Chapter Three

Two years passed, and Kagome was happier than she'd been in her entire life. Kaede took her in with open arms and acted as both the mentor and mother she needed. Kagome learned innumerable things under Kaede's careful teachings including diagnosis, medicine, and purification. Sadly, Kaede passed away after many years as the village doctor, and Kagome took over the title.

Her days were spent caring for the wounded and visiting the sick. Occasionally, she would exorcise a weak demon or two. Though the villagers were very kind to her and brought her food and supplies to show their gratitude, Kagome always felt like an outsider. She wasn't like them, not really.

Kagome often thought of Inuyasha. She wondered where he was and what he was doing now. Their time together seemed so strange and short-lived…almost like a dream. Sometimes, she believed it was a dream, but that was impossible. It was because of Inuyasha that she had this second life at all away from the slave trade. She owed him everything.

But why did he leave her?

That part confused her. He seemed to find comfort in her. He had told her all his fears and his weaknesses, and she knew for a fact that she was the only one he had confided in. Did she not amuse him anymore? Was she just a charity project?

No, Kagome didn't think that. Something was keeping him from her. She just didn't know what.

Still, Kagome tried not to dwell on it as it only made her sad. She had to focus on her work anyway. Countless lives depended on her, and she would not take that responsibility lightly.

With this final thought, Kagome put all the herbs she had collected in a basket and made to return to her hut. She lived in a small abode in the corner of the village. It was away from the bustle, so she wouldn't be disturbed, but it was a well-traveled place. It seemed like there was always someone who needed healed in one way or another.

Unsurprisingly, there was a man on her doorstep when she arrived.

"Good morning, what's wrong with y…oh my gosh!"

Kagome dropped her basket, and everything inside scattered on the ground. The man in front of her was unconscious and absolutely covered in blood. There appeared to be several wounds in his abdominal area along with a deep cut over his left eye.

Instantly, Kagome was in doctor zone.

She drug the man in her hut and laid him on his back on a thin mat. She removed his shirt carefully and set to cleaning away the blood dried on his chest. The wounds didn't seem to be lethally deep, so she coated them with herbs to prevent infection and then bandaged them.

She didn't realize that two dark eyes were watching her.

"You've become very skilled."

Kagome jumped and almost dropped the herbs she was holding. "Oh…I didn't realize you were awake. Would you like something for the pain?" she offered.

The man shook his head. "No, I don't want anything to fog my mind right now."

"What happened to you?" Kagome asked.

"A demon named Naraku attacked my home. He was there to extract revenge on my wife for some wrong she did him in the past… I don't know what, but she probably deserved it. He killed her and tried to kill me, too, but I managed to escape with just these wounds. I knew y…I knew there was a village doctor here, so here I am."

Kagome took a wet cloth and began gently wiping away the blood from the cut over his eye. She could feel his stare boring into her, and it made her feel strange inside. She did her best to ignore it, but it overcame her.

"You look at me like you know me."

"I do know you, Kagome. I've missed you."

Kagome pulled back and looked this stranger full in the face. He had long black hair and dark eyes. His face was completely unfamiliar to her. Everything from his ears to his clothes to his nails was foreign…his nails…his nails! They were growing!

"I was wondering when it was going to take effect," the man said thoughtfully as he watched his once normal nails stretch into claws. "Once the necklace broke when my wife died, I expected the transformation back to be immediate. I suppose it took a little longer since I was wounded, and my body didn't have the strength for it."

Kagome watched with wide eyes. Now fangs were beginning to protrude from his mouth, and his hair was fading from black to pure white. What was happening here?

"I…I don't understand," Kagome stammered.

The man closed his eyes for a moment, and when he reopened them, they were golden.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome suddenly cried. Tears of pure joy streamed down her face.

She hugged him tightly – but careful not to hurt him – and kissed him on the corner of his mouth. "I've missed you so much! I thought about you every day, but I was afraid you'd forgotten me."

Inuyasha struggled to sit up, so he could look her in the eyes. "I never forgot. You were always on my mind."

"Then why did you leave me?" Kagome asked, unable to keep the hurt out of her voice.

Inuyasha sighed. "I never wanted to. Kikyo was the only person I knew who could save you two years ago, but she's also the most wicked creature to roam the earth. In return for the cure to your illness, I was to live with her forever as a human. She cast a spell through a bead necklace that contained my demon half. Thankfully, that demon Naraku attacked her, and when she died, the spell did, too."

Kagome wrapped her arms around Inuyasha. "Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered.

"I just wanted you to be happy."

"…I am now."

Inuyasha held Kagome in his arms, and the two just embraced each other's presence for a moment. It had been so long…yet it felt as if they'd been together forever. All the pain of the past didn't seem to matter so much anymore. They were together, and they actually had a future.

"I think this might be our second chance," Kagome breathed in his ear.

Inuyasha kissed her gently. "Then let's take it."

~The End~

A/N: I really liked this story for some reason, but I seem incapable of writing an ending that isn't hopelessly cheesy. Ah, well. I hope you enjoyed this little three-part story, and I thank you for following through with it!