
“I do not know. Perhaps he has been reincarnated; perhaps he has gone to a better place than this world. Perhaps he follows Inuyasha and me around and wreaks havoc. It is something he might do.”
Kagome laughed. “He sounds like fun. I wish I could have met him.”
“He would have loved a troublesome little miko that talks back to those stronger than herself.”
Kagome shoved him lightly, not making the demon move and inch. She smiled brilliantly at him. “Hey, it makes a good distraction from the paralyzing fear and the hanyo about to kill my captor.” Kagome looked closer at him. “Did you just roll your eyes?”
“I did nothing of the sort.”
“You are a liar!”
Sesshomaru turned a glare on her; cold enough to freeze water, but not cold enough to freeze Kagome. She laughed. “I knew it!”
Suddenly, Sesshomaru threw his arm out in front of her, stopping the poor girl in her tracks. He placed a finger to his mouth and she nodded. Sesshomaru then picked her up and carried her the rest of the way to the village, canine ears and sense of smell working furiously.
Kagome felt a twinge. “Shards,” she whispered.
Sesshomaru nodded. “Naraku has been about. Inuyasha is pacing inside the village boundaries. He’s waiting for you, but the monk has put up a barrier, so he can’t get out,” he whispered back.
They arrived and Miroku let them in.
“Naraku’s been hanging around here,” Inuyasha growled. “Sniffing after our jewel shards, I bet.”
Kagome nodded. “He’ll confront us soon then.”
And he did. He brought an army of lower demons, along with his offspring. Kagura and Kanna were the toughest, but Kagura wanted to die. A quick slash of Sesshomaru’s whip and she was gone. But Naraku had the advantage of not defending an entire village of people. Miroku struggled to channel both his and Kagome’s power into a barrier around the gathering house, where the entire village watched the battle in terror.
Naraku pounded and pounded against the barrier where his precious shards were being kept with Kagome. After Sesshomaru finished with Kagura, he turned his sights on Naraku.
“Inuyasha,” he called out.
“I’m a little busy here! What do ya want!?”
“Use the Kaze no Kizu on the lesser demons! There’s no point in us getting distracted when the real foe is Naraku! I will defend you while you take care of them.”
“Sango! Get out of the way!”
Sango saw Tetsusaiga pointed in her direction and leapt onto Kirara’s back. “Go Kirara! Hurry!”
The fire cat obeyed, taking her mistress high into the sky until they were behind Inuyasha. Sesshomaru, the killing perfection, slashed any tentacle daring to go near his younger brother, fangs bared in pleasure as he hacked off any part of Naraku he could reach.
“Kaze no Kizu!” Inuyasha continued slashing until the minor demons were gone. Sesshomaru noticed a shift in the atmosphere and turned an icy glare on Kanna. Before Kanna or Naraku could realize he had moved, Sesshomaru had removed Kanna’s head.
Naraku drifted upwards on his miasma in an attempt to escape. His attempt was foiled as Sesshomaru knocked him to the ground.
“Kagome! Does he have the Shikon no Tama?” Inuyasha asked her.
“Yes!”
Inuyasha bared his teeth at Naraku. “Then I guess he’s the real deal.”
Naraku chuckled. “You won’t get rid of me so easily.” He shot out a tentacle to both Sesshomaru and Inuyasha that engulfed them.
“Inuyasha! Sesshomaru!” Kagome yelled. Miroku grabbed her wrist.
“No! We cannot let Naraku have the Shikon shards! They will break free!” Miroku stared intently at the bulges in Naraku’s flesh where Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were trapped. Sango jumped down from Kirara and attempted to help them get free.
“Come on, come on…” Kagome muttered.
“Sango, watch out!” Miroku shouted desperately.
Naraku was attacking Sango with one of his tentacles. It headed directly toward her chest, attempting to pierce it. Suddenly, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru burst from Naraku’s flesh. Sesshomaru destroyed the tentacle, shielding Sango from its deadly intent.
Sango dodged around him and began to hack at tentacles as well. Kagome stood inside the barrier.
“Lady Kagome-”
“Don’t worry Miroku, I’m not leaving.” Kagome drew an arrow from her quiver and slipped it onto her bowstring. She pulled it back, aiming carefully. She had seen the gleam of dark jewel shards. “Sit!” she yelled as she released the arrow. Inuyasha plunged to the ground, the arrow passing through the spot his heart had been a moment ago.
The arrow hit the unprepared Naraku, stunning him and rendering him momentarily paralyzed.
“Sesshomaru, hurry and kill him while he can’t move!”
The taiyokai made no indication of noticing Kagome, but he cut off Naraku’s head in a quick slash.
“The jewel shards are in his stomach. Take them before he can regenerate himself,” Kagome ordered. A moment later, she caught the almost-completed jewel. “Thank you.”
Miroku took down the barrier. He started to remove the covering of his Kazaana, but was stopped by Kagome. “Not yet.”
She approached Naraku’s body and took another arrow from her quiver. She stabbed it quickly into the cavity where his heart should have been. The arrow glowed pink as it reduced Naraku to dust.
“His real heart was somewhere else,” Kagome told her friends, staring at the ash absently. “But it had a connection to the one here. I think that the purification powers traveled through the link to his real heart. He should be dead for real now.” Kagome looked up at the group with tears in her eyes. “We did it.”
Miroku slowly unwrapped his hand. Nothing but his palm remained. He collapsed to his knees and traced the lines in his hand with a single finger. “It’s… It’s gone…” He leapt to his feet and embraced Sango. “It’s gone!” He picked her up and spun her around, both of them laughing like children. Then he kissed her. “And now… Sango… Will you be my wife?”
Her feet dangling off the ground and grimy from demon blood, Sango grinned happily. “Yes!”
Inuyasha, Kagome and Sesshomaru watched. “What will you do now, Inuyasha?” Kagome asked softly.
Inuyasha looked away. “I’ll search for her. If I find her, I’ll try to convince her to love me again. If not, I’ll find somewhere I can settle, eventually.” He stared into the forest. “What about you?”
Kagome cupped all of the shards together in her hands for a moment. They glowed pink and when she opened her hands, they were all fused together. Three shards will still missing. “I’m not done here. I promised to make the jewel whole again, and I’ll do that. We need to find Kohaku for Sango anyways. He and Koga have the only shards left. Then…” Kagome sighed. “Then, I don’t know. Do you still want to become a human, Inuyasha?”
Sesshomaru’s glance shot over sharply, but Inuyasha sighed as well. “No. I’ve been happier as a hanyo since I’ve gotten down from that damn tree than I’ve ever been. Might as well keep it that way. Anyways, be kinda hard to find Kikyo without a good nose.”
Kagome stared at the Shikon. “I can’t protect this my entire life. And I can’t just pass it off on someone else. It has to be destroyed, somehow.”
By then, the villagers had cautiously exited the huts. Rin and Shippo rushed towards Sesshomaru and Kagome. “We won, we won!” they screamed, laughing.
Soon everyone was working to burn the bodies of Naraku’s demons. Smoke filled the air. As the fires from the demons began to die, the villagers added wood to the fire and built a bonfire. Sake was drunk, food was eaten, and friendly mayhem occurred.
Only Sesshomaru and Kagome sat apart from it.
“I’m scared,” Kagome admitted. “I wasn’t nearly as afraid of Naraku as I am of this jewel. I’m scared that once it’s completed, the well will seal and I’ll be stuck on one side or the other. And the worst part is that I don’t know which side I’d choose.”
Sesshomaru leaned ever so slightly, letting Kagome know he cared in his own way. “Whatever happens, you’re strong. You will be fine. If you are stranded in your time, Shippo and I will survive to see you. Inuyasha may as well, if he learns to control his mouth.”
Kagome laughed and the two sat in silence, watching the party. “It would be nice if the whole world could be like this – happy. There’s so much suffering, but right now it’s like nothing else exists. Only this happy moment.”
Sesshomaru silently watched the party with her, letting her know that in his own way, he agreed.
Several weeks later, Kagome sat on the edge of the well, kicking her feet through the grass. Sesshomaru leaned against a nearby tree.
“I find it really hard to believe that it’s over. It was kind of anti-climatic. Koga and Kohaku just gave up the shards.” Kagome held up her “pendant,” the Shikon no Tama. “I suppose it’s not really over, since I have this, but we don’t have to fight Naraku anymore.”
“There will be others that want it. What will you do?”
“I’ve thought about it, and I think I should go home. I don’t belong here. Inuyasha has left to find Kikyo and Sango and Miroku have left to rebuild her village and start a family. There’s really no place for me here. The only people I’m worried about are Shippo and you.”
She looked at the demon lord. He was giving her a look that demanded an explanation. “Shippo sees me as a mother. Sango and Miroku would gladly take him in, but soon they’ll have their own family. He could go with Inuyasha, but they act more like brothers than a child and someone who should be a father figure.
“And you… You only have Rin and Jaken. Jaken is old and Rin is only human. Eventually, she will leave you, either to start a family of her own or through death. You aren’t exactly a ‘social butterfly,’ so I know you will be alone.”
“I will be fine. The kit will be as well. He will go with me. He will be Rin’s playmate.”
“Is that really okay though? You are a lord. You must be a busy man and you already have one child to take care of. If I could, I would take him with me, but he’s never been able to pass through the well and he doesn’t belong in the future.”
“It will be fine. He is not just a child. He is a demon.”
Kagome stood and walked to Sesshomaru. When she got to him, she hugged him. The demon lord felt tears soaking through his clothes and gently patted her head. “Thank you, Sesshomaru, thank you.”
That night, they stayed up and talked until the sun started to peek over the horizon, then Kagome slept.
When she awoke, Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha were waiting. “So you thought you would leave without saying goodbye?” Sango asked, tears in her eyes.
Kagome hugged her. “How… How did you know I was leaving?”
Sango let go of her. “Sesshomaru-sama came and told us.”
Kagome glanced at the demon lord standing to the side of the group and smiled at him. “Thank you, Sesshomaru.”
Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Kaede, Rin and Shippo had all been gathered. The villagers had been told that their “Lady Kagome” was leaving and prepared a feast. The sight brought tears to Kagome’s eyes. She would miss all of these people. During their times together, they had grown to respect and love one another. But she knew she didn’t belong and she had a family in her time that was waiting for her.
There was a lot of crying and Kagome decided to stay until dark. The little village rang with laughter and cries and was lit by a huge bonfire lit in a large fire pit at the center of the village.
When the time came for her to go, many of the villagers presented her with gifts. Some gave her kimono, some sandals or seeds or just small trinkets. Kagome thanked each of them and headed for the well with her group of friends. Inuyasha carried her large yellow bag, stuffed with gifts she had received. Kagome had left Inuyasha all the ramen she could find and left Shippo and Rin crayons and paints. To Miroku and Sango, Kagome had presented some pots and pans and a comforter for their new home.
Sesshomaru’s gift had taken more thought. There was nothing that she knew of that he needed. He was powerful; he had land and strength and swords. Kagome had stumbled onto the idea, really. But her gift would not be given until the last minute.
Kagome stood beside the well.
“Kagome… Miroku and I won’t survive to see you in your time. So, even though it’s a little morbid, we want you to have these memorial tablets.”
Kagome took them and began to cry. She hugged both Sango and Miroku. “Thank you. I’ll burn you lots of incense.”
“We want you to have this bow too. It’s made from yokai bone. You may not have much use for it in your time but –”
“I love it! It’s beautiful.” Kagome knew it was the last time she would ever see her human friends. “I love you guys. I hope you have a long and happy life with lots of children.”
“We’ll pass down your name, Kagome.”
Inuyasha stepped forward and also hugged Kagome. “Keh. Wench, I’ll survive long enough to see you again, so don’t you think that you can get away from me.” He dropped something over her head.
Kagome picked up the necklace. It matched Inuyasha’s. “Oh yea… Do you want me to remove the subjugation beads?”
“Don’t bother. I’ve gotten used to them. Plus, it’s not like you’ll be around to use them.”
Kagome hugged him again. “I’ll miss you Inuyasha, if you don’t come to see me. Thanks for protecting me all this time.”
“It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it.”
Kagome smiled. Her face was dripping.
Shippo and Rin launched themselves at her, almost sending her tumbling into the well. Sesshomaru caught her wrist to prevent that from happening.
The two’s words were jumbled together, but Kagome gathered that they were going to miss her. Shippo had drawn a picture of their group and Rin had made her a flower crown. Kagome held them close and showered them with kisses as Sesshomaru approached.
“Kagome.”
“Sesshomaru.”
Sesshomaru stretched out his closed fist. Kagome held out one hand and Sesshomaru dropped a ring into it. She studied it, puzzled. It was made of silver and had a blue crescent moon in it.
“It indicates that you are a part of my clan.”
Kagome nodded, slipping the ring onto her middle finger. She gently set the children down and stood.
“Sesshomaru… I will see you again, right?”
“Hai.”
Kagome embraced him and sent some of her power in to his body. The Shikon no Tama pulsed.
“What are you doing, miko?”
“I started the healing on your arm. I can’t do it all at once, but it should finish growing back soon. Also…” Kagome pulled the Shikon no Tama from around her neck. “I want to decide what to do with this. I know you will make a good decision.”
Sesshomaru nodded and put the jewel around his neck. Kagome patted his cheek. “Thank you for what you’ve done for me Sesshomaru-sama.”
Kagome turned around and picked a sobbing Shippo up. “Shippo-chan, listen to me. I asked Sesshomaru-sama to take you in. He will take good care of you and I’m sure that with him, you can grow up to be a very powerful yokai. Listen to what he says and behave. I’ll see you in the future.” Kagome set him down and held Rin next. “You too, Rin-chan. Be a good girl and live a long, happy life.”
Then it was time for her to go. She looked at her friends one last time, smiled and jumped down the well.
“I love you all. Bye.”
Kagome knew it was her last time to travel through the blue lights of the well and tried to enjoy it, though she was crying. When the lights stopped and she was finally back in her time, Kagome just sat at the bottom, surrounded by her gifts. She already missed everyone.
Kagome climbed up the ladder in the well with her bag and left the well house. Her house was lit up and as she got closer, she could hear the sounds of her family enjoying dinner together. As she opened the door, the room seemed to swim. Kagome thought she was crying again.
“Hey, I’m ho –” The floor rushed up, but the world went black before she hit it.