Reflections of the Past: Epilogue... New Life .. ch 30

Months Later...

Inuyasha woke with the rays of the early morning sun, their warmth wrapping themselves within the breeze to encourage all to start a new day...it was still nice to wake up to the rest of their lives without Naraku, without the always daunting task of searching for demons who held jewel shards, and hopefully a continuation of a peaceful existance where they would all be able to raise their families together, as a pack and as a family...Kagome had allowed Koga to keep the jewel shards in his legs to help protect his pack, and Kohaku still held one as well...They had found him the day after the battle, alive and wounded but he'd survived...Now he resided in Sango's old village, seeking the solice the place provided to come to grips with his past...but he was doing well and for that they were all thankful...Kagura and Kanna were nowhere to be found, but Kohaku had assured the group that they were not a threat, they merely wanted to live their lives out of the shadow of Naraku...

Kagome stirred briefly in Inuyasha's arms, the suns rays caressing her flawless skin as it continued lighting it's way through the hut they slept in...her stomach had grown alot these last months and even now he could feel their child stirring within her. It seemed that the child was restless these last couple of days as it had seldom quit moving..He remembered the first time he had felt his child move. He'd been asleep, his hand resting protectively upon Kagome's stomach when something bumped his hand stirring him from his light slumber. He lay there quietly waiting to see if the movement would continue and once again it had...another bump to the palm of his hand as if the child within his sleeping mate was protesting it's percieved invasion of space...This child was sure to be a handful as since that first movement it only seemed to increase through the passing months...effectively wearing Kagome down as it grew within her...and even now the child seemed restless...but there was something different about it now...

Kagome's stomach seemed to be tensing for brief moments before relaxing, causing a slight frown to light her sleeping features..as if the tensing of her body were causing her pain...and yet it seemed to be occuring more and more frequently, until Kagome simply couldn't ignore them anymore...

Her stomach hurt, and each time it tensed it seemed to last longer, with shorter moments between each...and it was then that her eyes shot open, a deep moan of pain escaping her lips as she instictively reached for her stomach, the pains coming harder and faster with each passing minute...

Inuyasha was up in an instant, his body reacting to the pain his mate was in..."Kagome, are you alright? Is it the baby?" Inuyasha asked as he reached to pick her up upon seeing her nod before another pain hit her causing her body to instinctivly curl around the bulge of her stomach...

"I think our child...is ready to meet it's parents..." Kagome hissed through the pain that seemed to escalate..."I think that ...may..be we should fi...nd Keade...I don't think...our...ahhh...child will wait ...till we get to...my...time..." Kagome whispered as tears of pain glistened in her eyes before one finally escaped to roll down her cheek as yet another pain gripped her...

Inuyasha didn't hesitate as he took off tword Keade's hut, running as carefully as possible to avoid jarring her anymore than necessary...before bursting through the door of Keade's hut and the shocked expressions of those sitting within...and then after that everything seemed to happen all at once...Kagome lay upon the bed, everyone scurrying about to bring water and all the other things necessary for the birth of her child...And once everything was set Sango and Miroku took a panicked Shippo for a lengthy walk leaving Keade and Inuyasha with Kagome who even now struggled to bring forth the life that lay within her...

Hours passed, and each minute seemed like years to the pack that waited impatiently outside the hut...

Inuyasha sat beside Kagome, his hands caressing her sweat soaked forehead as he whispered softly to her...his mind reaching out to try to make a connection with Sesshomaru and Rin who had left at sunrise in search of breakfast as had become the norm since their battle with Naraku...Rin had refused to leave Kagome for very long, only returning with Sesshomaru to the Western Lands for short stays before returning to stay in their small hut within the village...

"The baby is coming!" Inuyasha's panicked voice whispered through Sesshomaru's mind as he finally made the connection..causing a rare smile to skirt across the demons face as he listened to his little brother desperately try to control his panic...his mate was in pain, and that alone would send ones demon into overdrive, and the fact that Inuyasha seemed to still have some control impressed him..."We must go Rin, Inuyasha's baby seems to have inherited it's fathers' impatience as it seems determined to be born today...and early no less...Kagome should not be having the pains of child birth for several more weeks.." Sesshomaru murmured to Rin as he turned their walk back tword the village...Rin giggled happily as she thought of the baby that even now rested within her own body...soon she and Sesshomaru would have a little one of their own, as would Sango and Miroku as well as Koga and Ayame who had returned to their pack shortly after the battle...and yet visited as often as they could...Their small pack was growing and Kagome and Inuyasha's baby would be the first in a long line of babies that were to be born of each couples love...

Sesshomaru and Rin stepped into the village, the shrill sound of a newborns cry echoing through the doorway of the hut...followed by Kagome's cry of pain before all was silent again...as yet another shrill cry mingled with the first..."It would seem that our Kagome has given Inuyasha two children to raise." Sesshomaru said as he watched the faces of the small group surrounding the outside of the hut light up in understanding..."Twins...Kagome had twins..." Sango whispered to Shippo who still held a panicked look across his small face...

A short time later...

Keade stood at the doorway of her hut calling the others to come to see the children born of Inuyasha and Kagome's love...and once they entered they took in a sight that would remain with them for the rest of their lives...

Inuyasha sat beside Kagome, his eyes glazed over as he stared down at the small faces of his children who lay in their mothers embrace...one boy, with the dusting of midnight black hair, small pointed ears at the side of his head and two twin purple stripes highlighting his face, small claws at the tips of his tiny fingers and shining golden eyes that blinked up at him...and beside him lay his sister, who like her brother gazed up at her father with golden eyes, soft silver hair sprinkled upon her tiny head, and two tiny puppy ears that still lay against the top of her head, a small pink tongue barely visible between two rose red lips...a boy who resembled his mother and a girl who resembled her father...

"What are their names Inuyasha?" Rin asked as she held Sesshomaru's hand, her other resting on her swollen stomach...

Sesshomaru stood gazing in awe at the perfection of the two newborn children that were his niece and nephew...Miroku stood behind Sango with his hands resting lovingly her slightly rounded belly, his chin resting on her shoulder, Kilala perched onSango's other shoulder...Shippo was standing next to Inuyasha's sitting form looking at the children he would now call his brother and sister...and Keade sat next to the fire...a proud smile upon her face...

"I don't know...we really haven't talked much on names, what do you think Kagome?" Inuyasha asked as he reached to carefully pickup his daughter, his eyes filled with pride as he gazed upon her before standing to hand the child to Rin. Sesshomaru glanced to the newborn, his eyes linguring on her pale features for a moment before turning to look upon a worn out Kagome..."EMIKO, named for her miko mother." came Sesshomaru's soft voice, his gaze moving to once again rest on the now sleeping child..." Though she has taken her fathers features..." he murmured again as he reached to take the sleeping child to hold her carefully against his chest...

"Emiko sounds beautiful Sesshomaru...thank you...now about our son, what to call you my handsome little man.."Kagome said softly as she resituated herself to bring his wide eyed face closer to hers...before handing Inuyasha his first born son...Inuyasha held him tenderly, his body resonating the sheer pride he felt at his new family...he sat quietly, before looking over to a lost looking Shippo who had yet to say anything..."Come here runt.." Inuyasha said as he patted his lap, encouraging Shippo to crawl into it then moving to place his son into the suprised Shippo's arms...

Shippo gazed at the boy, his features so much like Kagome's..."Say hello to your brother Shippo..." Inuyasha said as he took in the happy smile that lit across the runts face...Shippo smiled lovingly down at the infant that had become his sibling, something he never thought he'd have since his parents had been killed..."MY brother ...what about Takeshi...he looks like a Takeshi..." Shippo whispered before glancing up at Inuyasha...this was the first time that Inuyasha had called him his son...he had a family, he wasn't an orphan anymore...and that thought brought tears to his young eyes...

" Did you hear that little guy, your brother says your name is Takeshi...it suits you.." Inuyasha said as his gaze raised to once again take in Kagome's beautiful face as she nodded her approval at the names they had picked for her children...

Sango stepped forward, her gaze resting upon the child that rested in Sesshomaru's warm embrace, and was pleasantly suprised when he moved to place the sleeping girl into her arms..."You should get used to holding newborns..something tells me that you will be raising many of them..."Sesshomaru muttered to Sango as his gaze moved to rest on the letcherous monk...a light of laughter in his eyes though his face remained expressionless...

"Oh my god...Sesshomaru made a joke...I thought I'd never see the day that my BROTHER, Great Lord of the Western Lands would actually make a joke..." Inuyasha teased as he moved to pick Takeshi out of Shippo's arms and stood to place the child into Miroku's embrace, watching as amazement crossed his face as he gazed down at the child he held..."Ahh yes, I can guarantee there will be many children to come...how could I resist with such a lovely woman to call my own..." Miroku replied as he stood looking at Sango, his deep love for her easily read within the glistening depths of his eyes...and after several quiet minutes Sango and Miroku moved to place the newborns into their parents waiting arms...the picture that it left was one that would remain with them always...

A miko and a hanyou each holding the proof of their love in their arms...both gazing at their sleeping children before looking up to gaze at each other...the intensity of their love open for all to see...surrounded by their family...their pack...

And soon there would be more children among them...each of them becoming living proof that love conquers all...

But Sesshomaru had yet to tell Inuyasha and Kagome of the gift he had built for them...a castle befitting the youngest son of the Great InuTaisho...resting not far from the castle he held as his own...this was a gift to them both, a sign to Inuyasha that he accepted him as his blood...his brother, and a gift to the woman who had gifted him with his arm...had accepted him into her pack as family...and had shown him... in her own way... that he wasn't alone...but it would wait, now wasn't the time...he'd tell them later...

Keade sat quietly by the fire looking at the makeshift pack that had been brought together by the love of one woman...Kagome...she was the tie that bound them to each other, the one who unwittingly had shown them all that love was the greatest gift of the heart...and family was the most important part of life...regardless of the differences that each of them held...she watched as the group came together...Sesshomaru and Rin, Sango and Miroku...Kilala still sitting upon Sango's shoulder watching the sleeping newborns with curiousity, Shippo sitting at Kagome's side...and Inuyasha who even now openly nuzzled Kagome's neck...his soft words whispering through the silence of the hut...

" I love you my Kagome...god how I love you..."

"And I Love you Inuyasha...my hanyou..." Kagome replied as she caught his lips with her own, her kiss relaying to him all the love in her heart...

The end...for now..

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A/N PLEASE READ

I still do not own Inuyasha or it's characters, much to my dismay, but Rumiko does and she is one very lucky and talented woman...This will be the last chapter for this story, as much as it saddens me...I do not want to end it as it has been so much fun, but I think I will eventually add to it later, probably through a sequal...but I would like to explore different story attempts first and I hope that I will get the privalage to see all your names again...I thank all you who have me on your favorites list and your alert list...I hope this option will allow my stories to continue to be sent to all of you...

Thanks to all who have read and reviewed...As you all know already this was my first attempt at writing a fanfic and I am deeply honored that you all have enjoyed the ramblings of my mind and that you have read and reviewed as often as you all have... without you all I'm afraid that I might have gotten discouraged with this project, but you all have done so much to make this experience the best it could have been ...and it truely has been...I wish I could thank you all individually through this page but sadly that is not aloud...But please, if you have a moment, let me know what you think of the whole story as again, this will be the last chapter...Anywho, enough of my rambling..

THANK YOU ALL! Happy Holidays...be happy and be safe...

Sincerely...Neisha