CHAPTER 4: Second Time Around

"Shippo?" Kagome couldn't believe it. She looked to Sesshoumaru for answers but all he did was smile and nod at her. Kagome looked back to see that Shippo hadn't moved so she took the first step towards him.

That was all the permission Shippo needed. He covered the distance between them and she was in his embrace in less time than it took to blink. "You're alive!"

"Shippo! Shippo-" Kagome thought she was over crying. It was all she did for the first two years that the well shut her away from her second family. "My baby. I tried coming back for you, I tried but it wouldn't let me," she said between sobs. All the wounds that had scabbed over, all the rage she felt at the fates for taking her son away from her, the depression at not being able to do anything about it, opened anew and released itself into Shippo's shirt.

"Momma, it's okay. I know you didn't stay away on purpose. It's gonna be okay," Shippo whispered as he stroked Kagome's back with a free hand.

Two little girls looked up to their grandfather. "Papa, why is grandma sad?"

Sesshoumaru turned to take his granddaughters to the backyard. "Your grandmother is happy because she has not seen your father in many many years."

"Why?" came the double response.

What would be acceptable to tell three year olds? "I'll tell you when you're older."

Inside the house…

"You're not going home," Shippo demanded.

Kagome smiled and wiped the moisture from her cheeks. "Sesshoumaru told me as much."

Rin smiled and looked at the woman she had imagined to be her mother all those centuries ago. Many years had been spent wondering what this moment was going to be like and all she could do was push her mate out of the way, "Shippo, it's my turn."

Shippo watched Kagome let go of him and move her waterworks to his mate. "Rin, you're so much older. I didn't get to see you two grow up."

Tears spilled from Kagome's eyes again and Rin rubbed her back to calm her. "You will see our daughters grow up. I'm so glad father found you. He's been looking for you for-"

Rin was cut off by a clearing of the throat.

Kagome backed up and wiped her eyes again. She shook her head in confusion. "Sesshoumaru didn't find me. I ran into Seiichi at work today."

"And where is that brat??" Shippo looked around the kitchen but didn't see any signs of him.

Sesshoumaru reentered the kitchen with granddaughters in tow. "My son is licking his wounds. He has endured a much needed lesson in manners."

Shippo looked to his mother who stiffened at the mention of Sesshoumaru's son. "Mom?"

Kagome's eyes focused on Shippo at the sound of her name. "Eh…heh?"

When Shippo looked to Sesshoumaru for an answer, the taiyoukai said, "my ill-mannered son thought to correct Kagome. She did not take kindly to having a hand raised against her."

Shippo couldn't believe it. Well, this was Seiichi they were talking about. He was a miniature version of Sesshoumaru in his younger days with a temper that rivaled that of Inuyasha.

Kagome winced. "I thought he was Sesshoumaru being his past arrogant and condescending self so I blasted him through the window in his office."

"Seiichi has been in need of learning a lesson in respect. He is lucky it was this human miko to teach him the lesson."

Kagome laughed nervously. "Yeah, except he's four times younger than I thought him to be because he wasn't his father. I could have killed him!"

"Don't worry, Kagome. If Sesshoumaru says he's fine, the boy's fine. Seiichi has been rough-handled. I mean, he had Inuyasha for a babysitter. And that was after Inuyasha practiced on me." Shippo put the diaper bag on the dining room table and hugged Kagome again. "I can't believe you're actually here. We've waited so long to find you!" He wrapped two strong arms around her waist and swung her around the kitchen. Kagome's estranged laughter came made its way out of her body and everyone smiled at the sound.

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Rin walked to her father and snuggled into his side. They had come a long way, he had come a long way to be able to accept physical contact with her, let alone anyone else. Rin never took the small allowances for granted. She knew her father mourned the loss of the miko before his son was born. She didn't need words to know that in the past Sesshoumaru would seek out the group of shard hunters to be in the miko's refreshing presence. There was a distinct lightness of his eyes when he would return to his own group. After much innocent questioning and reviewing past conversations, Rin had pieced together his reasons and smiled at the thought of her lord being distracted by his brother's miko.

Rin would finally see her father happy as long as Kagome hadn't done something stupid like tied herself off to a human male while she had been flying under the radar.

"Uncle didn't really know when you were going to be born," Rin informed Kagome. "All he told us was in five-hundred years you would be fifteen and you would live on a shrine. He must have not wandered around much while he visited with you in the future because there are a lot of shrines in the greater Tokyo area."

Kagome sat at the dining room table with her two new granddaughters in her lap. To Rin, Kagome looked as though a lot of the weight on her shoulders had been lifted. "You guys looked for me?"

Rin nodded. "Many of the shrines have women who were seeking shelter from abusive relationships or family situations. They were reluctant to give out names and information. It has been a difficult search."

Shippo sat behind Kagome and had his head on her shoulder. It was the best he could do since jumping on her shoulder was out of the question.

"We didn't start the search until about five years ago because we didn't want to screw up the time continuum. But it's pretty funny that the one who didn't know you at all is the one who found you."

Kagome nodded. "That is kind of weird. There's just something about dog demons that I just can't shake myself free of. I wonder what that is…"

"Fate is a four-letter word…" Shippo sang, imitating a popular Cake song.

Rin turned at feeling a vibration in her father's chest before actually hearing him ask, "do you wish to be free of dog demons?"

Kagome looked to the ever stoic taiyoukai, knowing that there was another meaning hidden deep in his words.

"No," she answered automatically. Kagome's eyes narrowed at Sesshoumaru as she came up with her own translation of the question, oblivious to what he actually thought, and growled in a tightly reigned voice, "You think I wished to be sent back to the future? You think I wanted to be thrown away from my family, from the only place I have ever felt like I actually belonged and was needed?" Sesshoumaru frowned but remained silent. He listened as years of mental torture blew up and splattered all over the walls. "I broke every bone in my body twice over trying to jump down the well to come back for two years. My mother had to call her friend in construction to build a steel cage around it to put a stop to my so-called suicide attempts. Then she called in another friend who was a psychiatrist to help me through my emotional state, except I knew I couldn't tell the woman anything, otherwise I'd get locked up in a psych box. My mom told me I needed to find something to occupy my mind with, I needed a hobby."

When Kagome had not returned to the past after two months, Shippo knew that the jewel had locked her away. He was angry, he made life a living hell for those around him for quite some time before Sesshoumaru was able to calm the boy down through Rin. Now, hearing his mother's story, Shippo's heart cracked again. Kagome had to go through all of that alone, without anyone who understood her. At least Shippo had his family and Sesshoumaru's when the demon finally started coming around.

Kagome hung her head as the familiar feelings of depression resurfaced with her trip to her past. "I was angry for a very long time." Kagome pulled the two little girls closer to her chest and nuzzled their sleeping heads in the crook of her neck. "I ran away to a shrine where they helped me to heal and soon I was able to get on my feet again. Shortly after that I applied to school and majored in history and found a job at the museum."

Finally, the last family member that Kagome was aware of walked into the kitchen. "You mentioned this morning that you worked at the hospital." Seiichi crossed the kitchen, noticing that his nieces were comfortable in the lap of the woman he still did not know. But with the girls in the room, he would evade his father's wrath for his horrid display earlier. It was a cheap shot but Seiichi was hungry and he had a meeting at two.

Kagome's tension at Seiichi's entrance was apparent to the other adults in the room. His markings were plain for everyone to see. The two slashes of color on his cheek were closer to red than his father's magenta and his crescent moon was a midnight blue, not indigo. The differences were small, but large enough that she needed to know them.

"When I was at the shrine, I learned the art of healing hands. The director of Tokyo Memorial is of a miko line so she is aware of the healing powers of her sisters. Several women I met at the shrine work at the hospital in the ICU and in ER, to help lessen the more severe cases that come through the doors. We have people in life flight, ambulance crews, you name it, we're there. Our titles are Life Assistants. An eight-hour shift is long enough to put us-well…other women out for a week so we only work once a week. I work whenever they need a sub or have free time."

Seiichi sneered at Kagome from the counter and Kagome's eyes narrowed in return.

Sesshoumaru decided to prevent any more incidents. "Seiichi, this is Kagome, the miko from your bedtime stories, mother to Shippo, best friend of my brother. Kagome, my son Seiichi."

Seiichi's eyes widened when he made the connection. No wonder this woman was powerful. He could recount his uncle's stories, even though their accuracy in certain details was questionable. "You're the miko?"

"Sorry to disappoint," she answered. Kagome sighed when the boy didn't say anything in return and guilt prodded at her for her actions in his office. "Seiichi, I'm really sorry about blasting you through your window. I really thought you were your father. Please let me heal you-"

A familiar scowl marred that boyish face. "I would rather let my wounds fester and heal on their own than let you near me again."

Kagome felt a stabbing pain in her heart at hearing those words. Sesshoumaru had allowed her to heal him in the past and had even aided her a few times when her life seemed doomed. To not have some kind of a connection with his son really hit her hard.

"But it will scar," she said. "Miko burns don't heal on demons-"

"I do not care," Seiichi's voice boomed through the kitchen.

Kagome really needed to be able to separate Seiichi and his father in her mind. The repercussions of not doing so would create a wide gap in any relationship she hoped to bud with this newly extended family of hers.

Sesshoumaru could smell the miko's guilt and sadness, knowing that his son chose not to be healed. Rin had helped to soften the great taiyoukai lord but Seiichi had no equivalent to Rin in his life. Maybe the miko could help his son find freedom as she did with his younger brother. "Miko, do not worry yourself about my son. Let his scars be a reminder to him-"

"Of how easy I am to anger?" she provided.

Sesshoumaru sighed and picked up one of his now sleeping granddaughters from Kagome's lap. "No. It will serve to remind him of his own temper and what unnecessary provocation can cause."

Sesshoumaru could smell Kagome's tears before they reached her eyes. He nodded at Rin and Shippo to take their daughters. He would take care of the miko.

"I have a meeting in an hour. I will see you later, father. Shippo, Rin," Seiichi said, ignoring Kagome.

A low growl pierced the silence in the kitchen that Kagome traced back to Sesshoumaru. She watched Seiichi freeze in the doorway. That growl made Kagome's heart stop and she saw Shippo and Rin just shake their heads at the boy.

A few seconds passed before Kagome heard Seiichi acknowledge her. He left without another sound.

Shippo walked towards Kagome and picked up little Hotaru. "We're gonna put the girls down for their nap," Shippo informed Kagome before walking out with Rin and Moriko.

Sesshoumaru sighed and stretched a hand out to the miko still seated at the table. "Miko, I apologize for my son's rude behavior. He has been hard to deal with since Inuyasha died."

Kagome accepted the hand up and was surprised when the hand slid to the small of her back to escort her to the back patio. "I totally understand how he feels. I went through the same thing when the well shut down. Do you think it would help if I made him a magic necklace?" she asked, trying to lift the heavy air about them.

"It is an interesting thought." Sesshoumaru smiled and pulled the nearest chair out for the miko to sit in.

"Actually, could we walk around, please? I've been locked indoors all day and need some fresh air."

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Sesshoumaru couldn't be more pleased. The miko was with him and requested his company. This was going to be easier than he thought. Five hundred years he waited through stories and memories to be with her again.

It was after his son was born that Sesshoumaru had loosened up a bit. Inuyasha had found a best friend in the miko and Sesshoumaru found an obsession in needing to know the peculiar woman that withstood all attempts to remove her from this plane of existence.

"You gotta just tell her. Kagome's not stupid and I've dragged her around enough to last her a lifetime. If you wanna make her happy, be straightforward with her. She'll let you know whether she wants you or not but you have to tell her. That girl's loyal to a fault but she won't take crap from anyone. Not even you."

That was the advice Inuyasha gave him. That's what he was going to do…or maybe he would try it his way first. After all, he couldn't make things too easy for his prey.

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I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed this story. Your words of encouragement help me put words on paper so to speak.

And to the person who signed Tired of Summer, thanks for catching the impossible task I assigned Kagome. I have found a way to get what I want while keeping a quasi-realistic feel to it. You may have to re-read chapter 3 but I've found a more balanced part for Kagome's jobs. Thanks for reviewing!