Well, this is a record, three updates in one day. Damn, you guys are so demanding. Sigh. The impatience! Fine, here ya go, I love you all!

Deds: BrokenWingedAngel16: You think so? Some people don't like the pairing I don't think, but hey, I do!

Disclaimer: Me and my best friend are gettin' along like two beavers in a mudhut, eh? That moosette has got some nerve, I say.

Moonlight Shadow

The next morning, Kagome awoke alone, but next to her on the pillow, lay the pup, a folded note tightly fisted in his tiny hand. Kagome wrestled it loose without waking him up, and opened it.

Inside, he'd written:

Kagome,
This pup needs a name. How about Inumaru? He is, after all, Inuyasha's first son. It suits him. I will return soon, Lady. Please wait for me.
Sesshoumaru

Kagome smiled; she liked it too. She turned to lovingly stroke her baby's back, and he yawned a mighty yawn before opening his eyes to look at her. She was thrown off guard; since he was born she had yet to see his eyes, and she was delighted with what she saw. They were a bright molten gold, just like Inuyasha's…just like Sesshoumaru's.

Laughing, she picked him up, and carried him to the kitchen, where she bathed him, smiling the entire time she was doing it.

Sango cleared the meadow that morning, after having sent Miroku to the village to ask around and see if any of the young men who weren't busy wanted to help manage Inuyasha's crops, which would soon be harvested. Kagome, she suspected, was still too deep in her sorrow to care about the crops, but when she approached the back door, she caught a glimpse of her best friend, laughing and smiling in front of her kitchen window.

Her curiosity piqued, Sango waved to her and called out her name. Kagome waved back, and motioned her to come inside.

When Sango walked in, she was shocked at what she saw.

Kagome had been busy this morning.

A large hamper of laundry was sitting next to the door, and the pup was laying on the table while Kagome changed him. Dumping a healthy amount of baby powder on top of a creamy white layer of ointment on his bum, she slapped on a diaper and handed him to Sango.

"You're happy today." Sango commented, and held the pup away as he tried to stuff her hair in his mouth.

"Yeah, Sesshoumaru came last night. He really made me feel a lot better, you know?"

Sango raised an eyebrow at this.

"He did?"

"Uh huh," Kagome replied, throwing the baby's dirty bathwater out the door.

"Oh, and he thought of a name for my strapping little man, too. I know I should be sad," here she stopped and turned to face Sango, "but I can't help myself, I feel so happy today. I feel terrible for it, because it makes it seem as if he…" she paused, and swallowed; he was still painful to talk about, despite her mood.

"…as if his death means nothing to me. But I miss him so much, Sango!"

Here, she did break down and start to cry, and Sango rushed over, and held her with her free arm until her sobs subsided and she sniffled, wiping her face dry.

Sango understood now. Kagome had been trying to put on a happy face, and she was sure Sesshoumaru had something to do with her happiness this morning, but in the long run, she knew Kagome wasn't as happy as she let on, that she still suffered, and would likely continue to suffer for a long time.

Sango had seen the look on Sesshoumaru's face yesterday when he'd followed her friend; he'd looked miserable. She knew he was distraught too, even though he'd probably never admit it to anyone…except Kagome, that is. Sango thought back.

A while ago, she had stumbled upon Sesshoumaru and Kagome in the forest, and had been amazed to catch them kissing each other. She hadn't said anything, because she figured if Kagome wanted her to know about it, she'd tell her. But until then, Sango had kept her mouth shut about it; she hadn't even told Miroku.

Sango smiled a little. Maybe Sesshoumaru had been put in Kagome's path for a reason…she shook her head.

It was remote, but not impossible.

Whatever the case, Sango trusted in Kagome's judgement, and if she fell in love with the demon Lord, she certainly wasn't going to object. He was Inuyasha's brother, after all. She could understand Kagome's deep attachment to him, the second last reminder of her late mate that she had left, aside from her pup.

"That reminds me," she said, handing the baby back to Kagome, who walked away to make tea to share with her friend. "You never told me the name he came up with."

Kagome smiled a little; the memory of his note was so sweet. "Inumaru."

Sango laughed. "Well, it's certainly appropriate. I like it."

"Me too," Kagome sighed, and went to the other end of the counter, and lay Inumaru on a blanket folded into a triangular shape. Placing it over her head, she knotted it at her shoulder, creating an impromptu snuggly for Inumaru, leaving both her hands free.

Sango tilted her head. "That's neat," she said, "where'd you learn to do that?"

"Oh, Mom gave me a bunch of books a while ago about babies, and this was in one of them. I have to go home today, and do my laundry, and…and tell them the news."

She pasted a fake smile on for Sango and plunked herself at the table, sighing. Sango reached over and rubbed her hand, and Kagome smiled a little.

"You'll get through this," she promised.

"I know."

Sesshoumaru left his castle, and took to the air. On the way, something red flew by; on an impulse, he reached out and snagged it.

The cloth, feeling like wool, had a familiar scent. He brought it to his nose. It was Inuyasha's fire-rat haori, or part of it, anyway. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

He remembered that Inuyasha had lost it that day, had lost it during his battle with him.

Sesshoumaru tucked it into his sash, under his armour, next to the small bag he'd attached there before he left home.

Facing forward once again, he continued on his way, his faithful retainer moaning from his perch on his fur the entire way.

Kagome landed at the bottom of the well, returning with her laundry from her mother's. She had been gone all afternoon; they had all cried over the loss of Inuyasha.

Kagome wiped her nose with a tissue she grabbed at home, in fact had taken the whole box, at the insistence of her mother. Her clean, but wet laundry rested on her other hip.

Slowly, and very awkwardly, she climbed out, hauling the basket with her. Sango had Inumaru until she came for him; which she should soon. If her sore breasts were anything to go by, he'd be ravenous by the time she got there.

As she ambled home with her load, she thought about staying in her time permanently, but shook her head as soon as the thought entered her mind.

No, she couldn't leave her friends, and Sesshoumaru. And, she reminded herself, she had to set up a shrine to her Inuyasha, which she planned to do today after laundry, and picking up her baby.

Entering the house, she found Miroku waiting for her at the kitchen table, his eyes busily taking in everything around him.

Since she was from the future, Inuyasha had built many things in their house modelled after things he'd seen in her time, like the tables, and chairs.

At Miroku's house, there were no chairs, just low tables and mats. And Kagome had running water; it had to be hand-pumped, but it was installed in the counter, with a basin next to it, what she called a sink. He would never cease to be amazed with what Inuyasha had managed to accomplish with this house, he'd thought the man too simple-minded to do any of it, but he supposed Kagome had had a large part in what went where and how it worked.

She dropped the basket on the table with a loud plop, startling him from his thoughts. He blushed.

"What's up, Miroku?" she asked, not at all perturbed about finding him making himself comfortable in her house.

"Not a whole lot, Lady Kagome," he said, and rubbed his neck, embarrassed at being caught ogling everything.

"You know," he said, trying to distract her attention from his red face, "you have quite a lot of advanced things here. Are they from your time?"

She leaned over the basket and smiled. "Yes, they are. Come, I have to hang out my laundry."

He followed her outside, where he watched her hang all her damp clothes upside-down on a line strung from the house to a nearby tree. All the gadgets she had were so amazing to him.

"How are you doing, Kagome? Are you holding up alright? I know how hard all this must be on you…how hard it is on all of us." He thought of Shippo, who had been staying with him and Sango ever since the incident, and hadn't spoken to Kagome since then, either.

When he said this, Kagome herself seemed to remember the little kitsune, and her face fell in guilt.

"I'd really rather not talk about it, Miroku, if I do, I'll just cry, and all I've done since then is cry. I cried last night, and I cried with my family this morning in my time, I really don't want to cry anymore today... I'm sorry."

She sniffled; looked like she was crying…again.

Miroku took the damp shirt she held and tossed it back in the basket before he took her in his arms, and she readily accepted solace from him. She once again broke down and sobbed out her sorrow as he held her, and when her sobs quieted, she stood back, and thanked him.

"Oh Miroku, I miss him so much. We've been through so much together, it feels so unfair to be robbed of his love, when we both worked so hard to get where we wanted to be…" she trailed off, shrugging her shoulders and sighing heavily.

He still gripped her upper arms. "I know, Kagome," he said, hugging her again.

She wiped her eyes. "I don't even have anything to remember him by...except Inumaru and Tesusaiga." She reburied her face in his robes, a fresh round of sobs emitting from her tired body.

He sighed and stroked her back in sympathy, feeling the tears well up in his own eyes at her pitiful cries.

"I know, I know," he soothed. After a while, he said, "If you ever need anything, anything at all, you just ask us, alright? You're still coming to the wedding?"

She nodded. "Wouldn't miss it," she sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"Good, it'll take your mind off of things, for a while at least," he said, and she smiled.

Remembering herself, she told him to wait there while she dashed into the house, putting the laundry basket back on the table. She'd hang the rest out when she got back.

Opening what Inuyasha had referred to as the 'icebox', Kagome brought out a six-pack of chocolate milkshakes, which her mother had given her before she left that morning.

Carrying it with her, she took Miroku's arm and led him toward his house, saying, "My mother gave me these, and I think we should all share them. Besides, I haven't seen Shippo in so long, he's sure to enjoy the lollipop I've got hidden in my pocket for him."

Miroku just smiled and let her lead him.

'Yes,' he thought. 'She's going to be alright.'

Wow. Weepy. Sorry it's so short, but we're quickly approaching where I am at with this monster, people, so updates may soon slow down a bit if I happen to get writer's block (heaven forbid). So: are my characters out-of-character yet? I think they are, but you may not. Drop me a line and gimme yer opin, if you please...heeheehee. And remember, if they are...I warned ya!