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Chapter Eight - Kagome's the Greatest

"So, Sango, have you and Miroku considered any names for the baby?" Kagome asked as they sat beside the river.

Her friend nodded. "If it's a boy he'll be named Daiho."

"And if it's a girl?" Kagome pressed when she fell silent.

"Do you really have to ask, Kagome-chan?"

A confused look crossed her face as her mind whirled with possible names her friends could have chosen. All the while Sango stared unwaveringly at her, making the young woman somewhat uncomfortable under the intensity. Then, the pieces all clicked together and Kagome gasped, whether in shock or delight she had no idea. Probably both.

"You can't mean."

"Of course, we do."

"Why in the world would you want to name a child after me?"

The former taijiya looked genuinely perplexed. "Why in the world wouldn't we? Kagome-chan, you are one of the most wonderful people I've ever known. You're courageous, smart, generous, kind, a wonderful friend.Do I really need to continue on? You are the greatest friend we've ever had. Why wouldn't we name a daughter after you?"

Tears were in Kagome's eyes as she bowed her head. "I am honored, Sango-sama."

"Besides," her friend said with a teasing smile. "We couldn't really think of anything else."

The young miko gasped in feigned outrage and splashed her companion before they both began giggling like they were still teenagers.

* * *

Hidden from view, perched on the branch of a tree across the river, Inuyasha watched the two women. His keen ears had picked up their conversation and he couldn't help smiling. How could Kagome expect anything less? Still, when Sango ended her list of Kagome's virtues, it was a force of will to keep himself from shouting at the woman for being so dumb because that wasn't even close to half of how wonderful Kagome was. The sound of her laughter floating across the water was music to his dog-like ears. The battle between his will and his mouth waged, his will being on the losing end, he was about to jump out of the tree and beginning spouting off the incredibly LONG list of virtues that made up Kagome when the two women picked themselves up and headed back towards the village. With her out of sight his mouth lost the motivation to fight and his will took over before he could make a mockery of himself. The hanyou slumped on the branch and breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close," he mumbled.

It wasn't that he didn't want her to know how he felt. Inuyasha had every intention of doing just that. He just wanted to find the right time, the right place, and the right way to say it. He couldn't just go spouting things off of the top of his head. If he allowed that to happen then he'd end up getting it all wrong and send her running for the hills - or actually, the well - and never come back. That was something he most definitely didn't want to happen. The past year without her had been bad enough. He realized that now that she was back. There was no way in hell he could spend the rest of his life like that. He'd rather turn back time and just let Naraku keep the damned Shikon then let that happen. Inuyasha shook his head. Scratch that, it would just piss her off. Okay, he'd rather Naraku had killed him them let that happen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shayril: Okay, guys, so that one was kinda sweet. If only that boy would grow a little backbone. Don't worry .... Smiles reassuringly .... He will, .at SOME point in the future. I'm not exactly sure when though. Also, another old "friend" will be popping his head up some time soon. And that's all I'm going to tell you about it ... Crosses arms over chest, stubborn look crosses face .... No! I will not tell you. You'll just have to suffer until that time. Wow, this one is a little bit longer than the last. Maybe I'm getting better. What? No! I'm not going to spoil it. I was just trying to make you sweat a little. I see it worked .... Waves hand dismissively ..... Well, go do something while I write. If you sit here dilly dallying you'll never find out...