Author's Note: I torture InuYasha in this chapter a bit. –huggles him- Sorry Inu! Arigatou, reviewers! I loff you all! –huggles reviewers- And a bit about Kikyou's in this chapter, gomen nasai Kikyou fans! . Need Japanese translations? size=1 width=100% noshade>"Do you mean 'It was after something?'" The former miko asked her husband as they all sat there in the hut, listening to InuYasha's suggestion. She held small Hanaharu, the young girl fallen asleep in her mother's arms during the time that her father had gone.

InuYasha sat there with his arms crossed, blinking as he looked at the floor. "Seriously, what reason would a demon have for coming here?" The hanyou looked up at Miroku, knowing that he had also asked him the question. "If me an' Miroku are protecting the village and have been for years, some petty demon isn't gonna just show up and try to attack because it wants to." The village had been peaceful for as long as Hanaharu was alive, not a single attack by demons had been engaged, and this made InuYasha weary to what was going on.

Sango just sat there for a moment, thinking about it. "Yes, it is strange that something like this would happen." She took another sip of the tea, not really wanting to get into the subject of demons at least until her baby was born.

"And besides," the houshi started, "they could be after the Shikon no Tama seeing that it's been gone ever since…" Miroku was cut off, almost slapped in the face by his wife and glared at by Kagome, as he was about to say it.

InuYasha just sat there with his arms crossed, glancing at the ground almost sadly. "It's fine, I'm not upset about it any more. That was over four years ago." The hanyou stood up, walking out of his friends' hut as he made his way towards the other side of the village.

Kagome scoffed, just holding her sleeping daughter and closed her eyes. "'It's fine,' my butt!"

The monk let out a sigh. "Gomen, Kagome-sama. It's my fault for bringing it up." He lowered his head, knowing that InuYasha would be in a depressed mood for as long as two days.

"Iie, Miroku-sama. InuYasha just can't help it. He was in love with Kikyou, I could never take her place, nor do I want to." Her eyes slit closed a bit as she looked down at Hanaharu.

Even though InuYasha and Kagome had a daughter, he still couldn't forget his past with Kikyou. After the death of Naraku and the Shikon no Tama being collected, InuYasha did use the jewel, but for something that no one expected. He asked it to let his lost love rest in peace, for Kikyou's rage to be relieved of her and to let him and Kagome be together for the rest of their lives.

InuYasha remembered it unmistakably, the day that Kikyou departed from the living world yet again. It had been the saddest moment of his life, bringing him close to tears.

"Kagome?"

"InuYasha? I suppose you're going to use it to become full demon?" The miko turned away, tears falling down her cheeks as she stood there, not wanting him to see. "Or maybe you want to…"

"Iie." He wrapped his arms around the miko, resting his head against her shoulder as he kissed her neck, almost causing her to jump. "Ai shiteru. I love you, and I want to be with you." He held the jewel in front of her, taking her hand and wrapping it around his hand holding the jewel. "I want for you, me, Sango and Miroku to live in peace, and I want Shippou to be happy, and Kikyou… I want her to rest in peace." He almost choked, tears welling in his eyes as he said this, moving away from Kagome.

The miko stood there in disbelief of what she had heard. He… didn't wish to become taiyoukai? That was what he intended to do with the jewel since when? How long had he been putting that charade for how long? How long had he loved her? When did he decide her over Kikyou?

A pink light poured from the completed jewel, showering the surrounding forest near the Go-Shinboku. It could be seen from miles around, even from the mountain known as Fuji, from the eyes of the great Sesshoumaru-sama, and the shores south of where Tokyo will, in the near future, stand. It almost blinded the young couple, causing InuYasha and Kagome to close their eyes as they stood there in the light under the sacred tree.

The two opened their palms, glancing at the still full jewel. "Shikon… no… Tama?" The hanyou and miko both watched as the jewel broke down into powder, a light wind blowing it away from their hands, both standing there in disbelief. InuYasha took a few steps back, knowing what this meant. Kikyou, wherever she was, had disintegrated as well.

The hanyou let out a sigh as he sulked into the small three-room hut. It was built much the same way as Miroku and Sango's had been yet it was younger than the other one, only about as long as their marriage. It also had a table and a fire pit, and a few modern things that Kagome had brought back from her time. There was a kettle and a small cabinet where InuYasha and Kagome kept food, along with a stack of blankets on the other side of the room and a few children's toys on the floor against the wall.

He sat down on one of the four mats surrounding the table, crossing his arms as he sat there. 'I thought I'd be over this by now… guess not, though I know it hurts Kagome as much as it does me.' He sat alone for a few moments before standing up and walking into the furthest back room of the hut, the dark air was only penetrated by a window that faced the south with a dark curtain of the color scarlet covering it. There was a mat in the middle of the room, obviously the couple's bed and even more blankets stacked up in here. Kagome had obviously thought ahead to the cold winters in the feudal era. There was also a chest filled with Kagome's clothes. Just because InuYasha only had one set of clothing didn't mean that Kagome had to.

He took the scabbard of his blade from his obi and set it down on the ground next to the mat, sitting there on the left side and closed his eyes. He still preferred to sleep sitting up rather than lying down, but there were still those nights…

"InuYasha?" Kagome stood in the doorway, a hand on the frame as she questioned him. Was it okay to talk to him so soon? Well, he was in THEIR room, not somewhere private, such as a tree or the roof.

He looked up to Kagome, not sure if he should say something or stay quiet. "What is it, haiguusha?"

The young woman came in, sitting down behind him and wrapping her arms around InuYasha trying to console him. "I know how you felt about her, but I can help you forget… at least for now."

She started rubbing one of his ears, a subdued smile coming onto the dog's face. He knew what it meant, he knew what she wanted. InuYasha turned back towards his mate, placing a soft kiss on her lips as he turned fully towards her, pushing Kagome back on the bed when…

"Daddy!"

When the call came from the other room, InuYasha sat up, both of his hands holding Kagome's arms so that she was firm against the bed. He sat up and away from his bride, knowing that he couldn't leave young Hanaharu alone. It seemed that he had more parental instinct than Kagome.

"She'll be fine, InuYasha." The miko sat up the best she could, aiming for his lips when all she got was a cheek.

The hanyou stood up, leaving the room and his mate alone in the dark. He went to the next room, lifting the tarp as to look in at his daughter sitting up on her little mat with her fists in front of her eyes and tears.

"Daijoubu desu ka? Aka-chan?" He asked, sitting down next to the mat and pulling her into his open arms against his chest.

"Warui yume ga aru." The small girl sniffled, clinging to his fire-rat kimono. "It was scary, Daddy." She opened her golden eyes, looking up to InuYasha with teary eyes.

"I'll be okay." He assured her, blinking slowly and putting a hand on the back of her hair. "Can you tell me what happened in your dream?"

The small girl moved away slightly from her father, she had had bad dreams before, but this one seemed to scare her even more. "There was a giant white demon with lotsa fur. It looked like a big doggy and had stripes on its face." She knew that she was partially dog demon, and that it was her father who had demon blood, even if she didn't fully understand.

The hanyou slowly blinked, looking down at her. She had never seen a taiyoukai dog, how did she know what Sesshoumaru looked like in his youkai form? And her great grandfather? He had never even told her she had an uncle, keeping it secret from her, Miroku and Sango keeping quiet about it, too. He had his reasons, she knew about an uncle she would want to meet him, and meeting Sesshoumaru… he could only imagine what a disaster it would be.

"Daijoubu." He patted the back of his daughter's head and tried to smile the best her could. Her seeing dog demons in her dreams were not good omens. "Go to sleep and I'll take you to see Kuma in the morning." He kissed the small girl on the forehead, giving her a hug and tucking her into bed. "Kanmu."

InuYasha left the room, making his way back to where he had left Kagome. He sat down into bed, seeing that the Kagome was already under the covers. He leant over, about to kiss her when he had seen she had already fallen asleep. She had figured he would spend half the night speaking with his daughter; when, in fact, he had cut it short to spend time with Kagome. Letting out a sigh, the hanyou gave his mate a kiss on the cheek and rolled back over onto his side, a cloud of darkness sweeping over him as he fell to sleep.

Author's note: Yeah… Kikyou's not in this fic much, just a distant memory. And yes, I do have plans for Sesshoumaru-sama later on. Poor InuYasha. X3 –huggles him-