"What?! Inume, in your footsteps? Your mantle is too heavy for her shoulders! Oh, InuYasha, why didn't you tell me before? Why didn't you tell me she may have escaped?" Kagome cried as InuYasha finished the story.
"How did she escape, father?" Inume asked.
"Because..." InuYasha paused. "...because this isn't the whole jewel. There is still one piece missing. The tiniest and strongest shard of all; the one that belongs in the exact center of the jewel. Without it, the jewel still has powers, but not enough. Soon I will not be full dog-demon anymore. It may even drain that away, so I will be only human. I fear for my life. You see, when I banished Katara, the last shard was near her, and I didn't realize it. Now, she has found it. And she's coming back."
"I will find her, father! I will destroy her!" Inume pronounced.
"I'm sorry, Inume. I'm proud of you. You're a fine girl. But you just aren't strong enough to fight someone like your mother, let alone a full-freakin-demon!!" InuYasha told his daughter.
"Inu?" Kagome said. "Maybe there is hope. I have news for you. I'm going to have another baby."
InuYasha went white as a sheet. "Really?" he asked in a strangled voice. "Oh, dear."
After recieving a scalding look from his wife, he added;
"That's wonderful!! But...it will be very hard to protect another child. What if he/she is even weaker than Inume?! I could defeat most small animal-demons by the age of 5. But not every child we have will be that strong! With Katara on the loose, I fear for our children's safety!!"
"Father, I will help you to defend our family," Inume decided.
"I'm sure you will, Inume. You'll be so helpful. You might actually not get in my way!" InuYasha said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
Inume scowled and stormed away.
"Inu, perhaps you were too harsh on her," Kagome said to her husband. "She's just a girl, and she's not as brave and stong as you are. You need to cut her a little slack."
"You think I'm being HARD ON HER???!!! At her age, I was defeating panther-demons and battling with dragons!! It's not MY fault she's a weakling!" Inuyasha shouted.
"Oh, are you saying it's MY fault she's weak?" Kagome screeched back at him.
"YES!! It is YOUR fault! She's even worse than a hanyou!! She's, she's a...a....a HALF-hanyou!!" Inuyasha responded. His temper was overloading.
"Well, I contributed a few things. At least she's SMART and NICE!!!" Kagome retorted.
Inume came back in.
"Father, mother, please stop shouting! Are you angry about me?" the girl asked.
"I'm sorry, Inume," Inuyasha apologized (a/nI know it's out of character for him lol). "It wasn't nice of me to say those things."
Inume nodded. "It wasn't nice. You're right. But they're true. I'm nothing but a weakling. I could never measure up to you, father. Maybe the new baby will be stonger. Then they can protect us all from the evil Katara. But from now on, I will train harder than ever"
Inume leaned close to her father and whispered in his ear, "Father, there's nothing I want more than to be like you. You're the best father in the world!"
Inuyasha hugged his daughter and said, "I know you can be as good as me. I trust you. I know you can be strong!"
Inume smiled joyfully.