Fire danced and licked around the hut, the shadows and silhouettes owning the small space. Outside, it had began as a light sprinkling of the land outside, but eventually the skies open and emptied its load on the village; as if it were crying. The downcast [mood] seemed to fight its way into the confining quarters of the hut, as five people scattered within all cast their eyes towards two figures nearest the fire.

A monk, seeded with a great desire to just be of some assistance, as that was his life's calling to do. But he could do nothing but stare at his hands. Useless. What did the Gods put him on this land to do, if nothing was all he could do. Sensing the houshi's inner turmoil at the events unfolding in front of them, the taijiya reached out and grabbed her husband's hand, lending him her strength. Miroku glanced back at Sango, and tightened the grasp on her hands. He searched her eyes, finding the understanding that he needed. She titled her head to the side and nodded, trying to broadcast as much comfort as she could in her stare.

A little fox youkai sat staring from the corners of the hut, eyes rimmed in red and swollen in grief and his heart lurching forward at the possibilities that lay at hand. He tried to be brave. He tried to be silent, his sobs probably not helping a soul. He couldn't' help it. Yet still, he tried.

Where the fire's flames were the warmest, laid a miko. The customary glow that followed her pure spirit was now dulled and willowy. Her head cradled within the lap and circled within the arms of a hanyou, her husband.

"InuYasha..." Kaede softly called out and looked up directly at the inu-youkai, who was bent over, face buried in the exposed expanse of Kagome's chilled neck. "I have managed to stop the bleeding, but I fear that with the amount of blood she lost and the amount of poison she took into her..."

InuYasha snapped his head up, a low grumble started within him and a menacing dark, yet lost glaze captured his eyes. He was daring Kaede to finish her statement. Kaede managed to ignore the anger in his hot glare, straightened her spine and continue to pinpoint her stare directly at him. The edges of her eyes softened a bit at him and she reached out to put a weathered hand his slumped shoulder. "Prepare yourself, child." She hesitated, but after a moment continued. "I fear Kagome may not make it but a handful of days more. The poison has attacked her spiritual center as well as her body. And as strong spiritually as Kagome is....She is fighting InuYasha. Yet, there is only so much she ca.."

InuYasha felt his heart crumble. The pain was so unbearable that the howl in his soul, couldn't be quieted. He glanced down at the women he held in his arms. Even as close to death as she was, her beauty was flawless. She was so strong, everything his strength held for him physically she was everything and more, spiritually. His Kagome.

***

She sacrificed herself for him. As she did time and time again. For him. Without Kagome he felt incomplete, lowly and unworthy of her love, yet she offered it without complaint of what she'd sacrificed, what she's let go for the gift of his love. Gift. Feh. What gift, what honor was it for her to cherish and [sacrifice] for his love when he'd let her down. He'd sworn with his very life force that he would always protect her, never let harm come to her. Catch her with his love and might. Yet he was the one left standing, when she had fallen.

He searched his mind. Searched for any other possible outcome, something, anything he could have done differently. I should have locked her in the shed, strapped her to the floor. How could I have let her leave the house? Why didn't I get Miroku or Sango to go with her? Why...why....why...

Fate would allow this to happen on the night of the new moon. Kagome, with her spiritual powers growing more powerful by each sun fall, had sense danger approaching the village. Youkai. As she gathered her bow and her quiver, she commented "I think its very strange for youkai to appear, it has been months since an attack...."

Suddenly, another village appeared in their doorway, confirming her sensing of the aura. "Lord InuYasha. Lady Kagome. There has been an attack on a nearby village and they have warned us that it is fast approaching our village." Her duty called her to the outskirts of the village where the youkai's aura poisoned the air. Quietly, with no fear in her eyes, calm surrounding her, she urged her husband to stay inside.

"You know very well what night it is. I won't have you putting yourself in danger's way." As she made her way to the door, she felt him speed across their home, then him grabbing her around the waist. "You mean to go off and fight without me. I won't allow that Kagome." She turned to look at him, her eyes blinking from determined to understanding. She understood that he was still fueled by a desire to protect her. And she, one any other night would have more than welcome him standing at her side. But there was no way she would involve him. It was her turn to protect him. In the only way she could. She reached up and kissed the underside of his chin, running her other hand down the arm that was wrapped around her.

She quelled his request to face the danger himself. She touched him, if only for a second, with all the love she held within her, spoke of that love and demanded that if he loved her in return, he would stay hidden away in their hut. And with that she left.

"I'll be damned if she thinks that gonna keep me in this hut while she fights" The hanyou raised from his crouched form on the floor, grabbed his sword and bounded for the door, "Its not what this bond is built on Kagome..."

Senses dulled, he had slight trouble catching her scent, but the instant he locked onto her sakura honey and mint scent, he took flight within the trees towards her. When he finally reached her, she and a handful of the villagers faced off with the youkai. The daemon thrashed wildly as the villagers pillaged it, pitchforks and garden swords as their weapons. Whipping around, the youkai attacked again, a green liquid spewing forward, a spike like figure shooting across the distance.

The villagers dodge out of the way of the speeding object. Kagome realzing its mark too late, was made its target, as the spike hit her in the shoulder. As soon as the spike hit, pain burned its way up and down Kagome's side. More surprised by the shock of auric pain than physical pain, Kagome collapsed onto her knees, her eyes violent as she reached up to grab the only exposed skin that burned with each breath she took. Suddenly the youkai stopped moving, seemingly running out of energy. After several seconds of stillness, Kagome worked against the stinging to stand back up, trying to take advantage of the youkai's [stillness] . She reached within her quiver, strung a bow. Her body reacted to her aura, her body hummed with a tinted light and violently lifting her tresses from her back to seemingly shoot straight up into winds.

"Die..." The miko let go of the hilt of the arrow and the world seems to come to a halt as the arrow broke the air, steady and true towards the youkai. The arrow hit its mark and furrowed deeply within the center of the youkai. A shriek that erupted from the youkai as he fell, caused many to throw their hands over their ears, but as it hit the ground, nothing but relief washed over. No longer able to ignore the burn of the small wound, she tossed her longbow to the wayside as she winced and cried out.

He had wanted to drop down from his hiding place in the trees the moment he saw her injured but when she quickly recovered he laid quiet in the shadows. But the moment the demon fell, InuYasha leaped down from the trees, his cape of dark hair following his wake. He reached his miko's side in a matter of seconds, wrapping his arms around her. Taken back by his sudden appearance at her side, Kagome looked up at InuYasha, slight worry flashing across her brow and tinged anger sparking in her eyes. Luckily the pain has began to subside, as her quiet fury rose.

She backed out of his embrace, and pinpointed him with her stare. "You never listen, you stubborn stubborn MAN! You were to stay home!". She had to prevent herself from stomping her feet in frustration, but she had no doubt her injury would have protested to that notion anyways. "If the shoe was on the other foot, and I had done this, you'd be furious! You...."

"Shut your squabbling, woman."

And with that he silenced the flow of heated words that left her lips and buried his face in the hitch of her neck and inhaled. He pulled her back into his embrace, sliding his arms to her waist and circling her there. He smelled no blood, sense no harm had come to her, so she could pitch a tantrum unfit for the Gods for all he cared. She was safe. And he was taking her home.

He placed both hands on either side of her face, albeit it all the while it was still twisted in her anger for him. He kissed her heated brow, nuzzled her affectionately and let his hands drop as she sighed a breath of acceptance. She tilted her head sideways and the hint of a smirk teased her lips.

"You'll pay for this, koi. Trust me." She winked at him and with a small noise of determination, she then turned back to the youkai.

The villagers had surrounded the beast who had long fallen and made a path for Kagome to fully purify the youkai. She calmly removed herself from InuYasha's side and, head raised, approached the oni. She reached back to hilt another arrow when she realized that it was behind here where InuYasha stood. She looked over the shoulder where her stubborn husband stood and called out to him to bring her bow and watched him reach for it.

Something spiritually flashed across Kagome's eyes as InuYasha reached for the bow. As soon as her aura alerted her to the movement, the seemingly dead youkai suddenly raised one of his tentacle-esque limbs and buried it into the ground. Dumbfounded as to why she couldn't sense the youkai still alive, she sense the trajectory of the tentacle. Her eyes grew in horror as she saw that it was headed for InuYasha. The world slow, the words were trapped in her throat, and she turned and ran for her husband.

His senses still dulled by the new moon's affects on his bloodline, InuYasha couldn't sense the path of tentacle. He unsheathed an untransformed Tessiaga and lifted it to strike the youkai. His eyes darted left and right, his feet stilling trying to feel the vibrations the tentacle made as it coursed through the earth. A emotion he wasn't quite akin to feeling crept into his chest, anxiety, as he was totally lost as to where the tentacle would appear. But he didn't have long to feel the emotion as suddenly he saw the terrain break a few feet in front of him. In the next breath, he felt his body heaved out of the way as the sharpened point of the tentacle knocked the Tessiaga out of his hands, whipped past his head....

and straight into the side of Kagome.

The tentacle spiked through Kagome and drew back out of her. Slowly, but all to quickly he watched his angel fall to the earth, her hand reaching out to the sky. Reaching for the sky when she should have been reaching for him. His entire world caught in his chest and as quickly as he could get up turned around, bringing his blade down into the flesh of the youkai's appendage. Gashing deep into the youkai's arm, he raised Tessiaga up again and with the next blow, severed the tentacle. With wide feral eyes, he watched the detached flesh wither until its movements ceased.

InuYasha tore into the air, whipping his body down and shaking his head in disbelief. He dropped to his knees and roared out to Kagome, tearing his suikan off his shoulders and brining it to the wound at her side. He noticed that she was shaking. Out of fear...pain. He couldn't tell by looking into her despondent chocolate eyes that had darkened.

He couldn't control his anger. Anger with himself but directed towards his wife.

"W-W..Why would...stupid WOMAN! Why would you...why did you do that?!" He gasped out harshly. He clutched her closer to him, tucking her under his chin. He was mindful in fact of her injuries but dually just wanted to hold her; hold her until she didn't hurt anymore. He cursed his dulled sense, his inability to help her. The salty fragrant wafting through the air, surprised him none. He knew his miko was crying as she continued to tremble with pain.

Quietly, through labored breaths, she reached out for him, grabbed his dark sidelock and closed the gap between his face and hers. "What would you have had me do differently, husband, if it were you in my place?" He understood what she meant, understood her words, but in the same breath didn't want to. Then as she reached again, with the pad of her thumb, silently wiped away a tear that scorched a path down his fevered cheek. She then whispered words he didn't knew she knew, words in a language that he had long separated himself from, words that only he and his kinds would know of.

She whispered in Inu that she loved him. Then she went faint.

InuYasha tipped his head back and howled her name into the night. Tangible panic ripped throughout his body, and his heart slammed within his ribcage. Without a seconds further hesitation, he gathered her into his arms and bounded back towards their hut. He could hear the villagers behind him, calling out to him, he all but ignored them as he just continued to run. The greenery and vegetation nipped and tore at his skin as he traveled through the thick bowels of the forest, but he didn't care. He continue his pursuit onwards. At that very moment, he cursed his human blood after what had seemed like a long period of peace with that side of him. He found anger with it once again, for what would have been a flash in time, turned into a seemingly distant trek back to his home.

Reaching his destination, ignoring the pain of exertion from his sprint, he tore down the door mat in his fury to get inside. He gently laid her on their futon in the corner, pressing a kiss against flush forehead. He peeled the red suikan from her side and tossed it over his shoulder. He, then tore at the sash that held her top together, careful not to anger her wound. Her hadagi was soaked through, crimson spreading wildly on her left side. She was bleeding all over the place, all over him. He lifted his own kosode off his back and over his head, ripping it into smaller elongated tears, carefully but swiftly, wrapping them around the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. But it wasn't working. The bleeding wasn't stopping......she wasn't waking up.

His humans ears caught the sounds of someone approaching behind him and he snapped around to find Kaede. The villagers who weren't far behind InuYasha, notified the healer of the miko's condition and she made haste to the hut. She approached Kagome, quickly assessing the situation and she grabbed a root and a small circular dish from the basket she held over her arm. She grabbed the pail of water, sitting not too far from the futon that Kagome rested, and quickly dipped the ladle, pouring the water into the dish. Kneeling to Kagome's side, she then laid the root down onto the saucer and with her hands, compressed the root. The root slightly disintegrated, and after several moments of grounding with her hands, a paste of dank greens and softened bark chips had formed. Removing the blood drenched tattered strips of InuYasha's kosode, she applied to the paste of the root over the sizable gash at Kagome's side. Taking a gallant sniff into the air, the older woman shot a cursory glance downward before lifting her head

She then turned to InuYasha, trying to hide the gravity of the situation from her eyes. With only his pants clothing him, Kaede tugged at the hem of his hakama, beckoning him back down to Kagome's bedside. Taking his hand she placed it over the paste mixture and the wound, which seemed to be controlling some of the bleeding. "Hold it there child. I cannot prepare more of these herbs and contain the bleeding at the same time." Quickly standing she tore out of the hut as fast as her aged bones could carry her. InuYasha gazed down at the wound he held his hand against. He gazed locked on to his hands.

Human and claw less. Worthless. How could she accept these humans hands when they were useless in protecting her? How could she accept him, when he failed her so emphatically? Were his senses that inept that he couldn't sense the youkai's presence? So expendable that his only use that night was to put his very heart in harm's way when his only reason to grace her presence was to protect and love her? He was going to lose her, and had no soul on this very earth to blame but himself.

***

Kagome blinked slowly, unaware of her surroundings and how long she had been out. She was surrounded by black and couldn't see as far as the hand in front of her face. She shot awake, realization dawning on her. The de ja vu of the whole situation causing her breath to stall in her chest. The eerie blackness of the situation reminded her of one thing, her time spent inside the shikon no tama.

But she knew that she couldn't possibly be trapped there again. The jewel had been destroyed for years and no story of it reappearing had surfaced. So if I'm not there, where am I?

She lifted herself from her prone sitting position, carefully as she had no idea where she was or what surrounded her. She called out into the darkness waiting for a reply, but all she heard was her voice echoing over and over again, drifting in and out around her. Completely taken back by what was going on, she screamed until she was hoarse, until her head started to throb. She finally gave up, seeing as no one could hear her, no one could save her. No one. Where was she. Why was she here.

An idea sparked in her head and she almost rolled her eyes at not thinking of it before. She held her hands out in front of her, clasping them together. She concentrated her energy and instantly the power spiraled down her arms and centered on her arms, causing them to tint with her spiritual power.

As if brought to life by her spiritual aura, the area surrounded her came to light, brightening to a blinding white. Surprised, she stopped the energy flowing from her core, hoping the the light when dim itself. But it didn't, it stayed bright. After a few moments, she cracked her eyelids, gradually allowing her eyes to adjust to the light. Blinking twice, she noticed that there was a figure standing directly in front of her., She tried to focus on the person, and she bit back the temptation to shout in fright at recognizing who the figure was.

"KIKYO?"

She heard the figure snort, throwing her hands into the air. Kagome blinked again, and suddenly the figure was directly in front of her, so close that she could see a mist like steam leave her lips every time she breathed.

"Do I look like Kikyo to you? Or do I look like you, baka?". Kagome backed up a step so she could fully focus. This woman in front of her wasn't Kikyo, no not at all. With the second glance, what she had mistaken for "Kikyo" pulled back hair, was actually cropped hair that stopped just below the woman's chin. She then realized that the reason she mistook the woman for Kikyo was that she bore a strong resemblance to Kikyo...which in turned meant she bore a strong resemblance to..

"I'm you, idiot." The woman then parted the heavy robes she wore to reveal the scar that Kagome recognized instantly.

Kagome gasped. Was she losing it? What was going on?

"Where the hell am I? Am I dead? I'm dead, aren't I". Kagome started to feel faint. Would she never see her family again?

The figure rolled her eyes, then holding up one finger to signal to Kagome that she wanted her to be quiet. "No. Not hell. Not heaven, either. Not anywhere really."

The figure took this time to tap lightly on the miko's forehead. "We are in your head. You're not really "here" so to say. But you have descended into the recesses of your mind. And I'm here to help you find a way out. Before you REALLY die." The figure held still for a moment to let the idea sink into Kagome's head. When Kagome continued to look forward but said nothing, the woman continued.

"Since you seem to be in some sort of, shock, I'll continue, yes?" She rounded Kagome once, finally landing in front of her again. " Do you know why you are here, Kagome?" Kagome managed a shake of her her head, her hands itching to bury themselves in her hair and pull. "I'll take that as a no. You are here because your body is dying. Your soul...me...sent you here. To reserve ourselves, to lend our physical body as much power as we can. And in order to do that, we had to separate your mind from you body. You can't very well concentrate if your mind actually felt how much pain your body is in."

"My body is dying..." and as soon as the words left her lips, the memory of what happened flooded her mind. The new moon, the meadow, the youkai, InuYasha....the tentacle.

Kagome looked back up when the figure placed her hand on the miko's shoulder. "Sit Kagome. You must spend time concentrating on getting well." Kagome looked lost, looking down at her hands.

"The process is really simple. Concentrate on why you need...why you want to live. Your powers will do the rest." Kagome's soul walked to her side, taking a seat on the empty white floor, motioning for Kagome to do the same. As she joined her on the ground, the woman turned to the miko and gingerly asked. "So. Tell me why you don't want to die...."

*****

Time passed very slowly for the hanyou, which held duality for the hanyou. Kaede had for casted a very small window of time for Kagome's life. So the fact that time felt like it'd come to standstill allowed him more time just in her presence.. Kagome still unconscious from the loss of blood, had whimpered in pain for what seemed like hours, her pain lasting throughout the stillness in her mind. Miroku and Sango had bounded into the hut the moment they got word of Kagome's state. Sango had loomed closely to InuYasha's side, seemingly wanting to reach out to Kagome, but withdrew.

"She looks so fragile..." Sango's broken voice beckoned her husband to her side, gently lifting his wife and wrapping gentle comforting arms around her.

Kaede soon rejoined the group of people in the small hut, carrying with her now fresh bandages and what appeared to be a small vial of liquid. Rin followed Kaede, lugging a bigger basket of medicinal herbs. On Rin's shoulder crouched a very troubled and worried Shippou in tow. Shippou hopped to the ground and bounded for Kagome but a steely glance from Kaede halted his process. So Shippou quietly whimpered in sorrow as Kaede continued her care of Kagome.

Something caused InuYasha breath to catch again, and as he felt his center pulse. He then realized that dawn had approached. Slowly lifting his eyes from Kagome's form he looked past the fire pit and through the window. Light filtered through the cloth covering and into the hut. InuYasha's core pulsed again and he lowered his lids as he felt himself transform. Opening his eyes again, he glanced at his hand. Youkai and clawed. He felt his jyaki flowing from him, his senses sharpening and the dynamism of his heritage mushrooming within him. He bit back a sigh but didn't fight the rumble that seeped from his center. He had regained his power, and his eyes yet again locked onto Kagome's frame, powerless.

As they watched the miko rest, they'd learn from the older healer that while the gash at Kagome's side wasn't as deep as determined, it was still a very serious wound. In conjunction, the oni tentacles contained a seemingly baleful and poisonous venom, and a antidote wasn't readily known in the village. Kaede sent out four messengers to neighboring villages for a knowledgeable cure for the oni's poison. For all their troubles, all they could do as wait.

True to her word, the healer had been right about Kagome's spiritual powers. The miko's aura seemed to scream, as it battled with the poison. Every time her aura seemed to fade, it would regain its strength bursting forth with light that touched every corner of the hut, then fade down to its normal brilliance. Kaede had given Kagome a sedative, in hopes that without her soul concentrating on her consciousness, it could focus all of its energy back into fighting the poison. The real battle, however was InuYasha's rage. From the moment he regained his youkai blood, it had been all but impossible to keep him seated in the hut, where his wife needed him most. He wanted to help, and upon realizing there was nothing for him to do but wait, he grew incensed, yowling in frustration. After some time, he seemed to gather a sense of control, returning to his wife's side and not moving for hours.

Miroku and Sango had efficiently managed to run the small household in Kagome' ghostly absence. Sango prepared food for the hanyou and with Rin overseeing Kagome's wellbeing, bounded off to gather her own "litter" for dinner. Early in the evening, the houshi had succeeded in dragging InuYasha outside fearing that his gaze being fixated on Kagome's listless figure for hours on end, could not be healthy for InuYasha, physically or mentally. His spirit hinted at damaged and the houshi made it his business to tend to InuYasha. For once in his entire friendship with the hanyou, the houshi did not have to physically best InuYasha. Without much force he managed to dislocate InuYasha from Kagome side and get him down to the river, for he was still covered in Kagome's blood.

The hanyou sat upon the freezing current of the river, ensconced on a small boulder, his feet dangling off the side and into the water. Not really feeling anything, really, but quiet panic and deep seeded frustration. He was fighting a monster he couldn't' slay with his own hands, a foe that seemed unbeatable. Kagome was his very existence and he hadn't the first step what to do without her. If he had a clue, one inkling of an idea, he'd do it without hesitation. He'd give her his very next breath if that's all it required for her to wake up. For her to be okay. The messengers still weren't' back, and he battled with the idea to visit the villages himself, but feared to leave his miko's side.

He peered down at the fish swimming around and away from his feet. Away. The fish left his side and swam upstream. Away. The word caused him pause, caused his mind to breech a time when Kagome had been snatched from him before. His soul lurched at the notion that she could be snatched away again. There hadn't been enough time shared with him. This isn't the eternity he was speaking off, the eternity he he promised to her. He looked around, wild eyed and panicked. In one swift movement, he jumped to his feet, disregarding his undressed state of just his fundoshi, and nothing else. He searched the elusive air for resolution, trying to snatch a solution with his claw, lashing through the wind.

When the unyielding air held no answer, a primitive unbroken growl broke his countenance, his lip peeled back over his fangs. The anger from the sound caught Miroku's ear, who had his back slightly turned from InuYasha as he washed the blood out of his suikan and hakama pants. Laying the clothes back to the ground and turning without words, the houshi lifted the hem of his robes and walked towards the embankment of the river. Ignoring the cold sting of the freezing water, Miroku slowly stepped through the churning currents to reach the boulder his friend had marooned himself on.

"InuYasha, my dear friends, now isn't the time to do this to yourself,"

InuYasha in his crazed state, whipped around to stare Miroku face on, ready to take his frustrations out of the him. Intensifying his growl, InuYasha rapidly reach across himself and out, his fist connecting with the Miroku's unprotected cheek. Falling backwards off the rock and into the river current, Miroku looked silently back up at InuYasha, his hand rubbing the quickly bruising skin at his cheek. Miroku inhaled a cautious yet calm breath, bringing his hands down to his side and pushed himself back up. Slow to anger, the houshi continued.

"This situation, with Kagome-same, wasn't of your doing. I need for you to understan.." Miroku speech was interrupted mid sentence as another punch snapped his head backwards. He again landed in the shallow banks of the river; his head falling completely back, it briefly dunking under the water and back up again.

"Who the fuck are you to tell me this isn't my doing? You weren't there, idiot! Were you?" The hanyou barked his words out, his face mere inches from Miroku. "NO. Not a single FUCKING one of us was there for her. NO ONE. NOT. EVEN. ME!"

At InuYasha's outburst, Miroku suddenly lifted himself of the water a second time and drew his own arm back. With his palm wide, mushed InuYasha's face backwards. The hanyou's steps faltered on the slippery slope of the boulder and his unreadiness to receive any kind of blow, caused InuYasha to plunk into the riverbed.

He stood over InuYasha, a indeterminable look on his countenance. "As I was saying. This isn't the InuYasha I know," Miroku kept his eye on the hanyou for any sudden movements from his lowered position. "The hanyou I know would be strong and fearless for Kagome. Not wallowing in this hell of self loathing or allowing your anger to get the best of you." Miroku crossed his arms as he continued to peer down at his fallen friend

"It is true, InuYasha, you were human that night. What you fail to realize is, quite simply. That is who you are. I need you to understand that you could no more control last night's events then you could control the moon."

With that he sunk down and placed a hand on InuYasha's shoulder, to which InuYasha sharply pulled away. Unruffled by the hanyou's angry action, Miroku lowered his eyes, and with his expression sober and intense, he simply said a prayer for InuYasha. When he was done, he nodded at the hanyou's look of surprise, who was taken aback at the action of his friend. He walked away from the boulder and towards the shore, reminding InuYasha of his clothes. To which InuYasha remembered his undressed state and with quick footwork, he stepped towards the bank of the river, and his freshly washed clothes. As Miroku reached the edge of the forest ahead of InuYasha, he once again called out to his friend ."You have a son to think about."

*****

Kagome lowered her gaze to ground past the fingers she had been studying. It was a simple enough question to answer. Why don't I want to die. Simple. No one wants to die until they are ready. I haven't spent enough time with my family. Lifetime, eternity...those were the words Inuyasha and I promised each other. Then there is my son. Akihiko.

Kagome never figured herself to be the mothering type. Her mother of course, was the best mother a woman could ask for. Sweet temperament and endless amounts of love for her and Souta. Even after their father died, her mother remained sweet, hiding her own grief from them, so that they had someone strong to lean on. But shortly after Kagome's return to this era, and even shorter after her eventful union to InuYasha, she became pregnant. She'd never been so frightened in her life.

She'd assisted Kaede on numerous child birth's in her miko training, but it was now HER turn. How safe would it be, how hard and painful. And even afterwards, how good of a mother would she be? That scared her more than anything in the world. Not even her staring Naruku face to face had chilled her bones as much as the thought of being a terrible mother. No knowing what to do or what to say to this small person who depended solely on her and her husband.

But the moment Akihiko was born, all questions flew out the window.

"Love the Child, and that's all they'll ever need" She remember fondly someone whispering that to her as they placed her little boy in her arms.

Kagome looked back at her soul, who was patiently waiting for an answer, giving her time to figure it out for herself. "My family. My husband and my child. They are the reasons I live and they are the reasons I don't want to die".

"Good. That's all you need. A single point of concentration. Concentrate on that, concentrate on the love, for it is one of the strongest emotions we have as humans. Use it to heal yourself."

With that Kagome closed her eyes and smiled as thoughts of her loving hanyou and beautiful child flowed throughout her mind.

****

"Akihiko...." InuYasha's face fell again. His steps seemed to be faltering with every footfall he made. Earnestly he accepted Miroku's words and subsequently his "punishment". He needed someone to figuratively slap the hell out of him, and instead he received a literal grant to his wish. Miroku was right. He was a lot stronger than this and needed to be strong for Kagome...and his son.

Akihiko. He felt the traces of the first genuine smile grace his lips, for what seemingly felt like years. His seed, his son. The true definition of his love for and with Kagome, manifested in the pup. He would be seven in the fall, although he still looked to be nothing more than five, barley coming up to InuYasha's knee. Short enough to stay out of most troubles, but tall enough to cause problems for his father.. For little Akihiko loved to wrap himself around the strong legs of his hanyou father whenever he returned from hunt or a youkai extermination.

He fondly remembered the first time he looked down into his son's face. He wasn't expecting the pup to look like him, as he would only have one quarter youkai blood within him. It didn't matter. He could come out completely human and that wouldn't have bothered InuYasha's. Sesshomaru, yes. But never InuYasha. The pride that he felt, flowed within and without him as he glanced down at his son for the first time, it's brightness figuratively radiating in their small home. Akihiko didn't have his father's eyes, instead those of Kagome. What surprised him the most was they also ghosted in appearance to Izayoi's, the eyes of his mother. Dark tresses hinted with silvery highlight framed the top of his head and nestled in those locks where two inu ears, dusted in the same midnight silvery coloring.

In regards to this current situation, InuYasha reckoned himself a lucky man. Akihiko had spent the summer in the Western Lands with his uncle. The relations between him and his older brother had improved slightly, which could probably be contributed to little Akihiko's birth. Almost akin to the type of relationship they once possessed 50 years ago, before he was bound to that tree. One of unforced civility and blood bond. Nothing less and certainly nothing more. The young pup had the great Inu Tashio's blood and for that much, Sesshomaru had decided to do with Akihiko what he didn't do with InuYasha. Instill in him the history and heritage for the Inu. He'd had taken Akihiko every summer since his first year to the Western Lands. One couldn't be quite sure what exactly they did. Sesshomaru wasn't one to explain himself, but the boy has not once complained and a excited smile always graced his countenance once he returned to the arms of his parents.

Soon Sesshomaru once stated, it would be time to turn the pup's training back over to InuYasha, for his father should be the to teach him to hunt and gather.

With those thoughts of his son gracing his memory, InuYasha cracked his knuckles and stood his full height, his back straight and his head tipped up in slight determination. There was no other way. He would be there to comfort his wife, find a way to save the mother of his child, his love, his life. His Kagome had sacrificed herself for his sake and now he needed to find a way to restrengthen his bond to always protect her. Just in a way he wasn't completely sure of. Self pity was not a trait InuYasha was accustomed to and it made not a shard of sense that he would decide now was the appropriate time for him to wallow in despair. So he made his way back to the village, back to her side, strong and true. To be what she needed and always desired from her Inu.