Chapter 5: Reunited
"Taro!" Inuyame squealed as she pulled the little 5 year old into her embrace. "I've missed you so much!"
"Miss you too, sister." Taro giggled.
"And how have you been Marin?" Inuyame asked the 9 year old.
"Good. Mom and dad said Taro was old enough to come home so we brought him back. I'm going to miss him but that's okay because mom says I have a little brother or sister on the way." Marin said and smiled.
"That's great! You're going to love being a big sister, I promise." Inuyame said then settled down in the rocking chair in the playroom, pulling Taro into her lap.
Flashback
"No mom! You can't make him leave!" 14 year old Inuyame said as Kagome handed the bundle over to Rin. "Why can't he stay here with us?" She cried as her lower lip trembled.
"He's sick sweetie. We don't have the kind of treatment he needs here. He needs to be with a hanyou doctor." Kagome said as she knelt down and brushed tears out of Inuyame's eyes.
"But I don't want him to go! He just got here!" Inuyame yelled and stomped her feet.
"Inuyame, Taro is very sick. Something is wrong with the demon blood in him." Inuyasha said as he bent down and scooped up his daughter.
"Yes. He's just going away for a short while so he can get better." Kagome said, standing up and hugging Inuyame between her and Inuyasha.
"When will he be back?" Inuyame asked between hiccups.
"Months maybe, possibly years." Inuyasha said.
"Years?! No! I won't let him go!" Inuyame shouted and pushed herself out of Inuyasha's arms and ran out the front door into the rain. "Come back!" She called, with no answer. "Come back." She whimpered and fell to her knees and curled up into a ball.
"Inuyame? Earth to Inuyame?" Marin said as she poked Inuyame's cheek.
"Huh? What? Oh. Sorry Marin. I guess I got lost in my thoughts." Inuyame said as she clutched her little brother.
"That's okay, it happens to me all the time. I was just going to tell you that supper is ready." Marin said. "C'mon Taro, let's eat!" Marin said and grabbed Taro's hand and the two ran downstairs. Inuyame smiled as she followed them. Later that night, as Inuyame lay in bed looking out the window at the stars, everything seemed right in the world. If only she knew how wrong she was.