"Kagome?" Inu-Yasha's voice was soft and uncertain.

"What?"

"What… did you decide about me?"

"About you?" Caught up in her consideration of where her baby would live, Kagome didn't really catch the meaning of the question. "What do you mean?"

Inu-Yasha's ears drooped. "About us?" he whispered.

"Ohhhh, that!" Her hand twitched, dismissing them. "I've been trying to explain to my family what happened, and then finding a doctor to confirm what you told me. I haven't given the us part of the equation any thought yet. I haven't had time!" She grabbed at him when he whirled away. "You stay put and listen to me, Inu-Yasha!

"I haven't had the time to do anything except confirm that you were right and that I am pregnant. Right now, all I know is that I have to do what is best for my baby, and that means staying here." His ears were flat against his head, his body trembling. She slipped from the bed, wrapping her arms around his waist and putting her head against his shoulder. "Inu-Yasha, I don't know what to think. I don't know what to do. I love you, but my family and my life are here! Your life and your family are in the past."

She hugged him, tugged at him until he turned to face her. "I have a lot to think about. A lot of what's and if's and and's to wonder about. Like what happens when the Jewel is restored? Am I going to be sent back to my time as suddenly as I was pulled into yours? Are we going to be separated even if I don't want us to be?

"Would it be possible to keep living in two times? I have so many problems doing that now, I don't know if I could. Or can I only live in one time? Will I have to decide between everything I know, everyone I love, all my friends, and all my family…" she looked up at him, cupping his face in her hands, "and you? I love you, I need you… and I'm scared and I don't know what to do."

In a way, he understood, but it didn't make her vague answer any less painful. Especially since she'd made such a dismissive motion before explaining. He slipped his arms around her, burying his nose in her hair, and thought about it. "I'll go now." He pulled away, looking at her sorrowfully. "You love me… but I understood you well enough. We can't be together, can we? Not as mates should be. There's too much keeping us apart, and too much chance of us not being able to stay together even if you really wanted it."

"Inu-Yasha? I didn't say that." Kagome grabbed for his wrist as he started to turn away.

"You didn't need to say it." His ears flattened against his head again. His voice was steady, and he refused to look at her. "The only way you would stay in my time is if our baby has obvious signs that it's not human. And even then, hanyous don't need their mothers as long as human babies. You'll leave us both behind, for your own life, your own time, and your schoolwork. And when the Jewel is restored, we'll never see you again."

Her hand left his wrist, and he knew from the sounds that she was pressing it to her mouth, the hiccupping noise a sure indication she was about to cry. "I'll go home now, and tell Kaede that you'll be back when it's time for the baby to come. Everything you'll need will be ready for you when it's time."

He bounded out the window, racing for the well house. He could hear her, calling after him, but was on the lip of the well when she finally called "Sit!" The necklace pulled him into the well, and he vanished into his own time.

"Inu-Yasha!" Her call did no good, Kagome had seen him enter the well house. Probably he'd already been gone by the time she'd tried to stop him. She settled onto her bed. "Does he really think I'd abandon my baby?" The question turned out to be the center around which she began making her decisions.

H. Muse: Hi there! There won't be any more of the fuss and bother of decision making. I just thought I'd let you know that Inu-Yasha has gone back to his time to prepare a place for his little family, and that Kagome is doing a lot of soul-searching. The next chapter will take place a few hours after the baby is born… I hate thinking about trying to write a birth scene, so I decided to skip it.

Jewel: Huh. That's because he accidentally read Muse's birth scene for Chizzari-Raditz, while he was asking me how to make it as close to an actual birth as possible, as I have actual experience with that and he doesn't.

H. Muse: pales Oh, please don't remind me!

Jewel: takes pity on him How about you go see about conceiving Trunks? Certain people want to know how Vegeta managed that.

H. Muse: Ah, okay! runs off

Jewel: grins See you all in 9 virtual months!