Love and War
Disclaimer: I do not own, or make any money from, the stories of Inuyasha.
All Inuyasha characters are the sole property of Rumiko Takahashi, Sunrise and Viz
All original characters belong to me.
Chapter Eighteen
A Son's Gift
Kagome and Inuyasha returned from the supermarket, loaded to the hilt with food to take back to the Feudal Era. Inuyasha managed to slide open the door and walk inside the house and ...
CRASH!
Kagome quickly put down her bags. There she saw, Inuyasha, sprawled flat, groceries everywhere. Beneath him sat a mess load of toys. Enough, Kagome assumed, to fill a good sized toy store. Looking back at Inuyasha again, she found herself laughing. He was on his stomach, a football helmet on his head and a football cradled in his arms,
"You look like you just scored a touchdown!", she giggled at him.
Not understanding her comment, Inuyasha threw down the ball and removed the helmet,
"What is all this shit?"
"Toys?", Kagome offered.
His annoyed look told her to stay quiet. Her mother rushed in,
"Oh my. Inuyasha-kun, are you ok? I heard the crash ..."
"He's fine, mama. What is all this stuff?", Kagome queried the older woman.
She clapped her hands together like a school girl, "Oh, I went on a shopping spree. It's so much fun being able to do something like that."
"Did you need to buy all these toys for the children?", she asked, increduously.
"They're my grandchildren. It's my job to spoil them! Now, let's get to work and pick up all the groceries. I sure hope you didn't have any eggs in there!"
--
The next afternoon, Kagome walked in from the storehouse when she realized her mother had returned from yet another shopping trip with the children. As she entered the door, she heard a small "yip-yip" sound from the kitchen. Closing the sliding door, she called, "Kids?"
The three of them ran out to greet her,
"Mama. Mama. Guess what grandma got us?", they chorused.
In shock, Kagome watched as a small, black puppy ran in from the kitchen,
"OH NO!", she groaned, "Mama. You didn't!"
"Hmp. I disagree with Inuyasha. I think they deserve a puppy.", she announced.
Kagome sank to the floor, dreading the moment when Inuyasha came back in from helping out grandpa. Sure enough, a few moments later, the door slid open and a chorus of "DADDY!" was heard followed by a couple of "YIP-YIP-YIP's".
Inuyasha's eyes stared at the animal before he looked at first to mama and then to Kagome. Pointing to the creature, he raised his voice,
"WHAT IS THIS?"
Unable to resist, Kagome looked at him straight in the eye and said, "What, don't you recognize a member of your own species?"
She should have known to resist that urge at sarcasm as Inuyasha promptly began blowing his top. The pups ran behind their grandmother, who quickly returned order by chastizing her demon son-in-law. Inuyasha shut up, but was still fuming.
"Grandma says we can take him back with us.", Kai spoke slowly, looking at his mother.
Inuyasha had had enough. He looked at Kagome,
"Fine. I can see my decisions don't matter any more. I don't give a good goddamn what you do. Just start getting things packed. We're returning tomorrow."
He turned and walked out. Kagome, her mother and the pups stared at him solemnly as he left,
"I'm sorry, Kagome. Maybe I have overstepped my bounds.", her mother said, sitting down and putting her arm around her daughter's shoulder.
"I understand why you did, mom. Don't apologize. It's not your fault. Actually, this argument has been a long time coming. He's been irritating me by strutting his peacock attitude more times than I can count and I've just let it ride. Maybe this is what we needed to make some inroads into what bugs each of us about the other."
Kagome got up and walked outside. She knew where to find him. Standing under the sacred tree, she looked up,
"Inuyasha."
No response. She sighed,
"Inuyasha!", she said, with more emphasis.
She heard a loud, "PFFFFFFT!"
She gritted her teeth,
"O - SU - WAR..."
"You come up here. You can jump."
Shaking her head, Kagome leapt into the tree. She made herself comfortable on branch across from him,
"Inuyasha."
Nothing.
"We need to talk."
Still nothing.
This went on for, what seemed to Kagome, a very long time. Finally, she crossed her arms across her chest and said,
"You know, you REALLY need to grow up and act like a man and not a little boy!"
This achieved the desired reaction. Inuyasha turned and glared at her in disbelief,
"Grow up? GROW UP? BE A MAN? YOU AND YOUR MOTHER ARE THE ONES WHO ..."
"HA. Got ya talking to me.", Kagome gloated in victory.
Inuyasha just shook his head, "Whatever"
"Not whatever. We need to talk, Inuyasha."
"About what, pray tell?"
"About why you keep prancing around like a friggin' peacock in mating season, is what!", she said, exasperated.
"What? I do not!"
"Inuyasha. I'm used to your bravado and all, but, lately you just seem so ... well ... full of yourself."
Inuyasha looked into her eyes and then turned away. Kagome's natural perception skills told her all she needed to know. She made the decision, again, to leave well enough alone. She knew he would eventually seek out her comfort and support. She moved and snuggled up to him and said nothing.
He closed his eyes. He knew the gesture. Kagome's way of telling him she understood and that, when he was ready to talk, she would be there for him. He gratefully placed his hand over hers,
'Thank you, Kagome.', he thought.
--
The next day, Kagome, Inuyasha and the pups prepared to return to their world. Overpacked with food, toys and supplies, Inuyasha needed to make numerous trips back and forth to carry everything through. It was finally just him, Kagome, Shiori, Izayoi, Kai, Shinta and ...
"YIP-YIP!"
The black puppy squirmed in Shinta's arms. Inuyasha and his son stared at each other, Shinta's eyes pleading for his father to give in. Inuyasha blinked once. Twice. Shinta's eyes never wavered. The pleading eyes tore into his very soul. Why was he denying his children such a simple thing? Other village children had pets. He had grown up with nothing, save for what was necessary. Was having a pet, even one he was descended from, so bad? He took a deep breath and asked softly,
"What didja name him?"
Shinta's grin went from ear to ear and Kai began whooping in happiness,
"His name is Ronin.", Shinta happily told him.
Inuyasha smiled, "Samurai with no master. Hmm. Fitting, I guess. How do you think he'll handle time travel?"
Shinta shook his head, "I dunno."
"Better hold onto him tight then. A puppy free falling through a portal wouldn't be a keen idea, in my book."
Shinta climbed up on his dad, still holding the puppy, "Thanks, dad. You're the best.", he said, hugging Inuyasha, "I love you."
"I love you, too, Shinta.", Inuyasha whispered back.
Setting Shinta on the ground, Inuyasha felt his hitoe being tugged. He looked down and saw a very sad eyed Izayoi gazing up at him,
"If dey get a puppy ..."
He knelt down to his daughter's level, "We'll find a kitten for you when we get back."
"PWOMISE?"
He pulled his daughter into a tight embrace, "Cross my heart, sweetie."
Kagome smiled at the scene that had unfolded in front of her and tears filled her eyes. She knew Inuyasha had more demons of his own to deal with but, she could tell he had taken a big leap today. They proceeded to say goodbye as they got ready to leave,
"Kagome.", her mother said to her, "I want to see my grandchildren more. Don't be a stranger!"
Kagome smiled and hugged her mother, "We won't. That's a promise."
The family jumped into the well and disappeared.
--
The family's homecoming was overwhelming, to say the least. Village children (and some adults), marveled over the pups' fancy toys and Sango prepared a huge feast for them all.
After settling back in, Sango and Miroku told their friends about the break-up of Kohaku and Rin. Kagome was quite saddened by the news while Inuyasha nearly blew a gasket when he heard Rin had returned to Sesshoumaru.
He decided to set out one day to find his meddling older brother and give him an earful. It didn't take long for Inuyasha to find him,
"Looking for me, little brother?", Sesshoumaru said, in a taunting voice, as he landed near Inuyasha.
"Yea, I'm looking for you, dammit! What the hell business do you have taking Rin away from Kohaku?", Inuyasha demanded.
Sesshoumaru never even blinked, "Rin left on her own accord. I did not ask her to."
"Like I believe that!", Inuyasha sputtered.
"I do not care if you believe me or not. Your opinion is not my concern."
"Think of her life, dammit! She's old enough to marry. She should marry and be happy. Why should she follow you around like a fucking nomad? Think about it! It's not as if YOU would marry her!"
Sesshoumaru had started to turn to leave but, stopped and turned his head to look at Inuyasha,
"You know nothing about me, Inuyasha! Keep your nose out of my business!"
"I know you too well, Sesshoumaru! You wouldn't marry Rin. You're not capable of loving anyone, especially a human girl. Knowing how much you despise me because of my so-called dirty blood, there is no way you could marry a human and create half-demon pups!"
Sesshoumaru turned to leave,
"I'M TALKING TO YOU, DAMMIT!"
"I am done talking with you."
"OH NO YOU DON'T!", Inuyasha jumped over his brother and landed in front of him. Sesshoumaru stopped, irritated by Inuyasha's tirade,
"Don't you have a mate to go to? Be grateful that you didn't lose her to that vermin, Nishimura!"
Inuyasha stopped, his mouth gaping open,
"You ... you remember Nishimura?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"But ... but how?"
"HMPH! You remember him. Why is it so strange that I do as well?"
Inuyasha continued to stare at his brother as Sesshoumaru, tired of the hassles, transformed into a pink ball of light and floated away. Inuyasha was too dumbfounded to move.
--
That night, Inuyasha told Kagome that Sesshoumaru also remembered Nishimura,
"I don't understand. You said that the wizard said only those close to you, who fought Nishimura and could time travel would remember. It was a charm on you so, of course, you remember. We're married and I can time travel and I fought Nishimura. That explains me. Your grandfather time traveled, is close to you, and, in his own way, fought Nishimura. But, Sesshoumaru?"
Kagome thought deeply about this,
"Sesshoumaru IS your brother."
"Yea. So?"
"And you DO care about him."
"Like hell I do!"
"Don't kid yourself."
Inuyasha started to speak but, thought better of it. Instead, he pouted.
"And, because he is your brother and travels with Rin, whom I care about, I do care about Sesshoumaru."
"Fine. But, he still can't time travel!"
"How do you know?"
"Huh? We-llll ..."
"We didn't know my jii-chan could time travel either, did we?"
Inuyasha looked dejected, "You think ... Sesshoumaru can ..."
Kagome shrugged, "We've never tried to find out. And, Dumbledore did state that was a requirement and, well, he DOES remember ..."
"HMPH! Keep him away from the well. Your world isn't ready for the likes of him!"
"Goodnight, Inuyasha."
--
A couple weeks went by and life returned to a relatively normal state in the village. Shiori had started walking shortly after returning from the modern age and was now running full tilt. Kagome found herself with her hands very full with her family, her chores, her "deity" duties, and life in general.
Except for a gift she brought back for Miroku, the incident of Nishimura pretty much faded from Kagome's and Inuyasha's minds. Kagome had gifted Miroku with the entire 7 volume set of the Harry Potter series. When he questioned her about it, she simply smiled and remarked,
"It's one of my favorite reads. Full of fantasy, magic, witchcraft and good versus evil."
"Thank you, Kagome. It sounds very interesting."
Kagome pulled a bag out of her closet one night and realized it was full,
"Oh. I never emptied this from when we returned from my era.", she realized.
She emptied the bag and her fingers touched an object on a chain. Picking it up, she stared at it,
"The time turner. It never returned to Dumbledore."
Then she remembered something else. Digging deeper in the bag, she located it. A folded parchment scroll and a folded piece of paper. She opened them up,
"Good. Nothing happened to them."
She held the time turner to her chest. She didn't know why it hadn't returned but, she was thankful at the moment that it was still here. She quickly stuffed it in a section of her kimono with the pieces of papers and headed outside,
"Sango. SANGO!", she called.
Sango came up to her, "What do you need, Kagome?"
"Could you watch the pups for a while, Sango? I ... want to take Inuyasha somewhere."
"With all the time my kids spend at your place? Of course I'll watch them for you."
Kagome smiled and thanked her before looking for Inuyasha. She found him at the stream catching fish. She waded out to him and took his hand,
"What's up?", he asked.
"Take me somewhere, Inuyasha."
"Now?"
"We won't be too long. Please?"
"What about the pups?"
"Sango's watching them."
"Where to?"
"The village."
"The village? Which village?"
"Your village. The one where you were born."
"Why?", he asked, afraid to hear the answer.
"Because, I want to give you something."
"Why can't you give it to me here?"
"Very simply ... I can't. It must be there. Please, Inuyasha."
He relented and let her climb on his back. He raced through the woods, arriving at the dilapidated town soon after. He placed her on the ground and started walking around, looking, remembering.
Kagome sensed what she knew was in his mind. Pulling out the papers and time turner, she entered the information. Inuyasha felt dizzy as his world began to spin,
"What the?", he wondered.
Then, in front of him, he saw nothing short of a miracle. The town was now bustling with Heiian period dress. Kagome walked up beside him and studied his reaction. She saw a teardrop in his eye,
"Mother.", he whispered.
She followed his gaze. Off to the side, was a rundown, old house. Sitting on the porch, preparing some food, was a beautiful woman. Kagome recognized her instantly. She followed Inuyasha' s gaze as he searched the grounds. He found what he was looking for. A small, white haired, dog-eared child played alone by the trees. Kagome felt his loneliness tear at her heart. Inuyasha gulped,
"This is just before my mother died.", he said, softly, tears falling down his face, "Why, Kagome? Why bring up this memory? How did you do it?"
"It's not a memory, Inuyasha. You are really here. The people can see you, touch you."
Inuyasha stared at her in disbelief and shook his head, "But ..."
She nodded towards his mother, sitting alone on the porch. He gulped again. He couldn't help but wonder how Kagome could know his regret. Slowly, he made his way toward the woman. As he approached, she looked up. He stopped,
"Hello. Can I help you?", she asked.
Inuyasha felt more tears sting his eyes. He had always believed his mother had the most melodic voice,
"You're very sad.", he spoke softly, not sure exactly what to say.
The woman stared at him a bit before lowering her head, "You are very perceptive, young man.", she looked back up, "Do I know you? You look very familiar."
Inuyasha came closer but, didn't answer, "You're worried about your son, aren't you?"
The woman swallowed hard and a tear fell down her face, "How do you know this?"
He knelt in front of her and the tears streamed down her face, "I don't know how you know but, yes, I am. I am quite ill and will die very soon. My boy is a half-demon. His father is also dead. He'll have no one left in the world to watch out for him but, many who will want to kill him. I love my boy. I feel that it is my fault that his life will be so painful. You ... you look so much like him ... only older. Tell me, are you related to the Great Inu no Taisho?"
Inuyasha nodded as he wiped the tears from his own face. He looked deep into his mother's eyes,
"Mother."
"What ... did you say?"
"It's me, mother. Inuyasha. I'm all grown up now. I found a way to come back to this time just to tell you that I am ok. You died so fearful for my future. It wasn't a pretty future but, I learned to survive. And ... and, I know you may not believe this ... but, I'm married!"
His mother's tears poured down her face as she covered her mouth to keep from screaming,
"Is it really you, my son?", she stood up to hug him.
He hugged her back, fiercely, not wanting to release her,
"Mother.", he pulled away, "Come with me."
"Where to?"
"Just follow."
His mother followed him, her hand in his. He stopped in front of Kagome,
"Mother. This is Kagome. My wife."
His mother gasped, "You ...you married my son? A half-demon?"
"No, my lady. I didn't marry a half-demon. I married Inuyasha. The person. The man. Not his heritage.", Kagome said to her.
His mother hugged Kagome gratefully, "My dear girl. You are indeed a truly special gift. A jewel from the gods. And so remarkably beautiful. I will be able to die peacefully now, knowing my son will not be alone forever."
"You also have 4 grandchildren, my lady.", Kagome told her.
"You ... have children?", she looked between the two, disbelieving.
"Four. 2 boys and 2 girls. And, the one girl is name Izayoi.", Kagome explained, as the woman began hugging Inuyasha and crying all over again.
"My boy. My boy. My precious son. Thank you for finding a way back to me. I can rest in peace now, knowing that you do survive and get a family of your very own."
Inuyasha hugged her tightly, his tears again falling freely down his cheeks, "I love you. Mother. I'm sorry. But, I have to go now."
His mother released her hold on Inuyasha and backed away, "Goodbye, my son. Thank you. I love you more than you will ever know."
His eyes never left hers, "I know, mother. I know."
Kagome took Inuyasha's hand and they walked outside of the town. Kagome entered the information into the time turner. As the world returned to normal, the time turner vanished. Kagome smiled,
"Thank you, old friend.", she whispered.
Inuyasha stood, staring at the old town,
"Inuyasha?"
He turned, his face streaked with tears. He pulled her into an embrace,
"My mother's right. You are a precious jewel. Thank you, Kagome, for giving me a home, a family and the very best gift of all. The chance to tell my mother not to worry about me. I always blamed myself for her unhappiness. Now I know. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders."
"You're welcome, Inuyasha."
--
A/N: I really liked this story. But, it's not over yet. Stay tuned for the next installment of the "Who's That Girl" universe - "My Fair Hanyou". Kagome is honored in the Modern Age and Harry Potter invites Kagome and her family to Hogwarts. What will ensue when Kagome insists Inuyasha needs to become a bit more civilized? How will she introduce Inuyasha and her kids to the wonders of modern travel? Why is Shinta rebelling against Inuyasha? Can Sesshoumaru woo Rin? And, what happens when Sango and Miroku are violently torn apart? It's all coming soon to a computer screen near you! Stay tuned!