a/n: okay so THIS IS NOT FINAL.

im still working out a lot of details and thoughts and everything else. we can consider this a rough draft. so dont be surprised when the next thing i write involving this head canon is entirely different lmao.

anyways, something ive wanted to explore is what happens after kagome's mortal death. inuyasha has a long life span, but she doesnt. i fully believe kagome's soul would find inuyasha again, so thats what this is.

again, details arent final & this might not make any sense anyways lol

but here you guys go!

He had been alone for what felt like forever.

His children had grown and left home- though not far had they gone, his two little ones, though little they were no longer. His son that stood tall and broad, a son with silver hair and golden eyes, a son that took after him in more ways than one. Toga, named for the famed grandfather he'd never met, was the only one of his children to show any sign at all that he was part youkai, his dog-like ears and brute strength giving him away. His son was strong and stubborn, quick to anger but easy to placate, especially when he had been young. And then there was Miku, his beloved daughter and youngest child. She was beautiful, a carbon copy of her mother from her dark hair to her bright blue eyes- they had named her for the beautiful blue sky that hung overhead the day she was born. Unlike her brother, Miku was fully human, rather full of spiritual power she'd inherited from her mother.

And though he still yet had his children, he was alone.

Gone were the friends he once had- Sango and Miroku had left the mortal world years before. Their children were old, with children and grandchildren of their own. Gone was Old Kaede, lost to them not long after Miku had been born. And worse off... Gone was his love, his wife, his whole world. Kagome had died at eighty-nine, nearly twenty years ago. She had lived a full life, he supposed, bearing him two beautiful children and spending every moment with him until the very end. He had always known that death would separate them someday, for he being a hanyou meant he too held onto the long life span of a youkai, while she... Only a human... He had always known her life would end before his own, but no amount of time could have ever prepared him for losing Kagome. Nothing in this world could have prepared him for that, in truth.

He had spent the days leading up to her death in denial, thinking perhaps things would change, thinking he might wake up one day to her young and healthy. But she had passed away with him at her side one night in the spring, her soul crossing over to join Sango and Miroku and all the others death had claimed befor her.

And so, alone he was.

If it weren't for his children, he might have ended his life, for how could he live without Kagome? It had taken time, a long time, before he'd settled into a life without her. His children were his saving grace, as well as the grandchildren they'd begun to provide for him. If it weren't for them, Inuyasha knew he'd have died along with Kagome that day years ago. On the bad days, he wished he had let go, but then one of his grandchildren would tug on his sleeve and he'd smile, remembering well why he still yet lived on. He could see her in each of them- whether it was her smile or her quirks, he could see her in every single one of them. And that... That was what kept him living.

Besides, there was still yet a part of him that clung to the hope that he would see Kagome again. Their bond... It had been beyond any worldly bond. It had been a bond of soul and heart, a bond that had transpired time more than once. And Kagome's soul had already reincarnated once, when Kikyo had died, only to find him again. Before she had died, Kagome had told him they would meet again... And so that he held onto. He believed with all of his heart that their souls were tangled in a red string of fate... So it only made sense that they would meet again. So he would find himself standing beside the well, hoping perhaps someone would come through it again. Or he would stand on the hillside and sniff the air, thinking he might catch her scent drifting along the wind.

It was a warm day in summer when Inuyasha woke from a strange dream; he'd seen this dream before, one of Kagome when they had first met, the glowing Shikon no Tama in between her palms. The light had illuminated her, casting her whole body into an eerie sort of glow, while tears streamed down her cheeks. He had reached for her but he found he was too far from her, he had tried to call out to her, but found his voice would not sound. And then, the Shikon no Tama would shatter, and Kagome would smile, a single word falling from her lips a moment before he would wake... Inuyasha...

Unable to return to sleep, Inuyasha rose up from his pallet and stepped out into the morning sunshine, momentairly blinded by the brightness. Blinking against it, he cast his gaze downwards, to where he could see Miku, a gathering of village children around her as they started to make their way towards the forest to gather herbs. Miku had taken over the role of village miko upon the day Kagome had died- and while her powers were not quite as strong nor as pure as her mother's had been, Miku still did well at protecting the village. Of course, she had a little help from her ageless father and brother, and it seemed most youkai left their little village alone anymore.

"Father," Miku greeted as he approached, her lips curving with a smile as the children instead latched onto the hanyou. "You're awake early." She pinned him with her sapphire eyes, a look in them he'd seen hundreds of times in her mother. "It was that dream again, wasn't it?" Though Inuyasha opened his mouth to speak, he was suddenly caught off guard, a scent carried along the wind that was far too familiar for him to ignore. Miku must have noticed the look in his eyes for she corraled the children back to her side, drawing them away from her father and instead towards the forest, a strange but knowing look to her own eyes.

Turning, Inuyasha began to make his way towards the well at a run, his heart hammering hard within his chest. It just couldn't be... He didn't dare to believe it, lest he be disappointed. He didn't dare to think for a single moment that this would turn out to be anything more than his own need to see Kagome again tricking him into believing she would be standing there. But, as he approached the well he could see that there was indeed someone standing there, though their back was to him. It was a woman, with long black hair, much longer than Kagome's ever had been... But this scent... It was so like hers, not the same as Kagome's had been, but he was reminded of when he'd first met Kagome. Her scent had been so like Kikyo's, however once he'd gotten to know her he had realized it was one of her own, a scent he'd grown to love just weeks into knowing her.

Slowing to a stop, Inuyasha stood just behind the woman, his heart beating so fast he thought it might beat right out of his chest. "I was wondering when you might notice me." Her voice caught him off guard, soft and sweet, a voice he did not know, but the tone behind it well known to him even so long after he'd heard it last. When she turned around, Inuyasha nearly fainted, so unprepared was he to see her standing there. "I didn't know if you'd even still be here, but I heard the rumors about the village." Her lips curved with a smile and he felt his stomach turn over; the way her smile shined, it was familiar. It was her's... It was Kagome's. The young woman's eyes were still yet that beautiful blue they'd always been and her face... It was Kagome. He could not believe it. Though she stood there in front of him, he still yet didn't dare to believe it.

"I... I don't..." Inuyasha shook his silver head, taking a single step closer to her, wanting nothing more than to take her into his arms, to see if this woman would feel the same as Kagome always had. "I don't understand." He finally said simply, speaking the truth, his golden eyes never once straying from her sapphire ones. Another smile curved on her lips and she closed the gap between them, standing so close now that all he had to do was reach out and he could have touched her. "Are you... Are you Kagome?"

Head tilted to the side, the young woman surveyed the hanyou before her; he was as she always saw him in her dreams, young and strong, with long silver hair she'd always longed to touch. She had begun to have dreams of him since she was a child, though she had never understood them. And not just him- she dreamed of a life that wasn't hers, of raising children, of fighting battles, and of falling in love. It wasn't until the month before when she'd met a fox youkai while traveling and seeing him had awakened something in her. And that was when she began to remember the life she'd lived before this one. All her life, all nineteen years of it, she'd felt like she was missing a piece of her. No matter how much she ate, she had never felt full. No matter how much joy was in her life, she was never happy. There always seemed to be something missing, a piece of her heart lost to her. She had always wondered if the dreams had something to do with it, but until she had met Shippo, she never would have been able to put it together on her own.

But then... Shippo had saw her that day and known her instantly and with their meeting came back hundreds of memories. It was like reliving a life she'd left behind, seeing the memories Kagome had, and when she remembered everything she almost felt whole again. But there was still yet a piece missing... And it was finally there in front of her. "I told you we'd meet again." She said, unable to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks as Inuyasha's features softened, his golden eyes filling up. "I'm not Kagome, not really, but her soul is mine and mine is hers. She loved you so much..." She trailed off, shaking her head, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "I just had to meet you, too."

Inuyasha listened silently to her words, learning her story as she spoke. That she'd been born and from that moment, people around her said she was different. That she was overflowing with a spiritual power that'd not been seen in anyone but the famed miko Kagome, a woman who had come from the future, a woman who had been a reincarnation of the other famous miko Kikyo. This soul within her, it had been reborn once already, and she had a feeling it would be reborn for as long as Inuyasha lived. He listened as she told him of her empty feelings, of how something always seemed like it was missing. He listened as she spoke of the dreams, of the meeting with Shippo, and of course the memories she was flooded with.

And when she had finished, Inuyasha felt something inside of him, warm and comforting as it flooded his whole body. "What's your name?" He finally asked, the only question that seemed to make sense in this moment.

It was then that she tilted her head, dark hair a waterfall over her shoulder, blue eyes shining in the morning sunlight. "Hisano." She replied, watching as something took root in his eyes. "My mother said when I was born, it was like I was already part of a story, so she named me Hisano. I guess she wasn't wrong." A laugh escaped her and Inuyasha felt his heart skip a beat, the sound of her laugh one he'd been longing to hear for the last twenty years. She must have noticed how it affected him, for she reached out a hand to touch his, the touch like an electric shock, causing both of them to jump.

"Come with me..." Inuyasha gestured for her to follow him, leading her towards the sacred tree, where they had once first met. There they might begin to develop what they once had, perhaps there they might fight. It would not matter, he realized, for even after such a short period of time, Inuyasha knew this was the woman he loved. It may not have been her body, it may not have been her voice. But Kagome's soul had found its way to him once again, as she had promised she would.

Just as he thought, they truly were caught up in the tangled thread of fate, a red string that connected their souls, always bringing them back together. One way or another, they always found each other, even death could not separate them. Fate was kind, he realized, rather than cruel. Over and over again they would reunite, until his own dying day. And only then might their string be cut. Only then might their union break.

But until then, he would hold onto what he had... And that was her.