Shikuro: A Caribbean Fairy Tale

by Inuma Asahi De

Inuyasha was as bad as pirates came, according to his legend. Kagome was a woman of propriety, destined to marry for her family's honor when all she wanted was to live on the sea. What happens when their eyes meet by chance or perhaps by daring fate?

103. To Save

Blanket Disclaimer: The writer does not own any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi but like everyone else wishes she did. All original characters or concepts are the author Inuma Asahi De's (with the exception of historical figures).

**This chapter contains a lemon. If you wish to skip the lemon, simply stop reading at the one lined dialogue of "No" in italics.**

Chapter One Hundred and Three

To Save

Inuyasha ran through the forest of dormant cherry trees, his eyes focused not on his surroundings or the small snow covered pathway he was running on but, instead, on the light he could see from a hanging lantern in the distance. It was swaying back and forth from the early morning breeze, the refraction of its lamplight hitting little snowflakes that were flying off a barely identifiable roof from the wind. Off to his right, another source of light scarcely caught his attention as his feet hit a patch of snow, a loud crunch leaping into the air from the impact.

Just peeking out from behind the lowest point of the trees, dawn's most early light was beginning to come to life. He felt the coldness of the air in his throat when he inhaled sharply from the sight and he licked his lips. For a brief moment, his mind turned to Kagome imagining her returning to this world, seeing that dawn light before she saw him.

"Kagome—." The name registered in the deepest regions of his soul, resounding throughout him. His heart contracted a little bit in his chest but he let the feeling pass without giving it too much thought. "There're bigger things—more impor," He stopped the word before he could really think it, the demon in him beginning to growl from the idea. "Arg!" He grunted and shook his head forcing himself to refocus on the present. "It doesn't matter what's more important or not. They're both important, equally so." He closed his eyes for just a second to control the unpleasant feeling in his stomach. "Kagome—she doesn't need me right now and—Miroku does."

His eyes snapped back opened as the thought drove his legs to move further and faster. A puff of white in front of his face told him how cold it actually was around him but he ignored it. The vague light of the sun coming back to life made his pupils retract a little as the house that had seemed so distant only seconds before became a looming tangible shape in front of him. The trees that had lined his path gave way for the openness of the winter courtyard and he pushed himself to move a little faster as his ears twitched on his head taking in muffled sounds.

He could hear women shouting back and forth, the sound of their voice stifled by the walls that separated him from the inside of the house. Akane-san's commanding voice was underneath their own, somehow quieter and yet obviously in charge. "What's she saying?" His ears swiveled on his head, trying desperately to understand her above the women.

Not slowing for his life, even as he focused on trying to understand her voice, Inuyasha leapt forward across the last twenty feet to the house. His feet slammed against the wood of the porch as he landed, not bothering to control his descent as the smell of blood filled his nose. Following the smell, Inuyasha turned immediately to his left the claws of his toes scraping the floorboards as he used them to keep himself from falling flat on his face.

One of his ears creased as Akane's voice reached him once more and this time he was able to make out exactly what she said: "Watashi wa ashi o miru."

His heart stopped in his chest and a lump formed in his throat. "She can see the feet?" Confusion mounted in his mind. "But—babies come head first, right?" He shook off his confusion as he rounded the corner of the long porch, so that he was running along the building's front porch. It took him only seconds to make it halfway down the porch, where the entrance to the building was opened wide.

Turning so quickly he actually slid, Inuyasha entered the long hallway that ran from the very front to the very back of the building. Instinctively, he lifted his nose, searching for Miroku's scent. The smell of blood was strong, however, and he felt a wave of dizziness strike his body but he ignored it wholly pushing himself to focus on the smells underneath it. Distress hit him first, the scent murky and nauseating but mixed with it was a scent he had known for eleven, almost twelve years: the scent of his son.

Running down the hallway, he barely noticed the way his feet smacked loudly against the wood. He only had room in his mind for that scent. Reaching the end of the hall, he took a deep breath, nearly panting as Miroku's distraught scent grew closer and closer to him. It seemed to fill him, awakening his fatherly instincts so completely within himself that he started to whine, calling for his son in a language Miroku didn't really know.

Vaguely, he registered Akane-san's voice once more, pure desperation floating up in her throat. "Hayaku!" She shouted, demanding her assistants to hurry up. "Orokana!" She hissed, the insult hanging in the air as Inuyasha pushed himself even harder.

"Something's wrong—very wrong." He told himself as he neared the last corner he needed to turn. Miroku's scent was overwhelming now, telling him that he was nearly there. Turning the corner, his feet nearly leaving the ground altogether, Inuyasha felt his heart jump into his throat, lodging itself there.

His feet that had been moving faster than any human (and perhaps some demons) would find possible, came to an abrupt halt. Golden eyes widened and winced as he took in the dead-end of the hallway before him. He could hear the women running in a closed off room, their voices hushed and loud all at once as they panicked. But, it wasn't the sound of their voices or the panic he felt himself, which made his heart tremble in his chest.

Inuyasha took a careful step forward, one clawed hand reaching out towards his son who was leaning unmoving against the wall, knees pressed to his chest. Black hair, that was normally tied into a small rattail at the nap of his neck was loose, yet plastered to his skin with a glue made of sweat and blood. The strange substance was smeared down his neck in the form of what looked like fingerprints and continued in a spotty pattern down his shirt sleeve. It almost looked like someone had been holding onto him with blood soaked hands and then had been ripped away. His blank black eyes stared at the door across from him, seeing it and not seeing it all at once. His lips formed words but no sound accompanied them as he continued to stare.

"Miroku." Inuyasha finally managed to whisper, his breath ragged but not from exertion. He watched as Miroku's eyes flickered just slightly with realization. "Miroku." He tried again and watched as the man gradually lifted up his head, turning slowly to look at his father without really seeing him.

"Captain?"

The voice was tiny and frightened and Inuyasha recognized it immediately as he glanced down at Miroku's hip. Peeking out from his spot right next to Miroku's side, the little fox demon stared at the Captain with horror traced on his every feature. "Shippo." Inuyasha identified as he finally found his feet once more, taking a step forward towards the catatonic Miroku and his other little son. "What are you—doing up?"

Shippo's little lip quivered and he hiccupped, a sure indication that he had been crying. "Miroku—needed me." He explained as he tried to set his face into a firm and adult like expression but failed miserably as his chin wobbled.

"How very brave." Inuyasha tried to smile at the boy but found it nearly impossible to do so as Miroku seemed to finally see him.

"O—." His lips formed the sound as Akane-san screamed inside the room, her voice shrill.

"Watashi ga hippatte imasu."

Inuyasha felt bile rise in his throat from her words, the knowledge of what was happening inside frightening him just as it did Miroku. "I don't wanna know what she has to pull." He told himself even though, deep down, he already knew.

Years of birthing animals on a farm in the middle of the country side had taught him a thing or two. First, babies should be born head first, any other way is dangerous for both mother and child. Second, if you have to help the mother give birth by reaching inside her she is more likely to tear, which causes greater and more life threatening infections. Third, if you have to pull the baby out then there is a high probability that either mother or child or both, will not survive either by infection afterwards or complications throughout. And forth, regardless of that chance, you have to try.

"Hippatte?" Miroku whispered from the ground his eyes widening for a moment before he began to shake. "Pull?"

"Miroku." Inuyasha mumbled his son's name as he lowered himself to the ground in front of him, pushing his thoughts away for now.

A sudden scream pierced the air and Miroku's eyes snapped towards the door. "Sango." His whole face contorted into a look of extreme anxiety as he said her name.

Inuyasha stared at the door anxiety gripping him as well as he looked at the seemingly harmless piece of wood. He could hear Sango's labored breathing on the other side, a sound he was glad Miroku was not able to actually hear. She moaned next, the hiss of her voice forcing him to look away and smash his ears down on his skull. He couldn't imagine the pain she was going through in that moment. "The baby's backwards—and they're pulli—." He swallowed the words even though he hadn't spoken them.

"Sango," Shippo said the name so softly it was scarcely heard by even Inuyasha's demon ears. "She—why she screaming?"

Inuyasha looked down at the boy's big green eyes, feeling horrible that he was experiencing such a horrific event. "She hurts—a lot." He licked his lips and opened his arms towards the boy inviting him into their safety.

"But why?" Shippo whimpered as he took the invitation without scrutiny and buried his head in Inuyasha's warm chest. The older dog demon enveloped him in the sleeves of his haori allowing the child the opportunity to hide within his embrace. Within seconds, he felt Shippo's back quack as well as the dampness of his small tears.

"For the pup," He told the kit softly as he offered what little comfort he could. "A mother will do anything for a pup—even things that cause pain."

Shippo pressed his ear against the spot right above Inuyasha's heart, the sound of it pounding comforting him far greater even his words. "Papa's too, right?"

"Yes." Inuyasha told him softly as he brought a hand up and rubbed the boy's head, petting him slightly. "A father—will do anything to protect their pups." Something in his words made him pause, memories for long ago brushing against his mind.

The sea was calm and cool as Inuyasha stood on the helm's deck, looking out over the tepid water as he steered his vessel. He smiled as the sails gently filled with air, the sound making his ears twitch as the wind hummed causally. He closed his eyes against the warmth, a soft smile on his face as his body relaxed from the pure peacefulness of the night. The peace was abruptly halted when he heard the telltale sounds of tiny feet shuffling on the deck below him. Tilting his head back he sniffed the air catching the smell he had already knew he would detect easily.

"Miroku," He mumbled the name even as he looked towards the staircase across from him, listening as the shuffling feet turned to slight thumps on the stairs. "What's he doing up?"

Within seconds, a head and shoulders appeared before him and he smiled slightly as he watched the little boy squint in the dark. The moon simply wasn't bright enough tonight for human eyes to see much.

"Captain?" The little boy stood one hand dangerously close to his mouth as if he were about to suck his thumb. He furrowed his brows visuably and took a step forward in the dark uncertain. "Um—Myoga?" He tried again, his small body seeming even smaller as he ducked his head a little bit worriedly.

"What are you," Inuyasha finally spoke, taking pity on the young boy. "Doing awake, pup?"

Miroku perked up instantly as he heard the calming sound of Inuyasha's familiar voice and without so much as a single whimper, crossed the deck in the dark. "I—," He explained as he hurried towards Inuyasha's side, the symbol of protection the older man provided making him feel secure. "I had 'nother bad dream."

"Another?" Inuyasha commented as he tied off the helm with the rope that always dangled by the wheel, ready to perform such an action. "What about?" He asked as casually as possible just as Miroku reached his side, his small hands hesitantly reaching for Inuyasha himself but stopping before they made it all the way to his own clawed fingers.

"Ma—," He sniffled and tried to look bigger than he was but at nine years old he was pretty small still from years of undernourishment. "Mama."

"I see." Inuyasha nodded as he reached out his hand towards Miroku's frozen one. Gently he encompassed the hand with his own large one and knelt down in front of Miroku getting close enough that even the human boy could see him in the dark. "Do you want to talk about this time?"

Looking up at his Captain (a man he would later recognize more affectionately as his father) Miroku shook his head, the warmth of the hand holding his own making him feel calm. "Not really," He flinched slightly as a few memories from the dream jumped into his head but he quickly pushed them away. "I just—I don't—I can't sleep."

Inuyasha straightened at Miroku's words and looked around himself discretely. There was no crew around that he could see him especially at this time of night. Knowing this, Inuyasha glanced back down at the bow and in an unusual display of affection opened his arms. "It's okay." He whispered softly as Miroku stared at him a little surprised. "I'm here."

Still, the little boy couldn't deny himself the opportunity for comfort and without too much thought, darted forward into the safety of those arms.

The memory faded away within seconds and still holding onto Shippo, Inuyasha turned to look at his son once more. "That was the first time I ever hugged him—or anyone really besides mother and my grandfathers." He bit the inside of his cheek, the memory leaving a warm feeling in his otherwise cold stomach. "Pup," He called out towards Miroku, watching as his dark eyes focused just ever so slightly at the word. "Pup."

Miroku blinked as the term of endearment hit his consciousness, waking him up for just a moment. "Tou—?" He managed to say as he turned in time to look at his father, his eyes unnervingly vacant of emotion.

Inuyasha nodded as he looked into those eyes, seeing the pain deep within them. "It's okay." He whispered to Miroku as he took one hand off Shippo's back to bring to his older son's shoulder. "Otou-san's here."

For a moment, it looked as if Miroku hadn't heard a word his father had said but, before Inuyasha could become too worried, his expression began to change. The deadness of his eyes made way for a pain so intense that it made Inuyasha flinch and the thin line of his lips broke into a grimace. "She's—pain—so-so much pain and—." He whispered and his eyes glassed over with unshed tears. "I—I can't do—I can't do anything."

"I know." Inuyasha leaned towards his son, resting his forehead against Miroku's own. "I know." He repeated as he smelt the scent of Miroku's complete trepidation.

"Why—." Miroku's shoulders began to shake a little and he pulled away from his father trying to keep his composure but failing. "Why—why her?"

"I don't know." Inuyasha answered honestly as he stared at his son, wishing he could lessen his pain somehow.

Suddenly, the air around them grew unnaturally still and quiet both men regardless of demon or human blood feeling the shift in the atmosphere. They turned to the door that separated them from the chaotic world of childbirth and held their breath. On the other side, Inuyasha could hear the heavy breathing of Sango and Akane-san. He could even hear sounds that would haunt him for the rest of his life, the squish of blood and the unholy tearing of flesh. A gasp soon followed and then the hasty sound of footsteps and women whispering.

Unsure exactly of what had just happened, the dog demon stood up without warning. Shippo whined against him and buried his head further in Inuyasha's chest but the older man barely noticed. His ears strained as Miroku managed to stand up as well, albeit shakily. One of his trembling hands reached up and grabbed his father's sleeve to help steady himself.

"Kokyū suru."

Inuyasha heard the words as clear as if they had been said right beside his ear. The sound of fabric rubbing desperately against a tiny body made his knees go weak as he finally realized exactly what he had heard and what he currently was hearing.

"Kokyū suru."

He heard the words again, the importance of them making him sick. "Breathe—." They echoed in his head, a mocking reverberation against his skull. "The pup's not breathing."

"Sango-san."

Miroku's grip on his sleeve tightened as he heard his wife's name. "Sango—," He repeated it as if he were a mocking bird and took a step forward towards the door, pulling his father along. "Oh god—please."

"It hurts."

Inuyasha heard Sango's whisper and wondered if the women in the room spoke English at all. The thought slipped from his head, however, as a tiny sound filled his every sense quite suddenly. It started as something akin to a squawk, like an angry bird guarding a nest and then it cracked, almost like a puppy when it tries to bark for the first time.

"Yokatta!"

The woman's voice, who had whispered breathe over and over, jumped into the air her happiness as she said "I'm glad" making Inuyasha's heart stop dead in his chest. The soft squawk/bark sound began to grow louder, a rattle developing in it as the women in the room released a collective sigh of relief.

Miroku's head raised and his jaw dropped as he too realized exactly what he was hearing. "Baby? He whispered, the awe in his voice nearly contagious.

"Baby." Inuyasha repeated for him, wanting him to really hear the words. "A baby."

"Oh my," Miroku lost his composure as he fell forward landing hard on his knees. "A baby—my baby."

"Motto?" Akane-san's voice jumped into the air, the sound of it somewhere between confused and horrified.

Kniting his eyebrows together, Miroku turned towards his father quickly, not sure what had been said. "Motto?" He repeated and with great effort pushed himself back to his feet, staring at his father baffled. "That means more—what more?"

"I don't know." Inuyasha replied even as his ears swiveled on his head, drawn to the sound of feet coming towards them from the hallway he had entered through moments before.

"Inuyasha-sama?" Rin called out as she turned into the small dead-end hallway, her dark eyes looking instantly between Inuyasha and Miroku. "Miroku-kun—?" She said the name as if it were dangerous to say out loud, biting her lip as she noticed the tenseness of his form. On the other side of the wall, the baby continued to cry, tiny lungs working perfectly. "The pup's okay?"

"Yeah." Inuyasha answered the question as he glanced at his sister-in-law briefly before turning towards his still tense son. "He has every right to be—we still don't know what's going on—hell I'm tense!" He pulled Shippo a little tighter to his chest, even as the small boy peeked his head out from behind the red sleeves, staring at the door as he listened to the baby wail. "The baby was backwards from what I can gather but," Inuyasha licked his lips as he spoke, glancing at Miroku who didn't seem to hear a word he was saying. "The baby was born—it's crying," He looked towards the door, the sound of the cry was still loud having not diminished even as the woman who had made it start screaming tried to hush it. "—and now, I don't know what's happening."

"Akane-san hasn't called Miroku in yet?" Rin took a step towards them, her normally happy expression gone and in its place an apprehensive one.

"No," Inuyasha answered in his son's place knowing Miroku wouldn't dare break eye contact with the door just yet. "Akane-san did say—motto, though."

Rin's eyes widened as she understood what the two men had not been able to fathom. "Twins."

"What?" Miroku finally whipped his head around towards the woman he had practically been ignoring.

"Motto—more—," She supplied carefully as she looked at her young adopted nephew sympathetically. "If there's more, then there's twins."

It was a logical conclusion, they couldn't deny that but it still made both Inuyasha and Miroku feel decidedly light headed. "Twins?" Miroku's mouth dropped opened a little bit and he raised one hand up to grab at his forehead where a headache was settling. "Twins—no way—I—wow."

In much the same state as his son, Inuyasha blinked several times as he too tried to understand the implications of what Rin had said. He had often helped animals birth multiples who were not supposed to have litters and although they were normally successful, he also knew they had a far greater chance of problems arising during labor and delivery. "But," He shook his head to clear his thoughts, unsuccessfully. "Wouldn't we know beforehand?" He looked towards her pleadingly. "Can't you tell?"

"Sometimes yes and sometimes no." Rin supplied as she looked towards the door, her nose twitching as she scented the room. "Blood?" She blinked rapidly as the thick smell entered her nose. Some blood, really quite a bit of blood was to be expected during birth but this, from what Rin could tell, was far more than normal. "Too much blood means—complications."

Suddenly, the door opened, a young woman wearing a surprisingly clean yukata stepping out of the room with a tiny screaming white bundle in her arms. "Rin-sama." She bowed slightly as she noticed her mistress but didn't acknowledge her long as she turned towards Miroku. "Miroku-sama." She smiled softly at the man but there was a certain worry in her eyes that she couldn't quite cover up. "Anata no," She approached him slowly holding up the screaming infant for the whole group to see. "Musuko."

Miroku felt his whole world flip upside down as he saw the small screaming, beat red face of the baby for the first time. "Musuko—son." He thought as he studied the annoyed look on the tiny face and the tuff of brown hair that crowned his head; his mother's hair. A gumless mouth wailed in protest to the cold air of the outside world, the little boy missing his mother's womb. Tiny hands reached out of the blanket and miniature fingers squeezed at nothing as the boy hiccuped and squawked. "Oh dear—lord in heaven." Miroku felt his heart swell with instant and unrelenting love.

The woman holding the infant smiled sweetly, the worry hidden in her eyes easily ignored by the new father. "Ano?" She mumbled softly and offered the bundle to Miroku.

Miroku looked at the woman as if she were crazy, his eyes large as he shook his head back and forth hurriedly. "He's so small." He told her as he looked down at the tiny bundle, not realizing that the woman spoke no English whatsoever. "I couldn't hold something so small."

The woman tilted her head to the side but didn't appear all that confused. After all, Miroku wasn't the first man scared to hold his newborn. Patiently, she stepped a little closer to Miroku, her eyes reassuring as she extended her hands out towards him. "Daijoubu, Daijoubu." She repeated the phrase to reiterate her point.

"Miroku-kun," Rin spoke behind him as she too stepped a little closer to the man, sending Inuyasha a smile as she did so. "It's okay—you won't hurt him, he's strong."

Looking up at the woman, the sound of the baby crying making something within him mellow, Miroku nodded but didn't look wholly convinced. Still, he finally opened his hands and with great care the midwife placed the screaming infant within them. Immediately, he pulled the child tight against his chest as if afraid he might drop him.

Pulling even farther away from Inuyasha's chest, Shippo strained his neck to look at the squirming bundle. "That's a baby?" He mumbled as he stared at the ugly red faced thing with a scrunched up nose.

"Sure is." Inuyasha nodded his head but didn't say another word as he stared at his grandchild, his grandson. "I'm a Jii-chan." He told himself as his heart swelled with all the affection he had ever known within it.

Holding the baby close to himself Miroku tried to breathe but found it nearly impossible. "Hi," He greeted the child as he stared at the crying face. "Hi there—little boy." He whispered the word with such disbelief that he was almost unable to speak the next ones. "I'm your dad." His voice trembled as he spoke as if at any moment he was going to wake from a dream. "I'm your dad." He said them again this time forcing himself to say them firmly, believing in them. "I'm a dad." He laughed and brought his eyes up to his own father. "I'm a dad."

"You are." Inuyasha agreed as he stared at Miroku's smile, the man unable to stop himself from having one happy moment.

"And you," He laughed again and looked down at the little face. "This is your—," He glanced up and the smile widened as he angled the infant so that (had his eyes been opened) he would have seen Inuyasha. "Jii-chan."

Inuyasha smiled brightly as the little infant's eyes finally opened revealing the chocolate brown of Sango's visage. "Hello there pup." He spoke softly as those brown eyes warmed his very soul.

"Ah!"

They froze as Sango's scream entered the air, the scent of pain overwhelming to all the demons in the hallway.

"Kami-sama." Rin whispered from her spot next to her nephew her eyes shimmering with tears as she identified the sound for what it was. Being the only person in the room currently who had ever experienced childbirth, she knew greater than anyone what a sound like that one meant. "She must be in horrible pain—horrible."

"Damn it," Miroku cursed as he took in the sound as well, hating the pain he could hear coming from his wife's lips. "There has to be something I can do?" He turned towards his father and Rin as he held the calming infant a little closer to his body. "I'd do anything."

"There's nothing." Inuyasha supplied softly, his eyes apologetic as he glanced down at the little bundle. "He's falling asleep." He noticed, his lips twitching in amusement as he took in the brown haired boy's drooping eyes. "It does take a lot of energy to be born."

Another growl like scream entered the air and the poor group collectively winced in response.

"Rin-sama?" The young midwife who had been standing patiently made her presence known once more, her worried eyes now becoming terrified as she took in the horrific growl.

Trying to keep her expression as neutral as possible, Rin glanced at the midwife expectantly. "Hai?"

The young woman bowed as she was acknowledged before she raised her head once more. "Sango-sama wa komatte masu." She looked at the ground as she spoke not able to make eye contact with Rin or anybody else.

Hearing what she had said, Inuyasha shifted Shippo slightly so that he had one hand truly free. "Sango's in trouble?" He narrowed his eyes and stared at the young girl, wanting to shake her for the lack of specific information. "But what kind of trouble—stupid wench be specific!"

"Nani ga okotta no ka?" Rin asked immediately as the scent of blood made her head spin a little.

"Akane-sama wa," She brought her hands in front of herself, fidgeting as she delivered the bad news. "Shikyū ga haretsu to kangaete iru."

Inuyasha's breath stopped in his throat as the dangerous quality of the young mid-wife in training's sentence made him sick to his stomach. "Her uterus ruptured—Sango's uterus ruptured."

"Iya." Rin mumbled as one of her hands jumped to her chest and she took an unconscious step backwards.

"What happened?" Miroku looked between the two adults he knew spoke English, his Nihon-go was pretty much perfect but that didn't mean there weren't words he had never been exposed to. The baby in his arms jumped awake from the sudden vibration of his father's chest accompanied by his loud words.

No one responded to Miroku as the baby's cry entered the air, neither Inuyasha nor Rin able to think of exactly what to say. The dog demon felt his mouth go dry and an ache form in his heart identical to the one he felt when Kagome had disappeared. He inhaled deeply, trying to gain control of the pain that started to run through his body but the smell that entered his nose made him nearly throw up instead.

The small kitsune in his arms seemed to smell it too, his large green eyes turning towards the room where Sango and the other baby were. "I know that smell." He said slowly as his hands began to shake and his eyes filled with tears. "My papa—."

Realizing exactly what Shippo was referring to, Inuyasha pulled Shippo closer to his heart so the child could hear it over the commotion within the room.

"What smell?" Miroku asked as he instinctively bounced the child in his arms trying to sooth him.

Rin glanced at Inuyasha briefly, wondering if the father would be able to tell his son the truth. She saw the trepidation on Inuyasha's face accompanied by his own depression and horror. It was a look she could honestly say should never have appeared on his handsome features. Gulping, she turned back towards Miroku, her eyes full of apology that she tried to hide yet failed. Blinking she looked towards the tiny child in his arms, watching as the baby began to settle, his cries dulling just a little as he was soothed by his father.

"Miroku-kun," She spoke slowly, drawing the man's attention towards herself as she continued to stare at the wee babe in his arms. "May I hold him?" She requested softly as pity for the child and for the father overwhelmed her heart.

Confused by the silence and refusal to answer his question, Miroku looked towards his aunt. "Um—." For a moment it looked as if Miroku would say no, his eyes narrowing protectively. The moment passed, however, and cautiously he handed the infant over to the older woman, his eyes watching protectively as Rin pulled the child close to her chest with ease.

Curiosity filled the little Shippo as he pushed away from Inuyasha's chest and without a second thought jumped onto Rin's shoulder. She turned away from the child at the impact and smiled weakly at the little boy, nuzzling him only briefly before turning her attention towards the babe. Shippo followed her lead, his wide green eyes looking down into the tiny face without saying anything.

"Konnichiwa." Rin spoke softly for them both as she looked down into the infant's scrunched up face. "Go," Her voice broke just a little and she tried to smile as the baby opened his eyes. "Gomen." She managed to say as she brought the little boy closer to her holding him protectively and a little higher so Shippo could see better. "Gomen nasai."

"Gomen nasai?" Miroku repeated the words, knowing that they meant 'sorry' but not understanding why Rin had spoken them. "What did you smell?" He pressed a little bit more firmly as he turned back towards Inuyasha who was standing with his now empty arms awkwardly at his sides. "Otou-san?"

Inuyasha lifted his head up, the pain in his eyes making Miroku's heart stop in his chest. "Sango," He whispered the name as if it were as fragile as the girl herself. "She—the blood, the girl," He motioned towards the still assistant with one slightly shaking hand. "Knows why—um," He cleared his throat as he felt it tighten. "Sango's uterus," He looked up at his son watching the look of confusion on Miroku's face from the strange body part's name. "The—the uterus is where the baby—babies are." He supplied vaguely before he finally pulled his eyes away from Miroku in favor of staring at his newborn grandson in Rin's arms instead. Instinctively he inhaled the boy's scent. It was so soft and gentle, like a tiny pond in the middle of a river valley, it was so subtle in fact that the scent of Sango's blood instantly washed it out, overpowering it completely. "Sango's—uterus, it ruptured."

Miroku's eyes went wide and sightless, he didn't need to really know what a uterus was in order to know that anything rupturing during labor was bad.

"If that happens—well—the mother she, she—bleeds." The dog demon took a deep breath hating every moment of this conversation and every word he had to say within it. "And—there's nothing—," He paused and closed his eyes, the ears on his head searching for some sound that was comforting. He could just make out the shallowness of Sango's breathing as it became slower and slower but that was a sound that wasn't even remotely heartening. "My daughter." He thought absently as he imagined Sango's sweet smile and her bright chocolate eyes dancing with mirth as she teased him. "It took so long for her to show us that smile." He opened his eyes slowly and looked at his son, the man was staring back at him but didn't appear to see him at all. "There's nothing you can do to stop it." He sniffed slightly as he controlled himself knowing in this moment he had to be strong, just like every other moment of his life.

Miroku didn't quite notice that Inuyasha had stopped talking. His mind had ceased to really take in any information the second he had heard the word 'nothing.' "What an empty word." He thought as the happiness he had felt only moments before while holding his newborn son faded into pure desolation. "Nothing—nothing," His knees buckled and he fell backwards landing on the ground with a hard slap echoing around him. He knew he should have felt pain but he felt nothing, nothing at all. "Without Sango—there's nothing."

"Do you have something to live for miss?" Inuyasha knelt in front of the disgruntled woman, trying to catch her eye as she wrapped her arms around her thin frame.

"Who wants to live," She whispered as she raised her face, the hollows of her cheeks nothing compared to her vacant eyes. "When their body has been raped of life?"

The odd memory jumped into his head and for a moment, Miroku saw his father asking Sango that question so many years before. Back then her answer had been filled with hate and pain and was evidence of the travesty that had been committed against her body, her mind, and her soul. He had sympathized with her then, as the Captain probably had, and had made it his personal duty to protect her from all harms. For years he had succeeded, making her safe and happy to the point that her problems seemed to drift away.

She began to smile and she began laugh. She started to dance again and to sing. Her eyes turned from dull vacant brown to charismatic chocolate that he fell madly in love with. They had married under his father's blessing and their life had been nothing short of spectacular for so many years. And Kagome, had just made it better. Her gift had wiped away the last of any lingering problems Sango might have had and opened their relationship to further intimacies until he was able to ask her Inuyasha's question once more:

"Tell me Sango," He whispered into the cool night air as he looked at her expanding stomach with curiosity. "After everything that happened—with Kouga and Serdenga—and Kohaku," He paused and glanced up at her trying to hide just a bit behind his bangs. "I've been wondering—um—."

"What?" She smirked at him and reached out a hand to push his bangs out of his face so she could see him better. "Just ask silly."

Miroku smiled up at her, the warmth and love from her hand spilling over into his skin. Carefully, he pushed himself up a little higher and as he leaned over her stomach planted a soft kiss to her growing womb. "Do you—," He whispered against the swell of his child—children— within her. "Have something to live for now?"

She raised her head and looked at him, her thick hair falling over her shoulder as she dropped her hand away from him and towards her stomach. For a moment her lips stayed in a thin line as her fingers smoothed the fabric that covered the product of their love. The intenseness of her expression started to fade though as the baby kicked at her hand, responding to her touch so lightly that only she could really feel it.

"Yes." She told him as the slight curve of her lips began to grow into a brilliant smile. "I have so much to live for—," Her smile grew even wider as she closed her eyes, her skin glowing with a beautiful iridescence. "It's impossible for me to even think of death any more or ever again."

Miroku felt his own lips twitch until his expression matched her own and he chuckled as he laid his head against her stomach. He could just feel the baby respond to the weight of his head and he sighed contently as he brought his hands up to wrap around her. "I'm glad." He whispered as he buried his face into that bulge and placed another kiss against it. "I'm so glad."

Miroku came back to himself as his heart broke distinctly in two. After years of suffering, of misery, pain, and suicidal thoughts, Sango had found happiness. The will to live had filled her completely and together they had created a life worth living despite all the pain and misery from which it had blossomed. And yet, despite that happiness, Sango was going to die.

Even if she had something to live for—

Even if she loved her life and those within it—

Even if she deserved every happiness that life offered—

Fate, cruel and unrelenting, was going to let Sango die and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

-break-

Takeshi and Sesshoumaru sat underneath the Goshinboku, both their backs leaning against the tree as they rested side by side. In the distance, both father and son stared at the coming dawn, the flecks of bright color entering the sky captivating them. Brush strokes of color, from pink to rosy yellow, were just now making their appearance against the low horizon. The coolness of the winter air and the lack of clouds in the sky made them bright against the dark blue and black of the vanishing nighttime.

Shifting slightly in his spot at his father's side, Takeshi smiled, enjoying the way the brightness of dawn seemed to consume the bleak winter sky. "The sun's coming up." He commented as he stared at the orange/yellow color of the sun pushing upwards from the ground to the sky highlighted the horizon.

Opening one eye as if he was bored, Sesshoumaru nodded in response to his son's words. "A new day is upon us." He observed and rolled his neck a bit as he closed his eyes once more. Although he didn't need much sleep per say, he didn't mind allowing his brain time to rest, even if it meant just closing his eyes for a few minutes here and there.

"Way to state the obvious Chichiue." Takeshi remarked as he glanced at his resting father, knowing he was one of the few people in the world who could get away with teasing the man.

Sesshoumaru opened one eye in response to his son's disrespectful words and released a soft, yet firm, growl in response. His father's grumble didn't seem to bother Takeshi, however. Unhindered, he laughed openly and stuck his tongue out at his father who growled again in return. "Stick it out again," Sesshoumaru's voice was hard but there was a certain playfulness underneath that only one of his children (and perhaps Rin) would ever be able to discern. "And I'll cut it off."

Takeshi laughed loudly at his father's words and jumped up as if prepared to run. "You'd have to catch me first." He told the man and laughed manically as he saw his father's eye actually twist.

"Takeshi." Sesshoumaru grumbled as he closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. "We already know how this will end."

"Of course—I get away and win." The boy taunted, enjoying his time alone with his father tremendously. Normally they were surrounded by his father's generals or people of the court or shogun's and other high ranking officials, around which he had to behave accordingly. At times like this, when he found himself alone with his father, he didn't have to behave (at least not as well).

Sesshoumaru's eyes snapped opened at his son's rash words, the yellow/gold of his irises dangerous in the early morning sunlight. "You're being very arrogant pup." He commented even as his muscles began to twitch, preparing to show the young boy a thing or two.

"I do take after you." Takeshi snickered as his father raised an eyebrow appearing displeased and pleased by the comment all at once.

"Really now?" Sesshoumaru finally pushed himself to his feet, standing a good foot and a half taller than his cocky son.

If the boy was intimidated by his father's height, he didn't show it. Instead, he merely shifted his weight as if prepared to run. Before he could, however, a peculiar sound in the clearing caught both his and his father's attention. That is, it wasn't so much the strange quality of an unidentifiable noise as it was the utter lack of any noise at all. The birds had all gone silent and the sound of early morning animals coming out or waking up was nowhere to be found.

Seemingly forgetting what he had initiated with his father moments before, Takeshi allowed his ears to swivel in all directions. "Chichiue?" He questioned as abnormal electricity seemed to form in the air around them, sparking, dense.

Sesshoumaru's eyes went wide with sudden realization and without a moment's hesitation he sprang away from the Goshinboku. Behind him an explosion of electricity consumed the tree making Takeshi fall flat on his ass as he stared at the now smoldering trunk and branches of the sacred place. Throughout his short life he could honestly say he had never seen anything quite like the fire and electric charge that dominated the tree before him. It was cool and blue yet every once and a while sparked with a white hot flame of energy. And underneath it, the tree itself seemed unharmed. Each leaf was still as green as it had ever been (at least from what he could tell) and the bark seemed perfectly unscathed, as if the flames and current could not harm it.

"What the he—?" He started to say but his words froze on his lips as his father suddenly grabbed the back of his collar yanking him away from the blue fire that was flowing from the bottom of the tree's trunk all the way to the highest leaf.

The charge of electricity coming from the tree sparked violently just seconds later. Flares of energy lashed out a good ten feet away from the tree's base hitting other little scrubs that surrounded it before retracting and beginning to calm. The plants that had been hit, surprisingly, did not wither from the contact. Instead, they seemed to grow a little more, their leaves becoming greener and any flowers that graced them becoming brighter.

"What's happening?" Takeshi asked, trying to keep his voice level and controlled as he stared at the cool blue color that had surrounded the Goshinboku.

"Miko-sama." Sesshoumaru merely mumbled in response as he too stared at the swell of purifying energy.

It was just beginning to calm, the blue sparks no longer flying outwards or even climbing the trunk, instead they were gathering. A small circle of energy was beginning to form just a few feet above the ground against the tree's trunk. It swirled and grew, collecting the sparks and flares before they could leave the tree and lash out at the world beyond once more. Sesshoumaru pressed his heels into the ground at the sight, bracing himself as he watched the energy start to expand. The tight ball that had formed in seconds was no growing larger, pulling in every direction like a baker who rolls out bread dough.

"Stand back." He commanded Takeshi, reaching out one of his clawed hands to push the boy backwards a bit as the orb turned into what he knew was a portal.

Before Takeshi could even blink, a large mass of energy exploded from the opening in the tree, a sound like a cannon being fired knocking him backwards. His father caught him before he could fall and shaking his head violently from side to side, Takeshi's mouth fell wide opened as he watched a large vessel of pure blue energy go straight over their heads. "What the hell?" He gasped and inched closer to his father as his golden eyes grew twice their normal size.

"Language." Sesshoumaru chastised absently as he watched the bit of light take off in the direction of the main living quarters.

His sharp eyes, far sharper than even his son's, stared after the retreating object bringing the blur of white and blue and pink into focus. He inhaled instinctively as his mind tried to discern not only what he was seeing but what he was smelling as well. The scent that greeted him was not one he knew particularly well but that didn't mean he didn't recognize it immediately. The smell of lilies, of salt water, mixed with the strange twinge of nekomata made his normally expressionless eyes actually twitch. It was only then, with that smell in his nostrils triggering his memories, that the blur of energy took shape in the form of Kagome riding a strange cat demon.

Feeling a bit disgruntled for all of a second he shook his head before snapping his mouth back into place and firming his jaw. "Come along Takeshi." He commanded without another word as he took off into the brightening forest, heading after her form.

"Huh?" Takeshi whipped his head between his father and the Goshinboku and the place the strange light had just disappeared. "What the hell just happened?" He yelled after his father only to panic when he realized what he had just said.

"Language!" His father's voiced echoed in front of him and he pressed his ears to the back of his head.

"I wouldn't cuss if you'd just tell what was going on." He grumbled even as his feet started moving, taking him in the same direction his father had disappearing to moments before.

"I heard that."

He winced and nearly fell flat on his face as Sesshoumaru's voice drifted back towards him. "Damn it." He thought this time knowing his father, unlike his mother, had no psychic abilities.

"Takeshi." The warning in his tone reverberated throughout the trees. "Don't even think it."

The young three quarters demon felt his jaw drop from his own shock as his father continued to chastise even his thoughts. "How the hel—," He winced as he stared at his father's back waiting for the inevitable punishment but did didn't come. Sighing with relief, realizing he had stopped the thought in time, the boy narrowed his eyes. "Ano—how did he do that?"

Up far ahead of the psychic Sesshoumaru and the disgruntled Takeshi, Kagome held onto Kilala's fur for dear life. All around her, her own energy (coupled with Kilala's) crackled as she intentionally forced it out into the world. Her sharp grey eyes went completely unfocused as she allowed her energy to expand touching every living creature within a good two mile radius. She could feel the birds in the trees and the squirrels on the ground as well as the foxes in their holes and the deer hiding amongst the shrubbery. Deeper still, her senses brushed against the spirits of the dead who still wondered the earth and the kami in their sacred homes.

"Come on," Kagome gritted her teeth together as she pushed her senses out even farther, ignoring the eyes of ghost who were watching her from the trees and the ground quizzically. "It's been five years! I can't even remember how to get to the main house—my only hope's to feel her." A slight sense of panic was just making itself know in her heart as old self-doubt sprang up within her. "And I can't feel her!" Panic began to turn to desperation as Kagome pushed her senses farther and farther but didn't feel even the weak essence of Sango. "Damn it!" She screamed mentally, her eyes snapping shut as she pushed her senses even farther.

Without warning, the air around her shifted and unnerved Kagome snapped her eyes back opened not sure what she was sensing exactly. It felt like a ghost or a kami but alive all the same. Without her command Kilala began to slow making Kagome tense as she glanced at the cat demon questioning the move.

"Kilala we don—." Her voice froze in her throat as a wave of strange energy washed over her whole body. Hastily, she lifted her head, grey eyes going wide as she took in a spirit she recognized all too well. "You."

Standing in front Kilala and Kagome, a good fifteen or twenty yards away was the childlike spirit she had seen all over Nippon. She had seen him in this forest, along the shore, in her bedroom before they even reached it. His dark hair and soft sad eyes struck something within her and despite her hurry she felt her instincts compelled her to at least acknowledge him.

"I'm sorry but I'm in a hurry." She told, as she stared at him no longer feeling any true fear but also not necessarily willing to talk to him. "Come back later."

The boy tilted his head to the side as if he wasn't quite sure what to think about her words.
He blinked once slowly and straightened his head, his dark eyes deep and brooding. "You won't feel her."

Kagome froze as the words reverberated deep within herself. "What?"

"She's too far gone for you to feel her this far away." The boy continued as those dark eyes bored into her, a perpetual sadness seeming to echo within their depths.

"What?" Kagome frowned as the wind picked up around both her and the boy, caressing their long hair.

"Feel his pain," The boy whispered the words, the calm quality of her voice discontenting. "And you will find hers." His lips moved but somehow it didn't seem as if the words were coming from his mouth at all. "For that, is the way of the world—pain is shared when love is strong." Just as his last words hit the air, he faded, disappearing as the sun finally came up over the horizon fully covering them with precious warmth and light.

Kagome stared at the spot where the boy had stood, her mind racing and reeling as she chose to ignore his presence and instead focus on his words. "His pain?" She repeated, the abnormality of the encounter not hindering her worry for Sango in the least. "The way of the world—his pain is hers and her pain is his." Kagome's eyebrows knitted firmly as she quickly understood exactly what the boy had meant. "Miroku!"

The name jumped into the air hitting every tree around them with its explanation. Without hesitation, Kagome closed her eyes, taking a moment to allow her senses to calm before pushing them out into the world around her once more. The air crackled and her hair rose up off her back from the vibration of her power. Extending her psyche outwards it took her only seconds to feel the distinct wash of anguish coming from the soul she knew to be Miroku's. How she had missed it she understood completely. The majority of souls in the area where admitting admitted the same exact emotion, so unless she had looked specifically for Miroku's soul, she never would have known that this particular patch of anguish was his own.

"Let's go!" Kagome commanded and without further words, Kilala took off once more.

The world became a blur once more as, through their connection, Kilala figured out exactly where to go. The trees began to thin as they ran and Kagome's eyes widened as she felt the decaying energy of a nearby life force. She felt the panic inside of her intensify as she raised her head up to look over Kilala's own, her eyes taking in the approaching house with firm scrutiny.

"That's where we stayed." She realized, feeling as if it had been years since she had slept in that room with the strange bed and pillows and the warmth that was Inuyasha. Her heart panged with her need to feel him once more but the sensation ebbed the second she felt Miroku's anguish turn to utter agony. It seemed to come at her from all angles but she blocked them mentally not allowing herself to be bogged down but the intensity of such emotions.

Suddenly, Kilala broke through the trees and Kagome's eyes went wide as she realized they had entered the garden. The large cat came skidding to a halt as they found themselves right in front of the house. Without a single thought, Kagome kicked her legs over the large creature's back. "Goodbye Kilala." She spoke hastily knowing the Nekomata could not stay in this world for long.

"I will come when you have need." The cat's large head seemed to bow and before Kagome could even turn away from her the cat disappeared, returning to her world until she was needed once again.

Feeling only a slight twinge of loss at her constant companion's departure, Kagome inhaled deeply before pushing all thoughts out of her head. Turning on her heel, she pushed herself forward and within seconds she was sprinting. Her feet pressed into the floor picking up residual traces of her husband as she moved.

"He must have run her too—but why?" She wondered as her bare feet hit the ground sensing the residue of his emotions held in by the wood of the porch. "He was upset—scared, distressed." She gulp, her feet skidding as she turned the corner of the porch and darted towards the entranceway to the inner house. "I have to hurry." She coached herself as waves of negative emotions, both Inuyasha's and Miroku's as well as others hit her.

Using it to her advantage, she followed the turmoil and pain as if it were a lighthouse on the shore signaling sailors so they know where danger lurks. The hallway rushed passed her as she did, a blur of dark wood and random decoration. She felt the twinge of her muscles as they contacted underneath the skin of her legs her body coming close to flying from her pure speed. The sight of a doorway at the end of the hall caught her eye and she pushed herself to run even faster.

Miroku's emotions flowed from the door into the hall attacking every region of her mind with their intensity. She gritted her teeth from the sensation and reached out her hand instinctively to grab the door jam in her hands in order to turn herself into the short off-shoot passage without slowing down. She felt the roughness of the wood underneath her palms but didn't notice the way it burned her calloused fingers in the least as she turned herself. Her momentum threw her into the little hall and before she even realized where she was, she found herself slamming into a strong, firm chest.

"Urg!" Inuyasha grunted his eyebrow shooting up into his bangs. "Who—?" His voice stopped in his throat as a scent he had thought was lost hit him full force: lilies and salt and underneath that a scent that made the demon in him nearly snarl but he pushed it down for now. Shocked golden eyes looked down, taking in the crown of golden dark brown hair. It was a little lighter than normal as if she had seen far too much sun and it was long, even her bangs had grown passed her ears. "Ka—go—?"

Her eyes darted upwards as he said her name the golden quickly making contact with her own swirling grey. "Inu—ya—?" Her voice caught in her throat and she swallowed unable to finish saying his name completely just as he had not been able too.

The whole world seemed to stop turning as if it knew that both of them needed just one precious second to savor the sight of the other.

Kagome's fingers trembled as she reached up believing for just a moment that the sight of him was a dream. He looked surreal and yet exactly as she remembered him. His chiseled jaw and thick eyebrows; the way his ears moved this way and that on his head searching for sounds she couldn't hear; and the way his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, realization just now mounting on his face that she was real. She could see it in his eyes, a spark of life igniting in them as he took all of her in.

Inuyasha stared down into her beautiful face, her tan skin making the grey in her eyes seem lighter than normal and dazzlingly bright. He inhaled her scent sharply wanting to smell her as his fingers twitched with the need to touch her. "She's real—she's really real." He told himself as his vision blurred with what might have been tears or simply, to those who were watching, a trick of the light (it was quite dark).

"He's real." Kagome's thoughts echoed his own as she took in the watery quality of his vision, her hand reaching just a little higher, wanting nothing more than to touch his cheek.

The movement caught Inuyasha's sharp eyes and he opened his mouth as if he were about to say something but the words never came. Instead, he allowed his hand to dart up from its place still at his side in order to grab her own. The softness of her skin against his fingers made his heart race and his mind go blank. "Oh Kagome—my Kagome." He barely managed to think as he drug her hand towards his face, planting a soft innocent yet lustful kiss against her bare knuckles.

Kagome felt a gasp bubble up in her throat electricity rushing from his lips into her body, making her stomach turn with unkempt lust and love. "Inuyasha." She thought his name and watched as he pulled away his eyes immediately darting towards her face, taking her in.

He smiled at her, a smile she had never seen on any man's face before in her life. It was strong, firm, and confident. The smoldering assurance in his eyes leaving well defined traces of love bubbling in her heart and yet, there was a weakness about it, a pathetic weakness. It was almost like that smile was telling her he would fall without her hand in his own and that she was the only thing in the world holding him up right now.

She felt her lips begin to curve, to smile in return but the look froze as emotions suddenly hit her that she had blocked for the few surprisingly quick seconds that had just passed. It hadn't been longer than ten, maybe twenty little clock ticks but it still made her instantly feel guilty. She snapped her head in the direction of the emotions in question, just now realizing that she was close enough to finally feel Sango. The woman's pain rushed into her body, hitting her so hard that she yanked her hand away from Inuyasha and wrapped her arms around herself as she whimpered.

"Kagome!" The dog demon immediately reached for her wanting nothing more to protect her and keep her close.

Kagome raised a hand stopping him firmly as she mentally blocked the emotions that were coming off of Sango. "I'm sorry." She spoke shakily her eyes already on the door were Sango's emotions were coming from. "I felt Sango—and I, I need to get in there." She turned back towards him sending him a soft smile as she hastily moved past him.

Before she could, however, Inuyasha reached for her yanking her towards him in one fluid motion. "Wait."

She furrowed her brow confused even as his arms encompassed her. "I—."

"I Just—." He whispered, his breath teasing her skin. "Just—don't ever leave me again. I can't—damn it," He cursed, the sound hanging in the air above her head like a thick cloud. "Just don't."

His words struck her profoundly, a thousand thoughts she would have to save for later jumping into her head all at once but she pushed them down, deep into the recesses of her mind. Pulling away without much protest she sent him a watery smile before intentionally blocking his emotions from her body. "There'll be time later." She told herself even as the urge to grab him and kiss his lips, his cheeks, his nose, his ears, and his mouth over and over again consumed her, leaving her body aching with the need to reassure him and to know him again. "I'm sorry." She repeated her earlier words and pulled away from him without another sound.

Turning on her heel, Kagome saw the faces of a shocked Miroku and Rin who held a screaming bundle in her hands while the little Shippo sat on her shoulder. She could tell by the looks on all their faces that they too could not believe she was standing there. Unlike with Inuyasha, though, she didn't dare take even a second's more time to allow herself the selfishness of greeting them.

She inhaled sharply, forcing the emotions down deep within her where they could easily be controlled and with great pain continued towards the door.

"Kagome-sama?"

She noticed the change in address as Rin said her name, shifting from the childish '-chan' to the highly esteemed '-sama' but ignored it as she grabbed for the handle of the door, yanking it opened. The wood ground against the floor and hissed from the force she used to clear her path. With deliberate steps she entered the room steeling her body for whatever it was she was about to see.

There was blood first and foremost, covering a small section of the ground and countless sheets. A dozen or so women were running back and forth delivering tools to a woman she recognized as Akane the midwife. Commands were being thrown in Nihon-go from Akane and then downwards through the ranks until they reached the girl who appeared to be in charge of the water buckets. Kagome didn't have eyes for any of these women, however, as she stepped forward focusing only on the person lying in the center of the mess.

"Sango." She mumbled the name as she took in the body.

The woman's eyes were closed and her hair was plastered to her head, sweating despite the thinness of the sheet that covered her upper body and upturned knees. A young girl was sitting behind her, wiping Sango's forehead as she whispered words Sango couldn't hear. Her breathing was ragged and becoming dangerously uneven as her hands clutched at the sheets that covered her body with a dulling grip. Her cheeks, which should have been red, were as white as the sheets would have been if it was not for the eerie lake of blood the pooled around them.

Akane's eyes raised up as if she had just noticed the stranger who had entered the room. "Kagome-sama!" She spoke Kagome's name as if it were a curse, her eyes narrowing dangerous. "Tori dasu!" She commanded Kagome to leave but the girl shook her head easily.

"Iya." She told the woman as she stepped further into the room not bothering to close the door behind her.

"Sango—oh god—do something!" Miroku cried out from somewhere behind her as he saw the shape his wife was in for the first time, his whole world seeming to crumble even farther.

"Kagome-sama." Rin called after her, crossing the threshold of the room even with Shippo on her shoulder and the baby in her arms. "You can't be in there."

"Tori dasu!" Another woman, a midwife assistant yelled as she grabbed for Kagome's arm to yank her out of the way.

Kagome dodged the woman with liquid grace as she continued towards Akane and Sango. "Iya." She repeated simply as she stretched out all of her sense forcing herself to delve into Sango's pain. "I need to know how bad it is—so I can figure out how to fix it."

"Rin-sama!" The angry Akane glared at Kagome as she yelled for her mistress wanting this distracting woman gone.

"Hai." Rin replied as she handed the baby quickly off to the woman who had yelled at Kagome. "Kagome-sama, please!"

"Stop!" Inuyasha stepped forward, no longer able to stand back even though the smell of blood was making him lightheaded. "Rin—," He looked straight at his sister-in-law, his bright gold eyes boring into her. "She's healed people before—she can—she might be the only one who can help Sango."

Rin stopped dead at his words, memories she had from touching Kagome previously telling her that what Inuyasha said was true.

Ignoring the commotion all around her, Kagome stretched out her senses and touched Sango's mind. Instantly she was filled with the immensity of Sango's pain, her body reflecting it. Her stomach felt as if it was on fire and her head pounded as well. Her heartbeat slowed dramatically and she could have sworn there was an elephant sitting directly on her chest. Down, in a place she only associated with pleasure, Kagome felt a distinct ripping sensation, followed by a feeling she could not begin to explain as if something or better yet someone was stuck. She stumbled for a moment until she pushed the sensation away knowing all she needed to know.

"The baby's not coming as he should." She nodded her head once sharply and then turned her attention towards a fuming Akane. She pressed her senses into the woman within seconds not seeking to share pain but instead knowledge. "And her uterus ruptured—that's why there's so much blood," She read the woman's thoughts as if they actually were a true book. "She needs a Cesarean but—she's bled so much she'll die during it but without it—," Her voice died on her lips as the people behind her stood completely dumbfounded as they watched her speak as if she was a midwife. "The baby and her will both die."

"No!" Miroku yelled the second the words hit his heart and he rushed forward. "You have to fucking do something!" He screamed as he tried to grab his father's wife. Before he could touch Kagome, Inuyasha sprang forward as well grabbing him and pinning his arms down at his sides as he struggled. "Let me go!" He sobbed as he stared at the blurry image of his wife. "Let me—go—go-o-o."

"I'm sor-r-ry pup." Inuyasha spoke shakily as he held his son tight to himself, pulling him as close as possible in a combination hug and restraint.

Rin brought her hands up to her mouth to hold back her own sob. "What do we do?" She asked without realizing Kagome had already made a decision.

Stepping towards Akane without a word, Kagome dropped her hand on the midwife's forehead. Light flashed all around her, her eyes and Akane's eyes actually glowing for a split second before the light quickly retreated almost as if it had never been there. "Do you understand?" She asked in English much to the puzzlement of everyone in the room.

To their further and complete shock, however, Akane answered back in the same language. "Yes—I'll do the Cesarean."

Rin stumbled backwards, nearly running into Miroku and Inuyasha. "She spoke English—?" She whispered the words as if they were impossible. "That's not possible—you can't just share knowledge like—no—it's not—," She tried to think of any other word to say but she could only come up with the one. "No."

"Now." Kagome commanded firmly as she suddenly dropped to Sango's side.

The midwife didn't even bother to wait for anyone to tell the poor onlookers to leave the room as she reached for a nearby already sterilized knife. She shouted commands around the room, switching back to her native tongue as if she had never spoken a word in English even once before. The girl who was holding up Sango's head reached for the sheet that just covered the girl's legs and pulled it up revealing the woman's midsection and far lower.

Immediately, Inuyasha pulled Miroku from the room as he closed his eyes against the sight of his daughter-in-law's exposed body. For his part Miroku didn't struggle. The sight of his wife covered in blood and on the verge of death was far too much for him to handle. It was bad enough that seconds later, he had to endure the horrible sound of Sango's scream as the midwife cut into the first layer of flesh that separated his child within her from the outside world.

Inside the room, not bothering to look backwards as Inuyasha and Miroku fully left the room followed soon enough by Rin and subsequently Shippo, Kagome watched as the midwife cut into Sango the poor woman already passed out from the pain. "She's trained well—obviously she's done it before." She commented as the woman meticulously sliced into Sango before dumping the knife in another woman's waiting hands. "But no matter how good you are, the odds still aren't in your favor."

Knowing all of this already, the midwife continued to work, slipping her hands into Sango's stomach, pushing muscles out of the way until she could see the edge of Sango's womb. "Enjintō." The woman demanded the knife once again and within seconds of having it placed in her hand reached inside Sango once more.

Kagome looked away not able to stand the sight any longer. She breathed in deeply as her hands began to shake a little knowing her turn was next. Before she could become too worried about her impending work, however, the sound of a tiny squawk filled the air. Her head snapped in the direction of the sound and her eyes grew to twice there normal size. A baby, covered in traces of blood and a white substance she couldn't even fathom currently was being passed off from Akane-san to another girl behind her.

"Oh wow." Kagome felt her heart lurch and her stomach twist, the sight of that screaming little face something she would never forget. "A baby—little baby." She watched with fascination as one tiny fist clenched and waved in the air as the boy was brought to a nearby basin of water where he was quickly wiped down becoming more and more baby like with each wipe of the cloth.

"Sango-sama!" Akane-san's voice brought Kagome out of her trance immediately.

Whipping her head around, refocusing within seconds, Kagome stared at the unmoving Sango knowing already what she had to do. Without saying a word, she brought her hands up above her head in a strange 'X' formation not bothering to acknowledge how Akane stepped back as her hands began to glow. The old midwife shouted at the girl who had been supporting Sango's head and the other women, telling them to get out of the way. Inhaling deeply Kagome separated the 'X' her hands had made above her head, her energy flowing outwards and dropping towards the ground as it formed a dome around her and the silent, unmoving Sango.

Already sitting next to the unmoving figure, Kagome quickly accessed the current condition of Sango's body. What looked like clear cut death to anyone else, looked far different to Kagome. Her eyes swirled with a violent storm of grey and white as she looked for traces of Sango's life energy, the sure sign that the woman was actually still alive albeit merely clinging to that life.

"She's alive." She told herself as the soft white of Sango's life energy, gathering just around her heart and skull began to shimmer to her sensitive eyes. Time was not on her side she realized as the shimmer began to fade instantly. "All creatures have life energy." She told herself, needing to hear the exact words from Izayoi's lesson just because it made her feel a bit more confident. "So, all one has to do to save a life—," Kagome continued as she brought her hands out in front of herself. "Is replenish the energy they lost with a bit of your own." She finished as her hair began to push away from her body, the length and thickness of it making it only rise slightly from the ground.

Her energy twisted in her stomach and she closed her eyes as she allowed it to break free. It rushed through her body, flowing like liquid fire through her veins before pushing past them into her skin and then the air in front of her. It pulsed as it entered the air, hitting it with a loud hiss as it jumped and sparked all around her. She held her breath as she began to coax it, guiding it down her arms into her hands until it jumped from her fingertips. Forcing it into her palms, Kagome began to carefully mold it, shaping the energy into a bright orb of light.

Satisfied, her eyes snapped opened, the last remnants of Sango's life energy just now fading from the woman's body. To Kagome, it looked like little wisp of smoke the color of a summer sky at dusk, rising up out of Sango's body. "It's funny how something so beautiful represents such pain." Kagome thought as she closed her eyes against the sight and tilted her head back as she brought the energy out in front of her and over Sango's body.

The orb sparked and crackled as she leaned forward repositioning her curved palms so that they were flat and hovering just above the orb. Sango's hair danced slightly as the energy produced a natural wind as it stopped sparking and instead became noiseless. Silence filled the room as the energy began to brighten; blue, pink and lilac lights pulsing in the early morning light that was pushing through the closed doors. Kagome breathed in once deadly and tensed her muscles before she pushed her energy downwards and into Sango's chest. The sheet that barely covered Sango's breast seemed to pulsate as the energy came closer and the white stained with red morphed, the red and white turning purple as the orb's chameleon like colors fluctuated quickly.

Kagome inhaled sharply as the muscles in her arms seemed to spasm from her effort. This was the hardest part, forcing her energy into a body that was not her own. "Don't hold your breath." She commanded herself as her hands began to shake from the control necessary to press energy into another. "Breathe in—breathe out—breathe in—and—and—out!" She exhaled almost violently and pressed her hands down firmly.

The energy in her hands rocketed forward and disappeared into Sango's body as Kagome gritted her teeth and followed it mentally. It danced around Sango's heart for a moment, Kagome mentally checking the barely beating heart just long enough to tell she didn't have more than a few seconds left. Pulling her hands down other woman's body, Kagome tracked Sango's wounds all the way down to the giant cut for the Cesarean her energy following her, healing everything it touched instantly.

Her hands stopped directly over the large incision in Sango's abdomen and she breathed in deeply once more as she forced her energy down even deeper into Sango's body. Within seconds she found the exact spot where the delivery had first gone wrong because of the uterus rupturing. "So much damage." Kagome bit her lip as Sango's pain from the horrific birth began to jump into her own body. "Block it!" She commanded herself and squeezed her eyes shut.

Her breath began to come in pants as she pressed her energy into the wound itself allowing her own life force to flow deeper and deeper. She had no idea what to call the part of Sango's body she was touching with her power but she knew it was something not even the midwife or the best doctor on earth could possibly be aware of. The jagged internal wound began to heal within seconds, the initial rupture becoming nothing more than smooth tissue instantly. Quickly she pulled her energy backwards until she could feel the incision the midwife had made into Sango's womb.

"Much easier." She told herself as the flesh knitted together without too much of a hassle.

Pulling back even farther she repeated the action over and over, putting Sango's body back together like a puzzle piece until she found herself working only on the surface. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she concentrated on this last part of Sango's body. The tension in her shoulder's made her hands begin to shake and the flow of so much energy into Sango's body made her begin to feel a bit dizzy but it was nothing that concerned her all too much.

"Just a little—." She gritted her teeth as she sent the last of the necessary energy into Sango's body. "There!" She gasped and fell backwards away from the older girl, the barrier around them instantly dissipating as Sango sat straight up with her mouth gapping opened. The midwife and the women in the room screamed as the girl they all assumed was dead sat up, perfectly healthy and alive.

Wild eyed, Sango looked all around the room barely seeing anything as she tried to discern what exactly had happened to her. It only took a second for her eyes to land on Kagome, the shock on her face indicating that Kagome was the last person she had expected to see. "Kagome?" The name came out as a hoarse whisper as she focused on the girl, seeing her clearly in more ways than one. "You—?"

"I'm sorry." Kagome apologized as she lowered herself down until her head rested on Sango's shoulder. "I should have been here a lot sooner." She took a shaky breath and pulled away just in time to see Sango's tears.

"You," Her lips trembled as she became fully aware of everything around her, the blood, the memories of pain, the women, the distant sound of a baby crying. "I," She whimpered and her eyes watered as she shook her head back and forth slowly. "I kept—calling—I called—and called—and called." She repeated the words, Kagome just registering what they meant. "I called over and over for you."

"I heard you." Kagome told her as she reached out and touched Sango's shoulder.

"You," Sango sobbed and fell forward into Kagome's arms, holding onto the other girl as she cried. "Sa—saved m-e-e-e." The woman barely whispered as her face broke into a million pieces of emotion.

Kagome couldn't contain her pain any longer and dropping every barrier Izayoi had forced her to always keep in place, broke down as well. "I heard you." She repeated again, only her and Sango knowing currently what her words meant.

Before Sango could respond, Miroku's voice pierced the air. "San—go."

The woman's face instantly became a mass of even moretears as she looked around Kagome towards her husband who was standing just in the doorway unable to stay away from her voice. "Mi," Her fingers trembled and the tears in her eyes stopped flowing just long enough to see him clearly. "Miroku!" Her whole face scrunched up into a great sob as Kagome was, temporarily, forgotten.

Realizing that the two needed a moment, just as her and Inuyasha had before, Kagome pushed herself away from the futon, absently pulling Sango's sheet down over her bare lower body as she made way for Miroku. The man himself stumbled towards his wife and collapse beside her only seconds later. The emotions of his anguish had been replaced with wave after wave of relief, the beauty of such an emotion making Kagome's heart swell with happiness.

All around them the midwives stared in utter amazement, the two babies crying not even stopping their gapping mouths from freezing opened. Inuyasha entered the room quietly as the distraught sounds of his son and daughter-in-law made his heart break. "Sango." He said her name so softly he shouldn't have been heard but it seemed after her ordeal Sango was hearing a lot better than normal.

The woman lifted her head and at just the sight of her father-in-law her face contorted once more. "Otou-san."

"Don't cry." Inuyasha whispered as he felt the lump that seemed to have been in his throat for hours subside finally. "You'll get me going and—that's bad for my image."

Sango's face broke into a strange smile sob and she lowered her head down to rest on Miroku's shoulder. "There's gotta be—some—something wron-g with him." She told Miroku as she wrapped her arms around the man she loved and held onto him for dear life.

"Tell me something I don't know." Miroku whispered into her ear as he held onto her as well, never planning on ever letting go again.

"Sango-sama." Rin suddenly spoke from her place in the doorway, holding one of the twins who had just come into the world. "There are people to meet."

As if she had forgotten that her predicament had been caused by children, Sango's hands dropped from Miroku and she turned to look at her aunt (in-law). In the woman's arms was a tiny bundle of cloth with a little hand sticking out of it. Sango felt her heart clench tightly in her chest as love overwhelmed her sense of pure relief. "My baby?"

"One of them." Miroku managed to add as Rin crossed the room towards them, motioning with her chin for the midwife to bring the other infant.

"It's a boy!" Shippo declared from her shoulder, his whole demeanor surprisingly calm now that everyone was certainly safe. He, unlike the midwives and more like Inuyasha, trusted in Kagome unquestioningly. If anyone could do the impossible, it was Kagome.

"A boy?" Sango repeated as she reached up for the bundle taking the small boy from Rin as Shippo yawned.

"Yeah." He answered not realizing the question had been rhetorical.

Sango didn't bother to reply as she looked down into the tiny face of her son, her husband right beside her. "My boy." She whispered fondly as Akane-san lowered herself in front of the two parents, presenting the second baby to them.

"Mōhitotsu no shōnen." She told the two, Miroku's head raising quick at the words.

"Another boy?"

"Hai." The woman answered not needing to understand English (not just when magically induced by Kagome that is) to know what the father had asked.

"Two?" Sango gathered as she looked at her other baby. "We have two boys?"

"Two." Miroku nodded his head, a small forming on his face as he took the other boy from Akane. "We have two."

Standing off to the side, Kagome felt as if her heart was going to burst at any moment. She couldn't help but let the distant thoughts that had plagued her for five years creep back into her mind. In her head, Sango was replaced by herself and Miroku by Inuyasha. She could just imagine Inuyasha's face as he stared down at his own child: especially, the way his golden eyes would sparkle with the same instant love on Miroku's face right now. She could even smell the baby scent and hear its tiny cry as it protested the cold of the world outside of her.

The images didn't last long, however, and the smile they had caused on Kagome's face quickly shifted to a frown. "It'll never happen." She told herself firmly even as a lump formed in her throat making her want to cry. "So why bother fantasying?"

"You," Inuyasha's voice jumped into Kagome's thoughts breaking them apart. "Brought Sango back to life."

She looked at her husband slowly, masking the pain in her eyes so easily that it actually worried her for a moment. "No, she wasn't dead, her heart was still beating." She corrected gently as she looked at his awestruck face. "I can't bring people back to life—but I can heal anyone with a beating heart." She explained as she noticed Rin approaching them out of her peripheral vision with Shippo firmly in her arms. "Shippo-chan!" Her own heart swelled for the little boy and she reached for him.

Immediately, the small child jumped from Rin to Kagome, hugging her around the neck. Unlike Inuyasha, he didn't know he was supposed to have missed her or that she had been gone as long as she had, so his hug didn't last nearly long enough for Kagome. "There's gonna be more boys for me to play with!" He spoke rapidly as he looked up at Kagome, a bright smile on his face that was soon replaced by a large yawn.

"It's remarkable." Rin agreed and yet something about the way she spoke said she wasn't referencing Shippo's words at all.

"It is." Kagome responded just as Akane-san finally broke up all hopes for conversation.

"Dare mo auto!" She commanded everyone to leave the room, the woman knowing that Sango and Miroku needed their time alone with their children and each other.

"We'll come back later." Inuyasha called towards his son who barely had eyes for him.

For a moment, his eyes landed on his two grandchildren and the urge to grab both of them made his hands twitch. A soft smile formed on his face from the sight and he inhaled wanting to smell the scent of newborn pup. On any other day, he would have been greeted with the freshness that is a child's scent but today, with Kagome by his side, he found himself smelling something wholly different. Slowly, he turned towards his wife, staring at her as the scent seemed to softly roll of her body, just barely there. It wasn't strong but it didn't have to be for him to know the implications of it.

"She's—there's no way." He told himself but before he could even process his thoughts, a towel landed smack dab in his face. "What the fuck!?" He snarled and yanked the towel off in time to hear the laughter of everyone in the room and see Akane's angry features.

"Hiyaku!" The woman demanded and pointed towards the door.

"Alright, damn." Inuyasha snorted but sent his son and daughter-in-law a little smile (that they didn't see because of their natural distraction) before motioning towards Kagome. "We'll come back later."

"Of course." Kagome agreed as she held onto Shippo, not wanting to let the child go for more reasons than one.

-break-

The room was quiet even though it was midafternoon outside, a time normally reserved for loud and more robust activities. A cool wind pushed at the hefty closed doors which lead to the garden outside making the occupants of the room thankful for the Kotatsu table they were able to sit at. It was short table, like all the tables here, and had a blanket draped on top of it (almost like a table cloth). Underneath it, hidden from sight but not from feel, was a small grate filled with charcoal. The charcoal radiated heat underneath the table and the thick quilt like blanket kept it in so anyone who put their legs or hands underneath it felt nothing but warmth.

The sound of the cold wind outside made the ears on top of Inuyasha's head twitch as it carried the vague sound of Sango and Miroku's two crying twins. It had only been a couple of hours since the near loss of Sango's life and Kagome's return but it seemed more like days. Even now sitting around a table with his brother, his sister-in-law, and his wife (Shippo was long since passed out in Kagome's lap) it felt somehow surreal for many reasons.

For one, he couldn't believe she was even there in the first place. She shouldn't be next to him, he shouldn't feel her hand wrapped tightly in his own, hidden underneath the heat of the Kotatsu and he certainly shouldn't hear her voice as she told them what had happened to her.

Even greater than that however, was the scent he could smell coming off of her, a little bit stronger now. "It's almost like—the longer she's back in this realm, the stronger it is." He shook his head and tightened his grip on her hand but didn't look at her. "This is just my luck—she's right here, back by my side and she's—in heat." He winced at his own thoughts but the mixture of feelings it caused left him when he felt her return the added pressure of his squeezing hand.

"So, Inutaisho drew you into the," Rin spoke, the sound of her voice drawing Inuyasha back into the conversation. "Miko realm?"

"He did." Kagome confirmed and shifted slightly in her seat. "How do I even begin to explain this to them?" She wondered as she glanced at her brother-in-law who was sitting rigidly behind his wife, looking particularly intimidating.

As if realizing that Kagome was staring at him, Sesshoumaru cleared his throat. "But why?" He asked sternly, his eyes leaving Kagome only long enough to look at his brother. "He hasn't said a word—understandable, he doesn't care why she left, he's just happy she's back." He raised an eyebrow strategically but the movement wasn't near large enough to actually see. "What would Otou-san want with someone like you?" His words sounded cruel and were pretty blunt but there was a truth behind them. "Chichiue would not be able to do anything with a miko—he could train Inuyasha," The demon glanced at his brother briefly. "But not a miko."

"Well," Kagome licked her lips and finally looked at Inuyasha just out of the corner of her eye wondering how he would take her next words. "Izayoi was truly the one who wanted to see me." She admitted, applying a little bit of pressure to Inuyasha's hand as she spoke. In her lap Shippo shifted and mumbled making her feel a little bit more at ease as she rubbed the little boy's back with her free hand.

At the mention of his mother's name, Inuyasha finally was able to latch onto a subject more distracting then even Kagome's heat scent. "My mother?"

"Yes," Kagome spoke honestly as she turned to look at her husband, still unsure exactly what she should say. "I can't possibly tell him—that—that she wants me to take his place." She fidgeted as the thoughts jumped to the forefront of her brain but Inuyasha didn't seem to notice.

"What did she want?" He asked as he tightened his grip on her hand, pulling at it slightly as if he wanted to move her nearer to himself.

"She," Kagome looked over at Rin and Sesshoumaru who both were studying her just as intently. "Wanted to train me, herself."

"I thought so." Rin immediately spoke, her whole expression narrowing as if she knew there was more to it than simply training. "She must have given you more training than what I was capable."

"In a way, yes." Kagome confirmed as she watched Rin's expression carefully. "I don't need to read her to know what she's thinking." She told herself and tried not to grimace too visibly as she looked away from Rin and down at Shippo's red head. "She taught me how to not only control my power but how to use it," She hesitated not sure how to exactly phrase her words as her eyes blurred, Shippo becoming nothing but a sweep of red hair. "More effectively." She settled on and noticed immediately the shift in Rin's emotions across from her.

"Effectively?" The girl thought, the image of the word popping up in Kagome's tired mind.

"For healing and for—the opposite." Kagome supplied as she closed her eyes and brought a hand up to her head, blocking Rin's further thoughts immediately. "I just don't want to talk about it—," She told herself as she dropped her hand to Shippo's head rubbing it. The boy grumbled and crunched up his face at the disturbance before rolling slightly to the side and off her lap without even waking. She smiled at the sight of the boy now resting against her side in a tiny ball of fluff but the smile didn't last long. "I won't see you grow." The thought was strange in her head and she immediately squashed it. "I can't—even think about that."

Realizing she had been cut off Rin frowned but didn't press Kagome for any more information. Instead, her eyes turned towards the anxious Inuyasha who was staring at his wife intently.

"Okaa-san trained you then?" He asked, his voice so childlike in that moment that it made Kagome's eyes snap back open in wonder.

Sending her husband a soft smile, she squeezed his hand a little firmer. "She did, she's a very," She struggled to say the word, not wanting to tell Inuyasha the complete truth of who his mother was. "Sweet woman—a wonderful teacher," She tried to wince as she realized that part of her was lying to spare her husband pain. "And she loves you very much." She finished knowing at least those words were not a lie.

The half dog demon seemed completely taken by Kagome's praise. "I'm glad you liked her." He spoke genuinely as he leaned forward and rested his head against Kagome's own briefly. He didn't have to question her to know that his mother had trained her well and honestly he didn't want to. Or, that is, he couldn't. Inhaling her scent turned out to be enough to stop all his thoughts for now and, not wanting to lose control, he forced himself to back away as quickly as possible. "It's fucking intoxicating." He told himself as he narrowed his eyes at her, the smoldering golden orbs telling her exactly what was on his mind.

Kagome felt her stomach quack as a wave of desire that had not been satisfied for her in nearly five years jumped into her body.

"No one appreciates your mating display." Sesshoumaru's voice entered the room, sarcastic and monotone as ever.

Snorting, Inuyasha turned towards his brother and smirked wickedly. "I appreciate it." He reached for Kagome pulling the girl firmly into his side as he gave his brother his best cocky smile. "I appreciate it a lot." He growled slightly even as he realized the demon in him was jumping towards the surface, befuddled by her scent.

"Oh dear lord." Kagome ducked her head down at the comment, her lust turning to embarrassment at Inuyasha's brash words. "And Shippo's here too—," She realized the second she looked down at the boy who was now sprawled out on the floor beside her snoring. "Forgot about that."

Blushing herself, Rin laughed loudly, the sound awkward yet truly entertained. "Oh dear me," She fanned her red face slightly even as her brother-in-law's words struck a thought within her. Looking up at Kagome, her soft brown eyes filled curiosity, she studied the girl. "Your hair's quite long." She spoke without any thought, tracing the outline of Kagome's now long, almost waist length hair carefully. "Does time move differently there?"

Her own embarrassment waning only slightly, Kagome pulled her head back up and nodded. "Yeah—an hour here is like a year there, or so." She shrugged and pursed her lips a bit. "It's complicated but—in short I guess, time's controlled there, you can make of it what you want."

"Really?" The word sounded like a question but somehow Kagome knew it wasn't. "Just—how long were you in that world?"

Kagome felt Inuyasha's hand release its grip as he too began to ponder the same question. Reaching underneath the table, she placed her hand on the demon's knee reassuringly only realizing seconds later the obvious sexual implication her action had caused as a wave of his instant arousal assaulted her mind. Hastily removing her hand back to her own lap she blushed profusely and turned away from him. "Um," She stumbled as she heard Inuyasha begin to snicker under his breath. "Well—."

Slightly confused by the strange reaction Kagome appeared to be having to her question, Rin raised an eyebrow and glanced towards a disgruntled looking Sesshoumaru. Well, that is to say, he at least looked disgruntled to her. "Are you okay," She asked anyway as she looked away from her husband. "Kagome?"

"Fine!" Kagome responded in a high pitched voice just as Inuyasha's hand crept from its place hidden under the Kotatsu blanket towards her thigh. "Stop that." She hissed as his finger's brushed against her knee sensually.

"Stop what?" Inuyasha mocked her barely moving his lips as he allowed one of his claws to trace a line up her thigh.

Kagome nearly swallowed her tongue as her flesh tingled underneath the fabric of her red hakama pants. "You know exactly what." She spoke as quietly as possible as his claw stopped just at the top of her thigh.

"No I don't." He whispered just as quietly, Kagome's human ears barely picking up his words as he began drawing little circles with his claw a top her thigh, dangerously close to the junction of her legs.

"We can hear everything you're saying." Sesshoumaru glared at both of them completely aware both by sound and smell what the two were up to underneath the kotatsu. "We're not human."

Frozen in complete catastrophic embarrassment, Kagome felt her heart stop in her chest as the redness on her cheeks inflamed even brighter. Without hesitation she grabbed Inuyasha's hand and deliberately moved it back into his lap as she sent him a death glare underneath her eyelashes. "I told you to stop."

Inuyasha released a pathetic whine in response that soon turned to a snort followed by completely unembarrassed laughter. "Sorry." He used the word but it didn't sound as if he knew what it meant in that particular instance.

"No you're not." Kagome growled dryly before finally turning back towards Rin, ignoring her husband. "Um—what was your question?"

"Oh!" Rin looked shocked to even be acknowledged once more at all, the evidence of her own embarrassment at the very brash sexual display evident on her bright red cheeks. "Well—ano—how long were you there?"

"Five years." Kagome didn't hesitate this time, her answer hanging in the air around them loudly. So loud in fact that it finally made Inuyasha pay attention.

"You were gone," His eyebrows furrowed and his jaw dropped opened just a little bit. "Five years?"

"Yes, it was," Kagome turned towards him a tried to smile but her expression faltered. "—hard."

Inuyasha grimaced knowing exactly what she meant. "I nearly lost it when she was gone a few hours, not even a day and she—," He pulled his hand out from under the Kotatsu and placed it against her cheek. "She was gone for years." The thought made him sick to his stomach as she leaned against his hand, her shoulders shaking just a little bit. "Kagome?"

"We should leave." Sesshoumaru stood up abruptly and walked towards the door of the room.

"Of course." Rin agreed without question as she too stood up but moved over to the unmoving Shippo instead of to the door. She dropped down next to Kagome who had already pulled away from Inuyasha and regained at least some control of her body. "There will be time to talk more later." She told the other woman as she picked up the child with practiced ease and glanced at Inuyasha with a smile. "Everyone's had a hard night and no sleep," She glanced outside at the bright sunlight that was coming through the closed doors. "It's probably near noon already, you two should, well—rest." She almost coughed as she said the last word.

"Will you put him to bed?" She bit her lip as she looked at the child with mixed feelings. Part of her wanted to keep the child near, although she had missed Inuyasha tremendously, she couldn't exactly say he was the only one she had missed. Still, she had missed Inuyasha for many reasons, some of which weren't exactly appropriate around children. "Or even other people for that matter." She thought dryly as she resisted the urge to glare at her mate.

"Yes." Rin nodded but didn't look the other woman in the eye. "I'll put him in the nursery with Mariko and Takeshi, I think he's sleeping the day away there." She cleared her throat slightly and shifted from foot to foot. "Those two will keep him busy and happy even when he wakes."

"Thank you." She bowed even from her seated position and kept her head down unable to look at Rin either. "Thank you, for everything, Rin-sama." She didn't look up as she spoke but she knew in this culture that was considered more respectful anyway. "Your hospitality is appreciated."

Rin bowed low in response to Kagome's continued thanks and holding Shippo close to her heart so the child would seek its comfort instead of waking straightened. "Would you like me to have lunch sent up—in about an hour?" She asked briefly as she glanced at the impatient Sesshoumaru behind her.

"Yes." The younger woman finally looked up at Rin, thankful for the offer.

"Make it two." Inuyasha corrected behind his wife, the undertone of his sentence catching Rin off guard for only a second.

"Very good." Rin bowed one last time (the twinge of red on her face amusing to the sea Captain) before she turned to leave the room.

Sesshoumaru glanced between Inuyasha and Kagome only briefly as he waited for his wife at the door. His expression was as taunt as usual and virtually vacant of any emotion but there did seem to be a certain amount of relief in it. If he wanted to share that emotion at all, however, he didn't. Instead, he merely nodded as Rin passed him on her way out of the room with Shippo, before he too turned and disappeared through the door, closing it behind himself quietly.

Without Rin and Sesshoumaru in the room, Inuyasha felt his body relax a little bit more. "I'd thought they'd never leave." He mumbled as he glanced at his wife who could only nod her head in agreement.

"I know, I'm—exhausted." She reached up and stretched out her muscles, Inuyasha watching her carefully. "I'm so tired I can't even think straight." She yawned a little bit and lowered her hand down. "I should just—take a break." She told herself as she allowed her senses to shut down, blocking off everyone and everything so that she could only hear the thoughts in her own head. "Only hearing my own thoughts—like a normal person." She chuckled to herself slightly but the sound was a bit hollow to even her. "—I'm not even close to normal anymore."

"I can't believe she's sitting right there." He told himself as he closed his eyes for a moment and relished in her spicy scent. "Oh god this isn't good." He opened his eyes once more, his golden irises and dark black pupils immediately falling on his wife. "She looks good though—different—good different." He blinked as he stared at her: she had changed so much in just a night, her hair was long (it touched all the way to the floor) and her whole aura seemed innately calm as if the world no longer worried her at all. She was completely at peace.

Suddenly, his wife smiled to herself and adjusted her feet underneath the warm blanket. "This really is," Kagome whispered as she glanced towards him sending him a loving smile. "The best invention in the world."

Sitting across from her, his eyes never leaving her face for even a second Inuyasha nodded in agreement. "If I wasn't afraid of fire, I'd put one on Shikuro" He shrugged as he hid his hands underneath the blanket as a defense against allowing them to roam. "I can't let that happen—after what happened to Sango." He tried to reason with himself but the argument was weak at best. "Probably won't happen to her—the odds are just so insignificant and she—she could probably just heal herself if something went wrong."

Kagome's smile brightened at the idea and she laughed softly. "I'd be more afraid of people trying to steal it all the time."

The dog demon raised an eyebrow at her words. "Like hell," He crossed his arms over his chest and sent her a devious smirk as he fought to maintain control of the demon within him. "They'd have to kill me before I let them take such a gift away from my mate."

"And that would never happen." Kagome's grey eyes seemed to twinkle as he called her his mate. "You would never let your mate be unhappy."

"No." He agreed automatically as the smile on his face began to fade ever so slightly. "I want her to be the happiest woman in the world."

"And she is." Kagome told him bluntly as she freed one of her hands and reached for his own once more.

He responded automatically, uncrossing his arms and reaching for her in response despite the aroma coming from her making him lightheaded. The second their fingers connected both husband and wife sighed with contentment. The warmth of the Kotatsu was nothing compared to the heat that seemed to form automatically between their bodies. Kagome breathed in shakily, her eyes rising up to look at Inuyasha as she intertwined her small fingers with his much larger ones.

"I missed you." She whispered suddenly and he nearly died from the sound of her voice.

"I missed you so much." Inuyasha breathed out as he spoke, his free hand reaching up to touch her cheek. A strand of her much longer hair brushed against his fingertips, catching his eye. "It's so long." He mumbled as he felt his eyelids droop a little, his mind becoming fuzzy.

"I know." Kagome agreed absently as she shifted, her hair moving with her. "It's kind of annoying."

Shaking his head to force himself to focus, Inuyasha pulled away from her a little bit. "Do you," He looked at those thick strands, forcing himself to study them instead of the delicate curve of her body. "Want me to cut it?" He asked as the light caught the shimmering golden hairs that were intermittently placed amongst the dark brown and black strands.

"With what?" Kagome asked quizzically as she caught a wisp of her hair and turned it over and over in her hand.

The dog demon shrugged a bit glad that she was buying into his need for a distraction without seeming to notice why. "My claws."

"Why not?" She sent him a sweet smile as she allowed herself to fully relax in his presence. "If you mess it up I'll have Sango fix it later."

"With two pups I highly doubt she'll have time." He muttered as he brought his legs out from under the Kotatsu, positioning himself behind her.

"True." Kagome laughed and sat up a little straighter so he could reach her better. "Well, try not to make me look like a boy."

"No guarantees." He snickered as he spoke, his gaze falling on the wave of straight thick tendrils.

"There better be!" She narrowed her eyes and elbowed him slightly, delighting in the slight grunt he offered her when she made contact.

"Damn woman." Inuyasha growled playfully as he reached for the end of the Kotatsu blanket. He fingered it for a moment before ripping off a piece of the edge discreetly so he could use it as a hair tie.

"You deserved it." Kagome justified making her husband laugh as he reached for the long silk strands that cascaded down Kagome's back.

Carefully, the dog demon began to gather the strands all together her scent forgotten just for the moment as he studied her long hair. "It's strange." He told her as he tired her hair together just at the base of her neck. "You don't look like you with your hair long." He clicked his tongue as he looked at the right side of her head and then the left, debating where to make his first cut. He knew it wouldn't take too much effort, it was just a matter of starting. "I like your hair short—it's you."

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked curiously as she felt him raise her thick hair up away from her neck, his claws preparing to cut into it.

"It's—short hair is just you Kagome." He told her as he extended his pointer claw and made his first cut into her hair. Within seconds another cut followed and then another, the dog demon using the sharp edges of his claws to saw through little sections at a time. "You're a conundrum."

"Conundrum?" Kagome scrunched up her face as her head began to feel lighter, the weight of five years being removed (literally) from her head. "Now that's a word every girl wants to hear."

Inuyasha laughed as he continued to hold onto her hair with his opposite hand, even as the free strands made it hard to grip the still connected ones. "But it fits you." He shrugged slightly as he carefully began to cut through the second to last section in his hand. "You're proper and elegant and yet, you can eat with your hands and you trip over your own feet while walking on flat ground—."

"I'm not that clumsy!" Kagome protested but Inuyasha only snorted as he started in on the last section of hair.

"You're wild and free and—." He paused but his hands kept moving anyway as the very last bunch of hair broke free from Kagome's head leaving him holding a good foot or two of her hair in his other hand. "You don't make any sense to me." He thought as he looked down at the cut portion of hair for just a second before raising his head up to look at the back of Kagome's head. Shoulder length hair greeted him, the ends already curling up, hiding the jagged edge of some of his less than perfect cuts.

"And?" Kagome pressed softly as she looked down at the Kotatsu in front of her, waiting.

"Um—I'm done." Inuyasha quickly evaded her question as he reached around her placing the long ponytail down in front of her on the table's top.

"Wow." Kagome whispered, distracted by the sheer amount of hair that rested on the table. Reaching out with shaking hands, she caressed just the edge of the dark wave before pulling back. "Five years—it took five years for that to grow and," She glanced down at her hands staring at her opened palms. "Five years to make these hands—deadly." She shook her head and forced her hands into her lap before straightening her back and forcing a smile on her face. "So what do you think?" She asked as she turned around to look at him, loving the way her curls touched her chin and brushed at her ears playfully.

"You look like Kagome." He told her softly as he reached out his hand to catch one of her curls, placing it just behind her ear. The tips of his fingers just barely grazed her flesh but the sensation made her heart twitter in her chest. She leaned into his touch, her eyes softening as she saw the love that rested in his molten irises. "My Kagome." He spoke as if he was hypnotized by the sight of her and unable to stop himself leaned forward and kissed her without another word.

The second their lips connected, a fire ignited in both their stomachs making them gasp into each other's mouths and pull away in shock. They stared at each other as their stomach's twisted and knotted, desire outweighing any other feeling that possibly could have existed in that moment. Even if it had only been a day for Inuyasha, whereas it had been five years for Kagome, it felt like an equal eternity to them both.

"I should tell him." A voice suddenly spoke from somewhere deep inside of Kagome. It was a voice she knew she should listen to but at the moment wanted to squash. "He needs to know everything that happened over there before we do anything." She squirmed little in her spot, her hands gripping at her hakama until the fabric groaned. "But—it won't make a difference anyway and I don't want to chance leaving without—."

"I wish I could make love to you right now." He whispered as he looked into her face, his strong chin and soft eyes highlighted by the candlelight.

"Last time, I left before he could." Something about that made her stomach sink a little, so much so that she didn't notice that an expression much like her own had formed on Inuyasha's face for a slightly different reason that was all too similar in a way.

"Should I tell her?" He asked himself as he looked into her eyes, her short hair as it touched her chin curling in the most gorgeous way. "She should know but, it won't make a difference—I'm going to die," He felt the perpetual lump in his throat return from the thought but he didn't let it hinder him long. "If I die—she'll be all alone and I can't leave her alone."

The scent of her heat overwhelmed him, making him dizzy and perhaps impairing his judgment ever so slightly.

"Should I tell him?" Kagome looked into his golden orbs not wanting to ever see the pain her loss would cause him but wanting to protect him all the same.

"Should I tell her?" Inuyasha looked right back into her grey eyes knowing she should know everything but at the same time, believing wholeheartedly that it would kill them both for her to know beforehand.

They both looked at each other, love radiating off them in waves as they came to the same conclusion all at once.

"No."

Hands nearly shaking from his decision, Inuyasha growled low in his throat, his eyes turning molten as he looked at her. "I want you." He whispered the word, the sound heady and full of lust as the demon within him started to claw its way to the surface wanting nothing more than to taste their mate again with a purpose fully in mind.

Looking back into his eyes, her own grey ones reflecting the need and desire she saw in his own, Kagome licked her lips slowly. "Then," She whispered shyly as a light blush formed on her cheeks, desire outweighing naivety for just one precious moment. "Take me." She watched as his pupils dilated instantly and his mouth fell opened just a bit in shock. His breathing became uneven and he closed his eyes as if trying to contain something.

"Fuck." The half demon whispered as his eyes snapped opened revealing blazing gold laced with just the vaguest hint of red.

Before Kagome could fully comprehend what that meant, his hands were already in her hair and his lips were already devouring her own. She moaned loudly as he pulled her head towards himself, his lips parting to catch the sound in his own mouth. Her hands jumped to his shoulders, her fingers digging into his haori, pulling at the fabric as her body began to shake. She felt his tongue brush against her own and, unhindered by whatever social constraints her mother had once pressed into her, responded in kind.

The demon in Inuyasha snarled as he felt her delicately and deliciously press her tongue against his own battling him for dominance. He felt his stomach tighten in response, the demon within him loving the fact that its mate was a challenge and in more ways than one it's equal. Ripping his lips away, he panted waiting for Kagome's eyes to open. The stormy grey of lust greeted him within seconds making the blood in his veins hot. "You." He shook his head and smirked. "You have no idea what you do to me."

Kagome couldn't help but giggle even as she leaned closer towards him, her eyes half lidded and her lips swollen from love. "And neither do you." She whispered, the blush on her cheeks making him want her even more as she leaned farther into him, this time instigating a softer kiss.

He whimpered against the softness of her lips as she rested them just barely on his own. Her hands on his shoulders loosened their grip and he whined, pressing his lips a little fuller against her, wanting to feel all of her. "I—I can't let her go." He thought as he untangled his hands from her hair and immediately dropped them downwards towards the tie of her hakama.

Kagome felt his claws dragging a hot trail from her shoulders to her elbows before they fell quite quickly against the tie at her waist. His fingers shook against her as he began to undo the tie and not wanting to be uneven for even a second, Kagome pushed herself up a bit, and without disengaging her lips from his own grabbed the tie at his own waist.

Inuyasha, for perhaps the first time ever, was the one to gasp into her mouth as he felt her small fingers undo the tie at his waist. His own fingers helplessly stalled as Kagome pulled the material around his hips down and forcefully opened his haori and kosodo up, untucking them and opening them all at once. The dog demon pulled away from her, his hands falling from his hips and landing behind himself, holding himself up as he watched Kagome pause in undressing him.

Kagome stared at him her eyes becoming a bit darker the longer she took in his bare chest and the barely covered bulge of his already throbbing member. "Five years." The thought whirled in her head as she stared at his body appreciating his smooth flesh in the afternoon light. "I haven't seen his body in five years."

"Kagome?" He barely managed to whisper her name as, for the first time since they had married, he found himself turning red with embarrassment.

She raised her head up, looking at him with those dark brooding eyes. "It—." Her voice died in her throat as she felt a wave of desire flood her every sense. "It's been too long." She whispered as she reached for him, cupping his face with her hands and kissing him desperately. "And I might never—this might be it."

Inuyasha accepted the intensity of the kiss without question but instead pure agreement. He shoved his hoari off his shoulders and pushed the hakama off his hips and onto the ground. With his own clothes out of the way, his fingers grabbed for her pants, finishing off the tie within seconds. Her haori fell opened and she shrugged out of it as he pushed her backwards just coherent enough to cradle her head as they fell to the floor in a heap.

Her back landed on her discarded haori and she whimpered as her lips were momentarily disengaged from Inuyasha's own. "Don't leave me alone." She commanded as she opened her eyes to look at him, pleading with him.

Inuyasha froze at her words and even though he knew it wasn't what she meant, he couldn't help the way his heart squeezed in his chest. "Never." He said again as he gazed at the curls of her newly cut hair as it mused her neck in the most tantalizing way. "Never." He repeated as his eyes dropped to her chest where one day her breast would take on a whole new meaning and then lower still, towards her stomach and even farther to the very place her most intoxicating scent was coming from. "Never alone." He thought as he realized exactly what her body represented in that moment and would become in the next.

Coming back to herself just slightly, Kagome watched the awed expression cross her husband's face, her heart warming as she realized she was the cause of such devotion. "Come here." She spoke softly as she reached for him, catching his chin and pulled it back up.

Inuyasha stared into her soft smoky eyes unable to look away from the captivating quality of them. "Kagome," He paused for just the briefest of seconds. "I love you."

Kagome's eyes went wide with surprise and her heart ached desperately in her chest. "Oh sweet man," She shook her head slowly back and forth as she was filled from head to toe with love. "I love you more."

"Impossible." He mumbled but before she could respond he grabbed for her thigh, pulling her already parted legs closer to him, until his body easily sank into her own.

She arched her back and moaned desperately as she felt him slip inside her, her body tight but still receptive even after so many years. Just like that very first time, he didn't move right away and he buried his face into her shoulder where his lips nibbled and his tongue licked at his mark on her flesh. She raised her hands up, burying them in his hair, dragging his face upwards until she could see him fully one more time.

"Keep going." She whispered as she caught his eyes with her own.

Looking down at her flushed cheeks and hazy eyes, Inuyasha didn't have to be told twice. Carefully, he pulled away from her, the heat of her body against him making him dizzy as he pushed forward into her again.

She gasped and moaned as she involuntarily bucked her hips against his own. "Umm—." She hummed in just the back of her throat as he pushed himself into her once more, pleasure she had forgotten even existed forming right behind her eyes. "Deeper." She begged, wanting to feel the way every nerve in her body responded to him all over again.

Without hesitation, Inuyasha obeyed pushing himself upwards onto his hands so that he hovered above her. Braced, he pushed in a bit deeper, the sound of flesh hitting flesh making a primal instinct inside of him flip nearly upside down with desire. "Damn you feel good." He moaned as his claws dug into the floor, the sound of the wood groaning under the assault only making the whole situation more delectable to the demon inside of him.

She bucked against him, rising up each time to meet his thrust, her breast (although still bound) bouncing with each hard dive. It seemed almost impossible to keep up as his speed increased and he managed to push just a bit deeper, hitting a spot inside of her that she had forgotten about long ago.

"Too long—too long." He panted even in his own head as he forced himself to keep his eyes on her, watching every moment of her pleasure.

He watched as her mouth parted silently as she panted and little strands of hair stuck to her face as her body heated up. His forearms shook from the effort to keep himself above her but he didn't waver. He dug his claws more firmly into the floor as he thrust faster and harder into her, a combination of a whine and a moan building up in his throat as he desperately forced himself to hold back. Suddenly, she quaked underneath him and he knew as her muscles clinched that she was gone.

Instantly, he dropped down onto his forearms, both of them landing on either side of her head as he growled in her ear trying to find anything to kiss or suck or lick as he let go giving her a part of himself he could never and would never take back.

"Never." He thought as he forced his eyes opened and stared at her panting red lips and her thick eyelashes and the curly ends of her hair as they formed a halo underneath her head. "Never." His heart jumped into his throat as she opened her eyes, gold meeting grey as it had a million times before. "You'll never be alone." He whispered, not even realizing he was saying the words out loud as he leaned forward and for what might be the last time, kissed her as they basked in the afterglow.

End of Chapter

Please Review

A/N: And there you have it. I'm not quite pleased with everything in this chapter, that's why it took so long to come out. Let me know what you think.

Still! Sango has twin boys and with help from Kagome did have an eventual safe delivery! Next chapter will see Inuyasha's training officially commence as well as the ramifications from this chapter discussed. I guess the real question is, will Kagome find out she's pregnant and if she does, how will that change fate once again? Oh and—Rin does still have that letter, doesn't she?

Bonus Point: I really wanted to have the lemon happen in another location in this chapter but it didn't work out that way. What was it? (Hint: there is one obvious wrong answer)

Bathhouse

Goshinboku

Spirit Realm

Sesshoumaru and Rin's Bedroom

Last Chapter's Bonus Point:

The consensus seems to be that all death is bad! Thanks for contributing and its always a pleasure to see such well thought out reviews and thoughts:

Veena, hon-kyogen, Luchiia, Surfy, KNSAnimeFreak, nikichan, Cagome, kittyzwuvme1234, GoldenRose88, kan78, Lectori Selutem, Atem4321, Glon Morski, anime4eva222, Guest

Notes:

Kotatsu – A traditional heating method that has been around since approximately the 10th century AD in Japan. It is a table with a heating mechanism (in this time coal and a hidden grate) and a blanket covering it. The blanket keeps the heat contained under the table, so those who are sitting can be warm. It is very popular in most Japanese homes and is still used widely today although it is now electric typically. **Please do not make your own at home, lol**

Sango's Birth Complications in Order from First to Last:

First, Ruptured Uterus (Uncommon modernly/life-threatening) – Occurs when the uterine wall is punctured or ripped. Even in this time they were not common but always resulted in death. Modernly, a C-section would be performed immediately to save mother/child.

Second, Breech Birth (Common modernly/Not life-threatening generally) – Most babies are born head down, which is easier for mama. When the baby's butt and/or feet come first they are breech. Modernly, breech babies are typically delivered via C-Section to prevent possible complications but it is possible to deliver breech successfully.

Third, Failure to Deliver (Uncommon modernly/Life-threatening) – Sometimes the baby simply will not come as was the case with Princess Charlotte of Wales. She died after 50 hours of labor in a time when C-Sections were never done.

And forth, Caesarian (Common modernly/Not life-threatening) – In this time period C-Sections were not done unless absolutely necessary. If the mother was going to die, then a C-section was considered. The first C-Section in recorded history, in which both mother and infant lived, was in Switzerland in the 1580's and it was considered a lucky fluke at the time.

Next Chapter:

Of Swords and Brotherhood

See you then!

UNEDITED

UPDATED

8/13/2014