I saw you at the playground today. He's mine, isn't he?
Izayoi's hands had shaken when she saw the text message.

She'd never removed his number from her address book. Just in case... in case Izayoi finally got up the courage to… tell him.

It was easier. Pretending Inuyasha had been the product of a one night stand with an unknown demon. Humans never really took much time to pay attention to the details, to suss out which demon might have fathered a child. And Izayoi had left New York the moment she'd discovered that she was pregnant. Because if anyone found out whose child she was carrying, the eruption would have been felt around the world.

Because Tōga Taisho was one of the most powerful demons in the world, running one of the most powerful companies in the world, and at the time that Izayoi had… acted on her affections for her boss, he had been going through the messiest divorce in the world.

Izayoi loved Tōga. She couldn't help it. The way, even when his face was downcast and his body looked defeated, he always saved a smile for her. She loved the way he took time for every employee who wanted to meet with him, whether that was talking with the custodial staff about better working conditions, or to the vice presidents about the new outreach effort he was opening to offset housing costs for low income families (he always said that he liked the cleaning staff a ton more than the VPs).

It also didn't help matters that Izayoi found Tōga to be the most attractive man she'd ever set eyes on. Tōga's hair was long, moonspun silver that seemed to glow of its own inner light, and his molten gold eyes reflected the glow of his hair, leaving them constantly alight. And when he saw something he liked (especially her), they twinkled. The mokomoko he often wore as a scarf was so lush that a single finger would sink into it, embraced in its silky fluff. And finally, even though she could only see the cerulean stripes that adorned his face, Izayoi had plenty of idea that they must paint the rest of his perfectly muscled form. And he was tall; Izayoi only came up to Tōga's shoulders; him towering over her only served to make her want him more.

Mostly it had been fine. She'd been careful, kept it as friendly as she could without ever overstepping her bounds. She made sure that Tōga's soon-to-be-ex-wife never so much as sniffed the scent of her anywhere suspicious on him, because the last thing Izayoi would ever want to do was to make Tōga's divorce worse.

Then the night of the masquerade happened.

Izayoi had been so pleased with how it turned out, and the bunny mask she'd found was perfect.

Had she hoped Tōga would look at her in that dress? Perhaps…
Had she chosen the flowing white dress that hugged her body just right with the cerulean trim specifically because the blue matched the color of the markings on Tōga's face? Perhaps…

Had she had more champagne than she should have?
Definitely.

Because perhaps, if she'd been a smidge less inebriated, everything that happened after would not have happened.

Then again, she would not now have Inuyasha without it, and Inuyasha was the greatest gift she could have been given.

Izayoi had resigned the day after their night together. It was heartbreaking, leaving Tōga to find a new assistant when that demon of a wife of his was stalking everything he did, but that was also why she needed to resign. After she'd been with him, kissed him, loved him, she wouldn't be able to act how she needed to, how he needed her to. Because Inukimi had eyes on her, and on nearly every woman who worked with Tōga, just hoping to find one she could use for leverage. (The only saving grace was that Inukimi considered humans below her, so the attention on Izayoi was much more tolerable than on any of her demonic colleagues).

Even with the lessened scrutiny, Inukimi would sniff her out; she would become a new stick with which to beat Tōga, and Izayoi refused to be leverage.

Leaving Taisho Corp, leaving Tōga, had been so much harder than she thought it would be, and she assuaged her sorrows by reminding herself that when all was said and done, she could always get back in contact with him. After his divorce with Inukimi was completely said and done.

But then Izayoi was late.

And Izayoi's one night with Tōga was no longer a single wonderful night.
Izayoi knew: Tōga's child would be easily recognizable, easily trackable.

So Izayoi left New York.
She had to.

Izayoi had paid a lot of attention to the newspapers when she was his assistant, because Tōga was in them frequently. She knew how quickly her name (and her child's) would paint the pages, how quickly her privacy would disappear, and how ravenously Inukimi would consume her and their baby in order to make Tōga pay.

So Izayoi 'disappeared.' Her Aunt Kaede ran an art gallery in Sedona, and offered her both a job and a place to stay. Izayoi was on the plane before she'd even confirmed the pregnancy with a blood test.

And that was still where Izayoi lived. Nearly four years later.

Because, even as Izayoi knew that the divorce was finalized ("a monumental divorce for the Inu no Taisho," the papers read), she was afraid. Because where Tōga walked, tabloids followed. Because Inukimi was likely not finished being angry and vengeful. Because… Izayoi loved Inuyasha more than anything in the world, and she would protect Inuyasha from the fishbowl he would be living in if word of his parentage got out.

Was that the only reason she'd failed to get in touch with Tōga? To tell him that their tryst had given them a son? Because then Inuyasha would be in the spotlight?

Izayoi looked back down at her phone.

He's mine, isn't he?

She'd been afraid of something else, something more, something worse.
That Tōga would not want to know his son.
It was irrational, she knew, because Tōga was above all things, a man of honor.
Yet, yet… her mind still returned to the what if?

Izayoi could handle Tōga turning away from her. She was a human with no special powers or abilities. And he was a daiyōkai. But if he turned away from Inuyasha? Well, Izayoi couldn't bear the thought of anyone turning away from her sweet perfect boy.

Inuyasha was the happiest, gentlest soul she'd ever met. He could be sassy and got himself into boundless trouble. He laughed endlessly, and he made sure that he was gentle with the human kids who played with him, as well as their family tomcat. He would help Aunt Kaede with the laundry and stay up snuggling Izayoi, insisting she read him his favorite: A Feudal Fairy Tale, about a brave hanyō who saved the world.

But everything had now changed.

On her annual trip to see her parents in New York, somehow, Tōga had discovered that she had a silver-haired dog-eared hanyō child. And now Tōga was asking her about Inuyasha. Maybe… maybe this was fate's way of telling her that it was time. That finally, she needed to let Tōga meet the wondrous little boy who was his son.

But she wasn't ready to let her son meet his father… not just yet. Not without assurances. Not without a promise that Tōga, if he wanted to be in Inuyasha's life, would never walk away. A promise, her heart seemed to believe, would come easily from Tōga's lips, even as the flicker of doubt lingered.

As she continued to stare down at the text message that changed everything, Izayoi made a decision. She wasn't going to give into her fear anymore. She was going to embrace fate and see Tōga; she was done hiding from the 'worsts' that could happen.

"Mom?" Izayoi called, "I think… we may need to extend our visit." When her mother popped her head into the sitting room, curiosity lighting her warm brown eyes, Izayoi continued, "I… need to talk to an old friend."

"Ah." Izayoi's mother nodded her head. "Take all the time you need. I'll call my sister and tell her you're not sure when you're coming back."

Izayoi nodded, then looked down at her phone. It was time to answer fate's message and Tōga's text.

I've been meaning to tell you.
Izayoi swallowed down the bile that was rising in her throat, she couldn't think of what else to say.

Can I see you?

Tōga's response was immediate. Izayoi wondered if he'd been staring down at his phone waiting for her while she went through her existential crisis.

Yes—just me though. Where?

It was happening. Four years and the birth of one son since she walked out of Tōga's life, she was going to see him again.

Coffee shop right by the park you were playing in. Witch's Brew. Half hour?

So that was where Tōga had seen them… Wait.
Tōga wanted to meet her? In a half-hour? Izayoi nearly choked.

Tōga was never free enough that he could meet someone with a half-hour notice. It meant that… Tōga had cleared his schedule. For her. For Inuyasha.

A wave of grief suddenly hit her. She'd been so careful to protect herself, to protect her son that she had not thought about what it might do to Tōga to find out he'd missed the first three years of his child's life. She'd been so afraid of what would happen when Inuyasha's parentage was discovered that she'd never given Tōga a chance. The man whose eyes twinkled, who stared down the dragon daiyōkai that had once attempted a hostile takeover of Taisho Corp and defended his company (and his employees) until the dragon backed down. The father who never gave up on Sesshōmaru, even through the bitterest battles of the divorce.

Suddenly, Izayoi felt incredibly selfish. Because here she was, getting all these wonderful moments with her perfect son. Moments she'd never given Tōga the opportunity to have. And she'd robbed Inuyasha of the chance to know his father. A man that Izayoi herself had wanted to see again the moment she thought it was feasible.

I'll be there.

Izayoi replied. Then with slight hesitation, she added one more thing.

I'm sorry.

"Mom?" Izayoi called her mother back. "I need to go out. Right now. And can you watch Inuyasha for me?"

"Sure Izzybaby," her mother called back, "do you know how late you'll be?"

"Not a clue." Izayoi tried to make her voice light, but it came out labored. "I'm meeting that old friend. We have… a lot to talk about."

Her mother gave her a knowing nod. "I'll let Inubaby know that I get his cute little butt all to myself for a while after his nap." Then, she crossed into the room and kissed the crown of Izayoi's head. "If your old friend is anything like who he seems to be, then you will be gone for a while, and I pray that you will return here smiling."

"I hope so too," Izayoi said, taking a deep breath to keep herself from crying.

"Go on. Don't be late," her mother said. "I would not be surprised if he's already there, waiting for you."

Izayoi nodded, and headed upstairs to brush her hair and change into a shirt without quite as many claw marks (Inuyasha might've been gentle, but his little claws were still sharp).

After she'd changed into a blue sweater that seemed free of Inuyasha-caused tears, Izayoi threw her sneakers and jacket on, and was off. She walked down the tree-lined street, toward the park with the colorful jungle gym, and she pondered.

What if she'd told Tōga the moment she found out she was pregnant?

What if she'd stayed in New York?

Would their lives be different? Better? Worse?

At least she could tell Tōga that she was trying to protect Inuyasha.
And she could tell Tōga that she planned on telling him, when Inuyasha was old enough to deal with the scrutiny of the fishbowl.
That if Tōga held any ill will, he could take it out on her.

And that she never regretted any of it—the night she was with him, and every day with Inuyasha.
She just wanted to make sure that if he wanted to be in Inuyasha's life, that it was a commitment that she expected him to keep. (She tried to shove down how desperately she hoped he would want to be in Inuyasha's life.)

Before she knew it, the Witch's Brew was before her. Izayoi stopped, trying to suppress her trembling. It was the scariest moment of her life, second only to the day that the little plus sign appeared on the pregnancy test.

You can do this. Izayoi thought, and she willed her feet to propel her forward, through the door, and to the reunion she had been avoiding for nearly four years.