Chapter 20: A Thousand Years

It seemed to me that everything after Naraku's death flew by so fast. Kagome's disappearance, the whole mating ceremony, and Shippo heading off to train to be a full fox demon. It all still seems so surreal to me, like, this is all just a dream that I'm going to wake up from. I know it's foolish to think so, but who gets to live a life like this where I'm from? Kagome got sent back to her time… I always question why I didn't as well. Every single night while Koga and I are lying together, I'm always terrified I'll wake up without him there the next day and my life will return to how it was before. Terrified.

I do have to admit though, if this whole mating ritual hadn't taken so long to set up we would have been mated the second I got back from defeating Naraku, but since Koga is a higher class wolf demon, even though he doesn't act like it 90% of the time, we have to treat it like a royal wedding. I will say though; I'm impressed with what the wolf demons have given me. Even in modern times it would be considered beautiful, but definitely not traditional in any way. The bodice of the dress was white fur, I'm not exactly sure what type, but more than likely it was wolf. My ribcage down to my pelvic bone was covered in beautiful clear crystals, but you could still almost see through it. The skirt was also white fur that was short in the front, went halfway down my thigh, and longer in the back flowing down the floor past my feet. My feet were lightly wrapped on the sole as usual, and the only jewelry I possessed was the crescent necklace I was given by my mother. Needless to say, I already felt like a princess, which is what I guess I was becoming. Nothing could hide the fact that we were all still burning with the pain of Kagome's sudden disappearance. I could never even begin to fathom how InuYasha feels. He lost both of the girls he loved within a week. Brokenhearted could only be an understatement. I go visit with everyone as much as I possibly can but Koga happens to be really selfish and never wants me to leave his side, so it's kind of hard sometimes. But this is a time of happiness for everyone, the group has become like my family. Hopefully it can help take the pain away a little. Still, I can't help but feel how wrong it is to do this without Kagome here. She's the reason I'm here, why I came back. If Koga hadn't had such compassion for her in the beginning, we most likely would have never met. Though I do know now that Lady Fate has her way of working things out to happen even if you try your hardest to go against her.

"Are you ready?" Kame's voiced echoed through the stone walls and was heard from down the hall, a few seconds later, she appeared into the room with a giant smile on her face. Aria turned, smiling and nodded. "One more thing." Kame walked to the corner and grabbed something that was hidden. It was a beautiful tiara with diamonds and jades encrusted into it, and Kame placed it onto Aria's head, luckily not covering the beautiful braid work that the wolf demons had done on her hair. She had two braids wrapped around to the back her head, and the rest of long black and white hair fell down her back. "Perfect." Kame smiled, and Aria blushed. "Now let's not keep my eager son waiting any longer, shall we?" Kame laughed and linked arms with Aria, walking her down the hall. The floors were covered with sakura blossom and lilac petals, Aria's two favorite flowers. When the two reached the main hall, they saw InuYasha standing there by the fire, dressed in black dress robes waiting for Aria. She had told them about how in her traditions, a father or family member would walk the bride down the aisle to meet their fiancé and give them away. InuYasha readily agreed once Aria had asked him.

The day we met,
Frozen I held my breath
Right from the start,
I knew that I'd found a home for my

Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?

"I'll go down and make sure everyone is ready!" Kame smiled and ran down to where everyone was gathered make sure everything was perfect.

"Are you sure you want to go through mating with that mangy wolf?" InuYasha grinned as a brother would when joking with his sister knowing it annoyed her whenever he spoke of Koga in that way. Aria smiled and laughed back at his joke and punched him softly in the gut, she hugged InuYasha tightly.

"You know this is all I've ever wanted."

"I know, just makin' sure you're not chickening out last minute." InuYasha linked arms with her and they began to walk 'down the aisle to where everyone was waiting for them. The place they had agreed to mate was in Koga's secret spot, it was where they both realized they truly loved each other, and it was a place they would hold dear to their hearts forever. There was a long stone path that Aria and InuYasha would walk down, that was too covered in lilacs and sakura blossoms. Every single wolf demon that was alive was gathered for this event, Miroku, Sango, Kohaku, and even Shippo managed to get away from training to be there. Rin was up front with Kaede, and Ginta and Hakakku who both gave her a thumbs up, and Aria swore from the top of the walkway that she saw Sesshomaru somewhere in the back. Aria tightened her grip on InuYasha's arm as her nerves grew and he gave her a reassuring squeeze as well. When she had stepped out from the bamboo covering the doorway, everyone gasped at her beauty. Some wolf demons started to bang on the drums in a tune she was not familiar with, and she assumed it was her time to walk.

"Y'know, the stench of all these mangy wolves is drivin' me nuts." InuYasha whispered as they walked down the path, and Aria giggled at his remark, but kept a semi-straight face. As they got closer to the waterfall lake, she could see him. He was dressed in similar attire to what he usually wore, except it was stark black, and he wore no chest plate.

But watching you stand alone
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow

One step closer

Her heart fluttered seeing Koga standing there, as they hadn't been able to see each other for two days before the mating, and all she wanted to do was run up and hug him and lay a few kisses on him, but she kept her composure. It seemed to take forever for her to reach him, but soon enough, she was standing in front of the man she loved and the highest members of the wolf tribe.

"You look…"

"And you…" Aria's golden ember eyes shined with happiness, and InuYasha took his place back in the crowd next to his friends. The drums had stopped, and the Elder of the Demon tribe cleared out his throat.

"Today is a special day, not just because a member of our tribe is mating with a celestial being. No, one of our finest men and soldiers will become the new leader of all of our wolf tribes, and his right hand lady is the one who brought down our greatest foe, Naraku." There was lots of cheering all around them; one of the elders had to calm everyone so they could finish talking. "It is not usual that we allow outsiders to mate with our kind, but this young lady here has shown great honor and strength, it would be a shame to turn her away. Besides, the love between these two is incomparable to any we have seen before." Aria couldn't help but notice a pair of eyes burning through her back, but she didn't really have to guess who they belonged to.

"Now," The elder woman stood and began to speak. "We will hear why these two believe they should be mated. You may go first, Aria." Aria couldn't take her eyes off Koga, even though she felt everyone's on her. He was just so captivating to her at this moment; she couldn't put her finger on why.

I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

"Ever since I met Koga, the first day I arrived in this world; something about him captivated me like a bombshell. His family took me in like their own immediately, and that's something I've never experienced before. In my world and this world I've never felt anything like this for anyone else. I would go to the ends of the Earth for him and back, I would do anything to keep him safe, and do anything to make him happy. He means no less than everything to me which is why I want to give myself to him completely, body, mind, and soul." Aria poured her heart out to him in front of everyone, and after he took everything in, he smiled and there were plenty of aww's and sniffles from the audience around them.

"Now who would I be to pass this beautiful, amazing woman up? I do admit I was infatuated with a human before I met Aria, but the moment my eyes laid on her, I had no room in my heart for anyone else. I've put myself at risk and gone out of my way to take care of her and save her more times than I can count, but those are things you do for the one's you love, I guess. I know that she's captured the hearts of all the wolf demons around us, and that's a hard thing to do for an outsider. She's the strongest woman I know, and was willing to sacrifice herself to save us all. She protected us from Naraku's wrath more times than we can imagine, and though some of our comrades did die at his hands, they can now rest in peace because of her. She's the only one who I can say I love you too and mean it completely…" Aria felt her heart pounding and the mark on her back burning, but it wasn't a bad burn, it was though he was longing for her touch, which she understood completely.

"Now, we will enter in sharing the blood to combine your bodies." They were handed a sharp dagger, and Koga showed her what she would have to do. He sliced down the middle of his palm, and blood slowly started to flow out. Aria took in a deep breath and copied his movement, and Koga took Arias' hand and linked their fingers. She felt a warmth flow through her body, and she looked up into Kogas' eyes and smiled, she felt more and more connected to him every second.

"Next we will commence in the sharing of the spirit and mind. Aria, you already have the mark on you, now you must mark Koga in the same way as he did to you." The woman told her, and Koga turned his shoulder towards her. Instead of marking him on the left shoulder, she marked him on the right. She bit deep into his skin until she tasted blood, and she licked it all away.

"Now, you two will place your hand on the mark you've made and repeat after me." The two, facing each other once again, placed a hand on the mark that they created on each other.

"Lupus maxium, argon dide, take my soul and mend it to the one I love." Aria felt her soul lifted from her body, which made her feel light headed, and then almost out of nowhere she felt her soul crash back into her body with a feeling of fulfillment and wholesomeness.

"The mind sharing portion will be up to you two to take care of, it's not proper for you both to take care of that in front of all of us." The old woman whispered into Aria's ear which made her face turn bright red. "Now, that we are all finished, I can announce that Aria is officially a part of the wolf demon tribe, Koga is now the leader, and these two," The woman grabbed both of their hands and linked them together. "are now officially mated." Aria smiled and pulled Koga down into a deep kiss, and everyone around them was cheering loudly, but they didn't hear anything. Koga put his hand around her tiny waist, and pulled her as close to his body as he could. He pulled away from her lips much sooner than she had wanted, and he grinned.

"Don't worry, tonight you will be mine." He whispered into her ear and she smiled at him, challenging him with her eyes.

"Do not forget Koga, in the wolf tribe, For it to be completely official, this little Princess needs to bear at least one child before we will completely recognize you two." Koga nodded in response to her and picked up his beloved.

"I hope you all don't mind, but we have some important business to take care of." Koga winked and then ran off to his parent's secret hut with his woman in his arms.

Ayame watched them leave, her green eyes burning with anger.

"You don't think we should have waited for the ceremony to be completely over to leave? Isn't it kind of rude?" Aria asked Koga as set her down in the familiar area. Koga smiled and growled, pulling her close to him, picking her up and pulling her mouth into a hungry kiss. Aria melted in his arms and sighed, wrapping her legs around him, and her arms around his neck, playing with his hair.

"I'm sorry if you think it's rude, but I have been waiting for this moment with you for over 100 years. I think I deserve to run off with my mate as I please, as the new head of the Wolf Tribe, I can do what I want." He whispered huskily, and then took her mouth back onto his. They wrestled tongues for a while until their hands got bored, and Koga set Aria down and started to undress her and laid her down in the cold soft snow.

"Koga, be careful with this dress, I really like it!" Aria whined as he was pulling and tugging at it. He growled in response, tearing at it anyways when he revealed her two large breasts and took one nipple in his mouth and played with the other. Aria moaned softly, enjoying his touch. She felt him begin to remove more and more of her dress, before she was completely naked in front of him. She felt her face grow hot a little as he just stared at her. "Why are you staring..?" She asked him, whispering.

"I still can't believe that you're all mine." He grinned and kissed her again, biting at her lip which made her back arch, he knew it was one of her weaknesses. He planted soft kisses all down her milky skin, biting at her neck and collarbone, kissing softly at her toned stomach which was very ticklish. When he got down to her pelvic bone, he kissed all around her womanhood to tease her, and he stroked the inside of her thighs softly.

"Koga you're driving me crazy over here!" She moaned in her soft voice, and he grinned.

"Good, then you're getting a taste of what I've been dealing with, watching you walk around for months waiting and waiting for you to be mine. Now it's your turn to suffer." He ran his finger up and down her womanhood, lightly focusing on her bud which always made her moan and jolt to his touch. He grinned, lying on his stomach, and he began to lick her ever so sensitive areas. He had to hold around her legs, because she was reacting greatly to his touch.

"This is so much more amazing than I remember, oh Koga!" Hearing her moan his name just fueled the fire inside him so much more. He decided to test the waters and stick a finger inside her, searching for that spot inside that drove her wild. Finally finding it, he moved his finger inside of her in circles focusing on that spot. She was moaning out of control, and he loved the sounds that she made. He began to pump his fingers in and out of her, slow at first and then really fast, and then slow again. 'That's it, I've had enough teasing.' Aria pushed herself away from Koga's finger, and took him by surprise by flipping him onto his back. "I believe I've had enough of your teasing, dear." Aria took Koga's mouth into hers, and began to rub her wetness up and down Koga's hardening length, and she smiled, pulling herself down and taking him into her mouth. "You know, you seem a bit bigger than I remember." The second that she took him inside her mouth, Koga felt so warm inside, and experienced sensations unexplainable. He grabbed Aria's hair, which made her moan as well.

"Let's stop teasing each other already, I wanna be inside you Aria, I can't wait any longer." Aria stared deep into Koga's eyes and nodded. She crawled up to him and kissed him a few more times, directing his large pulsating length around her womanhood. When she decided she was finally ready, she slid down his length, and took him all the way inside her. She gasped from the feeling of fullness and the slight pain she felt, and she felt Koga grab her hand. Aria raised herself back up, and brought herself back down. There really was no description how amazing it felt to her, she leaned her head back and moaned. She felt Koga grab her from behind, and he flipped her over once more onto her back, without removing himself from inside her.

"Take me, Koga." She whispered, and they were both breathing heavily. That was all he needed to hear, he pumped in and out of her, going slow at first, treasuring this feeling of his first time with this woman who captured his heart. "Faster, please Koga." He obliged goes faster and pounding into her hard. She grabbed onto his neck and dug her nails into his skin, and he grunted, that only made him go faster. Aria was moaning endlessly, wrapping her legs around his back, pulling herself up as close to him to get him deeper and deeper inside of him. Out of instinct, Koga grabbed her legs and flipped her so she was on her hands and knees. He pulled out of her and stuck his finger inside of her once again, she was completely soaking wet. He used the finger to rub her clit hard, as he licked her insides. "Oh Koga, please fuck me, please!" Koga pulled away and found her entrance with his length and stuck himself inside her, hard. He pumped in and out going harder and faster than before, and he heard her screaming his name out in pleasure. His animal hunger and instinct was driving him, he really had no control over himself, when he felt the build up inside him readying to blow. He grabbed Aria's hips and dug his nails into her skin, when he finally released inside of her. They both collapsed breathing hard, and Koga pulled Aria to lie on top of him.

"That was amazing….no more than amazing..I don't even know what to call it." Aria closed her eyes, listening to Koga's heartbeat.

"Aria…" She heard Koga whisper as he pulled her chin up to look at him. "I love you." They both kissed one more time before falling into a well deserved slumber, in the arms of the one they both loved.

1 DAY LATER

Koga and Aria returned back to the den and were given congratulations by all the members of their tribe. There was a huge celebration for their mating, a feast like Aria had never seen, and basically all of the members of the wolf tribe got very very drunk, but it was still a fun party for them all. That night, Aria and Koga were fast asleep. A white light surrounded Aria and floated around the two of them.

"Aria…Wake up Aria…" A voice whispered around her, and Aria's golden eyes flickered open. She sat up slowly and looked confused and suddenly heard voices singing all around her.

'May yah no yay maiya so hei ma,
Zo hei ya ma noche ne hei yayA ma noche ai-yay so hei ya,
No hei ya maiyo noche lay hei yayNoche noche so lay yeh-ee yay
Noche noche so lay yeh-ee yay…' The lights surrounding her flowed out of the room, so Aria stood up following them out of curiosity. A few seconds after she left, Koga woke up and saw that Aria was gone but thanks to the mark it was easier for him to track her. His heart would carry his feet to wherever she had gone. All of a sudden, what were multiple voices singing one thing became multiple voices coming together in a beautiful harmony. Strange enough, she felt like she had heard something similar to this before.

'Come mei yay-a mai kah so ma-e yay ya mai hasama
Come yah mi yah come mamami yah ha mi yah
May yun mun some ni cala, so mala mi mala la, mi yah mala la so mali
so lami yah, hami yah, so lami yah
so lami yah, hami yah, so lami yah
so mamami yah, halami yah, so lami yah, calami ya, clayami
so mamami yah, halami yah, so lami yah, calami ya, clayami' The voices and the lights led her to a very sacred lake, one that she had never heard of, but Kaede had spoken to her about a lot recently. Aria stepped foot onto the lake and instead of sinking, she was able to tread across it. An orb of light was moving around very slowly in the center of the lake, so that's where she went to stand. She felt herself surrounded by complete warmth, and felt the presence of her mother. All of a sudden, she was shot up into the air, surrounded by all the lights and many of them flowing through her, her eyes closed. Koga ran up just in time to see this, and his eyes opened wide.

"Aria!"

'Yappa sami yami yami
Yappa sami clami yami yay!
Yappa sami yami hami
Yappa sami clami yami yay.' Aria's body was transformed, she looked the same as before, but now her hair had a teal tint to it in the sunlight/moonlight, and her eyes were a bright green with yellow flakes inside of them. Her skin changed from a lightly tanned color to a very pale color, and she was lowered back to the top of the lake and she opened her eyes to see her mother standing in front of her, but her appearance was very translucent and she had two teal markings underneath her eyes, similar to Sesshomaru's.

"Look at you my darling, your transformation is finally complete. You are now a celestial being. All of us are so proud of you, words cannot describe." The woman smiled, touching her daughters face. "You have inherited all of my powers, and some new ones that you will have to find out on your own. Your soul is pure and you will be able to cleanse spirits and purify things if need be."

"Aria.." The girl turned and saw Koga standing at the edge of the lake, his eyes still wide and confused.

"So… what do you think?" Aria turned in a circle and Koga ran forward to her and put his hand on her.

"Are you…?"

"This is my true form... Everything is clear to me now." Koga grinned and grabbed Aria in a kiss.

3 YEARS LATER

"KOOOOOGA! I'm going to go visit InuYasha and the others, do you want to join me?" Aria tied up her hair in a high pony tail with her bangs in two separate sections that framed her face, and slipped into her wolf demon outfit. She and Koga both wore black fur now since they were the highest powers in the wolf demon tribe and wearing black showed their power and authority.

'Tomorrow it will have been three years since Kagome returned back..three years that Naraku has been gone.' Aria thought back to two years before when they all waited in the spot that the well had been in for hours, hoping that by some miracle she would be able to return. 'One shouldn't believe such things… this year however, I will keep my promise to InuYasha.'

"We're so proud of you Kagome!" Kagome's mother cheered with the rest of their family for Kagome who had just graduated high school. All of Kagome's friends were hugging each other, crying, for they would all go separate ways now that high school was finally over.

"We have to stay close, talk all the time!" Yuki wiped tears from her eyes, barely being able to mutter words.

"I'll call you guys when I get home, okay? We're all going to go to dinner." Kagome smiled, softly and hugged her friends one last time, and then her and her family went to dinner at a local restaurant.

Aria finally left the den after Koga's several attempts to make her stay with him, but Sango was about to pop and Aria didn't want to miss the birth of this child like she did the last one. Miroku and Sango already had a set of twins, two girls named Namine and Siroka. Sango retired from being a demon hunter so she could take care of her and Miroku's children since they were starting to be a handful. Miroku and InuYasha would go around to towns nearby and exterminate demons and cleanse houses and inns to make a living and to keep InuYasha busy. Shippo was still off training to become a strong fox demon, and Kohaku would travel with Totosai to train to forge weapons and to fight demons. He had a hope to build a new Demon Slayer village, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he would succeed. Rin stayed in the village with Kaede and the others because they all knew that she needed to be reintegrated into a society with humans once again, but Sesshomaru still visited her almost every day and brought her presents every now and then.

When Aria came within the vicinity of the village, she spotted the tree that InuYasha had once been a prisoner to. Aria walked up to the tree and placed her hand on it, taking a deep breath.

"So this is where it all began, huh?"

"Y'know I didn't expect to see you here, Koga's been keepin' you hostage for a while now." Aria turned and saw InuYasha standing a little ways from her, and she smiled.

"You know how he is; he doesn't like to share, especially when he goes to other tribes to check on them for weeks at a time." Aria walked over to InuYasha and hugged him.

"It'll be three years tomorrow…" He whispered softly. "It's all I've been able to think about lately."

Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave

"I know…" Aria sighed, pulling back from the hug. "Just remember you're in her thoughts always and I'm sure she misses you as much as you miss her, if not more." The two stayed quiet the rest of the way back to the village, and Aria's first stop was to Miroku and Sango's hut and she sat down next to the very pregnant woman. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm going to explode any second, and this baby won't stop kicking!" Sango sat up with the help of Aria and lay her hand on her stomach.

"Well, you're not nearly as big as you were when you had Namine and Siroka, so you should be happy about that." Aria smiled, and Sango gave her a dirty look which made Aria laugh. "Come on; let's go see what the others are up to." She helped the woman stand and they walked to where everyone was sitting outside. Namine and Siroka were climbing all over InuYasha and Siroka was pulling on his ears, laughing. InuYasha had the most annoyed look on his face and he had his arms tucked inside his sleeves. Aria went and picked up Siroka and tossed her in the air, which made the toddler giggle.

"What do you think you're doing missy?" Aria smiled, hugging the child.

"Auntie Ari, Auntie Ari!"

Aria left around sunset, she could feel Koga get more and more annoyed as the hours went by, and she promised she would be back soon. She was walking past the tree where InuYasha had been locked away, and felt something calling her towards the location where the well had been. She let her legs lead her in that direction, and gasped when she arrived. The well was there, completely intact like it had never even disappeared.

"It must be ready… I just hope I've saved up enough power to do this." Aria walked back to the tree where InuYasha had been locked away and placed her right hand on it, as it was the only thing that still existed in Kagome's era. Aria closed her eyes and chanted in her head, she zipped through time as if through a warp, and when she opened her eyes, she smiled.

After they got back home Kagome went inside the well shrine. She sat down on the steps and lay her chin down on her hand. "Three years later and everything's still the same." Kagome walked inside the well and sat on her knees. "I just want to see InuYasha again… I miss him so much." She closed her eyes and a tear fell down her face, when she heard a faint feminine voice calling her name from outside the shrine.

"Kagome.." Kagome stood up, hearing it for a third time and ran out of the well looking around, and she turned toward the tree, seeing a face she hadn't seen in years.

"Aria!?" She ran forward up to the girl, who smiled. "You look so different!"

"Well, a lot has happened in the past three years. I'm glad to see you finally graduated high school!" Kagome looked up and realized she still had on the graduation cap, and pulled it off her head embarrassed.

"What are you doing here? How are you even here?" Kagome shook her head in awe.

"I need to ask you a serious question." Aria's face changed from happy to serious in a matter of seconds, and Kagome awaited her question. Aria closed her eyes, and took a deep breath reopening her eyes. "Do you…want to come back to the Feudal Era?" Kagome stared at Aria, the question bouncing in her head. It all felt surreal to her and she took a breath thinking deeply about this question.

"You should go Kagome." Kagome heard her mom's voice from behind her and she turned around swiftly. "We all know you don't belong here anymore. Your heart belongs in that world."

"But… I won't be able to see you guys ever again." Kagome looked down sadly, Kagome's mom walked over to her and hugged her tightly.

"Your happiness means more to us than you will know, and you will always be in our hearts. Go Kagome, you have our approval." Kagome nodded to her mom and turned back to Aria.

"Are you 100% sure this will work?"

"Kagome, I have more power than you can even imagine. This will take a lot of energy from me, but that is why I've been building it for so long. I made a promise to InuYasha after you were taken away that I would get you back, and I will not go back on that promise. For this to work, I need you to follow my instructions and do exactly as I say…"

The next morning Aria woke up and felt her power surging through her. Her body knew it was time, and so did her heart. She waited for Koga to go hunting with Ginta and Hakakku in the afternoon so it would be easier to sneak away without Koga distracting her and making it hard for her to leave. She took the long trek to Kaede's village which took her about thirty minutes and ran into the village. Of course, InuYasha was nowhere to be found.

'He better not be in another town, it'll ruin everything!' Aria thought angrily and walked into Kaede's hut where she was braiding Rin's hair. "Hey, have you seen InuYasha anywhere?"

"I believe I saw him leave the town earlier this morning, he seemed a bit distracted. Why do ye ask, dear?" Kaede asked her.

"Lady Aria! Do you like the kimono Lord Sesshomaru brought me?" It was a bright pink and white kimono made of the finest silk, and Rin looked darling in it.

"Yes I do, you look so beautiful! And no reason, I just wanted to make sure he was doing okay since today is, you know?" Aria smiled softly and hugged the two then left to go find InuYasha. It took her about an hour, but she saw him laying on a hill staring into the clouds.

"Hey InuYasha…" Aria sat next to him and leaned back on her hands. "How're you holding up?"

"It gets easier every year… I just wish I didn't have to get used to this." He sighed and then sat up out of nowhere, his senses picking up something most people couldn't, he sniffed the air. "There's no way…" He jumped up and ran back in the direction of the village.

'You won't have to anymore InuYasha.' Aria stood up and followed him close behind, and she saw him run past the village and into the forest where the well was.

'Kagome, it's been three years today. Every day I miss you more and more… I wonder what life would have been like if you hadn't left.' I stared up into the sky and watched the clouds roll by. I heard the grass crunching next to me and by the scent, I knew it was Aria.

"Hey InuYasha, how're you holding up?" She sat next to me and leaned back. She had become my best friend ever since Kagome left. Even though she wasn't a half demon anymore, she still understood me better than anyone else. I told her how it had gotten easier and easier as every year passed..but how I had always wished Kagome was still here in my arms. People have told me I've gotten soft over the past few years, but it's hard to keep your head on straight when you lose the ones you love... I took a deep breath as a strong breeze blew by and an unmistakable scent hit my nose. It couldn't be…

"No way…" I stood up and ran as fast as I could toward the village, dodging trees and jumping over villagers. It was as though my feet couldn't carry me fast enough. I passed the tree that Kikyo had bound me to over 50 years ago and ran into the clearing where the well had been before, and right before my eyes, there it was again! How was it even possible? I was just here a few days ago.

I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this

One step closer

Aria ran up to the clearing and peaked around a tree and saw InuYasha looking down into the well.

"Kagome…" He whispered and reached his hand into the well, and felt a hand grab his back in return. He pulled the girl out of the well with ease and grabbed her into a tight hug.

I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Aria covered her mouth and nose with her hands and felt tears of happiness running down her face as InuYasha leaned his face down and kissed Kagome softly.

Aria felt a gush of wind blow behind her and a presence standing next to her. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop running off…is that…?" Aria looked up at Koga and smiled, grabbing his hand and nodded.

"Yeah… she's finally home."

"Did you…?" Koga took his eyes off his old friend and looked at Aria who was still smiling up at him and nodded, then they both looked back to InuYasha and Kagome who pulled back from the kiss and hugged each other once again. Sango, Miroku, Kaede, and Shippo, who had come to visit, all walked into the clearing wondering what the commotion from InuYasha was all about, and of course they all gasped in surprise.

'Thank you Aria.' InuYasha thought to himself, feeling overcome with joy. He finally had her back; Kagome was finally in his arms once again.

And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

And that is it! I hope you all have enjoyed this story as, I can't believe I'm about to say this… it is finally over. I have so many mixed feelings about this, but I'm sure you are all very happy! Please review and let me know what you thought. I love getting y'alls feedback more than you guys know. Anyways, I'll see you guys later, I hope you enjoyed. The song in this chapter is called A Thousand Years PT 2 :) go look it up, it's beautiful! Ja ne;)

Amber.