""Thank goodness!" said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar."

-J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

(The very last sentence of The Hobbit, to be precise)

…

A special and warm round of appreciative applause for…

kittyb78…Tsukari0504…TrueBelle…bdrake07…Avelyn Lauren…readingwriting wench…Goddess of the Moonlit Sky…sweetrosie…Ayjah…Al…Denarius…ffgirlmoonie… Watching Eternity…TouchofPixieDust…Sessluva…5redroses… WhyWhatShutUp…I Laught At Ur Pain…MeiunTenshi… Raine44354…pixiepuff101…

…

I would especially like to thank Denarius for an amazing and inspiring review, I am honored by your honesty and praise and critisism. I too would like to see myself develop as an author and I have just recently realized that I should develop. I hope you continue reading my work and honoring me with your reviews! Normally I would have just responded to your review the normal way, but I wasn't able to do so. Thank you so much!

Disclaimer:

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any copyrighted products and/or ideas.

…

Mr. X: …That's it?

Pwale: Well, I thought it would be cool if I used the same disclaimer I used in the first chapter.

Mr. X: …Pwale, we've been through a lot with this story, with the getting to know each other, that inconclusive adventure with Al, all sorts of things.

Pwale: Yep.

Mr. X: And this is the very last chapter of the story that brought us together.

Pwale: …Yeah…

Mr. X: And Pwale, I gotta tell you. You're bringing down the party!

Pwale: Huh?

Mr. X: Come on now! We'll all be here in the next story! No one's going anywhere.

Inuyasha: Don't say that, Mr. X. It makes the nightmare so much more real when you say that.

Mr. X (Ignoring the hanyou): Now Pwale. Say it so that the nice readers, who are beloved and kept you writing, can get on with their chapter.

Pwale: I don't own the characters.

(Sniff)

…

The Stamp Of Gold

Let's Go Exploring

By Pwalefriend

…

Inuyasha and Kagome didn't go ride off into the sunset, of course it wasn't that easy. For one thing they had to go home and help Sango and Miroku clean up the house. For another they had family who, they learned, were gallivanting the globe searching for Sango and Miroku. Apparently the newly-weds had returned early because they figured home would be the last place anyone would look for them. And for a third thing Kagome and Inuyasha were far too sensible to tie the knot right then and there. Love can only get you so far, after all. You also have to enjoy each others company, be able to forgive each other, let alone the fact that you need to be able to communicate with your partner to have a healthy relationship.

And then yet another thing was the curse.

You, dear reader, expect that the curse is magically lifted due to some heroics, and what reason would you have to expect anything else? But it's a little bit more complicated then that.

Kikyo disappeared the night of the earthquake, no one ever saw her after that and she presumed dead before long. The thing was, she took all of Naraku's treasured documents and articles with her, including the map that showed the whereabouts of this Shikon no Tama, a jewel (they learned from discussing things with Kaede and Myoga) that could grant any wish and was the only way to break Inuyasha's curse. They had nothing to go on and only Myoga and Kaede had ever even heard of the Shikon no Tama before, though they were both in total agreement that it was the one and only way to break the curse and they were shocked that they'd never thought of it before.

One day, Kagome and Inuyasha were taking one of their walks through the woods (avoiding the spot where Koga had been killed, at least for the time being) and Kagome asked Inuyasha a question that revolutionized his life.

"Is the curse such a terrible thing, that we need to spend all this time and money looking for a hunk of shiny rock?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha yelped and gestured wildly in the air.

"You saw what I can do, Kagome! I murdered Koga! Next time it might not be the bad guys! What's wrong with you?!"

Kagome sighed.

"Yeah, well, Inuyasha…" Kagome frowned a little bit, thinking hard. "Everyone can lose it. It's always lingering on the very edge of our minds, you know? I think that's the reason humans make up so many rules and laws, because somewhere deep down we know we're just a bunch of monkeys who started walking on two legs to avoid drowning when they crossed the river to get more food. So…Maybe what you've got isn't a big bad curse, maybe it's just that a bit of your denial was taken away."

"But I'm not human." Inuyasha argued. Kagome looked him up and down, and shrugged again.

"Maybe there was some sort of dog monkey that you evolved from that they still haven't discovered yet." She offered. Inuyasha gave her a look that made it clear that he thought that idea was just stupid. Kagome giggled and, standing on her tippy-toes, gave him a quiet peck. "C'mon, lover boy. Let's get back before lunch. Just think it over, 'kay?"

Another development Kagome noticed not to soon after everyone else returned was that Satsuki and Shippo took special amounts of time and energy for each other, and that Rin followed Kohaku around like a lost puppy. Kagome asked Shippo and Satsuki (separately, of course) if either of them was holding a torch for the other. She was met, of course, with fiery and passionate denials and vows that there was nothing but animosity between the little boy and the little girl. Afterwards Shippo promptly pulled Satsuki's ponytail and chanted a name-calling song at her, and Satsuki burst into tears. Inuyasha, who walked in at that moment, wondered what on earth was wrong with Kagome when she sighed dreamily and (staring at the pair with something akin to cow eyes) said-

"Young love!"

Despite all these things, all these improvements, nothing felt quite resolved until one day when there was a knock at the door.

Sango opened the door and found, to her surprise, a very smart looking salesman wearing a black suit and a bowler. He was wearing thin glasses and had curly reddish brown hair that fell past his ears. He was familiar…he had been the salesman who Kagome had saved from the yeti! Damn, Sango thought. That seems like forever ago, but it was only this winter. Ohhh, I'm old He grinned at her.

"Ma'am," he said. "I was wondering if you would be interested in-Mademoiselle!" He shouted suddenly, catching sight of Kagome. He pushed past Sango and knelt in front of Kagome, who lifted her hand to her mouth.

"Ah…" Kagome said, recognizing the young man who she had saved from the monster when she had first discovered her powers.

"I never got to properly thank you for the generous life saving this winter!" He said. "Please, accept this stamp of gold as my way of apologizing." He pressed a small golden stamp, just like the one she had wanted (Kagome had never gotten that pretty little stamp in the store window that she had always coveted, it had been looted after the earthquake), into her hand.

"Oh," Kagome said, noticing the glowering Inuyasha behind her. He probably was going to try and kill the poor man if she didn't do something. "That's all right, I-"

"Now, now!" The man insisted, standing up and closing her hand around the stamp. "Surely Mademoiselle will not deny my thanks!" He looked hurt, and held his hands to his heart in a tragic position. "Thanks to her I can finally go to Paris like I've always wanted, with no fear of being used or destroyed.

"But," he changed his tune immediately, suddenly once again becoming the very suave salesman. "If you want to keep it buisness-like, I'm happy to comply. Word on the street is you're a teacher, I have here some fine books, very fine indeed."

Miroku, coming down the stairs with the children, raised his eyebrow. It had been a while since he had heard that particular English accent. It was almost cockney, only with all the letters intact.

"And they are all incredibly suitable for the classroom, Mademoiselle." The salesman was saying. "I have a list of them right here." He took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"Look here you." Inuyasha interrupted. "We don't want anythi-"

"And you sir look like a fine young man." The salesman said, immediately changing targets. "A fine young man indeed. In fact I've got some perfect pocket watches for you right here, perfect for a man as fine as you, right here." The salesman opened up his suit coat to reveal quite a lot of golden pocket watches. "They keep perfect time." He said. "I guarantee absolutely perfect time!"

No one had ever called Inuyasha a "fine young man" before. He'd been called many things, and Kagome even sometimes used the word "fine" (though in very different ways, and were usually accompanied by words like "buff") sometimes when they were…all alone. But no one had ever called him "fine young man" before.

"Oh, well, maybe just one…" Inuyasha said, reaching for his wallet. Kagome smacked his arm and turned back to the salesman.

"No thank you." She said. "We're fine." A little bit regretfully and certainly slower then necessary she tried to hand back the golden stamp and the list of books.

The salesman backed up and snatched the paper away from Kagome.

Kagura and Kanna pushed their way out of the kitchen door, hearing the commotion and wondering what all the fuss was about. Kanna saw the salesman, and promptly turned around and went back into the kitchen. She just really didn't want to deal with something like him. He'd never shown even the slightest bit of interest in her horses. All he evertalked about was stupid Paris.

Kagura was older, and her memory wasn't as keen. She frowned. Who was this man? She knew that she knew him from somewhere! Who was he? Had they met at a party or something? She hated it when that happened. You met someone nice at a party, you talked about jobs and families and the dinner spread, and then later in life you'd walk by them on the street and the two of you would smile as friendly as possible while trying desperately to remember the other persons name and where on Earth you knew them from. Wait a minute…Wasn't he that man Naraku had kept in that tiny little cave out in the middle of nowhere?

"Are you sure?" The salesman said, backing out of the door. "I've got everything, absolutely everything! No? Alright then." But as he turned around, Shippo called out in jest.

"Have you got the Shikon no Tama?"

The salesman froze, then spun around on his feet.

"The Shikon no Tama??" He said, grinning like a wolf. "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?"

Inuyasha started forward, but the salesman held up his hands.

"But I'm afraid you can't have it." He said. "It's going to Paris, just like it's always wanted."

"What?" Kagome gasped. "What do you mean?"

The salesman grinned even wider.

"Mademoiselle," He said with an elaborate bow, touching his hat. "I am the Shikon no Tama."

And with that he turned on his feet and left, whistling a merry, merry tune.

And he lived happily ever after and was a very successful Parisian pastry cook.

As for what happened to Kagome and Inuyasha, well, what do you think, dear reader? Kagome finished her degree from home and raised Shippo as her own. She taught all three children, and sooner rather then later opened a small school for all the children at the Feudal Era Mansion. It grew and grew until it was an internationally acclaimed university, specializing in tolerance studies, martial arts and experimental research. When Kagome and Inuyasha, who had been running the university, finally decided to retire to a life of laughter and luxery it was taken over by Shippo and Satsuki, who were married, and Kagome's eldest son Genji.

The whole family grew and grew. They fought, they struggled. Because the household was so huge and the presence of Kagome's family eroded the boundries between lord and servant, the house that had once been just a house became a university, which then became a collage town, which then became a city, which then took over the country, and after that it was only a short time until the entire world was an academia.

Of course, this all happened in an alternate dimension, now didn't it? And Kagome and Inuyasha, who naturally were never quite aware of ruling the world though they were aware that all these presidents and kings and such kept electing them more paperwork, lived happily every other day or so, because the rest of the time they got in loud and fiery rows. But they were still in love and whenever things got too bad they went to see a shrink.

And, most importantly, every year for their birthdays they got a big basket of sweets from a certain famous Parisian pastry chef.

And that's all there is, there isn't anymore.

…

And so it ends!

I know, I know. I'm crying too.

As a last word I would like to thank you all for accompanying me on this journey, whether you've been reading since the beginning or came in later in the game and everyplace in between. If I've made any of you laugh sincerely just once, then I consider this story a success.

Please review this chapter, it's the last one in this story.

Thank you, and good luck!

I hope to see you all again in my next story.

Sincerely, and with great amounts of love and affection,

Pwalefriend