Epilogue

School was over—forever.

This was the last time Kagome was wearing her uniform. She couldn't quite believe it as she walked home from her final class.

Her graduation would be next Saturday, and after that… after that, she wasn't sure what she'd do. Kagome had been thinking about going to college and getting a degree in Tourism and Hospitality, or something else that would help her open her own inn someday.

She believed she could do well at that, considering her past experience at the bathhouse.

Truthfully, the Spirit World left many marks in Kagome.

The young woman sometimes caught herself holding her breath as she walked over a bridge. She was scared of wasps and couldn't stand the sight of pork, let alone eat it. She was more mature than any of her friends, and she never looked back after saying goodbye.

Not once.

Sighing, Kagome passed by the stone steps that led to her family shrine and kept on going. A walk might help her clear her head and regain her cheerful disposition before she arrived home.

Mama will be worried if I come back after the last day of school with a long face, she thought. And she expects me to be with my friends now.

Kagome wasn't a sad girl, not by a very long shot, but she was feeling a bit wistful today. She'd declined her friends' invitation to go to WacDonalds because all their talking about the future made the girl realize she'd always been waiting for something else deep down.

Something that might never happen. She'd checked the well a few times, after the worst of her emotional trauma had passed, but it never let her through.

Inuyasha, I… want to see you again.

Feeling a sudden tingle down her spine, Kagome halted.

She was supposed to always trust her instincts. Something red had also caught her eye…

It was the façade of a coffee shop, standing out between two colorless buildings like a cherry on a cake. There used to be a shoe store there, so Kagome knew this one was new.

Deciding to take a closer look, she crossed the street.

'The Bottomless Pit Café,' it read on a green neon sign above the door.

What kind of a name was that?

Curious, Kagome opened the door to enter the coffee shop. A bell rang as she walked through the threshold.

The inside of it was like... a grandmother's house.

Teacups of many sizes and colors were hanging on the walls. An old gramophone rested on a tall platform near the door, probably just for decoration. The tablecloths were lace, and each table had a small porcelain vase on top with a single purple flower. Kagome recognized the kind from Grandpa's garden: shion.

It symbolized remembrance.

On the far wall, a framed quote beside the menu board read: 'Once you meet someone, you never truly forget them.'

Kagome thought it wasn't much as far as motivational quotes went, but it was cute.

"Good afternoon," a man greeted with a smooth voice, standing up from behind the counter. "How may I—"

As they looked at each other, he stopped talking. His dark eyes widened on his pale face.

He was tall and thin with long, curly hair. Kagome blinked, thinking he looked familiar. She couldn't quite place it, but his eyes...

"Kikyo," he murmured.

It was as if the floor opened beneath her feet. She felt dizzy.

"Kagome," she corrected automatically, exhaling a nervous laugh. "And you're the Faceless Spider." It wasn't a question. She knew it.

"We got a customer?"

Her lungs stopped working.

She would have recognized this new voice anywhere. It didn't matter if it sounded a little different, older and rougher. It didn't matter if the last time she'd heard him speak, she had been only a child.

Turning her head, Kagome looked at the man who had just entered the room through a door behind the counter. He wore a blue apron, which suggested he worked in the kitchen. His long, black hair was tied back in a ponytail, and his gray eyes had the same depth they'd had when they were golden.

"Ka-Kagome?" Inuyasha stammered.

"Inuyasha," she whispered, her heart hammering in her chest.

The Faceless Spider excused himself, mumbling something about getting Kaede. Kagome was unable to take her eyes out of the one she'd been longing to see for years.

Inuyasha was in front of her in the blink of an eye, pulling her into his arms.

"You silly girl," he murmured into her hair. "Where have you been?"

"I-I'm sorry, Inuyasha," Kagome stuttered, even though she wasn't sure what she was apologizing for. Confused, she asked, "Were you waiting?"

He smelt of coffee, wood and something new. As he leaned away to look at her, Kagome had to fight the urge to pull him back.

"I've been waiting for two months!" Inuyasha huffed. "I wasn't supposed to bother you, but I thought you'd have found us by now!"

Kagome scowled, but didn't let go of him. "First of all, why do you look human? Second, you've been in the mortal world for two months? Why didn't you just tell me?"

Inuyasha cleared his throat. To Kagome's dismay, he was blushing.

"Because he was waiting until you graduated, of course."

They jumped apart at the sound of Kaede's voice. The woman looked exactly like Kagome remembered, except she was wearing a long-sleeved blue dress instead of the former priestess' garb.

"Grandma!" Kagome exclaimed with a smile, running to hug her. "It's so good to see you again—but how? Did you arrive through the well?"

Kaede laughed as she petted Kagome's hair. "It's nice to see you too, my dear. And no, the well doesn't work anymore." Kagome felt a pang in her chest, though she already knew it. "We had to use another portal, in an abandoned theme park. Dreadful place!"

Looking from Kagome to Inuyasha, Kaede raised an eyebrow. "We have much to talk about."

The story they told Kagome was almost too good to be true.

Her friends were in the mortal world to stay.

According to Inuyasha, knowing his true name hadn't been enough to free him from Urasue. The contract was broken, so he wasn't a bathhouse employee anymore, but he still owed her for his apprenticeship. The sorceress had been teaching him magic ever since they'd met, so he had quite a debt.

"I sticked around to pay her, but learning magic isn't cheap," he said. "You'd be an old lady by the time I could come back, and that just wouldn't do." He looked away as he said that, clearly embarrassed. "I had to give her something else, something that would pay for all the years I still owed… so I gave her my demon half."

Kagome choked on her cappuccino. "What? How's that even possible?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Urasue's powerful. She was the one who taught me to make the most of my demon blood in the first place. A half-breed shouldn't have been able to turn into a dog, you know?" He smirked. "Anyway, I don't regret learning magic. I don't regret paying the price to be here now, either."

They looked deeply into each other's eyes. Kagome was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that he was human, and she already missed his ears, but…

He's staying. He's really staying.

Seemingly amused at something, Kaede chuckled.

Clearing her throat, the old woman said, "I myself had been thinking about coming back to the mortal world since the jewel disappeared. It doesn't bother me that I'll die now that I'm here; I wanted to see where I came from."

The thought of Kaede dying left a bitter taste on Kagome's mouth.

"There was still the matter of the Faceless Spider, of course," the priestess continued. "I couldn't leave him behind." She smiled at the man, who sat quietly to her right. "Bringing a faceless spirit to the mortal world was a bad idea, though… they're very susceptible to change. I needed him to become human, so I called in a few favors—from a few gods."

Kagome smiled at the former spirit. "I'm glad you could come too. Nobody wants to be alone, right?"

With a bit of hesitance, he nodded.

"And… How do you introduce yourself here? I mean, Faceless Spider isn't exactly…"

"He chose his own name," Inuyasha interjected, snorting. "Naraku. Can you believe it?"

"Don't pester him, Inuyasha," Kaede reprimanded. "Honestly, son, like your name's any better…"

"Keh."

Naraku clucked his tongue. "I do not mind the dog, Ma'am. Let him bark."

Inuyasha sent him an angry glare.

Kaede sighed. "Whenever Naraku does decide to talk, the two of them bicker like children. I warned them not to do it in front of the customers, though."

"We hardly have any," Inuyasha grumbled, picking at the lace tablecloth. "I even left the kitchen when I heard the bell…"

"Was I a disappointment, then?" Kagome teased, faking hurt.

"Depends." Inuyasha winked at her. "Are you paying for that cappuccino?"

She rolled her eyes, but her smile was still in place. "Of course I will!"

"It's true that not many people come here," Kaede conceded, "but we've only opened two weeks ago. We must be patient."

Kagome coughed. "Speaking of that… may I ask how you payed for everything?"

Inuyasha pointed at Naraku with his thumb. "He used to make gold pebbles, remember? We traded them. It wasn't enough to open a bathhouse, but we could live with that."

"Wow." Kagome whistled. "You guys are just amazing. You already look completely at home here!"

"We had a few problems," Inuyasha confessed, exchanging a look with Naraku. "Broken a few stuff. Blocked Kaede's credit card." He sighed. "We learn fast, though. It's a matter of survival, and the three of us know a lot about that."

Kagome felt a little jealous of their bond, but she pushed it aside. Nothing could spoil her good spirits.

Kaede sighed, looking suddenly tired. "Inuyasha, I must speak with Kagome before you walk her home. Will you wait for her outside for a bit, please?"

Inuyasha sent them a suspicious look, but raised from his seat and took off his apron. Seeing his red shirt and jeans, Kagome was once again taken aback by how normal he appeared.

Naraku went to the kitchen, giving Kagome and Kaede privacy to speak.

The priestess reached for Kagome's hand across the table, grabbing it with her wrinkled one. "What I want to say won't take long, child. I just want you to know why I did all this." She gestured at the shop. "It would have been a lot easier if we simply looked for jobs, but I wanted to leave something more permanent for Inuyasha and Naraku—and you, of course."

"M-Me?"

Kaede smiled at her. "You're still very young, but you are an adult. I believe you and Inuyasha want to be together, so… If the coffee shop succeeds, I'll have secured his income. If not, he could always sell his part. What I mean is, the Bottomless Pit is yours after I'm gone—and Naraku's."

Kagome's eyes burned with tears as Kaede affectionately patted her hand. Even if it were much too soon to talk about a commitment between Inuyasha and her, they had a better chance at making things work because of Kaede.

Grabbing the woman's wrinkled fingers, she tried to convey her gratitude. "I don't know what to say. 'Thank you' isn't enough, but… "

Kagome raised her head to look at the priestess. "Thank you anyway, Grandma. And you better not die on me yet; not now that we're together."

Kaede's brows scrunched up, but she was still smiling. "I'll try, dear. I'll try."

Inuyasha seemed relaxed as he walked beside Kagome to the shrine, but she could feel him looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

It made her feel good, knowing he was as aware of her as she was of him.

Kagome didn't know when she'd started imagining their reunion as something romantic, but it had happened somewhere along the way. She never thought to fight it.

I'm in love with him, alright… and I think he loves me too.

Hesitantly, she raised her hand a little to the side to hold his. Inuyasha's fingers jerked in surprise before he returned the gesture, but he did return it.

They walked as slowly as they could, enjoying each other's quiet company, but they had to arrive at the shrine at some time.

Stopping in front of the staircase that led to her home, Kagome turned to face Inuyasha.

"Wanna see your old godly guardian?" She asked, smiling.

He seemed agitated as he regarded her. "I'd like that, but—can we sit here for a bit first?"

They climbed a few steps and sat under the shade of a tree, where the stone wasn't as hot. To Kagome's delight, Inuyasha took hold of her hand again.

He exhaled a breath, straightening his shoulders.

"I guess you already know I came back because of you. I mean, I've all but said it." He wasn't looking at her but at their laced fingers. "Time passes differently in the Spirit World, but I've lived here before, so I sort of knew—hoped—you'd be eighteen by now."

He tightened his hand around hers. Kagome smiled at his profile, encouraging him to look at her.

When he did, she saw his gray eyes looked like a stormy sky. How could the bathhouse employees have ever thought Inuyasha was unfeeling? If anything, he felt too much.

"This will sound weird to you, but I started growing normally after you came back home." He fumbled with the collar of his shirt, pulling out the subjugation beads. "I think this thing does a lot more than we thought. It connects the demon to the one who gave them the necklace in a way I can't understand, and neither can Kaede."

Kagome raised the hand he wasn't holding to touch the beads. "So you… you think you started aging with me?"

"It's the only explanation we could come up with. Maybe if I were a full demon, you would have stopped aging." Inuyasha looked up at the end of the staircase. "The Goshinboku kept me from growing while I lived here, and I was supposed to age slowly in the Spirit World, but… after you left, it was like—like I became normal just to keep up with you."

Kagome felt her mouth turn dry; she couldn't speak. Anyway, what could a girl say to a boy who had literally grown up for her, given up part of his nature, and changed dimensions to see her again?

Inuyasha smiled, small and genuine. It seemed he could read her thoughts. "You don't have to feel like you owe me anything. We stay together only if you want to, got it?" He gulped. "I know I do, but if you don't…"

He couldn't be that dense, could he?

To stop him from talking nonsense (and because she really really really wanted to), Kagome cupped his cheeks and kissed him.

His chapped lips were soft, and the kiss made her forget there wasn't magic in the mortal world.

"Did you ever find that demon lord?" Kagome asked after a while. "The one who gave me the beads back then?"

Inuyasha didn't answer at first, making her think he'd fallen asleep with his chin on her shoulder.

"No," he replied lazily after a few minutes. "I smelled him near the bathhouse sometimes, but never saw him. I guess he didn't wanna be found."

Kagome frowned. "He did want to help you, though. Why else would he have given me the beads?"

Inuyasha's arms slightly squeezed her waist. "Because he thought it would be funny to have a ten-year-old human girl subjugating demons?"

She huffed. "He knew I would help you! There's no such thing as coincidence in the Spirit World, Inuyasha. You know that!"

"And how would he even know we were friends?"

"Well, the guy's a lord, isn't he? He could've had an informer in the bathhouse!"

"Keh. No rich relative cares that much," Inuyasha stated, his voice muffled by her hair. It was clear he wasn't very interested in the topic.

With a sigh, Kagome gave up the argument. "If you say so."

From their spot on the staircase, they watched the people walking down the street, listening to the cacophony of the city. Nobody paid attention to the couple of teenagers sitting under a tree. The world was totally unaware of the fact that just their being there together was a miracle.

It's so weird, Kagome mused. My life just turned upside down, but nothing's changed.

How many miracles had she and everyone else walked by without a second look? The thought was bittersweet.

"You know, Inuyasha… Mama told me the Goshinboku has been watching over my family for generations."

He hummed to show her he was listening.

"And it protected you too, before you left. Isn't it funny? It's like… like you're really coming home."

Kagome thought she could feel Inuyasha's smile, but he didn't comment.

Closing her eyes as she leaned back against him, she sent the god tree a silent thank you—and another one to Inuyasha's mother, wherever she was.

A/N: It's just so like Sesshomaru to help and never say anything. I know he's very ambiguous here, but you can guess why he did it, right?

Maybe Sesshomaru felt guilty because he was the reason Inuyasha jumped into the well and ended up in the bathhouse, or because he never helped his brother after their father died. He could've been trying to check on Inuyasha when he smelled him from the other side, or just passing by. It's up to you guys, really!

You know, I always thought Chihiro and Haku would meet again in a very mundane situation, so I went with a coffee shop. Kind of cliché, but I tried to give it a twist ;)

This story's very dear to me, guys. Thank you again for reading, and please, pleeease, review.