Miroku set his staff against the tree and stretched his muscles. This traveling somehow seemed easier to do six years ago. Shaking his own head at his thoughts, he turned to lean aback against the roots.
"What are you thinking about Miroku?" He glanced up to see Sango settling down next to him.
"Nothing of too much interest. You can have my spot if it would make you more comfortable." He offered.
Sango flushed lightly and shook her head. "No, I'm not that helpless monk."
She added as an afterthought, "thanks."
Miroku's eyes trailed where Inuyasha had stopped. The dog demon flattened his ears as he watched the child he just lowered to the ground. Hesitating, Inuyasha pulled his fire rat robe free and draped it over the sleeping child. Miroku couldn't stop the laugh before it escaped him.
Snapping his head up, Inuyasha's eyes narrowed.
"What are you laughing at monk!" He would have screamed louder but for the pup beneath him. Inuyasha's ears flickered back as Miroku and Sango didn't break their gaze. Growling, he twisted around and sprung up to the nearest tress.
"Inuyasha does seem to like the child." Miroku mentioned as soon as the demon turned away. Sango grinned and nodded.
"It's good for him. I'm glad they took so well. Heavens would have blessed us if only Shippou and him had gotten along this well." Her thoughts went to the small fox demon that never left Kaede's village.
After Kagome left, he tried to force himself to grow older, to act older. Still, the fox was the equivalent to a ten year old boy in human years. He had a long way to go. He forced himself to help the old woman and often found himself amongst the villagers helping in sniffing out game. She still saw the youth in him though. She still saw the hurt in him.
"So do you think we'll have any luck on this lead?" Sango curbed her thoughts before they could run away on her.
"Well it is the nearest village where dog demons stay. The child couldn't have come from far. Where did you say you found him again?"
Sango lowered her voice. "By the well. But I doubt we'd have any lead around there. The spider youkai would have dragged him easily half a mile by the time I found them. And I know Inuyasha wouldn't even help us if we told him we were going there." She remembered how he skirted around that place as if from fear of sudden death.
"Well, we should hope these demons are friendly. Especially if we'd work so hard to bring back their kind."
Sango nodded and ran her fingertips over Kiara's fur. The youkai purred in delight and brought a gentle smile to her lips.x
She lay down to sleep before her eyes just caught the form of Inuyasha in the tree. She blinked in the darkness, the fire dying out and the leaving the tree difficult to see.
She was sure she saw Inuyasha though. Saw him watching over the now human Kawayou with an expression that was absolutely indiscernible.
~*~
Gratefully accepting the new bow and arrow set from one of the villagers, she set them next to her. Kaede had sent out for one and went to stoke the fire to keep it burning. Kagome's attention had fallen away as she ticked her fingers back trying to calculate the time. She only had three more hours of the daycare. She'd have to rush back. Maybe Kaede would watch her children.
She thought about the rushed call she made to Souta. He numbly acknowledged the situation, unsure exactly why she was so upset. He'd dropped by the house to pick the girls up and leave them in a daycare center. She knew though, he couldn't work any more miracles for her.
Sighing, she had hoped it was easier than this. Not entirely sure what she expected, she just needed to make sure she was welcome here.
Her lips thinned. She hadn't asked about Inuyasha but she didn't sense his aura here either. It would be foolish to think he'd stay in this village after all of those years. She hadn't broached the subject to Kaede yet. She'd had something more important to concern herself with.
"Kaede, I'm afraid I didn't come back for a reunion." She stood, pulling the bow and arrows with her.
Kaede didn't look up from the fire at first. "I didn't think ye did, my child. What ails you?"
"I came here looking for someone. A boy."
Kaede spun around as if she'd been burned. "That hanyou boy, the one Sango found at the well!" She rasped out.
Kagome didn't get to speak when Kaede walked closer to her.
"Is that the child you seek?"
Kagome numbly nodded. Sango had found her baby at the well. Her breathing went shallow.
"Where is he Kaede?"
The old woman watched her, her eyes widened. Kaede knew, almost instantly, but she wasn't sure she believed it.
"The boy is your child?"
Kagome's lip shook and she nodded. For the first time someone else understood what she'd been almost haunted her for so many years. Her child. Inuyasha's child. Her eyes burned with moisture.
"I need to find him, where is he?"
Kaede opened her mouth and suddenly turned from her.
"Sango had been convinced that the young boy had come from a not too distant Dog-demon village. The idea that it be yer son never crossed us Kagome. How—" She stopped for a second, "You must reach them before they get to the village Kagome. They may not have traveled far."
"Them?" Kagome's heart clenched to a near stop.
Kaede turned around to look at her, a new concentration returning to her.
"Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha went with the boy."
She didn't say the next part but Kagome could hear the question echoing off the very walls of her existence.
"Are you ready to face him again?"
She answered the question out loud, her voice breaking and her strength almost escaping her.
"I'll do anything for my son."
A/N: Yo, so just leave comments or questions in the reviews. Thanks! It's like a cheerleading squad to get out the next chapters
