Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter Nine – Inuyasha's POV.

The next morning was awkward, not for me but for her. When she woke up she started getting dressed and she wouldn't look at me. I tried to slow her down, make her tell me why she was acting like that, but she just ran off saying she had some things to do. She was acting like last night was a mistake and that didn't sit well with me. I walked around until I ran into Mari. She was staring up at me curiously.

"Hey Mari," he said with a smile. "Where did you go last night?"

"Mama took me to Koga's and Ayame's. I got to play with their daughter this morning."

"That's nice. How old is she?" he asked indulgently. He wasn't used to being around kids, but with Mari it just seemed to come naturally.

"She's just a toddler. But she's really cute so I don't mind," she said with a grin.

"Hey Mari, you want to show me around today? I thought maybe we could spend some time together, just the two of us." He saw her studying him cautiously. "You're mother told me," he murmured.

"So you know who I am?" she asked, looking at the ground and scuffing her foot in the dirt.

"I do. And that's why I want to get to know you better." She looked up at him hopefully.

"Are you just saying that to be nice or do you really mean it?" she asked quietly.

"I really mean it. And I need your help with your mom also. I don't think she believes what I told her and I really want you guys to come back with me."

Her eyes lit up and she squealed. "I knew it! I told her she shouldn't worry!" She jumped on him and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her experimentally and her happiness seemed to climb. She pulled back and looked at him with joyful eyes. "So what do you need me to do?"

"Pester her," he said with a grin. "We can both bring it up as often as possible and maybe then she'll agree. But for now, I just want to talk to you, so why don't you give me that tour?" She nodded and hopped down.

"Whatcha wanna talk about?" she asked in a sing-song voice as she grabbed his hand and led her around. He gently squeezed her hand in return.

"Well, everything. I want to know about you. What's your favorite food, favorite color, favorite game. Who do you play with and what do you do with your free time? Everything." She seemed pleased and she proceeded to answer all of his questions. The she turned to him with a startlingly somber expression.

"Why did you leave mommy?"

He was surprised. Apparently her mother shared everything with her. "I didn't," he said softly. "It was a misunderstanding. All of it. If I would have known she was pregnant of course I would have wanted you in my life. When I told her I didn't want kids I just meant that I wanted to wait until we were older and the danger had passed. And when she woke up and I wasn't there, I was on my way back from chasing down Sesshomaru to beg him to save her again. He told me Tenseiga can only save someone once and I rushed back to be with her, to see if I could find some other way. I wasn't ready to lose her. I don't think I ever will be." She looked like she was fighting tears and she gripped his legs tightly as she buried her face in his thigh.

"I knew she was wrong. I knew you wanted us. I'm just sad that she didn't know it." Her voice was muffled by his pants, but he still heard her.

"Yeah, me too Kid," he said as her rubbed her back soothingly. She pulled away and gave him a watery smile.

"Come on. I'll introduce you to Sakura and Ayame." He allowed her to pull him along once more. He was sad that it had taken so long for him to find them, too long for this little girl's scars to be erased by the passing of time. For his daughter's scars to be erased. She would always remember a life in which her father didn't want her. He swore right then and there that he would always be there for her from now on. He'd give anything to keep a smile on her face and hear her laughter. He wasn't going to let go now that he had something to hold onto. As they approached their destination he was vaguely aware of Kagome and the rest of the group standing not too far away and looking at him curiously. Kagome looked worried and he saw her eyes widen when she saw that her daughter was holding hands with him. But she turned away and went back to whatever she had previously been doing. He got the message. She was his daughter now too and she accepted that. He was glad. Now he just had to convince her that she was his too.

The visit with Ayame was eventful. He had to admit that her baby was rather cute, he was just a little put off by all the slobber and crying. He was never good with people who were crying. After they left they walked around a little more and Mari took him to her favorite spot in the whole village. It was a small pond on the outskirts of the encampment and it proved to be naturally warmer water, as though it got its water from a hot springs somewhere. They dipped their feet in and watched the sun set. Both of them were pretty worn out after their long day and she had finally fallen silent. He assumed she'd just run out of things to say. She leaned against him and he put an arm around her shoulders pulling her close. She snuggled into his side and he soon found out that her lack of speech was not due to lack of subjects to discuss but out of exhaustion. Her soft snores reached his ears and he smiled. He could get used to this. He picked her up and laid her head on his shoulder. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and went back to snoring. He walked slowly back to Kagome's tent. She seemed a little choked up to see them like that, but she quickly took possession of Mari and took her inside to get her settled in for the night. When she came back out she once again wouldn't look at him.

"I suppose you'll be sleeping with the gang tonight?" she asked the ground.

"I suppose I will," he said slowly. "Unless you want me to stay," he offered. Her face turned a bright shade of pink.

"Goodnight," she muttered and rushed into her hut. He sighed and made his way over to the bonfire his friends had set up. No one interrupted him having learned that he preferred to be left alone while he was thinking. For that he was grateful. He sighed again and laid back on the grass to stare at the stars. He would make her see that he wasn't lying, and that she had to come with him. But for now it looked like she was trying to ignore that and he wasn't up for a fight tonight. Tomorrow Mari would start helping to persuade her. Until then he'd just let her stew in her own thoughts. Having resolved that issue he found that he was able to fall asleep. He dreamed of weddings and the most beautiful flower girl in the history of the world. And he was happy.