Hey, this is my first fan fiction. I've been reading them for years, and for some reason it just occurred to me recently that I could and should try to write some myself. So, please be kind. I'm still learning!
I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters. So please don't sue me.
Yawning, Kagome leaned back in her chair and stared blearily at the textbook in front of her. She had been staring at the same page for nearly thirty minutes now, and it still wasn't sinking in. She knew she wanted to be a doctor; there had never been a doubt about that. But lately, her heart just hadn't been in her schoolwork.
Turning her head, her gaze fell on her bedroom window. The heady scent of the blooming cherry blossoms was thick in the night air, and a warm breeze was causing the shadows on her ceiling to dance and flinch. They were being cast by the branches of the large old tree in the middle of the yard, the one she had found Inuyasha pinned to nearly seven years ago.
She wasn't sure why she continued to leave the window open every night, especially considering the chilly nights they'd been having lately, but she just couldn't bring herself to close it.
Once all the Shikon jewel shards had been collected, she had intended to stay in the Feudal Era. True, there had still been ample time to go to medical school and finally get her medical license; to achieve the dream she'd had since she was a little girl. She hadn't been gone from her time for so long that she would have to give up on that dream. But four years of her life had been spent searching for those jewel shards, and it had been impossible to imagine leaving and never coming back.
It had been on her mind the week before they finally found the last shard, that she would soon have the option of staying or returning home. Finally, she decided to stay there with her friends. Miroku, Shippo, Sango. Inuyasha.
Most of all, Inuyasha.
But he had disappeared the night the Shikon jewel was made whole. No explanation, no goodbyes; he was just gone. She had stayed, hoping that he might come back, or at the very least give some kind of explanation.
But he never did.
After a month of waiting, of listening to Miroku and Sango try to come up with reasons of why he might of left, and Shippo telling her she was much better off, she had needed to leave. It was too painful.
She had asked Sango to keep the Sacred Jewel, knowing Sango would defend it with her very life. But she had refused. So had Miroku. They both had seemed to feel that it was better, safer, if she took it back to her own era with her. There was still the chance of a demon finding a way through the bone eater's well and coming after it; it was more likely, however, that if she had left it in the feudal era that more demons would come after it and have a much better chance of actually stealing it.
Kaede had overheard their conversation, and had insisted that she take the jewel with her, saying that she was now the only one who could truly protect the jewel. She was also the only one who could destroy the jewel. So, reluctantly, she had brought it with her. It was now in a glass bottle, hidden beneath a loose floorboard in her room.
It had been so hard to leave her friends. She had been with them for so long, through so much. They had become her family, and she missed them terribly. The idea of going back to visit them was hanging in the back of her head, but she didn't have the strength to go back. Not yet.
Now, nearly three years later, she had studied long and hard, and at the age of 22 was now only a year away from graduating, a year away from starting her residency.
And she still hadn't gone back. She was beginning to think she never would.
Why didn't he say goodbye? Why did he leave?
Sighing under her breath, she shut her anatomy book and stood from her chair, stretching to ease the aches in her back and neck. Then, with every fiber screaming 'no, don't do it!' she reached out and closed her window. Sooner or later, she was going to have to let her torch for Inuyasha burn out. And this was the first step.
> > > > > > > >
Inuyasha slowly climbed from the bone-eaters well, then silently moved across the yard to Kagome's house.
Every night for the last three months he had been coming, and every night he lacked the nerve to do anything more than sit on the roof outside her window, watching her sleep. The first night he had come, it had shocked him to see her and smell the change in her scent. He had never noticed the subtle changes during the years they were together. But after being parted from her for those horrible months, it had surprised him to find she had truly grown up.
She was the skinny little girl no longer; in her place was a curvy, beautiful woman who clearly knew the power she had over men. He had witnessed it once, first hand, during that first week when he had started coming through the well to see her.
A boy had walked her home one night, most likely after a date. Inuyasha had smelled the stink of that boy on Kagome that night, and it had made his gut burn at the thought of someone else touching her.
But it was Kagome that had disturbed him most. She had been wearing a clingy sundress that had made his mouth water, and the smile that she had flashed the boy just before they kissed goodnight had caused a strange fluttering in his chest. And that had quickly been replaced by blood-curdling rage as the boy shifted his hand to cup Kagome's ass.
It had been one of the worst nights of his life.
Jumping up onto the roof, he was startled to find the window closed. For a long while, he was only able to stare at it. She always left it open. In the back of his mind, he had been pretending that she had been leaving it open for him, pretending she missed him. Still wanted to see him. But that illusion was now shattered.
Returning back to the well, he jumped down and inside and felt his body being drawn back into his own era.
"Did you talk to her?" An excited voice greeted him as he climbed out of the well.
"What the hell...?" He looked around, then slowly turned his gaze downward. "Shippo? What the hell are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Get out of my way." Inuyasha snarled, pushing the small fox demon out of the way.
"Hey! Stop it!" Shippo balled his fists, stomping a foot indignantly. "Did you talk to her or not?"
"Of course he didn't." Miroku's voice chimed in. Inuyasha caught sight of him along with Sango, a very pregnant Sango, sitting by a campfire a couple yards away.
For a moment, shock rendered him speechless. He hadn't seen any of them in over a year. Deliberate, on his part. Being with them, it had reminded him too much of Kagome. It had pronounced her absence.
"It's none of your business, monk." Inuyasha growled. "What are you doing here?"
"We come every year."
"What?" Inuyasha said, startled.
"We come here every year." Shippo repeated.
"I caught that. Why the hell would you do that? In case you haven't noticed," he said as he waved an arm. "There's nothing here."
"The well's here." Miroku said. "Tomorrow night is the anniversary of the night we gathered the last jewel shard. It's always seemed fitting that we come out here, relax, and just remember."
"And we knew you'd come back, and when we saw you were going through the well every night, we decided to hang around." Shippo added.
"What?"
"We've been here for a couple of days, now." Sango said after a moment's pause, absently rubbing at her pregnant belly. "And there was always the chance that Kagome would come back, and we wanted to be here if she did."
"I think he keeps chickening out." Shippo said fiercely. "I think he hasn't said a word to her yet. I think..." Shippo's voice trailed off when he saw the warning look Sango shot him.
"You all need to sleep, because you're clearly delusional. I'm leaving." Inuyasha barked shortly. "Have fun with your little anniversary party."
He was halfway across the clearing when Sango's soft voice met his sensitive ears.
"You need to tell her, Inuyasha," she said. "Kagome needs to know, and she needs to hear it from you." Inuyasha faltered in his step, then continued on until he disappeared into the thick shadows of the trees.