That Night At the Inn

Lead

"Thank you, good monk." the headman bowed low to Miroku again.

He had blessed the body and prepared her for burial. Since no one knew who exactly she was, they didn't want to offend her in any way. Her body would be buried the next morning while he and Sango watched over it tonight. It had been so long since her rather violent death that there was a chance her soul had already become restless and demonic. Miroku needed to stay around to make sure it stayed calm and Sango was around in case her violent death turned her into a demon.

After her burial in the morning, he and Sango would take their leave back to their village.

But, for the moment, they were eating beside the body, trying not to let the smell of cooked human flesh bother them as they ate.

"How do you think Kagome is doing?" Sango asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm sure Lady Kagome is doing fine." Miroku smiled. "She has InuYasha. And her time's medical knowledge is much more extensive than ours is.

"That's true." Sango nodded. "I just have a bad feeling."

"About what?" Miroku asked rhetorically, smiling. "She will be perfectly fine. You seem to forget that that baby is not completely human. It has InuYasha's blood in his veins. Any child of his is going to be fine."

That seemed to cheer Sango up. "You're right. Don't know what I was-"

"Sango!" Miroku cut her off.

He had taken a glance at the body and, to his horror, he saw the blue-white pulsing soul exiting her mouth and floating into the air.

"Her soul?" Sango jumped to her feet.

The soul did a few lazy circles in the air before floating out of the room.

Sango and Miroku charged after it and burst from the room just in time to see a pale soul collector grab it in it's six spindly little legs.

"A soul collector?" Sango looked shocked. "That means that Kikyo is here."

"Follow it." Miroku said thanking Buddha that InuYasha and Kagome weren't around at the moment. He didn't know what would come of him meeting her, but he was sure that it wouldn't be good.

"Why are we chasing that thing?" Sango asked as they entered into the surrounding woods and had to jump and swerve to avoid trees and roots.

"We did promise to make sure her soul remains at peace." Miroku answered. "We need to get it back if only for that."

"Admit it, chasing after Kikyo has just become second nature." Sango rolled her eyes. She had never really liked Kikyo. She sympathized for her awful death and the terrible circumstances around it. But, to be honest, Kagome was her friend and Kikyo had only ever hurt her so Sango felt no affection, or any real good feelings at all, for the dead priestess.

XXXXXXXXX

Kikyo was resting, not really thinking or moving, just laying in her tree. The cool air blowing her hair around gently wasn't all that cold to her dead, unfeeling body.

However, it was nice feeling the wind's caress over her skin as it blew past her as the gentle whispers of her soul collectors filled the air and the creatures curled and uncurled in the air around her.

It was times like these, when the cool night air and fresh scent of vegetation was all around her that Kikyo felt most at peace. She emptied her mind, almost meditated, and just relaxed and listened to the sounds of the forest around her.

To be truthful, Kikyo missed death. There was a certain peace in the other world that she hadn't been able to find here, alive. Given the circumstances of her demise, believing the man she loved had betrayed and killed her, the darkness of death was a welcome thing.

To be pulled from it, to be forced to live again, to feel that pain again, was the most horrid thing she could imagine. She couldn't wait until the day she could return to death's sweet embrace again.

But she wasn't ready to die yet either. As the protector, former protector she reminded herself, of the Shikon Jewel, it was her job to make sure it stayed pure and out of the hands of those who would use it for evil. That alone, however, wouldn't be enough to keep her alive. After all, she had a reincarnation that, while extremely weak and neglectfully untrained, still had great potential. That girl could deal with the situation and Kikyo would have left her to it, it wasn't her problem anymore, and returned to death.

Except that the person who tainted the Jewel now was the same wicked half demon that had caused her so much pain both before and, horribly, after her death.

Naraku.

Knowing that he had made such a fool of her, had caused her to hate the man she loved, had stolen her life away all made Kikyo know she couldn't die until she knew she would be meeting him in Hell.

And this time, when she died, InuYasha would come with her as he was meant to do. She refused to die without him.

Her mind was so clear and free that she didn't even notice that she had accidentally let down her barrier.

And the only warning Kikyo got was the sudden increase of her soul collectors' whispers.

Then the monk and demon slayer that traveled with InuYasha burst forth into her clearing, chasing one of the soul collectors she had sent out to fetch her life sustaining souls.

"Kikyo." the monk said, breathing hard.

"InuYasha's companions, correct?" Kikyo asked as the soul collector twisted around her before dropping the soul into her body.

There was a moment, a brief moment, where the soul resisted joining with her. All souls did. Not that Kikyo blamed them. She knew what it was to long for death and have it evade you. But the moment was only a second before it joined with the others. Kikyo always needed new souls because she tried not to keep them for too long. She released them eventually so they could go onto the peaceful realms.

If she wanted, she needed only harvest a few and just use them continuously. But Kikyo had not become such a horrid woman as that. She used them only as long as she needed to before letting them go.

"InuYasha isn't with us." the demon slayer girl said crossing her arms in obvious disdain for Kikyo.

"I know." Kikyo nodded. "They would have told me if he was nearby." she waved a hand to her soul collectors that were calming down after being so rudely interrupted in the play by the two. "I am curious as to why you two aren't without him."

"We separated for personal reasons." the monk said vaguely truly piking Kikyo's interest. What was it he didn't want to tell her? "We were charged with watching that soul you just stole."

"You failed." Kikyo said dryly.

"Did you hear of an explosion nearby?" the monk asked before Kikyo could tell them to leave her in peace.

"I did." Kikyo said, her face not betraying any emotion. She had come because she thought it might be the work of Naraku but it was obvious at a glance that it hadn't been.

"A demon escaped alive from it, we think." the slayer girl looked unhappy at having to address her. "Did you notice anything?"

Kikyo was silent for a moment. She was debating about whether or not to answer them. She almost told them 'no' and sent them away. She owed them nothing, after all. However, she did want to know why InuYasha wasn't around them anymore. Information flowed more freely when it flowed in both directions.

"I noticed demonic blood." she admitted. "It went further east away from the sight. I didn't consider it important enough to follow. From the amount, I imagine the demon is dead by now anyway."

The monk and woman exchanged a glance, an entire conversation being held in just one look. The monk turned back. "Thank you very much, Lady Kikyo. We'll leave you alone."

"Wait." Kikyo stopped them before they could turn away. "Where is InuYasha?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Totosai!" InuYasha called out as he entered the giant skeleton that was the sword smith's home in the semi-dormant volcano. "You home?"

"Oh, it's you." Totosai came closer from inside. "What are you doing here?"

"I need you to fix Tessaiga." InuYasha drew the blade and threw it over to the creator. Totosai, as far as InuYasha could tell, was the only full demon immune to the blade's barrier. Then again, he did create it so it wasn't that surprising.

"What did you do!" Totosai wailed in horror as she drew the blade. It transformed easily in his hands revealing the large crack. "My poor sword!"

"Yeah, yeah. Spare me the sobs." InuYasha rolled his eyes. "I'm in a bit of a hurry. So can you just fix it already?"

"I'm not a magic worker!" Totosai snapped. "You need to stop breaking my poor creation."

"Your poor creation broke doing exactly what you designed it to do." InuYasha said. "So just take a fang and fix it."

"Do you see the size of this crack!" Totosai showed it to him. "This is even bigger than when you snapped it in half."

"You can fix it, can't you?" InuYasha asked, feeling a bit worried.

"Of course I can!" Totosai put the sword back in it's sheath. "But I'll need two fangs, not just one."

"Master InuYasha!" A tiny voice squeaked as Totosai started looking for the tool to yank fangs with.

"Hey, Myouga." InuYasha greeted as the tiny flea landed on his shoulder.

"What did you do to Tessaiga, Master InuYasha?" Myouga asked as they looked at the sword back in it's rusted form. The crack wasn't so obvious in that form, but it was still noticeable.

"It saved our lives by blocking an explosion." InuYasha said as Totosai mumbled darkly about how much he didn't care for the blade.

"'Our'?" Myouga repeated. "Oh, you mean Miss Kagome?"

"And the baby." InuYasha's tone was offhanded but the affect on the old men was instant.

"Baby?" Totosai repeated, pausing in his search. "What baby?"

"My baby." InuYasha smirked in pride. "Kagome is pregnant."

The silence only lasted for a moment. Then Myouga hollered in joy as Totosai fell on his butt in surprise.

"Oh, happy day!" Myouga bounced in excitement.

"Your baby?" Totosai shook his head. "Oh, no..."

"Hey!" InuYasha snapped. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Be happy Totosai!" Myouga beamed. "This is so exciting. I always love new babies in the family."

InuYasha, much more pleased with Myouga's reaction than Totosai's, nodded in agreement.

"So, what'll it be?" Totosai asked as he spotted the pliers and stood to grab them.

"What will what be?" InuYasha was confused.

"The sealing device, of course." Totosai said as Myouga nodded in agreement.

"Sealing device?" InuYasha blinked.

"Like your Tessaiga, Master InuYasha." Myouga explained. "The demon blood that your father passed onto you is too much for your human blood to handle, particularly in extreme crisis. You will pass down that blood onto your child. They'll need something to protect them from it as well."

"Oh, I didn't think of that." InuYasha admitted. But it was a good idea.

"So, a sword?" Totosai asked.

Even as he asked, InuYasha knew he didn't want a sword for his pup. He didn't want the first gift he ever gave his pup to be something to fight with. He never wanted any child of his to fight, as he had to fight.

Besides...

"No." InuYasha shook his head. "Something else."

"Like what?" Myouga asked.

"Something...pretty." Inuyasha smiled a bit. "I want my daughter to have something pretty."

"Daughter?" both old men repeated.

"How do you know it's a girl?" Totosai asked.

InuYasha felt his eyes going soft. "I just...know."

Neither man said a thing for a moment.

Finally, Totosai said, softly. "You know, your father commissioned Tessaiga to protect Lady Izayoi. When he found out about you, he brought it back to change its nature, make it a sealing device. When I asked why he wanted a sword, he said 'Sesshomaru has a fang from me, I wish my next son to have a fang from me as well'. When I asked how he knew it was a boy, he said, right where you're standing, the exact same thing. 'I just know'."

InuYasha felt a sort of strange sense of connection to his father at that moment.

"Oh, Master." Myouga teared up a bit.

"So, something pretty, huh?" Totosai scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I haven't done jewelry since my apprenticeship. But I think I could make a nice necklace or-"

"A bracelet." InuYasha cut him off, completely sure. "I want her to have a bracelet."

"All right." Totosai nodded, a design already forming in his head. "That will take maybe a fang and a half. How about jewels?"

"Sure." InuYasha nodded, eagerly.

"I'll need you to fetch them while I make the bracelet and fix Tessaiga." the old man said.

"Of course." InuYasha beamed. "What do you need?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"I said, where is InuYasha?" Kikyo repeated.

The monk and slayer woman shared another one of those looks that spoke volumes more than words.

"That's not really-" the monk stared.

"-Your business at all." the slayer finished. Kikyo was a bit surprised at the vehemence in her voice. Then again, she had never really conversed at all with the woman, she certainly couldn't expect all of InuYasha's companions to like her or treat her with a degree of respect like the monk did.

The look he gave the woman was both a bit horrified that she said it so bluntly and a bit of sympathy, for whom, Kikyo wasn't quite sure.

"It is my business, actually." Kikyo corrected her. "Where is he?"

"Sango..." the monk said deliberately, obviously trying to keep her from saying exactly what she wanted to say.

But from the look the woman shot him, Kikyo wasn't sure he ever had a chance of censoring her.

"He's with Kagome." the slayer woman said. "Protecting her and the baby."

Kikyo felt a strange swoop of terror in her belly. "Baby? What baby?"

She prayed, as hard as she could in the second before the woman responded, that the answer wouldn't be exactly what she knew it was.

"InuYasha and Kagome's baby, of course." the slayer woman looked a bit smug. "Kagome is pregnant. InuYasha is the father."

Now I am a full blown Kikyo hater and even I have to say that that was harsh.