Author's Note:
Well here we are, Chapter 22, the last and final chapter of this fic. This story started on Wednesday 14th December 2005! At first this was just some piece of crap I commited to paper to get it out of my head, but when I posted you guys really liked it, and it made me want to work even harder on it. And now, here we are on the final installment of it, and I cant believe how things turned out. Each and every one of you really made a big difference, so I'll take this time to thank you for all the time you spent reading/reviewing or in some cases even emailing me. It means alot to someone who the only thing they believe they can do is write. You've raised my confidence and made me smile over this time, so I'm kinda sad that its now over. However, if some of you would like to read something vaguely similar, try my story 'Smoke' which is an InuxKag pairing but also Sesshomaru and Inuyasha get along in it so you'll probably like it ^_^ Its complete and in a few short weeks I hope to be posting the sequel to it, so keep watching my profile to see if anything new pops up, K? *hugs you all to death* Thank you so very mcuh for everything!
Dedicated to All the Reviewers of this fic!
Enjoy, I hope you're satisfied with the ending, and please leave a nice review ^.^
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Sunlight's Radiance of the Beginning…
Twenty-One
The sun brandished its rays across the lush grass, the long blades swaying slightly in the breeze as it swept across the sheltered glade. The trees' branches spread slightly over the clearing, leaving the lustrous light of the sun flitting beautifully through the large breaks. The sound of water ran nearby, depicted only to those with more-than-human hearing abilities, however it could not have been far off, as the noise (even to human ears) was barely covered by the peaceful song of the invisible birds that nested overhead somewhere beneath the concealment of the leaves. Kagome sighed as she stared up at the branches, knowing what was there, and what feathered families had hidden themselves within the depths of the branches. And she smiled, because she knew, that she and her family didn't have to hide any longer…
Bouncing the tired baby boy gently in her arms, Kagome ran her fingers soothingly through lengthy silver locks. Dark lashes fluttered against his crimson-crested cheeks, and he stared up at his mother wide round golden eyes, as if questioning her as to why they were here. She smiled, brushing a kiss to his forehead as she turned towards the presence she sensed lurking behind her in the concealment of the trees' shadows. "Thought you'd be here," the figure said, not fully visible yet, but she knew who it was nonetheless. She did not respond, merely set her son in the small basket-bed beside his sister, who was dozing under the warmth of the sun's rays. The Priestess tucked the swaddling cloth round them gently, before returning her gaze to the intricately carved stone of the grave before her.
The grey-white of the stone looked almost sadly beautiful under the gentle warmth of the sunlight, the engraved letters pristine and perfect, marking out the name of the person who lay beneath the dirt before it, as did the three graves that lay alongside it. Her fingers ghosted over each curve of the Japanese lettering, and she smiled sadly as she felt that figure's presence almost directly behind her. "You haven't been here since we had their bodies committed to these graves." Kagome nodded, casting a quick glance to her pups, watching the figure's hand play idly with her son, who smiled at the person, seizing a clawed finger in his own tiny fist.
"I am happy they're here now…it's so beautiful here, and peaceful…they deserve to be laid to rest somewhere so special, alongside my father. But…"
"'But'?"
"I put it off for as long as I could….I wasn't ready to say goodbye before…"
"And you are now?" She nodded, hazel eyes gazing over the names slowly.
"I loved them, and I'll never stop loving them but…I'm ready to stop mourning them…and move on, into the rest of my life, where so many more people I love are still alive."
A clawed hand came to rest on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. She sighed again, watching the other's free hand trace the lettering just as she'd done a moment before. "How did your father die anyway?" She shrugged before answering.
"Like all men do in a demon slayer's village – in battle." Kagome cast her eyes on the neighbouring graves, mourning the deaths of her father, mother, brother and grandfather one last time, before she leant back into the warmth of the body behind her.
Strong arms embraced her tightly, and she smirked as she felt him nuzzling the hair at the back of her neck gently, taking in her scent. Suddenly he froze, wincing, and she turned to face him swiftly. "Are you alright, Inuyasha?" The Half-demon offered her a toothy grin, one clawed hand clasping his chest slightly.
"Fine…old wounds…or, new wounds more accurately – it's taking longer to heal because I lost so much blood, but I'll be fine sooner or later." She smiled almost scolding, shaking her head slightly.
"Well you know it'd heal a lot quicker if you'd just rest."
"Keh, with so many repairs to do around the castle and the lands in general? How can I just sit on my ass? Sesshomaru was in much worse shape than me and he's still doing the brunt of the work – with one arm!" Kagome sighed, gathering herself to her feet and lifting the basket with the two small infants inside carefully.
"Yeah, and Rin's not too pleased with that either – what's she gonna do if he seriously hurts himself? A pregnant girl needs pampering you know?" Inuyasha almost laughed, getting to his feet, trying not to imagine what Sesshomaru pampering anyone would be like.
"I think he's still amused at the thought of what his mother might have said to his half-demon offspring being the future heirs to the Western lands." Inuyasha himself could not helped but smirk at the thought, of a time when a half-demon like himself would be in control of his father's lands, though in all honesty, he (along with everybody else) hoped that day would never come. Not because of uprisings or lack of equality – indeed, all ideals that the revolutionaries held seemed to be completely quashed now without a leader. Half-demons, after thousands of years, had finally seized equality, and understanding – and a place in demonic society that wasn't below their full-bloodied relatives. Indeed, should Sesshomaru's future son or daughter ever take over, it was almost assured that there would be little or no friction.
True, a few demons still held prejudice against anything less than demon, though they were few in number, and after the Great War between Lord Inu-no-Taishou and his sons, and the Priestess, Demon Slayer and Monk that followed them willingly alongside thousands of demons, humans and half-breeds alike had assured that no one would be foolish enough to attempt anything any time soon. You would not be considered merely optimistic if you said that the New law that had begun so much for the two in the glade had been set, and would never be challenged again. The reason no one wished for the time when Sesshomaru, or even his approaching child would ascend to the throne, was because that would mean the death of Lord Inu-no-Taishou, which they were pleased to say, had been put off once more, as he continued to recover rapidly (and well) from his battle-sustained wounds.
"Funny how they always said my Old-man was going soft, but the only way they could hurt him was to stab him in the back – literally." Kagome smiled at her mate, pausing to watch him pluck their son out of the basket and into his arms, making the basket considerably lighter, as they departed from the clearing.
"Where're Sesshomaru and your Father today?" Inuyasha shrugged this time, allowing his still unnamed son to tug playfully at his hair.
"Sesshomaru was on call for some village who was hit during the attack, and last I saw father he was being mauled by some small demon squirts who wanted to hear the story of 'The Great War'." Kagome laughed slightly.
"Is that what they're calling it now?" The Half-demon nodded with a smirk.
"But you know they don't really wanna hear that part – they wanna know the mushy 'heroic stuff'." Kagome raised her thoughtful gaze to the white clouds in the perfect-blue sky.
"Yeah," agreed Kagome, "the tale of how Lord Sesshomaru resurrected his younger brother and everyone else on the battlefield with a single swing of Tenseiga will be told for generations to come." Inuyasha offered her his best half-hearted scowl.
"Sure, reiterate the bit where I died," he teased as they approached the castle ahead, both smiling at the figures poised expectantly in the doorway, awaiting their return. "It seems to me that that kid Shippo that hangs around with Sango is awful keen on the part where Lord Inuyasha rescues his family from the clutches of the revolutionaries." Kagome couldn't help but giggle a little at how pleased with himself he sounded,
"Yes, it was very brave, just like out of a feudal fairytale."
They were lost to silent pensiveness for a moment, as they approached the steps of the castle, the figures of their family that had been awaiting them heading down to meet them. Rin smiled, cradled her bulging stomach slightly, as she reached them along with the others. "Get back inside in your condition, ya crazy wench," Inuyasha scolded, though not quite as gruffly as he might have liked. "Sesshomaru will go ape-shit if you fall over." Rin frowned at him, as Inu-no-Taishou who stood at her side plucked his now awake granddaughter from the basket and into his arms (careful of his amour).
"Ridiculous, as if I would let her fall over," The Demon lord said, not looking at his son but at the beaming little girl in his embrace, "Intend to have a lot more grandchildren from both of you boys before anything happens."
"Nothing is going to happen," assured the Monk who descended the stairs alongside his demon slayer wife, the kitsune and their neko friend Kilala. "Kohaku has sent us word from the newly rebuilt slayer's village, even as far as their neck of the woods everything is as it should be. I believe we will not face a danger as great as that for a long time."
"If ever," Sango continued, regarding her sisterly-friend's new family with a warm gaze.
As the series of complaints from Inuyasha died down at the boy tugging his hair harder than ever, (evidently trying to get attention), the older Half-demon turned as long, gentle fingers rested on shoulder. "Here you take him," he griped (though again, only half-heartedly). Lady Izayoi embraced her grandson with the kind of warmth that she offered anyone, and everything, rubbing downy ears in soft circles before raising her gaze to her half-demon son. "We would do well to get Lady Rin inside, Sesshomaru is nearly home. If he sees us keeping his mate waiting on the mat he might sulk again." Inuyasha looked over his mother's shoulder, and sure enough, Sesshomaru was striding towards them, it apparent that he was displeased with them all standing in the 'cold' from the expression on his usually impassive face.
"I told you to remain inside," Sesshomaru said as he reached them at last, regarding his mate closely. Rin raised a thinly arced brow.
"And I told you to stop being a bully," she said with an almost taunting smile, temporarily silencing the Heir to the Western Lands on the subject.
"Here father," said Sesshomaru, moving to pass the Tenseiga back to his father, though Inu-no-Taishou shook his head. "But I have resurrected any killed by the revolutionaries during the battle – you can have it back now." The Demon lord bounced his granddaughter slightly in his arms, before meeting Sesshomaru's gaze once more.
"Inuyasha has Tetsusaiga for his own reasons, and I give you Tenseiga, because I think that you are the one most suited for it." Inuyasha scoffed at the notion.
"Yeah right…. The 'Sword of the Heaven's' belong to Sesshomaru? I think Sou'unga would be best suited to him," Sesshomaru looked at his brother, his expression unreadable. Inu-no-Taishou smiled.
"Sou'unga has learnt its place – at my side, and it will stay in that place until I die, after which, it will disappear from this world forever. It defended Kagome in my place against Sachinatsu," his gaze flickered to Sesshomaru briefly as he mentioned his mother's name, though his oldest son remained unfazed, "however it is still treacherous, and if it were not fated to die when my body withers away, then it would have slaughtered Kagome willingly – had she not been my last hope for survival." As if to reassure himself that she was now safe, Inuyasha curled his arm round his mate's waist, squeezing her gently against his side.
"Why did Sachinatsu betray you?" Kagome asked, each member of the party regarding her as if she were mad. "No, really I mean, you say she hated humans and their half-demon children, and I get that that is what initially started this all off but…why did she hate them so much?" Inu-no-Taishou sighed heavily, opening his mouth to speak, though Sesshomaru was the one who answered her.
"Like a lot of pure-blooded demons, she was powerful and beautiful and she knew it," he said simply, "Demons live forever, Kagome, and forever is a long time. But humans, their lives are as fleeting and fragile as anything on this earth – so easily broken and snatched away – that is what makes your kind more beautiful than ours, and that is why my Mother detested humans so. Humans are weaker than us, but are in no means lacking, and that is what she couldn't understand. Her initial dislike of half-demons, I am afraid did not stem until Inuyasha was conceived."
"And that was worse," Lady Izayoi added, surprising them all with her dulcet tones. "That a half-demon – one who belonged to neither world, but possessed both the beauty of humans, and power and immortality of demons, he was to be born to someone she considered very much hers – her possession, and the potential of me giving birth to something that would outshine her so thoroughly…" She trailed off, the fleeting, thoughtful silence that fell quashed swiftly by Sesshomaru finishing what she could not – would not say.
"Her selfish, conceited heart could not bear it, so she planned on revenge, against Father, me, Lady Izayoi and on Inuyasha."
"Now stop that Pup!" Inu-no-Taishou scolded his granddaughter gently, as she seized fistfuls of the fur draped over his shoulders, determined to put it in her mouth. "Damn, give me a name to shout at this defiant little girl" he yelled playfully, Kagome smiling as she leaned forwards to pluck her daughter off Inu-no-Taishou's front. "She's got her father's feisty temperament," The Demon Lord laughed, causing Inuyasha to scowl. "But at least when Inuyasha misbehaved we knew what to yell at him."
"Ridiculous," Sesshomaru argued, "you spoilt him rotten. The very worst he ever received in terms of punishment was 'I shall tell your brother not to play with you anymore.'" Inuyasha flushed to the roots of his hair, thumping his brother on the arm.
"Asshole…" he grumbled.
"Have you still not thought of names for them yet?" Lady Izayoi asked, steering the conversation back to the two fussing pups. Kagome and Inuyasha looked to each other before answering.
"Well, we've been preoccupied lately," the Half-demon argued, "I died, you died, Sesshomaru's one arm down, Rin's pregnant and the West needs attention…" His words trailed off.
"Sound like excuses to me," Sango teased.
"Damn wench…" The Slayer shook her head in dismay.
"Perhaps being brought back to life with the Tenseiga has addled your brain, Good friend," Miroku joked, gesturing to Inuyasha's head. The Half-demon swatted his hand away.
"Shut up, Mother has been brought back using it twice now and she's fine," he argued.
"Indeed, but she was not so over-the-top either of those times she died." Inuyasha flushed in irritation. "You were being a little melodramatic-"
"-Me? You were the one who cried!"
"This Sesshomaru does not cry-"
"I take it that's a 'no we haven't got them names yet' then?" Miroku asked.
"Kagome is way too fussy with names," the Half-demon retorted.
"Excuses, Excuses…" Rin muttered under her breath, joining in with teasing the poor half-demon.
"Hey, we are at a slight disadvantage – there is one more than there should be. Besides I ain't the most literary of people you know?! If anything its Kagome's fault we haven't found names for them yet."
"Actually, I have thought of some…" Kagome's words drew everyone's attention to her, and she shifted uncomfortable under the weight of their gaze. "Well, it was just an idea… If you don't like it we could-"
"-Geez, wench," Inuyasha sighed, "they're your pups too, believe it or not that qualifies as an excuse to have a say in the matter." She smiled at his attempt at reassuring her, looking from her daughter in her own arms, to her son in Izayoi's embrace.
"Well, I was thinking for a little while, since nothing seemed to fit them but… what about, Haruki?" she suggested, gesturing to the little girl who was smiling up at her contently. "As in 'Sunlight radiance'." Inuyasha looked as if he wasn't going to say anything for a moment, until he brushed the backs of his fingers down the girl's cheek, smirking as she seized it immediately with her clawless fingers.
"I like it," he answered, considering the name a he gazed at his daughter. "It suits her."
"Ironic in my opinion," Sesshomaru muttered, "the child is a little devil, just like her troublesome father…" Inuyasha ignored him.
"And what about for this little guy?" The Half-demon asked his mate, inkling his head slightly to their son. "He still gonna be called 'Pup'?" Kagome shook her head.
"Well, what about 'Hajime'?" At this, Inuyasha looked confused.
"'The Beginning'? The beginning of what?" There was a short silence between the rather odd 'family' as the Priestess regarded each of them before she found her voice once more.
"He was the beginning of our own family. And this is the beginning of the rest of our lives, without anyone else to tear us apart. The beginning of the rest of forever." Inuyasha smirked.
"'The beginning of forever'?" he repeated, "I like it."
~Owari~
-The End-
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Meanings (Note: Name meanings vary depending on how they're written in kanji:
Haruki -- From 'Haru' (sun/sunlight)and 'ki' (radiance)
Hajime -- Beginning
Owari - The End
A/N: WAH! *sniffle* I can't believe its over... On the original file this is a total of 243 MS Word pages ^_^ Anyway, I hope you liked the ending, its like the end of an era now, I sometimes drifted for a while but I always came back to give ya more XD Neways, I still have loads of fics going, hopefully you will like at least one more of them, as I say, try 'Smoke' or the sequel which will be added here soon. Hope at see ya reviewing some of my other stuff XD See ya!
Shigure-san
x chuu x