Disclaimer: You know the deal. Taro's mine but everyone else is not…

The Aftermath

Kagome sat under the Goshinboku tree fingering the whole Shikon no Tama she wore around her neck. She still had to give it to Inuyasha as she had said she would. She sighed. She still didn't really know whether Inuyasha would use the jewel to become a human or a full youkai. It was his choice and she would just have to wait and see. Kagome sat at the God tree this day because this was where Kouga was buried. It was the one place that she could visit no matter what time she was in.

The rest of the group was still recovering inside Kaede's hut. While she was alone, Kagome had taken the time to bury her husband and retrieve the whole Shikon no Tama. Kagome stood up and walked back to the village to check on her friends. When she got there the first one she saw was Miroku sitting outside the hut. He was leaning against the outer wall and fingering the prayer beads on his hand. He looked up and waved for her to join him.

"Hello Kagome-sama. How are you feeling today?" Miroku looked down again at his cursed hand and removed the beads. "I guess we won."

"Hai Miroku. I can't believe Taro was the one to defeat Naraku. He's just a little boy." Kagome took a seat on the ground next to Miroku.

"It was Taro? I can't believe that either. Tell me what happened after I lost consciousness." Miroku stared at his bare hand. There was nothing left of the Kazaana.

"Well I'll give you the summary. Naraku knocked out Inuyasha and Kouga with some miasma. Then he killed Kohaku and attacked Sango and I. I tried to use my arrows but they were deflected by Taro's barrier. Then Taro got control of his body and killed Kanna. Then I was knocked out and when I woke up Kouga was fighting Naraku. Taro and I put you all on Kirara and watched the fight from above. Taro fell off of Kirara and I threw Tetsusaiga down to protect him. Then Naraku killed Kouga and a huge white light came from Taro and killed Naraku."

"Hmm I missed a lot. It surprising that Taro is coming into his powers already. I know it must be hard to lose someone you love. I should probably go talk to Sango. She's going to be heartbroken about losing Kohaku…again."

"Tell Sango that I already took his body to her village. I buried him for her. I think I'm going to check on Inuyasha and Taro." Kagome said as the monk stood to leave.

"Speaking of Inuyasha, what are you going to do with the Shikon no Tama?" He inquired hesitantly.

"I'm going to give it Inuyasha. That's what I was going to do all along. I just hope he won't use it to become a full youkai." Kagome stood and disappeared inside Kaede's home.

Miroku found Sango sitting on a hill near the village. She had Kirara in her lap and was petting the neko youkai. Miroku walked up to her. "May I sit down?"

Sango looked up at Miroku and smiled. "Oh, Houshi-sama. I didn't see you. Hai. I could use the company."

Miroku sat down next to her. "You don't have to call me that anymore. You can call me by my name. After all, you promised to marry me." He gave her one of his lecherous smiles.

Sango turned her head to hide her blush. "Hai…Miroku."

Miroku put his hand over Sango's and squeezed it gently. "I don't want you to be sad. Kagome said she buried Kohaku's body in your village. If you want, we could go there."

"I would like that. I was so worried you were dead. I'm glad you're ok." Sango looked into his eyes and smiled. She had always loved his eyes.

"I wouldn't leave you alone. You promised to bear my child." Miroku smiled again as his hand slipped behind Sango to her rear. "Want to start now?"

He braced himself and waited for the smack that never came. He opened his eyes and saw Sango's face was a deep red. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. "Why rush things? We have lots of time now that your curse is gone." She took his once cursed hand in her hands and kissed his palm. "Come, let's go to my village."

Miroku was in heaven. "Hai." He stood up and followed Sango as they walked towards her village. As they were leaving, Shippo hopped in front of them with Taro in tow.

"Where are you guys going?" asked Shippo as he bounced up to Miroku's shoulder.

"Sango has promised to bear me twenty children so we are going to get started. Don't follow us. We will be back soon." He patted Shippo on the head and put him down next to Taro.

Shippo and Taro watched at Kirara transformed into her huge youkai form and Sango and Miroku got on her back. They waved goodbye and flew away. Before they were out of sight, Sango turned around and yelled, "Tell Kagome and Inuyasha we'll be back an a bit."

Earlier Inside the Hut

Kagome found Inuyasha sleeping on a futon in the back of the hut with Taro and Shippo curled up next to him. It had been a week since the fight with Naraku. Taro was still exhausted from all the energy he had used. He wasn't able to recover as soon as a trained miko could, but was doing remarkably well for what he had been through. Inuyasha hadn't woken since the fight. Kagome sat down quietly next to the futon. Shippo wasn't really sleeping so he shot into Kagome's lap.

"Kagome! Where have you been?" Shippo tried to keep his voice down but he was excited that Kagome was back. "I missed you."

"I missed you too Shippo. I had some things to do. I'm finished now so we can spend time together." Kagome didn't need to tell him what 'things' she had done. He was too small to have to hear those things.

"Well, I was worried when you weren't here." Shippo cuddled into Kagome's lap and rubbed his face on her stomach.

"Why don't you go see if Kaede needs help? I want to wake Taro and I will send him out when I'm done talking to him, ok?"

Shippo bounced out of her lap. "Hai. Ja." He skipped outside to find Kaede.

Kagome turned her attention to the sleeping hanyous in front of her. She reached over Inuyasha and lightly shook Taro's shoulder. Taro moved slightly and sat up. He crawled over Inuyasha and settled on his mother's lap.

"Mommy, where's daddy?" Taro asked quietly. Kagome face had a far away look to it. She wrapped her arms around him and sighed.

"He's gone to a better place. We can visit his grave later." She felt tears coming to her eyes. She didn't try to hold them back. She just held Taro and cried.

"Mommy don't cry. You still have your friends and me. Can we stay here?" Taro reached his little hand up to his mother's face and wiped away her tears.

"I don't know. I want you to grow up aware of your wolf culture. And I don't want to leave my friends, but this isn't my home." She wiped away the rest of her tears.

"But what about Inuyasha?" Taro whimpered.

"What about me?" Inuyasha sat up cradling his head.

"You could protect mommy and me, and then we could stay here." Taro jumped on Inuyasha's lap.

"Ooof. Easy there kid, I'm still not feeling the best." Inuyasha muttered as he rubbed his head.

"Taro, go play with Shippo. I need to speak with Inuyasha." Kagome told her son. Taro nodded his head and left to find his playmate.

Inuyasha waited for Taro to be out of range before he spoke. "What happened to me? How long have I been sleeping?"

"You were knocked out during the fight with Naraku. You've been asleep for a week."

"Naraku's dead then?"

"Taro killed him."

"Where's the wimpy wolf?"

Kagome froze. She felt the tears coming back. She put her face in her hand and began to sob. Inuyasha panicked. He hated it when she cried. He patted her shoulder. "Oi, Kagome stop crying. Gomen. Uh…don't cry."

"He's dead. Naraku killed him." 'I feel so dumb. I'm here crying…and in front of Inuyasha, no less. I need to go home to the rest of my family'

Then Kagome felt a clawed hand on her face wiping away her tears. She unintentionally leaned into the caress. She looked up at Inuyasha and threw herself into his embrace.

"Gomen. Why don't you and Taro stay here for a while?" Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her.

"Inuyasha." Kagome could tell he was sniffing her. 'Did he just sniff me? Are his hands getting lower?' "Inuyasha stop!"

"What? I wasn't doing anything. Feh. You're paranoid." He let go of her and moved to stand up.

"You just sniffed me. That was doing something."

"So? You smell good." He turned away from her. "Are you going to leave me again?"

"Inuyasha." She stood next to him. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"Say you'll stay with me."

"I can't" Kagome moved past him to exit. She was going to find Taro. They had to leave. 'I have to get out of here. What's wrong with Inuyasha? He knows I would never think of betraying Kouga.'

Inuyasha chased after her. He caught up with her just outside the hut and grabbed her arm. "Why are you running away from me?"

"All I ever was to you was a tama detector. Then you tell me you love me after you already pushed me away. What do you expect me to just say 'I love you' and forget that my husband is dead? He died protecting us. It's only been a week, you know." She pulled her arm free of his grasp and hurried away.

"Wait. I'm not done. Just stop! I want to say something." Inuyasha followed her. "You stupid bitch! I said stop."

"SIT!"

WHAM

"What was that for?" Inuyasha yelled from his prone position

"I'm taking Taro home. We don't belong here anymore."

"What about the Jewel?" Inuyasha asked as he staggered to his feet.

"You want it? You can have it. I don't care if you become a full youkai or human. I just want to live with Taro and be happy." Kagome took off the necklace that held the Shikon no Tama and threw it at his feet.

Inuyasha picked up the necklace. "I don't want this. I want you and Taro to stay here. I'll protect you." He moved forward and grabbed her arm again. He pulled her towards him so she that was facing him. Their faces were so close she could feel his feathery breath on her face.

"Mommy? Where are you going?" Both Kagome and Inuyasha looked down at the little wolf hanyou who had latched onto the hem of Kagome's kimono.

"We're going home. Come on" Kagome grabbed Taro's hand but he didn't move.

"Nooo mommy. I want to stay here. I like having Shippo to play with and Inuyasha can protect us. You do like him right?" He pulled his arm free of his mother's grip and hid behind Inuyasha's leg.

"We don't belong here. Don't you want to return to the future?"

Taro shook his head. "I want to stay here. Please?"

"Fine, we'll stay. BUT only for a little while" Kagome looked away from both Taro and Inuyasha. Taro squealed with joy and hugged his mother's leg.

"Arigatu mommy. Now I can stay and play with Shippo and Inuyasha. He said he'd teach me kendo!"

"Taro have you seen Sango and Miroku?" Kagome attempted to change the subject.

"The monk said something about Sango promising to bear him twenty children so he said they need lots of alone time to start. What does that mean?" Taro told her innocently.

Kagome looked away with a huge blush on her face. "I'll tell you when you're older. Go play. I need to speak with Inuyasha."

"Ok Ja."

Inuyasha walked up to Kagome. "So you're staying with me?"

"Hai. Don't get any ideas. I may be a widow but Taro doesn't need to be confused."

"Confused? He thinks I'm his playmate."

Kagome turned to look at Inuyasha. "What are you going to do with the jewel?"

"Give it back." Inuyasha reached his hand out to Kagome and handed her the necklace. "I don't want to be human and I don't want to be a full youkai. I want to be just me. Anyway you said once you liked me for me." Inuyasha turned and walked back to the village.

Kagome watched as he left. She put the jewel back around her neck and ran to catch up with him. When they were side by side she grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers. Inuyasha blushed and looked down at their hands.

Before he could say anything Kagome answered his unasked question. "I just lost my mate a week ago. You know I love you. If we were meant to be together then we should take it slow." They walked back to the village hand in hand.

A/N: My beta reader fell off the face of the planet. It's okay because this has been proof read before. Also this is the second to last chapter. I will be posting the last chapter on or before Christmas. I also made a forum for this story so I can respond to you guys. Sorry for the huge wait. http/