Kagome gasped.  He knew?!  She thought of her two-year-old son at home in the care of her mother.  How did he know that I gave birth to his son after I left?!

"O my sweet belle, I hope you're well and what we've done is right

Oh it's been such hell, I wish you well, I hope you're safe tonight

It's been a long life living…and long will it last

When it's last day living…I'll be helping it pass

By loving you more"

            Kagome sat down in a stupor, images reeling in her mind.  Inuyasha…she mentally cried.  She missed her lifemate; she had given herself to him the night before she left.  They had agreed that it was best if she left, since she wasn't a native to that time stream.  A little after a month later, she had found out she was pregnant with Inuyasha's child.  She was so happy that she had something that was his with her!  She remembered with a smile the day their son, whom she named Inu-Higurashi Kenichi, was born.  Now he was an active two-year-old with his father's golden eyes, and her black hair but with a few silver-white streaks here and there.  She smiled.  Yes, Inuyasha, our son loves me and he hasn't let me down, she answered to the third stanza.  He's just like you…

            As the bell rang to dismiss class, the professor called Kagome over to his podium.  "Higurashi-san," he spoke, "you know who wrote this piece, don't you?"

            Kagome blindly nodded, still in a bit of stupor.

            The professor smiled and enveloped her in a warm hug.  "It has been my life's objective to find you, Higurashi Kagome.  I am the descendant of the ones you called Miroku and Sango."  He let go of her and held out his right palm.  "I have the scar of where the Air Void would have been, had Naraku not been defeated."

            Kagome gasped.  She grabbed her professor's hand, inspecting the scar.  "Yes…you are their descendant!" she exclaimed.  She looked upward with desperate eyes.  "Please…please don't tell me that Inuyasha killed himself!  The first stanza led me to believe—

            "No," the professor interrupted.  "No, he didn't kill himself.  As the narrative that has been passed down through my family says, Inuyasha simply meant that when he knew he was dying, he would die by the Tree so that his grave would still be there in your timeline.  He knew that the Tree still existed in this age."

            Kagome let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.  "He's been so close to me for these past two-almost-three years, and I didn't even know it…."  She tried to smile, hiding her inevitable tears at the same time.  "Did Miroku and Sango leave anything else behind for me to find?  What about Shippou?  And Myouga-jichan?"

            The professor opened his briefcase that was on top of the podium, and pulled out a very thick and very ancient journal-esque document.  He handed it to Kagome.  "This is Shippou's diary, if you will.  He chronicled the lives of himself, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango—there's even a bit of Myouga in there—as the time passed after you left.  Kirara gained the ability to take on a humanoid form, and she and Shippou eventually married.  I think they're still alive, somewhere.  They've been watching my line for many, many years, and I know that they've been searching for you.  They'll find you eventually, I'm sure."

            Kagome smiled.  "Shippou and Kirara…I would have never imagined."  She paused, her eyes taking on that desperate look again.  "And what of Inuyasha?"

            "The poem he wrote was given to the young miko that took over Kaede's position, and she was instructed by Inuyasha himself to never let harm befall his document.  He, with the help of Miroku, Sango, and Shippou, ordered a shrine to be built around the Well.  The young miko did so, and she kept the poem in pristine condition.  One of her descendants married one of my ancestors, and that was how the poem was transferred to my line."

            Kagome nodded, understanding.  "But what happened to Inuyasha?  Did he die?"

            The professor smiled cryptically.  "I never read that far into Shippou's diary," he answered.  "You'll have to find out for yourself.  Anyway, I must go.  Ja ne, Higurashi-san."

            Kagome bowed.  "Ja ne, sensei."  Inuyasha…could you still be alive?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Well, what do you think?  Should I continue?