I want to give a special thanks to my two good friends, Sarah and Andrea, for always supporting me and everything I write, not just my Inuyasha things. It means a lot, and thanks to everyone else you has supported my story by reviewing. To those who read and DON't review, shame on you.

Please, read on!

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Chapter 13

"I don't understand why Kikyo was there...why would she kiss Miroku?" Inuyasha asked while they sat back at the campfire after explaining what had happened to Kohaku, Shippo, and Kirara.

"She wasn't under mind control. She was completely aware of what was going on," Sango put in, Inuyasha looking like he was in some kind of denial.

"She wouldn't help Akakios would she..." Kagome whispered, thinking seriously, and getting more and more worried as she did, "I mean...there's no other possibility...she would NEVER kiss Miroku unless she was doing it to HELP Akakios and his daughters..."

Miroku stayed quiet, wisely decided his opinion on the matter wouldn't mean a thing at the moment. Sango was still fairly unhappy with him, and Inuyasha was maybe more so.

He hadn't meant to kiss the woman Inuyasha loved. He had actually fought against kissing a woman for once, something he had never done, but that didn't matter to them. Kagome gave him simpathetic looks every once in a while when he was quite obviously ignored.

Miroku also noticed how Shippo kept sending confused looks at Kagome and Inuyasha, but still paying attention to the conversation.

"Kikyo always said she wanted Inuyasha to die with her right?" The little fox demon put in, and it didn't even make Inuyasha furious, "Maybe she still blames Inuyasha for her dying, so she agreed to help that evil demon. Maybe she's mad that Inuyasha and Kagome mated."

It was all said so innocently, completely normal to little Shippo, who didn't quite understand that that was something you didn't say outloud.

The circle of friends went quiet, dazed by this new information. Kagome was absolutly red, and Inuyasha was giving Shippo a deadly look.

"Shippo!" Kagome exclaimed as soon as her throat allowed her.

He just looked confused, not understanding what he had done.

"How do you know, Shippo?" Sango asked softly.

He bounced up and down, "When they came back from playing their game, Inuyasha's scent was all over Kagome...Kagome? Are you gonna have babies for me to play with!"

His little voice was so excited, but poor Kagome was horror stricken.

'Kids...I never thought I'd have kids...but...maybe...' Inuyasha hadn't even thought about that possibility, and didn't want to until they had destroyed Akakios and his daughters and not to mention Naraku.

The perverted monk was staring at him, and he knew that once they were alone, the women off at a hotspring, he would ask to hear every detail.

Inuyasha groaned. He didn't at all regret what he and Kagome had gone. It actually had been one of the best things that had ever happened to him, but this torture of everyone butting in was annoying.

"So, you chose Kagome as your mate, Inuyasha?" Sango questioned politly, waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, whats the big deal anyway? So what, its our business."

The smile Sango gave him said she was proud of him, and he didn't know why, "I think its great. You two have loved eachother so long, I was beginning to wonder if you would ever admit how you felt about eachother."

Meanwhile, Kagome's blush was lessening, happy with Sango's reaction. What had she been thinking? They were her friends. They wouldn't turn their backs on them for being together.

She smiled and thought of how lucky she was to have such great friends.

"Sango, could I speak to you briefly?" Miroku asked, looking mostly serious, but maybe a tad bit perverted.

The slayer looked like she was going to decline, but Miroku carefully pulled her to her feet and walk away with her at his side.

"I don't trust him with my sister," Kohaku said shortly.

He was growing more and more talkative.

"I don't blame you there, kid," Inuyasha fumed, obviously still unhappy about everyone finding out due to a certain fox-demon, "Hey Shippo, come here for a second."

Shippo gave him a suspicious look from across the fire.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome warned with a dark look his way.

"But that little runt just blurted out to everyone-"

"Its better than keeping it a secret isn't it? Now everyone knows, and its not like it was a BAD thing," The look she gave him dared him to say differently, and he cowered.

"I KNOW it wasn't a bad thing, but YOU'RE not the one thats going to get questioned by Miroku!"

Shippo, Kohaku, and Kirara were watching the two and Kagome sighed.

"You should sleep Kagome, we're leaving early tomorrow morning," Inuyasha informed her.

She leaned against him, her head against his shoulder, and after a brief moment of surprise, Inuyasha looked down at her, then at the others that were across from the fire.

'Should I do it?' He asked himself, 'They'll question and nag me about it but...'

In the end, he decided to wrap his arm around Kagome's shoulders, despite the odd looks he was given at showing even that much affection.

Kagome moved closer to him, so her side was against his, and his arm wrapped tighter around her, more protectivly, and Kagome smiled.

'My Inuyasha...' She murmured to herself as she nuzzled her face against his chest, and slowly, the tension she felt in his body slipped away, and she closed her eyes, after their earlier mating, her exhaustion finaly catching up to her.

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Kagome's eyes opened slowly to find she was still against Inuyasha, even though the sun was already up signaling early morning.

It would be a beautiful day. The sun was bright, and there were only a few puffy clouds in the sky, every once in a while providing shade, and there was also a slight breeze.

Miroku and Sango had evidently come back during the night, and Sango was in a simalur possition with Miroku as Kagome and Inuyasha were themselves.

She looked up at Inuyasha's face to see him looking back at her.

"Inuyasha..." She started sleepily, "I thought..." her own yawn interupted her, "...we were leaving early..."

The truth was that he hadn't wanted to wake her, because he loved watching her sleep so peacefully, but he wouldn't tell her that, "I decided you humans needed more rest after the last few days. When the others wake up, we're leaving."

Kagome gave a nod, thinking back to when Shippo had innocently blurted that Kagome and Inuyasha where now mates. Shippo had asked her if they would have babies, and for some reason, she had never thought about that.

"What are you thinking about?" Inuyasha asked as he secretly smelled her soft hair.

"Babies..." Kagome replied absentmindedly, then blushed when she realized what she had said, and at the knowing look on her half-demons face.

With an odd look at her, Inuyasha questioned, "Babies?"

"Yes...about what Shippo said...about OUR babies."

Inuyasha showed one of those oh so rare smiles, and his lips brushed her forhead, "Our babies, huh?"

She nodded innocently, her stomack doing flips at his touch.

"When this is over, and there's no longer so much danger for a pup, we'll talk about it, ok?" Inuyasha whispered, trying not to wake the others.

Kagome smiled and nodded, somewhat scared at the prospect of having her own child, but it still seemed wonderful. She would have Inuyasha's baby, and they would raise it together.

It amazed her that she could feel so happy even with the things that had recently happened.

What about Kikyo? Was she really helping Akakios? It made Kagome wonder. Did Inuyasha think she was?

"Inuyasha...what about Kikyo?" Kagome questioned and he looked like she had slapped him.

"I thought I already showed you that you're the one I love. What else do I have to do?"

"That's not what I meant!" Kagome responded, voice low and hurt, "I meant, do you think she's helping Akakios?"

Inuyasha nodded, "She could be. I don't know what she's capable of doing anymore. She's no longer the woman I knew fifty years ago."

'So you've finally figured THAT out...' Kagome said somewhat grudingly to herself.

"You really shouldn't be so hard on Miroku. He didn't kiss her freely, and you know that. I know you'll always have that place in your heart for her but-"

Inuyasha kissed her, haulting her speach, and also her heart, and then he looked down into her eyes as he pulled away, "No Kagome...there's only that place for you now."

"Inuyasha..." Kagome whispered in awe, surprised.

"Ok, shut up now and get some more sleep. I don't want to to be asking for a break every hour," The dog-demon told the priestess gruffly, covering for what he had just said, but not taking his arm from around her.

"Alright," Kagome agreed and once more closed her eyes, no worries with her mate there beside her.

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As soon as everyone was awake, they ate, filling themselves so they were healthy for their upcoming battle.

Naraku was close, Inuyasha could smell him, and he could also smell Akakios, but his scent was fainter.

'We have to kill him this time...Naraku has ruined our lifes for long enough. We have to kill him, and Akakios so all of us can move on and think of other things besides when we'll be attacked next,' Inuyasha thought deeply, looking at Kagome over his shoulder as he jumped through the air beside Kirara who was carrying the others.

Inuyasha had gotten his fire-rat kimono back and washed the blood off it.

Sango was in front of Miroku on Kirara, eyes closed in sleep. She was still weakened from her wound, but doing alright.

Kagome was wide awake, looking around at the blurred objects as they went by, dreaming of a nice hotspring to bathe in and wash her hair.

"Hey Miroku?" Shippo started in a low whisper, "Did you and Sango make up?"

The nervious sweatdrop slid down the monks cheek at the question, and he tried to pretend he didn't hear.

The little fox-demon wasn't hindered, "Because I think I smell you on Sango. Inuyasha is a half-demon so it was easy for me to smell him on Kagome, but your smells really faint."

Miroku still tried hard to ignore him, but yet again, Shippo didn't give up, "It was weird though that I could smell him on her THAT easily...I wonder why...so, are you and Sango mates now too?"

The monk started to bounce his leg, the same nervious habit Inuyasha normally had, but he was trying to go with Sango's wishes and not say anything.

"No, we're not mates..." Miroku said slowly, knowing that Shippo would think they HADN'T done anything, but it wasn't a lie, they weren't mates because they were both human, and they weren't married either.

"Oh...okay," That easily, Shippo was satisfied, and turned back to face the direction they were moving.

It started to get dark, and they were still moving, Kagome getting tired even though Inuyasha was the one carrying her.

"Inuyasha, when are we going to make camp?" She whispered in his ear.

Looking at the others on Kirara, who were all sleeping but Miroku, Inuyasha sighed, "We just have a little farther for today. I'd say we're nearly a day and a half from Naraku."

"Do you think there's a hot-spring nearby that I can wash in? I think Sango would like that too."

"Yeah," He replied, and wondered if for once, he could go with her without getting sat.

"Good," Kagome chirped happily. She was tired, but restless too. She hadn't walked on her own since she had broke camp.

"Kirara! Follow me, we're making camp!" Inuyasha hollared, bounding into a new patch of trees for a short distance, then stopping at a small area where there were no trees.

Everyone woke, and they got things set up. Inuyasha went for food, and when he came back, they all ate, then Kagome and Sango went to the hotsprings, leaving the males at the fire, which didn't make either of them that happy.

Shippo also wasn't allowed to go, due to the fact that the women wanted to be alone to talk.

"Kagome, are you happy with your choice?" Sango asked, staring at the waters surface.

She gave the slayer a confused look, then realized what she meant and blushed, "Yes...I am. Why?"

"Kagome, you're my best friend, so I think its only fair to tell you that Miroku and I did the same thing you and Inuyasha did..."

Kagome's eyes widened, "You did?"

"I...He...We didn't mean to, we just got carried away, but I don't know if I'm ready for a family again. I lost my whole family to demons and I-"

"Hey, wait a sec. Sango, you still have Kohaku. I know it was hard for you to lose your family...but Miroku loves you, and we all know he's a lecher, but I know he'll provide for you and love you like you deserve. I don't think he'll be such a lecher anymore, now that he knows you love him too."

Sango smiled softly and nodded, "I don't know what I'm thinking anymore, Kagome. Who would have thought I would have fallen in love with a man like him?"

It was Kagome's turn to smile, "I fell in love with a half-demon, Sango, one that tried to kill me the first time I met him. I hadn't even known demons existed until I fell through the well, but look at me now. No one could make me happier than him."

"It really is funny how things work out, isn't it?"

Kagome nodded and closed her eyes.

'I can feel we're close to our last battle...what is all of us don't make it out alive? We always had before in one way or another, but what if its different this time?' Kagome worried in her head then looked at the slayer.

"I'm worried that we'll have to fight both Akakios, Amaya, Hikari, and Naraku all at the same time. We're strong, but how can we take on all of them?"

She shrugged and smiled, "We'll figure that out when we get there, just like we always do. We'll find a way, Kagome, just like we always have."

Both having been reasured of their fears, they climbed out quietly, taking the half-demon and monk by surprise at their quickness, and they had no time to flee from their hiding spots in the bushes.

Kagome and Sango scowled, knowing the two had overheard the better part of their conversation, and with a look of fear, Inuyasha pointed a clawed finger at Miroku accusingly.

At the same time, Sango hit the monk with her Hiraikotsu and Kagome said calmly, "Sit."

"Its not like I havn't already seen you naked!" Inuyasha yelled at his mate, who blushed for what seemed like the one-hundreth time in the last twenty-four hours.

"Sit!" Kagome yelled in embarassment, louder this time.

"You..." He moaned, yet again finding himself in a hole.

"We were talking, and you two have no right to be eavesdropping!" Sango yelled, "When will you ever learn!"

The women stormed off, back to the fire, and both injured males looked at eachother, Miroku being the one to say, "That certainly didn't feel like love to me..."

"Their both vicious, coldhearted women..."

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"What!" Akakios yelled venemously.

"You heard me, Akakios. She is not dead. You underestimate her power," Kikyo warned him, then added as she turned away from him, "She would be even more powerful than me with proper training, but she would have to give up her her friends in order to recieve that training, something she would never do."

"I don't care about that troublesome wench. I want Inuyasha dead," Akakios hissed with a heated glare at his daughters who stood at the far wall.

"We will deal with this ourselves now. I want all of them dead. Amaya, Hikari, come with me. We will fight them, and have this over with."

"Have you heard of the half-demon named, Naraku?" Kikyo asked.

The powerful demon turned to face the undead priestess, unable ignore the smugness in her voice, "No. Why?"

"He too wishes for Inuyasha's death. He is the one Inuyasha and his friends are after. If you wish to have your revenge, you must kill Naraku before he kills Inuyasha."

"He is just another filthy half-breed, nothing more. Should he interfer, I will kill him," He gave one small glance at Kikyo before yelling at his daughters, "Come, we will go now."

"Akakios..." Kikyo said loudly to get his attention once more.

"I am getting tired of you, Kikyo. What more could you possible have to say?"

She smiled weakly, a smile that held malice, "Inuyasha and that 'wench' as you called her, have mated. I doubt they are aware she IS with child. I could just barely sense it, which means she has no idea. Its too early for her and Inuyasha to know."

"And how do YOU know this?" Akakios questioned.

Another cold smile and she replied, "I have no life in me, and that allows me to see more clearly life in the making. Its a cruel trick. Fate is cruel. And I want Inuyasha gone from this world."

"You've been more useful than I had thought you would be, priestess. I'll be sure to make that knowledge useful."

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Hmmm...I think there's going to be some trouble coming...

-Destined