A/N: Greetings everyone, and welcome to the happy ending of the story! Hope you enjoy reading it! ;)
Reminder-... /-/-/-/memory;... +-+-+-+past, not a memory;... /-/-+memory and past;... #(anything after)special pov
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha characters or the songs that I use as titles and quotes, so don't sue me!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epilogue-Somewhere I Belong (Linkin Park)
I wanna let go of the pain I've felt so long...
The day went by in a near-silence, but it was not an uncomfortable silence by any means. Rin was smiling happily as she saw the brothers walk next to each other. Jaken ceased his usual habit of muttering under his breath to observe the way Inuyasha's ears twitched every time Sesshoumaru glanced at him. Shippou quietly hopped off of Inuyasha's shoulder and perched himself on Miroku's shoulder instead, deeming it wise to be utterly silent around the dog-demon until he knew how Sesshoumaru would react to him. Kagome and Sango sighed and grinned almost dreamily at random intervals when they looked at the two dogs. Miroku saw many opportunities, as Sango walked right in front of him, and he finally reached out his hand. A resounding slap could be heard, and Sesshoumaru paused to look back wonderingly. Inuyasha was already used to it and so did not stop, while Jaken had seen it and only shook his head. Rin had no idea what was going on, but she didn't much care, and so thought nothing of it.
"YOU PERVERT!" Sango shrieked as Miroku rubbed his face and grinned sheepishly.
"What..." Sesshoumaru began, then stopped, blinked, and looked at Inuyasha. Inuyasha stopped and looked at him, then smiled slightly.
"Oh, he does that. Stupid monk never learns."
"What did he do, though?" Sesshoumaru asked, looking back and forth between the angry demonslayer and the happy monk.
"He groped her," Inuyasha shrugged. "He does it to everyone."
"Everyone?" Sesshoumaru asked uncomfortably, taking a step backwards without realizing it.
"I mean every girl," Inuyasha chuckled softly.
"Every girl?" Sesshoumaru glanced around again, then his eyes settled on Rin. He went over to her cautiously, then stood directly between her and Miroku as they walked.
"You're too paranoid, Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha smirked as he dropped back to walk next to his brother. "I mean, he gropes every girl of age. Not everyone, and not really every girl. Mostly Sango, actually-he tried to grope Kagome once or twice, but after he realized how she could get..."
"He better not try anything with Rin," Sesshoumaru growled softly, shooting a glare over at Miroku. Miroku sweatdropped and gave an innocent look, waving his hands as if to show that he would do nothing of the sort.
Shippou decided to hop over to Kagome's shoulder at that point.
"What's with the fox?" Sesshoumaru asked, noticing how the young demon changed from one person to the next.
"He's afraid of you," Inuyasha shrugged.
"Why?" Sesshoumaru asked, looking over at Shippou again. Shippou stiffened and hid himself behind Kagome's hair as well as he could, his tail poking out from the side and shaking slightly.
"He thinks you're gonna kill him."
"I won't," Sesshoumaru said shortly.
Shippou's tail stopped, twitched, and then puffed slightly. He slowly came out from behind Kagome, looking over at the older demon apprehensively.
"You won't?" he asked quietly, blinking.
"Why would I?" Sesshoumaru shrugged lightly. "Even if you weren't Inuyasha's companion, it would be pointless to kill someone that poses no threat."
"HEY! I'M NOT WEAK!" Shippou screamed angrily, forgetting himself. He launched his small body at Sesshoumaru, tackling the tall demon and latching his teeth into the fluffy fur that was on Sesshoumaru's shoulder. Sesshoumaru blinked at him and turned his head, completely unaffected.
Jaken squaked and tried to get the kitsune off, and just as he was about to use the two-headed staff, Sesshoumaru kicked him in the head.
"Baka, if you use that thing then it's going to burn my fur!" he growled.
Inuyasha found all of this quite amusing, and was trying desperately to hold back his laughter.
"Shippou, I've got treats for you!" Kagome said sweetly, pulling a box out of her backpack.
"Oh, cool! Treats! Did you get those ones that come in different colors?" he asked happily as he detached himself from Sesshoumaru's fur, totally forgetting about the 'insult' as he scrambled to grab the box of treats.
"Yup," Kagome grinned at him. "Hey, Inuyasha, you want some? I got the MilkBones," she said.
"MilkBones?" Inuyasha's ears stood at attention, perking with interest as he stopped and looked at her expectantly. "Really?"
"Yeah," Kagome smiled and pulled out the box of dog biscuits that Inuyasha seemed to enjoy a lot. "Here."
Inuyasha took the box happily, opening it and pulling out a bone-shaped dog biscuit and munching on it contentedly. Sesshoumaru stared at them strangely, but didn't ask. Inuyasha noticed the curious look and extended the box towards his brother.
"Here, try one," Inuyasha said happily. Sesshoumaru frowned uncertainly, then reached his hand in the box and pulled out a dog biscuit. He looked back and forth between his brother and the biscuit in his hand, then glanced around uncomfortably.
"What are you waiting for?" Inuaysha asked, looking over at Sesshoumaru. "It's not gonna kill you."
"I...don't eat in front of people very often," Sesshoumaru said quietly.
"Why not?" Inuyasha blinked.
"I...don't know," he admitted. "It's an old habit, I guess."
"Inuyasha used to be like that too," Shippou said, swallowing a bite of his own catfood treats that he liked. "I had to break his habit, though."
"How?" Sesshoumaru asked curiously.
"You're not gonna kill me, are you?" Shippou asked suspiciously.
"If I didn't kill you when you bit my fur, I won't kill you now," Sesshoumaru scoffed.
"Okay," Shippou grinned mischievously. "Here, toss that over," he said, indicating the biscuit. Sesshoumaru blinked and tossed the biscuit to Shippou, who caught it easily.
"Now count to thirty," Shippou said. Inuaysha looked over and stifled a grin.
"Alright...one, two, three, four, five, six..." Sesshoumaru began counting.
"Hold on a second..." Shippou hopped over to the demon's shoulder. Sesshoumaru glanced at him, but kept on counting, too curious to protest.
"...nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twe-"
Shippou smirked and swung his hand around, stuck the dog biscuit in Sesshoumaru's mouth while it was still open, and scurried off faster than he ever had before. Sesshoumaru stood there and blinked in surprise, and Inuyasha snorted as he tried to contain his laughter. Sesshoumaru looked over at him in slight confusion, then realized that he had a bone-shaped dog biscuit halfway in his mouth, and he also knew that he probably looked about as dumb as possible, standing there like a complete idiot in all his wonderment.
But, for some unfathomable reason, it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. He shrugged indifferently and reached his hand up to hold the end of the biscuit, biting it in half and crunching it between his teeth. He found that it was a bit strange at first, but he could easily get used to it. He ate the other half, and Inuyasha held the box towards him again. Sesshoumaru reached for another one, and Shippou smiled from atop Sango's shoulder.
"I'm good," he smirked to himself. "It worked for both of them in less than a minute."
"You just let him get away with making you look like a complete idiot," Inuyasha nudged his brother with his elbow. "You know that, right?"
"I didn't let him get away with it," Sesshoumaru said. "I just haven't figured out what to do about it yet."
Inuyasha held out the box again.
And so the rest of the day went by almost casually, with hardly a thought to Naraku or the jewel shards, or even much of any specific subject.
At the end of the day, Sesshoumaru watched quietly as the others settled down to camp, wondering if he should travel with them for a while or not. After all, he knew that they already had a kitsune to look after, and he knew that Jaken wouldn't be the best of company at all times, and-
"What're you thinking?" Inuyasha came over quietly, jolting Sesshoumaru out of his thoughts.
"I'm not sure," Sesshoumaru sighed.
"Okay, so what's bugging you then?" Inuyasha asked.
Sesshoumaru blinked and looked away, examining the sky for a few minutes before turning to look at his younger brother again. He tilted his head slightly sideways, unsure how to say what he was thinking.
"Trying to decide whether or not to stick around, huh?" Inuyasha smirked slightly at the surprised look on Sesshoumaru's face.
"How did you know?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"You kept looking at everybody a few minutes ago. I figured you might not know if you want to hang around or not. You looked kind of undecided. What's the matter, is Miroku too much of a pervert?" Inuyasha teased lightly.
"No. It's just that you already take care of that kitsune, and if Rin is around, that's another person to have to look out for. I'm not sure how everyone would tolerate Jaken. He has a habit of being uncannily annoying. You have to learn how to ignore him sometimes," Sesshoumaru explained shortly.
"Seems like they're getting along fine to me," Inuyasha looked over at the group as a tiny smile came to his face.
Sesshoumaru stopped and looked over as well, blinking at the unexpected sight.
Rin and Shippou were playing a game, laughing happily. Jaken was talking with Miroku, something or other about an ancient remedy for some sort of sickness. Kagome and Sango were trying to find sugar-free treats for the children, who were already getting close to hyperactive. Kirara mewed and looked up at Ah-Un, whisking both tails. Ah-Un blinked and sniffed her carefully, and they examined each other.
"You gonna stay?" Inuyasha asked after a long few minutes, his tone quiet and neutral.
Sesshoumaru looked at Inuyasha for a long time, staring into his younger brother's golden eyes as Inuyasha looked into his eyes as well. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he spoke.
"You sure you want me hanging around, Inuyasha?" he asked carefully.
"Hey, I can babysit one more person," Inuyasha shrugged indifferently, a grin working it's way onto his face.
"Babysit? You're the pup here," Sesshoumaru said with the tiniest smirk.
"Oh, I'm a pup, am I?" Inuyasha grinned. "A pup would be still teething, and I'm sure I'm not quite that young."
"Are you positive?" Sesshoumaru asked coolly, his fluff moving slowly back and forth. Inuyasha noticed and watched the furry thing whisk in smooth rhythm, not bothering to pay attention to the demon who smirked a bit wider at him. The fur looked so much like a tail, though he knew it wasn't really a tail, but still...and it was moving ever so enticingly...
Inuyasha couldn't help himself. He pounced on the fur, sinking his teeth in and growling happily like a playful puppy. Sesshoumaru grinned even more and took a few steps backwards, but Inuyasha growled more loudly and latched himself on tight to the fur.
"Um, Shippou, what are they doing?" Rin stopped and blinked in confusion, watching the two.
"I have no idea," Shippou shook his head in wonder. "But it looks like they're playing."
"Playing what?" Rin asked, surprised.
"Puppy games," Shippou shrugged. "Tug of war, maybe. Chase. Fetch. I don't know. Just playing."
"I always knew he was still a puppy," Rin smirked happily, watching Sesshoumaru.
"Come on, Inuyasha, you can do better than that," Sesshoumaru teased, pulling the fur. Inuyasha growled and let go of the fur, then pounced on his brother's chest. Sesshoumaru was knocked over and looked up at his brother as Inuyasha sat there on his chest, looking rather triumphant.
"I win," Inuyasha grinned and looked down at his brother.
"So what now, are you going to keep me here all night?" Sesshoumaru grinned.
"Yup," Inuyasha smiled. "You're staying here for a while. A long while," he added.
"You really wouldn't mind?" Sesshoumaru asked seriously, looking at his brother.
"Course not," Inuyasha answered, hie ears twitching with hidden emotion. "I mean, you know, it's not like you're a bad fighter or nothing, and if I can look after everyone else, then Rin won't be any harder to handle, and...and well, you're my brother. I want you to be here," he finished.
"Inuyasha..." Sesshoumaru looked at him, feeling his heart stir. He reached one hand up impulsively, touching the tip of one furry ear. Inuyasha twitched and blinked at him, but remained silent. Sesshoumaru ventured to move his hand to the base of the ear, then started slowly scratching behind it, smiling happily as Inuyasha closed his eyes and sighed contentedly.
"You're treating me like a puppy," Inuyasha said, totally unperturbed.
"I always wanted to," Sesshoumaru answered. "I just never thought I'd have the chance."
"It's not so bad," Inuyasha grinned and flopped over to the side, removing himself from his brother's chest. Sesshoumaru continued to scratch the ear, propping himself up on one elbow and leaning on his side.
"Feels great," Inuyasha commented after a minute.
"I'm just scratching your ear, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said calmly.
"Not just that," Inuaysha mumbled. "I mean that it feels great to be somewhere I belong now..."
"Somewhere you belong?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Like the whole rest of the world doesn't matter much anymore, because no matter how different we are, we have the same heartbeat..." Inuyasha mumbled sleepily as he yawned and struggled to stay awake.
Somehow, though that seemed to make little sense, Sesshoumaru understood what Inuyasha meant. And for a few seconds, he simply looked at his younger brother, watching the rise and fall of his chest.
"Me too, little brother," he whispered after a long few minutes. "I found somewhere I belong..."
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Well, I hope you liked it!
Please, please, please please PLEASE review this chapter, even if you never reviewed any other chapters! If you made it this far, I would really love to know what you thought of it. Even if you hated it to the ends of the earth, even if you want to murder me for doing it, please tell me what you thought. It would really mean the world to me! And thank you so so very much to everyone who reveiwed before! You're all such wonderful readers, and I truly hope that you enjoyed my story! Thank you so much, everyone! ;)