The Pain of Eternity

Disclaimer : Still don't own him.


Chapter 2


Five years later.


"Please? Can't we just leave? You've been a wreck for the last week." The sword keeper was begging now. He didn't usually resort to the 'P' word, but he'd never, in all the centuries they'd been together, seen her behave like this. Her son had been born to her 'other self' a week ago, back in the feudal era. Today was the day Inuyasha and 'herself' brought him to the future for the first time to meet his grandmother and uncle, Kagome's mom and little brother Souta. Kagome had been sitting in that same chair by the window, for almost the entire week. She'd been, intermittently, looking through the telescope, sometimes for hours at a time. This morning, well before dawn, she'd fixed her eye to the viewing hole, and had refused to move. He looked her form up and down critically. She hadn't eaten hardly anything this last week, and it was painfully obvious. She didn't speak, and seemed on the very edge of sanity. When she sees her son again, will she crack?

She waited, not moving, not even barely breathing. Shntednted to see everything. It would be her last time, after all. Her last opportunity to ever see her son alive, again. Kagome remembered the visit 'she' would have with her mother this afternoon. If she'd only known what was going to happen, she would have stayed. This would be the last time her 'other self' would see her mother alive again. When 'Kagome' returns through the well with Inuyasha this afternoon, a witch steals the jewel, thereby preventing 'Kagome' from returning to this time. It took 'her' and Inuyasha four years to locate and recover the jewel. Upon 'her' return to this era, Kagome found that her mother and Souta had been killed in a freak bus accident, and the family shrine had been bought by a historical society. Inuyasha and 'her' had immediatly returned to the feudal era. Seeing no reason to come back here, the other Kagome had made a wish on the Shikon no Tama, and it had disappeared. This was the last time, though, to see Kyoji. She'd left her then four year old son with Sango the last time she'd come through, and after the Shikon disappeared, the well ceased to function, leaving them all permanently in the feudal era.

"There he is." Kagome whispered breathlessly, seeing the shrine door open, and Inuyasha step from within. She held her breath as he reached back through the door, and helped lead 'Kagome', and the small bundle in her arms, over the threshold. Her mother came running from the house with a huge smile on her face, followed closely by a teenage Souta. She played with the magnification on the telescope almost desperately, training the entire line of site on the blanket wrapped newborn in 'her' arms. Inuyasha carefully pulled the blanket back to reveal the tiny infant within to her mother.....and there he was. She stopped breathing completely, her entire being focused on her son. Her Kyoji. He was sleeping peacefully, his tiny hands fisted next to his angelic little face. He was almost an exact clone of Inuyasha, except for his ears. Kyoji had inherited his grandfather's and uncle's ears. 'Kagome' moved him out of the telescopes line of sight, handing him to her mother as they walked into the house.

That was it.
He was gone.
Everything was gone.

She sat back in the chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. She was almost itching with the need to act, to do something to change things. But would it help, or make things worse then they had been? If she went down there and just told them everything..... no. It wasn't worth the risk of something even worse happening then what had, and fate seemed to find many worse happenings when you think you've sunk to the lowest point of your life. No, that was not her life, anymore. Those were just memories for her. Kagome rose from her chair with a defeated sigh, and headed toward her bed. Enough torture was enough.

"Are we leaving now?" The keeper watched, very concerned, as she went back toward the bedroom.

"Tomorrow morning." Kagome answered, her resolve hardening. She knew now what she needed to do. Complete her quest for revenge she'd started so many centuries ago.

"Where are we going."

"To find Sesshoumaru." She answered, saying his name with disgust.

"And?" He already knew what she was going to say, but felt compelled to hear it from her own lips.

"Kill him." Her voice was flat and dead. She stopped in front of the bedroom door, her hand on the knob. "Or die trying."


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Three Years Later

"What was Inuyasha's father like?" Kagome asked the Sword Keeper as she hiked up the difficult terrain.

"What do you want to know?" He asked. This had always been a sore subject with him for some reason. It was like pulling teeth to get even one tiny bit of information from him concerning Inuyasha's father.

"Was he more like Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru. Personality wise, I mean."

"Well.....he was definetly more easy going then Sesshoumaru. Quick to smile and laugh. He loved a good joke. He was even known to play pranks from time to time." The keeper laughed at his memories.

"He played pranks?" Kagome snickered a bit at the image that conjured up. A centuries old demon lighting a string of firecrackers under someone.

"He pulled a few good ones in his day." He said, still chuckling.

"That was most certainly not Sesshoumaru."

The silence grew for awhile as Kagome came around a corner at the head of a huge canyon. It must have been ten stories up on either side, and seemed to stretch on forever. At least she finally came upon some water. A small stream wound it's way along the floor to disappear under the rock of the canyon's mouth. She knelt down next to it for a much needed drink, and to refill her canteen. At least she'd be in the shade now. It was a damn hot summer. After a brief rest, she started out again, hefting her backpack to try and make it more comfortable. Tetsusaiga's and Sou'unga's hilts were sticking out of the top on the left side of the pack.

"Why so personnal all of a sudden?" The keeper broke the silence over her shoulder.

"Just curious, that's all." Kagome had always been curious, but everytime she'd tried to broach a past subject with him, he'd brushed her off, refusing to talk about anything. Just as she did to him. Amazingly, for how long they'd been together, they knew very little of each other's pasts.

"Well, since we're on past subjects, maybe you could help me clear a few things up that I've been curious about as well. If you don't mind, that is."

"Sure." Kagome began, feeling a bit apprehensive about what he was going to ask. "What do you want to know?"

"About Inuyasha's and Kyoji's deaths." The keeper said softly. He hurridely added, "If you still don't want to talk about it, I'll understand."

Kagome held her breath for a minute before letting it out. Could she talk about it now? All those years ago, she'd never been able to speak of them. She hadn't truely believed they were dead. After she realized she'd retained the immortality of the blood bonding ritual that Inuyasha and her had performed on their wedding night, she knew, if she could survive long enough, she'd see them both again. Their deaths had never been final to her. They'd simply been out of reach, so she'd never spoken of them to anyone. This last time, though, three years ago, had finished it. Tied up loose ends, so to speak. They were well and truely gone now.

"I suppose I can talk about them." Kagome said sadly. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything. Everything that happened after you and Inuyasha sealed me in that cave, to when you came back and got me."

"W "Wow. That's alot." Kagome said.

"When else am I going to catch you in this talkative a mood?"

"True." Kagome drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. " Alright then. Besides, who knows when we're going to find this stupid valley the scroll spoke of. Gotta do something to pass the time."

Kagome paused, trying to remember things that had happened hundreds of years ago. After that long, memories severely faded. Only the emotional aspect would remain. At least she could remember enough, she hoped, to get the timeline accurate.

"O.K. I can't remember a lot of detail, so I'll just give you a rough outline. Six months after the jewel was complete, Grandpa found you and that whole thing happened with Sesshoumaru. Two days after the battle was over, we found a witch to seal you in that cave. We both thought it would be safer, if Sesshoumaru sought Sou'unga out again, that Inuyasha not have possession of you. We lived pretty happily after that. I graduated high school two years later, and took a year of college. Inuyasha stayed mostly in the feudal era with Sango. I went back every weekend to spend time with them. Those were good days. Quiet and contented. Inuyasha asked me to marry him right after I finished that first year of college."

Kagome walked on, lost in a sea of memories. Things she hadn't allowed herself to think on in a very long while. She had to stop talking for a minute to sort everything out. There were alot of memories she didn't really want to speak of still, alot of things that were purely emotional.

"I got pregnant right after we married. We both thought it best if I stayed in the feudal era after the baby was born. Inuyasha and I were truely happy."

"Why did you want to stay in the feudal era?" The keeper asked.

"Well, we were both pretty sure Kyoji would be born resembling Inuyasha at least somewhat. Enough, we figured, to make a life in my time very uncomfortable for him. Can you imagine how someone who looked like Inuyasha would have been treated in modern times? He never would have had any kind of decent life. I would have had to hide him away."

"I never got to see Kyoji. What did he look like?"

"He could have been Inuyasha's clone. Except for his ears. He had Sesshoumaru's and Inutaisho's ears." Kagome barely whispered out the last few words. This was definetly painful ground she was walking on. The keeper seemed to sense this, so he prodded her to move on.

"What happened after Kyoji's birth

"Well.." she started, snapping out of her funk a little. "We brought Kyoji to see mom and Souta a week after he was born. When we returned to the feudal era, a witch stole the jewel from me. I tried like hell to use the well, but without the jewel on me, it wouldn't work, and I'd destroyed Inuyasha's necklace years ago, so he couldn't go back either. It took Inuyasha and I four years to find that stupid witch. Luckily, she wasn't strong enough to use the jewel's power. Who knows what she would have done? After I got the jewel back, the first thing I did was return to my time. It was a very sad day. The shrine had been purchased by a historical preservation society of some kind. They hadn't had any idea what had happened to the previous owners, so I went next door to our neighbors house to find that they were still there. They told me my mom and Souta bee been killed in a horrible bus accident two years prior. Since I had no other relatives, I saw no reason to come back here. Inuyasha and I returned to the feudal era, and made a wish on the jewel. The well never functioned again after that."

"What happened to your grandpa?"

"He had a heart attack two days after I graduated high school." Kagome couldn't seem to shake her melancholy now, even if it did feel good to finally talk about everything. All this time hadn't dulled the hurt.

"What wish did you make on the jewel?"

Kagome smiled a little.

"About a week after we returned, we came upon a little girl that was very hurt. She said her village had been attacked, and her parents and little brother had been killed. I wished her family back." She paused, waiting for the outburst she was sure would come.

"WHAT!?!" The keeper screamed in her ear, making it ring. "That jewel had almost infinite power, and you wished back the parents and little brother of one human girl?!" The Keeper was completely dumbfounded.

"Yep. Midoriko even appeared to me, thanking me for giving her peace." Kagome could here him grumbling over her shoulder. Something about 'stupid'. She continued on. "Inuyasha and I lived pretty contentedly in the feudal era. Him and Sango became the most powerful demon exterminating team in the entire region. Good times...." She mumbled, lost for a moment in her memories again. She mentally shook herself and continued. "Kyoji was ten when Sesshoumaru returned, looking to take Tetsusaiga again. That stupid son of a bitch never did get it through his head. The first couple of battles, Inuyasha won, he had gotten quite a bit stronger after all. The third battle.....Inuyasha lost. Kyoji and I were standing not twenty yards frim wim when he was killed." Kagome had to stop for a moment to swallow the lump in her throat. "But when Sesshoumaru tried to grab Tetsusaiga, the sword almost killed him. It's kinda hard to describe. It....shocked him so bad, if he hadn't had Tensseiga on him, I'm sure he would have died. Sesshoumaru transformed into this ball of blue light, and he was gone. That was the last time I ever saw him. I've always believed Tetsusaiga tried to take it's own bit of revenge for Inuyasha." Kagome couldn't talk ore ore for a while. It was all too much. They walked on in silence for the rest of the afternoon, finding a place next to the stream to camp for the night.

Kagome couldn't seem to quiet her mind. She sighed deeply. It was expected, she supposed. These last three years had been extremely trying. First, seeing Inuyasha and Kyoji again had reopened old wounds she'd thought were completely healed over. She hadn't expected such a traumatic reaction from herself. She'd figured that all the years of 'healing' would have helped dull the pain of their loss. She'd figured wrong. Second, this need for revenge was starting to take it's toll. She had spent the last three years searching scroll after scroll, leaving no rock unturned, so to speak, for Sesshoumaru's resting place. All witches chronicled what they did during their lives. Unfortunatly, she had no idea the name of the witch that had sealed Sesshoumaru. She had a good idea when he'd been sealed, about fifty years or so after he killed Inuyasha, just not by whom. So, it was simply a matter of searching, and lots of luck. This last scroll she found two months ago, had been incredibly lucky. It was a detailed story of a hidden valley, 'where demons ruled'. It even gave a pretty good description of its exact location. But the passage that had really caught her attention refered to a 'lord demon, cruel and despising of human kind, trapped between this world and the next, his powerful sword of healing turned into a prison'. It had to be Sesshoumaru. So, she'd spent the last two months following the ancient clues the scroll gave to find this 'hidden valley'. And she was close. She could feel it. Thirdly, she'd just spoken of things she hadn't even thought of in a long while. Everything combined had turned her thoughts and emotions into a huge pile of mush. There were simply too many old feelings and raw emotion to deal with all at once. Kagome laid down that evening, using her pack as a pillow, knowing damn well how hard it would be to sleep with everything swirling around in her head like an out of control tornado.

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A/N : Sorry if Kagome is a little OOC, but she hasn't had it too easy. I'm trying to get this timeline straight, but I'm confusing the hell out of myself in the process. Please let now now if anything seems to clash.