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?

115. The World of White

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).

Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen

The World of White

"My pup." Inuyasha felt the tears in his eyes, but he didn't dare let them fall as he stared at his daughter with absolute disbelief. She was still smiling at him; her eyes closed, and her lips wide. He felt a hand reach for her, wanting to touch the soft and curly looking hair to see if it was just like her mother's or not. He felt his feet shuffle forward, barely registering the absence of substance underneath them as he seemed to glide towards her. Sensing his approach, the girl that smelled like lilies and a babbling brook, opened her eyes, and he felt his heart stop as grey met gold.

His hand dropped, and he blinked rapidly as the stark combination of physical traits made him feel somehow lost. He had never thought of seeing a child that was such a perfect mix of mother and father, but here she was; the perfect mix: silver and black hair, grey eyes and human ears. The hand that had been reaching for her changed course. He brought it to his face and nearly touched his own eyes. At the last second, however, he stopped, somehow realizing what a bad idea that would have been. The girl, who had been watching, chuckled, and her lips parted further revealing two tiny fangs. They looked almost like a baby's fangs, but her predominantly human blood was what made them small, not her age.

Either way, the father felt the air in his lungs rush outwards against his will forming one word and one word alone. "Pup."

The smile on the girl's face wobbled for a second; her earlier confidence wavering. "A bit repetitive are we," She joked, but if the look on her face was any indication of her inner feelings at all, she wasn't about to laugh; she was about to cry. "Otou-san."

"How—?" He struggled to find both the right words and the right question. "How are you—here?" Inuyasha managed to say as he contemplated stepping forward once more, but, in the end, he couldn't bring himself to; he was frozen to the spot.

"It's," She paused, and her eyes suddenly glowed with a strange mirth. "Complicated—I hear you say that a lot."

"Yeah—my motto almost." Inuyasha felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth, but he kept it contained for now. "Well—ano—nanio," He saw her face scrunch up at the use of his native language, but he didn't stop to think about the peculiar look. "Where am—," He looked around himself in a complete daze. "Are—." The older demon frowned at the whiteness of the world around him and then licked his lips. "I'm sorry," He brought a hand up to his head and pressed it against his brow as if to hold in the confusion. "I'm usually much better at speaking and—question making—damn." He apologized even though he wasn't sure why he bothered to.

The girl laughed instantly, and the sound of her mirth made Inuyasha's heart sore. "Where are we?" She filled in for him, and he nodded vaguely feeling like an idiot as he glanced at his child. "The world of white." She supplied the answer as if it was obvious, and judging by the whiteness of the world around them, it was. "Hints the white."

He ignored her sarcasm and looked around himself slowly. "You mean—," He narrowed his eyes as he thought of Kagome who had told him of this world. "The place Miko's go when they use too much power? Like Kag—um—your mother did with Jinenji?"

"The very same." She nodded but didn't add to the conversation. Instead, she continued to look at him as if waiting; she didn't have to wait for long before she got exactly what she seemed to expect.

"I—I'm not," Inuyasha felt his brain working overtime as his muddled thoughts tried to form coherent sentences. "A Miko, so how am I here?"

The girl sent him a strange look that he couldn't quite comprehend and then frowned. "What happened to you," She paused and licked her lips absently before motioning at the nothingness in front of her with her tiny claws. "Just now?"

His eyes widened with insane horror, and he snapped his neck up to look at her in a panic. "Kagome—."

"Is fine." The girl quickly informed him; a combination of a smirk and a grimace lined her face. "Wouldn't my appearance be evidence of that?"

He didn't have time to comment on her inherited snarkiness because her words sank in way too deeply. "She—," He felt his throat begin to close shut, and his hands start to shake. "She died." He looked up at the girl; his golden eyes begging her to tell him he was wrong, and surprisingly, she did.

"She lived." The girl shifted in her spot uncomfortably; the gesture was an odd one.

Baffled, Inuyasha titled his head sideways without realizing it and deliberately blinked at the girl. "How?"

"You seem to think only Miko's come here." She looked away from him as she spoke, eyeing the world around her thoughtfully. "And that is true to a degree." She clicked her tongue and brought her arms up to cross in front of her chest. The necklace around her throat jingled from the action, momentarily calling Inuyasha's attention to it. He registered coins from Spain and Italy, as well as London and the Americas before she managed to catch his eyes with her own once more. "What is wrong—," She waited for him to look at her fully before continuing. "Is your definition of Miko"

Inuyasha snorted and tried his hardest not to laugh at the girl openly. "It's a pretty distinct definition." He spoke bluntly, watching as the girl looked at him with a calm, grey eyes. "Human—pure energy—good."

"Misconception," She took her time pronouncing the word, elongating each syllable so that it sounded suspiciously mocking. "Does not a definition make." She immediately looked away from him and brought her hand up above her head.

A tiny wisp of power flickered just at the tips of her fingers, and Inuyasha took a cautious step back with apprehension. With her hand still above her head, she inhaled; her father watching as her shoulders rose up and then lowered as she breathed out. With calculated precision, she brought her hand downwards in front of her face and pointed her palm towards the white space between father and daughter.

The older demon froze with fear as her hand pointed right at him. He half expected the energy to burst forth from her hand and out into the air like Kagome's always seemed to, but he did not receive the familiar show. Instead, the energy seeped out slowly from her palm in a swirling mass of sun lit yellow. It leaked from her finger tips, more and more of it entering the space around him. The more energy she released, the brighter it became, until Inuyasha felt he was standing in front of the sun itself. Gasping with pain, the dog demon raised up his hands to cover his eyes as he snapped them shut.

The Nippon ship was twisting violently in the water as the Shikuro plummeted into the sea. A bright light was still flowing upwards out of the water, but the source of the light could no longer be seen. People were screaming left and right as they swam desperately away from the sucking force of a ship being claimed by the ocean. Kagura and Hiten flew; their hands reaching downwards to grab as many flailing arms as they could hold.

Sango held on tightly to Paedar as he pulled them onto the Nippon vessel. They fell flat onto the deck, both of them drenched and absolutely flabbergasted. Sango barely had time to sit up before Paedar was on his feet. The much older man ran to the side of the vessel; his golden eyes looked out at the wreckage wide with shock. "Aengus!" He managed to yell; his voice hoarse from the cold.

"Survivors!" Came the equally hoarse response, and Paedar immediately understood that his mate was helping the humans who had been unlucky enough to be on the Shikuro when it had literally shattered.

"Eion!" He yelled next, needing to know that his brother was alive as well.

"Miroku!" The reply came back.

Paedar momentarily exhaled before steeling his gaze and jumping back over the side of the vessel without sending Sango so much as a backwards glance.

Shaking violently, Sango wrapped her arms around herself attempting to process what had just happened. Her wide brown eyes looked up at the railing of the Nippon vessel. She could just see the sea through the railing's slits. From her position, however, she couldn't see even a trace of the Shikuro; it was as if it had been eaten by the ocean. The only evidence she could see of its existence was the light that was still illuminating everything. It was brighter than even lightning as it shown upwards out of the watery grave. "Inu—," She tried to say his name, but she found her voice dead in her throat. She opened her lips again wanting to say Kagome but snapped then shut as she realized she would not be able to hear the call anyway.

"Sango!" Miroku half coughed, half yelled as Eion dumped him on the deck before jumping back towards the water just like Paedar.

Her head snapped towards the sound of her husband's voice, and she was amazed to see him, completely drenched and running towards her. He landed on his knees right in front of her. His hands instantly grabbed for her hair and pushed it out of her face. He looked over her desperately; those dark eyes filled with utter horror. "You're okay?"

"Yes." Sango looked at Miroku; her eyes slightly out of focused at first. "What happened?"

"I don't know." Miroku answered as he pulled the shaking woman into his arms.

Sango pressed her cheek against Miroku's chest; she only vaguely registered that he was shaking just as badly as she. "That light—," Her teeth chattered from the cold as she continued to stare out across the ship trying to see over the side.

Holding her tightly, Miroku nodded at her assessment. "Otou-san." He confirmed, but, for his life, he couldn't tell her what it meant. "He—he did that." He waved one hand in the air briefly to signal towards the watery grave before he suddenly clenched his fist. "I have to—," His other arm dropped away from Sango's shoulders. "I'm sorry." He pushed himself hastily to his feet. "I have to help!"

"Wait!" Sango called after him as he started for the railing. It was not that she wanted to discourage his movements, on the contrary, it was because she wanted to help as well. Shakily, she made it to her feet and started after her husband. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Sesshoumaru landing on the deck to deposit two men on its surface before disappearing over the railing again. "Survivors." She whispered the word, and even though she hated herself a little bit for the thought, she was upset that the two men on the deck weren't the two people she wanted them to be.

In front of her, Miroku hit the railing hard enough to crack the wood and screamed. "Otou-san!" His voice was desperate as he looked out helplessly over the side of the Nippon vessel.

It only took Sango a few seconds to reach his side, and immediately her teeth clamped tightly shut. The light was still flooding the area brilliantly, so that even the humans could see the truth despite the night air. Debris littered the ocean ranging from planks of the Shikuro's deck to parchment and the occasional bit of furniture and fabric that she recognized. The red of Inuyasha and Kagome's comforter; the blue edging of the mirror that belonged on her vanity; the hat she had worn when masquerading. Her heart sank in her chest as she looked at the place she had called home float in fragments before her eyes. Her body shook with cold and shock as she caught sight of what might have been a violin floating on the ocean's surface but could have been nothing more than the railing of the ship or a destroyed rigging.

"The Shikuro's just—gone." She rasped, and beside her, Miroku gulped so loudly she could hear the sound over the screaming of men.

"Otou-san!" He yelled again, but no reply came other than Takeshi's voice seeming to rise out of the wreckage.

"We're looking!"

Miroku and Sango's eyes darted after the sound of Takeshi's voice in an attempt to find the source. They spotted him amongst the debris as he grabbed a victim from his place perched on a bit of drifting wood. He pulled the man out of the frigid ocean and called for Kagura and Hiten immediately, but his voice seemed muffled by the reality around him. The two demons appeared within seconds and collected the man on their feather; a few were already seated on it clinging to each other desperately. Sesshoumaru jumped passed them with a man in his arms and flew over Sango and Miroku's heads not even two seconds later. He deposited the man hastily on the deck of the ship before jumping out again. Eion and Paedar jumped from bit of wreckage to bit of wreckage, yanking at boards and debris. Aengus, perhaps too pessimistic to look with them, pulled a man out of the sea and, much like Sesshoumaru, sailed in the air towards the Nippon vessel with the lucky survivor in his grasp.

"He has to be there." Sango whispered to Miroku as she looked out across the remains of the vessel. The light was just now beginning to fade, but to say it was fading quickly would have been a lie. It was such a gradual process that it was just barely noticeable now, but Sango could tell; it was fading. "The ligh—," Her voice got lost in her throat.

"The lights fading." Miroku took over for her, and the sentiment in his voice was heart breaking. "What's that mean? The light?"

"I don't know." Sango paused as she looked out at the demons who were sifting through the rubble still. They were so careful as they jumped from bit of debris to bit of debris. Their bodies seemed to glide on the water as they made their way through the carnage. Sesshoumaru even looked like he was flying, quite literally so. Briefly, Sango wondered if he even could; if all demons could secretly fly.

"He has to be out there." Miroku grabbed the railing with all his strength. "He just—has to be."

"All I see are men—and wood." Sango spoke softly as she looked at her husband's completely white face. "Oh Miroku." Her heart broke in her chest. First Kagome and now Inuyasha. To lose both of them seemed down right impossible or, at the very least, cruel. "I—." She reached for his hand, wanting to comfort him in any way she could. The back of his hand was cold to the touch, but she didn't even flinch as she forced him to let go of the railing and take her hand instead.

"He has to be," Miroku repeated without looking at her, but he did squeeze her hand in return. "He can't be—." His eyes happened to land on Takeshi as he spoke.

The boy wasn't anywhere near as graceful as his elders, but even he had managed to balance on a piece of floating deck like a bird. It was almost as if the demons had the amazing ability to go weightless, and that was the only reason he wasn't sinking. Despite the amazing feat, however, Miroku only had eyes for the boy's face. Takeshi was ghostly pale, and his mouth was hanging opened slightly as if completely stupefied.

It was then that Kagome's head quite suddenly burst forth from the water. Takeshi instantly lost his balance and fell backwards with a loud splash. He wasn't the only one startled by the sudden appearance, however. Everyone, including the men that were treading water, jumped as she gasped, gulping down the air around her frantically. The light that Inuyasha had created immediately disappeared and, at the most inopportune time, left everyone in complete darkness save the moon and the stars. Kagome's head was barely discernable to the humans as Kagura and Hiten, Sesshoumaru and Takeshi, Eion, Paedar, and Aengus, all rushed for her at once. With their demon eyes they were easily able to discern her body as she tried desperately to stay afloat.

"Help!" She yelled, and the demons could tell by the sound of her hasty splashing that she was using only one arm. "Inuyasha!" She yelled again; her voice seemed to come out of the dark like a ghost. "He—l-l-lp!" She tried to yell again, but this time her voice was nothing more than a painful squeak.

It didn't take long for the first responders to reach Kagome. In the end, it was Paedar who got to her first only because Takeshi had taken a good twenty seconds to grip the piece of wood he had been standing on, so he could crawl back to safety. The oldest of the demons grabbed for Kagome only to pause for a split second as he took in the sight of Inuyasha's slumped body in her grip. She was barely able to support his weight as she gripped him around the middle with one arm; the other frantically fought to keep them both afloat. Paedar's heart froze in his chest from the sight, and he found himself hovering in the air, unable to move.

"T-t-ake him!" Kagome panted as she tried to hold up Inuyasha's weight, but no matter how strong she had become, she simply couldn't support him much longer.

Not knowing what else to do, Paedar obeyed and grabbed for his grandson. The girl was perfectly fine with that, however, as was evidenced by the way she threw Inuyasha's body into his grandfather's arms.

"I'm fine." She even managed to add as she kicked her legs quickly to stay afloat. "Go—," Her teeth were chattering so violently that forming words seemed nearly impossible. "To—ship!" She managed to shove the last word out of her mouth just as Sesshoumaru, who had been the second closest, reached her. Her brother-in-law practically ripped her out of the water and, not allowing himself to look at his brother, jumped towards the Nippon vessel without even the tiniest pause.

Sesshoumaru didn't need to pause to know the truth he had left behind.

Paedar held onto Inuyasha; his hands were still as he briefly allowed himself to look down at his grandchild. Hovering as if by magic on a piece of the Shikuro, he broke a little as he realized that his cargo was far different than Sesshoumaru's. Unable to speak a word, though, he bent his knees and launched himself upwards and outwards towards the people waiting on the vessel.

Sesshoumaru landed on the deck right next to Sango and Miroku. He didn't bother to hide his worry for his sister-in-law as he knelt down on one knee with Kagome cradled to his chest for warmth. Instantly, he was swarmed by Sango and Miroku. Both of them were stunned into silence as they looked at Kagome's shaking and very much alive body in Sesshoumaru's grip.

"Kagome?" Sango whispered her name as if it were sacred and glanced towards Sesshoumaru. "She was—dead." Her mouth opened and closed like a fish as she looked from Sesshoumaru to Kagome and then back again. "Is she—she's okay?"

The demon lord discreetly inhaled Kagome's scent, and satisfied by what he found, he nodded at Sango who immediately began to sob.

"It's a miracle!" The girl cried as she reached for Kagome and pulled the girl out of Sesshoumaru's grip.

Kagome allowed herself to be cradled by Sango mainly because she still lacked the strength to formally protest, but also because she wasn't ready to face the truth that was about to land on the deck.

Paedar landed with Inuyasha held in his arms like a toddler. Behind him Eion and Aengus landed as well as the drenched Takeshi. None of them bothered to look at the water any longer. It wasn't that they didn't care for the survivors who were still treading water; it was just that there were only a few of them that remained. Most of the men were cleared from the water, and those left were easy for Kagura and Hiten to finish collecting. Besides, Kagome and Inuyasha, simply put, were far more important to them.

Everyone turned immediately to see the oldest of the three scalliwags as he lowered himself to the deck; his eyes never leaving Inuyasha's body.

"Paedar?" Aengus whispered even though his nose had already told him the horrific truth.

Paedar's lip wobbled; his grip on the body tightened; he closed his eyes as if in tremendous pain. He buried his face in the top of Inuyasha's unmoving head; his nose landing right between the dropping ears. For a moment, he looked as if he were going to inhale the scent of the boy, but he stopped himself. He couldn't bring himself to inhale such a scent.

"Is he?" Miroku's voice broke as he looked from Inuyasha in Paedar's arms to Kagome in Sango's.

No one said a word in response; for some of them, it was simply too obvious.

"Otou-san?" Miroku whispered, and his mouth fell opened. The tears that had formed in his eyes earlier overflowed and ran down his face. He tried to grab for something as his knees gave out, but there was nothing to hold. "No." He whispered and fell to the ground all at once; his knees slamming on the deck. "No." His lips pulled back in a sob that he couldn't control.

Sango tightened her grip on Kagome who hadn't said a word, wanting to protect her from the scene.

"He's—gone." Aengus spoke softly as if trying to disguise the reality in his words, but they were just that: real, unfair, and unbelievable.

In the background, the young Takeshi let out a muffled sob as he tried to contain his emotions. Immediately, his father looked up at him, and even though he wasn't an emotional man, he moved to comfort his son.

"Chi-ch-i-i-ue—," Takeshi stumbled over the proper name for father just as his father reached him. The pup fell into the older man's side, but as he had been raised, Sesshoumaru didn't bring his arms up to hug the child. Instead, he allowed the boy to sob into his side, while he brought a hand up to rest against his head so as to help Takeshi hide it in his chest.

From her spot in Sango's arms, Kagome looked at Paedar as he held his great-grandchild's lifeless body. The man who seemed so strong was shuddering. His face was buried in Inuyasha's damp ears; the moonlight made them shimmer as Paedar's body shook above them. Without a sound, Kagome gently moved her hands up against Sango's hips and pushed softly. The older woman jumped, and the arms that had threatened to strangle Kagome with sadness dropped. Kagome lifted her head away from Sango's shoulder and looked into the broken, brown eyes.

"I'm so—." Sango stopped as a strange, sad smile formed on Kagome's face.

She reached out and caressed Sango's cheek in the oddest way. Then, she turned away; her hand falling back to her side as she looked straight at Inuyasha and his great-grandfather. "Paedar?" She rasped out the name and waited for the man to lift his head up. It took a moment, but Paedar finally managed to look up at her with bloodshot eyes. "Bring hi-m-m," She floundered for a moment. "Please," She closed her eyes to compose herself and sniffled. "Bring him—here."

Paedar obeyed, and with all the care in the world, he pulled himself to his feet without once letting Inuyasha go. Slowly, he made his way across the deck as everyone watched. Eion fell to his knees and sobbed when he passed; the combination of sounds from him hitting the deck and crying, echoed all around them. Aengus made a sound between a howl and a sob and fell next to him; his face buried in Eion's neck. Paedar didn't flinch as the two men fought to tame their emotions but failed miserably. His shuffled footsteps reached Kagome, and gingerly, he lowered himself back down to his knees with Inuyasha cradled against his chest. For a moment, he looked as if he wasn't going to let Inuyasha go, but finally, he leaned forward and laid his great-grandson down on the deck before his wife. With Inuyasha flat on his back, Paedar smoothed the boy's hair away from his face and gulped.

"Like—he's sleeping." He spoke in way of explanation for the tinder action, and then he brought his hand away and placed it in his lap in wait.

Kagome's eyes opened with his words and glistened with unshed tears as everyone managed to look at her, expectantly. The woman didn't say anything as she leaned over his body, looking down into his relaxed face. He really could have just been sleeping. His eyes were closed and peaceful. The long lashes he had inherited from his mother were brushing against his cheek bones that he had inherited from his father. His lips, although exceedingly pale, were slightly opened as if they were inhaling but not one breath came from them. His silver hair, that Paedar had so gently smoothed down, was laying against his skin as it always had in life: wild.

One of Kagome's shaking hands came off the ground and reached for his cheek. She touched it with just the tip of fingers, and her face cracked as she felt the cold of his skin.

"Fate." She whispered, and the word was an echo from the past. "You," She shook her head and brought her other hand off the ground to rest on his other cheek, cupping his face. "W-w-hy?" She exhaled as she spoke causing the word to be more of a sniffle than a sound. Her hands on either side of his face began to shake, but she held firm, not letting go for even an instant. "Oh—Inu." She lost control of her voice as she was overwhelmed by a feeling of loss she could never explain. Her body fell forward onto his chest, and she silently screamed into his water logged clothes not knowing what else to do. Everyone around her could do nothing more than stare at her back as she trembled from her sobs.

Miroku, who was still sitting on his knees, brought a hand to his face and rubbed at his eyes. "No—no—no." He repeated the sentiment as his father had, but he lacked the ability to act on it as Inuyasha could.

Sango dropped down next to him, holding back her own tears as she laid a comforting hand on his back. "This can't—happen." She whispered, and her words were thoughts from everyone's head.

Finally, Kagome lifted her head up just a little off of Inuyasha's chest. Her eyes looked towards his chin as her fingers tightened against the fabric of his shirt. She sniffled, and her face scrunched up in horrible pain. She released one hand off his chest slowly; her fingers reaching out to touch his face one more time. Her fingertips barely managed to touch his jaw before they dropped once more with anguish. Her mouth opened, and everyone thought she was going to beg for him to come back as he had done for her. In place of her teas and bargaining with fate, however, was something none of them could have ever predicted.

"Thank you—."

Everyone felt the air rush from their lungs as Kagome's words hit them.

"Inuyasha—," Her voice was wise beyond all her years as she looked down at her husband with so much love in her eyes that it was more painful to look at than her tears. "You saved me." Her words hung in the air all around them; no one was able to say a single thing against them because they were undeniably true. "You saved," She dropped her hand back to her stomach where she felt the tiny life energy swell against her fingers. "Us." She looked up at them in that moment, and the pain on her face was more than anyone in the whole world had ever felt or even known. "He saved us."

Inuyasha O'lionsigh had saved the life of his wife and child, and for that, he had lost his own.

Inuyasha eyes snapped back open into the world of white, and he gasped as air rushed into his lungs. Frantically, he looked all around himself in an attempt to regain his equilibrium. Within seconds, he saw his daughters face; the beautiful image of her grey eyes staring at him bringing him away from the impossible vision. "What just happened?" He shook his head back and forth absently as a strange budding of hope began to form in his heart. "What did you do?"

She didn't speak right away, and for a moment, Inuyasha thought a look of shame crossed her face. "I showed you."

"Showed m-e-e," He heard the crack in his voice, but he didn't care that he had made the sound at all. "What?"

The look of shame Inuyasha had thought he had seen, vanished. The girl looked straight at him; a look of absolute admiration forming on her features. "How you saved my mother." She answered, and those eyes stared straight down into the furthest reaches of his soul.

His chin dropped to his chest, and he found himself staring at the white nothingness that seemed to make up every aspect of this place. He tried to open his mouth, but failed to make even the smallest of sounds. He just couldn't speak; there simply weren't words in any lexicon that could express the feelings running through him in that moment.

"Otou-san," She spoke gently as if she were talking to a baby bird. "You think a Miko is a human with pure energy." The elegant whisper of her voice drew Inuyasha's eyes upwards, until he found himself looking her straight in the eye again. "And you are right—in Nihon-go, a Miko is a female, human warrior with powerful energy." She nodded and tried to smile at him, but the gesture looked more pained than reassuring. "But anyone can use their energy like a Miko," Her bright eyes flashed as if to reiterate what she was about to say before she said it. "Regardless of gender or—blood."

He found his ability to speak again as he grasped onto her words. He understood those words. "Blood—like demon and human," His breathing was a little ragged, but he managed to finish his thought. "Or half?" He gulped as the image of Kagome's ashy skin haunted his brain. "No—there's no way. Demons aren't like that." He looked at his daughter, begging for an answer. "Even a half demon's energy cannot do what your mother's can do!"

She frowned at him momentarily as if disappointed he had not realized the flaw in his own words, but the look quickly passed. "Human and demon are races." She looked straight at him, and he got the eerie sensation of her mother's eyes staring at himself, even though they weren't Kagome's. "But that does not mean they are very different." She reached up and touched her own black forelocks. "A miko has an outside source of energy, and a demon," She let go of the black locks and reached a little farther back until she touched a strand of silver instead. "Has an internal one, but the energy is still just that—energy." Her fingers migrated away from her hair, and in front of her face. "And energy can be manipulated by the wielder to kill or to save." She snapped her fingers and a little bit of that sunlight came back to her hand. "A demon can the energy for good just as a human can use it for evil," The little flame danced like a candle on a windy night. "And that is what changes the energy inside of them—not their race."

"Let me—give me a second," He stumbled over his words as he tried desperately to put his thoughts into coherent sentences. "Okay—ignoring the fact that Miko's are a Nippon thing," He moved his hands as he talked in small circles as if making a wheel of his thoughts. "You define a miko as a person who uses their energy for—." He stopped unable to say the cliché out loud, but his daughter was able to remedy his hesitation with words of her own.

"Not to sound cliché but—for good." She dropped her hand, and the tiny flame evaporated into the air becoming part of the white. "This is the place where people go when they use their energy selflessly." She glanced around herself only briefly before looking back at her father. "That's really what a Miko is—ignoring the cultural standpoint—they're a person, human or demon, who uses their energy for the good of another."

"So—," He felt something inside of him ease with understanding, and then tense with confusion. "I used my energy, saved Kagome, and came here?"

"Yes."

"When Kagome came here," He pointed at the ground as if to indicate exactly where here was. "It was because she purified someone." He threw his hands against his chest to help support his next point. "I—I couldn't have purified her; she's the purist person I know."

"You're right," She licked her lips and sniffled; the sound was loud in the whiteness. "You didn't purify her to save her." She deliberately looked away from him, but Inuyasha couldn't for the life of him figure out why. "You gave her your energy."

Inuyasha furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her blankly. "I did what?"

"You gave her all of your energy." She stopped for a second, and her lips trembled as she seemed to lose her ability to speak. "Our energy is our life source Otou-san." She closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Slowly, her body began to glow, the soft yellowish light becoming a haunting ring around every part of her. "The energy in a demon powers their life." She opened her eyes slowly, looking somewhere above his head as the energy floated around her ethereally. "You know that."

Inuyasha nodded and started to continue her speech. "The amount of demon energy—."

"No—not demon." The energy that highlighted her body flared with her quickly snapping words. "Demon and human do not matter." The energy pushed out away from her, creating an aura in the whiteness around her. "Energy is just energy." She pushed it out a little further to reiterate her point. "All humans are born with the same amount of energy." She stared straight into him as the energy pushed outwards towards him as if it wanted to touch him. "Demons have a different amount because they're spiritually connected to an element or animal within themselves."

He nodded his confirmation and watched as a wisp of her energy came close to brushing across his hair. "And that creates their life span. The more energy, the longer the life." He looked back towards her as the energy abruptly fell away, dissolving into nothing but white.

"Correct—Otou-san," She blinked back tears and shook her head a little. "Okaa-san was dead." Her voice cracked as she looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and amazement. "But you gave her all of your energy." The awe in her eyes made Inuyasha actually feel uncomfortable; he had never seen someone look at him as if he were the most selfless man ever to exist. "You gave her your life and brought her back from the dead."

The dog demon froze. Even spelled out for him as it was, it was nearly impossible to believe. He had saved Kagome from certain death by giving her his own energy. It was perfectly possible. After all, as it had been pointed out to him countless times, energy is just that: energy. It does not matter where the energy comes from because all energy is the same. Human and demon are the same, so when push had come to shove, Inuyasha had been able to give the human Kagome his energy. And because of that, Kagome had lived.

"So I'm in the world of white because I gave her all of my energy?" He asked out loud, but he didn't really need an answer. He felt something inside of himself ease, and he sighed with relief. "Okay, I guess—I'm just here until I recover then, right?" He looked at her as his memories of Kagome's time with Jineji and the world of white lightened up his predicament considerably. "That's what happened to Kagome with Jinenji—she came here," He looked around himself absently. "And healed—then went back."

"You don't understand." The girl began to break down as she looked at him. Her eyes were filled to the brim with tears, and her bottom lip was wobbling with emotion. "You gave her all of it."

"And—?" He laughed at her and ignored the nagging dread in his stomach.

"Otou-san," She reached up and touched the necklace around her neck. The coins jingled, and the sound made her fingers open wide as if startled. "You can only use this place to recover if there is something left to work with" She allowed one finger to touch the necklace using it as a distraction. "Even just a tiny fragment of energy will do but—." She glanced towards him, and her hand on the necklace fell away landing at her side once more. "It's like a wilted flower." She used an analogy she had heard a million times. "You can save it if its moments from death, but you can't save it if its already gone."

"I gave her my life energy." Inuyasha whispered softly as a cold sensation overwhelmed him from his core to his fingers and toes. "Will she—live as long as I would then? She has my energy so—." He paused and watched as the girl nodded yes to the question before he could completely finish it. He inhaled slowly, thinking about that fact, and then laughed. "She'll live my life." It was a relief that quite suddenly turned into a lump in his throat. For not the first time, but perhaps with the first time with complete comprehension, Inuyasha looked at his adult child in front of him. "You—." He stopped and looked the girl up and down as reality finally sunk in. "You're all grown up."

She nodded but didn't speak.

That horrible realization made it hard to swallow. He looked towards his daughter, another, far darker fact, jumping up into his throat. "She's already lived my life?" He watched as the girl shifted uncomfortably but nodded her confirmation once more. "She raised you—all alone."

This time the girl managed to actually whisper, "yes" faintly as she looked up at him from between her eyelashes almost shyly.

"You've," He closed his eyes as he finally understood. "You've never seen my face," He inhaled deeply and opened his eyes once more as his stomach twisted and turned. "Have you?"

The girl didn't speak, and Inuyasha knew it was because she no longer could. Instead, she lifted up her hand just as she had before. The rays of sunlight formed in her palm instantly as she pointed it at him, and this time he didn't close his eyes as it slowly made its way towards him. He felt the rush of heat from the yellow energy, and even as his eyes were overcome by the intensity of it he didn't flinch until he heard Sango scream.

"Come on Kagome!" Sango was coaching as she helped Kagome squat over the blankets. Kagome's arm was strung behind Sango's neck as the older woman supported her weigh. On the other side of Kagome sharing in Sango's task was Rin. Both women were holding her up as her face filled with pain. Her eyebrows were drawn tight, and her eyes were squeezed completely shut. Sweat was building on her forehead as she took short, forced breaths through her almost completely clamped lips.

"Deep breath." Rin whispered into Kagome's ear as the girl's mouth suddenly opened in a near silent scream. "That's it—good girl!"

"Breathe, breathe," Sango told her as she took the hand not supporting Kagome and motioned towards one of the women for a damp cloth. Within seconds, the cloth was in Sango's hands. "You can do this." Sango continued to speak gently as she dabbed at Kagome's forehead with the cool cloth.

"He'd be so proud of you." Rin spoke softly on her other side, and for the first time, Kagome opened her eyes.

She stared at Rin. Her face was flushed from the effort it took to breath, but her eyes were clear and bright. "I know." She spoke evenly even though her face looked as if it were about to crack. "No doubt-t-t." Her face scrunched up as the wave of pain overtook her.

"Push!" Sango called from her other side, and Kagome obeyed.

Her chin dropped to her chest, and she pressed her heels hard into the floor. A growl came from her throat as Sango and Rin both held her up while she bore down.

"Keep pushing." Sango whispered in her ear, and Kagome nodded through the pain as her mouth began to open in another silent scream.

"I can see the head." Rin spoke so rapidly it was almost impossible to tell what she had said. "Just a little more!" She looked at Kagome, and then back down between the girl's legs where the miracle was coming into the world.

The pain dissipated temporarily, and Kagome took shallow breathes as she threw her head backwards. She opened her eyes briefly and continued to pant. Her body became dead weight in Sango and Rin's arms, but neither girl voiced even the tiniest complaint as they held Kagome up until it was time to push again.

"This is damn hard work." Kagome whispered between pants, and then laughed at her own mini joke.

Holding onto her tightly, Sango laughed as well and shook her head with pure amazement. "How can you still laugh?" She accidently said the thought out loud and snapped her mouth shut horrified at her words.

"After everything that's happened," Kagome's head lolled towards Sango face; her cheek resting on her shoulder. "If I don't laugh," She tried to bring one of her hands up to touch Sango, but she simply didn't have the strength, so it stayed limp around the girl's shoulders. "I'll cry."

Sango blinked back tears and glanced over Kagome's shoulder at Rin who was smiling with watery eyes. She pursed her lips and looked back at the sweaty, tired girl she was supporting through birth. "You are the strongest," Sango spoke from her heart as she looked into those absolutely exhausted grey eyes. "Woman I know, Kagome."

"Thanks." Kagome closed her eyes and leaned just a little bit towards Sango; her forehead touched the girl's neck. "For everything."

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be." Sango replied and kissed the top of Kagome's sweaty head.

Kagome laughed at her statement. "Yeah right." She turned and looked at Rin for the briefest of moments. "I can think of," She snapped her mouth shut as the pain started to build again, but she didn't let it stop her wit. "At least," She pushed out the words even as she allowed her chin to drop back towards her chest, ready again. "Ten places I'd rather be."

"Haiku!" The midwife yelled up at her from her position laying on the ground between Kagome's legs.

Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and took in the deepest breath she could. Sango and Rin held onto her from under her arms; both women were fully prepared to take the brunt of Kagome's weight as she fought to have her child enter the world.

"Motto!" The midwife yelled for her to push harder and harder Kagome pushed.

She threw her head back, mouth opened in pain and pushed as hard as she could. A ripping, hot, white, flash of pain assaulted her whole body, but she didn't stop pushing until the midwife yelled with excitement.

"Banzai!" The woman cried out as she caught the baby in her waiting arms. Within seconds, the sound of a frail creature taking its first breaths assaulted all of their ears in the most beautiful way. A squeak, followed by a squawk, and then an absolutely infuriated wail filled the room.

Sango and Rin continued to hold Kagome up as the midwife's assistants hurried to move as much of the bloody tools out of the way as they could. The women didn't mind the wait, however, as they all three watched the midwife hold the squirming infant to her chest. The baby's tiny hands were flailing as it arched its back in anger while the midwife took a cloth to its face and began its first bath.

"Rin-sama." One of the women distracted them as she called for her lady.

Rin turned immediately and found the fresh futon easy to access. "Arigato." She spoke hastily as she motioned with her chin towards Sango. "Let's lay her down."

"Good idea." Sango replied and took her eyes off the baby, so she could help maneuver Kagome's body.

Kagome, however, didn't bother to look away as Sango and Rin guided her feet towards the futon that awaited her. She didn't look away when they lowered her body onto the soft cloth, and she still didn't look away as the assistants began to clean her up as well as stitch her body back together. She could only stare as the baby's first bath washed away the remnants of its birth revealing tuffs of black and silver hair. Tears flooded her eyes as the midwife cooed to the child that continued to wail in protest. Kagome's fingers reached for something to hold as emotion overwhelmed her, and they found Rin's hands within seconds.

"Kagome?" Her sister-in-law looked down at her, but still Kagome didn't turn as the midwife finished washing the baby and headed in their direction.

With each step, Kagome's grip on Rin's hand tightened. The assistants had finished, for now, cleaning her up and had left her chest still exposed to the cool early autumn air.

"Masume." The midwife whispered to Kagome as she knelt down beside the woman and tilted the girl so Kagome could see her livid face.

Toothless gums and tiny clawed hands consumed Kagome's vision as the baby haughtily rubbed her face. Human ears, framed by two black, little forelocks, glowed pink in the afternoon light. Silver strands caught that same light and shimmered in a way that made Kagome's heart sore. Her grip on Rin's hand dropped, and she reached out without prompting to collect her daughter. Somewhere between laughing and sobbing, Kagome wrapped her arms around the tiny squirming girl and pulled her towards her chest. She didn't realize until the baby began to root that the cry meant hunger, but the surprise of motherhood did nothing to stop her from staring at the baby with unending admiration. She watched, her lips quivering, as the baby found a nipple with instinctive grace and latched without complaint.

"I'm jealous." Sango joked as she looked at the little one greedily eat. "My boy's never latched like that."

"She's got demon blood." Rin explained even though she really didn't need to. "And demons know how to find the teat—nasty habit that never leaves them, even as adults."

Both women began to laugh, but Kagome ignored this conversation as she looked at the tiny head as it nursed. "Oh—," She whispered as she moved some of the silvery hair away from the little girl's forehead. "You're so smart—so perfect," She caught a wisp of the babe's hair between her fingers. It was starting to dry and as it did, it became curly like Kagome's own. "Inuyasha—," Rin and Sango's laughter died when she said the name of her deceased husband. Even the midwife and her assistants went stark still as they looked towards Kagome's watery smile. "She's perfect."

Inuyasha blinked as he reentered the world of white. This time he didn't feel the shock he had when his daughter had first shown him the world after his death. Instead, he felt a hollowed ache that he was just now beginning to understand. He turned to look at the girl with silver hair and black forelocks; his golden eyes focused on her completely. "I guess you really have never seen me, huh?"

She lifted up her gaze towards him and smiled softly. "Once." Her voice was fragile as she spoke but honest none-the-less. "Uncle Kouga showed me a portrait done by Leonardo da Vinci."

He involuntarily laughed, but didn't stop to question how or why she had ever met Kouga; why she called him uncle; when Leonardo da Vinci had painted his portrait (probably somewhere between Kouga knocking him out and him waking up as a cadaver); but, he did wonder, "Why is she showing me any of this?"

"Tell me," She spoke slowly, wanting her father to hear every single syllable that left her mouth. "Did you really ask every man and woman you met if they had something to live for?"

"Yes." He answered even though a wave of confusion made him scrunch up his face.

"Otou-san—," She stopped only long enough to let the word permeate his whole being. "Do you have something to live for?"

Inuyasha stepped back as her intense grey eyes looked straight into his own. He felt Kagome's eyes staring at him. It was almost as if he was back at the beginning; that first day on the Shikuro, when she had looked at him intensely after he had asked her his ill-fated question. He remembered the way her eyes bore into him as the newly made mark on her shoulder glistened brightly while it peaked out from beneath the clothe of her father's shirt. He could hear her fierce voice as she threw his own question back in his face.

"Do you, Captain?"

Back then, he really didn't have an answer. He had nothing. Sure, Miroku was a part of his life, but all fathers are expendable when a child is already an adult. Kagome had changed that, however. When he first smelt her scent, saw those eyes, listened to that voice, watched her as she danced, played the violin, and fought for the life she wanted over the one that had been handed to her, he knew that his answer had changed. He would fight for her because she fought; he would die for her because she deserved to live; he would live for her, if he could, because he wanted to be by her side. He wanted to live, so he could be with Kagome O'lionsigh and, now, the daughter within her, and he was happy just being a part of their world.

"Well."

His daughter brought him out of his stupor, and he gulped as he raised his head up to look at her still pressing eyes. "Yes." The affirmation slipped from his lips, and he could tell that he didn't need to explain his reasoning to her at all.

"Then," She stared at him without blinking; the severity of the look unnerving. "Turn around."

It was an odd request, and something in her eyes told him that it was far more significant than just a simple demand. Her grey eyes were unwavering in their strength, but something within them was not quite right. "Why?" He asked without preamble, but she didn't flinch; she smiled.

"So suspicious Otou-san," She chuckled, but he could see the pain in her expression. "Can't you just—I don't know—trust yer gut?"

He clamped his jaw shut at her words and stared for a second at her whole form. For the first time since he had laid eyes on her, he looked not at the features that reminded him of her mother, but instead at the features that were wholly her own. The smirk on her face was downright cocky, and the human ears on the side of her head were pierced with small gold hops in them. Although it wasn't uncommon for women to pierce their ears, he got the sneaking suspicion that she had done it because she was a woman of the sea (seamen often pierced their ears because of a strange human belief that it somehow helped them see farther). Around her waist, a few guns rested. The design of which, he didn't recognize. It was as if they were somehow futuristic. Even her dress looked exotic and like nothing he had ever seen with its high red apron and coarse green clothe underneath. She had a knife as well, carefully tucked into her boot with just enough handle exposed, so that it was easy to grab in a fight. And her boots, like her dress and the guns, looked like nothing he had ever seen.

His eyes came back up to her face, and he opened his mouth even though he wasn't sure what to say. "What you just showed me—," He pointed at the area behind him even though he had no idea where he had been when she had shown him the future without him. "It's already happened to you."

She looked a bit taken aback by his deduction, but her astonishment quickly turned into a surprisingly gentle smile. "What you saw is neither what will be or what should be—it is only what could be." The explanation sounded rehearsed in a way. "In fact, if you turn around," Those grey eyes wavered for just the briefest of seconds before becoming somehow vacant. "It might not be."

The words hit him hard as an shred of hope settled into his stomach. "How?"

"If you turn around." She spoke bluntly and without really looking at him. "You might be able to change fate."

"It's not possible." Inuyasha spoke calmly; even though his heart was racing, he just couldn't believe that it might change. "My mother tried, your mother tried, my father tried," He leaned his head back in absolute disbelief. "Sesshoumaru and Rin tried—," He threw a hand against his chest desperately. "Even I tried, pup—all of us tried; it's can't be done."

"Everything's possible." She told him; her lips drawing into a thin line. "As long as the price has been—." Her eyes widened just a little as if she had realized what she had just said.

"Price?" He stepped forward as an instinct flared up within him that he had felt a million times before with Miroku and with Shippo. "What do you mean—price?" He looked her up and down and as he saw those strange parts of her clothes and weapons, the necklace made of coins, it hit him; he knew exactly what the price was. "No—no—no—you've already lived." He accused as his protective instincts for his daughter outweighed his need to live. "If you change fate—if I live," He pointed at himself even as a strange sinking feeling made his stomach twist. "Then you'll pay the price. Your life—."

"I'll still be born." She spoke far too calmly for him to except. "I will still live a life."

"But the life you did live," He looked at her like she was insane; his eyes wide and his expression baffled. "What will happen with me in your life?" He put a hand on his chest, and then ripped it away flabbergasted. He stared at her like a fish out of water, and then yelled. "I don't want you to give up anything for me!" He pointed a finger at her as if he were scolding her. "I'm not worth it!"

The girl looked at him a mixture of awe and annoyance on her face that rivaled Kagome. She seemed to contemplate him for several moments, and then her whole face changed. She closed her eyes; the tears that were caught between her lashes splashed onto her cheeks. She smiled strangely, and one of her fangs poked out from between her lips. "Okaa-san used to tell me," She opened her eyes, and they were bright. "Your father is a great man; a better man than any you will ever meet." She sniffled a little, and the smile that formed on her face seconds later was Kagome's smile. "Until this moment, I didn't know for sure whether she was telling me the truth or just sugarcoating my bedtime stories with sweet, sweet lies."

He felt the fight leaving him and he dropped the finger that had been pointing down to the ground. "Pup?"

"Eliza." She whispered the name and tilted her head to the side. The coins on her necklace chimed in response, and she reached up to stop them with her fingertips as one might a bell. "My name is Eliza O'loinsigh."

"Eliza." He said the name, noting that it was short for Elizabeth, Kagome's mother. "What will happen to you, Eliza?"

The tears filled her face, but despite them, she looked at him with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. "Won," She snapped her mouth shut, and her eyes all at once. For several seconds, she seemed to collect herself.

Carefully, she breathed in and out; a few shaky inhales marring her attempt to maintain an air of calm. Finally, she breathed in with perfect ease, and it was in that moment that she forced her eyes opened again. There was a confidence in those eyes that even Kagome O'lionsigh couldn't claim. They seemed to say that this girl, Eliza O'lionsigh, had seen the impossible, done the impossible, and dreamt of things far more unobtainable than even the amazing things she had done. There was a story in those eyes that needed to be told, but that story was for another time and another world. A smirk formed on her face, and it was her father's own, down to the fang that peeked out from underneath her soft lips.

"Wonderful things." She spoke the words with a voice that left no room for argument.

He knew she was lying, and yet, in the same moment, he knew she was oddly telling the truth as well. "I—."

"Otou-san," She stared straight at him; those grey eyes smoldered with her own conviction. "I want you in my life."

It was a blunt statement, and it made the air leave his lungs.

"Please," She stepped towards him, and the coins around her neck jingled as if providing a clue into her amazing life. "Live for me."

He stared at her wondering what life she had lived to be that strong and to stand with that much confidence. He felt his stomach twist in a knot that he couldn't deny, and before he could stop himself, he felt his mouth open. "You and your mother," He realized he was just close enough to touch her, and he didn't hesitate to bring his hand up to caress her cheek. She leaned into the touch, and he knew without having to ask that she had longed for that all her life. "You're all I ever wanted to live for."

She didn't look surprised as the smile on her face widened considerably. She chuckled and the bravery in her eyes shinned beautifully into the world of white. She closed them briefly and leaned into his touch one last time before abruptly pulling herself away from him. The coins around her necklace jingled from the action, and they too dared him to defy her next order. "Otou-san," The rough voice turned soft, and Inuyasha somehow managed to miss the little, bitty squeak of remorse. "Turn around." She flickered her wrist to a spot somewhere over his shoulder, and he knew he had to submit.

"You better be glad you're special." He tried to joke and briefly wondered if Kagome had told her that story. He turned quickly, wanting to get it over with, and frowned as he came face to face with a door. "What?" He didn't know whether to feel disappointed or annoyed as he looked at the strange cedar plank before him. The irregular, brass doorknob winked at him as it caught the light, and he nearly growled in irritation. "Really pup," He started to turn around; his eyes staying on that doorknob just a second too long. "This is so over used at this poin—." He stopped as the area behind him came into view; it was vacant.

The spot where his pup had been, his Eliza, was nothing more than arbitrary whiteness. He stared at it in silence, and an odd feeling of loneliness made him shift nervously.

"What do I do?" He asked that vacant spot, and for a second, he thought he heard her answer, open the door, but it might have simply been an echo. Regardless, he turned back to the door and stared at it openly. "How is a bloody door supposed to change fate?" He asked himself even as he reached forward for the handle. "I'm so sick of doors."

Without even the tiniest bit of ceremony, he yanked the metal object downwards, and the door swung open wide before him. Blinding sunlight hit his eyes, and its warmth soon followed. Shaking his head to ward off his blindness, he forced his eyes opened in time to see the last thing he had ever expected.

"Goshinboku."

Sunlight was peeking through the swaying branches filled to the brim with flowers and leaves. It hit his face, warm and familiar, and made him close his eyes in ecstasy. A soft, warm breeze touched his skin before something unfamiliar brushed his cheek. He jerked backwards ever so slightly as he opened his eyes up to see the object. A cascading waterfall of petals was falling towards him as the breeze turned into a slight gust of wind pulling the flowers from the branches. He followed them as they fell downwards towards the blanket of white on the ground and inhaled sharply as his eyes landed on a woman sitting amongst the petals.

She had her back to him, but he would have recognized her from a million miles away. Her long black hair cascaded down her back in waves, and the white and pink kimono his father had given her when they lived in Nippon contrasted elegantly with each individual tendril. The little blossoms floated all around her. Like rain they coated her head; the whiteness odd against the black backdrop.

The child in him wanted to run to her and wrap his arms around her, but the adult couldn't bring himself to say more than her name. "Okaa-san."

The woman's shoulders tensed, and her head snapped upwards. She twisted her neck around; one of her hands fell to the ground to support her as her dark eyes looked at her son. "Inu—," Her eyes instantly filled with tears. "Chan?"

Inuyasha took an involuntary step forward, all the pain this woman had caused him momentarily forgotten. "Okaa-san." He repeated and felt every bit the age of fifteen when she had died.

"Inu-chan." She practically jumped to her feet; the tears already flowing down her cheeks. "It—it can't be." Her hands flew up to her face and covered her mouth as she shook her head desperately back and forth. "You," She sobbed openly, but the sound was not made out of joy. "Died." She looked down at the ground as she contemplated exactly what that meant. "Kagome—lived."

Her words seemed to bring Inuyasha out of the apathy her presence had thrown him into. He blinked rapidly as memories flooded him. "You," His hands tightened at his sides; his affection for his mother, and his longing to be in her arms, fading. "You did this!" He felt the words rip from his throat, while the words of his daughter slipped away into his subconscious. His feet quickly moved through the doorway, not noticing when it disappeared behind him completely. "This is your fault," He brought a hand up to point at her startled face. "All of it!"

His mother's face filled with self-loathing, and she looked away from him. "I know."

"Why?" Inuyasha's face split into a grimace. "Why would you try to kill the woman I love?"

"You don't understand." She reached out to him with no intention to touch him just yet. Her hands were merely turned upwards as if praying for forgiveness. "I had a plan."

"To kill her!" Inuyasha filled in and snapped his mouth closed violently. "What mother," He spoke from between clenched teeth. "Would do something like that," He stared at her with hatred actually bubbling in his eyes. "To her own son?"

"Inuyasha, I—." She took another step forward, so that she was now close enough to actually wrap her arms around him.

Inuyasha immediately growled at her; the sound violent in his throat. "I'll tell you who—the wicked stepmothers in old wife's gossip!" He yelled right in her face. "You're no better than those bloody, awful women!" All his anger and worry and frustrations from the past few weeks (or even hours) overflowed as he allowed himself to take out every emotion on her. "You never cared about me; if you did Kagome never would have been mixed up in that mess!" He threw his hands up in the air and laughed derisively. "Hell," He snarled; not noticing the look of pain that crossed his mother's face. "You probably hated me the moment I was born! Just like everybody el—!"

He felt the hit, and yet he somehow didn't see it coming. The sound of his mother slapping him echoed all around the Goshinboku. His eyes landed on an empty field a few hundred feet away, and he stared at it as his mind recoiled. His mother had never once in his life raised a hand to him, and yet the slight stinging of his cheek now told him he had jumped over an unwritten boundary. Holding his cheek in absolute shock, he turned and looked at his mother. Immediately, he saw what he had neglected when he was screaming. Her face was tear streaked, and her eyes were blood shot. Her shoulders were shaking, and her lips were drawn taunt.

"Don't you ever," She started to speak as the hand that had struck him reached out to him. "Ever think for even a moment that I don't love you." She rested her palm against the back of his hand that still held his surprisingly reddened cheek. "I love you with my whole heart; you're my reason." She looked up into his face, and in the back of his mind, he noted how short she was compared to his memory. "My reason to live," She bit out the words, and her hand pressed against his own a little more firmly. "I dedicated my whole life to finding a way to save you from the horrible pain fate designed for you."

Inuyasha pulled his hand out from under his mother's grip and stared at her with complete confusion crossing his face. "Save me from pain? You mean death." He couldn't stop himself from snorting, but he managed to keep his temper in check. Even as an adult, when your mother slaps you across the face, you know you need to change your attitude. "You wanted to save me from the pain of death by giving me a pain that's a hundred times worse."

Guilt crossed her features as she bit her lip deliberately with thought. "The plan," She looked away from him no longer able to look him in the eye. "Was not for Kagome to die permanently." She whispered as she brought a hand up to cover her agony-filled eyes. "It was to preserve your human half, so when the time came—," She lowered her hand so that it covered her mouth instead of her eyes. She blinked a few times before looking up at him with pure apology in her face. "I could give it to her."

He stared at his mother in absolute disbelief as he tried to understand what she meant. "Give her my human half?" He screwed up his face as he tried to process what she was saying.

"I wanted to save you both." Her face cracked, and she fell forward. She would have landed flat on her knees, but Inuyasha caught her before they slammed into the ground. "By giving her your human half, she would live. So would you because of your demon half." Her voice caught in her throat as she brought up her arms to grab at Inuyasha's elbows, holding onto them like a lifeline. "I should have told you," Her eyes shinned with the guilt she felt deep inside herself. "I'm so sorry—so so—sorry." She shook her head slowly from side to side. "I should have told you from the start, but I was afraid—fate—beating it—I was afraid of it."

"She tried to save us—?" The thought seemed impossible in his head, but he couldn't deny that his mother was telling him that truth.

She had tried to save them both, and she had failed miserably. Still, she had tried, and that meant the vicious quality he thought his mother possessed did not actually exist. She had not been out to let Kagome take his place. She had been trying to save them both in the only way she knew how by preserving his human half, so she could give it to Kagome and consequently save her life. He felt his knees give out, and without his consent, he lowered them both to the ground. Her arms came around him, and for all pretenses, he felt like a small child again. Her grip was warm, and the sun above them was hot. The pain in his body made him numb, and he leaned into her a little bit; his mind unable to keep up with the multitude of emotions that were assaulting him.

"I messed everything up—everything," She mumbled against him, and the admission of her failings made his heart arch a little; the need to forgive or, at the very least, understand becoming real. "I should have—god—I should have done so many things."

He didn't respond; he didn't know what to say, so he just continued to lean against her as the apologies fell from her lips one after another.

"If I just would have told you or your father," She brought her arms up and wrapped them around him, finally realizing that he wasn't going to pull away. "You wouldn't have combined the demon and human within you."

Inuyasha felt his brows furrow as he finally took in exactly what his mother's plan was. "Separate them." He whispered, and his mother froze as his voice entered the one sided conversation. "Would that have worked?"

"I think it would have." She spoke softly, and he felt very much like a child being cooed over. "I separated the two sides with the jewel."

He brought a hand up as if he was going to touch the gemstone that once hung about his neck.

"The human energy for Kagome," She continued and gently brought a hand up to pet his long hair. "And the demon energy for you."

He felt the words sink into his mind, waking him up. He allowed his mother to "sooth" him even as they built within him.

"Energy is just energy."

He pursed his lips, knowing that he was missing something that felt obvious and not all at once. "What's going on? Why am I here? Why am hearing this? Why does it sound so important?" He asked himself as his mother rubbed his back. "Eliza sent me here for a reason." He told himself even though he couldn't yet grasp the reason at all. "What did she want me to gain from seeing my mother?" He glanced up at the woman who was cradling him. He could see her strong chin and her closed her eyes. "Closure? No—there has to be a deeper reason." He felt as if his mind was on fire as it tried to sift through the wealth of information it contained. "What did she want me to see?" He stared up at his mother's chin and closed eyes as if they contained the answer. "What did she want me to understand?" He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek frustrated with himself. "It's times like this that I need Ka—." His eyes went wide as understanding filled him completely. "Is Kagome still in this world?"

His mother jumped at the sudden intrusion of his voice into the quite setting. "Um." She dropped her hand from the back of his head and frowned. "It's highly unlikely—she probably already crossed back over." She pursed her lips as Inuyasha's whole face tore with the pain of her admission. "But—I can check." She offered him the sliver of hope and without giving him any more indication about what she meant, closed her eyes. Her face instantly calmed, and her hair about her head raised a little becoming iridescent as she collected energy right on top of her skin. It glowed brightly but didn't move from her. Instead, it seemed to coat her body like a flame.

"Please be here, Kagome. You have to be." His starburst eyes stared at his mother desperately, knowing that she was the only source of hope he had. "Please—please." He whispered under his breath as he felt his mother's warm energy brush against his skin because of their close proximity.

Suddenly, Izayoi frowned, and her eyes popped opened with surprise. "She's still here." Her mouth dropped opened with her own wonder. "She's here." She let go of him completely before raising up to her feet; her son followed not seconds after. She looked away from Goshinboku and out into the distant fields and further still passed the river and into the trees. "She's on the edge." She turned swiftly around and looked at him anxiously. "She's calling for you."

"How do I get there?" He asked frantically; he didn't know what would happen if he reached Kagome or if his daughter's will to change fate was even possible, but he did know that he had to try. If he could just get to Kagome, he knew she would be able to put forth an effort far greater than his own.

"I—you have to listen," His mother pointed over his shoulder away from the Goshinboku tree. "It's hard to explain how to do, but you listen and follow and—you'll find her."

"Don't you have a bloody map?" He questioned hastily as his heart began to hammer in his chest.

"This world doesn't exactly work with maps." His mother snapped at him as she struggled to find a way to explain the process she had just conducted. "To listen—you use your energy!"

"But what do I do with it?" He stared at her with absolute annoyance lining his whole face.

"Listen!"

He couldn't help himself as he stared at her like she had grown a second head. "I repeat—how?"

"Just close your eyes!" She demanded and snapped her own shut. "And listen to me."

"Why didn't you just do that to beg—." He nearly retorted in annoyance but stopped when his mother's eyes snapped opened and sent him a look straight out of his childhood. "Sorry." He quickly replied and closed his eyes because it seemed like the right thing to do.

"Collect your energy." She instructed, and without saying a word, Inuyasha obeyed.

He reached down into his stomach as he had been taught, and there he felt the swirling mass of energy begging to be set free. "Okay."

"Pull it out so that it covers every part of you."

He obeyed once more and pulled his energy from the pit in his stomach up and out into his body. It followed his nerves and his blood stream to the tip of his toes and the edge of his fingernails.

"Now," Her voice was soft as she whispered the next word. "Listen."

He scrunched up his face without opening his eyes. "How am I supposed to listen like this?" He asked himself (and silently prayed his mother couldn't hear his thoughts as easily as Kagome often did). After a moment, though, he felt his skin prickle as if a tiny fish was nibbling his flesh with a gumless mouth. He frowned as the nibbling turned to hot water that teased his skin, and then to a gentle warm caress, like a phantom hand.

Love of mine,

The sensation became a whisper in his brain and not his ears.

Where have you gone?

They were words in his head; not a sound, but a pure feeling just like the warmth against his skin.

Have you gone into the sea?

It was her voice, and it was his words; both combining together to create a sound that only his mind and his heart could hear.

I would follow you my love,

"But I can't sail those leagues." His finished. His eyes jumped opened, and he knew exactly where she was. "When does she cross over?" He asked even as his legs began to twitch ready to run.

"I don't know." His mother replied not bothering to ask him if he had been successful or not.

He tried to contain the hope that was fighting to make its presence known inside of him. "You can hold time in this place, right? Kagome did."

"Yes." She nodded quickly, and her fingers twitched as she longed to reach out and hug her son one last time. "I can hold it until you find her."

"Thank you." He turned to look at her one last time, and without thinking, he reached out and encompassed her in his arms. He heard her gasp as he pulled her into a tight hug filled with all the love he still possessed in his heart for his mother. "I know you just—wanted—," He stopped and decided against speaking any further. Instead, he buried his nose quickly in the side of her neck and inhaled. "I love you, Okaa-san." He whispered into her ear and released her. "Hold it," His eyes shown with desperation as he looked down into the face of the woman who had given him life. "As long as you can!"

Izayoi looked as if she were about to burst into tears, but she held them back admirably as she gave him a brilliant smile. "Go!" She pushed his shoulder and winked at him as she often had when she was raising him. "Haiku!"

"Hai!" He barely got the word out as he used the momentum of her shove to turn his body around. His feet dug into the ground, and oddly, he realized in that moment that he was barefoot (not that it mattered to him anyway, but he did wonder if that happened to everyone in death).

His feet pounded the ground as he sped away from his mother and the ties of Goshinboku. Green from the fields rushed all around him; the sight combining with the odd bright pink or bright red flower every once and a while. A loud roar caught his attention overhead, and he took just enough time to look up and watch as the herd of Neko-mata's flew over his head as if to wish him luck. Vaguely, he looked for Kilala, but he didn't see her amongst the masses.

"Did she die when Kagome died?" He felt the question plummet all the way into his stomach uncomfortably. "If Kagome has my energy—will she come back?" It was an odd question, and rather none oddly, he had no answer.

He shook off the question before it could eat away at him and turned his attention back to the fields around him. The forest was already in front of him, and he didn't know if he had reached it so quickly because of his speed or his will power alone. He took a deep breath as the shadows of the trees reached out to him; each of them seeming to call him in their direction as Kagome's voice drifted towards his soul.

Love of mine where have you gone,

Have you gone into the sky?

Even without his energy, those words touched him, and he ran all the faster for them. He hit the forest at full speed. He ducked underneath branches and jumped over giant roots. Leaves got stuck in his hair when he didn't duck quite far enough, and he nearly tripped, surprisingly, when he didn't notice a particularly large root that was sticking up out of the mossy remains of leaves and dirt. A river loomed in the distance. He didn't care to contemplate its existence, however, as he allowed himself to be pulled through the forest, guided only by the sound of Kagome resonating somehow from within him and out of him.

I would follow if I had wings,

But seaman can't fly.

The trees above his head became thicker, turning the forest into a dark and dank place. Between the trees, he saw wisps of blue and white lights as they glided in the darkness. He recognized them subconsciously for what they were: tiny lives just like Naraku's own.

The sound of rushing water drew his attention away from the little souls that followed him and back towards the rapidly approaching river. The forest parted up ahead, and he saw the entirety of the white, frothy torrents. He didn't feel even a moment's hesitation as he noted that it had to be at least six-meters wide; six meters was nothing to him. He didn't even bother to bend his knees as he reached the bank. He merely pushed off the balls of his feet as he ran, using the momentum to sail over the raging river as if it had been nothing more than a puddle. He landed on the other side without pausing to gain his balance and pushed himself harder than his body should have been able to handle. He only had one goal in mind, and it lay on the other side of the trees; he could feel it swelling within him.

Love of mine what will I do,

If I can't find you again?

The thick canopy of the forest above his head became thinner, and the light that came from between each leaf grew brighter illuminating his path. The trees pulled away from him, and the sky opened up in front of his eyes. He could see color in the distance; a splash of blue and a dab of yellow mixed with red and purple: the setting sun against the boundless sky.

He forced himself to run faster than he ever had in his life. And the harder he pushed, the closer he came. A line formed on the horizon that he knew better than the back of his hand. The line where sea meets sky. The trees quite suddenly seemed to disappear on either side of him, and the mud that had been underneath his feet for leagues turned to a mixture of dirt and sand. He stumbled from the shift in texture and fell forward onto his hands and knees into another world it seemed. He gasped as the salty sea air filled his lungs, and he closed his eyes as the setting Caribbean sun warmed his whole face. He gripped the sand between his fingers for just a second before sound in his ears made him come fully into reality.

"I would simply sail the sea." Kagome's voice sang out all around him like a lullaby. "And search till the moon wane."

His head snapped upwards, and there against the backdrop of the setting sun was Kagome. He almost couldn't believe his eyes at first as he stared at the wind playing with her hair.

"What else can I do?" She continued on not aware that the one she was calling for was finally truly listening. "What else can I say?" She took a deep breath, prepared to sing the last lines of the song. "If—if only—I—I—." Her voice stumbled then, and the last lines of the sound stopped dead in the air as if she couldn't bear to say them.

"If only I could go," He took over for her watching as her whole body froze as his voice filled the air around them. "To the place you now call home."

She turned; her hair sweeping across her face covering her eyes for only a second, but she didn't need to see him to know who he was. "Inuyasha!" Her face was a wash of relief and tears. And not caring about the sand that was impossible to run on, she sprinted towards him just as he sprinted towards her.

Both of them stumbled across the beach, but neither ever took their eyes off their destination. Using his demonic agility to stay on his feet, he managed to outpace her and meet her more than halfway across the beach. She fell into his arms instantly, and he caught her in a fierce hug; the knowledge that this might be the last time he ever held her, killing him. "You waited for me." He whispered as he held onto her and inhaled her scent full of salt, lilies, and life.

She pulled away to look at him. "You saved me." She whispered; the hands that had been around his waist worked their way upwards between them, so she could cup his face. "You—gave me your energy and," She stumbled over her words, not wanting to admit the truth. "Died for me." She looked at him as if he couldn't possibly be real. "How could you die for me?"

"Why would I not?" He reached up and cupped one of the hands against his face gently. He studied her for a moment, lost in the feel of her warm fingers against his skin. She looked exactly the same with her beautiful locks of brownish black hair. Little flecks of red and blond intermixed together, as the warm breeze touched them. "That's strange," He whispered absently (almost to himself) as he caught one of those wandering strands between the fingers of his free hand.

"What?"

"With my energy in you, I thought," He smiled and placed the strand of streaked hair behind her ear. "That your hair might change," He looked into her beautiful grey eyes lovingly. "Or your eyes."

"Is that why demons have bright hair colors?" She slipped her free hand behind his neck while the other one remained trapped by his own hand against his cheek. "Their excessive amount of energy makes it bright?"

"Maybe the lighter the hair in humans," He let go of her hand that rested against his cheek and allowed it to sink downwards towards her waist. "The more energy they have."

"If that was true," She pulled a face and blew at her long bangs to make a point. "Mine would be white."

They both laughed as Kagome took her now free hand from his cheek and joined it with her other hand around his neck, pulling him into a hug. He responded by wrapping both arms around her waist before dropping his forehead down until it touched her own. His eyes closed as he breathed in her scent. Not even one ounce of death remained in its fragrance. "How is this even possible?"

"You're a good man." She whispered the honest words, and her breath warmth his skin. "That's all you need in your heart to save someone you love."

He pulled back away from her slightly, wondering who had come up with that idea first: mother or daughter. "Eliza said something like that." He told her, and when she looked at him strangely, he elaborated. "Our daughter."

Kagome didn't say a word as she stared at his chest. Her memory rushed around her; Eliza, her daughter, filling every inch of it. "She came to you too?"

"She came to you?" He returned the question with the same exact look of amazement on his own face.

"She was the one who told me I had to defeat Naraku because of my energy." She explained what they had not had time to say earlier during the actual battle. "She knew that your energy wouldn't work because the hate in your heart for Naraku would not heal him but only fuel the jewel." She stopped and thought to herself for a moment before adding. "She seemed unconcerned that I would die." She looked up at Inuyasha slowly. "It's like she knew what you would do."

"She did." He told her as his earlier encounter with the girl made his head hurt. "She's—I don't know? From the future, I guess." He leaned his head back and huffed at his own bizarre words. "That doesn't even sound real." He muttered mainly to himself before continuing on with his own encounter. "She showed me her life, and that I wasn't a part of it—," He trailed off as he tried to think of how to word what he was about to say; in the end, he went with blunt as he often did. "She wants to change that."

Kagome's eyes widened, and her hands around his neck slipped downwards a little until she was holding onto his shoulders. "To change fate?"

"Yeah," He tightened his grip on her, not wanting to let go for fear she might slip away. "That's why I came to you; she wanted me to." He felt a slight blush form on his cheeks as he admitted an easy truth. "Besides, I always come to you when I need hel—." He cleared his throat and tried to save himself some embarrassment. "Don't repeat that."

"We made that deal a long time ago." Kagome smiled at the half formed compliment, but the expression quickly turned into a frown. "That's not much to go on—."

"This all seems so planned." He screwed up his face with irritation. "I just wish someone would spell out the plan.

"It might not be that simple with fate involved." Kagome responded to him vaguely as she tried to put everything together. "What all did she talk to you about—," She sent him an imploring look. "Just her life and that she wants to change ours?"

"Yeah," He shrugged and racked his brain for a moment. "And she went on about energy." He added with just a note of irritation in his voice. "Energy is just energy." He mimicked her very poorly; his voice became high and annoying momentarily before he rolled his eyes. "Why does everybody always go back to ener—." He stopped speaking just as Kagome's eyes wide with understanding. Slowly the two turned to look at each other, both of them processing every delicate detail their daughter had implanted in their minds.

"Energy is just energy." Kagome repeated the phrase as if it were a sacred scripture she was reciting. "Oh god—." She pulled her hands away from him much to his chagrin and began to talk rapidly to herself. "She sang to me." The words seemed to come out of nowhere, but to Kagome they held a lot of meaning. "That song—dear lord—I know—the song about energy," She pushed herself farther away from Inuyasha who begrudgingly let go of her as she continued to speak rapidly. "Long ago before time," She closed her eyes as she fought to remember the words. "Light or dark or something was born out of the other." She moved her hands in front of her like a conductor. "Both are one and," She opened her eyes. "One are both." She latched onto the memory, wanting to remember it over everything else. "Both are one and one are both—there is no light and there is no dark." Her eyes filled to the brim with understanding from her own words; she understood what her daughter had been telling her. "Energy is just energy."

"We're the same." He filled in for her as he came to the same exact conclusion at the same exact time. "That's why I could give you my energy." He forgot about holding onto her as he stared at her with the same completely flabbergasted expression on his own face that was on hers. "Because human and demon are the same."

"Energy is just energy." She said it again, but this time her face split into a smile she couldn't prevent from surfacing. "There is no demon and there is no human."

"Oh my god." He whispered as he finally understood. "My mother was wrong."

"It's just energy." She practically squeaked with excitement and grabbed his shoulders. "When you gave it to me," She shook him a little before expectantly letting go of him to grab his hair. "I didn't turn demon; my hair didn't change." She held his own hair up to his face excitedly. "If demon energy existed then I should have." She dropped the hair and nearly jumped up and down as he tried to keep up with her. "I have human blood but inside of me right now," She let go of him and threw her hands against her chest as she laughed and cried between words. "I have all the energy you once possessed."

"And energy is connected to our lifespan." He waited just long enough for her to nod her head at him. "The amount of energy in a demon's body is what makes them live so long." He began to grow just as excited as her, and he spoke faster and faster. "That's why some demons live such short amounts of time because they have limited energy." His hands jumped up into his hair nearly yanking it. "Our blood causes hair color, and our energy causes life." He began to laugh just like she was. "That's why she said you lived my life because you have my energy."

"Yes." Kagome agreed even though part of his last sentence she hadn't understood completely. "And if all of that's true," She grabbed his elbows, holding onto him tightly. "Then I can give it back!"

"No!" He immediately protested, not quite following what she actually meant.

"Not all of it." She quickly corrected herself as her face broke into the widest smile he had ever seen. "Half." She looked up into his face. "Half for you and half for me. We'll live the same lifespan." She finished feeling as if she were waking from a nightmare. "Eliza did it; she beat fate!"

"She did!" Inuyasha couldn't stop himself as he reached for her and enveloped her in the tightest hug he could muster. He lifted her straight off the ground within seconds and spun her around on the beach. Her laughter floated all around him and was soon joined by his own. But even in that moment of happiness, he found a nagging feeling that overwhelmed him. "What will happen to Eliza?" Before his thought could go even a bit deeper, he heard her words in his head once more.

"Wonderful things."

And he knew, that her words were the truth.

He slowed their spin and lowered Kagome who was still laughing with delight back down to the ground. She smiled brilliantly up at him, all the hope in her eyes telling him this would be right.

"Kagome O'loinsigh." It sounded so formal as he said it, yet at the same time, it sounded beautiful. "Do you have something to live for?"

Kagome smiled up at him brightly; her grey eyes connecting with his own. "Do you?"

He smiled and chuckled in return. "Do you know what to do?" He asked even as Kagome gently brought her arms up between them and rested her hands directly over his heart.

She looked up at him through her long lashes. "Put your hands on mine." She commanded softly, and he obeyed by slowly bringing his hands up and placing them directly over her own. "Together?" She whispered to him as her energy, his energy, began to flow through her body towards her hands.

"Always." He replied as the flow of their energy ran through his body like the perfect, warm water of the Caribbean Sea.

End of Chapter

Please Review

A/N: And then there was—a half! Next chapter will be the epilogue, everybody. Please let me know what you thought of my final twist at the end. I hope it all made sense. Planning this out has been murder on my psyche. All of the hints and clues had to come together perfectly!

BTW: This ending combined all three of my original endings, so you saw all three.

Kagome dies and Inuyasha lives. Epilogue: 200 years later Inuyasha finds Kagome's reincarnation. (I did not like this ending and that's why I axed it)

Inuyasha dies and Kagome lives. Epilogue: 15 years later Eliza begs her mother to let her explore the world. So, Kagome takes her and the twins and becomes a captain. (This ending connects to the ending I went with).

They both live. Originally, they both lived without Eliza's interference, but I had a thought about a sequel as I was writing the ending and that's why Eliza show's up.

Kind of speculated but not an actual ending I had planned out; more like a fun thought I had driving one day. Both of them die. Sango is impregnated with their child (still trying to figure out how; I have my thoughts) and Sango and Miroku raise Eliza as their own.

Anyway, some people wanted to know the endings I had planned out! In the end, no pun intended, I decided to just combine them. It made for better drama.

Thank you for all your reviews:

Lalala12, DGirlWithWings11, SilverRomance, Glon Morski, SweetHunniBunni, KagomeLove2, VEENA4, ravenraymoon, InbredSuzy, princess-j3ss, kan78, Redviolent11, TheTruthAboutTheWallFlower, mylilkai, wolf-cry77, and the three Guests who commented!

Next Chapter:

Epilogue: 1793, Nine years later

See you then!

UNEDITED

POSTED

1/18/2015