Kagome smiled as she tucked her daughter into bed and patted her head. The girl had absolutely huge big amber eyes, two red stripes that ran horizontally across each cheek and stopped at her nose, and two perfectly triangular canine ears on the top of her head, which twitched softly under her mother's hands. It would be just like any other night, if it weren't Christmas Eve.
The girl was four now, and she'd never even seen a picture of Santa. They lived far away from the crowded city where her mother was from, and they were tucked in the forest in some city whose name the little girl didn't even know. Her mother never said it, but she knew it was her obvious youkai heritage that prevented them from traveling too far from their home, and why she rarely saw other humans, and why it was rarer still that they saw her.
And because of this, her mother taught her with words and old books. But for the life of her, Kagome couldn't find any pictures of Santa Claus.
Kagome had smiled at the little girl instead, and sat her in her lap, "Well, Santa has many different names, and faces, but he brings kids gifts on Christmas."
Her daughter squirmed around until she was facing her mother and asked, "What's Christmas?"
"It's a holiday that Christians celebrate, and they get lots of gifts and Santa Claus delivers them."
"Oh. But does he bring gifts to us, since we're so far away from everyone? And we're not Christian?" she asked again.
Kagome looked thoughtful before saying, "Santa brings gifts to everyone, as long as they're good little boys and girls, even if they practice Shinto. So if you're good, Santa will come and leave gifts under the tree."
"A tree? We have a tree! Is that Christian too Momma?"
"No, that's based off of pagan traditions sweetie. Speaking of the tree, do you want to hang the ornaments up?"
Her daughter jumped off of her lap, but turned back to her, mirroring her mother's thoughtful face from before, "Well, how do you know it's Santa?"
"Because, Santa is different from other people. When you see him, you know its him!"
"How? Does he have dog ears like me?"
Kagome laughed nervously, "Well, he could. I've never actually seen him in person, but he wears a bright red suit, and he's got white hair, and he always has presents!"
Satisfied with her answers, her daughter ran to go grab the ornaments to put on the tree, and Kagome sighed.
That year, the young girl had slept all through the night and when she woke up there was a new kimono that her mother had made under the tree, and Santa had given her a pretty necklace. This year however, she had a plan.
She was going to stay up and watch Santa bring her gift, so she could tell him what she really wanted for Christmas. If he brought people their gifts, he should know which ones people wanted, right? So, she waited until her mother had been gone awhile, before creeping out of her bed and hiding behind the couch.
She had been there awhile, and she was almost about to go to sleep, when she heard the window open. A tall man, with a bright red outfit on, and long shining silver hair was in their living room. And underneath his room were two bundles, wrapped in cloth. Before she could go to meet him however, her mother appeared in the doorway.
"Who's there?" she said, before gasping.
"It's you," she said quietly.
From behind the couch, her daughter watched with fascination as her mother stared down what had to be Santa Claus.
"Kagome . . ." he said, dropping the packages just as her mother flew into his arms.
"Where...?" she said, trying to talk through her tears.
"Shh, it's okay Kagome," he said, patting her back with one hand, and holding her to him with the other.
"I can't stay long. But, everything is almost over. I should be back by next year. I brought these though," he said, releasing her, and bending down to pick up the packages he'd dropped.
"This is for the pup," he said, handing her a bump package wrapped in gold, "And this one is for you." he said, referring to the green one.
Kagome took them, and smiled, "Promise you'll come back?"
"I promise." he said.
And then, the girl watched as her mother leaned over and captured Santa's lips with her own. They stayed like that for a few heartbeats, before breaking apart. She lifted his hand to her face, and cuddled his palm with her cheek, before placing another kiss on the tips of his fingers, like she often did to her daughter. He watched as she then walked back to her room before turning to smile at him. He smiled back, sadly, and went out the window.
He was just about to break into a run, when a little ball of silver and blue jumped in front of him.
"Santa!" she said excitedly. His eyes widened at the sight of her, almost his mirror image.
The girl gasped, too, because when the clouds moved and revealed the moon, she could see two perfectly triangular canine ears perched on his head.
"I told Mommy that Santa had dog ears!" she said happily, before looking serious.
"I'm here to tell you what I want for Christmas next year," she said in a whisper, motioning him down to her level.
He bent down and she whispered in one of his ears, "I want Mommy to be happy She always cries when she thinks I'm sleeping, and I know she misses Daddy. I've never met him, but she says he's coming back. I want you to make him come back next year."
Inu-Yasha didn't know whether to be sad or amused, but for the pup's sake, he put on a smile, and patted her head, "I'll see what I can do kid."
"And when you do," she said, grinning, "I won't tell him that you kissed Mommy."
He had to laugh at that, and it echoed through the forest and as he ran off into the night.
Kagome smiled, as she witnessed the scene from the still open window, as her daughter unknowingly watched her father run through the night. Her daughter didn't know it, but both of their Christmas wishes had come true that year already.
A/N: OH DEAR GOODNESS. Tell me I did NOT just write that. *hits herself on the head repeatedly* Well, I was feeling Christmas-y since it's Christmas Eve, and I'll be getting like, major giftage, and the anticipation let itself out while I was listening to "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"