A brief announcement: Though there have been many supportive and delightful positive anonymous reviews, I have been flamed anonymously twice more this last week. Once for the AUTHOR'S NOTE in the first chapter and the first chapter of this story and once for the start of Somewhat Happy Endings. I'm tired of the abuse from people who aren't REALLY reading the story or expect more technical information than was ever intended to be included. So, despite the fact I've tried to put up with it for this long, I'm going to block/delete all anonymous reviews from here out. This will not effect site members who log in, but those of you who don't will be unable to communicate with me any more. I'm sorry for those who've sent me all those wonderfully encouraging reviews anonymously, I'm unwilling to leave up the only avenue through which abuse can reach me. Signed flames are a lot rarer than unsigned ones. IT kind of batters that deep belief in the good of people. And the stress tends to run me off my writing which you all hate. So I'm being selfish and closing the anonymous avenue.

I never meant to have Paper Cranes stand as a conclusive portrayal of PTSD. Kagome's experiences post trauma are not the same as everyone else's because she is not everyone. Her case of PTSD/delayed onset PTSD is similar to at least one person, who has been very supportive, but should not be taken as an all inclusive example. I'm not even delving into all of her symptoms explicitly as I only desired to raise the awareness that PTSD can be caused by other traumas than the most publicized one associated with combat. The real point is to show that you can get past trauma, all feelings are valid and everybody has the right to get through life the best they can. All paths are open so long as you can live with yourself at the end of the day and you don't hurt anybody else unduly. It won't be easy, but it can be done.

Calendar: May

I do not own: 1) Inuyasha, the characters or world therefrom. Those belong to Rumiko Takahashi. 2) the original idea that spawn this specific plot. That was borrowed from Shellbabe's Lost Mate found on FFN.

Breakthrough

Kagome stood smiling behind the ribbon as the crowd waited eagerly for the end of the ceremony that marked the grand opening of her hanyou specific clinic. She wasn't the one who was going to cut the ribbon. Most of her sponsors had been surprised when she refused the honor, but she didn't want to be the one in front of the cameras. She didn't want her work focusing on her instead of on the patients she would be saving.

To that end, Kagome had asked that the parents of her first hanyou friend be flown in to open the place. She'd named the clinic after him, it was only right that his parents cut the ribbon in his place. The secret miko certainly wouldn't have pursued hanyou medicine if it wasn't for having known him and she wanted credit given were it was due.

Ginta stood beside her, squeezing her hand in excitement. He was down for the next few years, determined to learn all he could. The wolf had postponed his year away from the pack in order to wait for Hakkaku to come with him. Both were staying with her and Rin. Nominally they all lived from the house, but honestly they spend more time at the clinic. The weeks leading up to the grand opening had been filled with the careful transport of the hanyou patients already under Kagome's care to the new facility and neither one had responded well to the transplantation.

One of the two, the one who'd barely made it to the hospital was an on-going problem. Teddy's mother was a tortoise who had mated a human male. The pair had produced two children before Theodore, but both of the prior births barely lived out the first year. When Teddy had reached his first birthday without the issues that had killed his older siblings. Winston and Georgia Helmsley had hoped their son had made it successfully beyond the most troublesome age.

Unfortunately, at eighteen months, Teddy had a seizure. The first was followed by a second and then a third in quick succession. Knowing the signs of impending death, Winston and Georgia quickly headed for the hospital in the family car, unwilling to wait for an ambulance after it had already proven too slow for their first two children. Winston drove like a rational mad man, obeying stop lights, but not speed limits. Sadly, his impatience after waiting for one red light kept him from checking for someone running the red light crosswise the minute his light turned green. The family car had been t-boned on his side.

Teddy and Georgia made it to the hospital, Winston died at the scene.

There would be no more sons or attempts at more children for Georgia and Winston. Teddy was all the living proof of their relationship and Kagome was determined to keep him alive. The mixing of reptile and human blood was fighting against her.

Kagome managed to figure out that the seizures each of Teddy's previous siblings had gone through was due almost entirely to the rapid change in body temperature from warm to cold effecting the chemicals in their brains. Teddy needed a way to stay at one steady temperature rather than jumping back and forth from the temp normal for his mother and that of his father. Hell, even a method of slowing the temperature change would be better than what his body did on its own now.

Thankfully Kagome had finally found a few methods to use for youki suppression that were fairly gentle. A medicine man from Northern Canada, one she'd tried to reach for months, informed her of some fairly rare weed that temporarily weakened a youkai's aura. A weather witch in Central America had produced some special beads she imbued with a fairly small amount of human power that caused the same effect when worn near the skin. And a short conversation with her grandfather about the proper uses of sutra gave her several options to try.

Each had different effects and mechanisms to achieve what they were supposed to do. The herbs worked well for very short-term suppression before the natural metabolism of most youkai burned through the effects. The beads had to be installed and removed by the same person which would require someone to stay with the hanyou wearing them for the interim. The sutra were better used on a room or terribly large bodied youkai like the second of her patients.

Teddy was finding his path to long term health by using a bracelet of the beads for varying durations of time. Kagome hoped to find him some middle ground so they could start training his body into the sort of self-regulation he would need to survive independent of the beads. The herbs were used mostly in emergencies when his temperature spiked too much in one direction or the other. It seemed a more successful treatment for his seizures than the medicines typically used in human cases.

Her other patient was twelve and already taller than Kagome, though it was hard to tell with the slouch always disguising it. Even with the poor posture, Lacey generally looked her doctors and nurses directly in the eye. Her height had made her dreadfully self-conscious and the slouch was a direct result of that. As if being hanyou weren't enough by itself.

Lacey's health had been fine until she somehow managed to pick up chicken pox from the school her mother worked at. The childhood disease was apparently making the rounds and while Lacey had never been there, her mom had carried it home.

Kagome didn't have enough beads to make something that would sufficiently suppress the larger hanyou's youkai half. Lacey had bulk as well as height and her father's people were mustang youkai brought over by the Spanish in their "pioneering" days. The secret miko had resorted to sutra on the walls of Lacey's room to cleanse the air she breathed of pollution and keep her germs from escaping to the rest of the clinic. Another set of sutra written to suppress youki had been wrapped around Lacey's wrists and ankles.

Lacey had complained of feeling immensely worse after the sutra first took effect, but her health had improved rather quickly after that. Instead of being both fevered and unbearably itchy, she'd just been mildly tired and irritated and the itching skin had responded well to a simple baking soda bath. The hanyou was well on the road to recovery, but Kagome was refusing to send her home until she was completely over it. The last thing Lacey needed was to suffer a relapse at home that would kill her.

Ginta nudged her shoulder before subtly directing her attention through the crowd of attendees to spot Teddy and his Aunt Cleo, from Britain. Cleo had flown in the minute she heard about her brother's death and the difficulties Theodore was having. It had surprised Kagome to learn no one outside Winston and Georgia even knew they had a living son. Cleo swore that if she'd known she'd have already been in the states treasuring every moment to be had with her nephew after the regret she felt for never having met his siblings.

Georgia had needed the support because the death of a mate was rough on a youkai's psyche. She fell into such a deep depression, Teddy seldom even saw her as she rarely had the energy to get out of bed. Cleo had been a godsend for both mother and child. In fact, Cleo had been selected to be the trustworthy person to put on and take off Teddy's beaded bracelet.

He was wearing it now, which was the only reason he was allowed to be out here, though Kagome had doses of the weed and a life support system standing at the ready should something set off his delicate condition.

Rin stood next to the little half-turtle in her usual fur, occasionally nudging his free hand whenever the mayor made some little remark they both understood. The speeches were a little drawn out and boring, even for Kagome, but every grand opening required its share of pomp. The Saotomeh Institute of Medicine for Hanyou Health was no exception. Many of the staff brought on board before opening were already affectionately calling it SIMHH.

Kagome was planning to sleep on-site again tonight and both wolves and Rin planned to join her.

Ginta had applied for and was granted admission to the medical school here. His continued dedication to a goal established in his mid teens after meeting Kagome was amazing in her eyes. It shouldn't be though, Kagome had made her own decision around the same age and look at her now. He'd badgered everyone of her sponsors and mentors and former advisers until all had agreed to help him follow in her footsteps.

Hakkaku was enrolled in the nursing program and planned to work out here with her before even finishing the program. Wolves were big on kids and he was no different. Hakkaku was fascinated with the work she was doing and the patients she got. There were so many variations to what types of individuals could wind up at SIMHH.

The same two parents could produce children with a multitude of different problems based on the different ways a specific youkai and human mixed. While one child born of an inu and a human was born with ears, claws, and fangs to show his heritage another sibling might follow with none of those but have a tail, awkwardly bent legs, and fur instead. Each would have problems specific to themselves and the variations astounded everyone confronted with it.

Miriam-sensei had gone back to Canada, trying to talk her daughter into bringing her three children to the Institute. Kagome had tried to caution that those three might be better off staying where they are while she instead sent the necessary materials and conferred with their attendant doctor. Many hanyou weren't stable enough to move.

She welcomed the ones who were and the ones who were close enough to come to her during emergency, but it was often better to leave the children in the first location they were stabilized. Kagome had insured her office here was set up with top of the line communication systems. No matter where in the world a physician called from, Kagome could now confer with them at any time. Such could quickly become a job that allowed no sleep, but SIMHH wasn't widely known yet. She hadn't built up a reputation of success or put out papers of useful, tested theories. Vaughn-sensei was working on that.

Publishing papers about medical procedures that had been tried with some success were normally put off until each could be more widely tested. Her sponsors were pushing to publish for peer review mostly to get the word out that the new field existed at all. Hanyou medicine existed and the only way for it to become widely practiced or even tested was for it to reach the largest number of doctors possible. Physicians couldn't suggest or advise patients with a special need to try something without knowing the possibilities themselves.

Kagome was just thankful that her picture was being kept out of it and her name, while principal developer and tester, was not alone on the research or the paper. She wasn't doing this for the recognition. She just wanted everybody to have a fighting chance at life.

The speeches wore down and the scissors in Saotomeh Hayate's hand snipped through the red ribbon, opening the clinic named in honor of his son. Saotomeh Ayumi stood next to her spouse with tears running down her face, her hand resting on Hayate's shoulder drawing and giving support in the same gesture. Applause filled the reception area with its bright clean colors and metal wall plaques and sculptures. The room held some chairs and tables for family members and conversation, but Kagome was more proud of the room that came off the large, respectable lobby.

Maxwell had outfitted it with carefully crafted and whimsical structures designed for play, climbing and creativity. The built in, heavy duty book shelf housed books for every age group and the room was dotted with the natural forms of youkai, storybook characters and fanciful insects. Rin and Teddy had already been over everything in it, from the secret little cubby in the floor under the ladybug bridge, to the tree house next to the book shelf. Kagome had initially wanted to protest the idea of something not floor level, but was overruled by Nonny and Max. When half her sponsors and three of her future nurses chimed in on their side in favor of it, she'd shut up. And when she saw it, she felt better about it.

The floor of the little tree house was at maximum two feet above the floor, and the rope ladder was supplemented by a winding set of stairs in the trunk against the wall. A slide facilitated a quick exit and the hole thing was bound by a very sturdy metal fence bolted to the platform floor and the wall the higher level was built against. She couldn't imagine any toddler with healthy bones could seriously hurt themselves on it unless they were trying. Rin climbed into the thing as easily in her natural fur and as the humanoid shape she'd proudly achieved and strengthened over time. The little over achiever.

The crowd broke up to explore the facilities and public rooms. The two inhabited rooms were farther from the lobby and cordoned off for privacy. Everything left public would have to be sterilized again before allowing another patient to use them, but it was worth it for the publicity. At least that's what Kagome had been told.

The Saotomeh's approached Kagome with weak smiles and broke with the ingrained culture to hug her tightly to them. "I always knew you were something different," Hayate began quietly, his voice thick with emotion and hope. Neither Hayate or Ayumi had dared to try for another child since they lost Kagome's friend Shin. Perhaps now that there were theories and treatment plans being developed they would regain the courage to build the family both had always wanted. "We knew it when you got him to start talking again."

"I remember when he came home complaining that you had told him he was going to marry you," Ayumi sniffled. "He was so angry, but I knew he was secretly pleased that you thought he was worth it. He'd been so down on himself before, but he was happy again after meeting you. We'd thought his life wouldn't be the tragedy we feared it would be. You gave that to us and now you've given us hope that no one else will have to fall like Shin."

"I'm not so special," Kagome smiled back at the watery pair, hand clasped tightly around Ginta's arm. "Without Shin, none of this would have happened," she added earnestly. "I never would have thought to do it if Shin hadn't suffered the way he did." Kagome smile turned mischievous for a moment, "And I really would have made him marry me!"

Both parents laughed, "You would have made a wonderful daughter," Ayumi smiled. "Too bad someone else will have the privilege of adding you to their family instead."

"You call on us if you need anything," Hayate added sternly. "What you're doing is going to change the world for us and we don't want anything to get in the way of that."

"We mean it, Higurashi-chan," Ayumi added with an effort to stop the tears leaking down her face. "Anything at all, we'll be around the world in a minute."

"Thank you," Kagome bowed in gratitude. "But I don't think that will be necessary. I have many friends right here." She nudged Ginta purposely and he grinned bashfully. "The next crop of doctors is already eagerly waiting to learn everything I have so as to spread it farther than one place in California. We'll keep looking for solutions to the problems the hanyou condition presents so they'll all have a chance to live. We're not there yet, but with every success we get a little closer!"

"With you at the helm, we can believe it," Ayumi's smile had lost the watery quality to it. Hayate smiled back at his mate and then carefully led her back to mingle with the crowd of politicians, local medical professionals, and the handful of members from the press.

This far out of the city, there hadn't been much interest from reputable papers and news stations and Kagome's sponsors had worked very hard to keep the information from the tabloids. The institute should really only matter to a fraction of the populace. Thus would only be news to the masses if they could assign some scandal to their doorstep. They were only lucky no one had caught wind of Carter-sensei's failed mating proposal.

Kagome was alternately relieved and saddened by finally having that whole situation over with. Rin had been a big help in putting it off as Carter-sensei was apparently reluctant to bring it up in front of the pup, but Rin couldn't be glued to the secret miko's side all the time. The pup had friends and playing to do. Independence was important to foster in children, it allowed them to develop better understanding of their limitations and abilities.

Kagome knew that. Unfortunately, Kagome was also aware that a number of people wouldn't approach her when Rin was close and her first inclination was use that behavior. Therapy sessions with the professional Cheryl had suggested were far more enlightening than Kagome had believed they would be. When Kagome finally admitted she had a problem that needed a solution, Sesshoumaru had been guardedly supportive. At the time she'd been something of a powder keg about emotionally charged topics that dealt with her own vulnerabilities and resulting behaviors. Since admitting that, she understood his unwillingness to express too much enthusiasm.

As he was the cause of her current problems, seeming too enthusiastic might have inspired an emotionally defensive Kagome to attack him verbally. She didn't like admitting she hadn't dealt with her problems the way she'd thought she had. She hadn't handled the reality that she needed therapy particularly well. Many people didn't. Kagome had been on the outside of recommending various forms of physical and psychological treatment of trauma survivors before. Most reacted badly to the second as if the mere suggestion made them somehow inferior to the world.

She hadn't expected to react the same way when it was suggested that she might need more help than the support group and words in Cheryl's ear. Even when she finally accepted that Kagome truly did need more help than that to deal with the aftermath of her involuntary mating. Or rather, she needed help to first accept that she had been taken advantage of, and ignoring that fact had not prevented her subconscious from developing though patterns that were neither healthy nor helpful.

There was the serious issue with touching any person, especially males, outside the bounds of her roll as a certified healer. She could see now, how it had started with that night, and she had covered it up from herself as being foreign to her native culture. It was wrong. Kagome could remember hugging friends in high school. She remembered occasionally leaning against Hojo during those long nights volunteering for the Safe Ride program at University. The fact was, before Sesshoumaru dosed and marked her that night, Kagome was able and willing to touch anyone she trusted and even a few she hadn't so much.

Later, there was her inability to deal with the deaths of two of her patients. Jeremy and Trevor's deaths were significant and should have saddened her, certainly. But Kagome had dealt with grief before. She'd lost friends and family early in her life. She knew death happened and was a part of life. She knew the world wasn't fair in its generalities and she'd always guarded herself against the harshness of reality by keeping appraised of statistics and seeing the world with clear eyes. Sesshoumaru had been right to call in the cavalry, she'd needed the support and the intervention.

That had been her first inkling something was off. Kagome had survived in the world, keeping her reiki hidden through the careful effort of maintaining her emotions at an arms distance and knowing her physical limitations. Passions broke her concentration and tore down her defenses. She knew that and had carefully guarded against it for so much of her life that she hadn't even broken down like that when her grandmother had died. She'd just wallowed in it.

Trevor's death had pushed her to the edge and Jeremy's had shoved her over it. Otherwise she never would have cried in front of anybody like that, not even her brother. Rather, especially not her brother after he'd laid into her like that about his wedding. She wouldn't have run to Cheryl's room for comfort. Kagome would have waited until she made it home, wept a little in her evening shower. It scared her how ungovernable her emotions had become in that moment.

Then came Katarin. In a lot of ways, Rin was a balm on Kagome's feelings, a band-aid for her self-esteem and brutalized ego. If not for Rin, Kagome might have sunk so far into research and theory she never would have applied anything to Teddy's case at all. She'd have let her sponsors and mentors do it for her without ever coming in contact with the patient being treated. It was why she was so obsessive about checking the ER for hanyou coming in everyday. Kagome was deceiving herself, proving to herself that she wasn't afraid to lose another patient by forcing herself to check for them all while hoping desperately that her resolve wouldn't be tested on each visit by the appearance of a new hanyou to fail.

She hadn't been aware of it, but she'd clung to Rin's need for her like a lifeline. She was superwoman because that coyote pup decided she was worthy of being a mother and needed her desperately. Every time Rin didn't like someone that wasn't Kagome's favorite person seemed a validation of her own character judgment.

Kagome had failed to realize that it was just as likely the pup's distrust and dislike was keyed off of Kagome's subconscious and unconscious body language. Youkai depended more heavily on the silent languages than humans did. Her therapist had been required to point this out before Kagome even thought of the possibility.

Kagome took a deep breath and let it out slowly before squeezing Ginta's hand. Hakkaku was standing with Rin and Teddy in the midst of the crowd and keeping track of time before Teddy's beads would have to come off.

"Are you all right, nee-san?" the wolf at her side asked quietly. His eyes directed as hers were, toward the crowd of milling reporters, politicians, doctors, and nurses. There were a number of parents present who had lost hanyou children. Kagome had invited all the ones she had met and liked hoping to help them find hope and closure after their losses. "I know you weren't really excited to be here."

"I'll be fine," Kagome answered evenly. Crowds were not her thing and never had been, though they had not always inspired the anxiety she was fighting now. It was another symptom she was struggling with. "Unpleasant duties are sometimes necessary for the things we want in life."

"Perhaps," the younger male conceded to her greater experience. Kagome knew he didn't like that she had been required to be present for this. He let out a low growl when it became apparent the long-winded mayor of the closest town was making his way their direction.

"Dr. Higurashi," the oily human reached out a hand in greeting, clearly demanding a hand shake that he held long enough to be photographed. Despite the fact, the man made her skin crawl, Kagome smiled thinly at the camera before discreetly wiping her hand on her slacks. Then Ginta reached out and reclaimed it in his own. "This is a wonderful thing you are doing. Maybe now mixed couples can produce healthy children without fear."

Kagome wanted to glare at his overly white, veneered smile and correct his false interest in something he clearly didn't approve of. Perhaps another person might be fooled by his blasé handling of the words, but Kagome was trained to observe other things than just facial expressions and tone. His grip had been just a little too tight and his aura screamed of disgust with a spike in it just as he addressed her work. He didn't believe humans and youkai should mix. If they did it wasn't a draw back in his mind that their children had such low survival rates. In fact, this politician rather saw it as proof that his view was correct.

It probably hadn't occurred to him that child fatality rates in this exact region had been ridiculously high for all breed of family during pioneering days. If one followed his logic, such was proof that the land should not be settled in the first place. While Kagome disagreed with a lot of how settling was done, she very much doubted anybody had argued that line then.

But to betray anything so overtly negative in her words or expression would be terribly impolitic, especially with his pet cameraman about. The doors may officially be open, but saying the wrong thing to the wrong person would close them again in short order. "All children should be able to live without their own bodies getting in the way of that," Kagome responded pleasantly. "I hope someday this becomes a reality everywhere, but until then, we do what we can with the means at hand."

Kagome wasn't going to give specifics to laymen. Too many would use the words describing the process to inspire religious protest or civil unrest against what she was trying do. Her methods tapped into various religious systems that were not universally held or practiced. She made use of herbal remedies many believed were the antithesis of medicine or medical practice. Hell, she was going to start suggesting that hanyou borne of human mothers receive the same vaccines that human children did, which opened up that on-going debate. She'd rather limit the dissemination of her theories and techniques to those they mattered to rather than to the general public who might raise protest for things that didn't even apply to them or anyone they knew personally.

Why should people who'd never even encountered a living hanyou hear about the methods used in their medical care so long as it wasn't inherently torturous, harmful, or cruel? Which should be covered in the vow she took when Kagome became a doctor. "Do no harm" weren't just words thrown in to make it look good.

"Well they still haven't figured out how to cure even pure-blooded children of everything yet," the politician replied in a snide tone that indicated he thought her naïve and unduly idealistic. Basically he thought her young and unlikely to make this whole scheme successful for her perceived idealism.

"True, there are things now that children of every breed can't be cured of," Kagome wanted to add examples like "stupidity" and "arrogance" but restrained herself. "But we have managed to develop cures and treatments for very common ailments like chicken pox and pneumonia, things that are almost always fatal for hanyou children. We have managed to successfully treat one such child who will be sent home soon to resume her regular life. But our practices are still in the fledgeling stage. There is much left to work out before hanyou medicine will be capable of as many treatments and cures as human and youkai medicine."

Kagome had no worry that her terminology would confuse anyone. All those in attendance who weren't already familiar with her vocabulary idiosyncrasies had received a PR packet explaining the terms in use. Her sponsors had willingly allowed her that boon once she explained her reasoning. They'd chosen to explain it away to the press as a result of her foreign eccentricity or a lack of lingual understanding. Most would assume she didn't know the correct English words unless they knew her better. Kagome had already decided she was fine with that so long as her medical skills weren't called into question.

"Well, I'm sure the owners are already working toward that eventuality," the mayor added dismissively before giving his polite farewell and moved on to bigger fish to be photographed with.

Kagome wasn't offended to be considered inconsequential. She wasn't upset at being brushed off as less involved in the development process than he'd assumed. She didn't own the clinic, she just worked here. The owners and administrators made sure they had all the right permits and licenses. They kept her life outside SIMHH uncomplicated so she could focus more on her ultimate goal. Perhaps it was strange that her ambition didn't require her to claim full responsibility and therefor all accolades that came from it, but she didn't care to be famous, just to save lives.

Sesshoumaru and her housemate wolves understood, and that was enough...even though many of other other friends and sponsors understood it too. Clearly, politicians and celebrities would not, Kagome sent a dark look after the greasy male that had just left Kagome and Ginta behind.

"I feel like I need a shower, and I didn't even have to shake hands with the guy," Ginta rumbled quietly beside her, careful to make the sound low and unlikely to travel. There were other youkai in the room, some who were capable of causing them trouble. Kagome gave a wry smile and nodded her head gently as her former little squeezed her hand. "Come on, we should check up on Lacey. Poor thing was absolutely bummed out that she wouldn't get to attend."

"I couldn't risk it, her health is still so fragile and there are plenty of bug carriers in attendance. She would like it less to finally get over the chicken pox only to catch something else and extend her stay," Kagome murmured as Ginta tugged her down the hall discreetly to scrub up. There was even a shower available which Kagome was fairly certain they were going to compete over the use of. Ginta felt dirty from proximity to the oily politician, but Kagome had to shake hands with the guy.