lostmoonchild: I don't own Inuyasha or anything else unless I say otherwise.

Chapter Thirty Seven

---------A week later---------------

"KA-KA! INU-PAPA!"

Kagome and Inuyasha braced themselves just in time to avoid being knocked over by their foster children. "Did you miss us?!" Shippo asked eagerly.

"Yeah, did you miss us?" Hana questioned.

Kagome and Inuyasha looked at each other before laughing. They had missed their kids and even the insanity the two brought with them. "Hai, we missed you." Kagome said hugging the two children tightly. "Did you two behave for Sesshomaru?"

"Hai! We were really, really good!"

Inuyasha smiled a bit before looking up and seeing his older brother. "So what'd they break?" Inuyasha asked.

"Some pride of a few advisors." Sesshomaru stated choosing not to say that watching two children mock a few of the older demons had been rather amusing.

Kagome smiled when she saw the pretend innocence her foster children decided to try out. "Ok, now I'm absolutely CERTAIN everything went okay." Kagome stated with a smile.

Hana sniffed the air lightly and leaned towards Inuyasha before pulling away quickly. "What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked looking slightly confused.

"You don't," Hana sniffed lightly again, "smell right."

"Hana, that's Inuyasha."

"I know but he doesn't smell right. There's more of a human scent on him than anything else." Hana said looking thoughtful. "I can smell your scent, trees, the ocean, but I smell more of a human scent than youkai. How come?"

Kagome sighed a little and said, "Well, Hana, you remember your demon nights, right?"

"Oh… those?"

"Yeah."

Hana threw her arms around Inuyasha and grinned at him. "Don't worry, Inu-papa, I'm gonna make everything LOTS more interesting." Hana said with a promising grin.

Honestly, Inuyasha wasn't sure if he should be afraid of what the little girl was planning or if he should be more afraid of what would happen if he got Kagome pregnant before running the whole wanting Kagome as his mate by Kagome's family. Hey, he remembered Kagome telling him that she thought she was pregnant. He also remembered that she told him that it was just a false alarm. She wasn't pregnant but they had to be a bit more careful in the near future.

A couple hours later they were on their way back to Kaede's village. Hana and Shippo had decided to play hide and seek right when it was time to leave and needless to say, everybody was seeking but nobody was finding. Finally they had found the two children snickering and looking amused with themselves.

"SEE YOU, UNCLE SESSHO!" Hana shouted waving happily at Sesshomaru as they left. "WE'LL COME BACK TO VISIT!"

"Keep your pup at home!" Sesshomaru called to Kagome who started laughing.

"No can do! Hell has a better chance of keeping her!" Kagome shouted back.

A small smile spread across Hana's face as she held her stuffed doll tightly. Things were looking so much better than they had a few years ago. A few years ago, there was always the uncertainty of what would happen next. Yusuke and Kagome would often times be gone, one being in the Makai and the other in the Feudal Era, and if they were actually home, they had a job to do.

But a couple years ago, she had been allowed to travel to the Makai with Yusuke. Sometimes she had to stay with Yomi since he tolerated her better than Mukoro did but that wasn't so bad. Sometimes if she was bored, somebody would train her and actually fight her.

Now she could travel with Kagome and wouldn't worry or be afraid. If she had to stay behind, she could stay with Kaede if Sesshomaru didn't want them and Yusuke couldn't watch her. Sure, Kagome's mom could watch her but now that Kagome's dad was home, she didn't think that would be a great idea.

Her mind wandered to the night the Youkai Den had burned down. Seshomaru had shown up and sat with them so there was no doubt in her mind that Sesshomaru would survive five hundred years, but what about her little brother? Did he survive the five hundred years or did somebody kill him before that? Quietly, she looked up at Kagome before saying with a soft voice, "Kagome?"

Kagome looked down at Hana surprised, only time Hana ever said any version of her name other than "Ka-ka" was a sign something was wrong. "What's wrong, baby?" Kagome questioned.

Hana held onto Shippo tightly and asked, "Will Shippo make it to our era?"

Kagome was silent for a minute as she looked at her two children. Worry and fear were the two emotions she could immediately see. "Hana, you know I can't say." Kagome answered. "But don't worry."

"I don't want Shippo to die! Remember? Botan says that the chances of somebody coming back from the dead is slim to none!"

So that's what that was all about. Kneeling down she hugged her two children and said, "I promise, nobody's going to die. If we stay here, then we'll watch out for each other for the next five hundred years."

"Inu-papa?"

Inuyasha made a face before saying, "There's no point in worrying about what you can't control, pup."

Slowly, Hana nodded a little. If Inuyasha said not to worry, then she shouldn't worry. But Shippo was her little brother, it was her job to worry about him.

Right?

lostmoonchild: Okay, the chapter numbers are beginning to fall. There's probably five or so chapters left, but I'm not sure. I'll give you all the exact number when I update again next week. So read and review, flames are accepted!