Evergreen

AN: Thought I'd stick with the canon version, I like it a lot more and there's more room for improvisation. (:

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Karan Johar respectively.

CHAPTER ONE

I wish… I wish Kikyo would come back. I know he misses her… I wish he could see her again…

Looking back, Kagome wondered how on earth she'd managed to do such a stupid thing. Out of all the crazy things she'd ever done, this had definitely been the craziest. Had she lost all sanity? Why on earth would she want to bring back the dead priestess, her eternal rival? Because even if Kikyo had stayed dead – even if Kagome had stayed in the Sengoku Jidai with him, she would have always known that he missed her, and thought of her.

She hadn't meant to bring Kikyo back to life. It had just slipped her mind that at the time, she was holding the completed, purified Shikon no Tama, which would grant her a single wish.

She was so tired of the silence between them. After Naraku's defeat, she had expected everything to settle down. And in a way, it had. Sango and Miroku had gotten married – and even though it had only been three months since Naraku's defeat, Sango was already expecting. Well, she would have to start early if she wanted to bear Miroku as many children as he'd wanted…

Kagome bit down on the inner lining of her cheek to suppress her smile as she gazed sadly at the hanyou.

Unfortunately, the fight against Naraku had inspired one too many casualties. Kikyo had died before being able to see the completed Shikon no Tama.

But surely, one couldn't die a second time? That was what Kagome tried to tell herself. Kikyo had never been alive in her mud and clay form – she had merely existed, fed by dead souls. But such words had no effect on Inuyasha.

The hanyou hadn't said as many as three words ever since Naraku's defeat. He took solace in the silence around him – Kagome noticed that his absences became more and more frequent when Sango and Miroku left their group to settle down in Kaede's village, taking Shippo with them.

The thought hurt her. Did he care only about their happiness? Now that he was left alone with Kagome, did he see no point in continuing to pretend to be cheerful?

No, the little voice in her head spoke. It isn't like that at all, and you know it. Inuyasha knows he can be himself around you – he knows you understand him. He knows he doesn't have to hide anything from you.

Even the voice in her head lied to her. Was she really that pathetic? That pitiful? Of course he hid things from her – why else would he disappear into the forest every day? She knew who he was thinking of when he looked at the trees.

"Inuyasha…" she finally spoke. The hanyou looked up slowly, his triangular ears flicking agitatedly.

"Hmm?" His voice was distracted. "Did you say something?"

Her heart broke at the smile he tried to force onto his face. So he was trying, even for her.

"Inuyasha…" She reached out a hand timidly. "Kikyo… Kikyo is probably happier now."

Immediately after the words escaped her, she regretted them. Inuyasha's golden eyes narrowed.

"How do you know that?" She had expected anger, but got only weary sadness. "You don't know that… she would have been happier being alive."

Kagome pressed the Shikon no Tama against her chest, her blue-gray eyes widening.

"I didn't… I didn't mean it like that." Inuyasha made a 'keh' sound and turned away, staring at the dark forest surrounding them.

It was then that she made her ridiculous, life-altering wish.

The Shikon no Tama heard her, and lit up in her cupped hands. Kagome flinched, screwing her eyes shut as the clearing was filled with a bright, blinding light. Inuyasha closed his eyes as well, wondering what on earth was going on.

When the light cleared, there was someone else standing in the clearing.

Kikyo still wore the garb of a priestess, although it was tattered and bloodstained from her last stand. Her long black hair was loose, and fell past her waist. It looked tangled and unkempt. Her blue-gray eyes, so like Kagome's, were round with shock, as if she had abruptly been jerked out of one world and dumped into another – which, of course, she had. Kagome wondered if that was the kind of expression she'd had on her face when she'd entered the Sengoku Jidai. Probably not… she had probably looked more terrified.

Inuyasha stiffened as a familiar scent reached his nose. He turned his head slowly, eyes widening as he fixed his gaze on the once-dead priestess.

"Kikyo…?" His voice was soft and disbelieving. He got to his feet, staring at the woman.

"Kikyo?" he repeated, sounding less confused. His voice was oddly tender – Kagome had only heard him take on such a tone a few times before. How she would have loved him to be speaking to her in that voice! "Is it you?"

Kikyo stared at the grass below her feet, raising one hand and examining the crisscrossing blue veins under the surface of her skin. She moved each slender finger individually, wondering if such hands really belonged to her.

At the sound of a name, her gaze flew upwards, fixing itself on the speaker. Long, silver hair – bright golden eyes. Kikyo stared quizzically at the hanyou as he repeated the name.

"Kikyo…" The name sounded familiar. Was it her name? The priestess closed her eyes for a heartbeat. "Yes. I am Kikyo."

"Kikyo…" Inuyasha still looked stunned as he stepped closer.

The priestess stared at him, trying to recall who he was and what he meant to her.

"Inu…yasha?" The hanyou's eyes flickered with countless emotions as she spoke his name.

Kagome was a silent spectator as the two approached each other cautiously. Fighting back tears, she turned her head aside to pull at the straps of her gigantic yellow backpack. When she turned back to Inuyasha and Kikyo, they were in each other's arms.

The schoolgirl inhaled sharply, refusing to let her tears escape. It was childish of her to cry – hadn't she herself made the wish for Kikyo to come back? Kagome blinked rapidly, brushing some black hair out of her eyes and staring at the two, expressionless.

Finally, she hefted the backpack and swung it onto her shoulders. The sudden movement seemed to remind Inuyasha that there was someone else in the clearing, and he broke his embrace with Kikyo.

"Ka…Kagome." He spoke her name as if it was a foreign word. Realization flooded into his eyes as he seemed to remember the girl. "Kagome…"

Kikyo stood motionless as Inuyasha approached Kagome. "Did… did you do this?" he asked her. Kagome did not reply with words or actions and continued to stare at him dumbly.

"Yes." The reply came from Kikyo, who slowly moved towards the two. Kagome's gaze snapped towards her look-a-like as Kikyo continued to speak. "You made a wish on the purified Shikon no Tama, Kagome. It is now gone."

Gone…

"Does that mean the bone eater's well has closed as well?" Kagome wasn't sure what exactly made the well work, but she knew it had something to do with the Shikon no Tama. Would she be stuck in this era forever? Doomed to watch as Inuyasha and Kikyo's love blossomed?

"No." Kikyo's voice was gentle, far different from the cold tones of the clay and mud body she had inhabited earlier. "You have three days to decide what you want to do, Kagome. After that, the well will close forever."

Inuyasha's gaze darted from Kikyo to Kagome. Three days? What would Kagome choose?

The selfish part of him wanted her to stay. She couldn't leave, not after all they had been through! She was his friend – his very first friend…

Don't be so self-centered, the other part of him chided. You can't have both Kagome and Kikyo. You knew that from the beginning.

It was true. He couldn't have both of them. And he knew – he knew that Kagome knew who he had chosen.

I'm sorry, he wanted to say to her. I'm sorry, but I've chosen Kikyo.

From the look in Kagome's eyes, she already knew. Maybe she'd always known. Kagome exhaled slowly, gripping the fabric of her school skirt.

"All right… at least we're close to the village and the well." She pasted on a cheerful smile. "I'll head back after three days, then. I want to spend as much time as I can with you all."

The well will close forever…

She'd never stopped to think what would happen after they defeated Naraku. She wanted to say it wasn't fair – why couldn't she stay in both the Sengoku Jidai and her own time? It just wasn't fair! Unfortunately, she'd learned far too well that life was rarely fair.

At hearing her words, Inuyasha turned away sharply. Without pausing to look at Kagome or Kikyo, he took off into the surrounding forest. Kagome let out a startled sound, taking one involuntary step forward. Kikyo moved closer to her reincarnation, gently grasping her by the shoulders.

"Ssh. Let him go."

It's easy for you to say, Kagome wanted to shout. You'll spend the rest of your life with him! But she held back the harsh words and took a deep breath.

"He will miss you, you know," Kikyo spoke softly. "He will miss you dreadfully. He'll never forget you."

Be strong, Kagome told herself.

"I don't want him to miss me." Her voice was steady. "I… if it helps him forget, I don't want him to miss me. I don't want him to hurt."

Liar. Not even Kagome was that selfless. But how could she tell Kikyo that she wanted Inuyasha to suffer, to be plagued by memories of her all of his life? She wanted him to remember her every moment of every day of every year – like she would remember him.

Kikyo's hands still rested on Kagome's shoulders. "Thank you." The priestess's voice was full of gratitude – something Kagome never thought she would see the aloof woman display. "Thank you so much, Kagome."

"It's nothing." Kagome slipped away from Kikyo, shaking her head. "I'm sure you two will be very happy."

Kikyo stood still as Kagome moved into the forest herself, the big backpack making her appear larger than she actually was.

"I don't know… perhaps the dead should remain dead."

"Kagome-e-e! Don't leave!" A tearful Shippo had attached himself to Kagome's leg and was refusing to let go. The schoolgirl sighed and held back tears of her own as she knelt down to hug the small kitsune.

"I have to go, Shippo, you know that," she tried to explain to him. "I need to return to my own time." Shippo, however, refused to listen – he merely upped the volume of his wails.

Sango sighed as she crouched down to pry Shippo away. Ignoring the young demon's kicking and screaming, she straightened up again with him in her arms.

"I know you're doing what's best for you." The demon slayer's voice was bereft of tears. "Take care of yourself, all right, Kagome? I'll take care of him." She nodded to the kitsune in her arms.

"Mhm." On an impulse, Kagome stepped forward to embrace Sango. Sango looked surprised, but before she could return the hug, Kagome had already ended it.

"May you have many more children," Kagome spoke, glancing at Sango's belly. The demon slayer flushed slightly as Kagome turned to her husband.

"Miroku…"

"Be happy, Kagome." The monk offered her a smile, one arm moving to rest around Sango's shoulders. Kagome nodded, getting down on her knees to address Kirara in her smaller form.

"Bye, Kirara." The cat demon mewled and rubbed her head against Kagome's outstretched hand. Shippo's wails had stopped, and he watched Kagome with a somber look.

"Well… that's enough tears for now, don't you think?" Kagome got to her feet and smiled at everyone. "I love you guys… I'll never forget you."

And with that, she clambered over the side of the bone eater's well. The strange portal between eras swallowed her up in a flash of blue light and spit her back in her own time.

"Inuyasha? I'm pregnant."

The hanyou stared at his wife of two years, his jaw agape. Kikyo looked nervous at delivering the news – one hand played with the fingers of the other as she avoided his gaze. Inuyasha, still speechless, glanced at her belly.

"What…?"

Kikyo looked up, smiling slightly. "I said, I'm pregnant," she repeated slowly. The former priestess's hands moved to cup her belly protectively. A round bulge had already begun to form.

"You're… you're going to have a baby?" Inuyasha looked stunned. "Our baby?"

"Yes." Kikyo couldn't help it – she let out a laugh of relief. Finally, she had told him the news.

Ever since Kikyo had returned to life and Kagome had left, she had slowly lost her spiritual powers. Even Kikyo herself wasn't sure why. In any case, she had been more than happy to give up her title of priestess and settle for being an expert healer, an accurate archer – and of course, Inuyasha's wife. Being a priestess and having power had been… it had been a privilege, but a lonely one.

"A baby…" Inuyasha still seemed unsure. Kikyo was going to have his baby? Should he be happy? Something bubbled in his gut – it felt warm and comfortable. Yes, he was happy.

Suddenly, his ears drooped, and he stared at the ground.

"Kikyo… what will the baby be?" He raised his hands to stare at the claws. "Will… will it be like me?" He never wanted a child of his to go through what he had suffered in his childhood.

Kikyo's gaze softened, and she stepped forward to embrace her husband. "Ssh," she murmured into his neck, pressing her face against his skin. "You know that doesn't matter to me. It doesn't matter to anyone else, either."

Inuyasha took a deep, shuddering breath. She was right. It was useless to worry about something he had no power over. He hugged her close, feeling excitement gush up inside him again.

Without warning, he picked up Kikyo and spun her around, almost delirious with happiness. A baby! He hoped he would be a good father. Kikyo seemed startled at his reaction, and gazed down at him in confusion.

"Inuyasha? Are you all right?"

"I'm going to be a father!"

"Inu…yasha…" The former priestess exhaled raggedly, her abdomen moving up and down irregularly. The hanyou heard his wife speak and clasped her pale hands between his own, pressing her skin against his cheek.

"Kikyo… Kikyo…" He spoke her name like an incantation or a prayer. "Kikyo, don't leave me… not again…" He felt his eyes sting, but held the tears back – he couldn't let her see him cry. He needed to be strong for her! His silver hair fell around him, framing his distraught face, and Kikyo could not help but smile at her husband's beauty.

"Inuyasha… don't…" she murmured, pressing her fingertips against his skin. Inuyasha closed his eyes, wishing he could block out the reek of Kikyo's blood.

"Why…" he choked out, tightening his grip on her hands. "Why, dammit! I can't lose you again, Kikyo, it's not fair."

"Ssh." Kikyo shook her head slightly, tugging on her hands so that Inuyasha would release them. He did so, and she let them drop to the ground with a thud. "Don't say that… I am happy to give my life for our child."

Inuyasha gritted his teeth at her words and cast a glance towards Kaede. The old priestess was trembling – it was almost too much for her to see her sister die all over again. In her arms, the priestess cradled a small bundle.

Kikyo lifted her head, extending her arms towards her sister. "I want to see her." Kikyo's blue-gray gaze was steady, despite the sweat beading on her face and the uneven breaths she took. Kaede meekly handed the bundle over, covering her eye with one hand.

Kikyo's eyes softened as her baby was placed in her arms. Inuyasha's heart clenched as he saw the mother and daughter together for the first and last time.

"My beautiful baby girl… my precious," Kikyo cooed at the bundle, gently rocking it. The baby made no sound – she was asleep, her head already covered with thick black hair. There was no sign of any dog-like characteristics.

"Inuyasha…" As his wife spoke his name, he moved his gaze from the baby to her. Kikyo appeared to be in pain now – her eyes were narrowed, and her breathing was coming out even more irregularly. She offered him the baby.

"Keh." He turned his head away angrily.

"No… no, Inuyasha, don't do that," she pleaded quietly with him. "Please… please love her. Take care of her."

His fingers curled into fists. He wanted to do nothing of the sort – he wanted to toss the tiny creature away, drown her, burn her, tear her to pieces. This bundle had cost his wife her life.

"Ssh…" Kikyo's voice was fading now. A small bundle of letters was placed near her – she had known she was going to die for two days already. The letters she intended to give to Kaede – something for her daughter to remember her by.

"Inuyasha. Promise me something."

He gripped her hands again. "Anything." His voice was rough with pain and loss. At any other time, he would be ashamed of his weakness, but now… now…

"Name her… name her Kagome for me, will you?"

AN: Last bit is what the 'intro' dealt with, but I wrote it all over again. No sense in repeating the same words! I imagine Kikyo as being much warmer if she was ever brought back to life properly, so that's why she's like that here.

Next chapter will deal with little Kagome growing up, and maybe a sneak peek of what our Kagome's been up to. Are you all right with me calling Inuyasha's daughter Chibika, by the way? Short for Chibi Kagome? Otherwise, I'll just call her 'little Kagome' or 'small Kagome' or something. ^^;