Chapter 9
Inuyasha ran through the forest with his daughter cuddled against him asleep. He looked down at her thinking; she always did relax in the forest. He smiled and looked into the air where Kagome and Toshiro rode on Kirara. Toshiro had also fallen asleep against his mother, but could not stay asleep for long before he had a nightmare and woke up. Kagome was starting to get worried and Inuyasha could see it in her face.
"Kirara!" He yelled up, the Neko Youkai looked over at him. "Come down." He called. Kirara nodded slightly before lowering to the level that Inuyasha ran. "Kagome what wrong?" She looked down at her son who had just jerked awake once more.
"I don't know. He falls asleep and he has a nightmare." She looked at Inuyasha. "How much longer?"
"Not much, we're almost there." He replied "Kirara, let's go." He said to the large cat demon that nodded and took off.
An hour and a half later, the small family arrived at Totosai cave. Inuyasha and Kirara landed just outside. Inuyasha helped Kagome and Toshiro off Kirara. The twins rubbed their eyes sleepily as they followed their parents into the strange place. Suddenly there was a loud smack and Inuyasha pulled his hand away to see a small figure in the palm of his hand.
"Master Inuyasha!" Said the figure. Inuyasha stared down at the thing he held.
"Myoga, where's the old geezer?" Inuyasha asked rushed. Myoga looked at his master, confused.
"Master Inuyasha, what's wrong? Has something happened?"
"Yeah, now where is-" Inuyasha, who was losing his patients with the flea, was cut off by Kagome's hand on his shoulder. He turned slightly to see Kagome's warm smile.
"Myoga, please we need to get back to the village. Where is Totosai?" She asked calmly. Myoga looked at her not surprised to see her with Inuyasha and nodded.
"He is in the back." Inuyasha nodded, but before he could do anything, he heard a little voice behind him.
"Mama, I don't feel good." Toshiro said. Kagome knelt down just in time for him to collapse into her arms. Inuyasha was by her side, he bent down and picked up his daughter as she ran and cried on his shoulder ears flat, and holding on like her life depended on it.
"Inuyasha… I need to get back to the village. I have an herb there I can use." Kagome said as she gathered the child in her arms.
"Come on let's see what Totosai has to say." He told her softly. Myoga sat on Inuyasha's opposite shoulder thinking.
He glanced down at the flea as they entered the room where Totosai sat in front of the fire.
"Ah, Inuyasha, Kagome. And I see you've brought the children." The old demon said as they walked over to him. Kagome laid Toshiro on the floor gently and Inuyasha put Izayoi down next to him as he sat down. Kagome sat between her daughter and son across from Totosai.
"Children? Master Inuyasha, they are yours?" He asked. Inuyasha smirked at the shocked face on the flea.
"What did you think? They look like me by coincidence, and I just have them to follow me around?" Kagome shook her head as he finished.
"They don't look just like you, you know." She added with a smile. Inuyasha gave a smirk and looked back at Totosai.
"I need you to make something that will control their demon sides." He told him.
"Master, you said something happened. What was it?" The flea asked. Kagome saw Inuyasha did not want to explain so before he could open his mouth Kagome spoke.
"The kids were playing and then we heard her scream and we went to see what was wrong. When we got there we found her crying and Toshiro unconscious and human. She told us that something was about to attack them and Toshiro transformed." Totosai nodded and scratched his head for a moment.
"So he transformed?" He repeated. Kagome nodded and was about to ask if he could do anything but Toshiro groaned and started to thrash in his sleep. Inuyasha gathered the scared Izayoi into his arms and watched as Kagome smoothed Toshiro's hair out of his face. Suddenly he cried out and sat up panting.
"Mama." He whispered as Kagome gathered him up. Shushing him and rocking him as he cried.
"Master Inuyasha what is wrong?"
"We're not sure exactly. We need to get him home; Kagome has something to help him." He replied then turned back to the old demon. "Will you make something for them?" The old demon scratched his head.
"I don't know. I'll have to think about what to do." He said looking up still scratching his head.
"What do ya mean ya don't know? What's there to think about?" Inuyasha said getting louder.
"We really do need to get back to the village by noon tomorrow." Kagome told them.
"Why is that lady Kagome?" Asked Myoga. Izayoi turned in her father's arms to look at the flea on her father's shoulder.
"It's Taji's birthday." The little girl answered. From the look on his face, it seemed that Myoga did not know.
"Taji is our other son, he is turning one and Kagome is having a party for him." Inuyasha informed him.
"You have another?" Asked the flea.
"I had heard rumors of these two, but not of the new one. Although these two do not look as the rumors say." Totosai said
"What do you mean?" Kagome was confused.
"I had heard that he looked like Inuyasha with your eyes. But he looks nothing like either of you."
"No Totosai, he does look like Inuyasha on his human night." Myoga chimed in. Inuyasha rolled his eyes wanting to get his answer and leave. Kagome smiled and looked down at Toshiro.
"Actually, he does look like Inuyasha with my eyes, but he was purified so, he looks like this." Kagome explained.
"Okay, ya old geezer! You gonna do it or not?" Inuyasha had lost his grip on his temper.
"Do what?" Totosai asked, his response was a growl but before he could be hit Kagome stopped Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha, calm down." She turned to the old demon. "Totosai will you please make something to hold their demons?" She asked nicely. The old demon nodded then turned to look at the still growling Inuyasha.
"I will need your fangs." This made Inuyasha almost whine. Kagome giggled before speaking.
"You're the one that decided this." He glanced at her and sighed.
"Keh." he said "How long is this gonna take?"
"For both of them…. I think a week."
"What?"
"If you want both things then it's a week."
"Keh. Kagome, take the twins back. As soon as I'm done I'll be back."
"Inuyasha…" Kagome said standing up.
"Come on." He said and felt a tug on his pants as he stood up.
"Papa, you comin too right?" Izayoi asked looking up at him with her big brown eyes.
"I'll be back as soon as I'm done." He told her
"Mama, I'm tired." Toshiro said reaching up for Kagome. She smiled and picked him up.
"You better not take too long, I am not dealing with all three of them by myself." She warned. Inuyasha smirked before answering.
"You have Sango, Miroku, and Shippo, besides everyone should be showing up…" He chuckled. "I'm sure Sesshomaru would love helping you."
"Sesshomaru, master Inuyasha?" Myoga asked from his shoulder.
"Yeah. The kids love it when he shows up." Inuyasha smiled thinking of how the kids play with his fluffy part of his outfit and how Izayoi loved to torment him.
"Uncle fluffy's coming, papa?" Izayoi asked sweetly. The way she referred to the great lord Sesshomaru stunned the two demons. Inuyasha nodded with a smirk.
"You better get going, it's getting late." Inuyasha told Kagome who nodded. Izayoi yawned and held onto Inuyasha's pant leg. Inuyasha bent down, picked Izayoi up, and walked to the cave entrance with Kagome and the children.
"Kirara, take them back to the village." The demon cat grew and roared. Kagome handed the sleeping Toshiro over to Inuyasha so she could climb up, then he handed Toshiro to her. As he went to hand, Izayoi over she clutched his haori refusing to leave.
"Papa, I wanta stay with you." She whined. Her ears back and tears in her eyes. Inuyasha smirked and held her close to talk to her.
"Come on, I'm just going to be a few moments and I'll meet you back at home."
"Uh uh." She said shaking her head.
"Izayoi go with your mother. I'll be right behind you." Inuyasha told her.
"Come on we can make something special for your father for when he gets home. How does that sound?" Kagome said. That seemed to get her to let go so Inuyasha could hand her over. Once Kagome held both children, she leaned down slightly to give Inuyasha a kiss. He smirked at how she was able to talk his daughter into going. He gave a kiss to his son's forehead and then his daughter's.
"I'll make something really special for you papa."
"I know you will." He turned to Kagome. "Be careful."
"I will don't worry." She told him with a smile. "Alright Kirara, let's go." She told the Neko Youkai, and they were on their way home. Inuyasha watched as they flew out of sight then turned to walk back into the cave.
"You named her after your mother?" Myoga asked Inuyasha. He had forgotten the little flea was still on his shoulder.
"Kagome named her." He smirked. Inuyasha continued over to the old demon who still sat by the fire. He picked up his pliers and Inuyasha opened his mouth. Totosai pulled one and told Inuyasha that the one should be fine.
"You only need one for the two of them?" Inuyasha asked confused.
"Yes, well. I have changed my mind. I will make something until they are old enough to use a weapon."
Inuyasha nodded his understanding. "You done then?"
"Yeah." Inuyasha turned and left to go home and left Totosai to work on the things for the twins. Myoga decided to go with Inuyasha and see his other son.
"So tell me master Inuyasha, what does he look like?"
"Kagome and everyone say he looks like me with the purple strips on his cheeks. He is already acting like Kagome's little brother, Sota."
"What do you mean?"
"He's running around with the bigger kids and doing all sorts of stuff but he still has a soft side. And he actually listens when told something." Inuyasha smirked at the thought of his youngest son. "What are you asking all these questions for your gonna see him in two hours." Inuyasha said then turned back to the road ahead and went as fast as he could to get back to his family.
Inuyasha landed in front of Kaede's hut five hours before dawn. He walked in to find Kagome asleep in the large main room, obviously trying to wait for him. He smiled and walked over to her and knelt down to pick her up. As he lifted her into his arms she stirred slowly opened her brown eyes.
"Inuyasha?" She whispered. He smiled down at her.
"What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in bed?" He asked softly.
"I made Sango sleep in the bed." She said as she woke up more. For the look on Inuyasha's face he was not pleased, so before he could protest she added, "Inuyasha, she's pregnant, she can't be sleeping just anywhere. Beside I was waiting for you." He looked at her a moment then smirked.
"Leave it to you to worry about other people." He told her. "So where do we sleep?" He asked her.
"The kids are in their beds Sango and Miroku have ours so we get the extra one to pull out here." She smiled at her husband cheerfully. Inuyasha looked at her a moment then sighed. He looked onto his shoulder and noticed that the little flea demon was missing. He looked around and figured he had gone to see Taji, the one he had been asking questions about for the last hour and a half.
"What?" Kagome asked, watching at Inuyasha looked at his shoulder then around the room to rest on the cracked door to the room that held the boys. His eyes turned back to Kagome who stood in front of him staring at him.
"Myoga came along, he has been asking all kinds of questions about the kids, and he really wanted to meet Taji."
"So help me if he wakes him up…" Kagome threatened. Inuyasha smiled and leaned down to kiss her tenderly. He never liked being away from his family for too long. The once tender kiss became heated and passionate. Kagome melted into the kiss and they both felt the world around them disappear. Slowly they made it to the floor and covered with a light blanket. Suddenly something heavy landed on top of Inuyasha's back. He let out a yelp of surprise then started a low growl as Kagome tried to contain her giggles. They looked out from under the blanket to find Izayoi on top of them. Kagome slid out from under Inuyasha and sat up.
"What's wrong?" Kagome asked. The young girl looked at her mother almost in tears.
"Mama I had a bad dream." She cried. Inuyasha watched as she cried and clung to her mother.
"What was it about?" She prompted. The girl held tight to her mother not moving.
"I saw….. Saw… I saw Shiro do it again and he went after me and I couldn't stop him unless I hurt him and…. And … mama I kill Shiro!" She cried. Kagome looked at Inuyasha who was still looking at his distraught daughter.
"I'm sure it turns around and is good in the end." Kagome said.
"No, I killed him, nothing's good." She cried even harder. Inuyasha reached over and pulled her to him.
"How do you know if it's finished or not?" He asked. She did not have an answer for that and settled for crying into his chest until she was completely worn out. She fell asleep in his arms and Kagome smiled and smoothed her bangs out of her face.
"I'll take her back to bed." Inuyasha said softly before rising and walking into the small dark room to lay her on the futon that Toshiro and she were sharing for the night. Once he had left to rejoin Kagome, she was in the middle of making their bed.
"Inuyasha, I'm really getting worried about Izayoi." She said stopping and looking at him scared.
"I know me too. She is getting so riled up, and scared." He said as he started walking towards Kagome to give her a hug. "Come on let's get some sleep before they are all up jumping around looking for sweets." He smiled and kissed her forehead before they settled down for the night. Kagome cuddled into Inuyasha and fell asleep while Inuyasha stayed awake a little while longer thinking. Damn! They always know the worst times! I swear they do it on purpose! He growled in his mind then pulled Kagome closer and followed her into sleep.
The next morning was absolute chaos. Kagome and Sango were finishing last minute things, people were showing up while Inuyasha and Shippo had to watch the kids while Miroku and Kohaku entertained the guests.
"Why do they get the easy job?" Inuyasha grumbled to Shippo who was in the same mood if slightly more cheerful.
"Don't worry; I'm sure they'll get theirs in the end." Shippo replied, and was answered with a grunt. "Hey I have the best idea ever." He told Inuyasha whose ears perked up. "So later on after the kids eat all the sweets how bout we go 'hunting' for a while. Kagome and Sango will try to push taking the kids off and we won't be here so that leaves… and towards the end of the party there will be a lot more hyper kids to watch…" Shippo and Inuyasha looked at each other then grinned evilly at the two men across the way. Their planning was short lived as a cry rang out then a yelp then a yell for help while the other three ran. Izayoi had taken the ball Toshiro, Kanno and Taji were playing with and ran up a tree, again not watching how high she had gotten and became stuck. Toshiro yelped from being pushed onto his bottom, Hanna and Haruko were playing tag and ran into Taji and Kanno.
Taji cried for a few moments the stood up and ran off to follow the girls while Kanno was left to sulk by himself. Inuyasha and Shippo looked at each other and sighed. Shippo went to round up the three that ran off as Inuyasha went into the tree to get his daughter. The two men looked over Toshiro and Kanno to find nothing wrong with them. Toshiro had been startled and Kanno had been hit hard to the ground but was fine. As more children arrived, there was less and less real need to watch over them, so Shippo and Inuyasha turned to join the adults. Inuyasha caught sight of Kagome going back into the house and followed her. She was grabbing a few more treats for the kids when two strong arms wrapped around her. She jumped then settled as she felt Inuyasha nuzzle into her hair. Slowly he started to move her hair off her shoulder then placing soft kisses up and down her neck she turned around in his arms to kiss his lips. The leaned into the passionate kiss that has lost none of its heat from the night before. Suddenly there were three pairs of hands grabbing hold of them. They broke apart to see their three children bouncing up and down asking if they can go to the edge of the forest to play. Kagome looked at Inuyasha.
"Only there, nowhere else understand?" Inuyasha said sternly. All three nodded and took off running as fast as they could. "I knew it." He said aloud. Kagome looked at him confused.
"You knew what?" She asked.
"They do have it all planned and do it on purpose." He said as he helped gather the things that were needed.
"What do they do Inuyasha?" She asked, not having any idea what was going on.
"They wait till we're together then swoop in and ruin the time we had." Kagome smiled and walked up to him and ever so softly placed a kiss on his lips.
"Later Koi. I promise." She kissed him again, picked up a few things, and left before he could do anything. He could only stand in place and watch her leave. Her hips swinging back and forth with each step. Each step making his Yurkai threaten to rise and take her then and now. He knew he could not do that and slowly calmed and soothed his Yurkai thinking she promised later. Later we had better get. He started out of the hut carrying what was needed outside. He found Kagome finishing setting up and she turned smiling one of her bright smiles as she saw him walking towards her.
Kagome turned and started working on getting the kids to come back and sit at the table to have some cake she had made. Once she mentioned sweets all the children were at the table. Taji was placed at the head of the table in Shippo's lap, Izayoi to his right then Toshiro, Taro, Jiro, Saburo, Akio, Hanna, Haruko, and Kanno to Taji's left. The adults all stood around the table as Kagome light the candles. Inuyasha behind the twins, Kagome on the other side of Shippo, Sango next to her, then Miroku, Koga holding a sleepy Mina, Ayame held a restless Masaharo. Sesshomaru, Rin, and Kaede stood around the table watching Shippo help blow out the candles. After cake and presents the party wound down. The children went back off to play and the adults sat and talked about old days. The group had fallen into silence until Kaede broke it.
"I would like to congratulate Sango and Miroku on their fourth child, Koga and Ayame on their new additions, and I would also like to congratulate Rin and Sesshomaru on their first." Kaede said as she raised her glass. Sesshomaru just drank and glared at the old woman for announcing it. Rin giggled as Inuyasha made fun of his older brother.
"It was bound to happen Sesshomaru. She followed you around everywhere; anyone with eyes could see she loved you." He said, the demon lord turning his icy glare at his younger brother.
"Same could be said about you dog breath." Koga shot at Inuyasha with a smirk then turned to the lord again. "Besides everyone can smell it." The women gasped and turned slightly red as Ayame hit him as head as she could on the back of the head. "What I was only saying-"
"Koga, you finish that sentence and I swear…" Ayame started.
"You're going to have more than a pissed off mate on your hands." Kagome said as Inuyasha slipped in and took the little girl before all four women put their cups down and took a step forward. Koga visibly paled as he saw the woman close in. Sesshomaru watched as his mate and the other women threatened the wolf. He was proud to see these women make a wolf demon prince pale. He glanced to see Inuyasha holding little wolf demon girl on his knee and explain how her father was going to get his butt kicked by women. "So much for the big bad old wolf demon Koga." Inuyasha laughed as he watched him try to explain his way out of it.
"Don't you think we should help him?" Miroku said as he came to stand beside Inuyasha. "I mean I've been on the receiving end a few times and it is not fun." He looked over at his friend who was still amused at holding mina as she clapped and laughed along with Inuyasha. Shippo stood on the other side of Inuyasha with the little boy in his hands.
"Yeah dad, I think you should say something, you know what it's like." Shippo said as he remembered when he Inuyasha had said something wrong when Sango and Kagome were pregnant. Sesshomaru looked at them and raised a brow at the thought. Inuyasha sighed and handed the little girl to Miroku as he went towards the circle of women.
"Alright I think he learned his lesson. You don't have to disembowel him to make him understand what to say and when." He said as he made his way through to stand in front of a terrified Koga. The women all glared at him. "Look I know, we all know that we aren't the smartest, and can make mistakes, but you guys are the one to save our asses and make everything alright. Won't you at least give him a chance to apologize?" Inuyasha pleaded, as he looked deep into Kagome's eyes. If he could win her over the others would follow. So they all agree that Koga would apologize and it would be over. Inuyasha stepped to the side and out of harm's way and left the rest to Koga.
"You get better and better every time." Shippo said with a smirk. Inuyasha smirked and looked at the men around him.
"Yeah, well I learned my lesson the hard way and I learned the hard way how to get out of it" They quieted down as Koga opened his mouth.
"I'm… I'm…" He stopped. He turned slightly towards the children, as did Shippo, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha. Ayame was too busy listening to Koga that she didn't notice anything. Suddenly there was a scream and Koga and Inuyasha looked at each other before running to see what happened. The rest of the group followed behind and got there just in time to see Shippo holding Toshiro on the ground face down, he was squirming and fighting fiercely to get up, but to no avail. After a few moments, he stopped and he turned his face to look sideways. Kagome was running to him as Shippo was pulling him out of the way of Koga wrestling Taro to the ground and holding him until he calmed and Inuyasha holding Izayoi down. She hadn't calmed down; she didn't change and was still fighting her father as he held her so she wouldn't hurt herself or anyone else. A few moments and Taro calmed enough to be let up. Nevertheless, Izayoi still hadn't changed.
"Kagome…" Inuyasha said. She knew what they had to do if they were going to save their little girl. Everyone watched horrified as Kagome knelt down next to her and charged up her hands for a little zap. Once ready, she told Inuyasha to let go. He looked at her as if she was nuts.
"Inuyasha I could travel through her." She explained quickly. He nodded and was ready on her command.
"Izayoi, come on. Please come back to us." Kagome pleaded. The little girl let out a feral growl then Shippo chimed in.
"Everyone else took control, are you saying your weaker than them?" She screeched and thrashed under her father's hold, the last shriek made everyone's blood go cold then suddenly she was crying hysterically. Inuyasha let go and she turned and collapsed into his chest crying. Shippo just then let go of the fighting Toshiro as he tried to get to his sister. As he reached her and landed into his father's chest, also it suddenly hit Inuyasha and Kagome. They looked with wide eyes.
"He's back to normal." The other had just noticed as Kagome announced it. Taji, Hanna, Haruko, Kanno, and Akio ran from behind some bushes. Shippo pick Taji up and Smelt blood on him. He did not look to be bleeding. Then he saw Jiro half-dragging Saburo out of the bush. He put Taji down and went to the two brothers. Apparently, he was the only one to see them come out and he picked Saburo up and walked back to the group.
"What happened?" Sango asked. Koga turned to Taro who was involved while Inuyasha and Kagome looked down at the twins.
"She attacked Saburo!" Taro snarled pointing at Izayoi. She turned and stood up as she whipped her tears away before responding.
"I did not! I warned him! It's his own fault!" She growled baring her fangs.
"Izayoi what did he do?" Kagome asked softly. Her daughter turned to her with tears in her eyes.
"He tried to… to…ki…kiss me and hold me. He pounced me and held me down in the bushes. That stupid flea bitten wolf only saw half of what happened." She said still baring her fangs and growling viciously.
"You lie! You half breed!" He screamed and tried to lunge at her again, she did the same but their fathers caught them. Inuyasha and Koga looked at each other wondering what to do until they saw Shippo with a half-conscious Saburo in his arms.
Everyone gasped. The young wolf demon had slashes across his chest, a cut above his eye that was gushing, two bruised eyes among other things. Shippo laid him down and the group surrounded them. Taro and Izayoi were still trying to attack each other but were being held back by Inuyasha and Koga. Sango and Miroku turned to the other children looking for answers.
"What happened?" Sango asked. Several looked away as not wanting to answer the question. "Come on no one is going to get hurt, we just need to know.
"Mama, I saw some of it." Hanna said as she looked up at her mother.
"Okay, what did you see?" She said as she sat down on the ground, ignoring the sounds from the two behind her.
"Me, Akio and Izzy were going into the woods because Izzy wanted to go to the sacred tree and Akio's never been there. Then all of a sudden there's a soft growl and he came out of nowhere and tackled her. We couldn't get him off her. Mama, I was so scared." She said as a tear rolled down her check as she continued. "Me and Akio went to get help and went back with Jiro and Shiro we saw Saburo on the ground like that and Izzy and Taro were fighting and… and." She could not finish.
"They were both using their Yurkai viciously." Added Akio who had wandered over. Sango looked at Miroku then at the people behind him. Toshiro and Izayoi started to change again, but were rewarded by being planted face down by Inuyasha and Shippo. Sesshomaru was holding back the smaller children as Kaede, Rin and Kagome worked on Saburo. Ayame calmed the little toddlers and watched what was happening. Koga ended up having to hold his son down on the ground again.
"Rin go stand over there. Ye are not to be near this boy." Kaede said as she and Kagome worked on him.
"What's wrong?" Ayame asked Rin.
"They found out why he acted like that." Rin said and walked away to join Sesshomaru. The twins were still fighting and transforming back and forth, Koga's son was calling his Yurkai back and forth.
"Taro, you need to stop, now." Kagome said softly.
"Who are you to tell me to stop?" He snarled and lunged forward towards Izayoi, trying desperately to get out from under his father.
"Taro, listen!" She said sharply. "Whether you like it or not your brother was in the wrong and you attacking Izayoi is not going to change that! He was possessed." She told everyone. They stared in shock. "It was a really strong spirit and I'm surprised that what he did was all he did." Kagome said as she walked over to Toshiro. As she came into view, he begin to relax and Shippo let go. Kagome reached out as Toshiro held onto her tightly. Taro now relaxed and was let up off the ground on one condition and he agreed. Izayoi still held a bright pinkish red tint in her eyes as she seemed to relax and she noticed Inuyasha did not release her she became outraged again.
"Izayoi stop it!" Inuyasha spoke, she relaxed, her eyes turned golden, and she looked around. Inuyasha slowly released his daughter and helped her standup. "So how's he?" He asked his mate.
"He'll be fine, a little bit of rest and he'll be good as new." Kagome replied holding Toshiro. Suddenly Saburo opened his eye and looked around with a groan.
"It hurts." He managed. Akio was beside him and answered with a smirk.
"Well you should think twice next time you attack Izzy." Saburo looked at his brother confused. "Don't ask, okay?" He added Izayoi took a good look at Saburo and took off into the forest. Inuyasha growled and turned towards the forest as Kagome whispered for him to hear.
"Explain it to her, she doesn't understand. She's scared." He glanced at her over his shoulder then with a nod he was off. Shippo came to stand next to Kagome with Taji in his hands.
"She'll be alright; after all she is his daughter." He said with a smirk. Kagome looked at him from the corner of her eye.
"She's not just his you know." They both laughed as the now almost healed Saburo stood up with some help. Kagome walked up to Ayame and Koga who were still in the same spot they were when Izayoi took off.
"I'm so sorry." She told them, she was fighting the erg to cry and began to walk away when she felt Ayame hug her.
"No Kagome. We are the ones who are sorry. I hope Inuyasha can talk to her." She told her friend.
"If anyone can get through to her it's Inuyasha. She would do anything he said." Sango said coming up to the two women and everyone looked off in the direction of the sacred tree.
Inuyasha ran through the forest following his daughter's scent. He knew where she was going, the same place he always went to think, the sacred tree. After a few seconds, he broke through and came to a stop in front of the tree. His daughter had climbed up to the middle of the tree. She had tears streaming down her cheeks; she looked down quickly as her father arrived. She whipped her eyes, sniffled, and turned away. Inuyasha sighed and walked up to the base of the tree.
"Izayoi, come down and sit with me." He called up as he turned and went to sit on one of the raised roots. She kept her eyes straight ahead and did not respond to her father. She heard him sigh and shift to a more comfortable position.
"You know, I used to come here to think and figure things out whenever your mother and I fought or she went home. It was always so peaceful here and it gave me the peace I needed to think." He looked up into the branches to see his daughter looking down. "Why don't you come down here and we can talk." She looked at him for a long moment then jumped down to sit in her father's lap.
"Papa, I'm scared." She whispered. Inuyasha looked down at her and smiled.
"I know you are but you don't have to worry about anything. Your mother and I will always be there for you." She laid her head on his chest and let a few tears fall down her cheeks again.
"I don't like that feeling." She told him. Inuyasha knew the feeling she was talking about well.
"I know. I never liked it either. We're going to work on not letting this happen again." He told her. She looked up at him with her big now golden eyes.
"Really?" She asked. Inuyasha looked down into her eyes and nodded with a smile.
"But you need to help too."
"What do you mean?" She asked tilting her head to the side.
"When you feel like that you have to fight it tell it to go away and don't come back. Fight as hard as you can. Can you do that?" She nodded and Inuyasha pulled her tighter into a hug. "Don't worry; you won't have to go it alone."
"I love you papa." she said and hugged him back.
"I love you too, Senshi." He responded and kissed her forehead. "What do you say we start getting back to your mama and everyone? They're gonna start to worry." She nodded and stood up. Inuyasha stood up and she reached and held his hand on the way back.
"Papa was that what happened to Shiro?" She asked after a moment of walking in silence.
"Yes. The difference was that Shiro only transforms when he is protecting someone, I guess that has to do with your mother's powers controlling his demon." He looked down at her. She wore a frown and looked down when tears started to fall. He stopped and knelt in front of her. "What's the matter?"
"He gets like that 'cause he is trying to help me. And I hurt him and I get into trouble and make him do that. It's my fault." Inuyasha looked at his daughter, brought her to his chest, and hugged her until she calmed.
"It's not your fault. You can't make someone change like that. It's the instincts. You would do the same." She looked up at him. "You know why you changed?" He asked. She shook her head. "Because your life was threatened. Your demon thought that Saburo was a threat to your life and it took over to save you. You need to understand what took me almost losing your mother and everyone else to understand. Your demon is a part of you that will protect you, but you can't rely on it to save you. You need to use your own strength and save yourself. Show the demon whose boss. If it thinks it can do anything, it will do anything it wants and the longer you let it do that the harder it will be to fight when it wants to hurt. I learned the hard way with everything; I don't want that for you or your brothers." She looked at him as more tears fell. Inuyasha whipped them away before he spoke. "Tell you what. It seems to me that you and Shiro need to start your real training. How bout we start in two weeks. Does that sound good to you?" She smiled and jumped into his arms and hugged him.
"Really, papa?" She asked softly. He nodded and kissed her forehead.
"Yes. Now come on." He said and picked her up to carry her back to the party.
