Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Props go to Rumiko Takahashi because she's awesome and she's come up with so many great ideas and stories, including Inuyasha!

Chapter 10

Aiko and Akari, born four minutes apart with the latter coming first, were two beautiful baby girls who had their mother's eyes and their father's hair colour. Being identical twins, it was and would be hard telling them apart until they developed more discernable personalities. As it was, Aiko was mostly quiet and calm while Akari cried more and was more affectionate. Little Hiroki, Kouga and Ayame's son, was very intrigued by the newborns, as was Rin. It was to be expected though since they were so young themselves and didn't have much experience with such small babies. After a few hours of watching her coo over the girls, Sesshoumaru managed to pull Kagome away from the family's hut so they could be given privacy and so she could get the care she needed. First on the list was sleep.

"But it's so beautiful outside, why would I want to stay in and sleep?" Kagome complained as he escorted her away from her friends. The taiyoukai merely continued on his journey toward his favourite tree in the village.

"Who said anything about going inside?" He glanced at her knowingly before stopping at the base of the thick trunk and sitting down, lounging back in a comfortable position. After being settled in the shade so the harsh rays of the sun wouldn't beam down on him, he spread his arms out in a welcoming manner so that she would join him. Hesitantly, she got down so she was sat at his side, her hands folded in her lap. The inu rolled his eyes at her strained form.

"Tisk tisk, little miko." He gently chided, looping his big hands around her waist and pulling her back so that she was lying down with her face on the expanse of muscle between his shoulder and chest, his pelt acting as a cushion at her back and his right arm around her shoulders. She was shocked that he'd chosen such a position but quickly relaxed with the soothing rhythm of his steady beating heart that resounded throughout his strong chest. It didn't take long before she wrapped her arm around his torso and promptly fell asleep like a rock.

Inuyasha, who was he himself getting some well needed rest on a thick branch of a tree not too far off, couldn't help but take a look at his best friend cuddled up to his older brother. He couldn't help but smile at them, glad of how well their growing relationship was growing. Kagome brought out a part of the taiyoukai that nobody had ever seen before and he certainly liked that guy more than the bastard Sesshoumaru had been not even a year ago. She really could bring out the best in anyone with her pure soul and contagious happiness. Then, like her, he fell asleep quite peacefully.

Kouga and Ayame left with Hiroki the next morning, around the same time that Jaken came back from the palace. With Jaken and Ah-Un came Kohaku who wanted to see his sister and her husband and also meet their daughters; his nieces. Also with Jaken came some disturbing news about a few demon villages close to the palace's location. The higher ranking demons of the west were stirring quite menacingly, attacking innocent half-demons in protest to another lord of theirs having a hanyou child. It was even worse this time around since the hanyou would be his first born and inevitably his heir if he was still in power in the future and not overthrown or killed by a stronger opponent. To be fair, there was no being who could overthrow Sesshoumaru who would actually want to be lord of the west.

"I must go," The young lord of the west had told Kagome when they'd breached the topic during the slow walk toward the well. Kagome wanted to go back for a day or two but was feeling conflicted about it after hearing that Sesshoumaru would be leaving. She felt slightly insane for wanting it but she felt the urge to go with him, to be alone with him for a few days or so and visit the palace where he'd grown up, to see him actually playing the role of a lord and deal with his problematic people. Was it crazy for her to want that?

"Can I come? I mean, I'll be perfectly safe with you and I'd get to know more about where you come from an-" She was interrupted almost immediately by the towering taiyoukai as he directed a glare at her like he hadn't done in a good while.

"You have seen the palace and I feel like you do not need to go inside. The people will be unwelcoming and all I will be doing is paperwork and intimidation. Your presence, though your company would be welcome, is unneeded therefore a waste of time." His voice was hard and held a tone she hadn't heard in months. Could the idea of her coming along really make him revert to his old ways? Did he want her to stay away so badly that he'd treat her like he treated everyone else? Hell, he didn't even talk or look at Inuyasha like that anymore…

"If that's how you really feel," she lowered her gaze from his and turned her face away, unable to look into his eyes when they were so cold; an aspect that had become strange now. Which of his faces was a mask, an act? The warmer more open one or this cold, hard and incredibly passive one? Who was Sesshoumaru really? Was his current expression merely a shield or was it his true nature? Kagome was suddenly at a loss.

"I…" She was at a loss and he was lacking words for the vulnerability she was demonstrating. Could his demeanour really affect her entire mood so much? We feed off of each other's emotions as if we are already linked by a mating bond. Have I really become so attached and dependant? Has she? What could people possibly find so wonderful in that? By mating, you lose the basic privacy of your own emotions and find yourself so in tune to the other's that they distract you from doing or saying what you actually want to. Is this what every being pins after? Sharing something as personal as your every thought, desire and emotion? He wondered if it would be worth it then if they mated. Yes, he decided, privacy is not as important as she is.

"You what?" She turned on him, pinning him with a glare that rivalled his own; the one she used to take on before when her friends mentioned Kikyou and Inuyasha meeting privately. If only he could feel what she felt when he acted that way, she'd be glad. He could understand how much it hurt, though she had no idea why exactly it hurt so much. There was a pain in her chest like she used to get when she thought of Inuyasha and Kikyou together. She'd been so hung up on him back then that she believed herself in love. Thinking back on it, she really had been in love with her best friend. Too bad sometimes being in love didn't last forever; she had a feeling she'd be happy all the time if her and Inuyasha had ended up staying in love and being together. He was always so good to her, despite their teasing arguments and past jealousy. She almost mourned their falling out, stopped only by the golden eyed youkai in front of her. Could she really feel for him as she'd felt for Inuyasha somewhere deep in her heart?

"I did not intend to impact your emotions negatively. I apologise." He softened at the sight of her and at the sound of her voice, the encounter going in a direction he'd never wanted to bring it to. Was it so hard for her to understand that he didn't want her to connect herself to his past? It was such an unpleasant time and place for him that he'd rather keep it and she separated. This was meant to be a new chapter in his life…whatever this was.

"I guess that's just too bad then," She huffed at him, slightly pissed that he could apologise so easily only a minute after regarding her through stony eyes. Is he bipolar or confused or something? And who knew he could actually say sorry? "I'm going home." With that, she turned to the well not five feet away and marched purposefully toward it, intent on leaving the situation behind and seeing her family. She swung her legs over the lip of the well and just sat for a moment, inhaling a few more breaths of pure air.

"Wait, Kagome," He reached out to her, only to become completely paralyzed as a single word whispered from her lips.

"Heel." She used the subjugation command she'd put on his beads for the first time since it was made, watching him slowly fall onto one knee as his whole body disobeyed him with a sense of wrongness in her soul. A being such as he really was not made to be restrained but she didn't want to hear what he'd have to say. That whole argument was sort of void in a way since he could follow after her into her time as soon as the spell wore off but she didn't care. Let him be angry. It's not like that faint glimmer of betrayal in his awe-inspiring eyes changes how I feel about this situation in the slightest…Okay, it changes everything. I'm so sorry, Sesshoumaru.

Instead of hopping down into the well like she'd been planning to do, Kagome stepped back onto the luscious grass and waited for his body to obey him once again, an apology at the tip of her tongue. Finally, he forced himself back to his full height, the strain of the spell still lingering in his bones. He could feel the fury at the pit of his stomach for what she'd just done to him but accompanied with the feeling of betrayal, he couldn't bring himself to scowl or even sneer at her. He could see in her eyes that she was regretting it and felt that they both might've been making a bigger deal out of this than it was but still, she ordered me like she would have ordered a pet dog.

"When you put these beads around my neck, you promised that you'd never truly use them on me." His voice was void of emotion as he stated the simple fact. He was treating her with such disregard while deep inside, in the depths of his soul, he wanted to hug her and tell her to not cry. Tears were welling up in her eyes and he felt like it was he that had went back on his word and should beg forgiveness. Was he not the superior? Could he honestly feel inferior when he'd done nothing too wrong to her?

"And I never had any intention to. It just sort of slipped and I was miffed. I'm really sorry, Sesshoumaru, it won't happen again." She lowered her head, ashamed that she'd stooped so low as to subjugate him because she wasn't happy with what he'd said. Who did that anyway? Who, other than someone as emotionally weak as she, would restrain someone because they said something she didn't particularly like? Nobody that she knew would do that.

"If," He eventually spoke up, letting his minute bitterness slip to instead be replaced by gentle tones and warmer eyes. He watched her watch his silky silver hair blowing in the gentle breeze of the mild day as he tried to mend the strain that was forming so quickly between them. "If you truly wish to come along, I will not stop you. It would be a pleasure to have you as company." The admittance wasn't easy to say out loud but he managed it none the less. Her eyes snapped up to meet his and she smiled softly at him.

"It's about time you come to your senses you stubborn demon." She teased pitifully in a small voice before sniffling and eliminating the distance between them to press her forehead to his hard chest and wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug. He returned the affection with a hand on her back and nuzzled his face into her hair, glad that the horribly useless argument was put behind them. Neither of them could remember why they had been mad in the first place at that point.

Two hours and a shared cup of ramen with Inuyasha later, Kagome was leaving with Sesshoumaru for the west after a short visit with Sango and her family. The taijiya was still recovering from the double birth but had managed to help Kagome pack her things into her bag and see them off with the others. Inuyasha had embraced her and made her promise to take care of herself while she was gone, promising himself that he'd entertain Rin instead of bothering Miroku and them while they bonded as an actual family. Then the duo was walking away, Sesshoumaru once more donning his armour and Kagome holding onto a strap of her backpack with one hand while touching her stomach with the other. She could feel the pup stirring within her and was just waiting to feel the first kick with no small amount of anticipation. She had a newfound feeling of excitement at the prospect of feeling her child move around and kicking as it grew and grew in her tummy until the day it would finally be born. She was surprised that seeing Sango suffer so much during labour wasn't changing her level of giddiness at all.

"Jaken claims that Masuyo is waiting for us at the palace." Sesshoumaru spoke up when he saw that the miko in his company was starting to seem bored with looking at her surroundings. She is such a social creature, he mused thoughtfully; I am surprised that she hasn't started a conversation yet.

"Then does she want to speak of our deal?" Kagome asked with a glance at him. He caught her eye for a moment and managed a discreet twitch of the lips before turning his attention back ahead.

"Hn. She will want to get the bad part of the deal out of the way most likely." He admitted, remembering just how twisted she could be. For every deal she made, the good sorceress did her best to spread good fortune and happiness but there was usually at least one consequence for the person who made the deal with her; one that could possibly break their soul if they were not strong enough. In was her habit to wait until the person was used to the pros before hitting them with that one con. However, he doubted she'd do anything too bad to Kagome since Kagome had done nothing bad herself to merit it. The only reason the deal was needed in the first place was because he'd unknowingly sent her into a trap by his lady mother. What if that is it? What if the consequence if for me and not Kagome? I am as much a part of this deal as she is, being that I was thrust into the role of a father.

"Whoa hold up, there's a downside to all of this?" Sesshoumaru regarded her as she stopped, her initial reaction of internal panic thick in her beautiful scent. He crossed his arms into his sleeves and shot her a meaningful look.

"You need not worry, Kagome. I could be mistaken of her motives." Still troubled but trying to feel reassured, Kagome resumed her footfalls at his side, wanting so bad to make better conversation. So many questions were running through her mind about the taiyoukai at her side that she couldn't pick one. Finally, when she opened her mouth to make an inquiry, a question different than the one she meant to ask slipped out and she almost regretted it.

"Do you want to be a father?"

A long silence trailed after them as he pondered and they ended up setting camp before he had the chance to formulate a proper answer. It wasn't dark out yet but the clouds were darkening and the rain would soon fall. Seeing this, they mutually agreed to make camp inside when they stumbled upon a dirt cavern held together by the long roots of a tree from a higher-levelled hill. The ground had seemed to have crumbled from underneath the tree to form the opening in the terrain so Sesshoumaru made sure to test the sturdiness of the tree that would cover them before allowing Kagome to settle herself under its safety. Their clothes might get smudged with the soil but at least they would be dry and safe during the night. They set up their camp and then just sat side by side, watching the light drizzle start to fall as Kagome munched on some rice balls she'd made with Rin the day before.

"I do," The inuyoukai murmured after a period so long that Kagome had forgotten what he was even answering to. She gave him a side-long puzzled stare and finished her bite before asking.

"What?" He turned to look back at her with his shadowed golden eyes. He would start a fire soon; the clouds were making the sky so dark that it felt almost like nightfall. He listened to the raindrops fall into the small puddles forming outside of their cover for a few seconds more before answering.

"I do want to be a father. My original plan for supreme conquest had always been first on my mind but I still planned on becoming a father someday. Now that my plan has changed, I do not mind having a child so soon." It scared him how much he looked forward to holding his pup, the perfect mix of Kagome and himself, and watching it grow up.

"I'm glad." She sent him the most heart-warming grin as she watched him stand to go gather some relatively dry branches to make a fire. He felt the breath nearly being knocked out of him at the sight; the feeling unreal that such a look from her could be directed at him. "When you think of being a father, what do you think about most? What do you look forward to?" She asked then, encouraged by his positive response and oblivious to his inner battle for breath.

"If I were to say it out loud, I would never forgive myself. One such as I is not supposed to look forward to such things." He tried to brush off the topic. What a fearsome demon, he sneered at himself, wanting to coddle an infant and watch its first steps, hear its first word. He'd never felt so typical in his life.

"Oh, get over yourself, Sesshoumaru. I bet you cringe at the idea of telling your own pup that you love it, huh? You're too aware of your reputation to say things that are normal to say." Kagome rolled her eyes dramatically at the taiyoukai and crossed her arms as she watched him form a neat campfire at the center of a circle of rocks. Does he have to look so perfect no matter what he's doing? It's so distracting.

"I do not care for the way others perceive me, little miko." He very nearly growled at he accusations. He was not so stiff as to disregard his pup because people would think him pathetic if he spoke such gentle words. He would treat his pup the way he never got a chance to be treated: with care, love and affection. Love…

"Is that why you literally told Inuyasha repeatedly that you hated him and that you would kill him even if you knew it wasn't true? Was it not because you wanted him and everyone else to view you as a dangerous, unattainable beast?" She knew she was basically picking a fight by exposing his faults to him so bluntly but she couldn't help herself. She would have blamed it on pregnancy mood-swings but she knew that it was just her being…well…her.

"You dare to imply that I was dishonest, do you? Oh, the audacity." His voice was surprisingly light and amused considering what he was saying. Did he always have to give off such mixed signals? She didn't know if she should tease him back, apologize or reinforce her point with examples. She settled for teasing, just in case.

"One has to be audacious if they ever want to accomplish anything, no?"

"There is audacity and then there is foolishness. For example, admitting that I care for you is audacious whereas admitting I love you would be foolish. I cannot love you because I have never truly known love and to love is to be hurt. Though, it might be a little too late on the painful part, considering my foolish attachment to you." Mind blown that he could ever utter such words, Kagome reeled back as if having been shoved. Where is the punch line? Because this has to be a joke, right?

"Love – a wildly misunderstood although highly desirable malfunction of the heart which weakens the brain, causes eyes to sparkle, cheeks to glow, blood pressure to rise and lips to pucker. At least, that's what writers in my time say to get noticed and sound relatable. Here's what I think," The beautiful priestess was still shocked at his previous words but felt the need to explain to him what he'd been missing out on his whole life. "To love someone is to want them safe, happy and free. We're all born with a need for love and we all want to die having been loved. Love is when you have to wonder. Love is timeless; you can't pinpoint when it began and you're sure it'll never end. Your heart beats faster when you see that person and you have an urge to smile all the time. You look forward to having adventures with them and then you find yourself thinking back to those times when you're alone at night and you can't sleep. They make you angry and make you want to curse them out and hug them at the same time. Their troubles trouble you because you can't help but worry about them and want the best for them. Love is not pity or sympathy; love is an emotion all in its own. Love is when you don't want to fall asleep because reality is better than any dream you could have. Love is when I babble and rant and try to explain to you what love is because I want you to understand how I feel when you're around." She was going to say so much more until she realised what exactly she'd said in her last sentence and she paled, her mouth opening and closing to try and save herself but failing to actually form words. There was no denying that she loved him and she'd said she loved him in front of him back at her house when her mother had asked but it felt so dangerous to say it now that she'd explained to him what she believed love was.

The fire sparked to life then and the glowing hues enhanced his entrancing hair and intense eyes as they were transfixed on her, shimmering orange and copper alike. He was frozen, completely unable to move or even breathe. She'd described to him in words he could not use himself exactly what he felt when he thought of her or Rin. And he would not admit it aloud but some of it could perfectly describe what he secretly felt when his brother was concerned. And as he watched the red and yellow reflects dance on her skin as she looked at him in what could have been bewilderment, he knew he loved her. He loved her because of all that and because she loved him when barely anyone else dared to. Who would have thought…and there she sits just waiting with acceptance for me to brush off her claims as if they were the definition of complete foolishness.

"Then I do love you," Sesshoumaru admitted and to her ears the sound of his voice as he murmured those words was like sitting down after standing still for hours; supremely relieving and remarkably satisfying. "Though do not expect this to signal the start of worship or offerings on my part." He couldn't help but muse playfully when he was just how much her shoulders sagged blissfully from their previously tense position.

"I don't expect or want the world, Sesshoumaru. I'm perfectly happy with the way things are right now." And with that she gave him another one of her special smiles; the ones that seemed to be reserved for the people she trusted and without whom she felt she would die. He'd only ever seen her smile like that where her close friends and family were concerned and it filled his chest with warmth to know that he was included in that tight circle now.

"As am I, Kagome."

Author's note:

And thus we are a chapter further and dangling right on the edge of another plot twist. It'll all be revealed next chapter, friends. I think it'll be the last twist and then I'll just get deeper into the actual development of the story instead of the characters and their feelings. I find myself enjoying fluff scenes and hopeless romance so I might start up a second story that's just a big pile of fluff on top of fluff at the bottom of even more fluff. Anybody interested? If so, between which characters (from the Inuyasha universe) would you like the romance to be if I did that? Tell me what you think! Have a good morning/day/evening/night everyone! –Nat :)

P.S. The names I've chosen for the twins were inspired by a review from fanfic user bertabee (Aiko and Akari which respectively mean Little Love/Beloved and Light/Glimmer)! Thanks for the suggestions which in turn made me search and find similar names! Also, Hiroki, if anyone was wondering, means Abundant Joy/Strength. Anyway, see y'all next chapter, eh! ^.^