Disclaimer: Ok yeah, I don't own Inuyasha and I never will so let's get on with the story.
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To the Readers: Well, people… here it is. The last chapter for 'After Twelve Years'… Thanx so much for reading and all of the reviews. I'm glad that you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Be on the look out for more fics that I'm thinking of writing. I don't know the details… but I can feel another InuYasha fic beginning to form in my mind… Or maybe a little side-story for this one… Anyway, until next time…
-Japanime625
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CHAPTER TWELVE: In the End…Taromaru starred blankly at Kagome. "How did you do that? You shouldn't even be awake!"
Kagome was struggling to stay up. Her vision was blurry and she couldn't stay straight.
Taromaru noticed this and laughed. "You can barely sit up! How could you even hope defeat me?"
InuYasha slowly opened his eyes. He was leaning against the wall for support and was still bleeding. Ka…gome?…She's alive…? he opened his eyes completely and saw Kagome struggling to stay up. She was holding a bow and arrow in her hands and was aiming at Taromaru.
S-she's alive… That must mean… the kids are okay too! "Kagome…! G-get away from him!"
"I'm not leaving you behind, InuYasha!" Kagome yelled back.
InuYasha growled (It didn't sound as menacing in his human form though…) and stood up. There's no way that I'm gonna lose Kagome… He unsheathed Tetsusaiga, which didn't transform, and started to walk over to Taromaru.
Taromaru knew he was walking towards him but didn't care. Instead he started to walk towards Kagome. "You're starting to become a nuisance… I'll just finish you off right now..."
With this said he flexed his claws and swiped at the bow and arrow Kagome held. It immediately broke, leaving Kagome unarmed. Now he lifted his clawed hand into the air and was about to finish Kagome off. His hand was an inch from Kagome when a bright light flashed and he fell to his knees in pain. InuYasha kicked him off to the side and checked to make sure that Kagome was alright. ((A/N: PUNT! …Dag, yo…))
Taromaru looked at InuYasha. He was starting to transform back into a demon and Tetsusaiga and grown slightly stronger. It still hadn't transformed but it was still strong enough to cause him pain. He looked down at his hand to see how badly he was injured, but his hand wasn't there. He looked down and saw that his hand was lying on the ground, blood still oozing from it. His arm was also bleeding. He glared at his uncle.
"Y-you cut off my hand! What kind of an uncle are you?"
"At least I didn't kidnap your family and try to kill them!"
"You could never defeat my father! And you could go ahead and kill my mother! I don't care about her anyway!"
"Wh-what do you mean? Don't you love your mother?" Kagome asked, shocked.
"Of course I don't! I have no respect for humans or half-breeds! That's why I needed the jewel! That way I could be a full-fledged demon like my father and no one would be my equal in battle! I would be the strongest and everyone would have to respect me!"
"Believe me, you don't want the jewel! It only causes pain to the people that use it for evil!" InuYasha yelled.
"Becoming stronger isn't evil! And I'll prove it! I'll take the jewel right now!" With that said Taromaru rushed at Kagome with his other clawed hand aimed at her. He would get the jewel with one try.
"Nooo! Taromaru, stop this!" InuYasha ran towards Taromaru, never noticing that he had fully transformed into a demon or that the Tetsusaiga had transformed. He swung at Taromaru and noticed the transformation right before he hit him. He hit Taromaru right below his ribs, nearly cutting him in half. He stopped soon after realizing what had happened, but the cut was deep and Taromaru died instantly.
InuYasha fell to his knees. I-I didn't mean to kill him… I didn't know I transformed…
InuYasha looked towards Kagome. She was staring at Taromaru's dead body; fear still lingered in her eyes. He put Tetsusaiga back in its sheath and put his hand on Kagome's shoulder.
"Kagome…? A-are you ok? He didn't hurt you did he?"
Kagome looked up at InuYasha. "I-I'm fine… Are you ok? You were fighting him while you were a human… You're probably hurt more than I am…"
"No, I'm fine…"
"Are you sure? I mean… your shoulder IS kindda cut open…" she said, pointing to his bleeding shoulder with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh like I've never had THAT happen before…" he replied with a smirk.
"Are you two alright?" Sango and Miroku asked as they rushed into the room. The barrier had vanished.
"Yeah we're fine…" InuYasha said. Then he turned to Kagome, "What about the kids, are they ok?"
"They're fine, they're just sleeping…"
"Ok… Let's go then. I just want to be at home with you guys now. " InuYasha said as he pulled Kagome into a hug. ((A/N: awwww…))
"Same here..." Kagome replied, hugging back.
The two of them stood up and walked over to where their children lay sleeping. Kagome bent over and picked up Kotaro, who curled up in his mother's arms. InuYasha picked up Noriko and Shirrow and then they began to leave.
"InuYasha?" Kagome asked.
"What?"
"What about Taromaru? We can't just leave him here…"
"…………"
"InuYasha?"
InuYasha handed Noriko and Shirrow to Miroku and walked back into the room where Taromaru lay motionless. He was still bleeding. InuYasha carefully picked him up. Then walked back to where everyone else was and walked past them continuing to walk through the darkness. Everyone else followed after him.
"InuYasha?" Kagome repeated.
"We'll take him to Sesshomaru and then we'll leave. It's the least we could do to let Sesshomaru know that his son is dead."
Kagome nodded even though she knew it was too dark for InuYasha to notice. Everyone remained quiet as they walked through the rest of the dark tunnel.
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When they reached the end of the tunnel, they were greeted by Kirara who had stayed outside, not liking the darkness of the tunnel. The three children had woken up and Noriko and Shirrow were no longer being carried. Kotaro, however, was still in his mother's arms. He didn't want to walk on his own right now.
"Shirrow, Noriko, stay with uncle Miroku and Aunt Sango. Your mom and I have to pay a visit to Uncle Sesshomaru…" He looked down at Taromaru who he had wrapped his top layer of his shirt kimono thing around so he wouldn't scare his children.
"Ok Daddy."
"Why does Kotaro get to go and we don't?"
"Because he wants to stay with your mom and she's coming with me."
"Oh… well I want to stay with Mom… can I come?"
"…No…"
"Keh…"
InuYasha ruffled his son's hair and said they would be back soon. With that said, he left with Kagome, Kotaro, and the dead Taromaru to find Sesshomaru. It didn't take long. Sesshomaru was waiting for them about five minutes away from where everyone was waiting for them.
"I see that you've gotten your family back, little brother."
"Sesshomaru… I… well…"
"There is no need to explain. I already know that my son is dead. His blood and the scent of death are all over you."
"…I didn't mean to kill him… It was an accident. I didn't realize that I wasn't a human anymore… I was just protecting Kagome… I…"
"Enough. As far as I'm concerned I have no son. He foolishly tried to gain power using magic instead of gaining power himself by earning it through hard work. I've told him that using the jewel would bring his death, but he didn't listen. That was his own fault. Then he attacked your family to get what he desired. Just as I tried to kill you to get the Tetsusaiga… He was like me in that way I suppose…"
"What about Rin? Does she feel the same way?"
"Yes…" He turned to his younger brother and said, "Leave him here. I will have my servants bury him."
InuYasha laid Taromaru's still form on the ground and took his top shirt off of him. He put his shirt over his shoulder and held it there as they began to walk back to everyone else.
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"I found it!" Shirrow called holding up a rabbit's pelt.
InuYasha smiled from his perch in a tree. He knew that Shirrow didn't know where he was, but decided not to say anything to see if his son could find him.
He smiled to himself. Two months had passed since Taromaru died. They were a happy family again and they lived happily together. Shippo had stayed with them at their home for a while before finding a rather cute female fox demon. He spent most of his time with her and had fallen head over heels in love.
Her name was Mayu. ((A/N: no, she's not the little devil-child from the first season.)) She had long reddish-brown hair that she kept in a pony-tail. Her eyes were a light blue and she wore a shirt with leaves on it like Shippo's except hers was a light pink, and she wore a dark green skirt. Her tail was long and fluffy like Shippo's. They were very happy together.
InuYasha continued to let his thoughts wander as he lounged in the tree. He thought about how he had almost lost his family and would never let something like that happen again... He had begun training more with Shirrow after they had gotten back home. He was having him sniff out rabbit pelts and things of that sort. Soon he would start practicing using swords and then someday he would get the Tetsusaiga. InuYasha stopped at this thought. Feh… I'll have to be long gone by the time I hand my sword over to anyone... even if it IS my own son…
"Dad?"
InuYasha looked below him. There on the ground, looking up at him was Shirrow.
"What'cha doin' up there?" Shirrow asked as he began to climb up the tree. He wasn't very good at jumping up into the high branches yet and didn't want to miss a branch and fall down.
InuYasha paused for a moment before answering. "Nothin'… just thinking about stuff…"
"What kind of stuff?" Shirrow asked as he reached the branch where his father sat. He laid the rabbit pelt on his father's crossed arms and smiled.
InuYasha smirked as he looked down at the pelt. "You found it, I see…"
"Yup! Are we done training for today?"
"Yeah... I think so." InuYasha said this as he picked up the pelt, held it out to the side and let it drop to the ground.
"Hey! InuYasha! Watch where you're dropping things!"
InuYasha looked down and saw Kagome standing there with Kotaro and Noriko standing beside her. She held the rabbit pelt in her hand.
"Heh… sorry Kagome. Didn't see you there!" He said with a smile.
Kagome rolled her eyes knowing that he didn't really care since it didn't hurt her at all. "SIT!"
InuYasha obediently plummeted to the ground via the prayer beads around his neck.
"There. You dropped a smelly, old, rabbit pelt on me, I 's-worded' you. Now we're even." Kagome said with a smile.
"Oww! Dammit, Kagome! Why do you have to--!"
"Sit!"
InuYasha hit the ground head-first… again.
"That one was for swearing." Then she looked up at Shirrow. "Come on, Shirrow, lunch is ready!"
Shirrow climbed down from the tree and walked off with his younger siblings towards the house. InuYasha remained on the ground and watched his family start to leave.
"Are you coming, Dog-Boy?" Kagome asked teasingly.
InuYasha smiled then pretended to pout. "Feh… Why would I go with you if you're always sitting me?"
Kagome kneeled down on the ground next to InuYasha and started to scratch his ears. "Because you love me?"
InuYasha smirked and laid his head on Kagome's lap. "Well… I guess that's a good enough answer…"
"That's good…"
InuYasha closed his eyes and sighed.
"InuYasha?"
"Hmmm?"
"Are… are you purring?" Kagome said in between laughs.
"Feh… You would purr too if you had ears like mine and you were getting' 'em scratched…" he replied, then continued his purring.
"Oh... :giggle: ok… it's just that… I didn't know that dogs purr…"
"Hmph…"
"Well… let's go!" Kagome said as she suddenly stood up. InuYasha rolled back onto the ground with a 'thump'.
"Come on, Dog-Boy. Let's hurry before all the food is gone…" Kagome said as she laughed and started walking away.
InuYasha smirked and got up to brush the dirt off of his clothes, then ran to catch up with Kagome. When he caught up, they walked silently, holding hands.
"InuYasha?"
"Hmmm?"
"I love you…"
"I love you too…"
With that said they walked back to their home, both of them smiling, hand-in-hand.
……….THE END……….