"I'll be back, I promise." He said. Kagome sniffed and started crying, taking comfort in his arms. Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her and held her close, savoring their last moment together until he returned.
"Promise me you'll come back safely." Kagome said, burying her face in his shoulder.
"I promise." Inuyasha said, kissing her cheek. He took a step back and smiled at her before pulling his fire rat shirt off and handing it to her.
"What are you-" Kagome started, but Inuyasha cut her off. "I want you to keep this, as a seal for my promise." He said, but that was not the real reason he gave it to her. He wanted her to have something of his, something to remind her of him if something ever did happen to him.
"I'll always keep it close to me." Kagome said, clutching the shirt tightly. Inuyasha nodded to her and turned to face his friends, who were standing next to the village entrance.
He shook hands with Miroku. "Keep an eye on all of them." He said, (meaning Sango, Kagome, Shippo and Kelala.)
Miroku nodded. "I will." He said, he placed a hand on Sango's shoulder.
Inuyasha shook Sango's hand next. "Watch out for Kagome for me, in case something does happen to me." He said. Sango nodded.
"Don't worry Inuyasha, will take good care of her." She said, placing a hand on her swollen stomach. "Take care of yourself as well." Inuyasha said, nodding towards her stomach.
"I want to see your kid when I get back." He said, Sango nodded and Miroku wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
Inuyasha knelt down to Shippo's height. "Keep an eye on Kagome for me, ok?" he said, Shippo nodded, his eyes filling up with tears at the fact of losing the man he saw as his foster father.
"You too Kelala." Inuyasha said, petting her on the head, Kelala meowed and sat next to Shippo.
Inuyasha stood up straight. His gaze moving down the line of his friends. Miroku... Sango... Shippo... Kelala... Kagome. His true love. His gaze stopped at her, and she smiled weakly at him, her eyes filled with tears.
"Be safe." She said, glancing down at his fire rat shirt. Inuyasha nodded to her. "Count on it, nothing in the world could keep me away from my family." He said.
Then he hugged her one last time, and leaned over to whisper in her ear.
"Keep watching the horizon, caus' one day I'll be coming back, coming back the same way I left."
Then without another word he took off running, a single tear running down both cheeks as he ran, headed straight for the war he was going to fight in.
As soon as he took off, Kagome ran forward a few steps and waved, she saw him turn and wave back to her before he disappeared into the trees.
The first few weeks of Inuyasha's absence were difficult, as well as quiet. Sango, Miroku and Shippo suffered, but not nearly as much as Kagome. They would often see her wandering around the village, her beautiful face clouded and her eyes filled with tears. Most of the time she sat under Inuyasha's favorite tree, running her hand over the smooth bark and muttering 'sit'
The first time Kagome smiled was a month after Inuyasha had left. She smiled as she told Sango and Miroku her special news. Both the news and the smile shocked them both; they had never expected to see Kagome pregnant as such a young age.
Kagome was surprised as well, she and Inuyasha weren't planning on having children until he got back, but fate had chosen differently.
At first, Kagome was worried that she was too young to be a mother, but Sango assured her that she was fine, reminding her that most girls were married and pregnant by 18 as well. (Kagome's 18)
So Kagome relaxed and accepted her pregnancy, excited at the thought of having Inuyasha's baby, as well as having her baby around the same time as Sango. The two women would often spend the day together, planning clothes, toys, decorations and anything else for when their babies arrived.
Kagome wanted her baby's room to be right next to hers and Inuyasha's, she also wanted the room have a puppy dog design around the edge.
She also had a cradle made, specially ordered to be made from branches of the sacred god tree. (goshingboku.)
"What a wonderful idea Kagome, the crib is so beautiful." Sango had said, running her hand over the smooth edge of the cradle.
Miroku and Shippo agreed with her, moving the cradle into he room across the hall with the puppy dog design on it.
Time began to pass by, days turned to weeks, and weeks began to turn into two months. Sango and Kagome looked more and more pregnant every day, with Sango being nine months pregnant and Kagome being four.
Then one day, the days Sango and Miroku had been waiting for came. Sango gave birth.
Kagome held her hand as she cried from the pain, and cried tears of joy when Sango was handed her baby boy.
Sango's boy had Miroku's dark hair, but Sango's beautiful eyes.
Kagome stepped out of the room as Miroku stepped in, to give the two a moment alone with their new son.
She sat with Shippo outside, telling him about Sango and Miroku's baby and letting him feel her stomach where her own baby was.
"I felt it kick!" he said, his eyes shining with joy. Kagome smiled at him and told him that her baby knew it was him. She was beginning to wonder why her baby was growing so quickly, she was only four months pregnant, but she looked like Sango when she had been seven months pregnant! Kagome decided to ask Kaede about it.
Kaede assured Kagome that nothing was wrong with her baby, and that everything was completely normal. At Kagome's confused look, she explained that because Inuyasha was half demon, the gestation period was different for her baby. She said most demons are pregnant for only about 5-6 months, but in the case of a human and a demon, the gestation period was about 6-7 months.
(Gestation period- the length that a person/animal is pregnant, for example, a human's gestation period is 9 months. Just in case anyone didn't know)
Kagome was relieved, she had been curious about that for a while and wasn't sure weather it was her or her baby.
After visiting Kaede, Kagome decided to go and visit Sango, Miroku and young Kohaku, which Miroku insisted they name their son, much to Sango's joy.
The three friends talked for several hours, Kagome even got to hold Kohaku, imagining what will be like to hold her own baby in her hands.
After a while Kagome decided to leave the happy family for a while and make her way home, bidding Shippo a good night as she headed into her room. Shippo waved good night to her as well and went into his own room. After the group had settled down, Inuyasha and Kagome asked Shippo to live with them. So now he stayed with Kagome and kept her company while Inuyasha was gone.
Time passed, days turned into more weeks, and weeks turned into two more months.
Kagome was now seven months pregnant, and was expecting any day. Sango and Kaede moved in for a while, the keep an eye on Kagome and to help her out around the house.
It had now been five months since Inuyasha had left, and Kagome was starting to get worried. What if he was injured? What if he had died? She worried herself sick, which worried Kaede and Sango.
They kept reassuring Kagome, telling her that he was fine and that he promised to come back.
Two days later, Kagome went into labor, and a daughter was born to her and Inuyasha, although he had no idea.
Sango held Kagome's hand the whole time, the same way Kagome had held her hand during Kohaku's birth.
Kagome held Sango's hand with her right hand, and in her left hand she clutched Inuyasha's fire rat shirt.
Kagome held her daughter for the first time five hours after going into labor, and she cried. Tears of joy spilling down her cheeks and onto her daughter's.
She named the little girl Inuyana, after Inuyasha. Little Inuyana looked exactly like her father, she had his golden eyes and his silver hair, as well as Kagome's favorite- Inuyasha's puppy dog-ears.
Sango and Miroku were so happy for her, congratulating her before letting Shippo in to see his little niece.
"I'm and uncle now!" Shippo said as Kagome showed him Inuyana. She took an instant liking to him, smiling at him and reaching for his shirt.
As much as Kagome was excited about Inuyana's birth, she was sad as well. Inuyasha had not been able to be there, he didn't even know he had a daughter! Kagome wondered how he would take it when he saw Inuyana.
Time continued to pass by, Kohaku and Inuyana got bigger everyday. Kohaku was a quiet child, and much more calmer, just like his mother. Sango herself had high hopes that he wouldn't be as lecherous as his father.
Inuyana was definitely like Inuyasha. She never wanted to sit still, and always had to be doing something. She also chewed anything she could get her claws on, which Kaede said was the result of her little demon fangs growing in, and sure enough, Kagome could see little white points growing out of her gums.
Kohaku's teeth had started to come in as well, his little baby teeth began bothering him greatly, and he was also beginning to chew on anything he could get his little hands on.
The five friends (Sango, Miroku, Kagome, Shippo, Kelala) often took Inuyana and Kohaku to the training grounds outside of the village, where Kelala would baby-sit while the others practiced all their old fighting moves.
After training for a while, they would walk around the forest, letting the two children play while they talked about all their adventures from when they were still young.
Eventually it would grow dark and Shippo would use his foxfire to lead the way home.
Every night, Kagome would tuck Inuyana in to her little cradle with Inuyasha's fire rat shirt, if she didn't, Inuyana would get upset and start crying until she did. Kagome often wondered if Inuyana could smell her father's scent on the cloth and wanted the shirt as a way of feeling close to him. She would often hold the shirt and gaze up at her mother with her thumb in her mouth, making little 'eh' sounds, almost as if she wanted the real thing over his scent on a cloth.
By the time Inuyana was five months old, ten months has passed since Inuyasha had left and Inuyana was beginning to crawl. Kohaku wasn't quite there yet, being only seven months old and a full human.
Kagome wasn't surprised when Inuyana started to crawl, in fact, she was starting to wonder if Inuyana would start talking any second.
By the time Inuyana had mastered crawling, Koga came to visit. Once he was close by, Inuyana had started crying and didn't stop until Koga left. She cried for days after that, every time she smelled the scent of wolf that was around the area.
When Kagome told Sango and Miroku why she believed Inuyana was crying, they started laughing, saying that she was defiantly Inuyasha's daughter.
Around the time Inuyana turned 7 months old, she started saying "da, da." Kagome wanted to write that down as her first word, but Sango told her that wasn't a real word and therefore couldn't be Inuyana's first word.
Kohaku had started crawling, and he and Inuyana would have little 'races'. Which Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kagome found hilarious.
They'd watch the two play together for hours, Inuyana usually winning because of her demonic abilities, causing poor Kohaku to cry and Sango to go an comfort him, all the while laughing her head off.
The others laughed too, all of them happy to be together, and all of them missing Inuyasha.
-0-
Kagome watched the horizon everyday, remembering the words Inuyasha had whispered to her before he left.
Keep watching the horizon, caus' one day I'll be coming back, coming back the same way I left.
So she watched, and waited for his return. He promised her that he would return. And Inuyasha never broke a promise to Kagome. Never.
That's why she almost missed it, she and Inuyana were at the entrance of the village. It was noon, the quiet time of the day.
Kagome was watching Inuyana practice standing up, a trick she had seen one of the other village babies doing and decided to do it herself.
She smiled at Inuyana, who had begun to say over and over "da da da." While clutching Inuyasha's fire rat cloak, and looked up, and that's when she saw it.
A silver and red blur, running straight towards her.
"Inuyasha." She muttered, standing up. "Inuyasha!" she took off running, it was him, he had finally come home, just like he promised. She met him half way, and he picked her up and swung her around in his arms before kissing her.
"You're back!" she said when they broke apart. He grinned at her. Suddenly Kagome remembered Inuyana. She grabbed Inuyasha's hand and pulled him towards the village entrance and Inuyana.
Inuyana's eyes widened as her mother and father approached, she sucked her thumb and stood up. Kagome smiled down at her.
"Inuyasha, meet our daughter, Inuyana." She said, Inuyasha was speechless. He glanced at Kagome, his eyes wide. "Daughter?" he said. Kagome nodded.
"After you left, I learned I was pregnant. I was a bit nervous at first, because you weren't here, but Sango and Miroku helped me." She said.
"My daughter." Inuyasha said, staring at Inuyana. She picked up his fire rat shirt and held it up to him. "Daddy?" she said. Kagome gasped.
"That's the first time she's spoken! Do you know how long I've been trying to get her to talk?!" Kagome said.
"How old is she?" Inuyasha asked, "seven months." Kagome said.
"Seven months." Inuyasha repeated, twitching his ears. For a minute Inuyana stared at his ears, then she giggled and twitched her own, copying Inuyasha.
"Aw! That was so cute!" Kagome said, she smiled at her young husband. "She takes after you." She said.
"Daddy." Inuyana said again, holding Inuyasha's fire rat shirt up to him. Inuyasha took it from her and held it in his hands. It had been a year since he'd seen it.
"She sleeps with that every night you know." Kagome said, nodding at the shirt. "She would cry unless I gave it to her. I think she could smell you on it." Inuyasha grinned and put the shirt on. He sighed; it felt good to wear it again.
"Ah ah." Inuyana said, Inuyasha and Kagome looked down to see Inuyana standing in front of Inuyasha, her arms held up, wanting to be held.
Kagome smiled. "She wants you to pick her up." She said, Inuyasha glanced at her before leaning down to hold his daughter for the first time.
Inuyana tugged at the fire rat cloth." Daddy." She said. She snuggled against his chest.
"She knows who you are, that's for sure." Kagome said softly. Inuyana looked up and glanced at Kagome. "Mama." She said. Kagome gasped again.
"SHE SAID MAMA! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR HER TO SAY THAT!" Kagome said.
Inuyasha just grinned and glanced down at Inuyana. She was staring at him with big gold eyes. His gold eyes.
"Daddy come home." She said, Kagome stopped shouting and glanced at Inuyana, instantly back to her calm and usual self.
"You know what? I think she was holding out on talking until you came home." She said, leaning her head on Inuyasha's shoulder.
"Yeah." Inuyasha said as Inuyana cuddled back against his chest and fell asleep. "I think she did." He said. Kagome smiled at Inuyana and glanced up at Inuyasha.
"She also cried the whole time Koga was around, and for several days after. I don't think she liked Koga's wolf scent." She said, Inuyasha grinned.
"That's my girl." He said, he grinned down at Kagome. She smiled back at him.
"You won't ever leave again will you?" she said, Inuyasha grinned. "Never." he said.
"How can I be sure?" Kagome asked as the little family stood together.
"I promise."
So wha'd you think? Inuyana is actually a character from another one of my Inuyasha stories, and she's a twin also, in my other story at least. But I really like that name, actually, the way I got the names Inuyana and Nazuyasha was by taking the name Nazuna and Inuyasha and mixing it up a bit. Nazuna is from the episode with the spider demons, you know, the one where Kagome sees human Inuyasha for the first time.
The end