A/N: Really, I can't express how much I appreciate all the support through this story :3 Someone thought it was short, I guess compared to some of the longer chapter ones, it is but hey, I can only do such much my first time around :) I am not too sure how long it will be before I write another fanfic, I want to focus on my original work first. Anyways, thanks so much to you all, enjoy the love for the rest of the story 3

Chapter 28

Three months, that was how long Sesshomaru had spent everyday sitting by Inuyasha's side as he seemed to be trapped in never ending sleep. He was alive but had it all been too much for his body? Sesshomaru stared down at the peaceful face and Inuyasha's pale skin. His hand unconsciously trailed to his lame eye, it had taken some getting use to, having vision in only one eye, it was a task to deal with being a man who never had much of anything hinder him in life, even missing an arm for a good portion of time.

He glanced up as a breeze blew through the room and then the door was opened and the pups maid came bustling in. It was a wonder how the little red head did so much, she tended to both Inuyasha and Kanima, who had been slowly recovering and keeping her distance from him even though she still resided in his castle. The pups were now technically, in human years, one, and they could crawl for all they were worth. Both giggled happily at the sight of their sleeping mother. Even though Inuyasha had yet to regain consciousness, his body was still doing its natural job. The pups would not suckle from anyone else, which distressed him greatly, but it seemed even in such a state, Inuyasha was adding some piece of order in his life.

Ayame placed the twins down upon their squirming request and smiled as they made their way upon the futon which their mother was resting upon. It seemed like such a long time since Inuyasha had come back only to not wake since. It was almost sad to see the Lord Sesshomaru sit beside his slumbering body everyday with such a forlorn look. Takuya and Akinori were already so devious at such a young age, Ayame only hoped that soon Inuyasha would be able to be a part of their lives. She bowed and left the room, leaving the family to have time to themselves.

– – – – – –

Sesshomaru's eyes were alight with love as he watched the two little adventurers give up their quest to find the place to suckle from their mother. He watched with adoration as the two turned their attention upon the other. Akinori, the little silver haired tyke, born second and with some complication, was already slightly bigger than his technically older brother. His ears were never still, always twitching about as he was learning that he could move them at will. A smile crept to his mouth as Takuya tried licking his brother's face and the temperamental Akinori got hold of his flicking tail in his growing teeth. There was a cry from the older brother as Akinori tugged at his tail, ears swishing happily. Sesshomaru chuckled at the pleading look he was thrown and he rose to his feet, coming over to his two pride and joys. He bent to scoop them up and nuzzled his face between the two. Akinori abandoned his tug of war game and nuzzled him back. Tears were still in Takuya's eyes and Sesshomaru kissed them away until tears turned into giggles.

He smiled sadly at the two in his arms and kissed them both on their demon birth marks. It was so remarkable how they looked so much liked Inuyasha. He smiled again when they got hold of his hair as usual and for some reason took to biting it. He glanced back at Inuyasha not having any hopes of him waking up today of all days. He sighed and nuzzled the two again. "Come along you two, we will go for a walk, then you can feed from your mother."


Why did it seem like he had been shroud in this cozy darkness for such a long time. It was always so hard to find his way to any light in this comfortable but void place. So again he fought because that is what he was, a fighter and no place could keep him down for long, no matter how comfortable it was.

So again, he struggled to be free of the dark place and he fault sifting through the ribbons of darkness, the faint sounds of laughter drawing him closer to the light. It was a hard journey as I was every time he tried to fight the drowsy pool, but today felt like the day. Or, did time pass as days wherever he was? E kept on however, this time determined to reach this laughter he heard so much. After what felt like swimming through a void, he finally reached something, nothing physical which he could grab onto and open like the door to the light, but something just felt like it gave way. As if he was under the pool of some sort of drug, his eyes drifted open with much difficulty. Finally the gold beneath the long closed lids littered though and hazily took in their surroundings.

His mind was blank, but then again it had been such a long time since he was out of the void, what was he to think? Blankly his surroundings settled into his mind and he realized that this place and the last he had seen were not the same... The last place he had seen... was it not dark and damp... reeking of death? His death of all things. Yet here was this quite and clean place so vibrant and... where on earth was he?

The pieces of his world were still floating in that void he had only just left behind therefore he knew not what to think, laying there seemed to be the best option. A rustling caught his ear, the sounds of that laughter again. Why that did laughter draw his attention so much, it was such a soft and young laughter, more like giggles it seemed.

Gold eyes glanced up as the door slid open and revealed a tall figure with two little children trailing along side of him, their small bodies crawling over the floor with what was most likely a fast speed to their minds. His eyes crinkled with joy all of a sudden as it all came flooding back into his mind. Those little pups were his... they were his babies. His eyes trailed up the tall figure who had stopped even though the two little bundles had continued their way to him. Instinctively his arms seemed to reach out but he felt almost too weak to attempt to lift the small ones into his arms. Still, his pale hand stroked the tops of their heads and he marveled at how soft the silky hair atop their head was. He may not have had the strength to bring them into his arms, but the two seemed to know exactly where to go. He was too weak to rise or to do much else other then stare in awe at the two who nestled themselves against his form and bumped his chest with their heads. The mother in him knew what they wanted and he shakily brought his hands to slid his clothing aside. Happily the two latched onto each of his nipples and suckled. For some reason he felt moisture stinging at his eyes and he closed them a he stroked the two's heads. He felt an overwhelming sense of joy... He was alive or perhaps it was all a truly horrid nightmare? The way he felt said otherwise, it was not as if he felt pained, he just had this overall drained feeling as if the life was slowly returning back to him and taking its sweet time.

A shadow loomed over him and he swallowed hard before he seemed to gather the courage to look at up at the person with blank eyes, After all, he knew exactly who it was.


Sesshomaru's heart was thumping a mile a minute, his breath seeming momentarily suspended. When he had reentered the room, Takuya and Akinori in lead, he had not expected to come back to... out of all days...

When those eyes looked into his, he felt like he was being stabbed. They looked so utterly blank, as if even though his life was still there, his soul was not. But then the glistening tear drop trailing down that pale cheek told him that indeed he remembered it all. He resisted the urge to go and hug him for that might shock him far more than anything else.

After all Lord Sesshomaru did not hug... the old Sesshomaru did not hug. The new Sesshomaru had learned a valuable lesson of life and was planning to make amends with it even if it took him the rest of his life. His lame eye would be a memento of that.

"Inuyasha.." He did not know what to say... what was there to say? I'm sorry did not begin to cover it, forgive me was asking too much... He settled on, "how are you feeling?"

Inuyasha blinked and his head turned away. That stung but Sesshomaru would soldier on and try again. "Are you in pain, can you move?"

"How..."

The word was so quietly whispered that Sesshomaru would have not heard if it was not for his sharp ears. "How what Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha's head turned back around and his ice were cold as ice and hard as steel. "How am I alive!"

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed and he glanced away from the fiercely molten gold eyes. "That... this, none of this should have happened in the first place. I will destroy whoever was responsible for any of this."

"And I am supposed to be in your debt," Inuyasha said bitterly, his hands clenching at his side.

Well he seems to have full reign over his body and emotions, at least that is good, Sesshomaru thought as his eyes wandered to those clenching hands. Inuyasha's voice was soft, either he did not want to frighten the twins or he did not have the strength, either the way the way the words were spoken were just as forceful as yelling.

Sesshomaru sighed quietly, he supposed he deserved anything Inuyasha threw at him, after all all of this, or more to say none of this would have happened if he had never forced Inuyasha into his life. If only his damnable brain could have figured out this foreign notion of love a long time ago. He could not regret one thing, his two beautiful offspring. If he had realized his feelings from square one however, he could have coaxed Inuyasha into loving him back like a normal relationship.

"You owe me nothing Inuyasha, if anything it is I who owe you. This entire trip you and I have taken, you have dealt with my cold and dry shell yet it took me almost losing you to realize that my disposition towards life need no longer be the same with you in it." He was not a man who expressed his feelings to anyone. The feelings he had towards Inuyasha were so new that even he was still coming to terms with them, he was not definitely naive enough to think Inuyasha would be any different. He deserved every ounce of that hate coming from Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, this should have come from me a long time ago." He was attempting to mask the desperate frustration in his voice, but he wanted Inuyasha to hear his feelings. "You are the bearer of my children, the one I should have taken as my mate from the beginning, I had no right to treat you as a concubine, you were worth far more than that. I knew it from the start, that the fast beating my heart produced whenever I saw you was not a mere coincidence." How could he say this, Inuyasha probably thought he was a fool. "You are the only one I have needed in my life and I have been a fool to have put you through such an ordeal. I know you hate me, but know this, from here on this castle is yours as well as mine, I will never force you to part from our offspring and I will never force you to do anything you do not wish to do."

He turned his eyes back to Inuyasha, his face concealing his emotion but his voice revealing them openly. "I can only hope that you forgive me one day..."

Their was utter silence before faint chuckling was heard from Inuyasha. The laughter was dry and mirthless and the cold look in his eyes told Sesshomaru that forgiveness had not even crossed his mind. "I have put up with you since my birth Sesshomaru... far too long have I been the receiver of your demonic ways and you expect forgiveness." His mouth was now an angry snarl. "I would kill you if I could oh brother of mine, you should have let me die, that way I would never have to see or think of you again. We would have perhaps met up in hell but I bet even hell would spit you back out. You can go burn and bleed to death for all I care. You will never get forgiveness from me. My only hope is that you are not spewing bull shit about your 'new ways'. That way, our only offspring will not be cruel monsters."

That was all he seemed to have to say for he turned away again and did not seem to plan on turning back. The only sound in the room was the soft suckling of the babes. The two had drifted into a nap but their mouths still suckled. Sesshomaru closed his eyes for a moment before bowing curtly. Fair enough, he had expected the words to be harsher than that. He needed time, Sesshomaru understood that but it did not lessen the sting. He had not missed the emphasis of the word only, Inuyasha's way of telling him that love making would never transpire between them again.

"Your friends were very worried, you were unconscious for quit a long while and I promised to inform them, I will have my staff do so immediately. The little fox is around here somewhere and Rin is eager to see you as well."

Sesshomaru made his way out of the room, repeating the phrase time in his head. Inuyasha needed time and he would give him all the time he needed, but he would win his heart back eventually, no matter what he had to do.


Hikari lounged in the warm waters of his bath, the water turned green from his bath salts and the room was filled with the scent of lilies from the floating water flowers. He ducked his head down and his light blue hair trailed through the water like a stain. Only his matching eyes, flecked with gold, remained above the waters and his hands came up to cup a flower. His mouth could be seen beneath the clear water and it was smirking. He drew himself up and the flower floated effortlessly in the water caught in his cupped hands.

"I suppose it is time to claim my prize. I have done my deeds and given him plenty of time to grieve. My lovely Lord should be so worked up from months of being alone that he will pounce on my advances and my throne shall be secured. No more killing useless tribes to rule tiny Kingdoms, the fun always dies down after awhile."

His eyes clouded over with black and when it receded and smiled at the now dead flower, its once green leaves and vibrant white petals now black and crumbling. He blew at the flower scattered away and he laughed menacingly into the silence around him. The raven perched on the edge of the bath cawed and Hikari plucked a grape and fed it to him. "Yes yes, I know, wait a little while longer, I shall give him two more full moons and then he is mine."


The sun was so very warm and the day was so beautiful that Inuyasha decided to take Takuya and Akinori out for a picnic. He munched on delicacies while the pups munched on him. When they had all had their full, Inuyasha laid them down upon a soft pelt and marveled at how lovely they were. It was a wondered that they stayed still seeing as they had boundless energy. They mostly laid there, their tiny hands grasping at the tiny petals falling from the Sakura Blossoms. Occasionally there were squeals and giggles and incoherent grunts by one which inspired the other and then they were a chorus of odd noises. Inuyasha nuzzled them both and they giggled with joy. He was overwhelmed with joy that they were finally staring to warm to him.

I had taken him quite awhile to find the strength to move and walk about, at first it was short trips around the room, then around the house and finally he was recovered enough that Sesshomaru was not worrying over him like a hawk. He had not spoken with him in awhile, only when it was necessary did he speak with the Lord. He had very mixed emotions as it was and right now Sesshomaru was the cause of them all. He did not want to think about them or what ever they were to each other, right now he only wanted to enjoy his pups. Pups, he smiled down at them and tickled Takuya's tail while gentle rubbing Akinori's ears. They loved it. He would have a hell of a time keeping up when they had four legs instead of two, something that made him a bit sad, but he was in their lives and that was all that mattered.

Akinori found his way to his hands and knees and crawled his way into Inuyasha's lap where he lounged their lazily glancing up at his mother with big eyes and talking nonsense. Inuyasha rubbed their noses together and the child laughed in happiness, flailing his arms at the falling petals.

"Yes, can you say flower?" Inuyasha chuckled when he blew little spit bubbles. "I guess we still have awhile before you are coherent." He snuggled the babe into his arms and kissed each cheek. "Do me a favor little guy, love and take care of your brother no matter what okay? You two will always have each other and me as well. Believe it or not, you have your father too, even if he is an ass and should burn in a very bad place. But eventually we will have to return to where we came from and then it will be you two. So love each other okay." Takuya wailed at being ignored and Inuyasha scooped him up as well. The smaller twin licked at his brother's ears and Inuyasha simply basked in the joy of the moment, not aware that Sesshomaru was perched high above them in the castle, watching but also listening, his own heart full of deep emotions at the scene.


Sesshomaru had been informed of a guest, but who could it be. He would not have been informed of any of Inuyasha's human friends and he had made it clear to all that he would not be conducting any business for quite awhile. Who then would defy his orders and come? His guest was waiting in the Dining area and he threw open the doors, shocked at the person who greeted him

"Hello My Lord Sesshomaru, do you remember me? I am Hikari, the mate you were promised if you did not secure a proper mate. We have not been informed of any Rituals so I can only conclude that I am now to have a title?"

Sesshomaru was speechless for a moment, out of all the things he would have forgotten, the threat to his title should not have been one of them, yet Inuyasha had consumed him mind so much that his decrepit old grandparents were not but a itch at the back of his mind.

"You. I had forgotten all about you and those old fools." Sesshomaru's voice was cold and disinterested, for he had indeed found a mate and if they did not accept him then he would kill them and be done. He had a family now and while his grandparents had the power to strip him of his title, he had the power to strip him of their lives.

The male pouted. "That won't do Sesshomaru, if you remembered-"

Both their attention was drawn when again the doors opened.

– – – – – –

Inuysha had put the twins down for a nap and he had tea in his possession now. The two had drained him and now he wanted to rest and relax. He wore a fine kimono today, his robe was after all difficult for feeding the twins. He decided that he would have his tea in the dining area and so he made his way there.

He took a deep sip of his tea right as he entered the room, so the cup obscured his vision and the smell masked all others. When the cup dropped to the floor however, he was not sure which face held the most priceless expression. His attempted murder's shock and anger, his own shock and fear, or Sesshomaru shock at the expressions.

– – – – – –

Kanima sighed as she fixed her hair. She had told Sesshomaru that today was the day and that she would finally be returning home. It was hopeless to still hang to the man but she could at least consider him a friend and past lover. She was not one to accept defeat but she was also not blind enough to try and break what would not crumble.

Even now she was making her way to the dining room to say her last goodbye. She would also speak to Inuyasha before she left for the bitter hate had eased between them and she found him mildly... pleasant to her surprise. They had took the time to actually talk the last few months and while it was full of tension, things had gradually eased. She could never forgive him for taking her love but then again that was not his fault.

The door to the Dining room was already open and as she steeped in, all eyes turned to hers, but her's, wide as saucer stared at that man.

Sesshomaru was obviously concerned only with what was upsetting Inuyasha. "What the hell is going on here!"

Inuyasha seemed frozen but Kanima was far from it. Even now her eyes were bleeding an angry red and she was flexing her claws. "That is him! That is the bastard that tried to kill us! Come back to finish the job, well you have some nerve! I will end you before you can do any more damage!"

A/N: I Guess FYI the pups are one now, its been a year since Sesshomaru cast him away after their birth and now all of this O_O I sort of had writer's block so IDK how I feel towards this chapter. I guess your feedback will tell me if its okay or not :) Two more my lovelies, two more chapters! I guess Hikari should have saw the deed done huh X3?I always need a nap after these things!