Disclaimer: Inuyasha is STILL not mine, but we'll see, my pretties, we'll see... :cackle:

AN: Okay, to everyone who has/does read my fics, my DEAREST, DEEPEST apologies for my freakishly long absence. I'm well aware it's been a couple of months since my last post, and I'm also aware I distinctly promised not to go on extended hiatus without warning, but this couldn't be helped.

On that note, to those of you who have been so patient and understanding, my extreme thanks to all of you. You have no idea how much I appreciate all of your support, and I know I deserve a good flogging for making you have to sit there not knowing anything.

To those who have NOT been patient, I'm simply going to state that school and life comes first for me. Yes, I love to write, I adore it more than anything, but school is important to me. I'm a college student, a science major to be more precise, and I have been SWAMPED with work this semester. I have had no time for myself, muchless for fanfiction, and it rather irritates me when I find people acting rude towards me simply because I haven't fulfilled their literary needs for the week. Writing is something I do because I enjoy it, not because I'm attempting to solely entertain an audience. PLEASE realize that all authors who post on are writing their stories on their own, precious time, and sometimes life comes up. Things happen. We all have lives, and we all need to take care of that before we can do anything else. Please don't hassel people for not posting, we're all doing our best.

Also, this isn't directed towards those who ask politely for author updates,or those who mention it in passingor in hope.Those types of comments or emails really encourage me and help a lot. It is when a person becomes pushy and rude that it becomes frustrating and maddening. Please, just try to remember that we're all just trying to live our lives first and foremost.

Thanks everyone. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 8

They chose to venture outside in order to talk. The crescent moon was high in the cloudless sky, the rain having stopped some time ago to leave everything glistening and wet. Inuyasha led a silent Kagome out into one of the sandy courtyards that seemed to be a favorite aspect of the household, their bare feet leaving distinct prints in the wet, malleable surface. Once outside, Kagome settled onto one of the large stones that adorned the courtyard, watching all the while as Inuyasha continued to stand, silent for what seemed like forever.

Finally, "I've been watching Sesshoumaru's runts grow up for the better part of two hundred years now, and Shippou has been growing since the first time I met you. I guess somewhere along the way I started to realize how happy they were when they were just being what they were: runts. I don't think I ever really saw kids play before I watched them, I never really noticed when I was a pup myself, so it really made me think about everything. It made me think about you." He glanced up as he spoke about her, saw her watching, and continued.

"It brought back all the times I had yelled at you for going back to your time to study or go to school or take a test. I didn't understand the importance of it all back then. So, when I finally did start to understand I felt… guilty…" His ears drooped as he spoke, his words reflecting in his expression. "I knew there would be a time when I'd see you again, and I started to think that maybe it would be better if I wasn't part of your life. At times I was tempted to keep you from falling down the well in the first place." His ears dropped further until they were almost pressed against his head, causing a small pang to ring true in Kagome's chest.

"Inuyasha…"

"No, let me finish. I've waited a long time for this." Startled, she obeyed. "I spent so much time thinking it over, so many hours wondering what to do, and when it finally came down to that moment I found I couldn't do it. I watched you fall when you were fifteen, watched myself come through the well for the first time with ofuda all over the place. After that, what could I do? I sat back and watched for three years from the very beginning to the day you sealed the well. It made me see things so much more clearly. I couldn't barge into your life again after you were convinced that I was gone for good. So, I decided to let you live your life," He said with a slight frown, staring at the sand beneath his feet. He seemed to be considering his own words, turning them over in his mind before he glanced hurriedly up at her and then away once more. "And it turned out good, didn't it? You're here again, finished with school. I was right, wasn't I?" He looked up at her again, hopeful, but this time her eyes were shielded against him, her head ducked low with long strands of black hair hiding her face.

For a time it seemed as though she might not respond, then…

"…Inuyasha no Baka…"

He nearly doubled over. "Wha…?"

"Baka! Baka, baka, baka!" Throwing her head back, she glared at him with a strange ferocity, causing him to take a step back. What had he done? He was just being honest!

She stood and approached him, eyes hidden once again, until she was standing in front of him, still muttering that word to herself. He could see the slightest tremble in her frame and frowned gently, raising a clawed hand to touch her shoulder. The contact seemed to set off fireworks and she launched herself at him, pounding her fists feebly against his chest in a sudden fit of rage, her voice growing louder.

"Baka! Idiot! Jerk! Fool! Moron!" Each hit was harder than the one before, and he could only stare down at her.

"Ka-Kagome! Wha? Knock it off, Wench!" He grabbed her firmly by her arms in an attempt to halt her actions, but she only fought harder against him until she was near screaming her frustrations. That was when he heard the first, unmistakable sob and saw a helpless tear roll from her face. She was crying…? "…Kagome…?"

Without warning she stopped all struggle and buried her face in his haori, taking fistfuls of the red fabric between her hands. He was left puzzled and stunned, his arms slinking around her instinctively from too many years of tending to a tempermental niece. What the hell was going on?

Tentatively, a clawed hand moving to brush back hair from her face, he pried her away from his clothing and ducked his head in an attempt to see her face. Her eyes rose to meet his, overflowing with tears and a look of anguish. Even so, there was something defiant in those eyes…

"Inuyasha no Baka," she repeated with a pitiful sniffle, still clenching his firerat haori tightly. He stayed silent, unable to respond. "You think I was better off without you? You really are a fool…" Suddenly, with a strength that surprised him, she shoved him away from her body so that he stumbled backward ever so slightly. Dumbfounded, he could only continue to stare as she then made to stomp away from him, off towards the house.

He blinked once, twice…

Was she…? Was she actually walking away from him? Incredulity boiled up in his chest as suddenly as an erupting volcano.

"Oi, Wench!" He realized his mistake as soon as he saw the enraged miko visibly flinch and freeze in place, stance rigid. He tensed, waiting for the word he knew was coming and considering whether he should simply throw himself onto the ground to make the impact more pleasant.

"…Maybe I would have been better off," she bit out before disappearing into the house, much too quietly and gracefully this time. She never looked back or opened her mouth to utter that dread phrase.

Inuyasha could not help but feel that he was suddenly in a great deal more trouble than when they had first stepped outside, and his stomach strangely sunk when he found himself left – standing - to watch her walk off.

"I do not think that went very well," Rin mused with a sigh and a sad shake of her head, pulling back from where she had subtly lifted the blinds to look outside. Turning, she looked up at her lord and husband, who was currently leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and arms crossed. When she spoke, he opened his eyes to regard her wordlessly, lending no portion of his opinion to the matter. Not that he needed to, for Rin knew very well the inuyoukai's thoughts on the matter:

This Sesshoumaru cares not what happens between the worthless half-breed and his human.

Rin frowned uncharacteristically at Sesshoumaru's emotionless form, almost pouting in her distaste for the way in which he still referred to Inuyasha. After all, her own children were two pups very similar to that "worthless half-breed". Therefore, the statement he used in reference to his own brother had grown irritating to her over the years after the birth of Kotan, and she had eventually scolded him over the fact, upon which he had never again used the phrase in her presence. But, that did not mean he still did not use it at all…

Even so, Rin also knew that, while the taiyoukai pretended to be unconcerned with the matter of his brother, and furthermore refused to admit any sort of contradiction to himself, Sesshoumaru watched Inuyasha like a hawk and attended to the hanyou's distress in his own manner where neither brother realized what it was they were doing for one another. It was rather a sight to see: the dance the two siblings performed around each other for the sake of pride, and both she and Kotan watched with fascination over the years, Aya too young and innocent to realize what was truly going on around her beyond 'Papa and Ji-chan like each other very much!' Though, the child was exceptionally perceptive…

Stepping back from the window, Rin approached Sesshoumaru with a scrutinizing gaze, paused, and then proceeded to drop against the wall in much the same fashion he currently stood. The motion earned her a reproving glare that was similar to those she earned when she was still a child, and she answered with a bright, telling grin. Choosing to ignore the incessant daggers the arrogant youkai was shooting her way, she turned her face from him and reached a hand up to pull free the band that held her dark horde of hair up in a loose bun, letting the tendrils cascade over her shoulders carelessly and running her hands through it as was customary of a woman her age.

…Well, maybe not her age, but certainly her appearance…

"He has not yet learned to bite his tongue." Ah, a response. Finally.

"Inuyasha-sama has always been quick to action. It is simply part of who he is."

"He is a fool."

"He is what he raised himself to be. What more could you have asked of him during that time? People do not change, milord, only situations." Her response earned her a deep, disapproving growl, but she brushed it off with a gentle sigh, as she had learned to do over the centuries. "This is new for both Inuyasha-sama and Kagome-sama. They have not seen each other in a long time, and we are all aware that the situation ended painfully for their group when Kagome-sama first returned to this time. They must be given the chance to first feel their way out in this new place amongst each other, and amongst us. He is your brother, you have watched him grow, you must realize this."

"Half brother."

"But blood nevertheless."

The taiyoukai pushed away from the wall, standing so that he was towering over her menacingly. He was frowning.

"Blood that is tainted has no place with that which is pure."

She recoiled as though bitten, injured by his words. Instinctually, one hand dropped down to rest against her belly- the place where she had carried two of such "tainted" blood. Her face fell until she could feel tears creep into her eyes, her mouth twisting downwards until she could not even force it into a straight line, so great was the wound he had just struck.

"I see…" she whispered, deathly quiet. "It is no wonder, then, that you do not understand what I say to you."

She turned away, prepared to flee the room, when he roughly grabbed her and pulled her back, flush against his chest, his hand patiently holding her even as she struggled for but a moment. Once she realized what had happened, Rin stilled in his embrace, watching as the same hand- his only hand- then traveled to her abdomen and stopped to rest there. She could feel his breath brush over the skin of her neck, and shivered involuntarily.

"I said nothing of what has grown inside this womb in years past."

She could not help but feel a touch of bitterness towards his words. "But you would not hesitate in degrading those who came before?" He tensed behind her, his palm pressing ever more tightly against her stomach. He said nothing in response, and Rin felt the first of her tears spill over her cheeks, watching through blurred vision as the drops fell upon his hand. "I have seen you raise your son for years as a father should: always at his side when you are needed, teaching him and correcting him in ways which are tradition to your family, molding him into what will be a great man- a great hanyou… and yet you cannot so much as look at your own brother, a man who looks every bit the same as your son, without so much as a kind nod. Or, at least that is what you believe."

Still he was silent.

"You don't even see it, do you? You don't see how he looks up to you, depends on you to be there? You don't say much to him, but when you do it speaks volumes. He listens to you! And, whether you like to believe it or not, you speak. You are there for him just as you are there for your son, and have taught him exactly what Kotan is now learning, but you insist on hiding it behind harsh words and hatred. How does that make him feel?" She was crying openly now, and Rin did not know if she was truly talking only about Inuyasha anymore. The emotions were strong in her, and this was only one of numerous outbursts she had experienced over the years. Centuries was too long for one human to endure without a slip of sanity here and there, or the occasional emotional breakdown, and Rin found she was usually reduced to the latter. But her lord had yet to become angered over any of it, and that was true even now as he brought his hand up to turn her, releasing her body and forcing her to look at him all at once. Brown met amber-gold.

"He would not have it any other way." Her breath caught, but Sesshoumaru gave no further explanation before releasing her and stepping around her and out the door.

Rin turned slowly to look at the empty doorway, her hand once against reaching for her stomach, and then her heart as she reflected on what she had seen deep in those amber pools. Was it truly what she thought? Surely he would never…

But it had to be. Yes, it must have been correct.

Admiration.

"Kagome?" Shippou knocked hesitantly on the closed bedroom door, hearing only silence beyond, but easily able to smell the salt of tears wafting from beneath the door. He had been trying for nearly five minutes now to gain a response from his adoptive mother, but had failed miserably. He frowned boyishly as he wondered what had made her react in such a way, positive that it had something to do with the hanyou who had raised him for almost five centuries. That could only mean that Inuyasha had finally explained himself to Kagome. "Kagome, are you okay? Please open the door."

He waited another few moments before hearing the russle of bed sheets, followed by footsteps, and then the eventual, slow opening of the door. His frown deepened.

Kagome stood before him as a wreck, hair unkempt and eyes swollen and blotchy from extended amounts of heavy crying. She looked up at him without so much as a smile, and he could only think that she looked weary as she leaned almost drunkenly against the door. "Shippou-chan…"

Not knowing what else to do, he silently entered the room without permission and took her hand, closing the door behind him. Leading her back to her bed, he helped her to climb up onto the elevated mattress before hopping up beside her and settling down, long legs stretching out before him as he chose to lean against the headboard. Then, he carefully drew her down, allowing the woman who he had always considered his mother to rest her head in his lap. Her only response was a shuttering sigh.

Strangely, Shippou found he was not angry with Inuyasha for upsetting Kagome this time. If anything, they had all been predicting what her reaction would be if she ever discovered the truth, and tears had always been factored in one way or another. After all, this was the same woman who had time and again claimed she was not crying while bawling her eyes out in front of the Inu-tachi. Emotions had always been part of Kagome, since the very day he had first met her as a child, since the first moment she had taken him in and raised him as though it were only natural. Tears were necessary for her to accept what had transpired in her life, especially now when a sealed past was suddenly resurfacing.

But it still hurt to see her cry…

Leaning over and brushing back hair from her face, Shippou was surprised to realize that the miko had fallen asleep where she lay, breathing deeply. He smiled. Lifting her head, he shifted out from beneath her and resettled her cheek on the mattress, pulling up the comforter around her. He then started toward the door before pausing mid-step and rethinking his decision.

With a devious, fox-like grin, he hopped happily back to the bed, transforming quite suddenly in mid-air before landing gracefully on the comforter in the form of a petite red-tailed fox. Burrowing beneath the covers, he settled himself beside the sleeping miko, and was quite pleased when she subconsciously wrapped her arms around him and murmured his name, much like she had used to do when he was still a child and still small enough to sleep in the same bed with his "mother".

It was in this fashion that the little fox fell asleep and woke the following morning.

AN: Alrighty, that's Chapter 8! Angsty, I know. Lots of girly crying and all that jazz, but the characters have to get through some age-old feelings before they can discover new ones. Don't worry, it'll get better from here on out. Hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to get out Chapter 9 some time after finals are over (Sometime after May 3rd, basically). Thanks for reading!

-Sar