-

Children

By Zeldagurl

Authors note: Alrighty, so guess what? I got a computer! Just for me! Which I can use to continue writing wonderful fickies for you guys. Now, granted I don't have Microsoft word, and only have WordPad, the punctuation won't be as good (If it ever was) as my previous fic's. That's why I'm seriously thinking about enlisting the help of a Beta reader. If you aren't interested in the job please skip this, (If you'd like) and go ahead onto the story, I'll say any thoughts on the story at the end of the story. Heh heh...

-

I don't get on the internet very often, and correspondence will be absolutely slow unless you're on, like, all day. I usually get on the internet in blocks consisting of an hour.

Also, I don't need a yes man (or woman). If an idea in one of my stories don't make sense, or doesn't work, then please let me know; and suggest what you think would make more sense. I'm not Inuyasha; I won't bite your head off for just suggesting.

There's probably more, but it's too late at night to try and remember. So cheers!

Disclaimer: Inuyasha doesn't belong to me, if he did, Kagome would look suspiciously similar to me. (Sigh) Oh well.

(SPOILER WARNING) This is a reaction to movie four, so if you haven't seen it, then I don't suggest you read this. If you do, then it's your fault if you spoil your Inu movie watching experience. (I always ruin mine… Sigh… Stupid movie summaries…)

(Begin)

It was quiet after all of the children left... Kagome missed them already. It was hard to deal with the return of the mature adult silence that they had been used to before they had met any of the little half-demon children from Horai Island.

Her lips twitched into a small smile at the thought of little Ai's sweet grin. She missed her, as well as all of the other children. Being with them gave her a glimpse of what being a mother was like. Like

Leading them to safety, holding them when they were upset, and laughing at their clownish antics when they felt so inclined to perform. Mothering Shippou was nothing compared to handling a gang of 6 kids. Although after they had returned to the village to let the group rest for a while before heading back on their journey, Kaede had been a huge, huge help.

Even if they had decided to continue on, they would've had to return to the village anyway since Inuyasha had collapsed just as they were heading away from the beach across from the island. And Kagome, with good experience with Inuyasha's way of thinking, ignored his claims that he was just a little tired and that they didn't need to return to the village. Kagome definitely knew better than to let him shrug his way out of this one.

Kaede, Sango and Miroku had watched the kids for the first day, while Kagome had sat tirelessly at Inuyasha's side; taking care of him, as he slept away the strain of the past few days fighting the four war gods. And as he woke up and found his bearings, he gave Kagome a look that no one could understand but her, as if silently thanking the young miko.

But now, they had all gone their separate ways, and both groups could only hope that someday they would all meet again, if the world was kind.

"What's with you?" Inuyasha's gruff voice jerked her out of her reverie, probably noticing the small wistful smile on her face. She looked over to him, meeting his eyes plainly and truthfully.

With a glance behind her, she noted that Sango, Miroku, Shippou and Kirara walked (and rode) more towards the back of herself and her half demon companion. Sango smiled back at her as she looked back, swatting her companion's wandering hand away with practiced ease. Shippou hung onto Miroku's shoulder, shaking his head at the monk's perverted actions. While Kirara sat serenely on Sango's shoulder, observing the scenery serenely, ignoring the whole ordeal.

"I was just thinking of the kids..." She breathed finally.

Inuyasha nodded his head slowly, already knowing which kids she was talking about. He guessed that it was normal for her to feel that way, even though they had really only spent a short time with the six children from Horai Island.

"Oh, so you miss em', huh?" He looked forward to the road ahead, slipping his clawed hands his haori sleeves and closing his eyes, knowing that Kagome would probably want to talk more about it. So, almost regretting that he had even asked her, he assumed his listening position.

"You know... you're not a bad father figure, once you get past the socking-on-the-head thing." She said offhandedly, throwing a glance his way to gauge his reaction. He opened his eyes and gave her a funny look, raising an eyebrow articulately. She grinned back at him, giggling to herself as he replaced the confused look with his usual grumpy-yet-thoughtful face.

"I guess..." He shrugged.

"Have you thought about having kids?' She asked curiously, diverting his attention back to the subject she wanted to inquire about.

He was silent for a moment, which didn't surprise her in the least. She waited patiently as he seemed to be carefully considering his answer.

Besides, she knew the answer would come, sooner or later. Inuyasha and she had passed the awkward conversation barrier long ago. So they could generally talk about most things comfortably as long as it didn't have much to do with Kouga or Kikyo. As soon as the conversation would start delving into those categories, both Inuyasha and Kagome would run out of things to say, for fear of saying too much about their own feelings to the other. Or at least that's how kagome saw it…

"Well..." He began.

"I thought about it just before kikyo died once or twice. Since then... I guess not really." He let out a breath, knowing that kagome wouldn't be too happy about the mentioning of kikyo in that particular subject; or most subjects, for that matter.

She smiled softly and looked down,

"Well, for me... I guess it's every girls dream to have kids. I guess I always thought of having a little girl, just like Ai."

Maybe she was just being weird, but it felt kind of strange to be talking about a child she wanted with the man she wanted to have it with. And it wasn't like he was going to take a hint from Miroku and fall to his knee's, clasping her hands in his; asking her if she would bear his child. Kagome sighed,

'Gee, I wish..."

But then, that wouldn't be something that the Inuyasha she knew and loved would even consider doing. But still, even if it would never happen, it was a nice thing to picture.

"I could see your kid being like that…" He said thoughtfully, looking down to avoid the probing look she sent him as she considered the comment.

She watched him for a moment, her eyes flickering with emotion until she too looked away, straightening the bottom of her blouse self-consciously. She grappled in her mind for something to say to soothe the harshness of the silence, but found almost nothing she could think of to say. So she bravely continued the conversation.

"So then you've given up on having kids then?" She looked at him expectantly as he looked up to respond to her question. He searched her face for a moment, as if trying to think of how to say it. His mouth was poised open and his eyebrows arranged in a thoughtful position, Kagome wanted to giggle at how cute it was, despite the still obvious tension between them.

"I never said that I wanted to give up." He said rebelliously, bucking against her earlier question with the internal ferocity he was known for.

"Alright, Alright… But saying that isn't enough. Plenty of people say that and then never even try."

Kagome pointed out, thinking of the way modern Japan was on the subject of kids. Everyone said that they wanted kids, but then avoided commitment, or shied away from responsibility. All of her friends said that they wanted to wait until they were older, and she didn't understand why.

The longer you waited to do such an important thing, the more you missed.

And from what Kagome had seen of people who had kids, they were much more jovial, and humble. And they were very unlike the stiff uptight people who often lived alone. Kagome was convinced that kids were therapeutic for the soul…

"I'm just waiting for the right time." Inuyasha said with a tone of finality, folding his arms once again in his haori sleeves and closing his eyes, calming himself in effect.

"Like when…?" She asked simply, pursuing the matter, even though she knew Inuyasha felt he was done speaking on the subject. He shot her a look clearly saying 'none-of yer-bussines', and she grinned at his grumpy resistance.

"When I figure out how to tell someone something" Kagome wrinkled her nose, not expecting the hanyou's dodgy reply. She frowned and looked on ahead of the road, noting the silence coming from the people behind them. She tossed a grin back at Sango, shrugging her shoulders and sighing in defeat at getting Inuyasha to slip up.

Eh… Oh well, maybe next time she could-

"When I'm ready, then hopefully me and this person will be able to have kids together." His voice interrupted her thoughts as she glanced over at the half demon.

"Oh well…" She shrugged.

"I hope you've got a good plan for this 'person' Inuyasha, for your sake if not for theirs…" She smiled at him, keeping her eyes on the approaching boundaries of the village they were now heading into.

"Eh, don't worry about it. I've got it covered…" He smiled at her softly, meeting her eyes with his as they shimmered in emotion she couldn't judge. She smiled back amidst a blush, caught in a gaze that she really couldn't bear to look away from.

They both looked away then, blushing at the eye contact and simultaneously ending the conversation.

Inuyasha sighed inwardly and looked to the sky…

'I've got it covered for you Kagome…' He thought.

'Believe me, I do.'

(End)

Authors note: Alright, I really don't think I did the end as well as I could have. It was a good idea when I thought of it, and then I confused things and stuff… This calls for more organization! (Authoress shivers in fear)

I hope you like it though… I worked until almost four in the morning to begin it and then came to the library to finish it (I love air conditioning, which we don't have at my house). I added a lot more detail too, and edited very carefully (Which means 'not very well'). But if anything escaped my attention, then please let me know.

I liked movie four, the fight scenes were amazing, and the kids were adorable (I can't remember any of the names except Ai). I was a little disappointed from the lack of Inuyasha Kagome squishiness. But they still got something in at the end. So I wasn't totally mad.

Have you ever noticed the the Inu-kag affection levels go down as the movies pass? In movie one, it was awesome, movie two awesome, movie three was so-so, and movie four was almost nonexistent. Eh… Oh well.

So anyway, as always, Fan art is accepted and reviews are very nice to receive, as you all very well know.

I'm soon going to be starting a chapter story called Dancing with the Devil; it's the World War II fanfic I was talking about. I'll have the first chapter up within a week or so. So please expect it! I'll also be working on the gardener after a little plot development time at home for those of you who like the fist chapter.

So anyway, thanks so much for reading! Stay cool, don't get bored, and review! That's all I have to say!

(Hides from all the bricks flying at her from all angles.)