Ears

Authors’ notes:

I guess first I would like to thank everyone that has reviewed this story, while some of the reviews were not exactly what I was looking for, I think they did help me to improve my writing, and of course I’ve really enjoyed this whole experience. A couple of people I want to give a major thanks to- Beca, thank you for your help proofreading, it helped me to get over some of the humps I had earlier in the story. Lia- what can I say, my best reviewer and one of the best friends I’ve met through this site, your constant wit makes me laugh, and gives me a reason to keep on working on this stuff. Thanks for making me feel like I can do this.

Alberich- well you said you liked the fact that I’m nice and open, and now you may get to regret that. For everyone out there, Alberich is a friend I have, who has read this story- and managed to get me in a very similar situation to my namesake in the story (yes- my name’s Taptai- but I’m not that Taptai) He got me cookies- COOKIES, which are for a fox just about as good, if not better than a mating mark, and then he asks me what I want. Well can you say déjà vu’ all over again. And as for why am I putting it here- well all of you who like to read this stuff have him to thank for getting me off my lazy tail and finishing this one, and should be starting on the next book soon. But as for you Alberich- I’m not sure if I’m what your looking for, I’m not even sure what I’m looking for, but I would like to try and be that fox you want to find. So if you want to, I would like to try and be that fox like you want, if you will give me the chance to be.

And of course, I’m sure if you all ask nicely enough, I may even be able to get Alberich to post some of his stuff here, and yes he writes as well, has a very nice piece he’s working on currently.

And now for some answers- the goal I had in mind with this story was one that could fit into the actual story-line of the anime. I think I did a good job of that, but it also meant that I could not fundamentally alter any of the characters, which is why I introduced a new character as Inuyashas romantic interest, but also why said character had to be removed from the picture. I think I also did a good job of helping to explain just why Inuyasha hates Naraku so much, as if he didn’t have reason before, now he has even more of one, and would also help to shed some light on why he and Kagome have such an awkward relationship.

Now to explain some about the ending- yes I admit it was a bit rushed, but after looking back at it, I’m still not sure how I could redo the scene without making it either over-dramatic or seem fake. Taptai is not a great warrior, about his only real strength is he’s fast, and as such I don’t think it’s too far-fetched for him to let himself get into the situation as described, since that would have been his first “real” fight. As for the water thing- well the water itself may not have killed him, but the impact from falling from that height, well suffice it to say I water-ski, and hitting the water at 40 miles an hour hurts. The terminal velocity of a body is between 120-150 mph, and so... Yeah, we’ll just say that Taptai was not in the best mood after that experience, and definitely not capable of swimming back to shore, since he couldn’t swim in the first place.

Well, now that I’ve cleared all that up, and as a special treat to all of you have managed to stay with me this long.


He felt his mind struggle upward, trying to part the dense fuzziness that had seemed to settle on him, holding him down and making his limbs feel numb.

Struggling he managed to open one eye, then the other as he took in his surroundings, a strange scent permeating the air as an elderly lady caught his movements and made her way to stand beside him.

“Good, your finally coming too some, we were worried we would lose you and your child.”

“Child?” he managed to get past parched lips as his hand reached down and felt a strange swelling of his belly. Grass green eyes drifted back closed as his mind worried over this new discovery, while he tried to place just how this had happened, but the thought was soon lost in the comforting warmth of sleep.

The old lady smiled as she ran her hand over the the gray hair of her charge. She was surprised that the hanyou had managed to survive, when the fishermen had brought him to her they had all believed the poor cat to be drowned, but he had managed to get out a few words, and his strength had returned some under her care. Finding the hanyou to be pregnant had been even more of a surprise, and had made the village healer even more determined to save this strange child.

“I’m not sure where you came from, or who this Inuyasha you kept calling for is, but I promise I will help you to get well enough to find him.” And with her oath renewed again, as she had every day since the gray-haired hanyou had come into her hut, she continued her ministrations, a smile on her lips that he had at least opened his eyes.