UnBound Memories

A/N: There was a request for this, so we'll call it a little epilogue to resolve InuYasha and Sesshomaru's bond.

Epilogue

Later that night, after what could only be described as a brawl with members of the clan, Kouga and his tribe were “escorting” the clan members who had conspired against Sesshomaru to the dungeon, where they would be held until facing judgement before the demonic court--all of whom feared the lord of the west. Sango, Hitomi, Kagome and Kohaku were bandaging up the inu demons, a sign of mercy from Sesshomaru for those not directly involved in his kidnapping.

Sesshomaru found his instincts telling him something was wrong with InuYasha, but when he looked for him in the palace, he was nowhere to be found. Following his own natural connection to his son, from his bedroom window, he could see InuYasha’s figure seated on a grassy knoll.

“Go to him. I’ll keep watch from here,” Miroku said, his hand beneath Sesshomaru’s hair, rubbing the daiyoukai’s back.

Sesshomaru leaned down and kissed Miroku lightly before going to his son.

********

InuYasha heard the noise of metal clanking to the ground behind him, finding his father’s armor laying next to where he’d left his own. Before he really registered it, he felt Sesshomaru behind him, arms holding onto him around his neck and shoulders.

“This is how Izayoi used to hold you when you needed comforted as a child, is it not?”

“Well, yeah, but how did you… The unmother.”

“Hai. I saw her hold you this way when it should have been me.”

“What makes you think I need comfort? I’m a grown demon.”

“Who has dropped his armor and is sitting looking at the nearly full moon like a lost pup.” Inuyasha felt the grip around him grow tighter. “What is it that is troubling you?”

“I just wondered,” InuYasha said. “If we can send someone back to save Katsuro’s daughter when the well starts sending people back in time. Why not…” He shifted a bit in his father’s arms. “Why not go back and stop Jin from attacking you.”

“The answer is quite simple, InuYasha. I would think you would realize that. Without that day, I would not have you.” InuYasha felt his father sigh behind him. “I have considered it, but the loss of you from this world, from my life… it is too great.” Sesshomaru’s clawed hand reached up and pushed back a few strands of InuYasha’s hair. “Even removing the memory block, or preventing it seems an impossibility. From what we can tell, the well did not work until a few months before I was attacked. To prevent a memory block then would be to consequently prevent the attack and your life. And afterwards, security around the palace grew to such enormous levels out of my father’s desire for me to feel safe that no one of our present group save for me would be able to breech it and I can’t risk the detection of two of myself in that time. Even after, the demon I became would never let anyone close enough to remove it after the block it had been placed on me.”

“It isn’t fair to you.”

“Perhaps not.” As Sesshomaru’s cheek began to nuzzle against InuYasha’s head, relaxing the younger inu more than he wanted to admit, InuYasha nearly chuckled that just over a month ago, the demon holding him would have just as soon ripped his heart out than look at him. Yet, here InuYasha was, being held, comforted by an inu lord who was too overcome with motherly instincts and hormones from his pregnancy to even consider his actions. It seemed that his oto-san’s only concern at the moment was his son and making him feel better. “Aside from that, you are my eldest, and I expect you to be here to set a good example for your sister.”

“How are you so sure it won’t be a boy?”

“I am not sure how, but I am certain it is a girl.” InuYasha’s ears twitched just a bit at the sound of a low growl in his father’s throat. He was trying to soothe him, and much as InuYasha wanted to remind his father that he was no child, and didn’t need to be rocked to sleep or sung to like he was one, he could not help but find his body relaxing in his father’s arms.

“I want you to know that I love you, InuYasha and I am going to do all I can each and every day to make sure that you remember that I do.”

“Keh, don’t expect me to go around saying it,” InuYasha said. “But I know you do.”

“And I know you do as well, son.”

********

When Miroku left the palace to retrieve his mate, concerned that he’d been out in the chill of the night for too long, he had to smile to himself. Sesshomaru held InuYasha in his arms, mokomoko wrapped around them both. Though they were still sitting upright, they were leaning against one another in their sleep. Rather than disturb them, Miroku returned to the palace and brought some furs and warm fabrics to wrap around the two as he took a place beneath a nearby tree to keep watch.

As the moon rose higher in the sky, he couldn’t help but notice the look of peace on the faces of the father and son. Perhaps, maybe after all of this, that was what they had finally found.