Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Inuyasha...

A/N: AH! Like I've said my life has gotten pretty hectic, around another three weeks of it and then I'm free guys and gals! I promise! I SHOULD be doing my homework right now (sociology) but instead I'm updating this cuz I know you are waiting for it...it feels strange to me when I'm writing it, so I'm a little nervous...(coughs) okay, Sesshomaru is in this chapter, briefly. He won't play a huge role here, but to introduce the new character (who once again, could be either good or bad (grins)) I needed Sesshy...I think (I hope) you don't mind...I LOVED writing that section though...(grins) but this must be short...gotta go...(sorry, that was written like before dinner Thursday night and I'm writing this here and now Saturday after MORE play practice and LOTS of computer trouble...still doesn't work right at all! (dies) but I'm finally back...after this it's going to be more writing for me on this story...drop me a line...this story's still evolving so I always listen to comments and concerns (well I could do it easier of AOL worked but we can't always get what we want eh? At any rate I can still view my reviews via fanfic and online AOL even though it's not as cool as the software which refuses to work on my compy.) so don't be shy! I promise I don't bite...(winks) much...) Later! Enjoy!

Departures and Arrivals

Kagome slipped on the blue jeans slowly, biting her lip in fear the whole way. The denim climbed past her knees easily, hiked its way toward her hips…passed over them and settled where they belonged reluctantly. She fought with the zipper and the button a little, grumbling to herself. Then she looked down at herself…and frowned.

I'm still not quite small enough yet…

Regretfully she slipped back out of them and instead pulled on some white pajama pants with bright yellow duckies on them and completed with a drawstring. That was far more comfortable…and since they would only be visiting her mother who'd care that she was wearing something this casual? She tugged on her tennis shoes then and pulled on a light blue hoodie to keep her warm.

As she was tying her shoelaces she heard Inuyasha come into the bedroom—Koinu with him—she could hear the pup blubbering and whimpering to himself in his father's arms. By the way Inuyasha was walking, his feet slamming into the floorboards roughly, she could tell he was unhappy about something.

"Kagome!" he muttered behind her.

"Yes, Inuyasha?" she finished tying her last shoelace and stood up, turning to face her husband—and desperately tried to keep herself from bursting out in laughter.

Apparently while trying to play with his young son on the pup's level—which was the floor—the hanyou had come too close to Koinu, allowing the mischievous baby to reach out and grab hold of his father's dog ears. Now Inuyasha had come to Kagome, holding Koinu out to her awkwardly because the pup hadn't let go of his ears yet. His eyes past the pup's little mostly naked body—he was in nothing but a diaper—were begging her.

"Kagome, please make him let go!"

"Well, well, well…looks like he's my son too Inuyasha!" she laughed again then, so hard she bent over double holding her stomach.

"This isn't funny!" Inuyasha insisted, trying to hand her Koinu once more, but the pup, squealing with delight, pulled on his father's ears again, and Inuyasha growled and cursed under his breath. "Please Kagome?"

Still laughing, Kagome reached up to the pup and tweaked his own ears from behind. Distracted from torturing his father, Koinu let go of Inuyasha's ears and tried to reach out to touch Kagome instead, though now his father's hands restricted him and the pup, frustrated, began to whimper in warning.

"Oh no! Now he's going to cry!" Inuyasha frowned unhappily, "And I haven't even dressed him yet! We can't bring him to your mom looking like that! They'll think we're bad parents!" he held Koinu out at arm's length for Kagome, who took the pup swiftly and began to rock him gently, immediately calming him.

"I'll dress him then, Inuyasha. But don't worry what they'll think—they'll be too busy seeing how cute he is to notice whether he's wearing clothes or not." she touched her nose to the pup's swiftly, giving him a short, sweet kiss. But when she pulled away she gasped in pain—Koinu had taken hold of her hair in his strong little fists and was holding on tight.

"Ow!"

Inuyasha cackled about then, gleefully watching as Kagome had her turn to be tortured now too. "Ha! See how it feels? Not so funny now huh?" he smirked, triumphantly.

Kagome shook her head as much as Koinu's grip would allow. "Inuyasha you're such a baby!" but she smiled through her slight pain.

He was still smirking at her, his amber gaze twinkling, "How you going to get out of this one? Hmm? You gotta ask for my help, don't you?"

"No." with that she reached one hand up to Koinu and tickled his stomach. The baby squealed, squirmed and let go of her hair without further argument. Kagome flashed a victorious smile at Inuyasha and then turned to find Koinu's clothes.

Behind her Inuyasha snorted, "Feh."

"Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru!"

it was Jaken, his bare, toad-like feet padding over the floor annoyingly. The Inuyoukai lord's lips winced slightly, the lower trying to hide beneath the upper one in a silent and miniscule sneer. He was far from being in the mood for Jaken's self-important flattering.

"Jaken." He acknowledged the toad coldly, but cursed him inwardly. It was just before dawn and the Inuyoukai Lord of the Western Lands was wearing a completely, unadorned white kimono of lavish silk, secured only loosely over his body—so loose was it that the lord's chest was half exposed, revealing golden, almost radioactive skin. It was cold like ice against his skin but in spite of the fabric's tendencies the lord's flesh itself was burning, his body reeling under his control. He'd been on his way to Rin's chamber, eager to warm her cool flesh with his own heat, anxious to smell her intoxicating, utterly female aroma...and then he'd change it, alter it with his own musky, powerful masculine scent. He wanted to walk by her later in the day and still smell himself on her…in her…(Ack! I've been hanging around a really flirtatious guy for too long...please don't be offended!)

But Jaken had caught him before he could get that far, and now, had he been in his true form, his fur would've been bristling with annoyance and irritation, every little part of him alight with the desire to toss the toad far away and run straight to Rin. But he couldn't. The toad's scent carried with it an unusual demon's scent—Sesshomaru was suspicious that they had guests…

"Lord Sesshomaru!" the toad threw himself into an apologetic, desperate bow at his lord's feet, panting and mumbling under his breath for forgiveness and for his rudeness. All of this Sesshomaru ignored, instead he pressed straight onto the point. The sooner it was dealt with the sooner he could cure his appetite for Rin.

"Jaken, you have something important to tell me?" he kept his voice cool and calm, to encourage the little amphibious youkai to spill his story and be gone all the sooner. If Jaken were flustered the Inuyoukai might never get a straight story out of him before dawn.

"My lord, the guards have escorted a member of the dog demon clan into the castle!" he made nervous sounds to himself for a moment before plunging onward, "She demands to speak with you! She says she has urgent business!"

Sesshomaru felt a twinge of something close to disgust flicker through him, but it was minute. He ignored the emotion and showed nothing of it. "Tell her I shall meet her shortly."

Jaken looked stunned, his already enormous eyes seemed on the verge of explosion. "Really my lord?"

"Go, Jaken." He was losing patience, and Jaken, having served the Inuyoukai for many years, could see that easily. He jumped to his feet and scampered away, only mumbling, "Yes my lord!" over and over again as he pattered away.

Sesshomaru swiftly walked through his palace's halls, back the way he'd come until he entered his own room once more. He changed intohis typical white kimono with the red brightly decorating one shoulder, and blue adorning the sleeves.The Inuyoukai stepped briefly before a mirror and tightened his kimono to make himself look formally acceptable, then he quickly left the room, heading toward where guests were left to wait for an audience with the mighty Lord Sesshomaru.

As he walked he considered the dog demon clan's possible reasons for calling on him. Could it be war? Some eighty years ago they'd had the reappearance of the Panther demons to deal with. Inutaisho had proudly won that battle so long ago—thus it was only natural that his son should have a starring role in it, yes? But Sesshomaru's mouth tasted bitter when he remembered how few dog demons—his own cousins and other kin—had stepped up to help him. The Western Lands had been at stake—not the East, the North, or the South, or the Central Lands. Not the Northern Islands or the Southern Islands and their various territories. Thus the dog demons had not offered Sesshomaru help.

His fists clenched until the knuckles flashed white at the thought that followed immediately: they helped Father, but not me. The dog demon clan adored Father but they could care less for my fate or me…

Sesshomaru reached the door. Slowly, almost gracefully, he slid it open and stepped inside, closing the door again. He sensed, smelled, and heard the other demon in the room but didn't dare glance at her furtively. He wanted to outdo her—Inuyoukai were always about presentation. If he could intimidate her by his appearance only she would hold him in higher esteem—and perhaps leave him alone…

"Sesshomaru…" the voice was singsong-like and soft—it reminded Sesshomaru painfully of his mother's…but he forced the thought away and faced his kinswoman with a cold, unemotional expression.

She was wearing a silver and white kimono. The scene embroidered over its shimmering surface was of a bright pond surrounded by cherry trees, the branches swaying in a silver wind that swirled over the kimono from shoulders to feet. And in this wind there were thousands of tiny dotted, bright white snowflakes. The demon woman's hair was pinned high atop her head; exposing her long, sumptuous neck…the skin was white as the snowflakes on her exquisite kimono.

Yes, she really did remind him of his mother, perhaps she was from the same branch of the clan…

He watched the woman bow, daintily, like a blade of grass flowing in the wind. He couldn't be sure of her age—but by her scent he knew she was a mother, and therefore someone's mate, and not here to try and betroth herself to him. A little of his tension slipped away and he found it easier to return her bow then.

"I do not know you, lady." He greeted her, unemotionally.

When she looked up there was a smile in her eyes…in her pink eyes…it took Sesshomaru by surprise, but only briefly. He knew that a few branches of the dog demon clan pretty much all had pink eyes. They were albinos. In fact Inutaisho's line wasn't far removed from them—the white fur was clearly a link, but unlike the albinos Inutaisho's family had all had an eye color like gold, amber, or perhaps blue—not pink. But most white dog demons were, on the whole, albinos.

"I am Taikokajin." The demon woman bowed a second time, less formally, as though she were acknowledging herself. "I have come on a matter of grave importance…"

"I will not help you fight a war." Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes in suspicion, waiting for her to say he was all wrong. The Lord of the Westerns Lands was in no mood to beat around the bush this early in the morning...especially when Rin was still sleeping somewhere, her body cold and awating him to warm her...

Taikokajin's eyes showed a flickering of annoyance. She and Sesshomaru were too much alike on some level—they could sense it easily on the other, and as a result they were tense, and anxious to have their meeting end. Yet Taikokajin wasn't an angry or spiteful, or even cold demon normally. Her eyes were generally friendly and good-natured—though not when they were aimed at Sesshomaru, who was fast trying her patience.

"Well then in that case I have only come to tell you of an enemythat could threaten your pups and your pups' pups. I have—"

"I fear nothing. I fought the war with the Panther demons without your help, Taikokajin, without you or any of the rest of the clan. I can fight any enemy alone—my pups will be the safest living creatures on thisland as long as they remain in my castle, under my care. Your threats, Taikokajin, mean nothing to me, as does the clan."

The demon woman looked furious, Seshsomaru was sure that if her lavishly gorgeous kimono hadn't covered her hands he would've easily seen them balled into little fists of rage. He could've laughed in her face, but he made sure not to. Instead he waited arrogantly for her answer, wonderingif it would ever come at all…

Taikokajin narrowed her pink gaze at him and growled, audibly, "I have heard that your mate is a mortal woman…"

Sesshomaru felt a jolt run through him. Was she trying to threaten him? "What of it?" he murmured, forcing his expression to remain neutral and without emotion.

"Your pups will be hanyous then?" she was eying him carefully, as if searching his soul.

"That is irrelevant."

"No, it's not." Taikokajin snapped abruptly, and then, blinking as if confused at her outburst, she bowed, mumbling her apologies before explaining, "The enemy is seeking a hanyou from our clan. We believe they have also decided that it is Inutaisho's line that will provide the hanyou…" she seemed smug, as if her reasoning was pure and simple, the absolute and only solution, and that Sesshomaru would have to quail and break before it, but it wasn't meant to be.

"A hanyou you say, Taikokajin?" the rest of the clan was often so far removed from Inutaisho's doings so many years ago, Sesshomaru thought, that it was likely Taikokajin and her family, and many of their other various kin, had never realized that the famed hanyou Inuyasha was in fact an Inuyoukai like them, born of Inutaisho's line. As much as Sesshomaru hated his sibling, if telling Taikokajin about him would rid him of the bitch's presence—so be it! ( haha! funny pun! He can call her a bitch without insulting her considering that she's a dog demon...but it coyld also be an insult too...you get to decide (winks)).

"Taikokajin, have you heard of the hanyou Inuyasha by any chance…?"

It was still bright and early when Inuyasha, Kagome, and little Koinu left for the well. The task of watching over the estate fell to Miroku and Sango of course; who also looked after Shippo as well while the hanyou's new but still small family was away.

Kagome had felt a little worried with how her family would feel when they saw Koinu. The pup didn't look like a normal baby born in 21st century Japan, that was for sure! Kagome wasn't so worried about her mother's reaction as she was about her grandfather's. The old man had accepted Inuyasha after a time, and it hadn't bothered him much at all when he'd learned that they would soon become parents, making him a great-grandfather, but seeing the baby with such obviously inhuman features? She wasn't sure how her grandfather would react. He would look into Koinu's sweet little face, searching for familiar Higurashi facial features, and he'd be looking all day…

But in the end, although both Kagome and Inuyasha were nervous about the impending meeting of families, it'd been Sango and Miroku who'd urged them to go forward. Neither the lecherous monk nor the demon slayer had any family left. With each child born to them they praised and thanked the gods and thought, wistfully, of their deceased families, of what they might be thinking from their places in the afterlife. But they could never see the pride in their families' faces. They could never hear the pride in their families' voices…but Kagome and Inuyasha could. How could they not want that?

And so it was that Inuyasha, Kagome, and Koinu left that morning for the well. While they walked Inuyasha complained and scratched at the new kimono and haori that Kagome had bought him—years ago before Koinu had been born. The hanyou had grown so accustomed to wearing the same Fire Rat haori that when he was forced—and that was what Kagome had had to do to get him to wear the thing for her family—to wear something else he was completely uncomfortable. The new kimono and haori, as well as the matching pants, were white and gold, the color of the hanyou's eyes. A swirling pattern in the bright gold wove itself from Inuyasha's left shoulder to the left side of his waist on the white haori. At the cuffs of his pants there were more patterns of gold, they had reminded Kagome of fire when she'd first acquired them for her then mate…

But with how he complained about it now she was ready to turn around and go home just for the old, battered, worn, and stained Fire Rat robes! She threw him a warning glare when she heard him growling to himself in displeasure.

"Would you grow up already Inuyasha? Even Koinu handles his clothing better than you do!" as evidence she hiked the pup higher in her arms, letting him stare down his grumpy father with his adorable blue gaze.

The pup's clothing consisted of a tunic-like long sleeved shirt and pants, all of which were made of silk and obviously expensive. Inuyasha had insisted that Koinu wear his "Sunday best," so that if there were any chance of pleasing Kagome's grandfather they wouldn't fail by way of parenting the child in any way. When Inuyasha had insisted on Koinu looking sharp she'd suggested that he'd better do the same. But of course the hanyou was very loath at the idea of abandoning his precious Fire Rat robes.

Inuyasha offered nothing more than, "Feh."

They reached the well without trouble. The snow was still light and crunched entertainingly beneath their feet as they walked. Passing through the trees Kagome noticed that not all of the trees had completely shed their leaves yet. She shook her head in wonderment, wondering which seasonal change was off—the trees or the first snows?

"I'll hold Koinu." Inuyasha announced abruptly, and reached for the pup.

"Okay…but why?"

"You know how smooth I am when I land." He cocked his head smugly at this, and she couldn't dismiss his words, that was true, "Koinu might be jarred in your arms—then he'll cry for sure! That's the last thing I want to happen." Inuyasha tended to hate the baby's cries more than he'd hated Naraku. Kagome wasn't sure if it was because the cries were hard on his ears or if it was simply that he hated seeing and hearing his son's unhappiness…or perhaps it was the tears, the act itself which bothered him, the hanyou hated it when she cried too…but at any rate she understood his reasoning at the moment. If Koinu were crying when her family first saw him it just wouldn't leave a good impression now would it?

She passed Koinu carefully to Inuyasha, and then watched as her husband leapt clear over the small wooden walls and straight into the blackness of well. Koinu squealed with excitement the whole way down, and Kagome grinned as she stepped off into nothingness after her husband and child.

Endnote: Kay, I gotta be quick and such...hope you liked it...next chapter is funny becuase Kagome and Inuyasha show Koinu to the Higurashi family...I had fun with that one too...but I'm working with rearrangment and such...so the chapters might be different than what I'm telling you now once they get to being posted...kay...till later, make sure you drop me a line!