Chapter 12 – My Father, My Love

Ladies and Gentlemen: In response to all the inspirational, loving reviews, I present to you, without further ado, the chapter all of us (myself included) have been waiting for since this damn story ever started – MIROKU! I DON'T OWN INUYASHA! THE DISCLAIMER'S OUT OF THE WAY, NOW READ AND ENJOY!

It was my father.

With his deep purple eyes, those dark orbs that locked onto me and held me. I felt my heart stop cold, all of time stopped in one single instant, while I knew it was him.

But I couldn't move.

I was frozen to my spot. I couldn't even speak. My lungs breathed raggedly, my whole body trembling, as much with shock as with the exhaustion. He straightened up, still looking right at me. But when finally feeling zapped back into my legs, I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Inuyasha, being supported by Kagome. He was in horrible shape. Blood trickled from his scalp and stained his red haori, but through his black eye, he looked at my father, then me, and then whispered.

"Kaza. Wait." He coughed, and then Kagome said softly, "There's someone else he needs to see first."

I wanted to yell, "He's my father! I traveled across Japan for two months to see him!" But then I realized what they meant, because my mother was walking up.

Her eyes were sparkling with unshed tears, her thick brown hair tumbling over her shoulders and her body shaking. He saw her, and his mouth widened. His eyes locked onto her now. Finally, I heard her whisper,

"Miroku."

She started walking, then started running, tears cascading down her face, and he came forward too, a beautiful look on his face. They collided in the center of the field, arms wrapping around each other, my mother still crying, and she whispered,

"I love you."

"I've loved you all along." He said, his voice choked, holding to her like there was nothing else in the world he wanted. He closed his eyes and placed his head on top of hers, finally crying too. She smiled and looked up at him, saying,

"Never let me go, Miroku. I'd die if we couldn't be together again."

My father's mouth opened, just so slightly, and my heart swelling as I watched, he bent down and caught her in a kiss.

I was crying. Deep down it was kind of sick to see my parents kissing like that, but I was so happy to see them together again, and to finally see my mama the happiest she'd ever been, they could've had sex on that field and I probably would have cheered them on. My heart was full to bursting, and it didn't even matter that I wasn't the first one to meet him, cause I knew that she deserved it more.

He buried his hands in her thick hair, she wrapped her arm around his middle, and they kissed like…like they hadn't seen each other in fifteen years. Behind me, Kagome and Shippou were sobbing, and Inuyasha was smiling. Actually smiling. It took a lot to see him smile, and this, this was totally worth it.

When they pulled away, I'd never seen my mother's face like that. Shining, and radiant, and just beautiful. She stroked his cheek, he smiled at her, and it was the most perfect thing I'd ever seen.

I started to walk forward. I couldn't help it. Somewhere, I was almost sad that my mother could kiss him like that, and I wanted to be there too. I wasn't really thinking. But my body was too weak. It felt like my soul was going to collapse on me. I walked forward about five steps, and then my legs fell out from under me.

I was going to hit the ground, and I knew it, but I didn't.

A pair of arms caught me.

I looked up and saw my eyes mirroring back at me.

It was my father. He'd caught me when I fell.

My soul was going to burst. I started crying anew and buried my face in his chest. And he did exactly what I'd always dreamed he'd do. He did exactly what, in my wildest fantasies, when I'd lie alone at night and dream of my dad, I always prayed and hoped he'd do.

He wrapped his arms around me and held me so close to him I could hear his heartbeat.

I cried, I sobbed, I clung to his robes like a baby. I curled up, snuggling myself in his arms, clutching his body for dear life. I felt so helpless, so alone, and he held me and rocked me and kept me close. He was my island in the stormy sea. Deep down, I knew this was it.

He was my father, the father I'd always wanted. The father that I'd traveled across Japan and defeated Naraku for.

And there was nothing more I wanted in the world.

My sobs finally slowed, and he reached up and stroked my hair, just like my mother did when I was sad. I finally opened my eyes and saw my mom come up. She bent down, stroked my hair too, and then whispered,

"Miroku, the day you disappeared, I was pregnant. She's your daughter."

I was almost scared of what he'd say, how he'd react. But I didn't have anything to worry about.

"Sango," he murmured, "I knew from the first moment I saw her."

I heard his heart pump, wrapped my arms around him, and just smiled. It was probably the happiest moment of my life.

He leaned down and said softly, "What's your name?"

"Kaza." I whispered.

He started and looked up at Sango. "You named her, didn't you? 'Kaza' means wind."

She grinned. "I thought you'd like it."

He chuckled and stroked my hair, and then my mom said, "I need to take care of her, Miroku. She's very badly injured from Naraku. She faced him by herself, and he really hurt her. Her shoulder was stabbed and it didn't get the proper attention it needed."

"She took him on by herself?" He said in awe. "Wow. Of course, she needs care now."

"Here, baby," my mom whispered, gathering me up in her arms. I'm still amazed she could even lift me, but then again, my mother astounded me everyday. "I'm so proud of you, Kaza. It's gonna be okay now."

She carried me gently over to the medical supplies, set me down and then slowly pulled down the shoulder of my yukata. As she changed the bandage and began to disinfect my shoulder, I looked through slitted eyes and saw my dad stand up, only to be tackled instantaneously by Kagome, Shippou and Kirara. I smiled and whispered, "Look, Mama. Kagome and Shippou are doing the ritual tackle."

She smiled. "Oh, he's in for it now, isn't he?"

I heard him cry, "Kagome! Kirara! Shippou! You're all okay!" In one voice, they screamed; "MIROKU!" and Kirara mewed. I leaned back, still smiling.

Oh, yeah. This was the happiest day of my life.

"Miroku, I'm so happy! It's been so looong!" Shippou cried, grabbing his neck. Kirara jumped up on his other shoulder and purred, rubbing his cheek. And Kagome managed to restraint herself while Miroku said, "Shippou, you've gotten so big! You've gotten a lot stronger, too, I can barely hold you. Oh, Kirara, you're just like I remember. It's so good to see you guys again."

Kagome came up and wrapped his arms around his neck, whispering things in his ear. He smiled, whispered back, and then as if in slow motion, I saw his hand move down her back.

It stopped right on her butt.

"DAMN IT, MIROKU!" She exploded, slapping him. My mom figured out what happened, whipped around and screamed,

"Miroku, do that one more time and I swear to God I'll kill you! You haven't seen me for fifteen years and you go and rub some other girl's butt?"

"I love you, Sango," he called back, "but I had to do it. Habit."

"Arrghh." She groaned, turning back to me. "He hasn't changed a bit."

I was watching the scene with wide eyes. "My dad's a pervert?"

"What, Kagome didn't warn you?" She grunted. "Hell yes he was a pervert. Everyone always told me I should've picked a better man to fall in love with." Then she hissed, and her tone changed instantly. "Oh, baby, you've got a pretty bad cut here. It went deep into your muscle. Oh, no, I think you're going to have to lie low for a while with this arm. You're going to have a scar, Kaza."

"It's okay." I murmured. "It was worth it."

She smiled, and I looked over to see Inuyasha coming up to him. Kagome and my dad were both smiling, even though he had a huge red handprint on his cheek. Inuyasha smiled at him, a really big smile for Inuyasha's standards, and said softly,

"You're a lecherous son of a bitch, Miroku. But it hasn't been the same without you."

"I missed you too, Inuyasha." He said with a hint of sarcasm, grinning. Inuyasha scoffed, quickly getting over the emotional moment, and I closed my eyes. I was really tired. My mom had finished on my shoulder and was moving down to all the various injuries all over my body. I knew I'd overexerted myself during the fight, but I wasn't thinking about the consequences then. I felt them now, though. My muscles were so sore, my whole body burned, my head was pounding. For it being the best day of my life, I sure felt like shit.

But I heard crunching leaves, and struggling to open my eyes, I looked up to see the whole group standing over me.

"Hey, Kaza." Inuyasha said. "You actually took on Naraku by yourself today – and you put up a really good fight. And you actually defeated him when none of the rest of us could."

"It was your best fight ever!" Shippou cheered.

"I don't know, hun." Kagome said, smiling. "None of us could ever kill Naraku when we were at our best, but without ever being in a fight before, you managed to do it. It was a little inspirational."

"But you guys all helped." I whispered, losing consciousness, fast.

"I know we did, Kaza." My mom said. "But it was your idea to take us across Japan, it was your idea to find Miroku, and you were even the one to take down Naraku. You did so great, baby."

Kirara came up to me, purring, and rubbed my hand. Inuyasha smiled at me. And as I finally blacked out, I saw my dad lean down to me, looking right at me with those eyes, exactly like mine, and say,

"I'm proud of you, Kaza."

Oh, yes. Oh, yes, yes, yes. That was probably one of the best love scenes I'd ever written. I'm sorry it's so short, but I didn't want to go over the top with the love scenes. Trust me, you get more of it later. :) A couple things I must say first that I didn't want to say in the opening notes –

1. All credit for the last chapter goes to joskers. We were at a friend's house and we were talking about this story, and she was the one who first suggested that Kaza and Miroku defeat Naraku together by both sucking him with the Kazaana. So thanks, babe. ;)

2. Yes, Kaza does mean wind. 'Kaze' is actually the Japanese translation for wind, and if you modify it slightly, 'Kaza' means wind. Think about it, those of you that watch the sub version. Kazaana? Kaze no Kizu? See where I'm going with this?

And if you've read all that, you're a stalker. :) Jk, I love you all! I'm pushing 50 reviews! Oh my god! Thank you so much! Please review, you guys rock my world, I appreciate every one! I hope you enjoyed it – MIROKU IS BACK! YAY!