The Lucky Ones
Chapter Thirty-One
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The Lucky Ones
By Terri Botta
Disclaimer: I don’t own
Inuyasha. Sole copyright belongs to Viz and Rumiko Takashi. I’m poor so don’t
sue.
Rating: R for later chapters.
Pairing: Inuyasha/Kagome,
Miroku/Sango
Summary: Sometimes Fate hands
you a gift you never thought you’d ever get, and it’s up to you to accept it
for what it is.
Feedback to:
tci100@psu.edu
Website: http://www.wordsmiths.net/Botta
A/N: This story is almost
over. I do have some other things planned but it’s wrapping up now. I just want
to warn all of you that I am going on vacation from May 1 to May 9 so don’t
expect any updates until after May 10. Thanks for all of the great reviews.
This story has been very fun to write. :)
Take care all.
Terri
*******
Chapter Thirty-One
Inuyasha
waited until Kagome was gone before he spoke.
“Kikyou...”
he whispered, trying to put all of his regret and sadness in the name.
“Do not
suffer for me, Inuyasha. In many ways your debt has been repaid tenfold.”
He paused,
his eyes downcast. “I... I’m still sorry.”
“Don’t be.
You have found love. Isn’t that what you wished for with me?”
“But you’re
alone! And... and I made you
a promise.”
“The
promise you made was to someone who no longer exists. Your Kikyou died fifty
years ago, Inuyasha, when she followed you in death.”
“Why... why
are you saying these things to me now? Before you demanded that my life was
yours. You told me you wouldn’t give it to anyone else. Why the change of
heart?” he demanded.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘All that time she made me think she
would come for me. She made me deny Kagome and kept me from building a house.
Kagome may not see it as I do, but I am
dishonoring and shaming her by not making her my wife.’
She looked
at him and did not answer. Her silence irritated him and he scowled.
“Kikyou,
where have you been? No one has seen you in over a year. You just left without
telling anyone anything. The only way we knew you were even alive was through
Kagome. Where did you go?”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Why did you just leave me without a
word? Why didn’t you set me free if you did not intend to return?’
“After we
last saw each other by Goshinboku all those months
ago, my travels took me into Shi Nano to a place
called Zenko-ji. You have heard of this place, yes?”
He nodded
that he had. “It’s a holy place like
She nodded
back. “Yes, but all are welcome there. It has been a shrine for centuries. I
went there looking for a Shikon shard and instead I found... peace.”
He blinked.
‘Peace?’ “Peace?”
“The holy
ones there, men and women, they are pure in ways I had only hoped to achieve
while I was alive. They knew me for what I was immediately, but they offered me
no hatred or violence. Instead, they accepted me and invited me to stay. I have
been there ever since.”
There was
something in her eyes, a serenity and calm that he had only seen on her face
but once before. It was on the night that he had agreed to become human for
her. She had taken his hand and smiled at him, and the same peaceful light had
lit her eyes.
“Kikyou...”
‘Has she been happy?’
“For the first
time since my resurrection, I found a place where I could live and be myself,”
she told him. “It is a rare thing for something which is an abomination to most
to find acceptance. I never understood the importance of it before I became... style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>this.
So many times I had to hide what I was in order to find a small bit of peace.
Then I came to Zenko-ji and experienced acceptance.
To them, I was not an abomination, but another sentient being walking this
earth in need of solace and a place to belong.”
“I’m glad.
I am glad you found a place where you could be happy and accepted,” he said
honestly. ‘I’m glad you were safe,
Kikyou. But why did you not send any word to me? Why did you go away for over a
year and leave me hanging?’
She smiled
softly. “I have been re-learning how to live.”
“But why
did you not send me any word that you were safe? I can read you know,” he
chided.
She
chuckled. “I know. But would you have come seeking me out if you had known
where I was? Would you have left my reincarnation’s side to come to mine? By
then I had realized my claims on your life were unfounded and unfair. I allowed
you to blame yourself for something that was equally my fault. And I had
betrayed you in more ways than one with Naraku.”
He lowered
his head and shifted his feet. “I understand what you were trying to do with class=SpellE>Naraku.”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Do you? I don’t think you do,
Inuyasha. I did not fire my arrow to free the Kodoku
in order to save you. If I had wanted that, I could have shot the class=SpellE>Kodoku and killed it, thus denying Naraku
a new body. No, I chose to free the Kodoku and allow class=SpellE>Naraku his newy iny in order to see who was there. It was
my own hubris which allowed Naraku to become even
more powerful. Then I added to my shame by giving him the shard I stole from
Kagome. I, in my arrogance and anger, thought I alone could purify the Shikon
no Tama and rid it, and Naraku, from the world. I
deeply regret these decisions because I know how much pain and death they
caused,” she explained.
He
swallowed hard and clenched his fists. ‘class=SpellE>Kanna, Kagura, class=SpellE>Goshinki who broke my Tessaiga and freed my demon blood...
All detachments from Naraku that he made with the
power of the Shikon no Tama...’
“I tried to
kill Kagome that time, you know. On the day when all of you
were captured by Naraku’s illusions. I had instructed my class=SpellE>Shinidama-chuu to drop her into the miasma after I stole
the shard.”
He gritted
his teeth, stamping back the sudden rage he felt. ‘So I was right. Kikyou had
gone after Kagome...’
“I
suspected, but Kagome would not tell me what you had done to her.”
Kikyou made
a soft sound. “Trust my reincarnation to keep the truth from you in order to
prevent you from being hurt. This is why she is more worthy of you than I could
ever be. I am happy that you have found love with her.”
He class=GramE>drooped his ears and closed his eyes. “I... I did love you,
Kikyou.”
“I know.
And I loved you. In my own way. But I couot lot love
you as a hanyou, and you needed to be loved for what you were. Now that I am style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>this I
understand all too well the importance of being loved and accepted as you are.
It is a lesson I never learned in life so I have had to learn it in death.
Kagome loves you as a hanyou. She can give you the peace and acceptance that
you need. Your wish upon the Shikon no Tama will be pure because she is not
tainted as I was.”
He looked
up at her, seeing her with eyes that were clear and sad, but understanding.
“Kikyou...”
The undead class=SpellE>miko reached into her kimono and drew out a small cloth
bag. This she removed from around her neck and handed to him.
“Give this
to Kagome. With this and the shards she already has, it should be the last or
very close to it. I only ask that you not make your wish until I join you in
the village.”
He closed
his hand around the bag, feeling the shard within. It felt about the t
st
size.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Is this it? Is this the last
shard?’
“I won’t do
anything until we see you again, Kikyou. I promise.”
She gave
him a sad smile. “And your promises are never broken.”
He looked
away again, flushing, then her hand caressed his cheek and her lips were upon
his. He was shocked at first, but then he hugged her and kissed her back,
softly, tenderly- a kiss good-bye.
“Live,
Inuyasha. Live and be happy,” she whispered as she pulled away.
“Kikyou...
I’ll never forget you, Kikyou.”
“And I shall
never forget you, Inuyasha. You were my first love.”
“Mine too,”
he admitted.
The class=SpellE>Shinidama-chuu encircled their mistress and lifted her up.
“I’ll come
to the village soon. Wait for me.”
He nodded,
looking after her as the soul-catchers carried her away. “I will.”
“Thank you,
Inuyasha, for loving me and remaining true even when I did not deserve it. I
free you from your promise. Go and be with Kagome. Build her the house she
deserves.”
He gave her
a smile that lit up his eyes. “Thank you, Kikyou. Be safe until I see you
again.”
“And you,
Inuyasha. Be safe and keep your family safe. Good-bye.”
“Good-bye,
Kikyou.”
atchatched
until she was nothing more than a misty white speck against the dark sky, no
different from a twinkling star except that it was moving, then he tucked the
shard she had given him close to his chest and drew a deep breath.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘I’m free. She set me free. I can
marry Kagome and build her a house and we can have a family.’
The sudden
rush of joy he felt was almost too much for him to contain.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Kagome. class=GramE>My beautiful Kagome. I am forever yours for as long as we
both shall live.’
moment to compose himself before rushing off to find his lover and soon-to-be
wife. He found her sitting by the campfire, Yukio in her lap and playing with
the unopened carton of ramen as he impatiently waited for his father to return.
Kirara in her kitten form, Shippou and Myouga were
all next to her.
“Kagome,”
he said.
She loo
up
up at him, and he saw the worry and fear fade from eyeseyes once she saw his
face.
class=GramE>“Otou-san!” Yukio cried happily, dropping the cup of ramen.
“Inuyasha-class=SpellE>sama, you’ve returned,” Myouga
announced.
“She’s
gone?” Kagome asked him.
He nodded,
moving to crouch beside her. Yukio leaped into his arms and he held his pup
close. “But she’ll be coming to the village soon.”
“She will?”
“She wanted
me to give you this,” he told her, and gave her the bag.
She blinked
at him then opened the bag, revealing the shard. He heard her gasp.
“Inuyasha...”
“Wow!”
Shippou breathed, his eyes opening wide.
“Looks like
the last of it. Yeah, I know.”
She fished
her own shard out from inside the collar of her shirt and brought the two
pieces close to each other. “We’ll know for sure once I fuse them together.”
He put a
hand on her wrist. “Tomorrow,” he requested.
She stopped
and stared at him, but agreed, placing her shard back into her shirt and
wrapping Kikyou’s back up in its bag.
“Once it’s
complete, it will attract even more trouble than it already does and I want
peace tonight,” he explained.
She nodded
that she understood.
“There’s
something else,” he began. ‘How do I tell
her this?’
“She freed
you.”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘She knew...’
“You
knew...”
She nodded
again. “I suspected. That’s why I left you two alone. I wanted you to be able
to say good-bye without worrying about me being jealous.”
He grinned
and kissed her. “My Kagome, always thinking of others and never of herself…” style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘I can say it now. I’m free to say it…’
“I lo...”
She put a
hand on his lips, halting his final confession.
“Later. class=GramE>When we’re alone. I want to be alone with you when you tell
me the first time because then I won’t have to worry about what I do to you
when you finally do say it.”
Her eyes
were swimming with happy tears and he kissed them away. “Kagome...”
“Inuyasha...”
class=GramE>“Food!” Yukio yelled, shattering the mood.
“class=SpellE>Oi, pup!” he scolded.
Yukio
glared at him then stuck his fist in his mouth. “Yukio
hungry. Want ramen.”
Kagome
giggled then began to laugh. “Our son has spoken.”
Inuyasha
growled making Yukio blink and flatten his ears. :Pup
good!:
Inuyasha
nuzzled him with his nose to reassure him that he really wasn’t angry. class=GramE>:Pup good.: “Pup has bad timing.”
class=Gr“Bad“Bad timing?” Yukio repeated, confused.
Still nose
to nose with his son, which made them both cross-eyed,
he huffed. “Pushy pup broke the mood.”
“Mood?” the
toddler answered then grabbed a lock of his father’s hair and pulled.
“class=SpellE>Ow! Ow! Ow!
Leggo, pup!” he complained, pulling away.
“What’s
your problem? You got some complaint?” Yukio asked, parroting back statements
he had heard his father make hundreds of times.
Inuyasha
just sputtered and must have looked deranged because Yukio reached up one hand
and tapped him on the forehead. “You got a fever?”
class=GramE>“Wha??!!!”
Shippou
sighed and shook his head. “Inuyasha is such a bad influence.”
Kirara class=GramE>mewed an assent while Myouga
nodded. “He wasn’t always like that. When his haha-ue-sama
was alive, she was raising him to be a proper man…”
Inuyasha
grabbed the flea-youkai and squished him. “Shut up!”
Kagome
laughed and set the pot on the fire to boil. “I told you Yukio was
turning into you. This is why I wanted you to watch your mouth around him.”
“But I’ve
stopped cursing around him!” he argued indignantly.
“You’re
stillchinching him how to be rude. The first thing he said when he saw Kikyou
was that she smelled bad.”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Well, she does. She reeks of grave
dirt…’
Yukio
nodded and grabbed his nose. “Kussee,” he said.
“See?” she
said.
He frowned.
“Now see here, pup. You need to mind your manners. No one likes a rude brat
running around.”
Kagome
rolled her eyes. “Oh, style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>now he gets it…”
“class=SpellE>Feh, this is why we need a house with separate rooms for
sleeping. So we can put this brat in his place and make him style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>stay
there when he’s misbehaved.”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “And you’ll keep him in his room
precisely how?” she asked incredulously.
class=GramE>“Permanent seals? One of your ‘locks’?
I know, I’ll get Toutousai
to forge a youki door that can only be opened from the outside when locked.”
“So I can
lock you in there too when style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>I want to be alone?” she teased.
class=GramE>“Oi!”
She smiled
and kissed him to soothe his wounded pride. “I love you.”
He beamed
at her and kissed her back, then hugged her with one arm because the other
still held his pup.
“I can build the house now,
right Kagome?”
She gave
him a tearful nod and rested her head on his shoulder. “Yes, you can build the
house.”
He sighed
and all the tension left his body. ‘She’s
accepted me. Did you have any doubts that she would? Fool. She should. She
should see you for the tainted half-breed you are and run for the hills.’
He looked
at her fondly and kissed her temple. “Kagome…”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “How many rooms should it have?” she
asked faintly.
class=GramE>“Hmmm? Ummmclass=GramE>, three at least. One for us and two for the pups, that way
the older ones won’t have to sleep with the littles.”
class=GramE>“Three bedrooms? It sounds like you plan to build me a
palace.”
“Do you
want one? I’ll build it. As big as you like…”
“No,” she
cut him off. “I don’t need a palace or a big house. I’m happy in our den
actually. I think I’ll miss it.”
He smirked.
“Who says we’re going to abandon it? You think I’d give up our love nest?”
She
chuckled. “I’m glad.”
The water
was boiling so she pulled away from him to make the ramen. He mourned the loss
of her warmth beside him, but the smell of the food was adequate repayment for
his momentary loneliness, and soon she was handing him the steaming cup of
noodles. Yukio released him and turned to sit in his lap, clapping happily.
class=GramE>“Ramen! Ramen!”
Kagome
placed his dinner on the ground beside his father’s knee.
“Here, you
have to wait a bit, baby. It’s too hot to eat yet.”
Yukio
pouted but knew what would happen if he ate the ramen when it was too hot
because he’d already learned that lesson. Inuyasha took the opportunity to
hastily eat his dinner in preparation for feeding his son once the noodles were
cool enough for the toddler to eat. Then he noticed that he and Yukio were the
only ones with cup noodles.
“Hey,
aren’t you eating?”
Kagome
fished into her bag and pulled out one of the sacks of provisions given to them
by the villagers.
“You and
Yukio may want those instant noodles, but the rest of us want style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>real
food,” she answered.
“That’s
because hanyous have no taste,” Shippou commented sagely.
“class=SpellE>Oi!” he groused but the kit was just out of hitting range.
“Shippou,
stop insulting Inuyasha,” Kagome scolded.
The kitsune
looked chagrined but not really repentant. Then he brightened when Kagome
handed him a bowl of steamed rice and dumplings.
“Thank you,
Kagome!”
class=GramE>“Keh. I still say the instant
stuff is better,” he sniffed.
Kagome shrugged
and ate her dinner. He ate two cups of ramen and then fed Yukio his cup. The
pup was still too young to use chopsticks, so he cut the noodles up into small
bits and fed him with a spoon.
“How can
you think you’re a bad father when you are so caring and attentive to him?”
Kagome asked him suddenly.
He class=GramE>drooped his ears and blushed a little. “Because I’m rude and
violent and teach him bad manners,” he replied.
She cocked
her head and looked at him with amusement. “That’s true, but you’re also loving
and tender and he adores you.” She came up behind him and wrapped her arms
around his shoulders, pressing her soft breasts
against his back and making him shiver with desire. “I think you’re a wonderful
father.”
Yukio
looked up at the both of them and beamed.
class=GramE>“Otou-san. Okaa-san.”
She reached
over his shoulder to rub the pup’s ears. “Okaa-san loves Yukio.”
Yukio
giggled and grabbed at her hand. “Yukio loves Okaa-san, loves Otou-san.”
The toddler
moved forward further into his lap and hugged him around his chest, his little
head right against his collarbone. He put one arm around his pup, and used the
other to reach up to hold Kagome’s hand.
class=GramE>‘My mate and my pup.style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> Do I need anything else to sustain me in
this world?’ he asked himself. ‘I
never thought I would ever have someone to love me. I never dreamed of taking a
wife or having pups. Then I met Kikyou and she loved me. I would have done
anything for her and I would have become human if Naraku
hadn’t tricked us into betraying each other. But was Kikyou right about her
love not being pure? Would her taint really have caused my wish to go wrong?’
“What are
you thinking?” Kagome questioned. “You just got all tense.”
“Something
Kikyou said to me before she left.”
“Oh?”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘There’s no anger or jealousy in her
voice when she speaks of Kikyou now…’
“Do you
think what Kikyou said about my wish to become human possibly going wrong if
I’d made it all those years ago is true? That her love for me was tainted with
her hatred of youkai, and that the jewel would have used
that to twist the wish?”
Kagome was
quiet for a moment and he wondered what she was thinking about this new
revelation.
class=GramE>“Hmmm. She might be right. The Shikon no Tama is very
sensitive to the energy around it. It’s entirely possible that if her hatred
was strong enough, it style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>could have affected your wish.”
He nodded.
“So it might have corrupted the wish and destroyed us,” he added.
Her arms
around him tightened a little bit. “I’m glad that didn’t happen. We’ll have to
be very careful with your wish.”
“She said
your love was pure and wouldn’t taint the jewel.”
class=GramE>“Mmm. She said something very
similar when I was there. She said it was the reason my being with you didn’t
decrease my spiritual powers.”
He turned
his head to nuzzle her and lick her temple lightly.
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘Mmm, I love how
you smell and taste…’ he thought with a small needy whine.
“Did Kikyou
say where she’s been all this time?”
“Eh? Oh.
Yeah. She’s been at Senko-ji,” he replied, forcing
himself back from his amorous haze.
“So she style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>was
the shrine maiden from the temple there.”
He nodded.
“Kikyou told me the holy ones there accepted her even though they knew she was
dead, and that she found peace there.”
“Oh, that’s
so wonderful. What a comfort that must be for her to not have to hide what she
is for fear of being hated and hunted.”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Like a hanyou… Kikyou’s learned
what it’s like to be a hanyou. Now she understands what my life has been like…’
“She said
they taught her how important it is to be accepted as you are. She said it was
a lesson she never learned in life.”
He felt
Kagome nod. “Yes. It’s important to love someone as they are and not want to
change them.”
He leaned
back into her a little, seeking more contact. “You’ve never tried to change
me.”
She shook
her head. “No, never. To me, you are Inuyasha and
you’re perfect just the way you are.”
He closed
his eyes and sighed. “Thank you.”
She gave
him a kiss on the cheek then playfully licked his ear; a clear sign that she
intended to pleasure him later because she style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>knew what licking his ears did to
him. He groaned softly deep in his throat and nipped at her chin as he turned
his head, then gave a little moan and grasped at her when she pulled away.
“Later,”
she whispered in his ear, giving it another quick lick.
He whined,
but she just nuzzled him with her nose and moved to get more rice and dumplings
for herself.
“Yukio want
some of Kaa-san’s dumplings?” she asked, offering the
toddler one of hers.
Yukio
sniffed at it, his nose screwing up, and looked at her with suspicious eyes.
“Not ramen.”
“No, but
they’re just as good.”
“Don’t
believe her, pup. Nothing is as good as ramen,” he warned.
“Nothing?”
she answered coyly.
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘Shit. If you wanna
have her tonight, you’d better do some fast talking...’ He stammered and
back-pedaled. “No food is better than ramen,” he corrected hastily.
“class=SpellE>Ahh, no style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>food is better. Well, thank you for
clarifying that.”
Shippou
just shook his head. “I think I’m too young for this conversation.”
Kagome
giggled and blushed, but Inuyasha just beamed proudly and reached over to pat
the fox kit on the head. “Someday you’ll understand, Shippou.”
The kitsune
gave him a tolerant look. “I understand now.”
“Inuyasha-class=SpellE>sama, you should be more discrete in front of the
children!” Myouga scolded.
“Hey style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>she
started it!” ‘With the ear licking and
the teasing and the...’
He looked
at his companions amused faces and realized they were kidding him. He snorted
and looked away, folding his arms into his sleeves.
class=GramE>“Keh!”
He watched
and waited as Kagome finished up the dinner chores and got things ready for the
night. He pretended not to care about her actions or even be aware of her as he
played with his son, but when all the preparations for the evening were
complete and they were all settling down, he fixed her with a look that was
pure heat and undisguised need.
“Kirara,
can you watch Yukio?” he heard her ask the firecat.
Kirara
mewed and transformed into her full form. Yukio saw the firecat
change and launched a protest.
“No!”
“Now see
here, pup. Otou and Kaa-san are going off to have
some time alone together. No pups allowed.”
“No leave
Yukio!! No! No!”
close and took him into her arms. He latched onto her with his class=GramE>claws and clung.
“Now, now,
baby. Otou and Kaa-san need their time. You’ll be
safe with Kirara and Shippou-chan. And we always come
back, ne? We’ve never left you for long, right?”
Yukio
sniffled and sucked on his fist.
class=GramE>“Okaa-a-a-a. Noooooooclass=GramE>.”
“Hush. class=GramE>There’s lots of times when it’s just you and me, class=SpellE>ne? Does Otou complain when I spend time with you?”
The toddler
blinked at her and sniffled again. “Yes.”
class=GramE>“Oi! I do not!” he protested.
“Yukio,
sweetheart, Okaas and Otous
need time alone. It helps Okaas and class=SpellE>Otous stay happy together. You want us to be happy, class=SpellE>ne?”
Yukio gave
her a perfect imitation of ‘soulful puppy dog eyes’ and Inuyasha blanched.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘He is turning into me!’
His
pleading expression fell on a hardened heart. “Now Otou and I are going to go
have our time, and you are going to be a style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>good pup and stay with Kirara, Shippou
and Myouga-jiichan, right? Because if you don’t,
you’ll be in trouble and Otou will punish you.”
Yukio
looked his way and tried ‘soulful puppy dog eyes’ on him. He felt his resolve
wavering and bit his lip.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘How does she say no to either of us
when we make that face?’
But the
thought of not having any alone time with Kagome was even less appealing than
refusing his pup what he wanted, and that gave him the strength to hold his
ground.
“Listen to
Okaa, pup. If we go off and you follow, I’ll put you over my knee. Got it?”
Yukio’s
eyes widened at the threat and he shrank back against his mother, eyes tearing
up again and spilling over.
“class=SpellE>Noooooooooooooo.” :Pup good! Pup class=GramE>good.:
class=GramE>:Obey Leader-male,: he ordered.
“Are you
going to be good and stay with Kirara and Shippou?” Kagome asked.
Yukio
nodded sadly.
class=GramE>“Ye-e-e-sss.”
“You
promise?”
“Yes.”
n stn style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Good.
Remember promises have to be kept, right?”
Yukio
nodded again. He knew keeping promises was very important to his parents and
was one of the values they were doing their best to instill in him.
“That’s
right, pup. A man’s word is his bond. If you can’t be trusted to keep your
word, then no one will ever trust you with anything,” he reasserted. “Are you a
man?”
Yukio
nodded dutifully, and Inuyasha gave him a grunt of satisfaction. “Then you’ll
keep your word and leave Okaa and me alone until we come back.”
“And we
will be back, baby. Before you go to sleep. We’ll all
get into my sleeping bag together, and you’ll snuggle up between us like
always, safe and warm. Okay?” Kagome added.
With a
final pout and sniff, Yukio nodded. “Okay.”
Kagome
smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s my brave boy. Who’s a big dog?”
The toddler
beamed. “Me!”
“Good.
That’s what I like to hear,” she said as she gently placed him next to Kirara. “Be
good now. Okaa and Otou will be back soon.”
“Not that
soon,” he corrected, murmuring in her ear as he nipped at the lobe. style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘I’d keep you to myself all night if I had
the choice.’
“Hush.”
He growled
then sighed as she nuzzled him. Reaching down, he rubbed his pup’s ears and
gave him a smile.
“You class=GramE>be good and keep an eye on the others, pup. Especially that
fox. He’s a tricky one.”
“Hey!”
Shippou complained.
He
snickered and gave the kit a smirk, then he wrapped
his arms around Kagome and pulled her close.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Mine.’
“Ready?” he
asked.
She nodded
and he could smell the beginnings of her excitement. Gathering her up, he leapt
off, taking her back to the banks of the hot spring.
“Back
here?” she asked as he set her down.
“You don’t
like it? I thought it would be nice. You could bathe afterwards…” style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘Did I make the wrong choice?’
“Yes, but
Kikyou was just…”
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘Here. Oh. I understand.’ “We could find
another onsen. Where there’s one, there are usually
others.”
She looked
up at him, pleading and apologetic. “Please?”
“class=SpellE>Heh, so my Kagome still gets jealous,” he teased, then
raised his head to sniff the area. He thought he caught the scent of another
spring not too far away.
“This way,”
he said, motioning for her to get on his back.
She obeyed
and wrapped her legs around his hips, bringing her soft spot right against his
spine and deliberately rubbing it against him as he moved. Her arousal wafted
to his nose and his own body reacted with enthusiasm.
“Stop that,
woman, or we won’t get to the spring,” he warned.
“Stop
what?” she asked innocently.
He just
gritted his teeth and growled in frustration. ‘I’ll make you pay for that, tease.’
The second class=SpellE>onsen was smaller, but thankfully not as hot. style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>This
one he would be able to tolerate and that pleased him because he liked bathing
with Kagome, especially after lovemaking.
“Is this
better?” he asked.
Her answer
was a deep kiss that he took as a ‘yes’ and he returned her kiss eagerly.
“I love
you,” she whispered.
He shivered
at the words and licked her neck. “I… I love you, koishii,”
he stammered, still half-afraid to admit it because then it would be real and
it could be taken away.
There. He’d
said it. He’d finally said it, and the words broke the last chains from around
his heart. He could almost hear them shattering and falling in tiny orphaned
links, and his heart, open at last, beat wildly with its newfound freedom.
style='mso-tab-count: ‘Kagome will never betray you. class=GramE>Never.’
She gasped
and kissed him again, her hands cupping his face, and he could smell the tears
on her cheeks.
class=GramE>“Inuyasha. I love you, Inuyasha.”
“I love
you, Kagome,” he repeated, licking at the salty wetness on her skin. “I’m yours
for as long as you’ll have me.”
class=GramE>“Forever. I’ll have you forever,” she vowed, threading her
fingers into his hair.
“Forever will
do, koishii.”
They fell
together, landing on the soft grass and he took off his haori to use as a
makeshift blanket. Kissing her, he covered her with his body, his hands
caressing and stroking as they sought to bare her flesh to his hungry mouth and
eyes.
class=GramE>“Ah, Inuyasha. Inuyasha,” she panted over and over as he
licked his way across her willing form.
“I love
you,” he said again as he held her open and delved his tongue into her core.
He loved
licking her, mostly because she loved it so much and
pleasing her always meant he was being a good lover, but also because he loved
the taste of her, the smell of her. The place where her scent was strongest
drew him like a moth to flame, and he emmersed
himself in the sensations, losing himself to the
pleasure of satisfying her. She let out a strangled cry as he worked her and
grabbed his ears, rubbing them in time with histhm.thm. Her scent and flavor
exploded all across his senses, and her sounds were music to his sensitive ears
as he brought her to climax.
He was in
her before she stopped shuddering, sliding home with one thrust as she wrapped
her legs around his waist and pulled him in. Her back arched and she lifted up
to meet him with each stroke, tightening her muscles around him and driving him
insane. He didn’t last long and neither did she, and he came with her name and
another ‘I love you’ on his lips.
Afterward
they both slipped into the hot spring and he made love to her a second class=GramE>time on its bank, and again in the onsen
itself although that was a little trickier. He couldn’t get enough of her;
couldn’t get enough of her body, her moans, her hands on his back and her nails
scraping along his skin in her ecstasy. He couldn’t get enough of his telling
her he loved her and hearing that she loved him in return. He couldn’t get
enough of loving her with everything he had, of finally being free to make her
his for good, and promising her his life forever.
It was as
if everything he had lived through and suffered up until now had been preparing
him, honing him for this reward, and now he knew what he was being offered and
would be a fool to use or mistreat it. Not that he would. He had absolutely no
intention of ever letting Kagome go, or of ever harming her or betraying her in
any way.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Naraku
could never have turned us against each other.’
Kagome was
a precious gift as was his son; both of them gave a lonely, wounded hanyou a
second chance to belong somewhere and be part of a family.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Not to mention the lovemaking. class=GramE>Can’t forget the lovemaking. The lovemaking is awesome.’
“You’ll
want a wedding, right?” he asked her when they’d caught their breath and were
just soaking in the spring. Her head was resting on his shoulder and she had
one hand on his chest. He was sated, happy and surrounded by her love.
“class=SpellE>Mmmmm, Mama and Jii-chan will.”
class=GramE>“In your time?”
She nodded.
“I know
nothing about the customs of your time.”
She
shrugged. “Things haven’t changed that much in 500 years. The clothing has
changed a bit, but I don’t mind having a traditional Shinto wedding.”
“Will you
want one here?”
“class=SpellE>Hmmmm,
might be nice to have a little something. Kaede can officiate and Yukio can be
in it.”
He grunted
an agreement. “Okay.”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘I think it will be nice to marry
you. The villagers will see me build you a house and make my vows, and they
will know that I am honorable.’
“Have you
thought about what you’ll wish for?” she asked suddenly.
class=GramE>“On the jewel?”
class=GramE>“Yeah.”
“A little,
but I haven’t really decided yet.”
She
snuggled closer. “I trust you. You’ll make a good wish.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘You have such faith in me. I wish I
had as much faith in me as you do.’
“I love
you,” he said for the umpteenth time.
“class=SpellE>Mmmmmmm, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing you
say thatp>
p>
He
chuckled. “I hope not. Koishii,” he answered, kissing
her temple.
“As much as
I hate to leave here, we should be geg bag back. We promised Yukio we wouldn’t
be gone too long and I think it’s been almost three hours.”
He sighed
and petted her back but reluctantly agreed. “Yeah.”
Together
they got out of the onsen and dried each other off.
Then he dressed her in her clothes, taking time to kiss her soft places in
promise of more loving to come at a later time. She responded by going down on
him and giving him another climax to hold him over until they got back to the
village. Then they slowly returned to camp after a few more ardent kisses and
‘I love you’s.
The others
were waiting for them when they got back. Yukio raced towards them and jumped
into Kagome’s arms. They both cuddled and nuzzled him, which made him quickly
forget all his earlier upset about being left behind. Reassured that all was
well with his parents, toddtoddler started showing signs of his fatigue and
they retired for the night. Each of them took their usual places in Kagome’s
sleeping bag and they cuddled in happy contentment. In the morning they would
return the Shikon no Tama to the village where everything had begun, and
prepare for the final task destiny had in store for them: the wish and
dissolution of the sacred jewel.