Day One - Change of Heart

Prompt: Inevitable, mesmerize, memory

Setting: Canon divergence

1,391 words

The final battle against Naraku had changed everything.

First, Inuyasha's unstable hanyou blood had boiled over and he'd turn against her. It hadn't been the first time Kagome had seen him succumb to the youkai side he had no control over, but it was the time forever seared into her memory.

Because that time, Inuyasha had drawn blood. She'd been unable to bring him back to his senses. And just as she had defiantly shouted to Naraku how Inuyasha would never – he had attacked her and pushed her down deep into the bowels of the amalgamation of youkai Naraku had become.

It was in that moment, suspended in the air seconds before plummeting down, looking back to Inuyasha's mindless eyes that didn't recognise her, at his claws stained red with her blood, when her heart cracked.

Kagome had not known where she was when she had come to. Her arm had been throbbing, though that fierce pain had been nothing compared to the crushing ache in her chest.

The first thing she'd seen had been Sesshoumaru's tall back and the sweep of silver-white hair. He'd stood a few yards from her, had glanced over his shoulder at her as soon as he'd heard her groan.

With a graceful sweep of his arm, his deadly claws had cleaved through the lesser youkai that were lunging towards them.

Sitting there, cradling her bloodied sore arm, Kagome's world had tilted on its axis.

Just moments ago, Inuyasha had hurt her. And now… Now Sesshoumaru was protecting her.

Ultimately, of course, the day had ended in a victory. They had all defeated Naraku together. Kagome's wish had destroyed the Shikon no Tama for good.

As for the price they had to pay, well, Kagome had paid it gladly.

After that tremendous battle, she was relieved to return to her own time.

Much as she missed her friends from the Sengoku era, returning to her family was a great comfort. Going back to the familiar routine of school life was oddly soothing. The memories of her adventures in the past were always with her, but being back in the present, it gave her time to think.

About her life. About what she would do from now on. About the well and if it would ever start working again. About Inuyasha.

About Sesshoumaru.

She'd stood side by side with Inuyasha in the end.

But something had changed.

Though she still did care about him, standing in Inuyasha's arms hadn't made her heart race, hadn't brought her the old comfort.

Because already then, making her wish on the jewel, there had been a part of her that no longer trusted in him.

And inevitably on the heels of that thought, as it had done a countless times before, her mind replayed the scene of Sesshoumaru standing before her and protecting her from errant lesser youkai.

Such an unlikely knight in shining armour – but then, looking back, it hadn't been the first time Sesshoumaru had come to her rescue, either.

Kagome's contentment lasted until she entered her final year of high school. It was right around the time the university entrance exams started to loom closer that Kagome started to grow restless.

Was she returned here for good? Would the well never work again? Was this where she needed to build her future?

Would she now have to be like any other girl in her class; study hard, pass her entrance exams, graduate and start at a university? Find a job, meet a guy, get married, start a family?

It wouldn't be a bad life.

But she wasn't sure it was what she wanted for herself, either. That typical future didn't send any jolt of excitement through her. It didn't make her heart flutter.

To begin with, going to university didn't sound too appealing; hadn't she suffered through enough schooling?

As for a dream job… Kagome had no such thing.

The closer she was to having to make definite choices about her future, the more she began to long for the past.

She wasn't sure if she could ever rekindle what she'd once felt for Inuyasha, but he wouldn't be the only reason why she would wish to return to an era she didn't belong.

She had friends there. She had a life there. Not much of a one, admittedly… but it had been a happy one, despite all the danger they had faced.

But the well was dead, its magic spent, so Kagome gritted her teeth and dutifully filled out career questionnaires and researched universities.

And soon enough she stood out in the schoolyard clutching her diploma. Wearing her high school uniform for the very last time, saying goodbye to friends and classmates and wondering when – if ever – she was going to see them again.

It was a happy day, yet Kagome felt unsettled deep down.

They said when one door closed, another one would open – but Kagome was trapped in a room that had neither doors nor windows.

At home at the shrine, Kagome stuffed her diploma into a desk drawer and changed out of her uniform. Then, she slipped out of her room, out of the house. Her restless feet brought her to the well house. Down the steps, until she was standing on the dirt floor before the well.

Her fingers were trembling, so she rested them against the brim of the well, the ancient wood cool to touch and smoothed by time.

The well remained stubbornly closed. Kagome looked down into the dark depths, desperation wounding tight around her chest, squeezing out her breath.

She closed her eyes and willed for a door to open.

She couldn't spend all her life stuck in that room.

Kagome opened her eyes. Just now… there had been a pulse, rippling through the air.

She stood still and stared down into the well. She was afraid to move, afraid to even blink.

Her mother appeared in the doorway of the well house.

"Kagome? What's wrong?"

Kagome didn't turn around. Sadness was crushing her and at the same time elation swelled, bright and bubbly.

"Mama…"

She heard her mother walk down the steps. A moment later, her arm wound around Kagome's shoulders.

Kagome leaned into her mother's comforting warmth.

In the bottom of the well, they both could see a blue sky and soft swirling clouds.

Her voice was small when she spoke. "Mama, I need to go."

Her mother hugged her. They clung to each other for a long moment, then her mother let go.

"Go and be happy," she told Kagome, brushing away a tear. "I am proud of you."

"I love you, Mama. Thank you."

After one last lingering look, Kagome turned toward the well.

Like she'd done a thousand times before, she climbed over the rim and let go, plunging into the currents of time.

Standing at the bottom of the Bone Eater's Well, Kagome blinked back tears and looked up at the blue sky.

Then, using the vines and roots crawling down the steep stone walls, she started climbing out.

She was nearly at the top when she realised she was not alone.

She noticed the clawed hand at first. The next second, she saw the slender magenta stripes circling his wrist. The sweep of the red and white sleeve of a kimono.

Her breath caught in her throat.

She hadn't expected him to be here, to be the one waiting for her on the other side.

Yet, she wasn't surprised either.

In some corner of her soul, it felt right that it should be him.

Her heart hammered against her ribcage. She reached for him and clasped his hand in a firm grip.

She was lifted up and out of the well with ease. Balanced on the rim of the well, she was more or less at an eye-level with him.

And those golden eyes mesmerised her; she'd never seen them filled with such an emotion before.

"Hi," she stammered in a greeting.

He was still clasping her hand and looking at her intently. Her skin pebbled with gooseflesh.

She had a brief moment to wonder what this all could mean; if she was misreading any signs or carelessly presuming too much and jumping into erroneous conclusions…

Then Sesshoumaru clasped her close to his chest and claimed her lips in a searing kiss.