A/N: It has been sooo looong since I touched Inuyasha. It's a shame really. I do intend on someday finishing my ongoing stories. T_T Honest! (But don't wait around). Actually, the anime and manga lines got so convoluted and crazy that I sort of stopped following Inuyasha all together a good while ago. Then one day I had an Inuyasha centric dream (first Inuyasha dream I'd had in several years) and, feeling sentimental, checked the manga when I woke up. LOW AND BEHOLD the final chapter had been updated that very morning (imagine my shock and joy to see how the ending went). On top of that, the recent restarting of the Inuyasha anime is awesome (I'm glad they're just doing the last episodes instead of trying to cover the whole arc). I mean, is it me, or is it much better? Like, the artwork, the acting quality... everything. Anyway, all that awesomeness inspired me to write an Inuyasha fic again, hence this oneshot. Set three years after the ending of Inuyasha.

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ/DON'T KNOW THE ENDING TO INUYASHA YET AND DO NOT WANT IT SPOILED, THOU SHALT NOT READ THIS ONESHOT. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. All characters and recognizable material belongs to the creative genius known as Rumiko Takahashi. I love her.

"I know that it's all rather sudden, but it would make me truly happy if perhaps, when my stay in this village was over, would you... return with me?" the young noble attempted to keep his nerves steady as he remained in his deep bow, awaiting his answer.

After a considerable stretch of silence, he dared a glance up at her red skirts. She hadn't moved.

"Thank you," the woman's voice was beautiful. Without realizing, it moved him to look up at her face. She was smiling slightly, but the smile didn't go past her mouth. All he found in her eyes was embarrassment and hesitation. "But... well…"

Smelling rejection from a mile off, the noble threw propriety to the wind. "Please," he said, grasping her hands in his. She blinked in surprise. He ignored this. "My stay here has only been for a few days, but already I can't bear the thought of being separated from your beauty! Your kindness! Your goodness! Priestess, I have traveled this island for the past three years and never have I once met a soul that compares with you. This village you live in, it's no place for such beauty as yours, it will only diminish you! Leave this life, come with me to my father's palace. I can show you things you've never seen, treasures and art you can't even imagine!"

An ironic laugh bubbled up from the girl's throat, "I doubt that." Looking up, he saw her eyes were dancing, but it seemed more out of amusement than anticipation. "If only you knew..." she mused.

"Please," the noble drew her closer to him, pulling her mouth closer and closer to his own, a last ditch attempt. "Lady -erk!"

The noble choked as the material around his collar suddenly constricted around his windpipe. He found himself lifted off the ground, his body suspended in the air and jerked around until he was face to face with a pair of burning golden eyes. His hear skipped a beat. A demon. "Back off, pretty boy."

With that, the newcomer unceremoniously tossed the noble to the ground, where he staggered around a bit before collecting enough composure to try to process what had just happened.

"Hey!" The priestess protested.

"Who the hell is this?" The demon rounded on her and roughly took her by the shoulder. "I thought you told me this wouldn't happen again."

"Unhand her, demon!" The noble, suddenly understanding the gravity of the situation, sprang into action, drawing out his sword. He had dueled countless samurai to earn his blade, and while he had never used it against a demon before, he was confident in both its and his abilities. "Or be prepared to face my blade." He added.

At best, he had hoped that the demon would glare at him in disgust, and then unhand the priestess in favor of springing at him, snarling. If he couldn't slay it, at least he would provide enough of a distraction for his beautiful Priestess to flee to safety.

Said beauty and demon both turned to regard him and his sword. They seemed unimpressed. The priestess gave him a sort of pained look. She made no move to flee. The demon barely blinked at him, and never moved past the giving-him-a-look-of-disgust-part. "Keh," it turned back to the priestess. "I leave you for three days, three days, and you've already got another tick sniffing after you. What do I have to do, lock you up whenever I want to take a piss?"

The priestess, far from displaying any of the fear or distress expected of her, shoved the demon roughly away. "Would you stop being ridiculous?" The demon was forced back, his grip on her shoulder released.

Seeing his opportunity, the noble charged. "Hah!" He swung hard, striking the demon's chest, prepared for the splattering of blood and noises of animal pain. Instead, there was a dull clanking noise and then dead silence. The noble stared at his sword, which, as if it had been made of dull stone instead of honed steel, hadn't even pierced the demon's clothing. Looking up in shock, he saw the priestess and the demon both staring at him blankly. None of this made sense.

The demon looked down at the sword. Then it gave a sort of grim, satisfied smirk. And then, for the second time that afternoon, the noble found himself hoisted into the air of no volition of his own. The demon slammed him into the nearest tree, knocking the air out of his lungs.

"Don't!" The miko moved forward.

"Stay back!" The noble attempted to warn her, planning to follow this up with a dramatic "save yourself!" but his warning was transformed into a strange sort of wheezing sound as the demon pressed its fist into the noble's chest.

"You," the demon snarled, giving the impression that it was sorting through the first irritating problem of several before him. "You, shut up. I don't care who you are or what you own or what you think you can give her but why don't you just crawl back to wherever you came from and tell all your snotty littermates to stay where they are."

The priestess moaned and buried her face in her hands.

"Now." The demon tossed the noble aside as easily as if he had been made of straw. He flew a good few feet before landing hard and rolling. Mildly indignant and still exceedingly confused, he fumbled for his sword.

"You some kind of stupid? Give it a rest!" The demon stepped on the man's blade. "Don't you get it? She's mine you pathetic human. Her answer is 'no' and it always will be 'no' so go home before I rip your-"

"Inuyasha, sit!"

"Ugh!"

The noble man blinked as the demon, one moment towering over him, was in the next face down in the dirt, a sizeable crater around its body.

Sighing, the priestess came over and knelt, offering him her hand. "Are you alright?" she asked, helping the noble to his feet.

"Your power," the nobleman stared at her, awed. "You subdued the demon, Lady Kagome!"

The priestess bit her lip. "Um, right, actually my, uh, Lord -"

"Please, you would honor me by calling me Kenji," he assured, taking her hand.

"Kenji," she smiled, looking somewhat strained, "I'm sorry about this. What he was saying earlier wasn't exactly a lie… I'm sort of married."

Kenji stared at her blankly.

"I'm married to Inuyasha." She tried again.

The noble's face slowly drained of all color. He glanced around her shoulder. "And that is…"

Kagome blushed. "That's Inuyasha."

OoOoOoOoOoO

"And then he rode off East with his attendants, declaring that he was going to 'return someday and save the fair priestess from the horrible spell the demon, Inuyasha, has cast upon her'!" The circle of people broke into laughter as Shippou finished telling his story. The fox demon was also laughing, enjoying himself.

In the corner, Inuyasha was on his own, laying dejectedly in the shadows and pretending to be deaf. The twins were playing on him.

"You've been gone a long time, Uncle Inu!" One complained.

"Yeah, Unlce Inu! You and daddy!" The other whined.

"Where did you go?"

"What were you doing?"

"Why didn't you take us with you?"

"Did you bring back presents?"

"Miroku," Inuyasha drawled, jabbing a finger at one and then the other, "do something about Mika and Yuka."

"No I'm Mika, she's Yuka."

"Whatever."

"Not the ears, kids." Miroku said cheerfully, sipping his tea, one arm draped around Sango who was leaning into his shoulder, still stifling laughter.

"Yeah," Shippou whispered, leaning back on his elbow to engage the girls, "go for his tail!"

The girls' eyes widened, "Tail?" they chorused.

Inuyasha leapt up, "I do not have a tail!"

The girls looked at Shippou. "He hides it under his pants."

The girls lunged for Inuyasha's waistband.

"Hey! Hey!" Inuyasha snatched the twin girls by the ankles and whirled around, livid. Seeing Shippou's snickering, he adopted a wicked smile, "Mika," he said, "Yuka."

"No, I'm Yuka, she's Mika,"

"Whatever. It's time to play new game. It's called 'trimming Shippou,' my claws, your directions. Ready?"

Shippou's eyes bulged. The girls, hanging upside down like a pair of bats, shared a look and then broke into grins.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Shippou sprang up, running for the door.

"I don't think so you useless runt!" Inuyasha stuffed the twins into Kaede's arms and bolted after the kitsune. The girls stumbled after him, cheering him on. "Yay, Uncle Inu!"

"Get him, Uncle Inu!"

Moments after the girls tumbled out the door, Kagome walked through it, glancing over her shoulder. "I'm never going to get used to that," She remarked. "Who would have thought he of all people would be good with kids?"

Sango smiled. "Who would have thought that you, Kagome, would have had so many prospects once you stopped wearing the clothes from your other world and stayed in one place long enough to get noticed?"

Kagome blushed scarlet.

"Shippou told us."

"Great."

OoOoOoOoOoO

The moon hung low, bright and swollen through the trees. Kagome slipped her hands into the warm, sulfuric water and splashed it over her face. Sighing, she leaned back against a large rock and let her arms float in the hot spring.

"Are you alright?" Sango asked.

Kagome closed her eyes. "Yeah… just tired."

Her best friend grinned. "Being proposed to can be exhausting."

Kagome groaned. "They're not the problem, he is."

"Inuyasha?" Sango asked. "You'd rather he didn't interfere?"

"I don't mind if he interferes!" Kagome sat up, "He's just so violent about it. It's always 'Get your hands off my bitch if you want to keep them on your arms!' or 'Stay away from her or I'll have your head rolling into the ocean!' and 'Get the hell away from my wench or I'll cut off your-'"

Sango's giggles interrupted her. "You're getting better at that." She said, referring to Kagome's tough-guy imitation voice.

"It's awful." Kagome sighed, tilting her head back. "And you know… it would be different if it were anything but irrational jealousy." She sunk lower into the water, sulkily flicking at the surface. "It's not like he actually believes I'm going to leave him. It's not like he's being sweet and protective, he's just being canine. Violent, territorial." Kagome sighed. "Like, today, after he chased that guy off, he barely said 'hello' to me. No, 'how have you been these past three days,' or 'I missed you sometimes when I was gone'..." Kagome trailed off. "You'd think for once he could show me that he cared in some other way than beating everyone who looked at me to a pulp."

Sango smirked.

In the dark, a branch snapped, followed by a half-curse.

Silence.

Kagome sunk lower into the water.

"You know," Sango stood, placing an arm over her breasts, "just because we're married, Miroku," she reached back and hefted a rock the size of her fist, "does not mean you can peep on me whenever you feel like it!" She punctuated herself by hurling the rock into the depths of the night. Kagome never could figure out how the slayer could always find her mark with practically no light. But sure enough, a yelp and crash came from above them. Moments later, a disheveled Miroku was tumbling down from the treetops. And, to Kagome's horror, for all outward appearances, Miroku seemed to be using Inuyasha's body to break his fall.

"Ngh! Thanks, Miroku."

"Inuyasha?" Both girls yelped. Sango dunked her body into the water, regretting her hasty decision to stand earlier.

"Don't get any ideas!" Inuyasha jumped up, pointing at the monk, "He dragged me here!"

The girls, now both at chin level with the water surface, glared at him. Seeing that he was getting nowhere, he tried a different tactic. "I mean, it's not like I want to see anything that's here anyway."

"Sit!"

"Augh!"

"Now, now, ladies" Miroku, now partially recovered form his fall, put both hands up in the air, "I think we should be reasonable about this. After all, it's not as if either Inuyasha or I are looking at things we've never seen before. Right Sango? Kagome?"

Reams of uncomfortable silence suddenly sprung up between Inuyasha and Kagome who both blushed beet red. Miroku looked back and forth between them, aghast. "Wait, seriously?"

Kagome cringed at the modern day slang that the monk had picked up from her.

"But you've been married for months!"

Inuyasha growled, silencing Miroku. Beside her, Kagome felt Sango growing acutely uncomfortable.

"Well this is rather awkward." Miroku mumbled.

"Miroku," Sango said, an idea occurring to her, "if you're here, who is watching our children?"

Miroku, thankfully, was quick to pick up her cue. "Sango, I can't believe you think so low of me as to assume that I would ever leave our darlings unattended. Shippou's with them. But you're right, he's only a child himself and we must relieve him immediately!" Desperate to escape the situation at hand, Miroku seized both towels (ignoring the fact that one was Kagome's) and held them out for his wife. Eagerly keen, Sango leapt for the towels and hastened off to change into her clothes behind a tree.

Meanwhile Kagome and Inuyasha were still bright red, and looking everywhere but each other.

"If you'd like," Miroku started, sounding as if it was taking all of his will power not to choke and die on such a humiliating sentence, "I suppose I could… give the two of you some… er… advice or-"

"Go. Away. Miroku." Inuyasha growled.

Sango reappeared to grab her husband's hand and start towards the village.

"Just so you know, Inuyasha," Miroku turned, "I've lost all respect for you as a man."

"GO AWAY, MIROKU!" Inuyasha and Kagome screamed. The monk and the slayer disappeared into the night, leaving the other couple to fester in each other's awkward company.

"So," Inuyasha said eventually, rocking back onto his heels and having no idea what to do with himself. "I guess I'll see you back at the house."

Kagome's head shot up, stunned to see her husband's back moving away from her towards the village. "Sit!"

Inuyasha yelped, and then slowly peeled himself out of the ground. "What was that for?" He demanded. "I didn't-"

"Are you actually going to walk away from me right now?" Kagome demanded. "Look here, mister, if you think that I'm just going to sit around and waste my youth on someone who doesn't even look at me twice, you're dead wrong! I may love you, but a girl has to keep up her self respect!"

Inuyasha was, at this juncture, maddeningly uncomfortable and very, very red.

"I mean, at least, you could give me a reason! Is my body really that disgusting that you don't want to look at me? Is that it?"

"Kag-"

"Because I'm tired of it!"

"Er, Kag-"

"Just because you have the emotional complexity of a two year old doesn't mean that I have to put up with-"

"Kagome!" Inuyasha grabbed a hold of his wife whom, he had summoned up enough cognitive ability to realize, was probably more than a bit hysterical at this point. "You're…" the hanyou looked down and then back up at her, "you're not in the hot spring anymore."

Kagome looked down and realized, horrified, that she had stood and walked towards him as she ranted. And she was now standing before him, completely bared. The only warmth on her skin was where his calloused hands were wrapped around her shoulders. She sneezed.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "And now you're going to get sick."

This was too much for Kagome. "Fine! Leave!" She screamed in his face, then she turned around and sat in the middle of the forest, hugging her knees to her chest against the cold, remembering how Miroku had taken both towels. Behind her, she could feel Inuyasha's shins at her back. She could feel his eyes boring into her, and from the utter stillness she knew he was completely at a loss. But she didn't particularly care.

And then, something warm and soft fell around her shoulders, encasing her body. His haori. Somewhat against her will, she pulled its edges around her with her fingertips. It was still warm. It smelled like him. Suddenly, Inuyasha was squatting beside her, looking more dog than man, as he sometimes did, peering around to try and get a good look at her face.

"You're not crying, are you?" He asked with audible dread.

Kagome blinked back the tears, which had been filling her eyes. "No." She sniffed.

"Liar," Inuyasha accused, scooping her up into his arms. Kagome yelped. "Oh shut up," Inuyasha said, but his heart wasn't in it. Kagome dared to look up at him and was taken aback to see an expression she rarely saw on the hanyou's face. Troubled contemplation.

OoOoOoOoOoO

When they got home, Inuyasha placed Kagome on their bedding on the floor and went straight for the back room where they kept their cooking and food supplies as well as Kagome's herbs. The embers of a fire, which he had presumably built and then abandoned to go to the hot spring with Miroku, illuminated the room a warm red. Kagome stared into the embers, feeling distant, the silk blankets they had received from Miroku and Sango as a wedding present were cool against her feet. The cold had moved down to her toes, fingertips, and the tip of her nose. Inuyasha's warmth had kept her core body from chilling as he carried her back home.

"You know you're not disgusting to me," Inuyasha had said, as he made their way through the underbrush. He'd sounded somewhat mad. "Don't say stupid things like that."

Kagome had said nothing. And they had said nothing to each other after that. She knew she had slung some pretty outrageous accusations at him, but still, Miroku had a point. Three months. If he wasn't comfortable enough with her after three months of marriage, when would he be?

The hanyou emerged from the back room with a pot in one hand, full of things she couldn't see, and an armful of wood and kindling in the other. "If you're making me that miserable potion you made me when I was sick," Kagome warned, "I'm not drinking it."

Inuyasha scoffed. "It's tea."

Kagome raised her eyebrows. "You make tea?"

He threw her a dirty look. Kagome smiled. This was normal. A comfortable silence fell between them as Inuyasha built up the fire, brightening the room, and brought the water to a boil. He started to shred the dried leaves with his talons. A pleasant, vague aroma of jasmine and something else she couldn't place filled the room.

"What you said to Sango at the springs," Inuyasha said suddenly, "did you mean it?"

Kagome looked up but Inuyasha was occupied pulling his sleeves up to his shoulders and dumping the leaves into the now boiling water.

"Yes," Kagome said.

The hanyou's ears flattened. "So… you'd rather I let those men slobber all over you?"

Kagome sighed, "Weren't you listening at all? I like when you protect me, I just…" she struggled for the words. Though across from her Inuyasha was silently brewing the tea, she had the strange sense that he was listening intently. She smiled. "I guess you're just being you," she said. "But… that kind of protection alone isn't enough to make me happy. You beating the crap out of every confused nobleman that comes around and gets a crush… that doesn't exactly give me the warm, tinglies."

Inuyasha made a small noise of frustration, stifled slightly by the pouring of the tea. "Here," he shoved a cup into her hands. She sipped it slowly. In terms of flavor it was alright, but its heat spread through her entire body, warming the parts that were still cold.

"So what do you want?" Inuyasha asked finally, regarding her sullenly over the rim of the pot.

She blinked. And then smiled. "I just want you, Inuyasha." Holding her tea and the edges of his haori together with one hand, she pushed her other from the neckline, opening it a bit, and held it out to him.

Inuyasha regarded her, seeming troubled for a moment, before he finally took it, moving over to where she was, on their bedding. She leaned against his side and he gently placed an arm over her to keep her warm. Tentatively, he leaned his head against hers. Her washed skin and damp hair smelled so good, so like Kagome. The scent washed over him like a drug until a deep calm settled in his body. He could feel his heartbeat against hers through their clothing. He could feel her gently rising and falling with each breath.

"In my world," Kagome started, suddenly, "we have a thing we do to keep people like the noblemen away from taken girls."

Inuyasha perked slightly with interest, though he tried not to let it show.

"Do you know what a ring it?"

"Of course I know what a ring is."

"In the future, married couples get identical rings and wear them on this finger." Kagome held up her left hand, and touched her second to last finger with her right pointer finger. Looking down, Inuyasha caught a glimpse of a mostly open neckline of his haori. Blinking, he forced himself to look at her fingers. "When people see a man or woman wearing a ring on this finger, they know that he or she is taken."

"Lets do that then."

Kagome smiled, "If you want," she looked up and stopped suddenly, realizing that Inuyasha's face was very close to hers. Her husband was gazing down at her, his golden eyes were warm and quiet. For a moment, she forgot that anyone else existed. "Was I saying something?" She asked softly.

Inuyasha bent down and brought their lips together. They were so warm, so steady. She could feel the heat radiating from his cheeks and in the places where their bodies where touching, she could feel the very still way in which he brought his lips to hers once, twice, each time the pressure increasing.

"Inuyasha," she started, opening her eyes lightly.

"I do love you," he said.

She looked at him squarely, and he returned her gaze. In his eyes, she saw no hesitation or uncertainty, just enduring dedication and warmth. Smiling, she reached up and touched the fur on his ear, exposing her slender shoulder completely. "I know," she said, and brought his face back down to hers. He kissed her slowly, slipping his palm over her exposed shoulder and then beneath the haori, gliding over the smooth skin of her back. She felt him inhale deeply as he pulled her closer to him.

She was so delicate and small, and so beautiful. He laid her carefully onto the floor. One of them knocked over her tea so that it spilled into the fire. It hissed angrily at them. But neither Inuyasha nor Kagome were particularly in a position to notice, or to care.

A/N: Like I said, short fluff. If well received it has the possibility to for a follow-up shot, chapter thinger (morning after, maybe more on the rings, etc.). But after that its most definitely the END.

Sorry if I'm out of practice, it's been a while.

~Nani