Disclaimer: Sorry I have no legal claim to IY...
A/N: Although this chapter could be interpreted as ending negatively, the last line DOESN'T mean that IY died, he just went unconscious. This chapter wraps up almost everything, it's the chapter whereI untangle most everything, and the epilogue is where I tie them together in a nice, sweet, cute mushy little bow. The pup isn't born in this story--that's for the sequel. (winks)...hehe, I'm very proud of myself, without doing it I've put this story (and hopefully everything else I write) into a lyrical style. Like look at my second sentence! See the words all starting with F? That's an English/Poetic form of writing...I've probably done it for years but now see my AP English class has trained me to see it and encourage it. (BIG grins) Gosh I'm such a nerd and you guys are complimenting me so much that I'm turning into a conceited writer (pouts) But I thank you nonetheless! It makes me feel nice and warm and squishy inside (blush)...SQUEES! I hope that this pleases, my dad's gone away on business right now so I can use his computer to access AOL...but usually I copy and paste stuff and b/c AOL's on in the other room...well...it's too much work, but I CAN write what I remember from the reviews and use FFnet again...(nods, sighs) I know, I'm sick of it too...but honestly I haven't a flipping clue about WHY my computer is acting this way or HOW to fix it...thus I am helpless until my dad returns from MN...at any rate, enjoy! Leave me a review to tell me how you liked this one! Next in line is the Epilogue: The Hanyou's New Family. The title ties in DIRECTLY w/ a surprise...you'll never guess it (grins)...but it's SWEET and you'll LOVE it! hehe...later...
So Much For The Hanyou's Happy Ending
Tokijin's wave diminished and finally died. The greenish-blue glow flashed, flickered, and then faded completely. In its wake in the afternoon sunshine Sesshomaru's heart stopped and felt as if it would burst—he could see Rin's body lying still in the snow. The beautiful girl's bright red blood was spreading rapidly through the snow, attacking the demon lord's nose. The pain he felt blooming inside was worse than any he'd ever felt. Not only had he just seen the woman he loved die, but it'd been his blow to strike her down. It was worse than having his left arm hewn clean off him. To smell her blood made him feel as if he would vomit…
Some distance away Inuyasha stirred and lifted his battered and bleeding body from the snow. But he didn't move to resume the fight. The silence of the clearing was eternal. Slowly snow began to fall—despite the fact that the sky was almost devoid of clouds…clean and innocent it touched the site of the brother's terrible fight as if mocking them.
Sesshomaru sheathed Tokijin and moved slowly, as if he were wading through knee-deep water, toward the fallen Rin. When he'd come to stand above her his single hand had clenched into a fist. "Why did you defy me Rin!?" he snarled at her, but inside the cold youkai lord's amber eyes there was moisture, there were tears.
Rin wasn't dead, not yet. She still drew breath—albeit they were shallow and excruciatingly painful ones. Her blood was spreading out of her steadily with every heartbeat. Even so she tried to turn her eyes toward her lord, tried to speak, but Sesshomaru looked away from her, unable to bear seeing her face in such agony. Her eyes moved, unseeingly.
"You…won't listen…" she whispered, and then choked, but didn't cough—she didn't have the strength. Her breaths became shallower and farther apart. She was dying swiftly.
Sesshomaru drew Tenseiga. The sword pulsed—like a heartbeat, the symbol for life. How many times could someone be resurrected? Sesshomaru wondered as he saw the nether world with the healing sword's help. Narrowing his eyes he prayed that Rin would be brought back…and slashed with his father's sword. There was a blue glow over the girl's body, shimmering for a moment, and then it faded. Rin's blood remained on the ground, as did the scent of her death lingering so near—but in a moment the girl moaned and blinked, waking.
Across the field Inuyasha had moved to where Tetsuseiga was lying, untransformed. He held its hilt for several moments, panting roughly. His mind began to clear of the rage that'd fueled him; thinking became easy and natural again. The hanyou's senses quieted and dulled slightly again. Instinct and bloodlust faded into shadows and memories. When he looked up to watch asSesshomaru knelt down beside the girl, the hanyou's cheeks no longer bore the ragged streaks of a demon.
Sesshomaru pulled Rin to her feet, his eyes searching over her body, looking at the tears in her kimono. His face was dark, his eyes angry slits of amber. "You foolish girl!" he snarled.
Rin was somehow both angered and wounded at once by his words. "You must listen to me…" she looked to Inuyasha across the field, seeing his blood still dripping into the snow sluggishly, seeing the hanyou returning to normal again. She began to run toward him, much to Sesshomaru's alarm.
"Rin!" he called, sheathing Tenseiga, frantically reaching for Tokijin again. But Rin ignored his calls and came to the hanyou instead, bowing hurriedly before him.
Inuyasha regarded the girl with a bemused expression, his ears drooping in fatigue. "What the hell…" he muttered, looking between the girl and his brother who was seething, Tokijin already drawn anew, ready for use.
"I beg you Inuyasha, negotiate with my lord. This battle is useless; you should not be enemies. I have thought thus since I was a very young child." The girl, ragged kimono and all, turned to look back at Sesshomaru. "Please, my lord, I beg you…listen to this girl…"
Sesshomaru showed no sign of relenting, but at the same time he didn't seem to be charging into battle either. The same went for Inuyasha, who was confused and weakening from the exposure to the cold and his blood loss, but in the back of both brothers' minds there was the lingering fear of threat. If Sesshomaru were left alive he might come after Kagome and the pup. If Inuyasha were alive he might one day threaten Sesshomaru's security over the lands of the west…
Finally Inuyasha sighed and pushed himself to his feet. With an effort he hefted Tetsuseiga up with him as well, using his unwounded left shoulder to support its weight. "Sesshomaru." He called, "I wish only to be left alone. If you'll leave me alone—and leave Kagome alone and my pups alone too—I'll be more than happy never to speak to you again." He managed a smirk after saying it, thinking that it was worth a shot. Rin seemed to have shaken his stubborn brother into near submission. It was as good a chance as any for peace…if it lets me see Kagome again…and then he remembered the well and his face fell. He turned away from Sesshomaru and Rin too look at it, feeling his stomach sink towards his feet. He bit his lip…would it let him pass?
Sesshomaru had, apparently, had the same thought about the well. Slowly his expression turned colder and uncaring. "Little brother," he called, and Inuyasha turned quickly, blinking his emotions away, and regarded his older brother.
"I will leave here. What you do is your business. But should you ever enter the Western Lands—or should one of your offspring enter my lands—I shall imprison them without hesitation." The demon lord's eyes were cold and narrow.
Inuyasha scowled, "Sesshomaru, that sounds fine with me I guess, you stupid bastard." He grumbled for a moment, hating this truce, "What about the youkai you send to trouble the people here? Will you leave them in peace?"
Sesshomaru frowned just slightly, but despite his expression he said, "Yes," loud and clear.
"And Kagome can come back without you lurking around here trying to kill her? And we can have as many pups as we want? And Tetsuseiga is mine now, and will be theirs later, right?! Is that right you ugly old bastard?!" Inuyasha snarled disdainfully.
Now Sesshomaru smiled smugly, "Yes, of course, Inuyasha…if she can come through that well at all…"
Inuyasha's ears twitched with rage for a moment and then collapsed backward. A scowl bloomed over his face. "Asshole till the end, I see…" the hanyou snarled, but he was satisfied. Hefting Tetsuseiga up he sheathed it, and then turned his back on Rin and Sesshomaru leaping off in the direction of the village and the Higurashi Shrine…as he went he left a trail of fresh blood in his wake.
Alone Sesshomaru glared dangerously at Rin. Finally after a long, ominous silence, Sesshomaru called her name coldly. "Rin." The girl looked up at him from across the field, timidly. Her body was tired, her soul sick with seeing so much blood spilled that day—a lot of it her own. Yet obediently she answered him.
"Yes, my lord Sesshomaru?"
"Come here." She obeyed, walking slowly toward him, her face pointed down toward the snow. She cringed every time she passed a place where the snow was laden with blood.
When she stood before him Sesshomaru was stony and silent, solid as a rock and just as cold. Rin couldn't meet his eyes. Perhaps he would renounce her as his mate. The very thought left her quivering inside, but she said nothing, and didn't regret what she'd done. Bravely Rin forced herself to look up at Sesshomaru, to stare him in the eye…
He was expressionless, cold. She searched his amber eyes, fearing the worst, yet still retaining some hope…
Sesshomaru abruptly took hold of her with his one hand and pulled her to him tenderly. She sensed that this warmth was the demon lord's remaining fear and terror at having seen her die a second time, moments ago. She knew that this tenderness wouldn't last—couldn't last…
Sure enough Sesshomaru held her out at arm's length a second or so later, and now his eyes were narrowed and filled with rage. "Why did you risk yourself like that?!"
Rin sighed, forcing herself to remain calm, "You wouldn't listen to me. You were bent on killing him, and it was wrong. It would've only resulted in his quest for revenge."
"That hanyou's vengeance isn't a thing to be feared…" Sesshomaru snarled disdainfully, looking away from her in disgust.
Rin reached out tentatively and took hold of his chin, turning him to look at her. "Then why did you go to all this trouble for him if he can't do anything to threaten you?" slowly she reached down to the snow at his feet—which was soaked with her mate-to-be's red blood. She lifted it up in her pallid hands to make sure he saw it, "When will you stop pretending, my lord?" she smiled sadly at him, "I've seen it since the day I first met him and escorted him to your lands…he and you are so powerful, and so alike…" she shook her head, "Imagine what you would be like together, not at strife…"
Sesshomaru sighed, refusing to accept what she said, but also unable to deny it. Slowly he smiled at her, "Lady Rin," he murmured, closing his eyes tiredly.
"Yes, my lord?" she reached out and stroked his cheek with the palm of her hand, tenderly, lovingly. The demon lord caught it swiftly in his own hand and inhaled sharply. It made Rin's stomach fill with butterflies…
"You are a woman now, you are a fine lady…" the dog demon opened his amber eyes, and Rin didn't miss the way they burned, full of desire for her, "And you are ready to become my mate."
She leaned in closer to him, hesitantly, trying to restrain her own longing, her own boiling desire… "I have waited for you, my lord, since I met you in the forest as a child…if I were to turn you down it would be just as good as asking for death…"
Sesshomaru turned away from her toward where he could smell AhUn in the brush, waiting patiently. "Come, the castle awaits us. I have waited long enough."
Rin stepped forward and slipped her hand slowly into his, "We have waited long enough, my lord."
Kagome stepped out into the afternoon sunlight of Tokyo, Japan 500 years into the future. The Higurashi Shrine was quiet and tranquil. Souta was at school it was likely—although Kagome in actuality didn't know whether it was a school day or not. Her mother was probably napping in their house; her grandpa was likely researching the past, his nose in a book.
Despite her weariness and her overwhelming worry for Inuyasha's struggle on the other side of the well, Kagome smiled. It was chilly outside but at least she wasn't in danger—there were no big inuyoukai coming to hunt her down here. The 21st century would always be a place of welcome and refuge to her, like taking a vacation was to most normal people.
The snow crunched beneath her boots as she walked up the stairs to the front door of her home a few minutes later, and, after a sigh, she knocked. The cold pane of glass made her knuckles hurt, but she ignored it and made sure she gave a long, loud rap on the door. If her mother was sleeping she needed to waken her to get in, thus the louder she knocked the better.
There was a brief pause and then, just as she was about to knock again, Mrs. Higurashi opened the door and immediately her face lit up. "Kagome!" she moved in and swiftly embraced her daughter, squeezing her hard. "It's only been a few weeks!" her mother ended the hug and was now examining her daughter with a darker, searching expression. One hand had come out to cup her daughter's cheek supportively. "Has something bad happened dear?"
Slowly Kagome nodded and then the tears came and they were hugging again. After a moment of reassurance Mrs. Higurashi brought Kagome in and sat her down at the kitchen table with a teacup filled with warm lemon tea. Kagome was about to drink some when it suddenly occurred to her that the caffeine inside might not be good for the pup…by this time her mother was watching her and so when Kagome stopped with her lips against the teacup, she was alarmed.
"Kagome? Are you all right?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together with worry.
Kagome blinked for a moment and then felt herself blush and tear up at the same moment. How was it possible for her to be such a nervous wreck? Oh yes, the pup of course. She chuckled to herself at that realization, startling Mrs. Higurashi even more so. "Kagome, honey? Talk to me…" her mother reached out and took the teacup out of her daughter's hands, desperately trying to get her to speak.
"Mom…" she wondered what her mother would think and suddenly felt herself clam up. But there was little use not telling the poor woman—she was worrying herself sick wondering! Kagome stared at her mother fondly for a few moments, wondering if someday she would be in the same situation if she and Inuyasha had a girl…I sure hope Inuyasha's right about me being a good mother…she took a deep and unsteady breath. This wasn't something she could hide. Her mother would need to know…especially if Inuyasha didn't come for her…she tried to swallow the lump that formed in her throat at the thought. Just talk, stupid! She ordered herself.
"Mom, I'm pregnant…" she watched her mother's face worriedly as it went from shock first, then surprise, and finally a sort of confusion.
Her mother's eyebrows met each other above her nose, "You're upset about this?"
Kagome shook her head and chuckled a little, "No, Inuyasha and I are very happy about it…but his older half-brother wasn't the least bit happy about it."
Mrs. Higurashi looked even more perplexed now, "What? I didn't even know he had a brother…"
And so the story began. Mrs. Higurashi and Kagome were both still in the middle of heated discussion when Souta arrived home—with his girlfriend no less. The girl wasn't anyone Kagome recognized, she was wearing purple jeans and a long sleeved bright yellow shirt that pronounced her to be a "Princess." The girl's hair matched her pants, which made Kagome blink upon seeing her entering the house just behind Souta.
When the strange girl with purple hair caught sight of Kagome she looked to Souta, who was also staring at Kagome with surprise, and asked, "Souta? You have a sister?" her eyebrows launched up her forehead, like rockets trying to take off and enter orbit around the earth.
Dazedly, Souta turned to the girl and nodded, "Yea, Shina, I do…" uncomfortably he gestured at Kagome and said, "Kagome this is my girlfriend Shina, and Shina, this is my older sister Kagome."
Kagome smiled, even though she could still feel the tears from her latest bout of crying running down her cheeks, "Pleased to meet you."
Shina seemed too stunned to be polite, "Souta, how come I've never met her before?" it was then that Kagome noticed that Souta had what looked like bruises on his neck…but she knew that they weren't bruises…she started to laugh and looked to her mother, who was watching it all, amusedly.
Souta ran one hand through his hair nervously, "Kagome's been visiting Australia with her boyfriend, Inu…uhh…Kentaro…"
"Inukentaro?" Shina asked, her eyesbrows once more trying to leave her forehead and enter outerspace.
"No, just Kentaro…my mistake, Shina." He offered the purple-haired girl a sheepish grin, hoping she bought the lie.
"What's Australia like, Kagome?" Shina asked, abruptly polite and friendly.
Kagome blinked, "It's…hot…"
"Oh…that's cool…"
Souta grabbed Shina's hand and pulled on it, "C'mon, I swear to God that Kagome's boring, so is Australia. Let's go to my room…" slowly Shina nodded and followed Souta out of the kitchen, but before she was swept away, likely to give and receive a few more hickies, she looked back to Kagome and smiled broadly, "It was nice to meet you!"
"You too Shina…" Kagome answered, still grinning and shaking her head. She knew Souta had caught her staring at his hickies and had wanted to beat a hasty retreat. She turned to Mrs. Higurashi and started to laugh, "What was that?!"
Mrs. Higurashi sighed, "Just boys you know. I always wanted another little girl…" she paused and her eyes saddened. Kagome looked away from her mother then, knowing that she was thinking of how unfair it was that she'd been left alone, widowed so soon after starting her family. She never had another chance beyond Kgome and Souta…and unless Inuyasha won his battle with Sesshomaru, Kagome would lose her chance too.
The two women sat quietly, silence reigning over them. Happiness seemed like an old childhood friend that'd moved away years ago, leaving the current reality with nothing but a sweet memory…
"What do you want it to be, Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi asked abruptly, smiling bitter-sweetly.
Kagome looked up, blinking with surprise. "Oh…I hadn't thought about it yet…" she fingered the long since cold teacup in front of her still full, "My friend Sango, you remember her, right?"
Mrs. Higurashi nodded, "I remember you told me she and the lecherous monk were expecting another baby…" she smiled fondly as Kagome nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes, they were, and they had it." she stopped to beam proudly for a moment, "I helped with it."
"What was theirs?"
"A girl…she was so beautiful, Mom, if I could have a girl like that…" she nodded, "Inuyasha and I wanted to name a girl Nozomi…"
Mrs. Higurashi nodded, "I like that name, a good choice. But what if it's a boy?"
Kagome smiled warmly, "Koinu…"
That drew laughter from her mother. "Most appropriate, especially if he inherited Inuyasha's ears…"
Both women laughed.
Mayuko was keeping Tisoki, Shippo and Kohimu busy, playing with the boys while Miroku and Sango talked in quiet voices about the looming threat Sesshomaru posed in the housekeeper's extra room. Over the last hour or so they'd heard various explosions and shouts in the distance—sure signs of a hefty battle in progress. Most of the villagers had retreated to their homes to pray that the evil demons that battled nearby would soon perish or leave them in peace. Others had mounted some weapons and were waiting around prophesizing doom unless they took action. But so far nothing had been done.
Sango was nursing their daughter. The demon slayer was in dire need of sleep. This excitement was too soon for her after labor. Miroku was troubled beside her on the spare futon Mayuko had provided them with, fiddling with the prayer beads he still had wrapped around his right hand—though they no longer guarded his wind tunnel. The thought of Inuyasha dying alone fighting with Sesshomaru didn't sit well with him, but he remained where he was, looking to Sango and listening to their sons and Shippo playing when doubt threatened to overtake him.
The monk smiled to himself when he heard Kohimu yelling, "Hiraikotsu!" at Mayuko and then rushing at her as if she were a demon. Mayuko's laughter rang through the air swiftly afterwards. Miroku looked to Sango and saw she was smiling warmly as well, but he knew that Kohimu likely reminded her a lot of Kohaku. In fact she'd said so on his birth. They'd chosen the name Kohimu partly because it sounded like Kohaku. Kohimu would never replace Sango's lost brother but Miroku knew that she took some comfort in having the ability and the opportunity to protect her own children. Family mattered a lot to Sango, it always would.
That made Miroku think of their newest arrival. They'd not had a name prepared this time because they'd expected a boy. If she'd been a boy they would've named her "Kentaro." But that wouldn't work anymore. You just couldn't give your only daughter a name that meant "big boy." But as he thought about it a name sprung to Miroku's mind.
"Sango," he called, quietly.
She looked up at him from the sling where she was nursing their daughter, "Yes?"
"I think I have an idea for a name."
"Well, what is it?" she sat up, giving him her full attention.
"Kasai. For fire, I think that all of our children are going to have your spirit." He remembered Kohimu's cry of "Hiraikotsu!" and he knew it was true. He gave Sango a warm smile that she returned eagerly, despite her fatigue.
"I think it's perfect…but you know, I think those boys will be little hentais, just like you, in good time."
He cocked his head to one side, curious, "Why do you think that my lovely Sango, dear?"
She laughed lightly, "Well…" she shrugged, "It's just an instinct. But a demon slayer's instincts are almost always accurate Miroku…soon you're going to have little letches on your hands…"
Miroku shook his head, "Just you wait Sango, I'll show you lechery…" he moved in close to her, admiring her beautiful chocolate brown eyes, the smooth skin of her face…he would've kissed her but Sango shook her head.
"You old pervert. I'm still too weak to play those games with you, and besides, you'd squish Kasai for sure…"
Miroku opened his mouth to protest and defend himself when suddenly, from Mayuko's small sitting room, they heard a wail. Miroku leapt to his feet and grabbed his staff, rushing out into the other room as fast as his lecherous monk's legs could carry him.
When he entered the room Mayuko had all three boys standing behind her, their backs pressed up to the wall in terror. At the door a dark shadow loomed, and all of them could sense that it wasn't human…and they could smell blood…and see it dribbling down from the shadowy form's body…
"What are you?" Miroku demanded, holding his staff defensively, and moving to stand between in front of Mayuko, Shippo and his sons.
The form in the door groaned, it sounded like one of the walking dead. Then it stepped forward and the light from outside faded, the creature was suddenly no longer a silhouette, it was…silver-haired with dog-ears atop its head…
"Inuyasha!"
The hanyou slumped, too exhausted from battle and bloodloss to stay on his feet any longer. Both Miroku and Mayuko ran to him then, rolling him onto his back and hurriedly undressing him, trying to get to the places that were bleeding, just as Kagome would've done for him if she'd been there. On the floor, still bleeding, Inuyasha was muttering to himself about demons, someone called Rin, and his brother, who he repeatedly referred to as, "The old Bastard."
Mayuko and Miroku didn't need any medical knowledge to understand that the hanyou needed help. He was bleeding profusely; the stench of iron was becoming overwhelming. To distract the hanyou as they started to clean his wounds and rub an antibiotic into them, Miroku asked Inuyasha, "So, did you or the old bastard win?"
The hanyou closed his eyes and looked to have fallen off into unconsciousness, but a moment later he answered the monk nonetheless, "Neither." He growled.
Miroku chuckled, "How was that possible? Who did win then?"
"Rin…" the hanyou muttered, and then, hissing once with pain as Mayuko started to apply pressure to the slice in his shoulder, Inuyasha passed out into oblivion.
Endnote: Firstly I have to say to inuyasha'sbabe07 I tried looking for your fic but it didn't say that you'd authored anything...otherwise I would've read it, I'll try again later...did you just post it or something? My computer's probably slow in showing updates...Lena/Hikaru I can read your fics too, just have to get around to searching out your names and stuff...just tell me the name...well I figured any update, even if I can't thank you properly would be better than none, but I am saddened at the thought od OFFICIALLY finishing this story. I mean I already have it finished (grins) but you guys don't know anything about it yet...hehe...but you'll LOVE it I know. If I'm writing steadily on something I can make like a chapter or two a day...IF there's little else going on anyway and IF I don't get a writer's block. Those are big IFs but they're important and impressive...I NEED to take my writing out of IY sadly and into original stuff for scholarships and awards and such. So I might start to become erratic. I hope you understand...(whimpers) I LOVE doing this stuff, which makes it a good incentive for continuing, BUT my own work needs to be done and FAST or I will have sat around and wasted my senior year...(pouts) and my parents will KILL me...anyway...
Here's a glimpse for all of you ravenously hungry readers out there at the prologue of the sequel, called, "Patience is a Virtue." Here goes: "What is it?" the demon slayer demanded, and then felt Kagome fall slack against her once more, spent with the latest contraction…and looking over Kagome's shoulder she knew immediately what both demons had sensed—there was a spreading pinkish stain growing on the sheets between Kagome's legs…her water had finally broken.
Gotta go, next is the epilogue...(whimpers)...THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! Sorry I can't thank you properly now...AOL and Internet Explorer refuse to play nice with each other. I can only be on one at a time...(growls) so to update I sacrifice my reviews...(sighs)...but I still get on to look from time to time...I broke 300!!!!! (SCREAMS!!) YAYS!!! THANK YOU!!!