One Arrow

Chapter 5: One Word

Stay.

One word, that's all it would take.

Stay.

Kagome sat on the edge of the well. One word would change her life. She knew that she would stay with him forever if he would just ask her.

One simple stupid little four lettered word.

Since the battle with Naraku the hanyou had been acting strangely. Once more his eyes were the first thing Kagome had seen when she woke up. Only this time her sleep had lasted nearly three weeks due to the serious drain on her energy supply.

But this time Inuyasha didn't tell her that he loved her. This time he simply stared at her for a few moments then silently left the hut. More than anything else that had happened, that scared her.

Kagome had cried after he left. First from a strong sense of loss, then from absolute joy as she was greeted by familiar faces. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo were alive! Miroku and Shippo had healed completely, but Sango was still suffering from a severe limp and a broken arm. But she would heal with time.

Kagome knew that they were sparing her the details of just how bad their injuries had been. Or perhaps they simply weren't ready to talk about the horror that had been the battlefield. They weren't ready to think about how very close they came to losing everyone dear to them. At least that is how Kagome felt. She remembered how still they had been... and all the blood....

Pushing the memories aside she focused on the people around her. They were alive. Really and truly alive. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo had survived, and evidentially brought some friends with them.

Shippo's once rival, Souten the thunder demon, seemed reluctant to leave, so she was asked if she and her little red flying snake/dragon wanted to stay with them. She quickly said yes.

See how easy it is Inuyasha? Stay. That's all you have to say.

It was another week before anyone would let Kagome leave her room. Her hanyou had returned to be her personal guard dog, though he still adamantly refused to speak. Nor would he look her in the eyes. It unnerved her.

She loved her friends, truly she did, but she was concerned that she may kill them if they did not give her a little bit of breathing space. It was easy to convince them to let her go home so that she could see her family. As soon as she said the word 'family', Sango and Miroku both looked towards Kohaku, who was busy cutting wood for Kaede. Another person who was asked to stay.

"This world is dangerous."

Kagome was so startled that she almost fell into the well. She hadn't even noticed Inuyasha dropping down beside her. As always, she marveled at how silent and graceful the young man could be.

"Yes. It is."

"There are still demons out there. Dangerous ones. And they will still be after the jewel." He stands and folds his clawed hands in the arms of his fire rat robe as he glares at the horizon.

"Probably so." She looks down at the not quite completed jewel around her neck. All the shards have been gathered. She just didn't have the heart to put it all together yet. Once I do that... it really will be the end of the quest.

She was not sure how she got the jewel. It was around her neck when she woke up. Kaede knows, I'm sure of it. But the older miko had steadfastedly refused to answer Kagome's questions.

"You could get killed."

The young woman laughs as she swings her legs gaily over the edge, facing Inuyasha completely. "I could get killed crossing the road back in my own era. There are no guarantees in life, you know."

Inuyasha grunts.

"I can't ask you to stay, Kagome. It wouldn't be fair to you. Go home. Be safe. Live in your warm house and sleep on your soft bed."

She frowned at her beloved idiot. "You want me to go home?"

He grunts again.

"You want me to find a husband to love...?"

He growls, claws digging into the dirt, but still refusing to look at her. She admits to herself that she is beginning to get a little bit of sadistic pleasure out of tormenting him. She figured he kinda deserved it for trying to make her go back to the future though.

"...and have babies with him?"

That got him to look at her, and a nice long colorful string of curse words to boot. Kagome quickly turns her back to him and faces the well so he wouldn't see her grin.

"What if I already have someone I love, Inuyasha?" She continues to look into the well. "What if I already found the man I want to have those babies with?"

She turns around and looks him in the eyes. "What if I am already home?"

Inuyasha turns quickly from her. She lets out a soft sigh and sits back on the well. She lets her legs dangle off of the sides. After one last look at the man she had fallen in love with, Kagome turns her attention back to the well.

"Stay." Inuyasha's voice was soft, and pleading.

He turned around when he was met with silence. Kagome was already gone.