Inuyasha was in his study when he realized that the loud laughter downstairs had stopped.
He crept towards the living room, an eyebrow raised. "Kagome?" he called. "Tai?"
Silence.
Poking his head around the doorway, his golden eyes instantly misted over with a suspiciously moist sheen, one side of his mouth lifting in a half-smile.
There on the floor lay his wife and 3-year-old son, fast asleep after their rousing game of tickle-tag. Tai was curled up in his mother's arms, one tiny hand clutching her sleeve tightly. His silver hair spilled into Kagome's raven locks, ebony and ivory mingling and enveloping the two in a pool of silk.
Inuyasha stood there watching them for a bit, his lips trembling slightly even as they curved up. Then he strode over and scooped Kagome (still holding Tai) up gently, cradling them in his arms.
Kagome's sooty eyelashes fluttered against her skin and she blinked, gazing sleepily up at Inuyasha as he placed the two in bed. "Hey, you," she whispered, choosing to nuzzle her nose against his chest instead of releasing her hold on Tai.
Inuyasha climbed into bed after his wife and kissed her forehead. "Go back to sleep, Kagome."
Kagome sighed, already dozing off. "Just...wanted to tell you...I love you...hubby." One eye opened in a mischievous wink on the last word.
"I...I love you too." Inuyasha hesitated, breathing in his mate and son's scents, drowning in the perfection of the moment.
Their moment.
Centuries later, he still couldn't believe he was living in such a beautiful world.
He couldn't believe he was living, period. But that thought brought back memories that he preferred to keep in the past, where they belonged.
The past, he thought, letting a solitary tear slip over his facade and down his face. After all we've been through...
Inuyasha wrapped an arm around his family and drifted off with an old, dry trail of tears adorning his cheeks.
We deserve this, don't we?
It was a question he had asked himself time and time again; a question that had troubled him for many years.
A question he finally knew the answer to.
A/N: Just an idea I needed to get out of my system. Reviews are appreciated! This turned out differently than I had hoped, but it's all gooood. I wanted to focus more on Tai, but I had 15 minutes to write this. - is a complete and utter spaz under pressure - The old, dry tears part I didn't like so much; I was hoping to convey that the past was brutal and angst-y, but know he has Kagome and Tai and he's doing great! I just took all the metaphorical meaning out of that sentence, didn't I? D: