(A/N: This chapter is the last true chapter. It will wrap up loose ends—and those loose ends currently lie with getting Tsukiyume home and Taikokajin at last dying. The bit of poetry is again taken from familial sources. But this time that's my own poetry there. I put it there thinking of Shimofuri and Tsukiyume, of how they must come to terms with now being orphans, and the truth of that is that they'd both still have fathers if Taikokajin hadn't had them both killed. So although they love their mother she is also a source of great pain…)

Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha

Last Chapter: Tsukiyume offered herself up as a last ditch host for Garou's spirit. He took it after Kagome forced him from her body. The possessed Tsuki attacked the others, but was eventually defeated when Kagome purified her, purging Garou's spirit at long last and turning Tsuki human for a time. Sesshomaru was still bargaining with Shimofuri. Not only has he asked for one of the many daughters of the old demon lord Nishiyori as well as his province to be added to Sesshomaru's in the Western Lands, but he's also asked for Shimofuri to let him take Tsukiyume into his castle. To have her trained, he says, and to keep Rin company. A hanyou teacher for his hanyou offspring with Rin. But NOW Taikokajin still has to die and say goodbye to her children one last time...
Bittersweet Endings

When will we cease
This stupid game?
When will there be peace?
When will your name
Stop hurting me?

Sasugainu arrived at the place early in the morning. The sun was beginning to warm enough to melt the thinning, crusting snow along the winding path from the human village. Trees were beginning to bud, blossoms were growing larger, starting to peak out, announcing the first sign of spring. Though it had stormed the night before and there had been sleet and a little bit of fresh, heavy wet snow, it had not been cold enough to damage the new buds and greenery. Sasugainu was pleased at that.

He traveled in his true form, sized down somewhat so as not to alarm most humans too much. He was only the size of a very large, thickly built Clydesdale horse, but his paw prints were much larger than their hooves, a testament to how large his real form truly was. He was a white dog, like Taikokajin and Sesshomaru, but with light, steel blue eyes.

He recognized the estate not from Shimofuri's description, but by the male inuhanyou scent that was wrapped around it—that and the stinky tang of blood that he could make out from miles away. There had been some gruesome trouble recently, within the last few hours.

Keeping downwind, he circled it, observing the grounds, getting a feel for the place…

It disturbed him greatly; the realization at some of the blood was his niece's. What if he found disaster inside, Tsukiyume dead with their cousin, Inuyasha to blame? What was the course of action to follow? Inuyasha had been wronged by his sister Taikokajin. If he had lost his mate because of her foolish cruelty, could Sasugainu truly condemn the hanyou for it?

"So…Aunt Kagome will be okay now?" Tisoki asked his parents with his wide, innocent brown eyes still puffy from hours of crying the night before. The sight of his father's banged and bruised and bleeding nose the following morning hadn't helped either. He was the spitting image of his mother the demon slayer, but he seemed not to harbor a single harsh bone in his body. Of everyone in the household, with the exception of Kagome perhaps, Tisoki was the sweetest natured.

His older brother on the other hand… "Of course Aunt 'Gome's going to be okay! And Uncle Inu will be fine too—just like Dad." Kohimu was older and more independent. He stayed on the other side of the table where the family was trying to eat the breakfast that Sango had prepared.

Kasai was in her mother's lap. The toddler was scowling at the rice balls in front of them, watching her mother eating with an unpleasant expression. She'd just soiled herself but the other family members had yet to smell it and realize exactly why she was so fidgety.

Miroku, at Sango's side, looked utterly exhausted. Kagome had offered to bandage his nose but he had refused. The bleeding had stopped but there was still bruising around his nose and eyes and when he spoke the words were still slightly muffled. "I'll be fine, Tisoki." He offered his worried middle child a fatigued smile.

Shippo was also eating with the family, but that morning he was unusually quiet. His ears flattened occasionally and he paused, turning to look toward the entryway to the house, his face nervous.

"What's wrong, Shippo?" Sango asked him.

The kit moped into his bowl of rice. "Nothing."

Miroku frowned concernedly, but he didn't speak because at that moment Tisoki made a choking sound and held his nose.

"Yuck! Moooom! Kasai made a stinky!"

Kohimu wrinkled his nose, silently agreeing for once with his younger brother.

Kasai was picking at her linen underpants, frowning with her own disgust at having her mess trapped so close to her own body. Unlike her brothers, who mostly mirrored Sango's features, Kasai was the spitting female image of her father, right down to his violet eye color.

Sango sighed. "All right Kasai, time to go change that stinky diaper." She rose from the table and wandered away and out of the room, heading toward the front door and the privy outside.

Shippo leapt into action, rushing out of his seat and bounding after Sango, and then plastering himself in front of the front door. "No, Sango! Don't go out there!"

Sango never took Shippo for granted any more, not since his fine nose had told her that there was an inuyoukai waiting outside, waiting to talk to Inuyasha to send him on the quest that had nearly killed Kagome…

"What is it Shippo? What's out there…?" she judged his expression not to be one of panic yet, just concern.

The kit's ears drooped. "Another inuyoukai."

Now Sango felt her stomach drop. She felt like cursing suddenly. "Oh no."

Miroku had heard the exchange and, in spite of his fatigue, he got to his feet and hurried away, calling over his shoulder, "Don't go out there Sango, I'm getting Inuyasha…"

"Inuyasha's shoulder was ripped into last night!" Sango shouted after him, sighing. How much could they put the poor hanyou through now?

"Inuyoukai!" a voice shouted from inside the estate's rather large, protective walls. Sasugainu stopped his patrol, curiously, cocking his ears to hear if the voice—childish sounding—would come again.

It did. "Inuyoukai!"

He sniffed the wind, moved about a little trying to find a breeze that might reveal to him just what the creature was that was calling out to him. When he found it finally he stopped, surprised. It was a young kitsune youkai. He made a small noise in his throat, a sort of woof, knowing that the speaker would hear it with his sharp fox demon ears.

There was a silence, and he thought he sensed fear from the young kit on the other side of the wall. "W-who are you? What do you want here?"

Yes, definitely fear. He couldn't help himself, he let his tongue loll with amusement. He walked close to the wall and tightened his legs down, ready to leap it in a single bound. He sprung, flying through the air, and sailed into the gardens beyond. He landed sloppily, much to his embarrassment, in a pile of wet, slushy snow. It was higher and thicker where he'd landed because it was the spot where the pathway to the house from the gate had been cleared.

He shook the snow from his pelt and hopped onto the path, nose and ears alert.

The kit was on the verandah; his tail was puffy, as if he'd electrocuted himself. His hair stood on end and he shivered and shook. His green eyes were bright, huge, and round. "Uh…"

Sasugainu lowered his head, reaching deep within himself, pulling out his bipedal form. A whitish mist circled him, hiding him from the kit's eyes as he transformed. In a moment he stood a good six feet, tall and lithe, wearing his usual white robes.

To Shippo he looked suddenly a lot like Sesshomaru…

The kit screamed and turned to run—but the front door was shut—he collided with it, bumping his head and bounced back off it. He started to curse then, much like Inuyasha.

Sasugainu fought to restrain his amusement. Kitsune youkai had always amused him. He shared some of his province with a small clan of them and whenever he met with them to discuss their taxes they offered nothing but nervous, clumsy hilarity. This kit was not apart of that clan that he could tell—this kit was a light brown, perhaps red. The clan on his province was gray.

"I have come for my niece." He announced, mildly. "I understand that she was last seen traveling with the hanyou Inuyasha. He lives here, I believe…?"

"Uh…" the kit had fallen with his back to the inuyoukai and had yet to rectify that situation. He manipulated the upper half of his torso so that he could eye the inuyoukai distrustfully. "Who wants to know?"

Before Sasugainu could answer him, the sliding door behind the kit slid open and a man stepped out onto the verandah. Sasugainu came to attention, turning his gaze carefully to the cousin that had so impressed his sister and nephew that they had entrusted the destruction and return of Tsukiyume to him…

The infamous hanyou was wounded—Sasugainu could smell the blood and the antibiotic substances that had been used to treat the wound. He could also smell the left over adrenaline, the surge of stress hormones used during a battle. Other than his scent, his hanyou cousin was clearly inuyoukai. His hair was whitish, much like Sasugainu's own. His eyes were amber or gold, hinting at his heritage within Inutaisho's line. He wore red hakama pants, but only a creamy white under shirt—which was loose and unsecured, revealing the strong, sculptured muscles of his chest.

Had he only been a tad bit taller and lacking the white ears on top of his head, Sasugainu might've mistaken Inuyasha easily for a pure bred inuyoukai. Perhaps even a lord.

But the impression of fierce nobility was broken the moment the hanyou opened his mouth. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded, crankily.

"I am Sasugainu of the Middle Lands, the Hokubo province." He ducked his head in a slight bow, not desiring to start out by angering the infamous hanyou. "I am Lady Taikokajin's brother. I have come for my niece, Lady Tsukiyume."

Shippo had darted back to the relative safety behind Inuyasha's legs. At the hanyou girl's name he poked his head out between Inuyasha's red pant legs. "The hanyou girl?"

Sasugainu nodded, "Indeed." He offered nothing more nothing less, waiting for Inuyasha's response.

"I was wondering when one of you morons would get your asses over here." Inuyasha grunted, then, looking down at the kit's face where it peeked out between his legs, the hanyou stamped, making Shippo flinch. "Yo, runt, go get the girl."

Shippo darted away obediently, nearly running into the sliding door as he went. His young voice could be heard calling inside the household, "Tsukiyume! Hey! Kohimu, are your parents with the hanyou girl Inuyasha brought home last night…?"

Alone on the pathway to the house Sasugainu hazarded speaking to his cousin, who had now taken up an unfriendly, cross armed stance on the verandah. "You are wounded."

"Yeah, I am. You got something to say about it?"

Sasugainu noticed that the hanyou was wearing a sword at his waist. Apparently he was accustomed to being prepared for a fight, no matter where it came from or when. Wary but driven by curiosity, Sasugainu asked, "Was there a battle here? Within your home?" he frowned, "My niece was injured…"

"Yeah," Inuyasha scoffed and then gestured at his injured shoulder. "Then she punched her hand through my shoulder!"

Sasugainu stifled his surprise. Tsukiyume wasn't normally a fighter…he wanted to ask more but at that moment his niece appeared behind Inuyasha at the door. Her nose was covered in a white gauze and her skin was a little grayer than usual—but her dog ears had returned and the girl's orange eyes were pleased to see her uncle waiting outside.

"Uncle!" she hurried past Inuyasha looked as if she were about to throw her arms around Sasugainu, but at the last moment she hesitated, perhaps embarrassed. Sasugainu allowed himself a smile at her, trying to offer comfort.

"Your nose young lady, what happened here?"

Her ears fell flat, her gaze lowered to the slushy, half-melted snow. "It's not important. Uncle, I just want to go home."

From her fallen expression Sasugainu realized that she had heard what awaited her back in the Middle Lands: Taikokajin's slow, agonizing death. And Tsukiyume is supposed to be the one to end it…?

"That is one wish I can grant." Turning his attention to Inuyasha again, who was now joined by a warrior monk, a housewife with a huge boomerang readied over one shoulder, and the kitsune peeking at him with large, curious green eyes. He had to admire the way they bonded together, instantly ready for him to surprise them now that he had Tsuki back under his control. He had no reason to antagonize any of them further.

He bowed slightly, "I thank you, cousin Inuyasha, for caring for my niece during this time." Obviously, though it was strange to consider it, Inuyasha had been the loser when Tsukiyume and he sparred, whatever had occurred to bring it on. He hoped to get the story out of the girl as they traveled home.

"Feh," Inuyasha answered, "Just get out of here and don't come back to bother us—none of you from the clan ever again." his amber eyes narrowed, apparently he was serious.

"Yes, but I was told to say to you that Lord Shimofuri, ruler of the Middle Lands, extends his greatest thanks. He admires you and welcomes you to visit his lands at any time you so desire it. Is there anything you want me to tell Lord Shimofuri for you…?"

Inuyasha blinked, taken aback. He shrugged off the surprise swiftly and snorted. Amusement sparkled in his gold gaze. "Sure. Tell him he's a great kid."

There was a moment when both the inuyoukai lord and Inuyasha met one another's gaze and a silent leap of amusement crossed between them, then Inuyasha nodded and turned to head back inside, slipping past the other watchful humans, his own private army, gathered nearby.

Sasugainu transformed himself once more into his true form and ducked low, allowing Tsukiyume to clamber onto him. Then, without looking back, both scaled the walls of Inuyasha's estate and rushed off toward home…

The young samurai lord was once again reporting to Shimofuri, outlining a strategy for repelling Nishiyori's troops back into his lands.

"If we send our troops around his we can surprise them, cut off their escape, and slaughter them all. We can use Lord Sesshomaru's armies in the west to pinch Nishiyoir's province, surrounding the entire Isei province and then moving across the whole lot of it, scouring it clean of Nishiyori's treason."

"Leave the farmers and the peasants alone." Shimofuri frowned, sighing. "They must be left behind to keep the province secure and stable."

The samurai's face was cold. "With all due respect, shishi-sama, that province is no longer truly our own. We might as well destroy it to make Lord Sesshomaru's gains a little less weighty."

Shimofuri scowled openly, remembering just how weighty Sesshomaru's gains from this war would be. At last he waved a hand at the samurai, "Then do as you see fit to the Isei province. Plunder and pillage everything." He cringed at the bitter sound to his voice.

The samurai also turned away, troubled by his lord's exposed emotion.

They were both saved from the social embarrassment by a servant who slid open the audience room door and bowed, seeking entrance. Shimofuri cleared his throat tiredly, "Yes? Speak."

The servant sat up. "Lord Sasugainu has returned with Lady Tsukiyume."

Shimofuri was at once on his feet. "Bring them here immediately." He looked to the samurai almost apologetically. "I will speak with you later."

The samurai bowed and left the room without another word.

Shimofuri waited the few minutes sit took his uncle and his sister to come into the room, he felt that in that narrow span of time was a hidden eternity. At last Sasugainu and Tsukiyume entered the room, both appearing very tired, dirty and grungy from their journey. Sasugainu gave his nephew a brief nod before sitting, but Tsukiyume gave a full bow, hiding her face from Shimofuri's eyes for a long moment before she sat up.

He spotted the white gauze taped to her nose, still with traces of blood on it. Her clothes were dirtied and hardly worthy of her. Shimofuri scowled. "Tsukiyume? What's happened to you?" despite his facial expression his tone was one of worry, almost of a fatherly nature.

Tsuki kept her eyes pinned to the floor, as if shy, but she didn't answer his question and her tone was a harder one, colder. "It isn't important. I need to see Mother."

Shimofuri could almost feel his face paling. Taikokajin had slipped further and further away. Her fevers had begun. The last he had seen her all of her bandages were soaked through. The healers no longer bothered changing them. They watched him with a hidden scorn in their eyes, wondering how cruel a son he could be that he left his mother to suffer so long and so slowly.

"Tsuki…" he shifted uneasily, "There is something you must know. Mother is dying—and she's asked that you be the one to end her life."

His sister swallowed loudly; still she hadn't lifted her eyes to look at her brother. "I know."

Shimofuri kept his face from revealing his shock. Sasugainu must have told her… Instead he cleared his throat and spoke again. "There is more. Lord Sesshomaru has made a pact with Uncle and I. There is a war between our province and the Isei. Lord Sesshomaru volunteered to help us, for a price of course. And he…" Shimofuri found he could no longer look at his sister, even though she had yet to meet his eye. "He has asked that you be sent to him—as a guest…"

"A hostage." Tsukiyume replied, bitterly. Her ears fell backward, stark white against her straight black hair.

Shimofuri hurried to put in the other details, "He says a guest. Lord Sesshomaru is a prideful lord, he will not betray us. He will educate you; you will be a companion to Lady Rin, his mate. He desires a hanyou mentor for his hanyou offspring, a hanyou instructor and teacher…" misery choked Shimofuri's voice and he stopped, letting silence claim the room.

"Let me see Mother." Tsuki spoke up, sighing.

"Are you certain—" Sasugainu began, speaking for the first time in a long while.

"Yes, take me to Mother." She finally lifted her eyes, meeting Shimofuri's gray-eyed gaze with her own startling orange. "I need to see Mother."

Shimofuri looked away and nodded, "You will then."

The moment the three entered the room Taikokajin was seemingly reanimated. She gasped, croaking, and called out, "Kokoro!"

Tsukiyume, last in line, cringed at the smells of death and sickness within the room. Tears came at once to her eyes as she saw her mother's face, completely swathed in bandages. The stink flowing from her was one of decay, her body was slowly rotting, unable and perhaps unwilling to battle onward any longer.

Sasugainu knelt first at his sister's side, Shimofuri stayed distant, lingering at the end of the bed. Tsukiyume walked toward the bedside with tiny, terrified footsteps. Her face was wide and blank, but her eyes were wide and full of horror. They were also burgeoning with tears.

"Sister," Sasugainu called to her, his voice was detached, cold. He was physically in the room but mentally he was elsewhere, running away from the horrible agony and dishonor his sister was suffering…but no one was responsible for it but her own self. Taikokajin had kept the miko mother locked away, mistreated her, tried to take her child away…

"Your children are both here, Sister. Shimofuri and Tsukiyume are both with you now."

Her pink eyes snapped open; Tsukiyume could almost hear the popping sound. She cringed and the first of her many tears began to pour out. "Mother…" she fell to her knees at her mother's bedside and dropped her head, crying.

Taikokajin cried out, "Haiseishoku!" her voice was thick and raspy, like feet walking over gravel. She had not used it in days. The maids and healers all believed she was near death.

"He's not here." Sasugainu murmured, slowly, patiently. "Big Sister, your children have come home to see you one last time."

"Haiseishoku!" Taikokajin wailed, pink eyes wide as dinner plates, "Kokoro!" her hands, wrapped in graying linen bandages, shot out from underneath the fur coverings. One snatched hold of Tsukiyume's arm, the other waved in the air weakly, searching for Shimofuri. "Forgive me!"

"They are gone," Sasugainu reiterated, still utterly patient. "These are Shimofuri and Tsukiyume…your pups…"

Tsukiyume was choking on her tears, her childlike voice was thick with them, "She thinks we're our fathers, shishi-sama."

Shimofuri moved slowly around the other side of the bed, kneeling there. When Taikokajin's hand appeared, fumbling for him, he took it. He sighed, heavily. "Mother, it's Shimofuri. It's me, me and Tsuki. She's alive, just like you said she would be…"

Tsukiyume whimpered, crying still more tears at her brother's words. She stared between her brother and her mother's wide, unseeing pink gaze. "Did you really want me to end your life, Mother? How could I…" she shook her head, her shoulder shook as she started to dissolve into sobs.

"They are with you," she croaked, faintly, her voice muffled through her graying bandages. "Haiseishoku!" as she screeched the name she squeezed Shimofuri's hand, "Kokoro!" her grip closed on Tsukiyume's too then. "Forgive me!"

Tsukiyume lifted her gaze, suddenly becoming still. Her tears fell silently now, her stare became unseeing. "They are here…" she breathed.

Taikokajin's hand wrenched closed with every bit of her last strength onto her daughter's hand. "Haiseishoku!"

Tsukiyume closed her eyes, shivering. When she spoke again it was very slowly, very carefully. "Yes, Taikokajin? You took our son from me."

Taikokajin shrieked, "Forgive me!"

Tsuki answered in the same slow voice. "I cannot."

Taikokajin sagged in the bed, becoming limp for a moment.

Shimofuri stared at his sister across the bed, his gray eyes wide, his heart pounding. His memories of Haiseishoku were faint, and he cursed himself for not remembering his father's speech patterns. Had Haiseishoku spoken in a slow, unhurried way like that? "Tsuki…" he whispered, his voice full of awe.

Sasugainu threw him a glare, silencing him. The questions would come later. For now this was what Taikokajin had been waiting for, suffering for. This was what she had wished to live for before she at last died…

"Please…" she whispered from inside the layers of soiled bandages.

"I cannot." Haiseishoku spoke again through Tsuki's lips. "You took everything from me. Why? I loved you once…"

Taikokajin again tightened her grip on both her children, "I feared you!"

"I never wanted to hate you." Tsuki sighed slowly, her shoulder shuddering, "You killed me."

"Forgive me!"

"You ask on your deathbed. I cannot. When you have passed on, perhaps then I will see if you are true. Until then I cannot. You must die with this sin on your soul."

Taikokajin gasped, writhing, "Kokoro!"

There was a pause and Shimofuri and Sasugainu locked their eyes onto Tsukiyume as her eyes moved behind her closed lids, flickering wildly. At last she spoke again, "Yes?"

"Forgive me! I am sorry!" her hands were shaking, quivering where she held her children's wrists.

There was another pause and then, "I will forgive you, Lady. You could not keep my daughter and I apart, though you tried, I have found her. You pay for your crimes now."

There was a gasp from Taikokajin. She might've been trying to speak again, but they would never know. Her exhalation was choked and ragged, and her pink eyes did not slide closed again. Her hands where she held Shimofuri and Tsukiyume's wrists suddenly fell limp.

"Mother!" Shimofuri called, leaning closer to her. He gritted his teeth with frustration and dropped her limp hand angrily. "Damn!"

Sasugainu lowered his eyes, scowling.

Tsukiyume slowly blinked, coming out of her trance-like state, and looked on her mother again, only to cover her mouth with her hand and choke on the first of her grief-stricken sobs. "Mother…no, no…"

Shimofuri rose from his position, walking coldly away to stand at the doorway. He stared almost angrily at his sister's sobbing form, at Sasugainu's slow, somber movements. His uncle appeared at his side, silently backing the young, troubled lord.

"Her suffering is finished." His uncle sighed, relieved. He stared at his nephew with a keen, worried stare. "Will you recover, Nephew?"

Shimofuri pursed his lips, but otherwise his expression remained unaffected. "We have lose everything, Uncle. I have failed in every way. Mother is gone; I cannot fight Nishiyori by myself. I have as good as sold my soul to Sesshomaru. And…" he gestured at his sobbing sister and lowered his eyes. "I will lose her to Sesshomaru as well." He looked up frankly at his uncle, despair tinged his blue eyes. "What is there really left for me?"

Sasugainu shook his head, "Marriage, Nephew. There is still marriage and heirs and pups left for you. You are young, you have not failed as you think you have." He laid a hand on his nephew's shoulder, a silent move to offer comfort. "And Sesshomaru's deal for her is not a bad one. She will write to you, she will be educated, you can visit her whenever you so desire. I have no doubt that Lord Sesshomaru will honor the arrangement and do well by it."

Shimofuri sighed and slowly turned away to exit the room.

Sasugainu stopped him, calling his name. "Shimofuri."

The young lord turned, despair still lingering in his eyes.

Sasugainu hazarded throwing his nephew a wan smile. "Your cousin Inuyasha still believes in you. He told me to tell you that you're a great kid."

Shimofuri paused, thinking for a moment, and then finally he smirked, a little hope entering his gaze as he considered his cousin who had worked to overcome the loss of his own mother as nothing more than a pup. Though he turned away from Sasugainu without saying anything, and began to walk down the empty hallway, he had already begun to feel a little rejuvenated. Life could certainly be worse…

But the new emptiness he could already feel growing in the hall troubled him. I'll have to marry soon, he thought, and banish the emptiness in this place, the old ghosts…

He turned the corner and was gone.

Kasai and Koinu stared at each other, fascinated. Kasai was the first to react, reaching out and grabbing Koinu's dog ears. She began to chortle happily, grinning. She let out a loud, shrill toddler screech: "Aaaaaahhh! Baaaaaa!!"

Koinu scowled and pushed at her chubby body, grunting his displeasure. His clawed fingertips pricked her slightly and Kasai let go of his ears and stared down at her stomach curiously, searching for the offending thing that had touched her. It didn't occur to her just yet that it had been Koinu.

Koinu still stared at her unhappily. While she was still poking at her stomach, utterly baffled, Koinu reached out and grabbed her hair. He grinned when she screeched a distinctive, "Ooooow!" and then started to cry, kicking and slapping at him.

"Good for him, he hates her." Kohimu smirked at his little sister and at Koinu. At his side Tisoki giggled.

Shippo glanced up from his rice balls and rolled his eyes. "You guys, that's not being responsible. Don't let Koinu hurt Kasai like that."

But just as Shippo said that Kasai, knocked Koinu's grip from her hair and—older and more developed—lunged at him. Koinu fell over, eyes wide and shocked at the sudden turn of events. Kasai started to shriek half-formed words: "Gaaaah! Baaah! Ooooo…"

She rested her face against Koinu's, and then, apparently bored when the confused pup did not immediately fight back; she started to suck on one of his elbows.

"Ew!" Tisoki frowned, "Kohimu get her off him!"

"You do it, I don't wanna touch her, she'll get me all spitty." The older boy nudged his sibling disgustedly.

Shippo rolled his eyes again. "I'll do it, wimps." He huffed, getting up. "You know you two should get used to handling babies—you're going to have to help your mother again soon." Shippo grunted as he hauled Kasai's squealing, squirming body off Koinu.

"What?" Tisoki asked blandly, not comprehending.

Kohimu, older, understood what their kitsune "cousin" meant by the comment. "Oh no!" he whined, scowling with disgust, "I'm tired of babies! This one better not be another girl."

Understanding at last reached Tisoki as well, but unlike his older brother he looked pleased. "Oh! I hope it's a boy! A nice brother—not like Kohimu."

"Shut up!"

Shippo dragged Kasai back toward the table, chuckling at the brothers. Back on the floor, Koinu had righted himself and was staring after Kasai with wide, perplexed blue eyes. He was fascinated with the other baby even at a distance. Kasai had already forgotten him though. Instead she was fighting with Shippo, reaching for his ears, pawing at his face, his body. Shippo tried fighting her off and then gave up, moving away instead. He took note of Koinu's continuing stare after Kasai and grinned.

"Don't worry Koinu, she won't bug you again, I got her."

The pup cocked his head and then, gradually, his ears fall backwards and his face wrinkled up, about to start crying.

"Uh oh."

"Icky! Koinu wants to play with Kasai!" Tisoki made a face and took shelter behind his older brother.

Kasai looked up and over at Koinu when he started to cry. Her violet-blue eyes, dark black hair all the spitting image of her father's but in female form and much, much younger. She clapped her hands and squealed, pointing at Koinu and babbling. The pup stopped his crying at the sounds and her movement, once again watching with intense fascination.

"He wants someone to play with." Shippo sighed, "Inuyasha and Kagome will just have to have another pup."

"It's not worth it, Koinu." Kohimu grumbled.

Tisoki elbowed him in the ribs, "Hey!"

Shippo shook his head at the antics of the brothers and then turned his eyes to follow Inuyasha who'd just appeared, stamping down the hallway, amber eyes searching the floor for his son. The hanyou's appearance made the children snap to attention and stop fighting. He was still sporting a bandage on his shoulder from the battle with Tsukiyume, but aside from that he was healthy, though by his walk Shippo knew the hanyou was fatigued.

Inuyasha knelt and scooped Koinu up in his arms. The baby nestled happily into his father's arms, ears falling into a tired, relaxed position.

Before Inuyasha could turn and leave, Shippo announced, "Koinu wants a brother or a sister!"

The hanyou stopped, staring at the kitsune as if he'd only just noticed him sitting at the table. "What makes you say that?"

The brothers scrambled to answer before Shippo could. "He was looking at Kasai." "When Shippo took Kasai away Koinu started to cry. I don't know why since she's really gross."

Inuyasha glanced between the two boys, blinking in slight bafflement. "Okay." The amber eyes turned to Shippo for clarification. "What the hell are they saying?"

"Koinu wanted to play with Kasai, he's lonely." The kit answered.

Inuyasha's response was disturbed by a heavy, thick yawn. "Okay—I'll worry about that later." He started to leave and then paused looking back to Shippo again. "When's the next new moon?"

The kit and the brothers blinked at him stupidly. Kasai squealed and clapped her baby hands again; she dropped down on the floor and started to gnaw on the table leg.

"I don't think it's very far away—a week? Why?" Shippo asked.

There was a faint, but tired smirk in the hanyou's amber gaze. "Nothing." He yawned once more and at last walked away.

And now we are done!! YAY! Well I will have an epilogue up for you anyway, so we're not totally done. The epilogue will examine Tsukiyume's existance in Sesshomaru's palace, and a return home to the future for Kagome, Koinu, and Inuyasha...