Author's Note:

Alright, guys, so we found out that it's been 150 years since InuYasha was sealed into the old demon tree. I know a lot of you guys are sad about it, but hang in there with me. I promise that it'll get better.

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Chapter 5

A few days after InuYasha's conversation was uneventful but full of sorrow. Knowing that he had been away for one hundred and fifty years was heartbreaking. One hundred and fifty years since he last saw his friends. One hundred fifty years since he gave birth to his twins. One hundred fifty years of him missing out on everything and knowing that the world kept turning, his friends kept aging, and his children grew up barely knowing him was too much for the hanyo to handle. For the past few days, InuYasha spent alone in his room, turning away all visitors except Lady Narou or Usagi, who regularly checked on him, and the servant who brought him food. He never ate a lot of food, just enough to keep up his strength, but never finished it. He even turned away his own children. Despite knowing that they grew up without him and that he should be spending almost every waking moment with them, it was the fact that they had their father's face, a face he couldn't stand to see at the present moment, that was too much to bear. However, it did not stop them from coming to visit every day. And today was no different.

It was about midday when the sounds of the twins arguing outside of his door woke him from his nap. Usually, Kanpeki's voice could be heard scolding her brother for intruding on their papa. Next, the twins would argue about who knew what was best for their papa before their father or one of the healers would scold both of them for disrupting InuYasha. However, this time, it would be InuYasha doing the scolding.

As the twins argued outside of his room, the hanyo tried his best to sit up, but it was futile. Instead, he settled on yelling at his children through the door, "Would the two of you shut the hell up and come in already so I can properly yell at you already!"

At the sound of their papa's anger, the twins promptly did as they were told before easing into the room, shutting the door, and kneeling beside the bed with their heads down.

"Now then, would either of you please tell me why you have been coming by my room every day and annoying the piss out of me?"

"We just wanted to make sure that you were ok in here," Rida said first.

"Yes, papa. You haven't come out of your room in days and refuse to let anyone in except the healers and one servant. You even refuse to see father. We thought something terrible had happened to you or that your health was failing. Father does not like to tell us important information until it happened already. We expected the worst," Kanpeki explained.

"Yeah, well, I don't really want to see your father right now."

"Is it because we told you how long you've been sleeping?" she asked.

"It's not just that. It's everything. I missed a lot in the past one hundred and fifty years. I didn't know that much time had passed. I miss my friends and their kids growing up. But most importantly, I missed out on raising you guys. I wanted things to be different. I wanted to be there at every milestone you had like my mother was there for me before she passed away."

"You mean Grandmother Izayoi? We've heard stories about her. It's too bad we never got to meet her either," Rida said.

"Who told you about her?"

"Grandmother InuKimi. Father didn't know too much about her, aside from the one time he met her and what Grandfather told father. We were hoping that you would tell us about her when you woke up," Kanpeki said.

"She would have loved you two," InuYasha smiled.

"What was she like? We heard that she was kind and gentle and quite beautiful," Rida asked.

"Help me sit up, and I'll answer all of your questions," InuYasha commanded. InuRida was quick as he grabbed his papa's hand and helped him into a sitting position. He even propped the pillows against InuYasha's back so that he could relax against them. "Your grandmother… she was like a ray of sunshine: warm and smelt of wild lilies. She had long, flowing black hair, beautifully pale skin, and kind eyes. She was a princess, but after she met my father, your grandfather, and gave birth to me, she was banished to a separate house from the main branch. They said that she and I should have died that night alongside your grandfather. They said that she was corrupt and should've killed me, too. They said that no one would want her after she was tainted and bewitched by a demon. However, she was brave and fought to keep me, no matter how many times they tried to take her from me."

"They tried to take you from her? Why?" they asked in unison.

"Because I was considered an abomination and a threat. I'm half human and half demon. I don't know how much experience outside of this castle Sesshomaru taught you, but hanyo like me ain't welcomed in the world."

"We've only been outside of the castle a handful of times due to the attacks from Fukushu. However, we've been around long enough to hear whispers about hanyos and how demons despise them. However, we never understood why," InuKanpeki explained.

"Yeah, we've even heard harsh whispers and other terrible things when people found out that you were our papa. But they also sang praises about you despite you being a hanyo. It was… confusing, to say the least,"

"Rida! Don't tell him that! Ugh, you're upsetting him again," she scolded as she hit him in the back of the head.

"Hey, don't hit your brother. It's not nice."

"Sorry, papa," she said with her head lowered.

"It's alright that he said those things. It ain't nothing I've heard before. However, despite me being a hanyo, I guess I got lucky because most hanyo come out ugly as hell. I guess because I wasn't as ugly as most hanyo, my mother's family allowed her to keep and raise me."

"Yes, that was one of the praises we heard about you. We were told that you were a handsome warrior who conquered many battles with your strength and without proper training. Father even said that he does not think that you had ever wielded a sword before you found Tessaiga! Is that true, papa?" asked Rida with an excited smile.

"That is true. Everything I learned, I learned when I was on my own after my mother died."

"What do you mean? Did you not grow up in the castle with father and their servants?"

"Is that what he told you, Rida?"

"No, but we had assumed since he knew so much about you," he explained.

InuYasha closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath until his lungs hurt. He released it, "No, I didn't grow up here. I practically raised myself out there, beyond the castle walls. My mother, lord rest her soul, did everything she could for me while she was still alive, but she didn't know anything about demons or how to raise a half-demon, so she treated me like a human. I was fed human food, rarely got sick, and behaved like a human. She would even tell me human stories and take me out to socialize with the other human children. That was the only time I'd ever seen her cry. Back then, I was too young to understand what a hanyo was and that I was considered a bad omen to both humans and demons. So, she mostly kept me inside with her and away from others. However, as she got older, I aged slower than her. I was about fifty years old in human years when she finally died. That meant that I was only five in demon years. I was alone because her family kicked me out after her death. I couldn't even go to her funeral and had to watch from a distance."

"That's horrible! Surely father did something for you after he found out, right?"

InuYasha shook his head, "Before my mother died, she told me more about my history, about your grandfather, Sesshomaru, and about what it meant to be a hanyo. She told me to seek out your father but warned me that he might not take me in. She also warned me that, as a hanyo, I wouldn't be welcomed in most places either and to be careful. It took me years of wandering alone, hiding, and surviving before I finally found Sesshomaru at his castle."

"What happened when you finally found father?" asked Kanpeki.

"He told me to fuck off and slammed the door in my face."

"T-that… can't be right. That doesn't seem like something father would do, especially after hearing him tell those stories about you," she said with a confused and shocked expression on her face.

"It's true. He hated me for years and probably still does. But he wasn't the only one. He was my big brother, and he left me to die on my own without a care. It was alright because I hated him too. But, at the same time, I was somewhat grateful to him because if he hadn't shunned me away, I wouldn't have been as tough as I am today, especially since he hunted me."

"Hunted you?!" they both shouted.

"Shhhhh, don't fucking yell in my ears, they're sensitive," he scolded. "But, yes, he hunted me. He said that he hated me because I was the reason our father passed away, so he wanted me dead. But I survived nonetheless, and I did it all by myself without anyone's help!" he smiled with pride.

"And then what? What happened next, papa?" Rida asked, hanging on to every word.

"That's enough for now. I'm a little tired since two little ones woke me up from my nap."

"With all due respect, papa, but you look about the same age as us," Kanpeki smirked, surprising both Rida and InuYasha.

Instead of being offended, InuYasha threw his head back and laughed with all his might before whipping away a small tear. "I don't give a flying fuck that you look more like your father. It's great to see that both of you have at least some parts of my personality. I was worried that you'd become a stick in the mud like Sesshomaru. Don't worry, though; I have plenty of stories to tell ya when you come back to visit me."

"Alright! Kanpeki and I will definitely be back tomorrow. I wanna hear how you managed to defeat father,"

"After our lessons, Rida. And don't try to sneak away either," she reminded.

It wasn't long before the twins said their goodbyes and left the room. Despite the sad parts of his story, especially about his mother and Sesshomaru, InuYasha watched them go with a smile on his face. With the last of his strength, the hanyo eased into his bed and closed his eyes to rest. That was the first day he finally finished his dinner and water when it was brought to him.

Over the next week, the twins would come by to visit and care for InuYasha after their lessons, which gave the hanyo something to look forward to in the late afternoon. Thanks to their efforts and attentiveness, InuYasha was finally feeling better enough to walk. With Narou and Usagi's permission, InuYasha was free to roam the halls of the castle. After hearing the good news, the twins knew the exact place to take him. Excitement filled them as they practically raced to their papa's room to help him get up.

"Papa! Are you ready to take your first steps?" InuRida asked as he was the first to enter the room.

"Yeah, it'll finally be nice to get out of this stall, old room," he joked as he sat up on his own.

However, InuYasha knew that he wasn't strong enough yet to stand on his own, so the twins worked together to help him stand. Due to his lack of weight, Rida practically picked the poor hanyo up and almost carried him to the door until InuYasha fussed to be put down. After they made sure that he was standing on his feet by using the wall against which to lean, they were ready to leave the room.

"So, where are y'all taking me anyway?" he asked.

"It's a surprise, but one that we know you will love," Kanpeki smiled as she led the way.

Sandwiched between his children, InuYasha hugged the wall all the way until they reached their destination. Despite him walking slower than usual and almost falling a few times, he was mostly steady on his feet with his children ready and able to pick him up at a moment's notice. It took them about fifteen minutes or so before they finally reached the doors to the outside. As InuKanpeki opened the doors, InuYasha had to shield his eyes away from the harsh mid-spring sunlight. However, as his vision adjusted to the light, InuYasha was startled and amazed at the sight before him. Outside the doors was a beautiful, large, grassy area with tons of flowers, tall cherry blossom trees, a koi pond, and tall castle walls lining the outer edges.

"What is this place?" InuYasha asked as he took a step forward, still hugging the wall.

"This is the castle gardens. We remember you said that Grandmother Izayoi and you spent most of your time in her garden, so we wanted you to show ours," InuRida said as he walked towards his papa with an elbow out.

InuKanpeki did the same, silently offering support for her papa as well. Taking the hint, InuYasha reached for their elbows steadily before pushing off the walls. When he was secure in their hold, the twins slowly and carefully walked him toward the koi pond and sat him against the thick trunk of a Cherry Blossom tree.

"This is amazing. It's been a long time since I've got to sit in a garden like this. Thank you both so much." He smiled with tears pooling in the corner of his eyes. He quickly whipped them away, hoping no one noticed.

"Papa, will you tell us more about Grandma Izayoi?" InuKanpeki asked as they sat in front of him.

"Of course. What do you want to know?"

As the twins made their requests, InuYasha complied by telling them stories and bringing smiles to their faces. Like before, he didn't shy away from the truths, nor did he hold anything back. As he told each story, the twins held onto each word with excitement and more emotion than they had experienced in a while. Unbeknownst to them, a tall, god-like figure watched them from his office window with curiosity and another emotion he couldn't place at the moment. There was a moment that Sesshomaru thought it was pride, but he wasn't too sure. For now, he would continue to watch over his family in the gardens until his work called him away.

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To Be Continued…

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Author's Note:

It had come to my attention that I aged down Sesshomaru more than he was. I was unaware that he was over 900 years old, canonically, but I won't fix it because it doesn't make sense for my story. I wanted him to be way older than InuYasha but not so much older that it wouldn't make sense. Which is why I'll leave it the way it is. I hope that makes sense! Thanks for reading!