Beyond the Darkness
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A/N: I tried to make it longer, upon request of a constant reader, so hopefully I succeeded. I'm on a roll right now, so I'll probably have another chapter up by the end of the day, or maybe a lot sooner. Well, enjoy! && R&R please! Gracias! -Michele

::Forty-Six::

"Damn!" InuYasha cried. "Where the hell did they all come from?"

"Does it matter now?" cried Sango, grabbing her boomerang from behind her back. Miroku was untangling the rosary that hung around his arm to secure his wind tunnel.

"I'll take care of this," Miroku said. "You guys try and find Nikala … and Sesshomaru," he quickly added before Sango and Kagome could give him dirty looks. He opened his clutched hand and suddenly a strong wind emerged and began sucking everything towards Miroku's hand. "Wind tunnel!"

However, as some demons were being sucked into the miniature black hole, Saimyosho, Naraku's minions, arrived.

"Miroku! Close your wind tunnel!" cried Sango and Miroku immediately obeyed. He noticed the Saimyosho and glared.

"Damn it!"

InuYasha's Tetsusaiga returned to it's natural pearly white color as he lifted it. He swung it at a hoard of demons cutting them all in half all at once.

"There's too many. We can't leave each other to fight them all," Kagome said, drawing an arrow to place in her bow. She aimed it at some demons and the sacred arrow exploded purple light as it pierced a couple of them. Sango had thrown her boomerang bone, hitting many demons in the process as well.

InuYasha lifted Tetsusaiga again, this time slamming it to the ground as he shouted, "Wind Scar!" A crushing wave of wind erupted, cracking the earth and killing over a hundred demons that ran in the Wind Scar's path. But it still wasn't enough. He performed Wind Scar again, but it seemed like the demons just kept coming, as if there was no end to them.

"We're never going to get passed them!" shouted Miroku as he threw some of his sacred sutras at the demons, sizzling when they landed on them and dropping dead.

"Whatever's over there must really be important if Naraku doesn't want us to get over there," said Kagome. "He knows you've lowered the barrier." InuYasha swung Tetsusaiga again at the hoard.

Even Jaken and Shippo's fire techniques weren't helping, though Jaken's Staff of Two Heads was making much more progress than Shippo's fox fire.

"We … can't give … up!" cried Shippo between pants. It was taking all of the kitsune's energy just to muster up enough fox fire to damage a demon. "Ma's back there … I have to save her …" Tears streamed down the fox's face. He wouldn't be able to be there for her again. Shippo wouldn't be able to save her. If InuYasha's Wind Scar wasn't working, then nothing would.

"Don't give in, little one," said a voice in Shippo's ear. He turned around, but saw no one but his comrades.

"Don't give in."

"Who are you?" Shippo cried, frightened. Kagome looked down at him, startled.

"Shippo? What's going on?" she asked, but Shippo ignored her, for the voice was repeating itself over in his mind.

Wait a second … he thought, and it suddenly hit him. He knew that voice. He knew it.

PA!

He heard the voice chuckle and sigh. "Yes, little one. It's me," Tairoku said and Shippo was crying again. His father was here. His dead father was here.

Where are you? Why can't I see you? Shippo asked mentally.

"Must you see me to believe I am actually here?" asked his father, and Shippo shook his head. He knew for a fact that his father was here. This was no illusion. He just wanted to see his father once more.

Ma needs help, Pa. We can't get through. I won't be able to save her.

"I see. But Shippo, you can save her. You will save her. You just need the faith," he said.

Faith? I need strength, Pa! I'm too little.

"Nonsense. I know you can muster up your fox fire even in your small form. Just believe that you can."

Pa, I can't. I can't … Shippo's tears came down faster as he fell to the ground.

"Faith, Shippo! My son, you need to believe in yourself. I know you can do it. Your mother knows you can do it," he said.

Shippo sniffled and looked up at his friends fighting to get to his mother and Sesshomaru. They all wanted to help save his mother and the baby. They all were so determined to get to through the hoard. So why couldn't Shippo muster up the belief that he could do it too?

He stood up and steadied himself.

I can do it too, he thought.

"You can do it too," Tairoku repeated.

Shippo mustered up his fox fire in his hands. Suddenly, a surge of power filled his body and he felt strong, energized. Shippo knew his father was helping him, and that only made him feel stronger.

I can do it too!

"FOX FIRE!" Shippo cried and shot the green balls of flames out at the hoard. He created a large wall of fire as the demons caught aflame and Shippo's friends, including Jaken and Rin, stood back in astonishment. They were all dying, even some of the Saimyosho. The wall of flames prevented any more demons from coming through and, when they tried, they caught aflame as well.

I did it!

Shippo heard his father sigh with pride. Suddenly, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder and he whipped his head around. His topaz eyes widened when he saw solid figure of his father, looking just the way he did before he transformed into the golden fox to fight the Thunder Brothers the day he died.

"I'm proud of you," he said and knelt down to hug his son. Shippo endorsed the embrace, hugging his father back as tightly as he could, and just sobbed. He was hugging his father again. His father was here.

"Papa," Shippo wept, "why did you go? Why did you fight?"

"So that you and your mother could live, my kitsune. I wanted you both to live and get as far away as you could from those two," he replied with a sad smile. Shippo tore from his father and looked into his amber eyes.

"Do you miss us?"

"Of course," Tairoku said surely.

Then, Shippo drifted back to when he'd first been reunited with his mother in the clearing. She was mated with Sesshomaru now, and she was pregnant.

"Mama didn't break the fox bond, did she?" he suddenly asked. "Is this why she's here — because she's being punished?"

Tairoku chuckled and stroked his son's cheek. "No, little one. She is not being punished. And she has not broken our fox bond. I have allowed her to love someone new. To not dread over the loss of me. I gave my life for you both so you could be happy, not so you could mourn."

Shippo nodded and he suddenly felt guilty for ever thinking that his mother had betrayed him, that she had broken the fox bond with Sesshomaru. She wasn't lying at all about his father's last wish. He really did want her to be happy. He really was allowing her to love Sesshomaru.

The fire began to dissipate and the clearing was clear of any rogue demons. Shippo looked back at his friends, who were watching him. He turned back to his father.

"Can they see you?" he asked him. Tairoku chuckled and stood up, straightening his back and looking like the majestic fox demon Shippo remembered he was. His long golden hair swayed slightly in the ponytail, his golden tail doing the same. He gazed at Shippo's friends and grinned. InuYasha pointed his sword at him, and Shippo's topaz eyes widened.

"Who the hell are you?" InuYasha demanded. His tone bought many shocked glances from his comrades, but Tairoku merely smirked.

"I believe I am the one who protected your friends during your showdown with Hiten," Tairoku said. "Perhaps you'd remember me this way." Suddenly, the tall fox-demon man was replaced by a beautiful golden fox with red eyes. Kagome gasped.

"It's Shippo's father! He did use his pelt to protect us!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with happiness. Tairoku nodded, transforming back to his humanoid shape, granting her another smile.

"So, you're Lady Nikala's old fox mate?" asked Rin, walking over to the two foxes to stand with Shippo.

"I see Nikala has mentioned me, hasn't she?" Tairoku chuckled. "Yes, I am Tairoku."

"Lord Sesshomaru is taking very good care of her, Lord Tairoku. He's gone off to rescue her. She's carrying his baby and she's helped him find love."

Shippo was afraid of how he would react to what Rin was telling him, even if he'd just agreed with Nikala's and Sesshomaru's relationship, but Tairoku's smile widened.

"I know. I've been with her," he mentioned. This bought the entire crowd's attention.

"Is she alright? How's the baby?" asked Kagome quickly.

"They're both managing. I've helped her get back on her feet. But I feel she's safe with Sesshomaru now."

"We should go," Sango suggested. "Naraku's after the both of them, after all. We need to help." Tairoku nodded.

"That you do."

Shippo looked up at his father, his eyes sad. "You'll come with us, won't you? You'll stay with us?"

"I'm afraid I can't, little one. But I'll always be with you. Remember that." He knelt down again to Shippo's height and took his son's head in both his hands. He pressed his forehead against his.

"Never forget," he reminded, sending the mental note to Shippo's mind as he slowly began to disperse.

Pa …

"Never … forget …"

And then, Tairoku was gone.