A/N: Maistwin here. Ooh, I guess you thought I couldn't speak for myself, did you? Well I can! Take that, Rikana! Anyway, this chapter was written wayyyyy after we started writing this thing again. Like, eighteen chapters afterward. Anywho, because this was written so late, you'll notice it is significantly better than the next four chapters. That is because we wrote the next four chapters when we were eleven years old. Currently, it has been four years since then. Self-explanatory. If you enjoy this chapter, just hold out through the next ones. The writing will improve. Until then, enjoy the story! Oh, and ignore the coming chat speak. It will disappear. Ta ta! :D

"I'm frightened by what I see

But somehow, I know that there's much more to come

Immobilized by my fear

And soon to be blinded by tears

I can stop the pain, if I will it all away

If I will it all away..."

Whisper - Evanescence

Chapter I

Mating season.

The words had never meant anything to her before. It was what her mother had used to explain the strange behaviors of birds and dogs, when she was young. Never once did she think that those simple words would one day change every aspect of her life. She didn't know that she would fall in love with a hanyou dog demon, who, in turn, would fall under the spell of that very time—"mating season."

She had succumbed to Inuyasha just one day, to ease his pain. He had avoided her for so long, even she had begun to suffer. Kagome had assumed that nothing more could happen to them, after Naraku had fallen. She allowed Inuyasha to take her, only once.

It was because of mating season that she now found herself in agony, self-exiled from her friends, and the century she had called another home. The girl had long since made up her mind to give birth, alone.

Five years, she had told them. I'll come back in five years. And don't you dare come after me, Inuyasha.

Her mother had explained to her teachers that it had been rape—she told her school friends the same. That lie took some of the shock from her situation. She wouldn't attend classes while she worked through her "difficult time."

"Ojii-chan, will you get a bucket of water please?" Mrs. Higurashi worked swiftly by her bedside, doing what she could to prepare for the last stage of her daughter's labor. Kagome was thankful, though she could hardly think through her pain. Even so, she hadn't even considered going to a hospital. She hadn't once, even when she found out she was with child. If there was anything unnatural about her baby, she didn't want a doctor to know. The girl was convinced they would try to test on her, or try to terminate the pregnancy. She didn't want to take any chances.

Kagome could feel the child coming, as the pain increased. She cried out, grabbing her mom's hand tightly as she tried to get through it. "It hurts…a lot…" she moaned, looking at her mother weakly. The woman gave her a sympathetic look, and gently stroked the back of her hand.

"Be patient, dear," she said. "You have to be strong now."

It was dark outside; she could see that much from her window. There was no moon that night. Inuyasha would be human. Perhaps she saw some irony in that fact, before another wave of pain took her. She wondered, if he knew…would he have come to witness this?

Souta had somehow gotten into the room, and was now watching them with clear awe. Though Kagome would have preferred he didn't see, there was hardly much she could do about it now. She was in too much agony to care. "Is that…the baby?" she heard her brother ask. Shock was clear in his tone.

Kagome gasped softly, tightening her grip on her mother's hand. "Y-yeah, Souta," she groaned, giving him a forced smile. "T-that's…" She cried out again, pressing her other hand tight against her swollen belly.

Mrs. Higurashi released her hand for only a moment, no doubt going to shoo Souta from the room. However, it was in that moment that she felt the child leave her loins. With it came such a sensation of relief, she almost couldn't speak. She waited eagerly to hear the child cry, to announce its presence to the world. But there was silence.

Tears welled in her eyes, though she tried to convince herself that it meant nothing. As she watched, her mother cut the chord, and cleaned the baby gently. And yet, Mrs. Higurashi didn't once offer to let her daughter see her offspring. Her expression was far too sad for a woman who had just become a grandmother.

"W-well?" Kagome whispered. "W-what's wrong…?"

Mrs. Higurashi gazed at her with a look of sadness, as she held the silent newborn to her chest. "I'm so sorry, Kagome…" She wiped her eyes with one hand, as if attempting to hide her tears. "Your son…didn't make it."

Her eyes grew wide. The girl could feel her hands trembling, and the tears began to fall without pause. Dead. Inuyasha's son was dead. After all she had gone through to give birth to a healthy child, he hadn't lived to taken even one breath. Her despair struck her so deeply it actually began to pained her, the agony as intense as the birth. Then, she realized…

She was still in labor.

The girl pressed her hand to her belly once more, taking a stuttered breath as she slowly realized what was happening. "Okaa-san…" She gasped, looking up at her mother in disbelief. "A twin…he has a twin…"

"A twin?" Her mother looked at her with clear alarm—there was no way she had prepared for this. But the woman left the room swiftly, likely handing the stillborn child to its great-grandfather, who still stood close by. It would be easier on all of them if Kagome didn't have to see the child more than once. By the time Mrs. Higurashi sat again by her daughter's side, she was already far along in the next birth. The girl had begun to sob.

"Okaa-san, I can't do this…"

"Of course you can, dear. You're halfway there already." As heartbreaking as the situation truly was, her mother wouldn't let her give in. Mrs. Higurashi grasped Kagome's hand, continuing to stroke it lightly as she forced her way through it. Soon, a baby's cry sounded through the Higurashi household.

This one had lived.

She was almost too tired to hold the baby when her mother placed it in her arms, but the moment she felt the small child, she could feel her entire life take on new meaning. As she looked down at the bundle of cloths, her eyes still moist with tears, she felt that…everything would be ok.

The little girl had impressive lungs, for such a small child. Even as Kagome held her close, the child continued to squirm and wriggle against her mother's hold. However, the girl was so awed by her child's beauty, that the cry fell on deaf ears. Kagome ran her hand over the small, dog-like ears that sat atop the baby's head, almost hidden by the light hair that covered it. Yet it was her hair, not her ears, that took her mom by surprise. At first she thought Mrs. Higurashi had not cleaned all the blood from her head, giving her hair such an odd tint. But this wasn't the case. The child's hair was pale, almost white, but it also held the faintest tint of red—her hair was nearly pink.

"What are you going to name your daughter, Kagome?"

At first, the girl had no answer for her mother. She looked at the baby for a long moment, again gently passing her hand over the small ears. "Koyasha," she whispered, feeling new tears in her eyes. "After…her father."

She pulled the child close to her after that, only then allowing herself to cry. There were too many things happening at once. The joy of motherhood was unmistakable, and yet, the loss of her firstborn tortured her. "Okaa-san…" She looked up at Mrs. Higurashi then, in enough control of her tears to speak. "Would…Inuyasha…forgive me?"

The woman gave her a look of surprise, and then…gentleness. "Yes," she said softly. "I think he would."

It was snowing, when they buried the child under the tree of ages. Yet, Kagome was almost thankful for the cold weather. The bitter ice seemed to subdue their misery, if just for that day. Her grandfather was the one to place the baby in the small hole—she wasn't sure if she could stand it. She and the rest of her family only had to stand by, Souta with an unreadable look on his face, and her mother looking at the burial sight in forlorn silence.

"May the spirits give this child rest," her grandfather chanted, even as the ice began to cover the overturned soil. "And guide his soul somewhere where he can be free."

Before long, each of them had disappeared back into the house, to free themselves of the chill. But Kagome stayed. Her young daughter still cradled to her chest, she looked upon the small grave with tears in her eyes.

I'm so sorry.

Once more, she heard Koyasha's quiet cry. The child seemed disturbed by the melancholy air that surrounded her—the weight of it had awoken her. Kagome found her forlorn gaze set on the young child, even as she shushed her whine. "You miss your brother, don't you?" she whispered.

Koyasha continued to cry softly, despite her mother's comfort. The woman soon realized she would have to take her inside if she wanted the baby to quiet at all. She bounced the child gently in her arms, soon turning back towards her now snow-covered home. Yet, she glanced over her shoulder, viewing her son's grave for one last time.

Goodbye.

A vision of white swirled throughout the sky, soon covering everything in its path in the same, silent snow. But there was no one to witness it. This place was neither here, nor there—a perpetual stillness, now bathed in white. And yet, a baby's cry echoed through the desolate air, momentarily piercing that stillness. There, cradled in the roots of a lone tree, lay a newborn child. Now, the high, frostbitten branches of that tree were his shelter, and comfort. And yet, he cried.

However, it wasn't long before another presence stepped into the isolated snowfall. A youkai stared curiously at the child, even as the falling ice began to lace its way into his silver ponytail. His height, as well as his armor, had cast a dark shadow over the baby; for this reason only, the child began to sob harder. But the youkai remained unaffected. Before long, he knelt down before the misplaced newborn, and took the child up into his strong arms.

"What are you doing here, grandson?" The youkai looked at him with soft eyes, chuckling when he saw the dark-haired baby begin to calm. "You don't belong here. Not yet."

The child yawned softly, stretching and wriggling in his grandfather's hold. Yet, he was all but silent. In his brown eyes was a look of contentment, and curiosity. The depth of them almost surprised even the youkai. "Such intrigue…in someone so young." He stood slowly, careful to keep the baby close to his cold armor. At last, the man gave him a knowing smile. "Perhaps…I should give you a second chance, elsewhere."

His grandson's soft gurgle was enough of a response for him. The youkai reached out to the massive tree, carefully placing his hand on its rough bark. All at once, the snow fell from its branches as green spurted force, new life surging through the once forsaken tree. Only then did he kiss the child's forehead, and set him once more in the dark roots. "I wish you good fortune, child."

A quiet yawn from the baby stilled the falling snow; as he closed his eyes and nestled into the tree's base, everything around him seemed to fall silent. His grandfather stayed to watch him for only a moment longer, his smile bright. "Good boy," he whispered. And he was gone.

Inuyasha leaned back against the high branches of a tree, trying his hardest not to let its rustling leaves perturb him. It was just…too noisy. Even in his human state, he couldn't stand any sort of clamor. But it seemed that everything was, since Kagome left. All the progress he had made on his temper had been reduced to nothing. And though he was slowly regaining his control, he had yet to reach the level of tolerance he had achieved with his woman's help. So when he heard the quiet cry of Miroku's child, from the house below him, he expected to be tearing his hair out in frustration.

However, he wasn't. For some reason, he began to wonder what it would have been like, if he and Kagome had decided to have a child. It was for this reason that he looked down into the window of the house, his dulled senses at their peak as he tried to even glimpse the baby in the window.

Someone did appear at the window. Only a moment later, Miroku was staring up at him with what looked like concern, the crying baby cradled in his arms. "Inuyasha, what are you doing up there so late? Someone must be worried about you, especially on this night."

It took only a moment for Inuyasha to regain his composition. He crossed his arms in the long sleeves of his Hitoe, and promptly turned away from the concerned party. "Keh," he muttered. "I just wanted you to shut your damn baby up."

"Now, Inuyasha, that's no way to speak to a monk, especially about his child."

"How can you still call yourself a monk?!" The hanyou gave Miroku a sharp, irritated glare. "You're holding the proof you're a lecher! That brat's not even a year old, and your girl's pregnant with another one!"

Miroku sighed, trying to shush his child, despite Inuyasha's ranting. "Inuyasha…" He sighed, looking up at him almost sadly. "Come down here and hold Taji. I know you want to."

He had caught him. And as much as he wanted to sit there and deny it…he wanted to know what it was like, to hold a child. He figured it was his human consciousness getting to him again. But before long, he had climbed down from the tree, and taken the small baby from his father.

"Whatever, lecher…"

Though Taji continued to whine as the hanyou held him, somehow, he could ignore it. The feel of that baby in his arms, even as it squirmed, gave him a strong feeling of responsibility. It was as if he needed to protect the child, from whatever could possibly threaten it. For that one moment, Taji was his.

Suddenly, Inuyasha looked up, hearing a deep laughter echo throughout the area. At first he thought it was a petty demon, or Naraku somehow back from the grave, but…the sound was almost soothing. "Did you hear that?" he asked Miroku, his eyes set upon the star-filled sky.

The monk gave him a curious look, but suddenly braced himself. "Do you think it was that Misako girl again? How long has it been since she foun-"

"No, stupid, it wasn't her!" He sighed, holding the child tighter when it began to whine. The laughter had been too familiar to him, as if he had heard it somewhere before. It wasn't the sound of an evil presence. Rather…it was almost caring. Not long had passed before he heard it again, though the sound of it was almost softer.

"Fitting…"

The moment he heard the voice, he somehow knew. His face paled with even the thought of it, but he didn't want to let it go now. He swiftly handed Taji back to Miroku, using the any human muscles he had managed to build to quickly climb the tree. "Wait! Where are you?!" He stood atop the thickest branch, trying to see the source of the noise. But any remnant of it had already gone. Soon, Inuyasha sighed, and sat down on the branch in defeated silence.

Father.

Whatever reason Inutaisho had for contacting him now, it would remain a mystery for a long time to come.

A/N: Even if this is the first chapter you're reading of this story, review. If you've already read to chapter 18, good for you. Review anyway. :D Maistwin out.