Dear Sango,

How are you? Ish misses you more than you know. I hear Ryoku is going to turn 2 soon, so why don't you bring him here and we can celebrate together. I have big news when you get here, so you might want to hurry. I hope Miroku isn't still being a pervert, but he said he quit. Once a perv, always a perv. Ish is telling me to write that she says hello, so she says hi. Inuyasha went out to get fish, so I'll have to hurry this up. We love you and tell Ryoku and Miroku we said hello.

Love,

Kagome

Kagome read and re-read her letter to make sure it was alright, and with Ish at her heels, she went into the village to the mail man's hut. She slipped the letter into his bag outside and took Ish's hand. "Come on Ish, the sooner we get home, the sooner you can go to sleep and then, Aunt Sango's letter will be here tomorrow." Which was true because Sango and Miroku had moved a little bit closer, but not in walking distance; the mail man used a horse and only delivered as far away as just beyond Sango's.

This seemed to give Ish a little boost, and they hurried towards their hut, but just as they reached the outskirts of the village, a man came out of one of the huts and looked at Kagome. "'Ey wait, I know you (burp), you're that girl that's married to that pathetic hanyou." He said, clearly drunk. "Get away from me! You're drunk; you don't know what you're talking about." "No, you're his wife. You abandon your own kind to go and start a family with him. And now, by the looks of it, you've got another one coming." He said as he swung his fist forward, but Kagome ducked it and pushed him away. "Get away from us!" she yelled as she turned to Ish. "Ish, go get Daddy, and hurry." She whispered. "But Mommy, what if you get hurt?" "Don't worry Ish, I won't. Now go." She said as she gently shoved her away.

Ish started to run to where the river was and she ran through the thick branches and bushes until she came to a clearing. She saw a flash of red in the water a little ways ahead and ran towards it. "Daddy! Daddy!" she cried as she came nearer and nearer to the water. "Ish? What's wrong? Where's mommy?" he asked, looking alarmed at the crying girl in front of him. "Momma's in the village, but this man came out, and he walked around weird, and then he said mean things about you being my daddy and then he tried to hit her, and she told me to find you." She got out in almost one breath. Inuyasha dropped the fish he had caught and headed towards the village with Ish on his back.

As he came to the edge of the outskirts, he looked around for any sign of Kagome. She was no where to be seen, and Ish slid off his back and started to call out for her mother. "Stay here Ish." He said as he rounded some huts. He turned around the corner of a hut and saw something he had hoped he would never see again.

Kagome. On the ground, helpless. She was lying on her side with her hair sprawled about messily, and her pink skirt (like her uniform, but pink) ripped in several places and her white shirt streaked with dirt. He rushed up to her and pushed her onto her back. Her hands were curled into fists as they hit and lay limply on the dirt. "Kagome, please don't be dead, please. You promised you'd never leave me." he thought as he looked at herHer usually shiny thick black hair was tangled and had dried blood and dirt in it. He brushed it out of her face and saw the damage the drunk had done. Her eyes were closed and her head sagged to the left; she was unconscious. His blood boiled as he noticed her lip was cut and bleeding down to her chin and she had what looked like the start of a nasty bruise by her right temple. He saw dark spots forming on her forearms. Her ankle was sprained, but her other foot was alright. He hated himself for letting her go without him. He was going to find the person that did this, and he was going to kill them. It wouldn't be hard, he was drunk, staggering around, and trying to pick a fight. But now his main concern was Kagome. He sadly picked her up and hurried to where Ish was.

Ish was sitting under a tree and plucking at a blade of grass. "Ish, come on." He said as she gazed up and a look of sheer horror crossed her face. She got up and ran over to them. "Daddy, we need to 'urry, Mommy doesn't look too good." He started to sprint forward, and thanks to Ish's inherited speed, she was able to keep up a little. He nearly knocked down Kaede's door as he barreled into her hut. The old lady looked up as she sipped her tea at the scared hanyou in her doorway and the little girl stumbling towards her.

"Kaede, we need you to help her." Inuyasha said as he laid his mate on the table. His heart broke into tinier than bite sized pieces as he watched the hag look over his wife. "Do ye know what did this?" she said as she went into her usual questions. "A drunkard. He cornered Kagome after she and Ish went to mail a letter to Sango. I was at the river, getting fish." "Ah, she is very lucky ye found her, she might've died if ye hadn't been so quick." "Will she make it through the night?" "I do not know. She seems to be in grave condition. Ye need to come back tomorrow at night, so no on e will see ye and cause more trouble." "Don't worry hag, I turn human tomorrow." He muttered. "Good." And with that, she asked Inuyasha if he would take Ish home because she was opening jars and spilling the contents. "Yeah, sure." He said as he took one last look at his wife and herded Ish out of the door.

That night, they ate a quiet dinner and Ish, for once, went to bed we she was old to. After he tucked her in and kissed her good night, he went downstairs and sat at the table. "Just yesterday I held Kagome in my arms. She was crying, but she wasn't hurt, just happy that she was pregnant. The other night might've been the last time we could be together. My family's life will never be the same, thanks to prejudice and alcohol." He thought as he waited for hours for the sun to rise, and the day to pass so he could check to see if Kagome was alive. He hated to think what would happen if she wasn't. Another thought crossed his mind at that point. "Oh, God, what about the baby? What if she had a miscarriage?" This horrible notion made him want to control the sun so it would travel faster.

Finally, the rays of the sun had disappeared and he felt his fangs and ears shrink into his body and he looked into a mirror and saw his silver hair turn a dark onyx as if someone had applied instant dye. He knew it was time to go. As Ish came to the door and saw Inuyasha, her expression didn't change. She knew her daddy changed his appearance once every month. He and Ish walked out into the crisp summer night hand in hand and hurried to Kaede's hut. He went into the dark hut and his heart fell as he saw that no one was there.