NVP

Chapter 18

Several days later…

Sango and Kagome were headed back to the village from the wolf demon encampment. Kagome hadn't said a word the whole way back. Sango had gone with her, but they had left the others behind. Inuyasha would have only fought and there was no need for all the others to go, but Kagome hadn't wanted to go alone so Sango had volunteered.

"You gonna be alright Kagome?"

Kagome blushed deeply, "I guess, just don't tell Inuyasha what happened."

Sango nodded with a smile. Kagome fingered the small glass bottle that hung around her neck, holding the two shards that Koga had given up. She sighed, maybe she should have taken Inuyasha…

~~~Flashback

"…Right, and you expect me to just hand them over?" Koga growled.

"Come on," Kagome pressed, "The jewel is almost whole again, all that's left are yours."

"First you pick the mutt over me, and now you're asking for favors? Why should I bother?" He retorted.

Kagome sighed and stepped forward. She had hoped she wouldn't have to resort to bargaining, "Why should you bother?"

"Huh?"

"What do you want in exchange?"

What I really want, you've given to Inuyasha," He said coldly.

"Besides me."

Koga thought a moment. What would he give up his speed for? His mind wandered down a wrong path and he began drooling with a euphoric look on his face. Kagome nearly fainted, realizing what he was thinking.

"BESIDES me!"

Koga sighed in disappointment. "Alright, just a kiss then."

Kagome looked at Sango for help, she only shrugged.

Koga grinned, "One kiss for two shards. Sounds like a bargain to me."

Kagome's shoulders drooped and she stepped up to him timidly. Some of his nearby packmates whooped and cheered him on.

Kagome sighed, "Make it quick, and don't try anything!"

~~~End Flashback~~~

A shiver ran down Kagome's spine. She could still smell his breath.

The others were waiting when they finally made it back to the village. Inuyasha, grumpy as usual, stood with his arms folded. Miroku greeted them as they approached.

"Welcome back. How did you fare?"

Kagome produced the shards, "See for yourself."

Miroku looked surprised, "How on earth did you manage to…"

"Who cares!" Inuyasha interrupted, snatching the bottle and looking at it, "As long as she got'em."

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she wouldn't have to explain after all. She pulled out the rest of the jewel and took the shards back from Inuyasha. She held them together as she'd done before. There was a bright flash of light and Kagome felt the jewel's power grow. She opened her hands and revealed the completed, whole, and purified jewel of four souls. After a full minute of everyone simply staring at it, Shippo looked up at Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, do you still plan on using the jewel to become a full demon?"

Inuyasha's head snapped up. So much had happened he'd forgotten why he'd been after it in the first place. He looked over at Kagome and sighed, "I need time."

"We understand," Kagome said, handing him the jewel.

Inuyasha left without saying another word, already deep in thought.

"At least he's not rushing into this as he usually does," Miroku commented.

"Lets hope he makes the right choice," Sango added.

"Well, I think I'm going to head home for a while. I can't wait to tell my family about this!" Kagome smiled.

Shippo piped up, "But Kagome, without the jewel won't you be unable to come back?"

Kagome thought a minute, "That's alright. Just tell Inuyasha to come get me when he's made up his mind."

With that, she said her goodbyes and gathered her belongingsfor her trip home. Once there, she rushed into the house with a wide grin and found her family gathered at the table eating. She wasted no time in proudly telling them how they had completed the jewel (leaving out of couse how many times they almost died in the process). Later that night, after they had all celebrated together, Kagome lay in her room contemplating Inuyasha's choice. She doubted he still wanted to be full demon after all they had been through, but if that was the case what would he wish for?

Kagome rolled over and sighed. No use trying to figure it out now. She'd likely find out tomorrow anyway. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Sleep came quicly for her that night. Dreams and nightmares notwithstanding.

Something was about to happen. He could feel it. Tor'mac sat near a fire with the others, minus Kagome and Inuyasha. They had all started acting strange, apprehensive. He knew it had something to do with the strange object they had taken from withing that vile creature. Thay had all treated it with a kind of reverence. He couldn't begin to understand why and no one seemed able to explain it to him.

He growled to himself out of frustration, drawing curious stares from those nearby. He would surely go mad trying to figure this out on his own. He snorted, let these confusing things be pondered by the old ones. He was a warrior, not a scholar. Tor'mac took out his blades, still dirty from battle, and started cleaning them if only to take his mind off things.

Not so far away, Inuyasha sat in a tree still considering his options. He wasn't going to become full demon, he didn't need to anymore. So what the hell was he going to do with the jewel now? He should do something they would all benefit from. After all, he hadn't gathered the shards alone…

He growled at nothing in particular. Finally he decided he'd sleep on it and decide in the morning. Moments before he fell asleep, an idea popped into his head.

The next morning everyone awoke early. No one had slept very heavily to begin with. Tor'mac entered the hut Shippo and the others were and motioned for them to come outside.

'Does he ever sleep?' Shippo wondered to himself.

Inuyasha was just outside, staring at the jewel.

"Have you come to a decision?" Miroku asked.

Inuyasha nodded, "But I need you guys to tell me what you think. I'll go get Kagome." He said, taking off towards the well.

"Wait, Inuyasha! At least tell us what you have planned!" Miroku shouted, taking a few steps after him.

Inuyasha ignored him.

"We'd better go wait for them," Sango said.

The others followed after Inuyasha, though he left them behind in a hurry. Arriving at the well soon after, they found him standing in front of it, an angry expression on his face.

"Inuyasha?" Shippo said tentatively, keeping his distance.

"Inuyasha what's wrong?" Miroku asked.

Inuyasha took a step back and leapt into the well. A few seconds later he emerged wearing a worried, dumbstruck look. "Damn it all. I…I can't get through!"

"What!" They all answered in unison.

"Try it again!" Shippo yelled, already starting to cry.

He did, and came right back out.

"Why?" Sango said sadly.

"It was the power of the jewel that enabled Kagome to come to our era in the first place. Perhaps now that it is complete, the magic of the well is no more. It's purpose fulfilled." Miroku said quietly.

"What can we do? Is Kagome gone forever?" Shippo sniffled.

"We wait." Inuyasha said solemnly.

"For what?"

"Let me tell you about my wish…"

Meanwhile…

Kagome had been pacing in front of the well house for the past hour. She'd spent all day keeping as busy as she could to make time pass, now she was out of ideas. Surely he'd made up his mind by now. So why hadn't he come for her?

Night began to fall and she reluctantly gave up on waiting. So he'd taken longer to make up his mind than she'd figured, no reason to panic…

That wasn't true. She could feel it in her heart that something wasn't right. He should have come by now.

Kagome wandered inside, worry clouding her thoughts. Every possible explanation crossing her mind. Inuyasha had used the jewel to become a full demon and it had changed him. He had forgotten her, Maybe Naraku wasn't as dead as they'd thought and had come to get the jewel back, or some other demon had attacked and delayed Inuyasha's return.

Her worry only got worse the more she thought about it. It grew worse by the hour. Hours became days, days became a week. By the end of the second week her depression became so great she refused to leave home. She'd tried to at least fake her normal life to get out of the rut she was in but nothing helped. She needed Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and even Tor'mac again. She needed Inuyasha.

By the end of her third week alone she had dug through every scroll and parchment in the shrine, looking for anything about what had happened to the 'evil' half-demon and the jewel. Nothing. Nothing could be found. It was as if they had simply disappeared.

Another week passed. Kagome had all but given up. She cried herself to sleep each night and awoke each day feeling as though she hadn't slept at all. Her Inuyasha was gone. All she had left of him were reminders, whenever she looked in a mirror she saw his ears, teeth, and claws.

She was washing dishes when Sota ran into the kitchen.

"Kagome! A limo just pulled up out front, Gramps wants us all outside to give them the tour of the shrine."

Kagome sighed. Their shrine often attracted visitors. The rich ones Grandpa always tried extra hard to sell his trinkets to. Kagome finished and went outside. A tall, dar haired man had opened the back door to the limo at the bottom of the long staircase that led up to the shrine. He had a muscular build and wore a black bandana over his long hair, holding away from his face as well as a red muscle shirt.

A brown haired man in sunglasses and an expensive looking suit stepped out and was followed by two other men and a woman, all very well dressed as brown haired man was arguing with someone over a cell phone. Kagome turned to her grandfather.

"Do I really have to be here?"

"Young lady, this is our responsibility as caretakers of this shrine."

"Whatever."

Kagome heard footsteps reaching the top of the stairs, "…Listen, I'm gonna have to talk about this later…Yeah, bye," She heard behind her, followed by the click of the phone closing.

She put on her bes fake smile and turned around. She nearly fainted. There stood Inuyasha with dark hair, Sango with shorter hair, Miroku, and an older looking Kohaku. She couldn't place the brown haired guy though.

"Welcome to our humble shrine." Grandfather started, bowing.

Kagome took an uneasy step forward, expecting to wake up any moment.

"…Inuyasha?"

He simply nodded, barely able to maintain his calm appearance he was so happy. Kagome nearly tackled him. He caught her and met her in a kiss. Grandfather nearly had a heart attack.

"Kagome, what on earth!" He cried.

Kagome pulled herself away, remembering her family was here as well. She looked at the others, all of them wearing big grins.

"I've waited a long time for that," Inuyasha said happily.

"If I'm dreaming nobody better wake me," Kagome said, hugging him again.

"You're not," The man she didn't recognize said smiling – a smile she recognized all too well.

"Shippo!?"

He nodded, "But you probably remember me better like this…"

A puff of smoke engulfed him and he reappeared just as she remembered him in his child like form. The cute little fox child she'd practically adopted. He leapt up into her arms and hugged her then dropped down again and returned to his true, grown up form. Kagome looked at all of them carefully.

"…How?" Was all she could manage to say.

"The Jewel." Miroku answered.

"The Jewel?"

Inuyasha nodded, "I used my wish to stop all of us from aging."

Kagome looked confused, "But you're human."

Inuyasha shook his head and removed his bandana, revealing his ears which were now black as well, "Hair dye. So I don't draw too much attention."

Kagome shook her head in disbelief, "Wait. You guys have been waiting around for five hundred years?! What have you been doing?"

Miroku laughed, digging through a bag he'd brought with him. He pulled out an old, worn book and handed it to Kagome, "You forgot this."

Kagome gasped, "My history book!"

Sango laughed, "Yeah, we read through it. Made for a few interesting vacations over the years.

"What do you mean?"

Miroku answered, "Use your imagination. Sango and I both served as medics in World War two, for the allies. Inuyasha made sure he was present at Normandy on D-Day to help out. From what I hear he played a large part in taking victory that day."

"As usual," Inuyasha added proudly.

"You haven't changed a bit," Kagome said, poking his nose. "So what are you all doing now?"

"Ever heard of 'Tentieth Century Fox'?" Shippo asked.

Kagome's jaw dropped as she made the obvious connection. "You're kidding."

"Nope, I own it." Shippo said.

"We have to change our names and fake our deaths every lifetime to avoid notice," Sango said, "This is Shippo's current identity. He managed to perfect his shapeshifting over the years so this has been easy for him."

"What about you guys?" Kagome asked.

"Well, Kohaku and I are partners, we work as stunt doubles for some of the movies. Miroku's kind of an advisor, he works with Shippo."

"What about you Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha blushed and he looked away, "I'm a… bodyguard."

Kagome smiled, "That suits you. Who for? Anyone famous?"

"He works for me too," Shippo said, more than a little teasing evident in his tone.

"Little runt," Inuyasha said under his breath.

Kagome burst out laughing, th irony was too much. Inuyasha turned as red as his shirt. They all laughed until Kagome suddenly stopped.

"Wait, you own the company that produced 'Predator' right?" Kagome asked. Shippo nodded. Kagome sighed, "Now it all makes sense, so that's where they got the idea."

Shippo nodded again.

"So what happened to Tor'mac?"

"Ask him yourself," Shippo said, turning toward the treeline that surrounded the shrine.

Kagome nearly choked, "He's still around too?!"

"Tor'mac! You can come out now!" Sango called.

A flurry of sparks, roughly humanoid in shape, appeared on the lowest branch of a nearby tree. Tor'mac jumped to the ground as he decloaked, bowing slightly to Kagome. Her grandfather screamed and ran for the house.

"Sota! Fetch my sacred sutras!"

Another round of laughter erupted among the reunited team again. Kagome returned the bow he'd given. "So, you've managed to stay out of sight for five hundred years? I'm impressed."

"Thank you," Tor'mac growled.

Kagome stepped back, not expecting the answer, "You learned our language!"

Tor'mac replied, "And several others, I've had time."

Shippo patted his shoulder, "Tor'mac has been keeping an eye on you for us. We had to stay away until now, otherwise we might have changed the past. You might have smelled any of the rest of us."

"So the whole time I was going back into the past, Tor'mac was here at the shrine?"

"Most of the time," Tormac said. "Your mother is very nice."

"You've met my mother?!"

He nodded, "I was caught as I uncloaked after you went into the well one night. A momentary lapse on my record. I explained everything and she agreed not to tell you."

Kagome's mother slipped up behind her, "Why do you think I was never worried about your safety. No sane mother would have kept allowing you to put yourself in such danger. I already knew how everything would turn out!" She laughed, "Oh, Tor'mac. I've made some more of those cookies you liked so much."

Tor'mac's head perked up slightly at the word 'cookies' and he followed Kagome's mother inside, walking a little faster than normal. Kagome's head was spinning.

"Could my life get any weirder?" Kagome said, her gaze on the door that Tor'mac had entered.

"Hang on, cuz it's about to," Inuyasha said, smirking.

"What?" Kagome groaned.

"Kagome, we have a gift for you," Sango said, pulling an old wooden box from Miroku's bag, "We want you to join us."

"Join you?"

Sango nodded and opened the box toward Kagome. Inside was a glowing white orb that seemed to pulsate with a life of its own. It resembled the sacred Jewel.

Kagome stared at it in awe, "Is this…"

Miroku nodded, pulling the orb out from the box and holding it out to her, "This is what the jewel gave us. There was one for each of us in the beginning. We used ours and saved this for you. Take it into yourself and you'll be like us."

"Immortal?" She asked.

"Sort of." Sango answered, "We can still be hurt. It just keeps us from aging. Kohaku and Shippo waited a few years before they used theirs so they wouldn't look like children forever," She smiled.

Kagome's mother came back out smiling. Kagome looked at her as though seeking her approval.

She grinned, "Isn't it every parent's hope for their child to have a long, happy life?"

Kagome smiled, "You're the best mom."

Kagome took a deep breath and took the orb from Miroku and held it to her chest. She felt it being drawn inside and her body flooded with warmth. After a moment it seemed to disappear within her. She looked at her hands, expecting to feel different.

"How do I know if it worked?"

Inuyasha pulled her close, "If you still look like this in a hundred years, I'd say it worked."

Kagome kissed him again and then turned to Sango and Miroku. "So, how long did it take you two to get married?"

Sango looked embarrassed.

"Don't tell me you haven't!" Kagome cried.

Sango looked guilty now, Miroku just laughed quietly, "Well…He did ask me but…"

"Sango, you didn't say no did you?" Kagome looked horrified.

Sango nodded sadly, then threw off the sad expression and laughed, "I knew you'd kill us if you couldn't be there so I told him we'd wait for you!"

Kagome looked dumbstruck but gave in and laughed with her friend.

"You waited five hundred years? Now that's love!"

Inuyasha pouted, "Hey, I waited too you know."

A familiar voice called from the bottom of the stairs before she could answer. "Kagome!" It was Hojo, running up the stairs.

"Perfect timing," Inuyasha grumbled, putting his bandana back on.

"Kagome, your ears!" Her mother warned, tossing a cap to her. Kagome grabbed it and just managed to get it on as Hojo arrived at the top.

Inuyasha growled slightly at his approach. Hojo stopped dead in his tracks, afraid with good reason. Kagome greeted him and he mad his way to her, not taking his eyes off Inuyasha. Inuyasha sniffed the air a few times after he passed. 'I know that scent,'

He leapt between Hojo and Kagome, flexing and cracking his knuckles.

"Kagome, this is the same pervert that was outside your window!"

"Hojo!?" Kagome cried, shocked.

Inuyasha smirked and cracked his knucked one last time, "I've been waiting a long time for this too."

Horrified, Hojo swallowed hard, turned and bolted down the stairs with Inuyasha close behind.

"Get back here you coward!"

Kagome sighed and took Miroku and Sango by their arms, "Come on you guys, we have a wedding to plan!" Kagome grinned wide.

Shippo laughed, "Yeah I want some cookies too before Tor'mac eats them all!"

(AN) That's it! Finally done! There isn't any more! What do you think? Please review, and keep an eye out for my next Predator story titled Hero worship !! Thank you all for the inspiration to keep going!

-Dachande.