A/N: This is the final chapter of Wandering Ways. It took a while to decide how to end this thing and how to format the ending, but I am overall pleased with the result; it ties up the loose ends without using so much detail that things become boring – to me anyhow. Thank you all for sticking with me and I hope you enjoyed the ride this story led you on!

Kagome smiled softly as she saw her family lined up against the wall of her pups' room. They were all waiting for their turn not only to see the pups that Kagome had given birth to three days ago, but to give their gifts to the pups she and Sess were holding, all of whom looked like they were full blooded yōkai with their delicately pointed ears and sharp little fangs. Kagome was holding Mika and Sayuri, whilst Sesshōmaru was holding Akira. Everybody had been delighted to find out that there were two girls amongst the triplets – although Kagome was well aware that her beloved Sesshō would be an overprotective father for certain, once they came of age, unless he knew whoever their daughters' prospective partners would end up being.

And approved, of course.

She banished the thought from her head as Yoru stepped forwards, kneeling down to the three cradles and touching each one of them. At first nothing visible happened – but then the sides changed from plain, pale wood to delightful pictures, and Kagome gasped, stunned at the beauty and perfection shown. "The pictures will change to suit their moods, so whatever image would best please them at any one time will be what is shown; even if they have no idea of what the image actually is or have never seen what the image is before."

That was blatantly clear, with how one of them was showing a starry night sky – her pups hadn't been out of the shiro yet, and so would have no idea what that looked like. Everyone was suitably awed and he smirked before walking over to them and gently touching the forehead of each pup, tracing their crescent moons before he retreated to see what everyone else had to give. "Thank you, Yoru!"

Kagome wondered how anybody else would be able to match that.

Shippō was next, and he moved over each cradle, touching the headboard of every one of them before he fell back and twitched his fingers lightly and twisted his wrists. Suddenly instead of empty air above the cradles there were three mobiles, and Kagome gasped at the sheer beauty of them. Each one had a dozen little silver, gold, and blue three dimensional origami stars, circling a large full moon that looked beyond realistic, compared to the stars, which were, well, star-shaped. Smiling, he touched one of them just above the moon – the wood indented and suddenly her eldest son's beautiful tenor voice softly entered the room, singing a soft lullaby that Kagome remembered singing to him when he was just a little kit.

He pressed the button again and it stopped, leading him to comment, "It isn't done yet; I put a bunch of songs on there but there's room for more, and kinda like Yoru's illusions, they'll play whatever song the pup in question wants to hear at the time. Sakura and Yasha," both of whom had come up behind him now, "each put some songs on there as well. Sakura sings so pretty, Mama! And Yasha sings well too. I only put that one of the lullabies you taught me on there so you could sing the rest for them. The stars change colours too, whatever colours the pup wants to see the most."

"Oh wow, thank you so much, Shippō, Sakura, Yasha. And here I was worried that Yoru going first would be bad for morale!"

Making it clear that she thought his present was just as good as his uncle's present, and that the thoughtfulness given by Sakura and Yasha with their gifts was well appreciated as well.

Everyone laughed at that, and her son moved over to play a little with each pup before standing next to Yoru, followed by Sakura and then Yasha.

Kagome tolerantly allowed her family to hold her sweet little bundles as they wanted to do. Yoru couldn't hold them because of his tendency to get ill when being touched, but that would reduce as they grew older – he could hold Haruki and Hayate now, and it had only taken a few decades; they were still less than five years old.

Rin was next, holding three bouquets of white carnations, which she placed in the cradles; surprisingly enough, the flowers themselves changed, each bouquet becoming a myriad of different flowers and colours as soon as they were placed in the cradles – since when was Rin able to do that?! Yes she could make flowers change to suit moods, but only when they were touching people, or so Kagome had thought. Rin read her shock accurately and smiled. "Rin has been working on Rin's present ever since Rin found out Rin would be having baby siblings. It took a while, but Rin found out how to make Rin's flowers change depending on who they were meant for even if Rin has never seen who they are meant for. These flowers will never wilt or need to be replaced, and are a forever-gift from Rin to Rin's little brother and sisters."

Jeez fucking Louise, how was it that all the gifts were so perfect for her precious children? "Oh Rin, they are perfect, thank you so much, it must have been hard work to learn a new skill to augment your existing one."

Rin then had her turn at holding her siblings, cooing sweetly at each one of them and kissing them on the foreheads before she moved to stand next to Yasha.

Haku stepped forward next, holding out three small objects that – oh Kami, how was that even possible? He grinned smugly (Yoru really had affected him over time) and bowed lightly. "I had Faraji show me how to harvest rubber and process it, and Yoru helped refine it so that it is supple instead of hard, as well as made it immune to poisons and acids so it won't disintegrate. Pacifiers for your pups, ane-san, just like you were lamenting you would not have."

If Kagome was not holding her pups she would glomp her younger brother, seriously! He'd taken an offhand comment and turned it into a gift that didn't even exist in this world yet until now! "Haku, this Kagome does not know how to thank you enough!"

He just grinned rakishly and held each of the pups, murmuring, "We are doing these out of love, not for thanks, Kagome-ne."

Her family was the best.

Roku came forward next, and went directly to Kagome and knelt down, chanting something in some language she was unfamiliar with. His hōriki glowed and flowed around him and into her pups as he chanted. By the time he was finished, her babies were all glowing, and the glow receded as he smiled fondly at her. "A blessing for a long and happy life that I finally was able to dig up with Father's help. After all, you blessed our pups similarly, imōto-chan."

That was true; being proper hanyō pups from a monk and a yōkai they could handle her purification abilities with ease, having such mixed blood, and she had insisted on blessing all four of them so they would have happy lives. She hadn't been aware that Roku could safely do the same thing, though! "Thank you, aniki, very much."

Toga was last, as it was only the core pack giving gifts at the time; the rest of the pack and her friends in the court would be giving their gifts over the next few days, and would all be simpler things such as toys, clothes, and things of that sort. Into each cradle went a myriad of coloured pillows, all in the shape of the moon in its various stages; crescents for the largest ones, and full, half, and three-quarters moons for the rest, each with a single other crescent thrown in. The main pillows were black, and Toga blandly informed them, "These pillows can hold up to even the sharpest teeth and claws, not even needing to be self-repairing. They also repel foreign substances, as well, so the pups' poison will not eat through them, it will simply dispel harmlessly into nothingness upon contact."

"Many thanks, Father, I was wondering what to do about their poison but you fixed that quite nicely. Would you make blankets for them as well, please?"

He grinned irrepressibly and pulled out three soft, white blankets from his kimono sleeves. "Already done, beloved daughter-mine."

He placed them into the cradles before turning on her and demanding to see his "precious grandpups."

Some things would never change. First he held Mika, who had her father's golden eyes and Kagome's blue-black hair. Then he held Sayuri, who had silver hair and blue eyes, and then finally, Akira, who was identical to his father with gold eyes and silver hair, although Kagome could see the beginnings of blue highlights in the silver, strangely enough.

Then, at a glance from Toga, they were mobbed again, the whole family quietly clamouring around them and hugging their alphas, mindful of the pups.

After a while Sayuri began to cry, however, and so Kagome was left alone with her perfect mate as she fed her youngest daughter.

Bang!

Just as promised, the hard bullet did not bounce off of the oni's skin – oni were far stupider than normal yōkai and thus far stronger – and instead went through it, leaving a bloody spatter across the ground even as the purple oni clutched at its head. That would be Papa's poison kicking in, melting the oni's brain. Rin decided that Rin would stay and make absolutely sure the oni was dead before leaving—Rin hadn't become as good as Rin was by being incautious. Sure enough, within a minute the oni was flat on the ground and perfectly still, its head half-dissolved. Good.

Now it was time to go home so that Rin could play with Rin's siblings, so Rin stored Rin's rifle in Mama's hammerspace again. Akira, Mika, and Sayuri adored Rin and Shippō and in return were adored just as much by their elder siblings. Rin dashed along the barely there path through the trees, ducking, weaving, and jumping when necessary so as to get home quicker than the road would have taken Rin. Soon enough, Rin was at the back side of the shiro and climbed adeptly over the tall back wall separating the family gardens from the outside world, vaulted to the ground, and padded indoors. Mama was with the pups right now, so Rin sought out Mama and found her in the pups' bedroom, feeding Akira bits of sticky rice mixed with boar and onions. At this stage the pups could only chew up sticky rice, because anything else resulted in an intolerable mess. Papa and Grandfather said it would be another half decade before they could begin to eat rice cooked other ways.

The last bite finished shortly after Rin entered the room, and Mama handed Akira over for Rin to clean up with a conveniently damp cloth, then headed towards the kitchens so that she could wash her hands off. Rin obligingly cleaned up Akira's mouth before scooping up Mika and Sayuri from their cribs and beginning a game of chase and tag, accompanied by a wooden ball. Rin always had known that being an ane-san for real this time would be wonderful, but Rin had never expected it to be as amazing as it was. Rin's baby siblings were pure joy and so sweet and unashamedly loving that they filled Rin's heart with a happiness that Rin hadn't even known was missing from it.

Shippō entered the room then, and Rin smiled as his two tails were attacked by Mika and Sayuri, all three of the children crying out, "Ani-san!"

Shippō lifted up his tails, his little sisters dangling off of them, and chuckled, grabbing them in a hug and sitting on the floor next to Rin, who had only just sat down with Akira. "Hello otōto-kun, how was your mission?"

He smiled at Rin and nodded, "Profitable. Four kitsune dens are arranging marriage alliances with four other dens, which means more diversity in their bloodlines. I promised them each a new trick upon cementation of the alliances."

Rin hummed softly as Akira ran over to Shippō to bat at one of his tails playfully, Sayuri joining the silver-blue haired boy as black haired Mika took the chance to claim one of Shippō's tails for herself. "Good; it really is good that Mama brought us Yoru, ne? Otherwise we wouldn't have so many kitsune allies and kitsune wouldn't be learning positive canine traits."

Rin's little brother nodded, then looked at Rin with a quiet joy. "I finally managed it, Rin-ne."

A gasp, unbidden but nonetheless expected, rose up through Rin's throat and Rin smiled brightly at him. "Oh wow! And it only took you half as much time as it normally takes a kitsune once they begin learning. Does this mean you will be leaving soon though?"

Shippō shook his head firmly. "Not until they are physically ten. Then I'll find a suitable male and make my first family. By then they will be able to understand better why I am doing such a thing, and more independent as well; more able to handle visits that are infrequent for a few decades."

That made sense, and Rin was unashamed to admit relief for Rin's self. That meant Rin had sixty five years to get used to the fact that Rin wouldn't be able to be with her first ever otōto-kun anywhere near as often as Rin was used to at the moment. Shippō, who was now taller than Rin, much to the surprise of everyone who knew him (he had grown like a weed the moment he hit fourteen, shooting up in height rapidly), opened his arms to her and Rin climbed into his lap, snuggling close to him. "You'll always be my favourite, Rin-ne, but my instincts are pulling at me and we both know what that means."

Right. Instincts had to be obeyed, and Shippō was probably pushing things as they were by waiting that long, but he could handle it. Shippō was resilient, if nothing else. Not to mention he was strong and capable and talented. "When will you tell Mama?"

"Tell me what?"

Mama came back into the room, leading Rin's baby siblings to run towards her as she sat down in front of Rin and Shippō, all three of them climbing into Mama's lap. Shippō smiled at her and tilted his head, "I managed the proper ningen female shapeshift yesterday, Mama. I'm waiting till the pups are ten before I do anything though."

Rin could tell Mama was feeling very proud right now. Rin was proud too.

Shippō knew that he came to almost every single kitsune thing late. He usually didn't care – his tricks and illusions were more important to him than all those things, because they would be more useful in Mama's plans to change the world.

However when someone had found out that despite being twenty he hadn't gone out and made a family yet, it made them wonder things that were detrimental to his plans, so he had finally given in. Of course, that he managed the transformation in six moons rather than a year was no surprise; most kitsune were only between twelve and fourteen when they tried the transformation and despite children being fast learners, adults could learn some things just as well, if not better. Not that he spread that fact around; he needed to keep people impressed with him so that he could justify his waiting period.

Not that it should need justifying. Stupid kitsune.

The point was, Shippō was not looking forwards to this. Despite the fact that now that he'd made the transformation and was of age, his instincts were clamouring at him to settle down with a ningen and have children – he'd wanted another century at least before he even tried the transformation, to work on his seduction skills and be with Rin-ne. He was not looking forwards to a dull life as a ningen female rather than his exciting life with his family. That was the biggest reason for waiting, really.

Maybe he could find a taijiya male and then at least he'd be allowed to fight rogue and lesser yōkai when he wasn't being a parent…

Or… Or he could just join up with a taijiya village as his female self and even if he settled with a normal ningen male it would be understood that of course he would continue his work. Yeah! He'd do that.

Having a suitable plan cheered Shippō up quite a bit, and he was able to just bask in the joy his mama, ane-san, and little siblings brought to him.

"It's tiiime!"

Sesshōmaru blinked as Kagome bounced into the room, holding out a piece of parchment to him excitedly. He obligingly read it – it was addressed to Jennifer, the English yōkai who had settled down in his court with her Spanish mate Sofia at the beginning of their first tenuous alliance with England. Ah, interesting, England wanted to send over an ambassador to help cement their alliance into something more stable. But why would his mate be bouncing with excitement over this? He looked up curiously as she squealed again. "I know who it is! Father's mate is going to be the ambassador!"

...Oh. Well then! This was definitely fortuitous. "Well and good. Is Father aware of this?"

Kagome giggled with glee as she flounced behind his desk and collapsed into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and scratching her nails over his skin. Kami but that felt delightful. "No. Clue. Whatsoever! He's practically forgotten he even has a soul-mate! Not fully forgotten but you know, he's so busy and absorbed in the family that it's only in the very back of his mind that he remembers. No spoiling this for him! I want to see the shock and surprise on his face when he meets her for the first time."

Of course she would. Kagome got as much amusement as he did from making people shocked or surprised in whatever way possible. "Of course I shan't ruin the surprise, koishi. However if you keep bouncing around like you were previously he is bound to suspect something is up."

She huffed, although he could tell it was with amusement, and kissed him deeply. "Mmm true, I'll just have to restrain myself. We absolutely must both be at the meeting though, sharing it with you isn't enough for me."

"Whatever you say, so I shall do, precious."

Suddenly there was a glint in her eyes and she growled enticingly to him. "Whatever I say, hmm…?"

Sesshōmaru chuckled and obligingly picked her up as he stood. None of the paperwork was very important right now, so he could leave it for a time, and their children were with their tutors. It had been over a sennight since they had been able to spend any significant amount of time with each other, however, and Sesshōmaru was not about to let this opportunity go to waste. "Hn. Whatever you say, whatever you wish, whatever you want, so I shall do, grant, and provide."

He could tell just by looking at her that he would have to back up his words – and Sesshōmaru was more than glad to do that.

"Mnh, I don't know what I did to deserve you, but whatever it was couldn't possibly have been enough."

Kagome was gasping beneath him as he moved inside of her, kissing, biting, and licking his way across her body, leaving hickeys in his wake. It was lovely to see those dark marks against his mate's pale skin, to know she delighted in the tangible evidence of their lovemaking – the bites and scratches never left scars, or her body would be utterly covered by now. The only real scar she had he paid attention to right now, running his claws along the inside of it and pulling out of her so he could kiss along the edges of the deep gash and run his tongue along the inside of it, which elicited a delightful whimper from his mate.

Then he slid back inside of her and continued marking and mauling her writhing form beneath him as he deigned to respond to her comment, "Everything you have done means you more than deserve me."

She was struck deeply by his comment, despite that it had been made before – it truly was astounding how little she valued her own achievements. Every time he said this to her she was always in awe that he felt that way about her. It was something he loved though, so he would take no steps to change it; her humility was not only endearing and sweet but also necessary to keep the vile will of the Shikon in check. Finally he bit her mating mark viciously and she came undone beneath him, leading him to still inside of her and allow himself to be overwhelmed with pleasure, before manoeuvring them onto their sides and holding her close – stroking over her body, kissing her neck and ear and cheeks, nuzzling her jaw affectionately.

When she came back to herself she wrapped her arm around him and snuggled closer to him, sighing in contentment. "Love you so much, Maru."

His response was the same as it always was, because he meant it just as much – if not more – every time he said it. "I love you just as much, kitten."

He could feel her smiling against his shoulder and she cuddled closer as he trailed his claws in circles over her back and neck. They would have another few rounds before dinner, but for now it was time to luxuriate in love and affection and everything that was perfect in this world.

The look on Father's face as he laid eyes upon Elizabeth, the intelligent, slightly bookish, and politically savvy ambassador that the English had sent over, was everything Kagome could have wished for. It was practically love at first sight, really, and highly endearing and adorable. When Kagome formally introduced them (Elizabeth had a similarly dazed and flustered look on her face, which was so cute!) Toga responded with being his naturally charming self – most importantly, he did not lay anything on too thick or treat her as if his life had just been flipped upside down. He treated her with the respect her position afforded to her and offered to help her learn the ins and outs of court life here in Nihon, which she took up so rapidly that Kagome knew that this would be a very swift courtship indeed. They were already half-smitten with each other before barely knowing the other's name!

Sesshōmaru was highly gratified at the way Elizabeth had responded, which pleased Kagome to no end. Elizabeth was mentally as old as Toga was, and her aura of intelligence, authority, and fluidity meant that everyone in the pack would be easily able to look up to her as a true mother figure despite the technicalities of actual ages. And her six year old children would be incredibly glad to have a grandmother who doted upon them as much as their grandfather did. Spoiled, the lot of them. Not that Kagome was any moderating or mitigating influence herself; neither was Sesshōmaru. Their children were polite, well mannered, sweet, and adorable, so them being spoilt had not done them any harm whatsoever and never would.

And speaking of children… Was that? It was! Oh, oh, oh! "I am dreadfully sorry to cut this meeting short – Father, perhaps you could give Elizabeth the tour? Shippō's back from China!"

"Of course, I would be delighted to, daughter. Of course you would wish to see your son, it has been half a year, after all."

In preparation for his upcoming new life, Shippō was travelling the world, garnering more alliances, and staying away for longer periods of time so that they would all be used to the several years it would take for him to find a husband and settle into his new identity as a female taijiya in one of the more ningen-populated villages. This past six moons had been the longest period of time he had ever been away and Kagome had dreadfully, terribly missed her son – as had Rin. Shippō was Rin's most important person, after all, if in a slightly unusual way that couldn't be quantified because their bond itself was something that didn't really exist in culture. It was still incredibly cute, however, and Kagome did not mind in the slightest the oddities in their relationship – she'd pretty much expected it from the moment Rin had so boldly stated that she was going to be Shippō's first partner.

She and her mate rapidly made their way to Shippō's bedroom, where Rin was waiting with the children, a beautiful smile on her little girl's face, and sure enough Shippō was there within moments. They would get the greetings over with and then Kagome would leave her eldest children alone to spend some quality time with each other. Today was turning out to be perfect.

Toga smiled as his eldest daughter rushed off, trying his damnedest to hold his instincts in check. It would not do for him to bow to them in this moment, because even if Elizabeth felt the same way as he did—the look on her face had been encouraging, for certain—it would not do to treat her with anything less than respect and the deference her position as ambassador afforded her until they met in a situation that was more casual. "I'm actually rather surprised – despite being their uncle she really does treat you as her father, so does Sesshōmaru-sama."

Toga remembered—barely—the illusion that had been his first experience with Elizabeth, consulted his instincts, and when they gave an affirmative, he quietly said, "You know, nobody outside of Nihon ever actually knew the Inu no Taishō's real name."

They had been walking towards the door but oh was Elizabeth clever, and she stopped in her tracks. Toga had to use all of his control not to smile. "Oh! So you- Oh, wow."

Then her shock wore off and she asked curiously – he rather thought that if their soul-bond wasn't so strong there would be suspicion in there as well, but as things were she was still too dazed to be suspicious at the moment, "Why did you just do that? You don't know me, and you certainly have no idea of how trustworthy I might or might not be."

He turned towards her with a gentle smile filled with warmth and good humour. "Ah, but you see, I do not have to know you when my instincts tell me that you can be trusted. As old as I am, my instincts never let me down or drive me wrongly. They do not control me, I control them, and they are wonderfully accurate."

Elizabeth looked at him intently, then nodded firmly. "I can accept that. Your instincts have to be accurate for you to have survived so long without accidentally giving yourself away; although I am curious – how is it you are even here?"

Toga tilted his head as he led her through the shoji screen door, "Divine intervention – and I am not joking. The Kami decided that my presence was necessary for several reasons, and thus they brought me back. It has truly been a blessing to me, and I like to think it was a blessing for my family as well, although I would never go so far as to assume such a thing. This way – I will show you the official areas first and then show you how to get to your room – unless you would like to see the gardens? They are quite exquisite, my children and grandchildren are truly talented in creating beauty."

There! That was a perfectly acceptable offer and would allow them to meet more casually. Elizabeth's smile was confident and stunning, just like she herself was. "That sounds lovely, thank you for the offer; I would love to see the gardens once the tour is over."

Even better! She had clearly defined that this meeting would be casual rather than formal by specifying that the trip to the gardens would not be a part of the tour. Oh how intelligent Elizabeth was; Toga was pleased beyond belief at whom the Kami had picked out for him. She was beautiful, intelligent, clever, and confident. She clearly had no self-image problems, which was good because such things would be tiring to fight constantly. Toga was not the kind of person to find such things endearing when it was his partner who had them, although they were endearing on his daughters.

The tour was relatively rapid – there weren't too many official formal areas for her to be shown – and soon they were in the gardens. Elizabeth was suitably delighted and awed by them, and she asked, "Would it be possible for me to work in the gardens as well? I do so enjoy gardening."

"it should be no hardship to arrange for such a thing, Kagome was quite taken with you, after all; she will be very willing to indulge you."

Elizabeth blinked at that, then shook her head, "I don't really get why she would like me so much, but I'm not going to question it. That would be rather silly of me to do when her liking me is of great benefit to me and my job here."

Toga grinned and stated softly, "My daughter has precognitive dreams at times, and they tell her things that would otherwise be unknowable. She adores you because she knew even before I knew of your arrival how I would react upon seeing you – and how you would react upon seeing me. My daughter is exceedingly clever and talented, despite how underestimated she is by most yōkai and ningen."

Elizabeth flushed at that, then responded, "Well, it was indeed pleasant to see that I was not the only one to be dazed and drawn when I saw you for the first time."

He chuckled softly and nodded, "Similarly here. I have known about you for some time, but meeting you in person was far more intense than I had ever imagined it might be."

The gorgeous ambassador looked at him curiously at that, so he expounded, "Over a century ago, my son Yoru, whom you will meet probably tomorrow, showed me an illusion of my future. Just most of a day, and it was… intense is far too weak a word for what I experienced in that illusion. He found the developing soul-bond I had, and used it to show me that I had a life of more than just temporary partners. I had nearly forgotten the illusion until I saw your face in person."

Elizabeth flushed again, and gave him a brilliant smile. "Ah, so this is more than simple attraction at first sight."

"Only if you wish it to be so. I would never force anything upon anyone – having sons that were once enslaved really gave me a severe dislike of anyone being forced into anything they do not actively wish for. It is, ultimately, your choice how to respond to the attraction, and your choice if it will ever become anything more than just attraction."

His respect for her own wants and wishes clearly struck Elizabeth deeply, but when she was done digesting what he told her, she nodded firmly and smiled at him, a smile filled with confidence, hope, and desire. "Someone who is drawn to me, respects my wishes, and is willing to undergo pain if I do not wish for anything more than friendship is indeed someone I would prefer to have a permanent place in my life."

Hope soared through Toga, and he could not stop the words from escaping his mouth, "Then you would not take it amiss if I said I wished to court you, if you are willing?"

He did not emphasise the word court, meaning he intended to do this properly: courtship, then formal Courting, then mating; providing she was amenable to it.

Elizabeth smiled slowly at him and nodded her head. "I would not take it amiss whatsoever, Toga. In fact, I could think of nothing I wish for more at this moment."

His life had just been changed for the better, yet again, and it was all thanks to his stunning daughter. He would have to thank her properly tomorrow, or tonight, before bed. "Then shall I show you to your rooms and tomorrow we could work in the gardens, with Kagome's permission? I know nothing about gardening, but my eldest son has told me more than once that he never expected to enjoy the pastime anywhere near as much as he does, and I would like to see if that trait is familial or not."

"That sounds wonderful."

Toga showed her to her room in the guest wing, knowing with a deep certainty that she would not be staying there for much longer.

He had a mate to woo.

Kagome fidgeted nervously as she walked up the once-familiar steps leading towards where her one-time home was at with her family. Most of the children were at home, just because, really. Even though her family was either not alive at all or wouldn't know her, only the members of her pack that her mother had known about (Sesshō, Rin, Shippō, Roku, Haku, Yoru, Yasha, and Father, along with Mamoru) were with her now as she kept her promise. It might have been a different world entirely that she came from but Kagome had promised to visit this year and this day, so visit she would.

No matter how much it hurt.

Sesshōmaru squeezed her hand gently and she smiled over at him. She could do this, but his support and comfort was beyond welcome.

The steps took an interminably long time to walk up but finally they were finished climbing and – oh! It almost broke Kagome's heart to see how exactly the same her old home was, even in this world that had changed so much.

Cities existed, but they were nothing like how they had been where she came from – yōkai, hanyō, and ningen alike thrived and flourished in her world, openly friendly and accepting of each other; this was in no small part due to the efforts that moth yōkai had gone to in order to make themselves safer. There were no skyscrapers, although some of the buildings were quite tall, and there tended to be no overly-populated areas – India made bank off of selling their birth control herbs, and so the population of her planet was far, far less than it had been in her previous world.

Knowledge, however, was a profitable career to go into, so most people learned in school the things she had learned in school, especially with regards to science, mathematics, and literature. Many of the same people had existed – although many of them had also been changed (mainly that they had largely been hanyō rather than ningen) as the world was a far different place – and so many of her most beloved authors still existed and wrote. The poetry she had always loved and been fascinated with was largely exactly the same.

Kagome adored her new world. There was no war, and all the major cataclysms in her old world had never existed here; no mass slaughters, no enslavement, no worldwide wars. People were beyond open minded and far happier – as well, mental illness was far less common than it had been in her old world; and cancer? Well it just didn't even exist here. Illness in general was far more uncommon because the majority of existences here were hanyō and yōkai compared to ningen.

It was like she had helped to create paradise, and Kagome appreciated that so very much.

Finally they reached the shrine area, where people were milling about, and Kagome gripped Sesshōmaru's hand tighter. Who knew what she would find here?

Higurashi Sōta had always felt for his entire life that something was missing. There was a gaping hole in his life that nothing could fill, and his nights were filled with strange dreams of some other place. A place where he had a big sister, and the world was dying, and cities were improbably enormous, and he was radically different but still the same in all the important ways.

Mama had been the same way, and so had Grandpa. They all dreamt of another place at nights and felt like their lives were empty without Kagome in them.

And then… then, when Sōta was nine, the most crazy, insane thing happened to his other self. Kagome disappeared from their dreams because she had began going to a different world.

Their world.

Mama and Grandpa weren't convinced about his theory, but Sōta was positive that this had to be the case, had to be why they had these crazy dreams every night. Kagome hadn't been time-travelling, she had been dimension-travelling, and their Kagome was the Lady of the West Kagome. Sōta had seen the famous, powerful Kagome in their world before, and she had looked different enough that he hadn't connected the two, but now he remembered those blue, blue eyes and how rare they were in Nihon. Not blue in general; plenty of yōkai and hanyō had blue eyes. But not eyes that shade of blue.

And when Kagome-ne in his dreams began talking about making an alliance with Sesshōmaru-sama, made friends with him to the point of becoming like a mother to his adopted daughter, mated him, talked about a Toga, had a big brother named Roku, was a mother to Rin and Shippō, had little brothers named Kohaku and Byakuya (which were Haku and Yoru's birth names), knew a nekomata named Mamoru…

Sōta did not believe in coincidences.

Mama and Grandpa were being scared and cautious and a little bit stupid though. They didn't want to believe him when he insisted that their Kagome had to be Kagome-sama. They thought the dreams were just flights of fancy or something like it. That they had made them up in order to fill the gaping holes in their lives. Sōta could not fault them for this because it really was extraordinary and crazy if it was true.

So when she stopped visiting them in their shared dreams, the very next day he was out on the shrine grounds, waiting for her. Kagome-ne had promised, and he knew her, knew that even though it was a different world she came from and she had to know this by now, she would still keep her promise. Mama and Grandpa were lurking too, wondering if he was right (he was, he just knew it).

When he saw her and her family that they knew about in the dreams he couldn't stop himself from crying out in relief and happiness. "Ane-chan! Kagome-ne-chan!"

The look of shock and hope and confusion on her face was all the confirmation he needed. She was their Kagome.

There was a young teen that was identical to Sōta as he had been when she left the other world behind for good, fourteen years old and sweet and kind and… Oh, it was just breaking her heart… and then, the most unexpected thing happened! He called out to her. "Ane-chan! Kagome-ne-chan!"

What?!

"Little Kagome, as a reward for your protection of the vile Shikon, We have granted you your family. The other world ended when you ceased visiting it, and in return, those you love remember you from that world. They will explain the details, there is no reason for you to know what happened twice around. Be happy, Our daughter."

Oh Kami. They knew her. Her family was alive and knew and remembered her, even though this was a wholly different world. How had she gotten so lucky?

She was invited into her old home, and as they told her about the dreams, about how the Kami had arranged for them to know her, Kagome could only thank Midoriko for creating the Shikon. Her life was the best because of it. She had a mate and a family – two families – and the world was amazing because of it. The Shikon no Tama might be vile and wicked, but without it, none of this would be possible.

Her way was love and life and happiness.