It's been a while but I'm finally back with another InuKag story. I actually wrote this a while ago and I haven't posted it for some reason, but this is really one of my favorite stories I've ever written.

I've also done a comic for this story which will be posted on my Twitter InuKag2021 and my Instagram _lifeisaworkofart_

I hope you like this story. Please leave a review.

Waiting In The Storm

Inuyasha was traveling home one night after being out on a demon exorcism trip. Normally, Miroku went with him but he had come down with some kind of sickness that day so Inuyasha had ended up going alone. It was a good thing he decided to go anyway, that village probably would have been destroyed by the demon eventually if he hadn't intervened.

Now he was making the long journey home alone. The sun was going down, clouds had filled the sky, and it was starting to rain. Still, he continued on eager to get home to Kagome and their daughter Moroha.

However, it quickly became apparent that getting home before the end of the night wasn't going to happen. The light rain soon turned into a full blown storm. Normally he didn't mind traveling in the rain, but this storm was bad. The rain stung his eyes and the wind blew so hard he felt like he would be carried away. Lighting struck a tree not far from him. As much as he wanted to get home, even he knew when to quit while he was ahead. After all, Kagome would be happier if he came home in one piece.

After a quick search for some shelter, he found an old cave and decided to stay there until the storm let up. Hopefully it wouldn't be very long. Once there, he squeezed the rain out of his hair and started to make a fire. There was the scent of another demon in the air but whoever had last inhabited this place was gone for now.

Inuyasha leaned back against the wall of the cave and sighed. As the thunder continued to thrash, he thought about his family and hoped that they were okay. Both Kagome and Moroha hated storms. Usually when a storm happened, he'd sit by the fire in their house with both of them in his arms. Moroha would fall asleep and Kagome would stop shaking in fear. If it was storming at home, he hoped it wasn't this bad.

He wished he was home right now instead of sitting in a dark cave while the storm raged outside. Sure enough, Kagome would have had food, warm clothes, and a kiss for him as soon as he got home. Moroha would have wanted him to play with her or read to her. She was always so excited when he came home, especially after being away for a while. As soon as the storm let up and it was safe to go back out, he was going to get home to them as fast as he could.

Suddenly, he heard someone coming. A shadow appeared and he instinctively went into defense mode, watching as someone else entered the cave.

"What are you doing here?!" the young man about his age said as he entered. He was completely soaked after being out in the rain; his clothes and his dark brown hair that came just past his shoulders were drenched. His stance was rigid, as if he was waiting to be attacked any second. Inuyasha could tell that he wasn't human...but he wasn't completely demon either.

"Same as you, getting out of the rain," Inuyasha replied calmly.

"Well this is my cave, get your own!"

For some reason this guy was being extremely hostile, but Inuyasha didn't care to inquire further. "Fine, I'll leave," he said standing up. He figured he could find another shelter just as easily so there was no use picking a fight over it.

The other guy looked at him in shock. "Wait...you're just going to go?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "If this is where you stay, I don't want to intrude." He went for the exit but stopped when the man spoke again.

"You're a half demon."

"So are you."

"I've never met another half demon before."

"Probably because most of them are hiding out in places like this away from predators." Inuyasha turned to leave again but just before he could step back out into the rain the man spoke again.

"You can stay if you want."

"Are you sure?"

The guy wouldn't make eye contact and seemed uncomfortable as if he weren't used to having other people around. "Yeah...no need to be out in a storm like that."

So they went back inside and sat across from each other by the fire in silence. Inuyasha watched as the other half demon started to roast the fish he had brought back. Not only did he have the scent of a half demon, but his ears were pointed and he had sharp claws. His eyes were an unnaturally bright purple. Inuyasha hadn't met many other half demons either. He could tell by this guy's hardened expression that he had been through a lot and Inuyasha could only imagine from his own experience.

"Here," he said, handing Inuyasha one of the roasted fish on a stick.

"Thanks," Inuyasha replied. "What's your name?"

"Satoshi. You?"

"Inuyasha."

"What are you doing out here in this storm?"

"Trying to get back home to my family."

Satoshi nearly spit out his fish in surprise. "Your family? What do you mean your family?"

"My wife and my child."

Satoshi stared at him as if he were some kind of alien. "I don't believe it. You're a half demon and you have a wife and a kid?"

"Yeah, it still surprises me sometimes," Inuyasha said with a smile.

"I don't know how you managed that. No one loves half demons," Satoshi said bitterly.

"That's not true…"

"You have no idea! You must have had a good life, huh? I'm sure your parents were around and you had lots of friends. No one looked down on you because of what you were." Satoshi snorted. "You probably don't even know what it's like to have to fight every day just to survive."

"You're completely wrong," Inuyasha replied. He became swept up into memories of his own difficult past. "My demon father died right after I was born, I never knew him. My human mother died when I was seven. After that I was on my own." He let out a humorless laugh. "I know all too well what others think of half demons; humans think we're disgusting and demons want to get rid of us. I lived in caves like this, or anywhere else I could find, for years and I hardly ever slept because I was waiting to be attacked wherever I went. I've been through all of it, trust me."

Satoshi looked amazed. Then he stared into the fire. There was a hard scowl on his face but there was also a lot of pain behind it. "I was attacked by demons today. It was right before the storm started. They said I didn't deserve to live. I barely escaped with my life."

"Yeah," Inuyasha said with a nod as he remembered those days. "I can't even count how many times that happened to me."

"My demon father left my mother and I. He was ashamed of me. My human mother also died when I was young. I've been by myself ever since. Humans don't want me around. They even tried to stone me once. I've never even had a friend."

"I didn't have any friends up until very recently."

Satoshi studied him for a moment. "I don't understand. You've obviously had a very hard life and yet you seem so unbothered by it. Why?"

"I guess you could say I've had a lot of time to make peace with it," Inuyasha said. He could see a lot of his old self in Satoshi; a man hardened by years of pain and distrust, lots of cold sleepless nights, and the reality that the world was harsh and cruel with no place for half demons. Even as they sat there, Satoshi still hadn't relaxed this entire time and vaguely looked like he was waiting for Inuyasha to try to stab him. "I used to be like you. I didn't trust a living soul. I always had to fight; it was all that I knew. I even thought that if I were able to become a full demon, my life would be easier."

"What changed you?"

"My wife, honestly. It wasn't until I met her that I learned how to trust people and open up a little bit. I realized that not everyone out there is bad, you've just got to find the good ones. I have a group of really close friends back home and the people in my village have actually been good to me and allow me to stay there. It's the first time I've ever had a home since my mother died."

"Wow," Satoshi said in amazement.

"I didn't think anyone could ever love a half demon either, but she did." He couldn't help but smile as he thought of Kagome. "She never gave up on me. I love her with all my heart."

"There is this one girl I know," Satoshi said hesitantly. "She's a human and she lives in a village not far from here. She's nice to me, the only woman who has ever shown me any kindness. But her family hates half demons, they would never allow her to be with me."

"If you love her, you'll find a way. Trust me, fate works in mysterious ways. It wasn't exactly easy for us to be together either." He knew from experience how true that was. After three years of being away from Kagome, he had been sure he was destined to be alone forever but here they were now as happy as ever. "Every half demon needs a kind, pure woman to love him unconditionally."

"How old is your child?"

"She's a year old."

"Do you worry about her? I mean, about the way people might treat her?"

"Sometimes. I know I can't shelter her forever. But she's got a lot of people around her to take care of her. I think she'll be fine."

Satoshi still looked amazed at all that he was saying. "I never thought it was possible. I'd always thought there was no place in the world for half demons. I didn't think there was any other way. But it seems like you've found one."

"When you've lived a certain way for such a long time, it's hard to accept anything different. It took me a long time. I know that there's a lot of evil in the world and you've got to find a way to survive, but there's a lot of good people in the world too."

"I see." For the first time since they'd met, Satoshi actually smiled. Inuyasha had a feeling this was the first time he had smiled in a long time. "I'll try to remember that."

They noticed how quiet it had gotten and saw that the rain had stopped.

"Well, I guess you'll want to start heading back home. Your wife and daughter are waiting for you."

"I know they're wondering where I am," Inuyasha said as he stood up. "It was nice talking with you."

"Yeah…" Satoshi said.

Inuyasha made his way towards the exit of the cave.

"Inuyasha, wait!"

He turned to face him. "What's up?"

"Thank you...for telling me all of that. Really. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Satoshi. I hope things start to turn around for you. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone."

Then Inuyasha took off into the night. The rain had stopped but the storm had done its damage with branches and other debris littering the ground. He eventually made it back to his village where it was quiet except for the sounds of crickets and other nighttime things. The damp scent of rain hung in the air here as well. There was a freshly fallen tree near his house and he breathed a sigh of relief that it didn't actually fall on the house. When he got to his front door, he felt like he could finally relax now that he was home.

It was dark and quiet when he got inside. The embers of the fire were still smoking so it couldn't have been that long ago that Kagome had gone to bed.

He found their cat, Nico, sprawled out on the couch. The black cat with white paws sat up when he saw Inuyasha come into the house.

"Hey, Nico," Inuyasha said softly. He bent down in front of him and rubbed his fluffy head. "You been keeping watch over the house while I've been gone?"

Nico purred and after a moment Inuyasha stood up again and next went to Moroha's room. His little girl was fast asleep and didn't budge when he entered the room. He sat next to her and pulled the blanket back over her. She was peacefully sleeping now but he knew she would be a bouncing ball of energy in the morning.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I love you," he whispered. Then he left the room, closed the door behind him, and then went to his and Kagome's room.

His wife was also fast asleep when he came in. As quietly as he could, he took off his damp clothes and changed into a gray sleep robe then crawled into bed next to her. Once he was laying down, he put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

He circled his finger on her arm as he lay there holding her. All the while, he kept thinking of how happy he was to be back home with her where he belonged. Being here next to her was so peaceful.

It wasn't much long after that Kagome's eyes opened and she gasped when she saw him there. "Yasha, you're home," she said happily. The two immediately went in for a most passionate kiss. "I've missed you," she said afterwards.

"I've missed you too, love," he replied.

"When did you get back?"

"Not too long ago. The storm let up about an hour ago."

"Good, I was worried," she replied as she ran her fingers across his cheek. It was such a gentle, calming feeling and he felt so relaxed under her touch.

"You worry too much," he said before giving her another kiss. "Go back to sleep, sweetheart. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"I don't want to go back to sleep now." There was a hint of something more behind her tone. When she kissed him, he recognized perfectly well the desire in it and he would gladly comply with her demands.

"Kagome…" he breathed as he rolled on top of her. His arousal quickly increased with each and every kiss and touch. It didn't take long to get their clothes off and it was the most blissful ecstasy when he sank into her to give her everything they'd needed since the moment he left.

After he finished loving her, he held her in his arms as she drifted back to sleep. As he lay there, he thought about the conversation he'd had with Satoshi that night. It really was hard out there for half demons. Inuyasha knew that first hand; sometimes he thought about how difficult his life was when he was on his own and he remembered very well the pain and loneliness of it all.

Yet he'd managed to find a different direction in life. Miraculously, he had a nice home, a warm bed, friends, a village that allowed him to live here, and most importantly his beautiful wife and daughter. He now found himself at peace in a place he'd never thought he'd be in life. Things were hard for half demons, but once he found his way, the rewards of that were greater than he ever could have imagined.

He thought of Satoshi, sleeping alone in the cave tonight. He would likely be desperately defending himself from demons and the disapproving eyes of humans in the days that followed and struggling to find shelter if he was run out of his little cave.

But he hoped that Satoshi would also come to find that the world wasn't as cruel as it seemed. He hoped that one day he would be able to find a friend or two, a comfortable place to live, a way to be with that woman he had mentioned, and that she would be his salvation.

Inuyasha himself was grateful each and every day to have his own salvation right here by his side and that she had introduced him to a better world.