Act Eleven

Six weeks and no sign of Shitsuren. Inuyasha didn't like this. It reminded him all too much of Naraku. He always disappeared for a while before popping up with some sinister plan.

Keeping an eye on Kagome as he stood watch, Inuyasha sniffed the air for potential danger. The only smell that he detected was the herbs Kagome was gathering and her rich scent.

It had been six weeks since Shitsuren's last 'visit', and four weeks since Kagome miscarried one of the pups. She had calmed down about the idea of having the pup since she had told Inuyasha about the idea of considering it his. Nonetheless, when they did speak about the baby, they addressed it as 'that pup', or 'that baby'. Miroku, Sango and Shippo, although aware that Kagome was pregnant, said nothing about it in the brief moments that they did talk.

Taking a moment from his pondering, Inuyasha stole a glace at Kagome, who was kneeling before a large garden of herbs. The late afternoon sun silhouetted her form, outlining the small bulge of her growing stomach. Her hair was kept in a neat ponytail, gathered at the nape of her neck, as she rooted around in the tangle of various plants, looking for the perfect herb. The red and white miko clothes complimented her gentle curves that were slowly starting to disappear with the new task of growing the baby.

He sighed as he looked to the sky, shifting his weight to one foot and sliding his hands up and inside his hoari. Night was fast approaching, and as the sun set, he shifted uncomfortably.

Kagome noticed the hanyou's unease and looked to him, his back facing her. He glanced back at her, and, although exchanging no words, she new he wanted to leave.

Giving him a small smile, she gathered up the rest of her herbs and placed them in the small hand basket she had brought along. Standing up, she walked up beside Inuyasha, slipping her hand into his.

"Its quite lovely, isn't it?" She whispered quietly.

Inuyasha swiveled his ears to hear her better. "Yea. Its been a while since we had a nice sunset. It's been so snowy lately, the clouds are always in."

Taking the first step, Inuyasha led Kagome back onto the trail that snaked through the forest named after he. The sunset was now obscured by the thick forest as the rocky trail progressed. For some reason, Inuyasha felt restless.

"Oh, wait…"

Feeling her pull at his hand, Inuyasha paused.

Kagome slowly started for the clearing. In the middle of it sat an old, rotting well. Her well. The one that led back to modern Japan. Kagome gasped slightly as she tore away from Inuyasha's grasp, making for the well. She caught the rim and peered over into the darkness, as though expecting to see her world, as you would looking through a telescope. Now, all she saw was a mass tangle of vines and darkness. A familiar stab of home sickness pierced her heart as she thought of Souta, Gramps, Mama, Yuka, Eri and the others she had left behind.

Feeling his aura touch hers, Kagome looked back at him.

"Even if I tried, I never would be able to go back. It was only through the power of the jewel that I managed to get back here."

Inuyasha shook his head as he approached her closer. Kneeling down, he wrapped his strong, protective arms around her, as though to shelter her from the pain she was experiencing.

His words were soft, and seemed to calm Kagome's sadness. "You don't regret coming back here, do you?"

Kagome's eyes blanked and she looked back into the well. "In some ways, I do. If I hadn't come back, Shitsuren wouldn't have raped me, and I wouldn't be pregnant. I didn't even get to say goodbye to Mama, or Souta, or any of my friends. And we've grown so distant from Miroku and Sango." She paused, thinking over her words. "But if I hadn't come back, I would have been without something I cannot survive without."

Inuyasha's eyes widened slightly as he held Kagome tighter. Slowly her eyes turned and met his. "I would have been without my soul mate, and that one reason outweighs the others by so much."

Inuyasha managed a faint smile before placing his lips upon Kagome's. Carefully his fingers reached up her neck and graced over the protruding scar on the back of her neck. Shitsuren's claim to her. She smiled as she sensed what he was thinking.

"Lets wait a little while longer. Until we can figure out what to do with the baby. I don't want any more stress right now."

Inuyasha nodded. He glanced back at the well one last time before standing, helping Kagome up. "So you don't even want to try to get back?"

Kagome shook her head. "No. I don't want to risk being split up from you."

Carefully the two took one another's hands and started for the woods again. But the ominous feeling that they were being watched still plagued Inuyasha.

Shitsuren smiled in a threatening manner, the newly risen moon reflecting off his white canines. His steel blue eyes shone brightly in the dim woods. His wolf tail wagged as he watched Kagome make her way back onto the main trail with the mutt. He could smell that she was mated with only one pup, but one was enough. That baka hanyou had only helped Shitsuren by allowing the weaker pup to die.

Unbeknownst to Inuyasha, his species always impregnated two pups. At birth, the weaker one was destroyed, therefore insuring the successfulness of his species.

Narrowing his eyes, he thought of how marvelously his plan was taking shape. The reason he liked Inuyasha's bitches was because they were strong in body and in mind. For the last fifty years, since the hanyou had disappeared and Kikyo died, he had gone out looking for other potential mates. All had been human, as very few female wolf demons like him lived in this region, and all he had killed shortly after birthing his pups. For after they had whelped the pups, the female humans were almost two week to move.

Too weak to whelp more pups. Too weak to produce strong pups. Out of the eight litters sired by he, only three pups he felt were strong enough to live.

Lifting his nose to the moon, he transformed into his truest form, a large wolf with saber-like fangs. Turning, he made his way back to his den.

Just as the waning March moon began to fill the sky, Inuyasha and Kagome arrived back at the hut. Making quick work of building a fire, Inuyasha settled himself down beside Kagome as she stirred a pot of soup.

"Why would he mate with a human?"

Inuyasha flicked his ears toward Kagome as he turned to look at her. "Wussat?"

Kagome held a far away look in her eyes as the fire reflected off her brown orbs. "Wouldn't the baby be a hanyou, like you?"

"Depends on when you…get pregnant."

She turned to look at him. "What does that mean?"

Sighing, Inuyasha stood and began to pace. "My Mother told me… when I was young, right before she died so I would understand." He paused, feeling uncomfortable. But…He looked at Kagome. As much as he hated to admit it, she was carrying a youkai's pup. It was her right to know.

"If its not a full moon or a new moon, then you wont get pregnant. If it's a full moon out, and you are…mated with, the pup will be full youkai. If it is a new moon out, the pup will be …"

He tapered off as Kagome turned to gaze at him with her seep, soulful eyes.

"It'll be hanyou, right?"

"Keh."

She knew he wasn't telling her everything. She pierced him with a look, and, upon receiving that look; a guilty expression crossed his features before he quickly blanked them.

"What else is there?" She said in a threatening manner, placing a hand over her slightly swollen stomach.

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose in anger at being caught. He looked towards the door as he spoke. "That only applies to full-blooded youkai."

Kagome tilted her head. "And what about hanyou?"

Turning back to look at her, he began to pace once more. "Does it matter? I'm never gonna sire a pup. I don't want it to experience what I had to growing up, nor do I want my mate to have to go through what my Mother went through…"

Kagome caught his swinging hand as he paced by again. Pulling him down to her level, she kissed his lips passionately.

Heat rushed to the pit of Inuyasha's stomach as his heart thundered in his ears. Never before had the two kissed as such before, and it was a new experience for him.

Kagome broke the kiss and looked deeply into his eyes. "I know what you think of yourself, and I think your one hundred percent wrong."

Inuyasha scowled. "How do you know? You haven't been told you're useless, worthless, nothing for your whole life, scowled and picked on by both human and youkai. Neither one nor the other. How do you know?! Stupid wench."

Kagome giggled. Inuyasha growled. "What's so funny?"

She looked back at him. "You've been so out of character lately, so kind and loving. Its nice to see you like your old, grumpy self again."

He turned away. "Keh."

Once again her face turned serious. "I think your looking at your hanyou heritage all wrong. Maybe, instead of thinking you're nothing, you could consider that you're everything. Your human blood allows you to love and be sensitive, and your youkai allows you to protect and be brave. Have you ever considered that?"

"Keh. That's stupid. What an awful idea." Standing up, he grabbed two bowls from the small water basin before dishing himself and Kagome some hot soup. Placing the bowl in front of her, he watched from across the fire as she played with her spoon.

"Well, it was just a theory."

Inuyasha ignored her comment as he sipped down the stew. He had never taken conversations about his heritage lightly, and now was no exception. However, it did make him feel better to know that Kagome didn't think of him as nothing.

"Do you remember what I was raped?"

Inuyasha looked up, a surprised expression flooding across his face. "Yea…How could I forget?"

Kagome nodded. "Well, it wasn't a new moon, or you would've been transformed. Because you transformed about two weeks after that…"

She looked up at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "Then, that means I'm carrying around a…little youkai?"

Inuyasha stared down at the fire, ignoring the cooling soup in the bowl. Heaving a sigh, he took the bowl and disposed of it in the water basin before walking over to Kagome. Taking one arm, he slipped it onto her side before pulling her to the floor with him, cradling her in his arms.

Kagome heaved a sigh. She was tired. Relaxing in his firm grip, she closed her eyes as his fingers kneaded her stomach through the fabric of her white blouse.

His voice was soft and soothing as he talked to her, the rumble in his chest from his voice was comforting. "Try not to think about it. There isn't a whole lot we can do now. We'll just have to play the cards that we got."

Kagome turned her head to look at him. She watched as his emotions played out in his eyes; like swirling, molten amber. He held her close to him, and her body seemed to fit against his perfectly, like they were made for one another. It was at that moment that Kagome realized how close they were. Her gaze wandered down to his lips. She felt the unmistakable brush of his hand against her scarred neck. How that scar bugged him so. And she knew it.

"I want to heal all your pain, Kagome. I really do. I want to get rid of this pup for you so bad…"

Her gaze was brought back up to his eyes. "Then… If you want to heal my pain…never leave me. Always stay by my side."

The hanyou nodded. "Kagome…I know you wanted to wait, but…I want to take you as my mate. Then I could always protect you."

"Haven't you already marked me once? I mean, after Shitsuren marked me the first time?"

Inuyasha nodded. "But that was in a blind rage. Now, I want your decision."

A smile played at her lips as she kissed him again. "Yes."

A/n: The idea of the New MoonHanyou Baby & Full MoonPure Demon Baby is the original idea of Sueric. I'm simply borrowing it for this fic's purposes because I cannot concoct an idea as simple and brilliant as well as logical as this one. But I twisted it a bit. In Sueric's version, on the new moon, the baby would be human. On the full moon, the baby would be hanyou. Any other time, and conception wouldn't occur.