I do not own Inuyasha or its characters.

Sweet Summer Rain

Summary:
The night Inuyasha had finally claimed her, his fingers caressing her subtle flesh, his mouth swallowing her every sigh, and her every cry of pleasure, it had rained then, too.

Warm arms folded around her midsection; Inuyasha pulled her closer while he nuzzled her neck, his attentions wreaking havoc on her senses as he held her in the sweet summer rain. She still found it hard to believe that they were in this place together, that they'd survived the chaos their lives had once been.

They'd banded together, formed their own pack, each hoping for just one moment of normalcy, one semblance of life that didn't hurt or scar, bleed or break. The struggle to survive had consumed them, each fighting to live, each trying to soothe their wounds and stem the flow of blood and hate so many others had caused.

So much had changed since their battle with Naraku. Now dead and gone, the half demon monster still found Kagome in her dreams, still managed to haunt her happiness with visions better left forgotten in a past better left dead. But even as those thoughts filtered through Kagome's mind, brighter ones flared to life to replace them.

There were many moments that had shaped her... so many, in fact, that it was hard to name them all, harder still to weed through the clutter to find the ones that were prominent. Now, standing outside her home, the wind whipping through her hair, the rain wetting her skin, Kagome re-lived each precious memory.

The night Inuyasha had finally claimed her, his fingers caressing her subtle flesh, his mouth swallowing her every sigh, and her every cry of pleasure, it had rained then, too. He'd loved her long into the night, long before human traditions tied them together, and long after the rain had stopped falling. He'd been the love of her life, was still the love of her life.

Months later, when the snow began to fall, winter blowing in on the winds of change, Kagome discovered she was pregnant. They'd been standing in the same place when she'd told Inuyasha that they were to be parents. They'd laughed and cried together in the midst of a blizzard, clinging to each other as the snow swirled around them. Their excitement had been contagious; Shippo's green eyes had widened in amazement and joy when they'd shared the news.

Within weeks that same amazement brought smiles to their faces again when Shippo pressed his tiny paws tenderly against her growing stomach. Emerald eyes blinked in owl-like in fascination at her midsection when the baby stirred within her womb. She could still remember how Inuyasha's golden eyes glowed with pride as their adopted son spoke his first words to his unborn sibling. "Don't worry, little one. I'll protect you..."

That spring, while flowers were blooming and animals were frolicking, Sango, too, announced the coming of another babe. Miroku looked on, a brilliant smile upon his face, his hands folded in silence as he beheld the beauty of life beginning anew within the woman of his heart.

With summer came the delivery of their precious baby girl, her cries swallowed within a roll of thunder, her first tears soothed in the falling summer rain. They'd been traveling when Kagome's pains started, an early labor to mark her new babe's impatience. So much like Inuyasha, Tomoe had not only inherited the hanyou's dislike for waiting, but also his gleaming fangs and golden eyes. Raven black hair and pale white skin were the mark of Kagome's influence, but there was no denying that Tomoe was her father's daughter.

In the years that followed, Shippo taught Tomoe to cover her tummy in the midst of thunder storms; Raiden-sama, the kitsune repeated from stories told by village mothers, would snack on children's tummies. But not his little sister's, Shippo had promised, because he was a great demon, like their father was, and not even Raiden-sama would dare trespass into their home to steal such a lovely little sister.

And now, wrapped in Inuyasha's embrace, Kagome smiled. Even in chaos, the dust would eventually clear; the storm would wash everything away leaving the land fresh and clean.

And just like that storm so many years before, Kagome turned to her husband to tell him, again, that he was to be a father. And with Shippo faithfully protecting their little girl, Kagome sank into Inuyasha's kiss. There was no storm greater than the firestorm he caused in her body and no amount of rain that could cool the love she held for her half demon lover.

This one shot was written for and posted to live journal May 2, 2010.

I am working on Deserted, lol. I am terribly sorry about the wait, but the resulting complications from so many weather changes has left me with an undying amount of pain that makes focusing on writing extremely difficult. Please forgive me… I have the chapter started and typed out- I'm just a bit delayed is all.

I also wanted to thank psycochick32, LordRandallsLady, and Possessed for their nominations and seconds at the IYFG.

Deserted was nominated Best Romance Inu/Kag and Unspoken was nominated Best Poem. Cross your fingers for me during the voting stage, lol; they are up against some wonderful pieces.