A/N: Man I'm tired. I worked 13 hours today and came home completely wiped. Then, instead of going ot bed like any smart girl would do, I watched Hot Shots, and worked on this chapter. It's still not what I wanted it to be. And it seems a little forced to me, but I decided that a good update now is better than a great update in another 2 weeks. Anyway, this is going on too long, sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. I do own the characters that are not originally in the manga.

Bloodshot eyes blinked; or rather they would have if they had the energy. Instead the reddened orbs closed slowly, rested, and faced reality once again by opening painfully. The hanyou heaved a breath that could have been mistaken for a sigh, and was actually intended to be a sigh, but lost motivation halfway through.

The beating of his heart, the beeping of the monitor reading Kagome's own, the respirator, the voice on the PA. . They had all combined into a rhythm; a pulsing, throbbing, monotony that was driving him mad. The clock had added it's own chorus to the fray, until he shredded it days ago. It had been so arrogant, triumphantly ticking away time. Like it was proud of each second it stole from him, from her life. The nurse had come into the room only moments after his little tantrum, and had wisely said nothing about the 8-inch hole in the wall.

At first he had growled at every one of them, ever protective of his mate. He didn't like all the traffic, all the different smells. It set off his instinctive nature like no other, and soon the only nurse brave enough to enter the room was the neko. He still greeted even her with hostility for the first week, now he barely even acknowledged her presence.

InuYasha looked up as she entered again, looked back down at the hand he was holding, and moved his feet out of the way as she hovered around the bed, checking readings, I.V. bags, and dosages. He could do it himself, and quite often did, just to pass the time. What time was it? It didn't really matter, and he didn't really care. There was no time down here. Night or day, day or night, they all passed by just as slowly as the last. But he had to know.

"What time is it?" His voice was so pitiful it made her tired. Kami, when was the last time he had slept. Or eaten for that matter. She checked her watch.

"3am. When is Higurashi-sama coming to visit?" She knew his mother tried at least three times a day to get him to go to bed, eat some food, take a shower.

"In a few more hours."

She nodded, knowing the conversation was over, and left. After the door closed behind her the symphony returned, and he sighed wholeheartedly this time. Rubbing a rough hand over his numb face he rested his head on the mattress, his cheek brushing her fingers. What was happening to her?

Her skin is cherry red, not the bloodless pale that it was before. She was sunburned, but how? She had a fever so high that shivers wracked her body. Her feet were covered with angry blisters, red and open and seeping. Her lips were cracked, dry and bleeding though he had often tenderly rubbed an ointment onto them, and she was so dehydrated. They were pumping her full of fluids until they were in danger of giving her pneumonia, yet her electrolytes were still so low. Nobody could discover what was ailing the poor woman, and most thought she wouldn't last another 2 weeks. He wanted so badly to gather her in his arms, to brush her hair away from her face, but he was afraid to hurt her, she looked to be in enough pain already. He could barely watch as they dressed the wounds on her feet.

He had thought of asking Sesshoumaru for the Shikon no Tama back. It had been given to him when Kagome's time drew near, as safekeeping, and it allowed him to travel through the Bone Eater's Well. InuYasha had been wary of leaving it in his half brother's care, but Kagome won that 'discussion' as well. There was none stronger than Sesshoumaru, unless of course it be her husband. The hanyou had "Keh'd" appropriately and tossed it to the demon lord, who was currently glaring at the moon, and caught it with one deft movement of his right arm.

With Naraku dead, no lesser youkai posed a real threat to the jewel, and most of the titans and ancients were either extinct or uninterested in the power of the jewel of four souls. But, InuYasha didn't know what would happen if he gave Kagome the now completed sphere, and if Sesshoumaru brought it, how would he return to the feudal era. And if InuYasha met Sesshoumaru in the feudal era and simply brought the jewel back, that would mean leaving Kagome. He hadn't done it yet and he didn't plan to.

How long had he stayed by her side? He lifted his head long enough to count the scratches on the arm of his chair. Ahh yes. . Weariness set back in and he laid his head down mere inches from her hand. Twenty-four days. .

"It's been almost a month Kagome. Haven't you slept long enough yet? You're supposed to be taking care of your new family, not the other way around. Speaking of which," his breath warmed her fingers, "our son is growing. He's gained 2 ½ pounds and 3 inches already. Oh and he's making noises. Well besides the crying I mean. When people talk to him he just stares at their lips. . Like he's trying to learn the trick. His face twists and his mouth moves and he squeaks. Just squeaks. But he's so proud of himself when he does it you can't help but laugh. He's laughing too. Next time I see him I'll record it for you." He chuckled. "It's adorable."

"He really misses you. He knows there's something missing Kagome. We all do. You can come back to us. I know you can. You're strong enough now. You've been sleeping long enough. Kagome. ." His eyes drifted closed as his breathing slowed to match her own. Behind closed lids images flashed through his mind. Kagome laughing with Shippo on her lap; her hair blowing in the wind as she stood poised with her bow and arrow; crying over his slumped form when Menomaru forced her to shoot him with one of her own arrows. These visions haunted him. InuYasha conjured up more images; more comforting ones.

Kagome lay with her head in his lap, her fingers forming a web of protection over their unborn child. They sat at the crest of their favorite hill. The one that seemed to drop away before them, leaving nothing to hinder their view of the stars. His talons expertly skimmed through his wife's hair, allowing the silkiness of it to flow between his fingers like liquid. He stilled his hands as he felt and heard Kagome sigh and shift her weight.

"Kagome?"

"Hmmm?" The voice was sleepy. One corner of his mouth lifted in a sort of smirk, allowing a fang to peek out. He knew that if he didn't get her to bed soon, he would be carrying her there.

"Are you ok?" She was less and less able to sit or lay in one position for a prolonged period of time. The baby was becoming cumbersome.

"My back is a little sore, and Naomi seems restless today." She smiled to herself, knowing that would get his attention.

"Naomi! Naomi isn't a very good name for a boy."

Kagome chuckled, wincing slightly as her taut stomach refused to move. "That's because Naomi isn't a boy, koi."

InuYasha grunted. "He'd better be. No daughter of mine is going to wear all the clothes I picked out for Daiki."

"Who's Daiki?"

"The pup silly!"

Silence. . ."We never talked about that name." Her fingers absently stroked the child's hiding place.

"No, but I like it." He wanted her to like this name.

"Why?" She wasn't questioning the name, he'd just never shown this much interest in any given one.

"It stands for the beginning."

"Yash, Daiki means great tree. . ."

"Exactly, which is where all of this began." He said no more on it, leaving her to her own thoughts. Several minutes passed and the moon began to rise. If his hearing hadn't been so acute, he would have thought she had fallen asleep.

"I really think this one's a girl."

"Well, after Naomi is born, we'll just have to give her a little brother, and we can name him Daiki." He announced, though he knew the child was a boy. He could scent him.

InuYasha couldn't bring himself to remember what happened next, the memory soon joining with a thousand others that crashed and merged, forming dreams that tumbled through his tired mind. He slept.

Izumi entered the room, still blinking away the remnants of her sleep. "I could have used about 4 more hours of that." she thought to herself as she looked around the room. A smile lifted one corner of her mouth as she saw the still gaping hole in the wall where that self-righteous clock had been. Then she caught sight of her children.

InuYasha was dead to the world. Not even his ears moved at her sound. She had never seen her son-in-law this tired. It was difficult to tell how he was handling this. The fact that he hadn't killed the entire staff was a positive sign, but she was worried about him. Sighing, she laid a hand on his shoulder and shook him very gently. When he stirred she spoke softly.

"Son, go to your room and get some real sleep. Eat some ramen; take a bath. You'll feel better afterwards."

"I'm ok mom.." the hanyou stretched slowly. "I fell asleep?"

"Yeah, but you need more." He opened his mouth to protest once again. "And don't tell me you're fine, I've heard that one already. If you can't stand up straight and can't form a coherent thought how are you going to take care of my grandson while his mother is resting?"

"Resting? Is that what this is? Keh. Could've fooled me. Lazy wench is probably laughing to herself as we speak."

"I have never allowed you to speak to my daughter in that tone while in my presence and I do not intend to start now InuYasha. She can hear you."

"I know she can. I just don't think I can stand anymore. Three and a half weeks mom, and no change yet. Not even a finger wiggle, or an eyebrow crease. I'd take a dozen osuwari's over this. In a heartbeat."

"InuYasha, she'll know when she's ready to wake up. In the meantime, you have family here to support you and your son. Go to sleep. Souta will be here soon and he will sit with me. Your brother also promised to visit today. He's been pretty good about not threatening us while you are gone."

InuYasha shook his head. "I still can't believe he's been here so often asking about her. If I didn't know any better I'd think he actually cared what happened to Kagome." He snorted. "Now there's a sure sign I'm sleep deprived."

"Who knows InuYasha? He hasn't done any harm, so I'm not going to judge him based on what you and Kagome used to tell me about him. He seems different."

"I just wish I knew what he was up to." This statement ended on a huge yawn that Izumi could have called cat-like, but decided against it. The boy was never too tired for an argument, but she was.

"You can worry about it later. Right now you need to go to bed. One of us will come and get you if there is any change." He had already started on a really pitiful "But mom" when she gave him a helping hand that felt a lot closer to a firm shove. "Go!"

InuYasha looked from his wife, to his mother-in-law, both of which he had learned to fear and obey at times. This was definitely one of those times. He sighed and plodded out the door, keeping his knees from buckling by sheer will power. He actually had to have one of the staff lead him to his rooms, since he had only been there two other times in the last month.

When he finally arrived, he couldn't believe how exhausted he was. He loosened his fire-rat haori and let it fall to the floor in a heap at the foot of the bed before falling face first into the soft mattress. He wasn't asleep before his head hit the pillow, but he certainly didn't remember doing it.

Kagome wandered the desert with one goal. Find the owner of the voice that was pulling at her, and kill it. Well, maybe she should survive too. Yes, Kagome wandered the desert with two goals. Kill and survive. And bathe.

Her chocolate eyes searched wearily for shade, shelter, anywhere. The sun had been up four hours now, the time for travel long since passed, the angry orb in the sky beat down relentlessly on the young woman, baking her in an oven of sand. She had been wandering for days and days. She counted them at first, then lost track after fourteen, or was it sixteen? The desert stretched on as far as the eye could see.

She needed rest. But the miko couldn't just fall over and let sleep claim her, though every muscle and joint in her body cried out for it. She felt as if the sand that was killing her was inside her now. When had she last found water? Why had she left it? All she knew was that she was following a voice, and when she found its owner, she was going to kill it. Him. Her. Whomever.

Then she was going to drink a lake, and then find another lake and take a bath in it for a week. She was so weak. She had stopped sweating so long ago yet she was still alive. Like the hive buzzing in her head. She wished they would stop that. It was getting hard to count sand dunes with all that racket. This was torture. She had begun to despair days ago, and consequently cried bitterly as she woke one cold evening. Now she could kick herself for the waste of precious moisture.

Kagome gave up on counting sand dunes and simply counted footsteps. Every time a heavy foot hit the ground in front of her she counted it, and concentrated on lifting her back leg to place the next foot somewhere near the last one. She usually got it right, and even managed to put them in front of each other, though at times she staggered sideways in an attempt to keep her balance. It was taking her hours just to climb one dune, and hours still to get down the other side.

She was no doctor, but she knew she had been without food and water for far too long to actually survive this. Something was keeping her alive, tormenting and trying to defeat her. Once, she had fallen down, her side crashing into the unforgiving sand. She resigned herself to a lonely scorching death, and waited. And waited. An entire day passed and she was no less alive than when the sun had been on the other side of the sky. Finally resigned to the fact that the only way to end this was to finish it, she struggled to a crawling position, and resumed her upward climb.

She had long ago quit using her voice. It sounded as if she had gargled the sand carried by the wind, which whipped her in the face and legs, stinging horribly. Her feet hurt so badly that she tried going insane, just so she could convince herself that they were gone, or that she couldn't feel them. After all, the pain had her half-mad already. And if she were crazy she could think of much more gruesome things to do to the voice. It never left her alone, always calling, always whispering in her ear. She would have chalked it up to her overactive imagination, but she had heard it before the heat got to her. . . Hadn't she?

Torches illuminated the vast halls that snaked their way through the mountain she called home. Flames licked away at the shadows, dancing slightly in the breeze emanating from the ventilation shafts bored eons ago. The network of caverns and passages had taken centuries to carve, even using the already existing caves. Stalactites hundreds of feet long were the chandeliers, their mineral rich moisture reflecting the firelight like so many diamonds.

The demoness sat tall on her throne in the Great Hall. Tapestries adorned the walls on either side of her; skilled weavers had depicted her family history long ago using their craft. Murals of their greatest heroes, victorious in battle and gleaming in the sunlight surrounded her on either side. Sunlight. Someday my entire clan wil rejoin the world, and I will remember the feeling of waking up with the sun. Sora had felt honored to be the one charged with bringing the women and children to this fortress, yet she was reluctant to leave her lord's side on the eve of battle.

He had laughed at her anxiousness, boasting that his enemy was weak and therefore unworthy of life, that he would exterminate the vermin swiftly. But that still left their women undefended. "Sukini, keep them safe. You are protected here, but not invincible." He spoke to her in a voice that seemed too gravelly to form words. It reverberated off of the cave walls, echoing loud enough to be heard by all, unfortunately. She had expressed her distaste for the pet name he had given her many times, not that it did any good. Her brother did what he pleased. It mattered not to him that she hadn't been 'skinny' in over two hundred years.

He had left with the promise of a swift return. Days had passed, which turned into weeks. By the third month she had surpassed worry. It was only a matter of time before she gave up hope, every year, every decade that went by with no sign of survivors hardened her soft demeanor, wrapping walls of granite around her very soul until a haughty indifference consumed her. This place was hers now; these people were hers. She had rallied the women, promising vengeance, cautioning them that it would take patience.

"An army capable of destroying all of our men is nothing to scoff at. We have all had multiple children; some of them are nearly grown. If you allow me to train you in all the arts of war, then when you are ready we will train our children. And we will rise up with four times the number of our fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons, and we will crush our enemy. The world may think us weak, but we will show them a new kind of fury."

The children had grown, raised fatherless, and were ruthlessly trained to be warriors long before their time. The only 'real' children in their race were the product of those men too weak or old to go to war, thereby making their offspring unfit for war. The young males that had grown into adulthood were too busy being soldiers to take mates. No weakness was allowed. . Not when there was a mission to complete.

She had lain in wait, biding her time, cultivating her army, and now she would have revenge.

Sora turned her azure gaze to the lone figure approaching her. It was Takeshi, her general. Only 200 years old, he appeared 14 to the human eye, yet as his name indicated, he was bravery itself. The thin but strong frame bent in reverence to his queen.

"My Lady, an informant has returned." After sensing the shift of her weight, he knew she had acknowledged his presence. Only then did he lift his eyes to meet her icy stare.

"General, what is your report?"

"Your enemy has disappeared milady, he has abandoned his lands completely. No reason is known as of yet."

"Who discovered this?"

"One of the older ones, I have already dispatched her to the western border." At this he gave a rueful smile. "Tongues wag more willingly in the mining camps when there is an attractive female to encourage them."

Yes, the females were by far her best spies. Cunning and untrusting, the demon queen would much rather have made her entire army of women. But men were necessary, for their strength and ability to think on their feet, as well as their instinct to protect the women of the clan. She smirked. They were so easily played.

"Where is Amaya?"

"She is on assignment, as per your orders milady." The young demon's voice held slight distaste. "She is expected to return before dusk."

Despite rather "insistent" offers of the rank of general, Amaya preferred to captain the 'requisitions' task force. Specializing in stealth and invisibility, they were the eyes and ears of their queen. Amaya's only regret was that she was forced to answer to 'the runt' as she called him in her private thoughts. She was almost seventy years older than her "fearless leader" and hated taking orders from anyone younger than herself.

Only Amaya and Takeshi knew of this, and if any of her team failed to show the proper respect to the Queen's right hand, the consequences were dire. Amaya knew his strength of spirit, his absolute resolve for the cause, and if anyone could see it through to completion, it would be him. Takeshi respected her ability to respect his. He didn't want the queen to know of their tentative alliance however, and he acted disgusted by the very thought of Amaya at every turn. As committed as he was to the cause, he didn't fully trust the demoness that held the fate of their entire race between her thumb and forefinger.

His thoughts retuned to the pensive queen before him. What is she thinking? Surely she will not order an attack without more information. Although the possibility of a trap is remote, since our enemy does not know the threat we pose, one should never make a decision without first gathering all the facts.

"Call in the reserves, begin battle drills, I want to be ready. . . this may be our chance." Her army had been growing. She paused a moment to smile at the irony of that statement. Growing in size, intelligence, strength, and stature. Yes stature. Soon they would be big enough, old enough, to carry out her plans.

The boy/general bowed his head, a tiny stab of dread in his gut. Her voice sounded so determined. She had waited so long already, and though he wanted nothing more than to seek revenge for the deaths of all their fathers, if they went recklessly, all would be lost. They just needed another decade or so. But it wasn't to be, he would have to send them as they were, and beg forgiveness from all mothers who were left childless as a result. It might even mean his death. Yet it was as Sora-sama commanded.

"Yes, my Queen."

A/N: Well, there you go! Let me know how you like it.