Chapter 21

The sound of a little girl crying was heard from the inside of a shrine. A pink-haired little girl, sat at the bottom of a well, her little hands plastered on her face. There was nothing, but wooden dark walls surrounding all around her. Beneath her body, was the cold, thick soil, that dirtied her kimono as well as her skin. She felt lonely... Very lonely. Her parents were no where near, or with her. She was all alone in this creepy, old well. Where her parents abandoned her. "I...I wanna go home." she wept, her hands plastered over her face. "Mommy...Daddy... Where are you? I just wanna go home..."

"Are you lost, little one?" asked an older male voice, snapping her out of her trance. She looked up to see a man, around in his late-forties. "Now, what's a girl your age, doing all alone in the well?" he asked, looking down at her, with concern. The little girl gave no answer, too startled and scared to do so. "Where are your mother and father?"'

"I...don't know." she sniffled, wiping her eyes. "They...j-just left me here..."

The man frowned, not liking what she told him. The man let out a sigh. "Now, what kind of parents would leave their daughter, in a dangerous place?" the man said. The man leaned over the well a bit, his hands stretched out to the little girl. "Come here." The little girl looked at his hands, hesitation in her eyes. "It's okay, I won't hurt you." he gently said, his hand still stretched out to her. The little girl went to his hands and before she knew it, she felt them tightly wrap themselves around her waist. She was lifted off the ground and above the lip of the well. The brought the little girl to his chest, hugging her. The girl was too shocked to do anything. It took a little more time, before the little girl wrapped her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. "It's okay, little one. You can cry." comforted the man, stroking the girl's hair. "You don't have to worry about being alone anymore. I'll take care of you from now on." The man faintly smiled, while the girl cried in his arms.

Inuyasha's P.O.V

I watched the girl, that I had claimed as my mate, sleep soundly on my chest, my fire rat robe drapped over her shoulders. I brushed my hand lightly against her cheek. Her skin felt so smooth. I remembered to the first time I ever saw Moka. My Moka. She was a shy girl, never wanting to talk or share her problems with anyone. But she had slowly become able and confident enough to speak up for herself. I thought she was beautiful. Though she had scars, that covered half of her creamy skin...but in my eyes, she was still beautiful. I remembered, it had almost broke my heart, when I saw Moka looking so upset at times. But she was mine now and all I could do was protect her. Moka shifted a bit in my arms. I slowly and gently pulled the robe slightly off her, revealing only her shoulders. I stared at where I marked her as my mate, on her left shoulder. I gently traced the mate mark, that was the shape of a light, blue crescent moon. I just wonder how she'll take the news, when I tell her soon. And she probably won't like it. "...Inu...yasha..." she mumbled. I stared at the sleeping girl, not wanting to wake her. She's talking in her sleep. Is she dreaming about me? "...no...please, stop...you're hurting me..." Obviously, she was dreaming, and the dreams were nightmares. "...No...don't hurt him...please..." Unsure of what to do, the only thing I could do, was watch as beads of sweat formed around her head and her breath come into pants of fear. "Inuyasha!" she suddenly yelled, bolting straight up in my arms, her eyes opened and tears streaming from them.

I wrapped my arms around her shaking from, hugging her to me. That was the only thing, I could, right at this moment. "I'm right here." I said softly, as she cried into my chest. I ran my clawed hand through her soft, silky hair, loving how it felt in my hands. Moka sighed deeply into my touch. "Are you okay?" I asked, gently pulling her away from me to look in her face as her sobs subside.

"You're eyes...they were red..." she mumbled, her voice shaking a bit with fear. "You were there...along with someone else..." she added. "He had silver hair, with golden eyes...just like you." she whispered. "But different... he had four red marks on each side of his face, without dog ears...and had much longer claws."

As she said this, I knew exactly what she was referring to in her dream. "I see then." I said, letting out a sigh. "You said, that this person had silver hair and four red marks on his face, right?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Moka..." I started, looking at her with a serious face. "That person with silver hair and the four red marks...was my older brother." I said, looking away from her. "My half-brother..." I corrected.

She stared at me, slightly shocked. "You have a brother?" she questioned, her head tilting to the side. "You never mentioned this. Does Kagome and the others know about him?"

"Yeah." I answered, not looking at her. "They know about him, but unfortunately you don't."

"Hmm?"

"His name is Sesshomaru and like I said before, he's my older half-brother." I told her.

"What's your brother like?"

"How can I put this?" I wondered, scratching the side of my face, with my clawed-finger. "He's cold, ruthless, and heartless." I felt her flinch in my arms. All I was doing was telling truth about him. Since day once, I've been treated like shit, just because he hated me. He always hated the fact, that our father passed the Tetsusaiga onto me and not him. "But he can be caring and compassionate when he wants to be." Very much true. Ever since his small, mortal companion, Rin, plus Jaken tagged along with him, he started to change into a complete person, opposite of him. The opposite side, I would ever see from my half-brother.

"Your brother must really be something." she smiled.

"What makes you say that?" I asked, looking at her confused.

"Well, he sounds slightly like you a bit. Except for what you describe him." she said, smiling. "Cold, ruthless, and heartless. You are the least from those things." she added. "You must be really close with your brother."

"We're not exactly a close-knit family."

"Hmm, why is that? You two are brothers, right?"

"Yeah, but it's not exactly like the brotherly relationship, you think it is." I murmured, my tightening around her shoulders a bit. "He hates me."

"Why?" she whispered, her smile slowly dropping. "Why does he hate you?"

"Because I'm half-demon." I simply answered. "Not only that, he hates me because I'm able to wield Tetsusaiga, and not him." I gave a low, bitter chuckle. "He always hated the fact that I'm only able to hold the sword, while its barrier rejects him."

"How come?"

"Because Tetsusaiga is able to slay a hundred demons, while the sword Sesshomaru wields, Tenseiga can only revive 100 people with one swing." I explained.

"Well, that's not a reason he should hate you for." I looked at her shocked, of what was said by her. She had a slightly angry look on her face. This is the first time, I've ever seen her this angry, beside the other Moka. "He shouldn't have any reason to hate you at all. Big brothers are suppose to protect to you. They're suppose to be there for you, not hate you. "I hate you" he says. An older brother should never say that to his little brother. He shouldn't even have the right to say he hates you, if fate itself was meant for you to wield Tetsusaiga and not your brother, then it was meant to be." I felt her hands, tighten into fists on my white haori. "It's just not right. He should have no reason to hate you at all, you two are brothers."

"Half-brothers!" I corrected, getting fed up with her using the term "brothers". Like I said before, we're not a close-knit family. "It doesn't matter, I hate him too! Because of how he treats me!" I shouted.

Instead of a riled up and stunned reaction, like I expected, I get a soft expression in return. "Inuyasha..."

"It's always been like that for years... Half-breed this, half-breed that. I've always been called that ever since I was kid. I felt useless, because humans looked at me as if I was some kind of illness. All except my mother."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah. My human mother."

"Well, what was she like then?"

"She was kind, gentle, and beautiful. She always loved me...no matter what I looked like, or how I acted...or the trouble I caused for her." I explained, smiling a bit. "And you reminded me of her, a bit."

"Like me?" she repeated, blushing a bit, a hand over her heart.

"That's right. You're one of the same words, I describe my mother; kind, gentle, and beautiful."

"Inuyasha, I..." She started, but fell silent, as if she didn't know what to say. She turned away, a blush gracing her cheeks, a hand to the side of her face. "Stop. You're lying."

"No, I ain't." I smirked, chuckling a bit.

"Yes you are! You're messing with me!" she retorted playfully.

"Am not!" I retaliated, playfully.

"Are too!"

"Am not! I'll say it again, if I have to, just to prove, that I'm not lying."

"But it's not true. Kind and gentle, yes. But beautiful, I highly doubt it. You see, like you said before, I'm clumsy, lazy, and I slow everyone down. Plus, I'm useless in battle, that I-" I instantly shut her up, by capturing her lips. I heard a gasp come from her throat, before she responded into the kiss.

I pulled away, caressing her soft pink lips. "You talk too much, you know that?"

"Yeah...I know..." she whispered. Everything fell silent for a while, until she decided to speak up. "Do you really mean what you said?"

"Yeah, of course I do." I answered, running my hand through her pink hair.

"What does this make us, Inuyasha?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we did it and all, but what's in it for us, now?" she asked. "Do we just forget about what happened between us and just go back to the way things were?"

"No." I firmly said, truthfully. With the way things were turning out between us, going back to being friends, like nothing happened, was the last thing I wanted to. "We don't have to go back. I don't wanna go back."

"Inuyasha-"

"Listen to me." I whispered, putting a finger to her lips. "Being with you has been the best thing, that I ever had. And the last thing, I wanna do is go back to being friends, pretending like nothing happened." I said. "And I know what you're doing. You're trying to deny it, but you can't."

"And why is that? Why do you think, that I'm trying to deny us, Inuyasha?"

"It's because you're afraid."

"And how exactly am I afraid? What's there to be afraid of?"

"Because you're just too afraid that someone might actually want to be with you."

"That's not true!" she retorted, this time getting upset.

"Yes it is! You're thinking that I don't want to be with you, but I do. Moka, I wanna be more than your friend. I know you want to do the same."

"How?"

"Cause you wanna to be with me too. I just know it." I pulled her to my chest, embracing her. "I know you're scared, but you don't have to be. I've shown you how I feel about you. All my feelings were true. All those promises I made, I'm keeping them. Now it's up to you. No matter what you decided to do, I will always be there for you. "

"Inuyasha..." she whispered, her voice filled with shocked. She buried her head in my chest, crying once again. "Thank you."

Two of us were walking back to Kaede's village, fully dress, hand in hand, our fingers lacing in between one another. "Inuyasha?"

"Hmm?"

"What happens now? Not just with us, but with our friends? How are we suppose to act around them, now that we're an item."

To be completely honest, I've never really thought about that. "I don't know. What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know if this will work, but..." she trailed, before looking at me. "Do you think we should keep our relationship a secret?" I stared at her, not sure what to say. "Until the time is right, I mean?"

I couldn't do more, but smirk, like the idea. "You know, I like the way you think, Moka. Yeah, I like the idea. That way, they won't start gettin' any funny ideas about us doing stuff together."

"Um...actually, Inuyasha, we kind of did do stuff together." she awkwardly said, blushing a bit.

"Oh yeah. R-Right." I stuttered, scratching the back of my head, blushing also.

I heard a giggle come from her. "Don't worry. I really enjoyed spending time with you."

"You did?"

"Mmmhmm. I'd love to do it again sometime. Well, that is if we ever get to spend time with each other." she chuckled slightly.

"Definitely." I smirked in return.

As we were approaching Kaede's hut, we looked towards each other for a moment. The two of us nodded and dropped hands. We walked inside to see everyone, sitting around talking with one another, before they finally noticed us.

Shippo was the first one to greet one of us, by jumping into Moka's arms. "Moka, you're back!" he exclaimed, happily. "Where have you been? We've been worried sick about you!" he cried, rubbing his face against her bosom.

I glared at him, with slight jealously. Why should I be jealous of a kid, anyway? He was way too young for her, that's for sure. But on the other hand, he gets to sleep and bathe with Moka, Kagome, and Sango. Lucky brat. "Uh, aren't you, forgetting someone here?" I questioned, wanting him to stop fawning all over my Moka.

"Yeah. You've been gone for two days, we thought something might have happened to you two." Kagome implied, coming over and hugging Moka. "Speaking of which, what were you two doing anyway, while we were sitting here waiting for you?" she asked, eying us suspiciously.

"Well, we...uh..." Moka stuttered, trying to come up with a good excuse.

"Got side-tracked by demons!" I filled in, for her. That should be good, right? But probably not a good enough excuse. "Big demons." I added on.

"Y-Yeah. R-Really big ones." Moka laughed nervously. "They sure were strong. Weren't they, Inuyasha?"

"Definitely." I agreed. "So strong that we even had to hide somewhere, for a while." I fibbed, trying to make it sound believable. "And plan a counter-attack." I quickly added.

"Hmm.." Miroku pondered, his chin between his thumb and index finger. "Strangely, I don't believe what was just said, a minute ago." he wondered, with a sly smile.

"Right." Sango said, not slightly believing it, followed by the rest. "But we'll let it slide this time."

Moka's P.O.V.

I sat near Kagome's home, hugging my knees tightly. It had been a day, or so, since I left the feudal era, without letting Inuyasha and the others know. They must be looking up and down in the forest, or anyway they might have in mind, for me. I feel horrible about it, but I have my reasons for doing so. Big reasons. And this was one of them, from what I shockingly learned, earlier.

~Flashback~

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping happily outside the hut. I stretched and yawned, until I decided it's time to get up. I was about to do my morning routine, when I suddenly felt this weird feeling in my stomach. It felt that my insides were about jump thought my throat and out of my mouth. When I felt the stinging sensation, along with what felt like my insides shoot through my throat, I covered my mouth and scurried out of the hut. I ran to the nearest bushes and emptied out, whatever was left inside of me, out of my mouth. After I was done puking my insides out, I tiredly wiped my mouth. This has been going on for about least 2 weeks. I thought it would have been just a simple fever, or something, but it couldn't be that, if I'm throwing up, every single morning. "This has been going on for 2 weeks, now. Could it be, that I'm coming down with an unknown illness, or something?" I pondered with worry. Shouldn't I be worried? I was throwing up, every single morning, and for some reason, I have this feeling that I may be sick, or something.

"I don't think you're sick, Moka..." Ura-chan suddenly said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Oh? I'm not coming down with an illness?" I questioned, hope feeling inside my body.

"No." she answered. She stayed quiet for a while, before she spoke up. "Moka, I don't know how you'll take this, when I tell you. But I hope it isn't true either, since we share the same body."

"What are you trying to say, Ura-chan?" I asked, not wanting to know what she'll say next.

~Flashback~

"Moka?" called a familiar, motherly voice. I followed to where it came from and sighed in relief, when I only saw it was Kagome's mom. "What are you doing, sitting out here by yourself in the middle of the night?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Well...I..." I stuttered, trying to find the right words to say. "It's just that I...mmm..." I bit my lip, running out of ideas.

I felt her wrap her warm arm around my shoulders. "Come on. Let's get you inside, you must be freezing." she said as she guided me into her home. A few minutes later, I was sitting quietly on the sofa, while Kagome's mom stood in the kitchen, making me tea like she promised. She came back with two mugs in both hands. She sat down next to me, handing one of the mugs, filled with green tea to me. "So what brings you back here, Moka? How come Kagome's not with you?" she asked, nicely. I gave no answer. I was too afraid to. My bangs were shadowed over my eyes. I couldn't even look in the eye and tell her the reason, why I'm back here. I flinched, when I felt soft hands touch mine. I looked to see Kagome's mother, giving me a warm expression. "You know you can talk to me about anything, no matter what, right?" I gave a nod. Even though, she wasn't my mother, it wouldn't hurt to open up to her and tell her about my problems.

"I don't really know how to tell you this, but..." I said, trailing off my sentence, before looking up to her. "...promise me, you won't get upset, when I tell you this." I told her, with pleading eyes.

"Yes. Of course, sweetheart." she smiled warmly at me.

I took a long deep breath, trying to gain up the courage and confidence to tell her. It's now, or never for me...

"I'm pregnant..."

To be continued...

Finally! There's the moment I've waiting to post for a long time. I bet some of you are pretty shocked to learn that Moka is pregnant. I know some of you probably wasn't ready for her to get pregnant by Inuyasha. I know I failed on the morning sickness scene, I know. I can't decide which gender of Inuyasha and Moka's child to be. Either or boy, or a girl. I don't know. If you're wondering, if Inuyasha confessed his feelings to Moka, then yes. He has.