Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Also I fixed the ending so that it now says 'summer' instead of 'winter', which makes much more sense.

Photograph

Autumn 1995

"I'm sorry Inuyasha, but I can't make it tonight. We just got three new admissions and I won't be able to leave until late tonight. Tell Mayumi I love her and I am so sorry" Kagome said on the other side of the landline. It was her 30th birthday and Mayumi, her daughter, had made her a cake. Though she was heavily helped by her husband Inuyasha due to the fact that she was only six years old. Kagome works as a nurse for a hospital in Cleveland and lives in the suburbs with her family. Every day she goes to work she leaves before anyone in the house is up and usually comes home after the sun has set. This was going to be one of those long days.

Inuyasha sighed into the phone, "Mayumi will be sad that you can't make it. She worked so hard on the cake and even decorated it herself." He informed his wife as he watched his young daughter try to hang streamers in their family room to make it 'pretty for mommy'. He simply shook his head and smiled at their beautiful daughter.

This time Kagome sighed and rubbed her temples. She wished that she never had to work today, but she wasn't able to get off no matter how hard she tried. She was stuck in a perpetual cycle of admissions and writing reports. "I know and you know that I wouldn't miss this if I had any choice" she said into the phone, then felt a tap on her shoulder from someone behind her. "Listen Inuyasha I have to go. I love you and tell Mayumi the same" she said lovingly to her husband of eight years. That thought filled her with warmth because she knew that there would be many more years to look forward to.

"I love you too Kagome. Be safe coming home there is bad weather coming" Inuyasha said in the same loving tone Kagome had used, but his voice was laced in worry. He had the radio tuned into a station she and him listened to regularly and they warned of severe thunderstorms coming their way off of the lake.

"Thank you for the warning and I will be careful" Kagome replied and fingered the locket she always had around her neck. Inuyasha had given it to her when he asked if she would be his girlfriend. They were both in their freshman year at Ohio University when they met and then married each other after they had graduated. A few short years later Mayumi entered the world and they couldn't have been happier. "Inuyasha" Kagome said, not wanting to hang up the phone.

"Yeah, what is it?" Inuyasha asked on the other side of the phone.

"Will you wait for me to come home?" Kagome asked, already knowing the answer to her question.

"Always" Inuyasha replied and then they exchanged their goodbyes and 'I love you' once more before they hung up the phone.

"Daddy?" Mayumi asked as she tugged on her father's jeans and looked up at him with innocent and questioning eyes.

"Hey sweetheart" He said as he knelt down to be level with his daughter. Then Inuyasha extended a hand and tousled her hair before he spoke again with a warm smile creasing his face. "Mommy won't be able to eat her cake tonight" as Inuyasha said this Mayumi's eyes began to tear up and her face turned into a pout. "But since tomorrow is Saturday how about we eat it for breakfast" Inuyasha suggested.

Mayumi sniffled and wiped her tears that had yet to drop from her large brown eyes that looked so much like her mother's. "Okay" she said and smiled with disappointment still filling her features.

That night they ate dinner and talked about her day of school and how they were going to wake Kagome up the next day since she missed spending her birthday with them. As Inuyasha watched TV Mayumi colored in her coloring book until she nodded off and was asleep on top of her unfinished masterpiece.

Inuyasha got up and picked Mayumi up in his arms. He then carried her up to her room and tucked her in her bed. "Sweet dreams Mayumi" he said and kissed her forehead then left her room and went back downstairs.

It was nearly midnight and Inuyasha was getting worried that Kagome wasn't back yet. It was unusual that she didn't come back before ten on the worst of nights. He looked out the window in the family room as lightning lit up the sky and the rain pelted the window with an almost angry force. Just as he was thinking about the storm the phone rang and broke Inuyasha's train of thought. He nearly tripped over some toys Mayumi had left lying around as he rushed to pick up the phone, hoping beyond hope that it was his wife on the other end.

"Hello, Taishou residence" he answered anxiously.

"Mr. Taishou…" the voice on the other end of the line wasn't Kagome. It was an unfamiliar man's voice and he sounded deeply troubled and saddened. He knew that voice, even if he never had to use it himself. He had heard it due to him being a police officer of the city they lived in and he knew that it could only mean one thing. "I regret to inform you that your wife" as the man continued to speak Inuyasha tried to keep the worst possible scenarios coming to mind. Though he was fighting a losing battle with his emotions as he gripped the linoleum counter and listened to everything the man on the other side of the phone had to say. "Your wife, Mrs. Kagome Taishou was in a car accident and pronounced dead once the paramedics had arrived. I am terribly sorry for your loss…" Inuyasha never heard the rest of what the man had said as all of his fears were realized. Kagome was dead.

Winter 2015

A loud and obnoxious ringtone echoed through the small bedroom of the apartment and two bodies grumbled about being woken up at such an early hour on their day off. "Mayumi… it's yours" a distinctly male voice said as he tried to bring the comforter up and over his head to drown out the loud noise that had awoken him.

"I know" Mayumi almost growled at her fiancée as she threw the covers off of herself and rubbed her eyes to try and wake herself up before picking up the phone. She managed to reach the phone just before it went to voicemail and swiped the screen to answer the unfamiliar number. "Mayumi speaking" she said as she stifled a yawn and ran her fingers through her unruly hair she got from her father.

"Miss Mayumi Taishou?" the person on the other side of the phone asked to verify that she was indeed herself.

"This is she" Mayumi said as she didn't register the tone of voice the person had on the side of the call. She was far more interested in climbing back into the warm bed with her fiancée and sleeping the day away together.

"I am calling you in regards to your father" at those words Mayumi stopped thinking about lazy days and a warm bed. Her mind finally registered the sad and hesitant tone of the person on the other side. It reminded her of the night her mother died and the person's voice gave her an uneasy and sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Yes?" Mayumi asked with worry lacing her voice. Her fiancée, Kai, decided to get out of bed as well and ensure that everything was alright. He stood in the doorway to the bedroom as he watched Mayumi pace back and forth down the short hallway.

"Last night he came into the E.R. complaining about chest pains. He had a heart attack and we were not able to save him. I am terribly sorry for your loss." As Mayumi heard this tears began to fall from her eyes and she gained a haunted expression on her face. She barely heard the other person say which funeral home he had been sent to or how he had died. As soon as they ended the call Mayumi dropped her phone to the floor.

"Mayumi?" Kai asked with a worried and fearful expression on his face. He had never seen her so in shock before. When she finally looked at him everything came out all at once.

"Kai" she said with a trembling voice. "My dad died" that was all the cue he needed to embrace Mayumi and try to soothe her. He held back his own tears as he rocked Mayumi's weeping form back and forth to try and calm her down. He couldn't believe that this had happened. It wasn't even a month ago that they saw him raking his front yard and had told him that they were engaged. Now, Mayumi would never have her father to walk her down the aisle, could never have one last dance with him and never introduce him to his future grandchildren. Kai would never be able to call him 'Dad' without feeling awkward or be able to take away his little girl as he left her at the altar to get married.

They had both lost someone precious to them, but they had to grieve and then live on. It is simply how life is.

The funeral had happened about a week after Inuyasha's death and Kai and Mayumi had finished going through everything in Inuyasha's house in the weeks that followed. Most of everything was donated and only the most precious of items were kept. When they finished taking what was left of Inuyasha's belongings back to their shared apartment they contacted a realtor to sell what was once Mayumi's childhood home.

As if by fate, while taking another box to unpack and put somewhere in the apartment the bottom gave out and all of the contents came tumbling out. Mayumi sighed in frustration and started to sort through what was undamaged and what was going to be trash. As she was sorting through everything she found her father's wallet. After taking a deep breath to prepare herself and nervously tucking her hair behind her ear she opened it and smiled. Inside was a picture of Mayumi, her mother and her father on her sixth birthday. Behind that picture was multiple pictures of herself and her father at various functions, the fair, prom, high school graduation and university graduation. She smiled a sad, but nostalgic smile as all of the happy memories came flooding back to her from when her mother was still around and everything afterwards.

Mayumi carefully set the photos aside as if they were the most precious treasures in the world. She took out all of the cards that were inside of the billfold; credit cards, gift cards and membership cards. Then as she took out the remaining money from the last pocket the billfold had she found something else. She found an old folded photograph and a tarnished locket. She opened the locket and saw that on one side it held the smiling faces of her parents and the other held her face from when she was a baby. Mayumi fingered the edge of the small metal keepsake as she closed it and set it aside with the other photos she had found. It was just as precious if not more because it belonged to her mother. She remembered her father telling her the story of when he gave her mother that very locket; it was the moment they started their journey together. Her father had kept it with him for the past 20 years.

Then she gently opened the photograph and as she looked at what was shown on the faded and worn photo paper tears came to her eyes and a warm smile came to her face. On it was a picture of her parents lying on a porch swing in the middle of an Ohio summer. Lake Eerie was frozen in place as the photograph was taken highlights the background. The tall grass nearly boxed in the porch they were on. Her mother, Kagome, was lying on top of her father with her back against his t-shirt clad chest. Her head was leaned back against his shoulder and her hand was resting on top of her slightly distended stomach. She had a broad smile on her face and her eyes were closed in happiness. Her father was holding her mother close to his person and he held a smirk on his face. His eyes and entire being emanated warmth, love and happiness.

Mayumi had never seen this photo before and she was truly grateful that she got to see how happy and in love her parents were. Of all the photos she had found she knew she had to frame this one, even though it was so small.

As Mayumi wiped her tears Kai came in through the door, just getting back from work. "What is it?" Kai asked Mayumi. Hoping that she wasn't crying again, he hated to see her crying in pain; especially because he couldn't do anything about it.

"I found this" she said as she passed him the photograph of her parents.

"Wow" Kai said as a small smile found its way onto his face for what felt like an eternity. For the first time in the last few weeks he felt happy and that happiness only grew as he saw that Mayumi was smiling as well. He flipped the photograph over just out of curiosity he found some faded writing on the back. "Mayumi, there is something written here" he said and Mayumi got up off of the floor to stand next to Kai as she read what was written on the back.

"This is my Dad's writing" she said almost breathlessly and read aloud what her father had written. "Will you wait for me to come home?"

"Is this your Mom's writing?" Kai asked as he pointed to the one word that was written below the question.

Mayumi nodded as she read the word her mother had left her father with tears brimming in her eyes, "Always."