A day later, they arrived back in Kaede’s village. The older Kagome had asked them to take her back to the well so she could get home faster.

The journey had been over fairly quickly but it had been a rough one for three people in particular. Sango, Inuyasha and the Kagome’s were all sick of Miroku. The entire ride he had refused to take his hands off of Sango, stating that she would bear his children one day anyway, why not start now? This had resulted in a very flustered and irritated Sango and a very injured Miroku.

Inuyasha and Miroku (one with angry yelling and the other with perverted comments and sly innuendos) kept persistently asking Kagome who she had married and the younger Kagome sat in stunned , embarrassed silence breaking it only to sit Inuyasha when he said something particularly out of line.

Now the group stood in front of the well and said their final goodbyes and Kagome began climbing over the well to jump it. Just before she did, Inuyasha called out, “Oh come on, just tell us!”

She looked back and gave him a small smile than made her eyes light up mischievously. “I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out by now. Just think for a second, who else would I leave everything from the future for?” With that she jumped into the well and was gone in a flash of purple light.

Realization struck Inuyasha and Kagome’s faces as everyone turned to look at them.

*************

Future:

Kagome began climbing out of the well, only to be grabbed by a strong pair of hands half way up. She found herself looking into two angry and worried golden eyes.

“What happened to you?!” Inuyasha demanded.

“Yuka just said that you disappeared in the well and when I tried to go after you, the well had already sealed! Do you have any idea how dangerous jumping in that well was Kagome? I could have lost you again! Maybe forever this time! You could have.....”

His words were silenced when Kagome reached up and pressed her lips to his. “I’m sorry” she mumbled against his lips, pulling him still closer by his collar.

She felt him soften a little and kiss her back, wrapping his arms around her.

“You really scared me.” he said softly as she leaned her head into his chest.

“You know I’d never leave you again, even by accident. This is where I belong, with you. Not the future. Knowing that will always bring me back.”

She looked up into his eyes and gently stroked the side of his face.

Her gentle touch awakened something in him. He kissed the side of her face and began to slowly make his way to the base of her throat, “And what,” he growled seductively still planting kissed on every bit of exposed skin, “are you planning to do to make it up to me for all the worry and stress you’ve put me through?”

She shuddered a little as his warm breath tickled the back of her neck.

She smiled and pulled his face up towards her own “Oh, I could think of a few things.” He leaned down and captured her lips with his own once more.


Past:

Inuyasha and Kagome sat beside each other as usual in front of the campfire but a certain hanyou was carefully avoiding eye contact and blushing slightly. The others had left them alone on the excuse of filling up their water bottles or going into the hot springs. An awkward silence hung in the air.

The past couple days, had been pure hell for the both of them. Even Miroku had the decency to not tease them, but they had been unable to look at, talk to or even be around each other. Kagome, though not admitting it out loud, soon grew comfortable with the idea that they might marry and have a baby someday. She even secretly anticipated it. Still, she couldn’t think of kissing Inuyasha without blushing, let alone what they would do to have a baby.....

Inuyasha was another story. He couldn’t say what he felt towards this news. Sometimes he felt happy inside, that someone had finally accepted him and that Kagome felt or would feel the same way as he did and that she would always be by his side. Other times, he was fearful, of what though, he couldn’t exactly say. He wasn’t even what his feelings towards Kagome were. All he knew was that, when she was gone, he felt like a part of himself had been ripped out, that he would do anything to keep her from harm and that with all her smiles and kind words she had become as important to him as Kikyo had ever been. Maybe he loved her? He didn’t know. (or at least wouldn’t admit, even to himself.) A part of him was still afraid of rejection.

He couldn’t even sit in the same room with her half the time. If he did he would start thinking about her hair, or her eyes, her lush lips, the gentle swell of her chest, the curve of her hips, how short that skirt of hers really was and how when she bent over you could just catch a little peak of lacy black underwear. He would have to run out of the room to keep himself from grabbing her and kissing her right there.

In front of the fire, the silence continued. Kagome was watching Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye to see if he would stop avoiding her.

Suddenly Kagome couldn’t stand it anymore. “Inuyasha! Would you at least look at me! Ever since we found out that we....that...well you know, you haven’t been able to look me right in the eye!”

She turned towards him, “I mean is it really so bad that we got married or what?

Inuyasha was, at this juncture, maddeningly uncomfortable and very, very red.

"I mean, at least, you could give me a reason for the way you’ve been acting! Is my body really that disgusting that you don't want to even consider the idea? Is that it?"

"Kag-"

"Because I'm tired of it!"

"Er, Kag-"

"Just because you have the emotional complexity of a two year old doesn't mean that I have to put up with-"

"Kagome!" Inuyasha grabbed a hold of Kagome who, he had summoned up enough cognitive ability to realize, was probably more than a bit hysterical at this point.
“It...it’s not that. I think...that...you’re beautiful.” he struggled a little to get the words out. “But it’s just that.... I couldn’t even imagine you feeling the same way about me as I do about you and even if you did....why would you...why would we......the world would think....”

He sighed in frustration and turned away again. “Just forget it okay! Like she said the future can change.”

Kagome’s eyes widened, “Is that what this is about? About you being a half demon?”

She put her hand on his arm “Inuyasha! How could you think that I would care about what other people say? I love you just the way you are and I wouldn’t want the future to change!”

Inuyasha stiffened and turned slowly to face Kagome. Surprise flitted across his face.

Kagome seemed to have realized what she had said and she blushed bright red.

They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, trying to silently communicate what they felt, trying to see what they other would say.
Unknowingly, they were leaning closer and closer to each other, their bodies taking control of the situation while their minds were four years in the future.

That’s when their lips met in the perfect kiss, molding together and moving in harmony It wasn’t even a passionate kiss or a particularly long one but it was enough. Because it spoke a thousand words to the two lovers and whispered the promise of tomorrow.