#I know I already have a thin in progress on ff that sets Ed up as Inuyasha's reincarnation

[edisacornball]

When Inuyasha died, Kagome was inconsolable. The whole thing just seemed so unfair to her, for them to have survived so much danger and gotten through everything together, only for him to die just when Kagome thought she was going to be able to spend her life with him. So she searches high and low for an answer, something that might fix it. Something that preferably doesn't involve some sort of necromancy, because she's seen how terribly wrong that can go.

Eventually, she finds a spell that claims to be different, because all it will do is "call" your loved one from wherever they are. After that, it's up to your loved one to choose if they want to fight their way back to you. Kagome absolutely trusts Inuyasha with this. She knows he would fight anything in the world to be with her. So she casts the spell.

It calls for something personal of Inuyasha's, something that would be tied deeply to his aura, so she chooses the beads. When she casts the spell, the beads vanish into the air, as if they were going off to fetch Inuyasha like a messenger.

Nothing happens immediately, but Kagome tells herself to be patient. The spell hadn't said what Inuyahsa would have to fight through, after all. After a few hours, she finally decides to get up and at least tend to the chores while she's waiting. After a couple days, she's beginning to tell herself that maybe she should brace herself for disappointment and stop waiting.

And then, when she's out collecting some herbs, she hears a voice calling from out by the old well. Her heart stops, she drops the herbs and goes running, and yes, there's a scrap of red by the well, it must be-

Except when she gets closer, she realizes it's not Fire Rat robes, but a red trench coat. It's not white hair around his face, but blond, tied back in a braid. It's a boy around her age, and she's already sighing at the thought of another random tourist who would be asking her all kinds of questions. They weren't a common occurrence, but every now and then, someone would hear stories of her and Inuyasha and come out to see if it was true. She calls out to him, intending to ask if he needs directions or help.

But when he turns to look at her, the fierce golden gaze is enough to make Kagome freeze in her tracks. She tells herself to brush it off, that she can't treat this random stranger differently because of one similarity.

She introduces herself, and he says his name is Ed. When she asks him if he's trying to get to any of the local areas, he's visibly confused and doesn't recognize any of the names. He mentions a place called Resembool, she's struck by how foreign it sounds. But of course it sounds foreign, the guy is blond and clearly not Japanese, though she can't quite place where he might be from. Clearly, he's come a long way.

Since neither of them is entirely sure where he's supposed to be Kagome offers to let him come back to her house and have some dinner. Ed insists that no, he couldn't impose, don't worry about him, he'll just find a local inn. Kagome further pushes the little idea in the back of her mind down, because Inuyasha would never be so kind and polite.

She talks him into coming back with her anyway, partly because she's a little worried about him. He just seems so confused. But confused or not, he's still a teenage boy and can't resist the bribe of food. She keeps probing to find out if he's hurt, and eventually, Ed admits that he fell in the well. Kagome can feel the sinking feeling in her stomach again. But she tells herself that he didn't fall through the well, that he must have just fallen in and bumped his head like he's saying. She wants to believe the story Ed is telling her.

But as soon as he steps in the room where she first cast the spell, there's a glowing from his pocket. He pulls out a silver pocket watch, only for it to transform before both their eyes into the beads, which fly up and attach around Ed's neck.

And Kagome suddenly realizes she can't deny it anymore. The spell had worked and Inuyasha had come back to her the same way she had once come back to him. Reincarnation.