Questions and Answers

This is not a chapter to 'The Perfect Mate', but answers to questions for reviewers who may not have completely understood something in my story. If you have not read my story, do NOT read this chapter first as it is a spoiler. If there are any other questions that readers need answered, PM me and I will add to this list.

Q. How many days were there throughout the story?

A. Before the last chapter: almost two weeks. Before the last TWO chapters: one week.

Q. How was it possible for Kagome to turn into a demon?

A. A small amount of demonic energy had leaked from the Shikon Jewel while it had been housed inside her body for the first fifteen years of her life, where it lie dormant inside her, virtually undetected.

Q. Why did I make my OC Yasuhiro?

A. To make Miroku realize he had to start committing to Sango or lose her to another man.

Q. Why did I allow one of his son's Minoru to die?

A. In reality, the 'good guys' do not always prevail, innocents do, unfortunately, suffer and die by the hands of 'evil' men.

Q. Why does Yasuhiro have so many wives/mates?

A. I played off how real horses in the wild act. Stallions have a large herd of females (mares) he protects and breeds with.

Q. Did Sango love Yasuhiro romantically even a little?

A. No, it was merely lust on her side. And her self-doubt concerning Miroku made her susceptible to Yasuhiro's charm and sincere regard towards her.

Q. Why did I create my OC Sai?

A. One, I wanted a new, interesting villain of my own to cause problems for the Inuyasha gang. Two, I wanted to make a controversial individual, a lesbian woman, because I promote both heterosexual and homosexual relationships (and bisexual, of course). Three, it's an interesting plot twist.

Q. Why did I have Sai die in the end, considering she played a huge role in 'The Perfect Mate'?

A. I desired her to be a tragic character. Not everyone gets their 'happy ending'. That's life.

Q. Was Sai in full control of her thoughts and actions?

A. No. Without Sai realizing it, Naraku was controlling some of her thinking and methods, because if she had been aware that she was acting like her previous love interest Isamu, she would have been horrified and never done it in the first place. However, this was implied and never brought to the open for everyone's knowledge in my story. Also, in the end, even Sai was unaware of Naraku's influence.

Q. Why did I allow Haru to die?

A. Sai was practically insane at this point, and she thought taking Haru's guise was the only way to abduct Kagome without having to fight anyone, and to gain Kagome's trust.

Q. Why did I bring Kikyo back to life?

A. At first, I was NOT going to, but I had many PMs and reviews asking for a happy ending for her and Inuyasha, and because I already had so much tragedy and character death in this story.

Q. How did Kikyo come back to life?

A. In the animation 'Inuyasha', Kikyo was brought back to life and placed in a body not just made of clay but her human ashes, her remains. Kikyo is spiritually connected to Kagome because (also stated in the animation) the two woman share the same soul, albeit Kikyo only has a small portion of it. Also in the animation, Onigumo, a human, was able to become the demon Naraku. I played off of this in part since Kikyo's human remains are in her clay body. Interesting connection, right? So, when Kagome was being forced to change, her very soul was changing to some degree as well. The small piece of Kagome's soul inside Kikyo reacted and forced Kikyo to undergo the change as well. Demonic energies from three sources—the Jewel's (meaning the demonic energy leaked inside Kagome), Sesshomaru's (when he fed Kagome his youki on multiple occasions and during the change), and Naraku's (when he forced the change)—is powerful magic, and Kikyo's human remains (ashes) reacted to it.

In simpler terms: Kikyo's human remains (ashes) + sharing a soul with Kagome + powerful magic surrounding the transformation = Kikyo coming back to life.

Plausible, right?

Q. Why did Kikyo become a half-demon and not a full blooded demon like Kagome?

A. I played off the fact that not only was Kikyo dead, the magic only had so much to work with, considering her original body was nothing more than ashes inside her clay body. Meaning, there was only so much magic to go around between both women, making Kikyo a half-demon.

Q. Why did Kagome turn into a dark miko?

A. Naraku placed two tainted Jewel shards inside her. Since Kagome was bitter and resentful towards Sesshomaru, the shards fed off her dark thoughts (this happened once in the animation when they fought the dark miko and in the first movie 'Affections Touching Across Time').

Q. How did Kagome regain her pure light and cleansed herself from being a dark miko?

A. After she forgave Sesshomaru and her resentment and bitterness towards him was gone, she cleansed herself.

Q. Why did I choose to make a more American modern wedding than a Japanese traditional one at the end?

A. Because I wanted to put Sesshomaru in a black suit. He is a hot man and looks great in a suit.

If any of my readers disagree with any aspect concerning my plot and characterization that is your choice; however, keep in mind, all my twists and turns in this story have plausible reasons behind everything I have done, everything was explained in the story (and here for those needing some help). But mostly, this is MY story, and really, what I say goes. I write for pure enjoyment. My fanfiction gives me no profit. If you don't like something about 'The Perfect Mate' or dislike it as a whole, I respect your viewpoint, but you will also have to respect mine. And if you choose not to respect my ideas? Simple. Don't read something you hate, and perhaps you might try writing your own story, that way you will be happy with the storyline, plot and character development.

All rights to 'Inuyasha' goes to Rumiko Takahashi. I own nothing.

I want to thank everyone who actually took the time and effort to review for this story. It was MUCH appreciated. I read every one of them.