A/N: Written for Inuparents Day, the Izayoi x Inu no Taisho Tumblr event.
Revised!
"I have come back, Inuyasha… Back from the world of the dead."
Izayoi was aware of something channeling her, tugging at her spirit—disturbing her peace.
"Stop hurting her!" A man screamed from the outside.
"Your son," the thing whispered. "The man is your son."
"I-Inuyasha?"
"Are you okay?" A girl's voice sounded close by.
"Who's there? Who are you?" Izayoi asked the darkness.
"I am the Unmother."
"Kagome, you and her, get out of here!" Inuyasha barked.
"I think not," Sesshomaru's voice scorned.
"It's a trap," Izayoi realized. She started fighting the demon's grasp, feeling the strength of the souls which formed it—mothers mourning children who would never come home.
Their intentions weren't good.
"This place… Where is it?" Inuyasha asked.
"Nowhere!" Izayoi wanted to yell. "It's an illusion!"
"At the bottom of the spirit world," the Unmother answered. "I must be crossing over very soon."
Izayoi would have groaned if she could. Stuck inside the Unmother's body, she was able to read her like a book.
Inuyasha would die.
"Such terrible, violent days—and you all alone, with nobody to care for you. How can you ever forgive me?"
Izayoi felt a pang in her proverbial chest. If she could've asked Inuyasha anything at all, that would've been it.
"Must I watch this if I can't help him?" Izayoi asked anyone else that might be hearing.
"I-It wasn't that big a deal, I mean…"
"Inuyasha," the Unmother whispered lovingly.
"STOP!"
"Partings are never easy, wouldn't you agree?"
"I—"
"I must return now to the Netherworld."
"D-Do you have to?"
His quiet, reluctantly hopeful question made Izayoi want to weep.
"The petals… Look into the water," the evil spirit commanded.
"That's me," Inuyasha murmured. "Back when I was still a brat."
"You remember? That's good. As a child, I often held you that way… I held you to my heart, just as I'm doing now."
"I HELD HIM TO MY HEART! I DID!"
Izayoi's soul was getting stronger—vicious. She started pushing.
"I'll never let go," the demon promised. "Not now, not ever."
"Ah, but you will… Yes, you will!"
"My boy, my precious boy…"
Izayoi felt Inuyasha's soul start to enter the Unmother's body, too.
"Stop!" Someone squealed. "What are you doing? No soul-sucking until I tell you!"
"Sorry."
"You can have your way with him later, after he tells us how to find the tomb of his and Lord Sesshomaru's father."
"YOU MEAN, STUPID LITTLE TOAD!" The girl's voice cried.
Inside the Unmother, Izayoi pleaded with her conscience. She felt her grief, her desolation.
"Do you want to inflict the same pain you feel on me? Do you want to keep my soul trapped in here, too? Release him, please. Let him be."
The Unmother's deepest wish was her son.
"If you don't release him, you'll kill him… Please… Just… "
She felt a wave of relief when the Unmother complied.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE I FELL FOR IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE I THOUGHT SHE WAS MY—"
"Now that Lord Sesshomaru knows Inuyasha has the black pearl, he will hurt him," the Unmother warned.
As if on cue, Izayoi heard Inuyasha screaming.
"Seeing, yet never seen. Protected, yet never known by its protector."
"AND ALL FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? YOU PRETENDED SHE WAS MY MOTHER!"
"You're not amused?"
"SESSHOMARU WILL KILL HIM!"
Her body moved on pure instinct. The pain was excruciating.
"She protected him!" The girl said in awe.
"Demon spirit or not, she still has a mother's heart, and protecting her child is what a mother can't help but do," a familiar voice explained.
"I-Inuyasha," Izayoi grunted.
She opened her eyes to a desolate-looking clearing. Sesshomaru was looming over a boy dressed in red (Inuyasha), and there was a stranger standing beside him.
"Stop it!" Inuyasha spat. His ears were pinned back and his fangs were showing. "Stop wearing her face!"
The Unmother had just given Izayoi full control of her body.
"It's really me, Inuyasha!" She insisted, struggling to stand. The demon lord was looking at her with an almost surprised expression, but she payed him no mind. "Not before, b-but now—now it truly is me!"
Inuyasha narrowed his golden eyes at her, getting up as Sesshomaru opened the portal.
"Take her to Kaede, Myoga," her son instructed. "I'll decide if I believe her later."
He looks like a man, Izayoi blinked stupidly. He is a man.
"You stay here," Inuyasha tore his eyes away from her. "It's too dangerous for—"
"What do you want, an invitation?" The girl asked, one exposed leg already going inside the portal Sesshomaru had entered. She offered Izayoi a sweet smile. "I'm sure we'll have time to talk later!"
"HEY!"
Izayoi was left with the flea.
Getting used to having a body again was no small feat. The old priestess, Kaede, was being kind and patient, though.
Izayoi dropped the tray of fruit for the third time with an impatient growl. "I'm so sorry, Lady Kaede! I just—"
"No harm done, Lady Izayoi," the elder said. "I imagine coming back to life is hard, and you are worried about your son. We have much to discuss."
"Everything feels so different," Izayoi sighed. "Inuyasha was six when I got sick. By the looks of him, this was ten years ago!"
Kaede swallowed. "I fear it's been much longer than that."
Izayoi looked at the priestess with a puzzled expression. Kaede motioned for her to sit down.
By the time Inuyasha and Kagome finally returned with the sword, Kaede had managed to calm Izayoi a little. Speaking of Inuyasha's tragic past, especially the part involving Kikyo, hadn't been a good move in Izayoi's opinion.
Inuyasha wasn't her loving child anymore. After all he'd been through, how could he be?
She was overwhelmed by the sight of her boy entering the hut with the Tetsusaiga, clad in nothing less than his father's hunting clothes, with a girl in tow. It felt like she was seeing a pair from another time.
Before she could lose her nerve, Izayoi flung herself at Inuyasha, grasping his white mane in her shaking hands.
Her head reached his chin. He was grown, and she had missed it.
"Is it really you?" He asked with a roughened voice, trying not to move a muscle. Izayoi suspected he felt humiliated by the trick.
"It really, really is," she murmured soothingly. "And more sorry than I ever was."
A diminutive whine came from him, bringing tears to her eyes.
"This is truly your mother, Lord Inuyasha," Myoga interjected, speaking for the first time in the longest while. "No demon could fool me when it comes to her."
Hesitantly, Inuyasha lifted his hand to her shoulder. His golden eyes were angry, vulnerable, lost—so different from the way I remember them.
"H-How?"
"The Unmother gave me control over this body," Izayoi said. "She wanted nothing more than to be a mother again. I don't know how long it will last, but—"
"It's you," Inuyasha stated. "The way you talk, your eyes, and—"
He finally hugged her back. What a strange, wonderful feeling it was, being nestled in your son's arms. She let a few tears fall; then, Inuyasha cleared his throat and stepped away.
"Lady Kaede was telling me about your life, Inuyasha," she blurted, her agitated nature getting the better out of her. Couldn't you have waited? She berated herself. "I am so so—"
"Don't," Inuyasha grumbled. "It's all in the past."
Izayoi could tell by his body language that this was a lie.
"Hi!" The girl from the future (what a strange notion) came forward to greet her. "I'm Kagome. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Izayoi!"
Izayoi took her hand and smiled. "Thank you for freeing my son from the tree, Kagome."
Inuyasha stiffened.
"Oh, boy, you already know about that," the girl scratched her neck self-consciously. "It was nothing, really."
"Keh."
Izayoi frowned at her son. What a rude little noise to make!
"I took it upon myself to tell your mother what I knew about your life, Inuyasha," Kaede explained. "I thought only to help."
"It's fine," the boy assured her, seemingly relieved that he wouldn't have to do it. "I-I just need some air, okay? I'll be outside."
Izayoi watched her son leave with a great sense of hopelessness. It's only natural that he needs a little space, she told herself as the unlikely group sat together to discuss the fight with Sesshomaru.
Kagome told them everything about what had happened in the tomb.
"How is it that you are not dead or injured?" Kaede asked the girl. "I must say, Kagome, you continue to surprise me."
"It's because she's mortal," Izayoi answered. "Tetsusaiga was forged for my protection."
"Exactly," the flea demon confirmed. "Tetsusaiga was forged by Lord Inuyasha's father as a way to protect his mortal mother. His feelings for mortals allowed Lord Inuyasha to wield it effectively. For someone like Lord Sesshomaru to use it would be impossible."
"This is strange," Kaede mused. "To Inuyasha, his half-demon heritage was controversial."
Izayoi's head snapped up at that.
"He's… ashamed of his human blood." The priestess looked apologetic as Izayoi winced at her words. "But it is the reason his father chose him for his resting place. Perhaps the one who most resembles the father is not Sesshomaru, but Inuyasha."
"He truly does." Izayoi sighed.
"Well, let's find him and tell him that!" Kagome said, obviously trying to lighten the mood. "He must be dying to know why Tetsusaiga transformed!"
Izayoi smiled at the girl, getting up to meet her son.
They found him sitting on a tree, madly swinging the old sword.
"Hey, Inuyasha!" Kagome called as they approached him. "Do you want me to tell you how to use the sword?" She beamed up at him.
He landed in front of her. "Since when are you an expert?"
"Well, do you promise you'll protect me with it—forever and ever?" Kagome asked.
Izayoi giggled.
"Huh? What in the world are you babbling about? Your brain's broken or something?"
"But you said I should let you protect me!"
"I didn't mean it like that!"
Izayoi watched with unveiled amusement as her son tried to justify his words. Neither of them was paying her any mind, which served her just right. She wanted nothing more than to observe her child, to see the man he had become.
"If you shut up for a moment, I'll tell you what a sword like this should really be used for," Inuyasha admonished. "Collecting more jewel shards and making me more powerful!"
"No!" Izayoi huffed indignantly. Both teenagers turned to look at her. "Lady Kaede has told me about this jewel, and I'm positive it's not why you should use the sword."
"S-So I'll use it to babysit a helpless little human?" Inuyasha blurted.
Izayoi stiffened. She'd never heard her son speak like this about other people—other humans. Her disappointment must've showed, because his ears flattened.
Before Izayoi could say anything, though, Kagome yelled at him to sit. The sudden impact made her cringe. The girl blushed profusely after that, apparently realizing what she'd done to her friend in front of his own mother.
"I-I'm sorry, but I could tell he hurt your feelings, and—excuse me." The teenager hurried away.
"My, I wish I didn't see that," Izayoi murmured as she rubbed her temples. Kaede had mentioned the rosary in passing, but she wasn't expecting it to be like this. It's like he's a common dog.
Inuyasha slowly brought himself up.
"You see the shit I have to put up with."
She helped him straighten and patted his clothes. The boy seemed uncomfortable with her ministrations, as if he didn't know what to do with himself.
"What was that all about?" Izayoi asked, crossing her arms. "What's wrong with protecting humans? Your father did it!"
"Keh. Why would I protect people who hate me?"
Feeling a pang in her chest, Izayoi cupped his cheek with one hand. How you must have suffered, my beautiful boy.
"Don't be blind, son. That girl doesn't hate you."
Izayoi started living in an abandoned hut near Kaede's. She changed her clothes to those of a peasant, determined to fit in as much as possible, for as long as the Unmother allowed it.
Although Inuyasha didn't seem to consider the hut to be his home, he often came back to it when Kagome wasn't around (usually to sulk). They hunted for the jewel shards constantly, but no one spoke of what they would do once it would be completed—not in Izayoi's presence, at least.
She'd made it abundantly clear what she thought about her son's plan to become a full-fledged demon.
"You won't dishonor your father and I in such a way," she said, tugging none too gently on one of his ears. "I am a part of you, and I won't stand by as you try to get rid of it."
Kagome watched this exchange with a satisfied little smile.
I will help him whether he wants it or not!
When Kagome and Inuyasha brought a fox demon child home, she knew it wasn't only her son she would be helping.
Shippo would lie on her lap, play with her long strands of hair and ask her why she couldn't travel with them. Inuyasha scoffed at that and bumped him on the head, saying for the hundredth time that she would just be in the way. Kagome would clench her teeth not to sit him in front of Izayoi.
She was learning to read her son like an opened book. It wasn't so much that she would be in his way, but that he was worried something would happen to her—again.
By the looks of his injuries, he had reason to.
In the beginning, they did their best to hide Inuyasha's wounds from her. Izayoi knew the nature of what her son was doing, though; she'd first known it through his father. She used to have nightmares about tragedies happening during Inuyasha's human night.
The first time something did happen during the new moon, it came with a strange bonus.
They had been talking about the night in the spider demon's temple when Izayoi noticed Kagome's long looks at Inuyasha. After he left to hunt for something to eat, she approached Kagome and asked with the utmost sincerity: "will you tell me why you're looking at him like he's the sun now?"
The girl from the future blushed.
"Not that I disagree." Izayoi chuckled.
"He said I smell nice," Kagome blurted. "I don't know if he remembers it. He wasn't really conscious, but—"
"His human nights were always like this," Izayoi recalled. "He says the strangest things…"
"He certainly doesn't do that when he's normal," Kagome remarked forlornly.
"It's more than that, though," Izayoi told her with a conspiratorial grin. "I suspect there's something of his father in this, too."
"His father? But he was a demon!"
"Well, yes—but Toga let his mouth run away with him sometimes. I lived for those moments!"
Kagome smiled at her, bringing her knees to her chest. "You must have loved him very much."
"I do." Izayoi sighed wistfully. "There was something in him, something dangerous and exciting—but also predictable. I knew he would never hurt me, you see?"
"I-I do," Kagome stuttered, much to Izayoi's delight.
You shouldn't play matchmaker, my dear, she imagined Toga's baritone voice saying.
Nonsense, she dismissed him.
"How did you two meet?" Kagome asked.
"I got lost in the woods at night. He was the perfect gentleman, bringing me safely back to the castle. He thought that would be the end of it, but I went back to those woods every night to see him. I knew he was there."
"But he didn't show himself?"
"Not at first. I was already hopelessly in love with him… excitable, pampered child that I was. He tried to act aloof, but it wasn't really in his nature."
"He sounds like an amazing man," Kagome murmured.
"Amazing, yes—not perfect," Izayoi smiled. "Just like my son."
I am failing miserably at discretion, she berated herself.
Kagome didn't deny it.
The relative peace they achieved ended abruptly when Kikyo was resurrected.
Kagome entered the hut completely exhausted after they came back from Urasue's cave, and Inuyasha looked like he wasn't even there. His eyes were too sad for her to face at that moment, so Izayoi had concentrated on making Kagome comfortable.
As the girl lay on the palette to nap, she grasped Izayoi's hand.
"Talk to him, Lady Izayoi," she pleaded. "K-Kikyo acted like she hates him, and I can't see him like this…"
"Rest, my darling," Izayoi shushed her, kissing her bangs like her mother would have.
Leaving Kagome to Shippo's vigilance, she went to her son's favorite tree. He immediately got down to meet her.
"How is she?"
Izayoi took in his ragged appearance, his eyes, his flattened ears.
"She will be fine."
There was a pregnant pause.
"Is the woman you loved really back?"
"I-I don't know." Inuyasha took a deep breath. "I want to find her. I owe her."
She felt goosebumps.
"I agree." Izayoi sighed. "Do all you can for her, but—but you must also understand you were not at fault."
"She thinks I betrayed her."
"Then she doesn't know you."
The words had been out of her mouth before she knew it. Inuyasha's glare made it seem like his father was back from the dead, standing right in front of her.
"You don't know what you're talking about."
True enough, Izayoi admitted to herself.
She decided to let it go for the moment, vowing to help him if need be.
You mean 'meddle', Toga would have interjected.
The next addition to the group was the one that surprised Izayoi the most: a Buddhist monk.
She would've thought that a man of the cloth had no business with violence and gore, but she'd soon realize Miroku was no ordinary monk. From the moment he stepped into her unassuming hut, with his handsome face and easy smile, she'd sensed he was a tormented person.
"Is this your mother, my friend?" Miroku asked when he looked at her. Then, he bowed. "I am sorry—but my, what a beautiful woman!"
Izayoi flushed. She'd died at twenty-five, but she felt older now.
Dear God, I still blush—in a demon's body, no less!
Inuyasha looked like he would start barking at any moment. "Keep your eyes and hands to yourself, monk," he hissed.
"I was just teasing you." Miroku smiled. "Not that it isn't true, but I know my place." He looked at her. "It's an honor to meet you, Lady Izayoi."
"Oh—thank you," Izayoi said with a small smile. "Please, make yourself comfortable."
"Not too comfortable," Inuyasha muttered under his breath.
Kagome nudged him. "Honestly, stop it! Are you going to pee around the house?" She whispered.
Inuyasha growled.
After Miroku told her his story, Izayoi was surprised he acted like such a carefree person. If she were the one with a curse that could ultimately consume her, she wouldn't have slept a wink for the rest of her life.
The lives Naraku ruined...
Izayoi patted Miroku's cursed hand, much to the boy's surprise. "Your father would've been proud of you, Master Miroku. You're much too young for the life you're facing."
He cleared his throat and nodded, averting his eyes.
She wondered if anyone had ever comforted him.
Izayoi had been doing a good job of not intruding in Inuyasha's life until he sent Kagome home—for good.
"Don't you think it's her choice?" She asked, trailing behind him all the way from the well to the village. For each step he took, she had to take two.
It was infuriating.
"Sesshomaru could've killed her," Inuyasha snapped. "She'll never see these dangerous battles again."
"Kagome is a strong girl, Inuyasha," Izayoi remarked. "She's your friend!"
Inuyasha didn't even look at her, tightening his hold on the jewel he'd taken from around Kagome's neck.
"You selfish boy!" She accused, incensed by his lack of answer.
That had been the last straw. Inuyasha whirled on her, livid with fury.
I am not afraid of my child, she told herself, lifting her chin.
"Selfish?" He spat. "Selfish is letting her stay just because I want to! Selfish is you wanting her to stay for me—even if her life's in danger every damn day!"
"Yes, you're selfish, because this decision doesn't concern just you!" Izayoi argued. "Little Shippo is crying his eyes out at the well as we speak! The jewel shards aren't being gathered any faster, Naraku is alive and well, and I'm positive you broke her heart!"
"Better her heart than her neck," Inuyasha grumbled, turning around to run.
"Inuyasha, wait!" Izayoi called. She could feel her entire body shaking with indignation.
You're much too small for this level of emotion, Toga's voice said teasingly.
You don't get to say anything! He's just like you, the stubborn—
She marched back to the well to find Shippo.
The last child to arrive at her hut was a very broken one—inside and out.
When Inuyasha passed through the door with Sango on his back, Izayoi's soul reached out to the girl. She could recognize the look on someone who had lost everything on the spot; she'd seen it often enough in the mirror after Toga's death.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Lady Izayoi," Sango said politely as Inuyasha lowered her to the ground.
"You are welcome," Izayoi replied with a smile.
She could tell by the look on Sango's face that the slayer still didn't know what to make of the little group of misfits. The girl watched the others as they talked, taking in the domestic scene around the fire with a look of longing that broke Izayoi's heart.
"I know they aren't always the easiest people to deal with," she said sincerely, "but you can trust everyone under this roof, Sango. They won't ask for anything in return—anything but loyalty."
"I tried to kill your son when we met," she confessed, looking down at her own hands. "I was tricked by Naraku."
Izayoi looked at Inuyasha's profile in the firelight. He was rolling his eyes at something Shippo had said.
"If he held it against you, you wouldn't be here now."
Sango followed her gaze.
"Seeing as he obviously doesn't," Izayoi resumed, "I'm not the one who will."
"J-Just like that?" The slayer tilted her head.
"Just like that," Izayoi confirmed with a small smile.
She would know someday that this conversation made Sango very guilty when she stole Inuyasha's sword.
Izayoi could only imagine the things the children kept from her.
Her routine consisted of waiting. She would stand on her tiptoes at the door to catch a glimpse of their heads on the road. Her heart would beat wildly at the sight of dog ears, cat ears, the edge of a giant boomerang or golden staff coming her way.
She could sing with gratitude at their return. The hut would be filled with their grunts of pain, their laughter, their tears, their hopes—their love.
Izayoi was secretly overjoyed at the blooming couples. There was no mistaking the light in Inuyasha's golden eyes, for she'd seen it before in someone else's. Kagome's very presence was a testament to her affection; God knew the girl had had a million reasons to give up on her son by then.
Watching Miroku and Sango could only be described as painful, but equally exciting. Izayoi knew avoidance when she saw it, and she also knew it wouldn't last. Unlike Inuyasha and Kagome, the pair was getting to a point where the stating of their feelings was imminent, if not inevitable.
The children would let her accompany them to quick trips sometimes (she would much rather stay behind, though, if it gave them a home to come back to).
During one of those, the Soul Collectors appeared. Kikyo was by no means a constant presence in Inuyasha's life, but she managed to be the center of it when she was around.
Kagome's forced smile as she said goodbye to the group that day made Izayoi cringe.
"Do you want some tea before leaving?" She offered, hoping to buy Inuyasha a little more time to get back.
"Thank you, Lady Izayoi, but I'll drink it at home!"
Miroku and Sango would never have disrespected her by saying anything, but Izayoi suspected they thought she'd been covering for Inuyasha when she tried to make Kagome stay longer. She'd only wanted to make things easier, though: if the both of them were on the same side of the well, they would settle their differences sooner rather than later.
One would think I would at least have seen the source of all this trouble by now, Izayoi thought exasperatedly.
She and Kikyo would only meet after Inuyasha was almost killed by Kanna.
During a fight in which Kanna managed to deflect the Wind Scar, Inuyasha and Sango had gotten severely injured. Miroku and Kagome went to gather medicinal herbs as Izayoi watched over them.
When the Soul Collectors came through the door, Inuyasha immediately wanted to get up, but Izayoi pinned him down. Demonic strength is a blessing, even if I rarely use it.
Upon hearing Inuyasha's indignant yelling, Miroku and Kagome came back to the hut. Izayoi told them to watch the wounded as she went to Kikyo, ignoring her son's protests.
The Soul Collectors showed her the way as if the one going didn't matter.
"Hello, Lady Kikyo," Izayoi greeted as the priestess floated down from the tree to meet her.
She does look like Kagome, she mused, taking in the woman's beautiful face. Only wiser—sadder.
"I'm Izayoi, Inuyasha's mother. I came to tell you that he is badly injured and cannot see you right now."
"Hello, Lady Izayoi." The priestess nodded. "I am sorry to hear it."
She sounds sincere…
"Is his life in any danger?" Kikyo inquired.
Let me see how much.
"Not from that, Lady Kikyo," Izayoi said with caution, looking at her meaningfully.
They regarded each other for a tense moment; then, the priestess averted her eyes. "I see."
"Do you intend to harm my son?" Izayoi blurted, letting her anxiety show. Inuyasha never said much about his situation with Kikyo, but Izayoi wasn't born yesterday, as she reminded him once.
She knew where he stood when it came to this woman, but not the reverse.
"I won't allow anyone to harm him, but his life belongs to me," Kikyo said simply. There was no malice in her words, no pleasure, no shame. "I am sorry if the notion disturbs you."
"Disturb?" Izayoi frowned. "It hurts me, but it doesn't disturb me."
Careful what you say, dear, Toga's familiar voice warned.
"It would disturb me if I were an ordinary woman, but I inhabit the Unmother. The souls of many grieving mothers rest inside me, and I doubt they will watch you take Inuyasha's life."
"He wouldn't want you to threaten me," Kikyo remarked.
"It's beyond me to stop her," Izayoi stated truthfully. "Do you really think I wish to harm you? To make him suffer?"
I don't wish you to suffer, child. Can't you see we're the same?
"I know you are a very powerful woman, Lady Kikyo," she sighed, "but you wouldn't win at this."
Kikyo nodded. "It seems we are at an impasse. Now's not the time to settle it, though."
At least she respects me.
Without warning, Kikyo turned and fired an arrow at a tree. Izayoi yelped.
"Um—?"
"Kagura," the priestess hissed. "Your head will be next."
The arrow was on the trunk, stuck mere centimeters away from the face of a raven-haired woman. Izayoi had a second to take in her wide red eyes before she flew away on a feather.
"Was that one of Naraku's incarnations?" Izayoi asked.
"Yes," Kikyo confirmed. She looked back over her shoulder. "Thank you for coming, Lady Izayoi. Please, tell Inuyasha I will seek him soon."
Walking back to the hut, Izayoi worried about what Kagura might've learned by overhearing their conversation.
For the longest time, she expected Naraku would come after her, intent on using the Unmother's power to get rid of Kikyo. He never did, though, which made her think she wasn't a real threat to the priestess, after all…
That, or Kagura kept quiet.
There were three times Izayoi feared Inuyasha would be consumed by self-loathing.
The first was when he killed human bandits who had been pillaging a village under a moth demon's command. The moth had managed to imprison Miroku and Inuyasha in a poisonous cocoon, and her son would've died if his demon blood hadn't taken over.
Thank you, dearest. You still save him from the grave.
Kagome had already worked her magic on him when they got home, but Inuyasha wouldn't look Izayoi in the eye.
"I killed humans," he rasped.
"From what Miroku told me, you also saved the village women," she pointed. Izayoi hugged him, burying her face in his chest. "No one is completely good or bad, Inuyasha. My being here now is proof of that."
The second was when he thought Kikyo had died in a river of miasma.
"I'm so sorry, Inuyasha," Izayoi murmured.
"I failed her again," he said. "I'm to blame. That bastard Sesshomaru was right."
As usual, dearest, your eldest son is so much help…
"I-It's hard to protect someone who is never with you," she tried to reason.
"Was," he muttered.
Inuyasha didn't come back to the hut that night.
The third time was shortly after the second, when Naraku's Infant captured Kagome.
Inuyasha confessed to Izayoi he'd left the group to search for Kikyo, following a false clue.
"I had to see if she was alive," he said. "But Kagome—"
"Understands," Izayoi completed, looking tenderly at the girl's sleeping face. "It pains her, but she knows you couldn't have ignored the possibility of Kikyo being alive."
Inuyasha sighed, his ears flattening.
"That being said," Izayoi proceeded, "you could have lost Kagome. When you go searching for Kikyo again, take her with you."
"But she—"
"Will go if you ask."
"You talk like there will be a next time," Inuyasha grumbled.
"Because I do think Kikyo is alive," Izayoi admitted, unsure of whether she should have. She didn't want Inuyasha to get his hopes up, but something told her the priestess was still around.
The more heartbreak Izayoi saw, more vivid her dreams of Toga became.
It won't be long, my dear, he would say, touching her cheek, kissing her eyes. You have been wonderful.
I have done nothing, she would whisper brokenly, relishing the feeling of his breath on her forehead.
You have been there. That is enough.
On the night Kikyo truly died, though, there were no dreams. Izayoi had been watching the red sunset from her door when she felt something tugging at her heartstrings.
She ran to the clearing.
Getting there, Izayoi watched from afar as her son held the first woman he ever loved. Alone, away from where the children were sitting, she waited in the darkness for the inevitable end.
As Kikyo's body vanished in a flash of white, Izayoi felt the Unmother stirring. She suddenly understood why she was there: the maidens' and the mothers' souls were connecting.
All of us women, all of us loved, all of us dead.
Izayoi cried.
One of the Soul Collectors came to her. Through it, Izayoi was able to reach for Kikyo, the woman, and her feelings for Inuyasha.
She had wished to spend all her days with him, to give him a home, a place to belong. She had only wanted to make him happy. Even after she thought she'd been betrayed, she'd wanted nothing more than to see him again.
She could never have harmed him.
Izayoi cried harder.
"T-Thank you for loving him when no one else did."
The Soul Collector flew away, taking its warmth with it.
Izayoi's breath hitched in her throat at the sight of Inuyasha being enveloped by the lights, his frame accentuated against the sky.
I used to think I would die looking into golden eyes, too.
She wished she had a way to be sure her reincarnation would see Toga again. The small pang of jealousy Izayoi felt was shameful, selfish, absurd—human.
My dearest… What happened to forever?
Can we still make it?
Kagome and Inuyasha had returned from her time, and Izayoi's heart told her something important had transpired between them over there. To her, it was written all over their faces, their hands, their body language.
They'd been distant since Inuyasha's suicidal dream in Kaou's garden, so this was a very welcome change.
The old Izayoi would've gone insane at the thought of Inuyasha's wanting to die, but the new one found strength in the knowledge that he would never have left Kagome behind.
Your voice would have snapped me out of it, too, Inuyasha had told her, sounding tired and contrite—apologetic?
Izayoi smiled at the memory.
"Tell us another story of Inuyasha's childhood, Lady Izayoi," Sango asked while they sat around the fire.
"Not this again," he grumbled, but otherwise kept quiet.
Izayoi smiled at her son. He knows Sango just wants to kill time. The imminent ending of their quest was taking a heavy toll on the slayer; it would decide her brother's fate.
"Well, there was this time I caught Inuyasha telling an elder to 'shut it'," Izayoi started saying, her eyes shining.
"Probably deserved it." Inuyasha snickered.
"Even so!" Izayoi huffed. "I couldn't allow Inuyasha to get away with it. He would start doing it all the time! 'So I hafta listen to stuff I don't want, mama?'"
Everyone laughed at her impression—even Inuyasha snickered.
"I said he should find a way to shush people politely, if he needed it," she resumed.
Kagome tugged lightly at one of his ears. "As if!"
He blushed. "Keh."
"I found the same elder pestering Inuyasha on the next day." Izayoi chuckled. "I was about to tell him to shut up myself when Inuyasha yelled: 'silence, you peasant!'"
Inuyasha snorted and they laughed again.
"He looked so satisfied with himself!" She giggled. "I still don't know where he got that from…"
"From Sesshomaru, maybe?" Miroku smirked.
"Nah." Inuyasha shrugged. "The only thing Sesshomaru taught me was how to fend for myself."
There was a short silence after that.
Inuyasha had told Izayoi some of the things he'd been through, after much insistence on her part, but she suspected she'd never know everything. Being angry at Sesshomaru would accomplish nothing, though; he seemed to have changed his ways, from what she heard.
"Well!" Kagome cleared her throat. "We should probably sleep if we want to leave early tomorrow…"
Before they retired, Izayoi pulled Kagome aside and gently asked if anything important had happened in the future. Blushing, Kagome said Inuyasha had sworn to protect her with his life in the fight to come.
Even though this promise was nothing new, Izayoi lay awake in the darkness—thinking.
This could be our last night like this.
Inuyasha's callused hand was suddenly on her forehead. She blinked up at his sitting frame.
"Sleep," he ordered gruffly.
Taking his hand, she brought it to her mouth and kissed his palm. "I can't." She pressed it against her cheek. "I can't, I can't…"
Izayoi started crying.
With a tenderness that made her think of his father, Inuyasha freed his hand from her grasp to dry her eyes.
"I'll make you proud," he murmured.
"You already do," she whispered. "You did when you drew your first breath."
Izayoi slept holding his hand, as if she were the child.
Watching Naraku's body fall from the sky had been a living nightmare.
Seeing the destruction, hearing the screams, the agony, carrying children as she ran—all of that had been the worst possible kind of nightmare.
Watching her son jump in a void after the girl he loved had been like dying.
Izayoi kneeled on that spot for three days. It was only then that she discovered the Unmother's body didn't require sleep or food; she didn't blink her eyes, didn't touch a single apple Sango brought her.
Shippo had refused to leave her side at first, but he eventually had to eat and sleep. Miroku and Sango stayed with her most of the time, but they were needed in the village, and she told them they should help the people.
On the first night, Miroku covered her shoulders with a blanket before retreating.
On the second, someone else did.
Sesshomaru's ward—Rin—sat beside Izayoi after having put the blanket on her.
I wonder why he's here.
After hesitating for a moment, Rin touched her hand. "You're too cold, Lady Izayoi," she stated, getting up again.
When the girl came back with Sesshomaru's mokomoko, Izayoi didn't know if she should take it.
"It's okay." Rin smiled at her, tilting her head.
Izayoi brought the fur to her chest with shaking fingers. Looking back at the treeline, she saw Sesshomaru standing there, gazing at the horizon. The imp and the dragon were nowhere in sight.
He's watching over me, she realized.
Izayoi recalled something Toga had said about Setsumi, his first wife: she would give you the moon as if it were nothing, demeaning her own gift with her indifference.
What matters, though, is that you did hold the moon.
For the first time in two days, Izayoi smiled.
Pulling Rin gently to her side, she put the mokomoko over the both of them.
"Kagome is safe."
And as lonely as you, I'm sure of it.
Three years of watching Inuyasha's quiet sadness was an awful long time. He'd always been loud about his discontentment, and Izayoi missed it.
Even though he had nowhere to go, Inuyasha didn't stay with her in the hut as much as he could have. She knew why: it was filled with memories of the past—and future.
"I realized I wasn't the only one who needed Kagome."
But you deserve her the most, she wanted to say, but didn't. It would sound biased and cheap, and Izayoi knew he was right.
Inuyasha was at his happiest when Miroku and Sango got married. There was no envy in his eyes as he helped them get settled in their new hut. Her son mostly resembled his old self when he was with the monk and the slayer, and Izayoi loved the couple even more for that.
She put Inuyasha's sadness aside for a little while to help them, to share in their happiness.
"I never got the chance to talk to my mother about these things," Sango had confessed. "It means a lot to me, Lady Izayoi."
"Anything you need, my dear," Izayoi had said, kissing her forehead.
Watching the young wife made her remember how she'd felt when the Inu no Taisho had asked her to live with him. His untimely death on the night of Inuyasha's birth had put an abrupt end to her dreams, but she couldn't be angry at him—not when he'd died protecting her from a jealous human lord. Not when he'd given her Inuyasha.
He was constantly in her thoughts, even more so than before.
Toga, help me. Our son is dying.
Nonsense, his voice would say into the night. He's a strong boy.
Toga, help me. Our son is dying.
Nonsense, he would kiss her in her dreams. He's a strong man.
Toga, help me. Our son is dying.
Nonsense, he would run his fingers through her hair. She's coming back.
When they got to the well, Izayoi thought she was dreaming.
"I'm back, everyone!"
Kagome.
Without a moment's hesitation, she ran to the girl, hugging her tightly. Izayoi's eyes were stinging; it felt like her own child had returned to her.
Looking at her son's happy, peaceful face, she felt the Unmother's gentle touch on her soul—a sign.
It's over, Izayoi.
Love overcame time, and Izayoi was just overcome.
They spent the day in her hut, basking in each other's company just like they used to. Kaede and Rin dropped by, too, and another wave of gratefulness washed over Izayoi at the sight of her reunited family.
Kagome told them everything about her three years away, but Izayoi wasn't paying attention to her words. She was concentrated on watching the way her hands sought Inuyasha's arm to gently brush it, how she leaned into him, how his ears were completely turned in her direction.
At night, after everyone had left, Inuyasha and Kagome said they were going for a walk.
The sight of the pair standing there was so moving to her, it must've showed on her face. Inuyasha frowned, gesturing for Kagome to go ahead.
He kneeled in front of Izayoi and touched her hand.
"Damn, you're freezing!" He took off his robe and put it over her shoulders. "Are you alright?"
Izayoi took in his handsome face, his knitted eyebrows, the strong set of his jaw.
"Perfect," she murmured, kissing his cheek. "Go."
Inuyasha's eyes grew distant as they looked into hers. He shivered.
"Wait, I—"
She gave him another kiss. "Kagome is waiting, Inuyasha. Go to her."
The tension slowly left his body. He smiled, and it felt like closure.
Izayoi waited until she couldn't hear their footsteps, then moved to sit by the door. Looking up at the star-filled sky, she tightened the robe around her.
This life would have suited you, dearest. You were always more loving than I.
Love had been put into each new technique Inuyasha mastered with Tetsusaiga; in Kagome's yellow backpack, in the gifts she brought from her era. It had been in Sango's desperate attempts to save her brother, in Kikyo's passing; even in Naraku's heart. It had been in Miroku's eyes when he first saw his children, and in his naming one of them Izayoi. It had driven Inuyasha every three days to the well.
Love was inside this tiny hut, where a family of misfits found sanctuary.
Thank you, she told the Unmother.
Izayoi was returning to peace, and the other souls were coming, too.
Snuggled into the fire-rat robe, she fell asleep knowing Inuyasha's life was going the way it should:
On.
A/N: So, this was all about Izayoi and Inuyasha… but she did hear Toga's voice (and thought about him) all the time. I hope it counts! *sweats*