BOOK ONE

Chapter 1.

"Kagome! You're late for school! You're lunch is ready in the kitchen, hurry up and get changed! Kagome? Do you hear me? Kagome! Wake up!" I felt suffocated, like I couldn't move no matter how much I tried. That voice, it was so familiar.

"Come on, Kagome!" It was calling me again. So close, yet so distant…

I awoke suddenly. It was just a dream. I noticed I accidently got tangled with the sheets in my sleep again. A single thought filled my head. Mom. I had dreamt about her again. I missed her. I stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking about all I had left behind. My family, my friends. I felt a pang of sorrow. I really do miss them. But Miroku says it's normal, who wouldn't miss their family if they could never see them again? I sighed, and smiled as I turned to the left and saw Inuyasha next to me. He looked so peaceful like this. I remember nights when he would go days without sleep, just to look over Miroku, Sango, Shippo and I as we rested. But it's been half a year since we defeated Naraku and I married Inuyasha. I smiled just thinking about how peaceful he seems when he's asleep. One of his ears twitched and I grabbed a hold of his arm and set my head on his shoulder, inhaling his scent as I closed my eyes again. He smelled like freshly cut grass, like the soil smells after a rainy day. I love it.

His warm skin and the slow pace at which his chest raised and fell with every breath made me feel drowzy. I closed my eyes.

I awoke once more some hours later, but this time, Inuyasha wasn't next to me. 'He must've gone out with Miroku', I thought. I got changed into my common robes, my white blouse and red pants. I headed over to Sango's house, walking slowly to take in my surroundings. I really liked living in Kaede's village, everyone worked together and knew each other. It was small enough that it seemed as if we were all related somwhow. Sango and Miroku's house wasn't far from ours, yet I took more time than neccesary getting there, appreciating the newly blossomed flowers that had come with spring. The fresh smell of the dew reminded me of Inuyasha and I shivered a bit.

I opposed formalities, and decided to get right into Sango's house instead of knocking. It was not an uncommon thing to do, at least not between us.

"Sango! You home?" I shouted as I entered.

"Good morning, Lady Kagome!" replied Rin who was sitting on the floor next to Kilala, playing with Kazuko, Sango and Miroku's third child. He was about 5 months old now, and a perfectly well behaved baby boy. Very much unlike his sisters…

"Kagome! Thank God you're here! The twins are being a handful today! They're out playing in the yard, but I was looking forward to spending the day with Kohaku today, it's the first time he's come back to visit in a while!" She spoke fast and was moving quickly around the house, as if she was looking for something.

"Oh that's right, Kohaku's coming today isn't he? He sure is getting bulky with all that training."

"I know! It's amazing, Myoga came by the other day and told me he was doing great." She paused for a moment, and walked over to a delicate wood cupboard on the far corner of the room and looked in the first drawer. "Here it is! My gas mask!" She threw her hand in the air as a sign of victory, clutching her mask with her fist.

"Oh hey, you still have that?" I asked geniunly curious.

"Yeah, I wanted to wear it today to go see Kohaku. I want to be fully dressed in my demon slayer clothes to see him. I don't know, I just haven't used it in forever." She smiled, remembering the old times. Then her smile fell a bit and she changed her tone.

"Kagome, can I ask you a favor?" It wasn't odd for Sango to ask for my help. But she never did so in such a serious tone. My mind buzzed while ideas of thousands of terrible scenarios flew through my mind.

"Sure… what is it?" Was someone hurt? Was Sango in danger? Unless…

"Would you mind looking after Akira and Hana for a few hours? Just so I can have some time with Kohaku. I can't leave them here with Rin alone."

The twins. Don't mistake me, I adore them. I'd do just about anything for them. But they do tend to be quite a hassle at times.

"Okay, sure." I said as brightly as I could. Then a question popped inside my head. "By the way do you know where Inuyasha and Miroku are?"

"Oh! I forgot! Inuyasha wanted me to tell you that they went to exorcise a house in a nearby village. He told me to tell you he couldn't bring himself to wake you up. They should be back around noon." She said as she went to change in her room. Well, I thought, after those dreams, the only thing I would've liked was for him to wake me.

"Mom!" "Momma!" Not unlike two small troublemakers, Akira and Hana came rushing into the house, their faces hidden behind a thick layes of mud. It was all over their bodies, completely covering them. Instead of seeming uncomfortable or disgusted, they were laughing and giggling.

"We got a little dur-ty," said Hana. Sango peeked her head out the door of her room and looked at the girls, her shirt buttoned only halfway.

"GIRLS! I thought I told you! Stop playing in the mud! All your clothes are nearly ruined!" She looked like she was about to explode when I intervened.

"Don't worry Sango, I'll get them cleaned up. Rin could you get some water please?"

"Of course Kagome!" Sango mouthed a 'Thank-you' and made her way back into her room to finish changing.

I looked at the twins and the track of mud they'd made from the door to where they were standing. I knew I was supposed to be mad, but their smiles were too cute for me too handle and the little brown footsteps they left on their way were somehow endearing. I couldn't help but grin.

"Sango! I'm back!" As if materializing from nowhere, Kohaku walked proudly into the room carrying his metal weapon wielded by Totosai over his shoulder. It looked like it must've weighed a ton, but Kohaku made carrying it around look easy.

"And how are my favorite nieces doing today?"

"Ko-ha-ku!" Both girls said in almost perfect unison, as they jumped up to hug him, tracking even more mud around.

"Hey Kohaku, how've you been?"

"Kagome! I'm great. My training's been going good as well, fortunately. How've you been? And Inuyasha?" Before I could answer any of his questions, Sango rushed out of her room in her black and pink demon slayer outfit, with her hair tied up perfectly and her gas mask in her hands. Seeing her like that made me feel temporarily nostalgic. She ran towards Kohaku, hugging him tightly.

"Kohaku!" she exclaimed. Kohaku giggled as he was attacked by his sister and nieces.

"You ready to go?" Kohaku asked.

"Of course! Girls, behave, alright?"

"Yes, Momma." "Wee pro-miss Momma!" Answered Akira and Hana. Sango shook her head and smiled. It seemed like no matter how much trouble they caused her, she could never stay mad for long.

"Kilala, let's go!" Kilala meowed and followed Kohaku and Sango outside. I could hear the flames forming around Kilala's legs and tails as she transformed and roared. Within moments, I knew they were flying away on her back.

I was left alone with Kazuko, who was quietly sleeping in his wooden crib on the floor and the twins, who were now finger painting drawings on the floor with mud, giggling.

"Let's go outside girls, we'll wash you both up." They followed me to the back of the house, were Rin was running towards us with a large bucket of water and some towels.

"Here you go, Kagome."

"Thanks, Rin. Mind helping me out a bit? I'm out numbered"

"Sure thing!" We spent a while getting the mud of Akira and Hana's skin. By the time we finished, the water had gone from perfectly transparent to a deep, murky brown. Even though I felt exhausted, the twins weren't still out of their hype and rushed to the house in a race. Their bodies were easy, the mud had slid down their soft skin; but their clothes, that was be quite the challenge.

As I tried to rub a spectacurarly difficult brown spot on Akira's pink cotton shirt, I couldn't help but let my mind wonder. I started to think about how much Sango and Miroku's lives have changed since they had kids. They were so happy, they were completely devoted to them, and I really was glad for them.

In my case, I couldn't really think about kids… I mean, I'd always thought I'd have kids much, much later in life, but in this world, women would have children around or before my age. When I was younger I used to dream about the day I would tell my son or daughter bedtime stories and put them to sleep, but ever since I met Inuyasha, the whole thought of having kids had slowly disappeared from my mind. Yet I couldn't help thinking about it after a day with the terrible twosome.

It was only a few moments after lunch that Miroku and Inuyasha came back to the village.

"I'm home!" Miroku's voice boomed, filling the room with excitement. Inuyasha was behind him, walking silently.

"Daaaddy!" Both girls ran towards Miroku, who instantly kneeled down beside them and let them climb onto him freely, tugging at his clothes, playing with him.

"Hey, how'd it go?" I asked, being pulled away from my inner turmoils.

"Kagome." Inuyasha appeared next to me without me noticing him. Maybe because he was so stealthy, or maybe because my brain had been so busy in other matters. He hugged me, pulling me softly but at the same time, with a carefully planned strength. Between his arms, I finally got myself to stop worrying. I really had missed him.

"It went great, of course. After all, I was there". He said confidently, still holding me close. He was always so full of himself! It was adorable.

"Well, Mr. Humility, if you did so good, what took you so long?"

"It only took half an hour. The village was a bit far away, that's all." He pushed me away, still holding me close by the shoulders. He looked at my face and smirked.

"Why, did you miss me?" Yes. "No, idiot". He laughed, and his laughter was music for my ears, as clichè as it seems. It was really a heartfelt, melodic sound.

"Anyway, I took care of the girls today. Rin went back to Kaede's house, but to be honest, the girls wore me out a bit." Miroku was now on the floor, playing peeka-boo with his daughters.

"Yeah, they're fiesty ones."

"That they are!" I replied.

"Hey, let's go back home. I'm tired too, I guess." I nodded.

We left after bidding goodbyes to the twins, who tried to get Inuyasha to stay so they would play with his ears. That only urged him to leave faster. We were soon walking down the little dirt path of the village. The sun was about to set, giving the sky the most beautiful colour palette, filled with orange, blue, red and purple. It reminded me of a watercolour my Mom had hung in the living room back home. The thoughts consumed me and once again I was spiralling down the path of nostalgia. My thoughts kept me so busy that I didn't realize I hadn't spoke a word until Inuyasha finally broke the silence.

"You alright? You're kind of quiet." His voice, usually cool and full of bravado, seemed worried.

"Yeah, I'm okay I guess. I dreamt about my mom yesterday."

"Oh…" He said as we entered our house. He looked down.

"Don't feel bad, I'm fine."

"I know, but you sacrified …so much.." He used to seem selfish to me, but I have learnt that there is no demon, or human, in the world as compassionate or willing to sacrifice more than Inuyasha. And for that, I only loved him even more.

"Inuyasha, I'm fine. Honest!" He still wouldn't say anything, advancing slowly as he walked.

"Hey"

"Yeah?" His ears perked up, awaiting an answer.

"Let's go to the cliff. Now, before nightfall." Inuyasha looked up, and when I saw his face I noticed it'd changed completely. His entire face lit up, and he smilied at me before putting Tetsusaiga down and grabbing my hand to follow him out the door. I laughed as he tugged on my arm like a small child.

"Come on, get on my back." I jumped up as soon as he hunched down. He ran, laughing, cheerful all the way to the cliff. The speed he picked up was so fast that the my hair flew wildly with the blowing winds. I was filled with the natural, sweet smell of him. With the wonderful sense of him. We got to the cliff in few minutes and sat at the very edge of it. We waited a while. And finally…

"Look up there, Kagome. It's starting."

This was something we did every few days. Inuyasha and I would go to the cliff, get as close as we could to the edge and watch the sun set. It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen in my time. Not even my mom's watercolour could compare to the beauty of a sunset in this world. The moutain scenary and the clouds that reflected the bright colors of the twilight hour were like nothing I'd ever witnessed.. The wind made the clouds move noticeably, and the colors radiated by the setting sun surrounded us like an aura, they danced around as if they were performing just for us. It was increible, no matter how many times I re-lived this experience, I knew I'd never get tired of it.

'Just like Inuyasha,' I thought , 'even if I lived for a million years, I could never get tired of him.'

No matter how much I missed my old life, my friends, my loving mother… This life was something that I truely could never give up.