Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, but I do own Makoto. Yay Makoto!

Chapter 37: Aftermath

The battle was over. Kouga and his men, along with Kita's pack and a few of Sesshomaru's followers, were given the task to take care of the youkai that escaped the battlefield. InuYasha, with Shippou, Miroku, Sango, and Yukio at his heals and Makoto draped over his shoulder, and the rest of the troop following not far behind, made his way through the forest following Kagome's scent. He hated to move Makoto with all the wounds, but he couldn't leave him on the battlefield either. He had to get his son to the healing hands of Kagome as soon as possible.

"They're just ahead!" Shippou yelled. InuYasha nodded over his shoulder and slightly slowed his pace as he spotted the raised tents of the camp. It didn't take long for him to find Kagome sitting next to Tani in one of he tents.

"Kagome!" InuYasha shouted as he carefully lifted Makoto's limp form off his shoulder and lowered him gently to the ground.

"Inu… Oh! Makoto!" Kagome rushed to he son's side, just as Kita burst forward with a wild look on her face.

"Makoto!" she fell by his side, running her hands just above his body as she accessed his human state and his wounds. He was breathing, his chest rising and falling with each small breath. Shippou arrived a short time after Kita, making his way through the tent to Tani's side.

"Tani?" he questioned.

"I'm alright." She sighed and leaned onto his shoulder, "Just glad you're finally here."

Kagome was already reaching in her medical bag for things she would need. She grabbed the water Kita had brought and poured it on a clean cloth and handing it to the she-wolf. "Start cleaning the wounds as best you can. I don't know how long he's going to be human like this, so I have to stitch him up." Kita nodded and started cleaning Makoto's cuts. She cringed every time moaned or sucked in a deep breath. She watched as Kagome threaded a needle and started working.

"InuYasha, we need to let them work." Miroku and Sango had arrived, Sango going straight to Kagome's side to help. InuYasha merely nodded as he followed Miroku out of the tent and into the fresh air. If felt good to be out in the open; in a clearing that wasn't covered in blood.

"Oyajiiiiiiiii!"

"Ouff!" Two objects hit InuYasha's legs and gripped tight. "Hey, pups." He kneeled to their level. "Why don't we go get some more water for Okaasan?"

Back inside Kagome, Sango, and Kita were all three vigorously stitching Makoto's wounds. The bleeding had mostly stopped, but with the blood loss his face had grown very pale. Poking around, Kagome also found multiple broken bones and deep bruising covering his entire body. "What happened to him Shippou?" Kagome asked as she methodically snapped Makoto's shoulder back in place.

"That dang sword of his!" Shippou yelled over his shoulder as he held Tani's hand. "He was full-youkai, then he changed to inu form! He was kickin' tail with the rest of us until he just fell out."

Kagome huffed. "Too much power for him to handle for a long time. Even with these newfound transformations to full youkai, he can't keep overlooking that he is a hanyou. There're limitations to how much of this power he can use." Kagome had plenty to muse over while running. Makoto's transformations were one of those, and Kagome had come up with her own theories, he main one being that the more time Makoto spends as full-youkai, the more time Makoto has to stay in human form. If he was in inu form before, there was no telling how long he would be human. With his injuries, Kagome knew they would all be in for the long haul.

"Okaa!" Shippou yelled. Kagome ran over to Tani's other side. A thin sheet of sweat covered the poor girl, who had her eyes closed tight and jaw clenched.

"Shippou," Kagome said after checking Tani, "I think she's just about ready. Sango, I'll need your help over here. Kita can take care of Makoto for now."

"Alright." Sango squeezed Kita's shoulder and gave her a quick, encouraging smile before going to help Kagome.

Kita's eyes were suddenly droopy and she couldn't help but let out a yawn. Everything crashed down on her as soon as Sango had left her side. Haru was gone. Her pack, with the exception of three, was gone. Makoto had returned to her, not in a healthy state, but he returned just the same. She ran her fingers lightly down the length of his arm, feeling the curves of the muscles and lines of his veins. His eyes fluttered open. She ran her hand across his forehead and smiled with watery eyes. "Hey." She said shakily.

"Hey." He replied with a raspy voice. He raised his good arm and used the pad of his thumb to wipe across her cheek. "You okay?"

Kita put her hand over his and leaned into his touch. "I am now." She sighed and closed her eyes. She lay down beside Makoto, nuzzling his shoulder and intertwining her fingers with his.

"Hey, you're awake." InuYasha stepped in with water jugs in his hands. "You gave us a scare for awhile there, pup." Makoto rolled his eyes. "I'll deal with you later." He hoisted the jugs and made his way over to Kagome.

"Thank you, InuYasha," Kagome said taking the water and pouring one jug into a bowl. "You and Shippou have to leave now. The kit is about to be born."

"I'm not leaving. I wanna stay here with Tani." Shippou spoke up.

"Shippou, that's not a good idea. InuYasha, take him outside and keep him with you and Miroku. We'll call you when you can come back in."

"Shippou, just go. Kagome-sama's right. A man shouldn't be in here for this. Go outside and wait." Tani spoke, releasing her hand from his. Shippou's tail drooped but he obediently stood and started walking, that is, until Tani's next contraction hit and she started to scream. Shippou turned around, his momentum nearly sending him to the ground, and he got his first clear view of the birth.

"InuYasha, get him out of here!" Kagome yelled as Shippou's complexion turned a pale green color. She knew what was coming next.

"Is…is that…normal?" The ringing in Shippou's ears echoed in his head. His mouth grew dry as if he had tried to eat cotton. His vision blurred. The room started to tilt slightly, just before the floor came rushing up toward him.

BANG!

Kagome shook her head at the crash and gave InuYasha a meaningful gaze. "I told you to get him outside."

"Keh." InuYasha kept his eyes on his adopted son and held his breath as he bent down to pick up Shippou and tossed him over his shoulder.

That distraction out of her way, Kagome turned her attention back to Tani. She was doing fairly well for her first birth, but Kagome could tell the hanyou kit was giving her trouble. It was best not to drag this out any longer then it had to be. Kagome rubbed her hand against the girl's forehead again. "Okay, Tani, you've got to start pushing now." Tani whimpered and shook her head, fear in her eyes. "Shhhh. It's alright. The kit is coming now, and you're going to have to push to help it out." She paused. "You ready now?" Tani took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright, then. When the contraction hits I want you to push as hard as you can, okay?" Tani nodded again. "Sango, get up here with Tani, please."

Sango took Kagome's position holding Tani's hand and keeping a cool cloth on her forehead. Kagome kneeled at the edge of the futon with a water basin and a warm blanket for the kit. "Oh." Kagome gasped as she checked Tani. "You're further along then I thought. Now push!"

Just outside, InuYasha held Mehiji in one arm and the restless Gina in the other. The pup was defiantly more sensitive about her surroundings then her brother was. Shippou was lying on the dirt, still passed out from his earlier experience while Miroku obediently posted ofuda outside the tent. This was going to be InuYasha's first grandchild, and Miroku didn't even bother arguing over the quantity of wards.

"Keh." InuYasha shifted Gina to his other arm and grabbed a jug of water, splashing the entire thing on Shippou's head. He jerked up and sputtered through the water dripping from his face. InuYasha smirked.

"How's Tani? Did she have the kit?" Shippou asked while he shook off the water and got to his feet. "How long have I been out?"

"A good twenty minutes would be my guess. Last check Tani was fine and no, there's no kit yet." Miroku replied. "Now, I know I have done as much as I can here, and I would like to see if my services are needed with the injured." He gave InuYasha a meaningful gaze. InuYasha nodded reluctantly.

Ten minutes later Shippou was pacing the grounds and staring at the tent. "I don't know how you did it, Oyaji. All this waiting. Not knowing anything that's going on in there." He growled. "It's just about to kill me!"

"It's worth it, in the end." InuYasha replied, looking down at the pups in his arms. It was hard to believe, that all those years ago, a hanyou looking to become a youkai and a crazy wench from the future would create those little pups. And are waiting for the birth of a grandchild.

Shippou gulped as he heard Tani's last scream, followed by the wailing of his kit. Shippou's face went stark white and he fell backwards and landed on his butt, his eyes staring widely at the tent as the wailing continued. Then there was a splash on his face and he once again found himself sputtering. He glared at InuYasha.

"Get in there."

Shippou stood on wobbly legs and walked slowly toward the tent. Sango popped out with a bright smile. "You're very lucky. Everything went fine. I'm going to help with the others, you can go on in."

He tried to control his breathing. There would be no excuse for passing out before he got a chance to even see his kit. He stepped in, taking in Kita leaning against the sleeping Makoto, and then turning toward Tani. She was flush, her hair damp and clinging to her head and neck from sweat. She was propped up on the futon by several pillows behind her back. In her arms was a blue blanket: a wriggling blue blanket. She had such a smile on her face, Shippou couldn't help but smile, too, as he crouched down by her side. She looked at him as she shifted the kit so Shippou could see.

He couldn't believe it. Green eyes gazed back at him from the blanket. Long ears, red-brown with black tips, flipped this way and that, a patch of red-brown hair on the top of the kit's head. Shippou reached out and picked up the kit. A bushy tail emerged from the blanket along with the kit.

"Hey, little man. Wow. You know how long I've been waiting to see you? Hm?" he smiled and wrapped the kit back in the blanket, placing the kit on Tani's stomach and cuddling up next to her.

Kagome came from behind and placed a kiss on Shippou's cheek. "So what are you going to name him?"

"Takeshi (unbending)." Tani answered. "He looks so much like you, Shippou." Shippou beamed.

"Alright, everyone out. There's more injured to take care of outside and these in here need rest." Kagome said as she rose from the ground. She gave Shippou a quick kiss on the top of his head and followed the others to the exit. She stopped beside Makoto and ran her hand down his face. He grunted and turned his head. Kagome smiled. She looked to Kita who had fallen asleep curled into Makoto's arm.

InuYasha poked his head in. "Come on, wench, you can fuss at him when he wakes up."

Kita blinked once, then twice. The tent had grown dark, a bit of moonlight and firelight coming through. Her head was still a bit foggy from sleep, but she was still coherent enough to know that the ground should not be warm, nor should it be moving up and down. And something was lightly pressing on the mid and small of her back. She felt a shiver travel down her body as his allowed herself to ease into the feeling with a sigh. The arm on her mid back traveled up and down in a slow, comforting pattern before both hands lowered to her hip as Makoto sat up and pulled Kita into his lap. For a moment sheer panic flowed through her as Kita remembered his injuries, but when she turned all fear left and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm alright." The hanyou Makoto whispered. He nuzzled his nose into her neck and took a deep breath.

"I thought I would loose you." Kita whispered back.

"I'm never going to leave you, Kita." He gave a cocky smirk, "I just showed off too much."

Kita elbowed his ribs, making him yelp in surprise, "You baka!" angry tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "I was scared to death!"

"Ki.."

"What was I to think when they…"

"Kita…"

"…brought you in here, nearly in PIECES…"

"Kita…"

"…and human?! I thought you were dead! I thought I had lost you forever! You don't understand…You don't know…"

"Kita!" she paused, taking in shallow breaths, as Makoto grabbed her face between his hands, staring into her eyes. "I love you." He slipped his arms down to her shoulders, rubbing smoothly down her arms and sides, planting them firmly on her waist. "And I'm sorry you were scared." He sighed and lowered his head to Kita's neck, growling softly and pressing his lips against her shoulder, very slowly and tenderly making his way up her neck, following the line of her jawbone, and set a feather-light kiss on the corner of her mouth.

Kita worked her arms up and wound them around Makoto's neck, running her fingers through his hair. Makoto kissed her lips. Kita melted into his lap, molding herself into his lap and pressing her lips hard against his. He nipped at Kita's lower lip until they parted, then he deepened the kiss.

"Ahem."

Kita fell out of Makoto's lap in her attempt to swivel around to see who had made the noise as Makoto jumped to his feet. What is saw was the amused expression on Shippou's face and the giggling Tani holding their kit on a futon.

"As much as I am enjoying the show, I'm not sure I wanna see how far this will go." Shippou raised his eyebrow with a smirk. Kita blushed and scrambled to hide her face on Makoto's shoulder as Tani fought back her laughs.

Makoto turned his head away with slightly pink cheeks, "Lecher."

A/N:

Only around 2-3 chappies left, depends on which way I go. :D