-Kohaku's Face-

Sesshomaru opened his eyes to find himself resting in one of his mother's rooms. Painfully, he used his elbows to prop himself up and looked around – no Rin. Then he remembered, as soon as they flew back to Utsukushii's palace, he collapsed from exhaustion. There were still some parts of the battle with Naraku that he could not remember, and he wanted to know all the details of it.

Sliding the thin paper door open with his strong hands, he was surprised to see Inuyasha and his friends sitting on the floor outside his door, talking. Kagome was bandaging her husband's arms and legs, spraying a strange substance onto his open cuts and rinsing out cold cloths for Sango and Miroku's foreheads.

"Oh, Uncle Sesshomaru! You're awake!" Kiyoto joyfully stated, waving. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow and nodded. "We were so worried about you, are you well?" the boy continued.

Sesshomaru sighed, "yes, I am, I trust you and your family are too?"

Inuyasha looked surprised at Sesshomaru's interest in his family's health and winced when Kagome sprayed him again. "Hey, Sesshomaru, wait here with us. Rin and your daughter are just in the kitchen."

Sure enough, at the sound of Sesshomaru's name, Rin burst out of the room and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and nuzzling her warm face against his chest.

"Sesshomaru! You're awake! I'm so glad you're okay!"

Sesshomaru looked down at her and his facial expressions immediately warmed. Half smiling, he rested a hand on the back of her head and leaned his cheek against the top of her hair. "Of course, I'm glad to see you in such good health, Rin."

"LORD SESSHOMARU!" Jaken's voice came from the kitchen. The imp ran, his little feet pattering against the hardwood floor and immediately dropped to his knees, kissing his lord's feet. "You're a demon again! A beautiful, strong, immortal demon!"

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and brushed him off. "Jaken, stop," he softly commanded.

Utsukushii, carrying Mitsuki in her arms, drifted in and blinked slowly at her son. "Welcome home."

-Old Flea, Myoga-

"Kagome, cut it out! It hurts!" Inuyasha exclaimed as she applied an ointment on his face. But there was another kind of pain he felt on the back of his neck…a twinge almost. Slapping it, he looked at his palm curiously and twitched his ears. "Myoga? What the heck, what are you doing here?"

"Who's Myoga?" Kiyoto asked his father, looking at the small, now flattened creature in his hands.

His mother sighed and shook her head. "Son, Myoga is an old friend… well he's a friend until there's danger, then he's just a flea."

"Nice to see you too," Myoga grumbled, picking himself up from the floor. "Anyways, I didn't come for Master Inuyasha!" The little flea jumped four times before landing on Mitsuki's face and sucked away.

Utsukushii's eyes widened as she flicked him off.

"She's just as delicious as Master Inuyasha! Maybe even better!"

Miroku picked him up with two fingers and narrowed his eyes. "So, why are you here then?"

"I came as soon as I could when I heard about Sesshomaru and Naraku!"

Sango sighed, scratching her head. "You mean you came as soon as you heard it was over?"

A bead of sweat rolled down the old flea's head as he gravely nodded.

-Kagome and Inuyasha II-

"It appears that Mitsuki has strangely immense power," Myoga said, crossing his little arms and nodding to himself. "The fact that she can summon a barrier strong enough to keep Naraku at bay at such a young age truly is a curious thing."

Rin held Mitsuki on her lap, watching the baby suck her fingers and try to crawl onto Sesshomaru. She smiled and watched him pick her up.

"In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Kiyoto and Sura possessed similar strengths," he looked towards Inuyasha's children and nodded again. "You may not know it yet Kiyoto, but you are very strong, and destined for great things."

Kiyoto's eyes widened and twinkled with admiration.

"Unfortunately," Myoga stated, "because this is a true fact, you will not lead very easy lives I'm afraid."

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes and watched Inuyasha do the same. "What do you mean?" he coldly asked.

Myoga jumped up onto Sesshomaru's knee. "Your daughter is rare, Sesshomaru. Imagine how many demons will strive to kill her, want her, and try to take her away from you."

Utsukushii's mouth formed a tight line in disapproval. She knew it was true –and yet didn't want to imagine demons laying a finger on her granddaughter.

"You too, Inuyasha," Myoga warned. "You better be on your toes until Kiyoto and Sura are old enough to defend for themselves!"

Inuyasha grunted and Kagome's eyes showed deep concern for their future. "All things considered," the flea said, "I'm happy to announce that the Western Lands are free of evil and you can move back whenever you choose."

Sesshomaru didn't say a word as Myoga jumped to gather his things and leave. "I must be off; Totosai is expecting me to tell him of your well being so he can start forging swords for your children."

As he left, Sesshomaru stood and held Rin's hand, leading her outside to the garden.

-Homeage for Inuyasha (Piano Solo)-

The skies had cleared to reveal the refreshing blue that had been hidden by the demonic aura for so long. The clouds were wispy and the breeze smelled once again of freshly bloomed flowers. They sat on one of Utsukushii's garden benches under the wise and sagging willow.

"Sesshomaru? Is something the matter?" Rin inquired, rubbing the smoothness of his hand with her own. There was a moment of silence as only the birds could be heard flapping their wings.

"Rin," he stared right at her. It was strange and relieving to see the glow in his eyes and the markings of his face as opposed to the human form she was exposed to not too long ago. "I fear for Mitsuki." He gulped.

Rin weakly smiled and closed her eyes, leaning into him. "Why? You don't have faith in her strengths?"

"No, I don't have faith in my own."

She looked up at him as he stared out into nothing. She knew that expression, he was being serious. Naturally, she lifted a hand onto his face. "Sesshomaru, what do you mean?"

"These past few days, I almost lost my life trying to protect you and Mitsuki. I… I was afraid of ending up just like him."

"Just like who?" she titled her head to the side.

"Just like father."

She understood immediately and breathed in the fresh scent of flowers and took his hand. "Come," she said as she led him into the area where the familiar blue flowers grew low to the ground – the Midnight Flowers.

Sesshomaru followed without question and noticed where they were.

"Sesshomaru, I heard these are your favorite," she smiled, bending over to pick one. He took it from her pale hand and placed it in her hair, just as he did when she was a child. The deep blue contrasted beautifully against her dark irises. "They're mine too, do you know why?" she asked softly.

The breeze pushed her kimono up slightly and caused their hair to dance ever so gently. "Because," she continued, "because they're just like you."

He looked at her questioningly.

"These flowers wither and die sometimes, but only to preserve their seeds. At midnight on the night of the full moon, they persevere and bloom beautifully again, with their new saplings." She laughed to herself. "My point is you don't have to worry about your lack of faith in yourself."

He opened his mouth to speak but was silenced with the feel of her lips against his. Slowly, she parted and whispered "because I have all the faith in the world… in you."

Warmth spread across his body as he grabbed the sides of her upper arms and pressed her against him. Their kiss was long waited for and terribly missed. In this moment, with the flower petals circling around them, Sesshomaru realized what she meant. Now that he had a family, nothing else mattered.

Utsukushii watched from a distance, holding Mitsuki and smiled to herself, gently placing a kiss on her granddaughter's forehead. "He is just like his father in so many ways…" she turned her head to see her son embrace the woman he loves and shook her head. "But so unlike him."

As she walked away, her lavish robes dragging on the floor, Rin and Sesshomaru held each other, finally knowing what lay ahead of them and vowing to protect each other for as long as they could.

(a/n): The end of my story! I want to thank all of you for reviewing and alerting me! I've gotten so many visitors and I'm so happy! ^^ I hope the ending was somewhat fulfilling. I'm planning on working on a new story right away, so if you have any ideas, PLEASE MESSAGE ME! I will gladly try to make a story based on your idea.