Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe or any of the popular name brand apps, products, services, etc. The rest is mine.

Part 12

Inuyasha awoke as he felt his demonic powers returning to him. He never slept on nights of the new moon. Not once in his whole life...but...somehow...he had fallen asleep. Maybe it was all the liquor? Or...or maybe it had been the emotional release last night had offered him.

No matter what it was, he wasn't prepared to wake up with Kagome nestled into him, using his upper body as a pillow. Her fingers clung tightly to his tank top by his pectoral, while the other held onto his shoulder. He could tell that she was still fast asleep as she nuzzled further into him, and he was paralyzed, unsure of what to do.

The scent of their tears filled the clearing, and memories of the night before flashed before his eyes, making him suck in a shaky breath. The movement was enough to lightly jostle Kagome, and soon he felt her stirring atop him, slowly awakening.

"Inu...Yasha?" she asked sleepily, pushing herself up slightly.

"Morning?" he tried nervously as he watched her eyes slowly becoming more alert.

"Morning," she replied timidly, biting her lip and running her fingers through her hair. She looked so precious...so fragile cocooned in his shirt. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and protect her from everything. Pull her closer. Softly kiss her. His breath hitched at the thought.

Kiss her?

Really?

It was because she was sleeping on him. It had to be.

"Are...we...ok?" Kagome asked hesitantly, looking down at his chest before nervously meeting his eyes. She pulled him from his thoughts, and he was more than happy for the distraction.

Were they ok?

He didn't know if they could ever truly be free from their past...but...maybe, just maybe, they could finally start to move on from it. For good.

"I think we're better than we were," he murmured, watching her eyes rapidly scan his face. He was trying to ignore how right it felt to have her in his arms again. How perfect she still felt when her body was pressed against his like this. "I think it's a start."

"I...I think so too," she smiled shyly. That soft, beautiful smile...

He found himself cupping the side of her face. His thumb gently brushed against her cheekbone and she leaned into the simple comfort he offered, closing her eyes. He allowed himself a moment to look at her. Really look at her. How was she still so beautiful after all this time?

How did she still have this...this effect on him?

Even with puffy eyes and mussed up hair, he felt his heart begging him to do anything and everything for her.

But...even if they had mended some old wounds last night, that still wasn't them anymore. They weren't the same people they had been seven years ago, and there was still...so much between them. He couldn't let himself be swept up by old desires. Old habits.

He pulled away from her, and she opened her eyes, her eyebrows knitting together in a silent question.

"We should get going," he explained weakly, and she nodded, moving away from him so he could sit up.

"I should probably change," she laughed awkwardly, bunching the hem of his button-down shirt between her fingers. "I'm assuming you'd like this back, at least..."

He felt his cheeks light at the reminder that she was wearing his shirt...and nothing else was under it. His mind immediately recalled the shape of her breasts, and he tried to keep the unwarranted images at bay.

"Nah...there...There's no need. Your stuff still smells like beer," he replied, trying to shrug casually. He watched her eyebrows lift in surprise.

"Are you sure? I don't mind, really. You shouldn't have to go home in that...I don't want to get you into trouble with your mom..."

"I'm a grown man now, Kagome...Don't worry about it," he replied, brushing off her concerns.

"But—"

"—Don't worry about it. It's cleaner than your stuff and I'm telling ya I don't mind. Just keep my damn shirt on, would ya?"

Her face broke out into a wide grin and he felt himself relax for the first time all morning.

"Ok - I'll keep your damn shirt on," she reassured him, her eyes twinkling in the warm early morning light. "I think I remember seeing some pop tarts in that backpack," she prompted, and he chuckled as her stomach growled.

"Yeah...hold on..." he confirmed, reaching off to the side to grab his backpack and rifle through it. He found the box and tossed it to her. "Breakfast is served."

"Strawberry?"

"They didn't have unfrosted blueberry," he shrugged as she handed him one of the silver, plastic rectangles holding the pop tarts.

"You remember I like unfrosted blueberry?"

He rolled his eyes and smirked. "I only grew up with ya...course I remember. Thought you might like these more than the 'vanilla milkshake' ones."

"Oh God...that's a flavor now?"

"So is hot fudge sundae, apparently..."

"Strawberry was a pretty safe choice then," she giggled, nibbling on a corner.

"I like to think I make decent choices when it comes to the bigger things in life. Like pop tart flavors."

Her face widened into a huge grin and he felt a part of himself yearn to always see that smile on her face. That wasn't gonna happen though. She was gonna leave in a couple of months, and then she would be out of his life again. He felt the corners of his mouth drag down at the reminder and laid back on the ground, tucking an arm under his head. He absently bit into his pop tart, chewing it as a voice inside his head told him to enjoy this while he could. Who knew if he was really going to see Kagome again? For all he knew, this was it.

Again.

Sure...if they happened to run into each other by chance when she came in next, they would smile and wave and be friendly before going on their way...But this was it, wasn't it?

The closure they had been needing all these years.

"What's that look all about?" he heard her ask as he finished his pop tarts and turned his head to regard her.

"Nothin'," he replied dismissively. "Just...just thinking about the flooring in my kitchen," he lied.

"Your kitchen?" she replied, tilting her head to the side in that sweet, adorable way she did when she got confused.

"Yeah," he groaned as he sat up, pulling away his tank top from his body and shaking it a few times to dispel the crumbs. "I'm...Well...You remember that land Ma and Pops gave us when we were gonna...ah..."

"...Get married?" she supplied softly, and he nodded his head.

"Yeah," he breathed. "Well, they never really took it back...they said it was mine to do what I wanted with. I sat on it until I was...23, I think, before I started slowly building something there."

"You're building a house?" she pieced together, her eyes widening when Inuyasha nodded his head.

"Slowly, but I am," he confirmed. "I'm getting it done mostly by myself. Wassa bitch dealing with plumbing. And I hadda get Sam Evens to help with electrical to make sure I didn't burn the place down, but—"

"—You're building a house!" she breathed, a wide smile splayed across her face. "Inuyasha, that's amazing! I...I'd love to see it, sometime? I-if you're willing to show me, that is...You might not have the time," she quickly backpedaled, and he felt his whole face soften.

She...she had a right to see it. It was supposed to be theirs. Or at least it was at one point in time...He had kept the original plans he had drawn up for them. He didn't see a need to redo them. So...he was building their house. For himself...and for whoever he eventually married.

Because even now she wasn't really a part of the picture anymore, was she?

"Do you have someplace you need to be right now?" he asked hesitantly, and Kagome shook her head.

"I can be wherever you need me to be, Inuyasha."

"Inuyasha...It's beautiful..." Kagome breathed as his house came into view. It was still lacking more than a few coats of paint on the outside, but he just hadn't decided on a color yet. He also didn't need a painted house to move into it.

It was a simple two-story farmhouse with a gable roof jutting out into the overhang of the wrap around porch. He had set three windows into it to provide the guest room with lots of light. Or maybe it was a kid's room? It wasn't a room he was using anytime soon, that was for sure. Large, thick, square columns helped support the overhanging stormy, blue-grey roof, and he had installed a wood railing with large Xs throughout it to fence off the porch. Four large windows peaked out between the columns, two on either side of the door, and he still had to install the shutters.

Yet another project for the future.

Just like painting the door. He had bought a red one with two windows in it originally, because he had thought he was going to have a red roof...but...something had given him pause about that. At the last second, his heart had made him pick the stormy blue-grey. The color was just...oddly comforting. It reminded him of something he couldn't quite place his finger on. It didn't really matter...but it had been a bitch to install along with the smaller rectangular windows framing the door.

He listened to her excitedly prattle on about all the things she liked about it. How charming she found it. What color was he going to paint it? Was he going to plant any flowers around it? What was that second large building in the distance? A garage?

It...it made his chest ache a little to see her so excited by what he had done. They...they could have done this together. She could have come with him to the hardware store and debated which front door to get. Which little lanterns to hang on either side of it. The style of shutters.

Instead, he had done it all on his own wondering what looked better. If he was making the right choice, or if his taste was too masculine. What would a woman like too? This house wasn't just for him. He had built it knowing that he would have a family here one day.

It was reassuring hearing her compliment him on his choices...but...but why couldn't she have been this excited back then?

Maybe it was better that she had ended things before he had begun really working on it beyond his blueprints. It was already hard starting this...if she had been excited it would have been that much harder. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life thinking about the things she would have loved about his house.

Yeah.

His.

He was just...showing her what he had done with the land.

"Well, do you wanna stand around all day just looking at the outside, or do you actually wanna see it?"

"Lead the way," she encouraged, sliding her hands into her back pockets, and he did just that. He lumbered up the short steps and crossed the porch to open the front door. "It's not locked?" she questioned, raising a brow.

"Out here?" he chuckled. "Nah. 'Sides. There's nothing worth taking right now. It's just an empty shell."

An empty shell missing a heart.

How morosely poetic.

He internally rolled his eyes at himself and stepped aside, allowing her to enter the foyer first. One room stood on either side. One was for an office, and the other was...undetermined. He thought that maybe it could start out as a nursery? Then become a playroom whenever he had kids? And then when they got older he could change it to something else. Make it their space. Or his wife's space. Or a guest room? He didn't have to decide now...he just had to slap some paint onto it and call it a day.

The foyer fed into a large great room. His fireplace was visible as soon as you walked into the house, and she commented on how much she liked that. It gave his house some warmth, she smiled. It was a nice touch. He just scratched the back of his head and thanked her as she continued deeper into his house. All along the left side of the house he had built cabinetry and fleshed out the majority of the kitchen. He still needed to finish the flooring and then put the island together...but then he could start doing the last little things he needed to do to get this place wrapped up. Like pick lights. And colors. The really girly stuff he wasn't sure he had an eye for. It was just taking a bit longer than he would have liked because his time was so divided right now, he explained.

"That house out back is my shop," he explained, hopping up onto the granite counter as she examined his craftsmanship with the cabinets. "I've been getting a steady flow of orders over the last few years for river tables."

"You started a business?"

"Nothin' too fancy," he shrugged when she turned to look at him in awe. "Just a little resin and woodwork. It started out as a hobby..."

A hobby to keep his mind off of his heart break.

"Anyways, it's a pretty easy process. Most of it is about the tools, not the skill. Being a half demon helps though...they get pretty heavy and I'd need ta hire people to help me move things if I were a human. Sesshomaru helps me sometimes if something is too big 'n clunky. I've been kinda doing a trade of goods for services to help with this place.

Like with Sam.

Made him a dining room table as an anniversary present for his wife. Well. We made it. Helped me pick out the wood and everything. Apparently the look on his wife's face was worth all the work of making it and helping me wire this place," he mused, looking down into his lap as she hopped up onto the granite next to him.

"And this?" she asked, rubbing her hand along the golden, sandy brown stone, inches away from his thigh.

"Knew a guy who knew a guy? Facebook, really," he laughed nervously before elaborating. "Saw a post from this small company. Had some customers who paid for it. They cutter up and did the edges, 'n then the buyers decided they wanted something else instead.

He put it on Market Place and I happened to see it. He said since it was already paid for he wanted to try 'n find a good home for it. I hadn't really started on the kitchen yet, and it was a little deeper than what I was gonna do...but it saved me a small fortune. I like how it turned out, too."

"Me too," she smiled, a certain pride lighting her eyes and making his heart thump a little harder in his chest. "Inuyasha, this is all...Everything you've done is incredible."

"You're only saying that 'cause you haven't seen the upstairs," he snorted, trying to brush off the way her words made him feel. Why did it mean so much to him to hear she liked what he had done with the place?

"I don't have to see it to know that it was done with love and care. I mean this...this is amazing, Inuyasha," she breathed, gesturing out at his empty house. "The hard work and detail you've put into this is...it's masterful. It's worthy of being in a magazine," she complimented, and her eyes went wide. "It should be in a magazine!"

He turned, tilting his head to the side as one of his brows rose in confusion. There was something about her tone...

"Inuyasha, can I write about you? And this?" she asked excitedly, her eyes dancing as ideas started swirling around in her head.

"Me? Why?"

"Because this is amazing!" she blurted out. "You're a twenty five year old guy building a house by himself. Do you know how often that happens? Do you even see how...how amazing you are?" she continued, and his heart jumped up to his throat, beating so hard he could feel the vibrations through his whole body.

"I-it's just a house, Kagome. And Pops and Sesshomaru help when I need an extra set of hands," he shrugged dismissively.

"Inuyasha, if this were just a house, I wouldn't see you everywhere I looked."

"You do?" he replied, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Of course! Look at these cabinets," she nodded, hopping off the counter to draw his attention to them. "They're traditional with a hint of modern. Just like you."

He eyed her skeptically, and she rolled her eyes, coming to stand between his legs and taking his hands in hers. He tried to not let his surprise show on his face, and pay attention to the words she was saying, but he was having a hard time with her standing there like that. In his shirt. In his house. Fuck...she wasn't even trying to and she was messing with his emotions. She was just being...

Kagome.

His old, bright, sunny, optimistic, easily excitable Kagome. He swore when she smiled...it made you feel like you were the center of her whole damn universe. The way she took the little things you were excited and passionate about and just...supported them.

This was the Kagome he had fallen in love with all those years ago.

This woman right here.

God...he had missed her.

"...And if you're open to it, I think I can get my editor to sign off on it. You still have a lot to do, right? Maybe I can shadow you for the rest of the project!"

Her ramblings came to an expectant end, and it seemed to occur to her for the first time that maybe she was intruding. Maybe this wasn't what he wanted and she should butt out... She started backtracking. Apologizing for just jumping in and inserting herself into a very personal project of his until he finally just...had had enough of this.

He placed a finger to her lips, silencing her and stopping her from spiraling out of control.

"I'm OK with this if you are, Kagome. But...why do you wanna do this? You know that means you're gonna be in ma life a lot more. That something you want?"

"I...it is if you do too..."

His tongue kissed his teeth and he shook his head, rejecting her answer.

"That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking if ya wanna see me again, Kagome."

He watched as her eyes searched his face, looking for...something. He didn't know what she was hoping to find, but the way her face opened up, he knew she had found it.

"Yeah...I do," she breathed. "I want to do this, Inuyasha."

"Then..." he hesitated. Did he really want her doing this with him? Wasn't he just thinking not even a half hour ago how it was better that she wasn't involved? Fuck him...he did. He wanted her to do this with him. "Then you can write about this only if ya help me with it," he decided resolutely.

"Help you with it?" she questioned her brow furrowing in confusion.

"Yeah. With paint 'n stuff. Lighting...hardware for the cabinets...Picking it out and shit."

"Do you want me to help you with that?"

"I think I'd appreciate a woman telling me when I'm picking the wrong color, so I don't gotta repaint the place."

"And you want me to help with that," she questioned giving him a skeptical look.

"You know me as well as I know myself. Or ya did at least," he stated frankly. "Can't think of a better person."

"Your mom," she snorted, and he rolled his eyes.

"I'd rather not. She's...Well, she's Ma. I don't wanna get inna fight every time I go to the hardware store."

"Oh, is that where you think you're going for lights?" she smirked, and he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Isn't that where you're sapposed ta go?"

"Nope!" she grinned, her eyes dancing in amusement. "If I can get them to sign off on this, then we're going to a real lighting store!"

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed this fic! And to everyone who voted for it! I'm thrilled to say that this has won Best Angst and I...Feel anything but angsty over that! Special thanks to Disgruntled Beast for the edits this time too!

Until next time!

-LL