InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Halves ❯ Unfettered ( Chapter 17 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Halves

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Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and I do not make money from writing this story.

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A/N: It's interesting how some thought I was done with the story despite the fact that

I mentionedin chapter 9 that the story would be at least 30 chapters long. There are still lots of things to happen, don't fret :)

Anyway, thank you all for your support and sorry for updating after such a long time,

I've been caught up in things.

Enjoy the read and please review :)

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There was a small crack in the bark of the tree they were sitting against, it marked something no one probably knew, and that was what made the place all the more special. The two wonderful, amazing, precious souls were sleeping comfortably against their mother's chest as she sat enveloped in her lover's embrace. Lover. The word felt so unfamiliar, so distant, so inconceivable. Even a few days, it was all still a surprise, everything still felt out of her grasp.

“Are you up?” she heard the gentle, tentative voice ask. These past few days he'd learned more about her than he had in the whole time until now.

Kagome smiled, even though she knew he couldn't see it. It made her so happy to be able to share this with him. These were the moments she cherished the most - it was just the two of them with their children. The children they'd made together - two little treasures that already kept both of them up at night.

“Senses ran away from you?” she teased, already anticipating that he'd `sensed' her wake.

“Keh. I'm not a Kami. I could always be wrong,” he admitted with a shushed tone, something that made her want to hug him and rid him of his sadness. She knew how upset he was because he'd believed the story about her death so easily; he'd told her everything that lay in his soul.

It made her realize Inuyasha wasn't quite as indestructible as she'd made him out to be in her mind and it gave her a sense of peace. She wanted to protect him just as he swore to protect her.

“I was teasing,” she said apologetically, moving her arms a bit so they wouldn't get sore, though careful not to wake the babies in the process.

“I know,” the hanyou replied, but something about his tone told her he'd taken it as more than a joke. She didn't mind, he could mourn all he wanted. After all, he'd thought her dead all this time, he had a right to take some time to adjust to the change. Real life wasn't that easy, real life didn't just change with a puff; sacrifices needed to be made.

“I wonder if Suikotsu-san made it to the palace well,” Kagome thought aloud, purposefully ignoring the warning vibrations that erupted in the hanyou's chest. His grip on her tightened and she felt like snickering, but she kept her cool. She wouldn't wake the babies no matter what, they'd just start crying again.

It seems like that's all they do anyway.

They were so endearing, the twosome. Both were an odd mixture of Kagome's and Inuyasha's traits - each of the parents was so happy for it.

“Thank you, Kagome,” the hanyou whispered truthfully as he kissed her temple tenderly, matching the feelings in his heart. The woman's chest threatened to burst from the onslaught of emotions, but she blinked every surfacing tear away. It was perfect, it was paradise. It was all they needed. “Thank you so much.”

“You shouldn't be thanking me.” Her voice trembled heavily, but she tried not to let it get to her. This was their moment, it held an infinite value for her heart. Her heart that had suffered so much.

Inuyasha… we deserve each other.

“I love you…”

His word. His words. They resounded through the forest, crashed against the once again pure barrier of the mountain and ricocheted off its surface, heading straight towards the twosome once again. It felt like an echo. In Kagome's heart, it felt like an echo. It acted like one, too.

I love you.

She wanted to let her hands tremble, but feared she would somehow drop or hurt the babies, so she did everything in her power to keep herself steady.

I love you.

It went far beyond words. It defied any logic, everything that she'd believed in.

I…

Yes, she'd give their love a chance.

…love…

For them, she would. All four of them.

…you

But he might be wrong. They hadn't been too close before, they had just been pulled by a strong force that dragged them by their hairs all the way here. Indescribable feelings had connected them. And even after they'd severed the bond they'd considered unnatural, those feelings lingered. It made them want to crawl and beg for something unknown, for brutal redemption. But Kagome trusted him now. If he said he loved her, then he surely meant it.

“Does it hurt?” she asked almost quietly, feeling bad for leaning against him when his body was still injured.

Inuyasha grunted, “Of course not.” But she heard the truth behind the obviously fake reassurance. His skin was healing, there were still patches of torn flesh, especially on the chest where he'd received really hard blows.

He'd done all this for her. Everything for her. He'd even ended his marriage to Kikyou for her, even though he'd thought she was no longer alive.

He's… faithful.

He'd been true to her memory. True to her.

I love you…

The sound of his voice as he said this was incredible. Amazingly beautiful, tender, as if he was divulging his utmost secret. She loved him, too, but she couldn't pretend everything was well like she'd done for the past days, because things were more serious than that.

After a few misleadingly peaceful moments, she heard his sigh, were they on the same wavelength?

“How are you?”

She thought she heard a quiver in his voice. In a twisted fashion it made her smile, even if it was at her expense. Suikotsu-san still gave her the cure, and even though he was getting more and more optimistic about it, Kagome simply could not ignore the possibility that she might die in the end.

Tears came naturally at the thought and Inuyasha could surely smell them, but he said nothing as he'd done the past days.

“Still hurts, but not that much.” She, unlike Inuyasha, admitted her weakness, because she wanted them to share pains. She wanted them to share everything, even if for a little while.

“Really, Inuyasha, how badly does it hurt?”

He was hard-pressed not to answer this time either, but he sighed and did it for her, because he knew how worried she was.

“It's almost normal.”

Kagome frowned. “Usotsuki.”

He'd been called a liar before, but in that moment he knew he never wanted Kagome to call him that. “It stings as if someone was pricking at my skin with a needle,” he admitted. After the sweet sound of her voice declaring her satisfaction with his answer, he felt her move in his hold, trying to find a more comfortable position.

“I was so scared,” she confessed. “I thought I'd die and never see you again. I worried our babies might be born ill… I'm… happiest right now.” It was truthfully a miracle that the children had not been born with any flaws despite the poor food she'd eaten all along.

“They're strong, these little ones,” Inuyasha told her proudly, because he was honestly happy, proud. He had two babies, two little, precious beings that brought such joy to his whole life. He only hoped he could enjoy raising them at his lover's side. No, he prayed for it to happen.

“Yes, they are, because they're yours,” he heard her say softly, her voice betraying her delight.

“Ours,” Inuyasha corrected.

“Ours,” Kagome agreed without arguing. It sounded so nice, to be able to share something. To call something theirs.

Our babies.

Just looking at them made their knees tremble.

I love you… I love-

“Let's stay here some more,” Inuyasha suggested. Of course she wouldn't say no.

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The healer bowed deeply, afraid of having forgotten the proper customs here. Had they changed in so little time? After all, he was in front of royalty of greatest importance.

“Inu no Taishou-sama,” he said, his voice rich and full, quite pleasant to hear. “I come here with news of your son. My name is Zhang Suikotsu, I am a healer and I come from China.”

The Emperor's eyes widened at this. He'd given up on ever finding Inuyasha alive, he'd sent explorers to find his whereabouts, but they hadn't been able to even trace him. It was as if earth had swallowed him. He'd gone to retrieve the prince himself, but with no more luck than his subjects. It had seemed obvious that Inuyasha was dead.

“Where is he?” He supposed he should have asked how he was firstly, but it was disconcerting that he hadn't been able to find his own son. Had this man found his son and healed him?

“Inside the barrier of Mount Hakurei,” healer Zhang said. “He is quite weak at the moment, but gaining strength with every moment that passes.” Suikotsu was actually quite surprised at how rapidly Inuyasha was healing, despite his youkai heritage. Those wounds… no one was supposed to survive such injuries. Yet Inuyasha's stubbornness and obvious love for Kagome was what gave him strength. He admired him, really. To have such wounds and still stand on his own…

At this, the Emperor jumped to his feet. Inuyasha was inside the barrier? But that… he'd heard that the barrier had weakened, but even so, a youkai could not enter. He had heard of many.

The healer felt the need to explain. “He came inside the barrier after defeating Naraku, sporting great injuries. I had to escape the place once the barrier became pure again after Naraku's demise, so I came here to tell you of your son's fate.”

Worry was etched across Inu no Taishou's face; he still could not understand how it was that the prince was still alive and staying within the mountain's exceptionally pure barrier. It was supposed to ward off ordinary humans as well.

“How can he survive staying inside the barrier?” the Emperor asked, and his words came out as a near bellow.

“Kagome-san is keeping him under a barrier of her own. It was a fortune that the mountain's barrier dropped for a while after Naraku's death, so that Inuyasha-sama was able to come through and Kagome-san had time to put up a barrier before the mountain's barrier became pure again.”

The Emperor was frozen.

“Did you say… Kagome-san?”

“Hai,” Zhang Suikotsu said, smirking. He liked this so much, he'd been told that everyone thought her to be dead. And to be the one delivering the great news brought a terribly great sense of accomplishment. “Higurashi Kagome. She has been hiding in the mountain.”

Whispers came from every place within the large hall, everyone was astounded. Kaede was first to react.

“I cannot believe this! Such great news, Inu no Taishou-sama! How amazing! Naraku dead and both Inuyasha-sama and Higurashi-san are alive… Everyone must be informed!” The old woman's enthusiasm was contagious, everyone cheered and rejoiced. It was a beautiful, splendid day.

“Thank you for telling us,” the Emperor's voice resounded in the room as he addressed Zhang Suikotsu.

The healer thanked him with a smile, but suddenly grew serious. “However…”

The hall fell silent.

“Kagome-san has a… condition. It is called a tumor.”

Everyone gasped in horror.

“I have tried to cure it and I am quite optimistic about future results, though you should be prepared for her death.”

No… to lose the girl once had been hard enough on Inuyasha, the Emperor did not want that a second time for his son.

“Bring our best healers!” he ordered to his guard, but frowned when the healer stopped him.

“With all due respect, there is nothing any healer here can do. I come from the best healers of China who are the only ones that can deal with this sort of thing and now I am most informed and experienced in the matter. There is a cure I have used and nothing must interfere with it.” His gaze was powerful, capturing. “This means she must receive no other cure for it to work. It is her only chance. She has made great progress, too, I believe it has to do with the mountain's purity. Kagome-san suspects it was because of the mountain's corrupted barrier that she got ill in the first place, and she might be right.”

Tears fell on the old miko's cheeks. Kaede was touched. She cared a great deal about Kagome, she was a sweet, polite child that didn't deserve such fate.

“For the moment,” Suikotsu said, “Inuyasha-sama, Kagome-san and the babies are staying inside the barrier. That, along with the cure, should help her get well.”

“Babies?”

The Emperor's words brought him back to the matter at hand. Yes, he'd forgotten to mention it.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, I apologize. Kagome-san has given birth to male twins.”

It was obvious whose those two were. To hear that the prince had heirs was wonderful news, it almost choked Inu no Taishou. So… Kagome had gone through the pregnancy alone… how hard it must have been for her.

“Fantastic!” he exclaimed in a rare display of his heartfelt emotions. He couldn't be happier, because he had faith that Kagome would make it. She'd survived being kidnapped by Naraku, what could a pesky illness do to her? She was the protector of the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls, Midoriko-sama's power was with her at all times.”

“So we shall have to wait,” Inu no Taishou concluded. “Zhang Suikotsu, do you wish to become the Imperial Healer?”

Goodness… it was an opportunity not to be passed. “I am honored, Inu no Taishou-sama. Of course I accept,” he said with a grateful bow.

“Very well. Then so be it.”

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“How are you feeling?”

Irritated. It had to be the tenth time he'd asked her that in a single day and it wasn't even noon.

“Inuyasha, I'm fine,” she said with a hint of annoyance coating her words.

“I can't help but worry,” he confessed with a sigh, burying his nose in her wonderfully soft hair. He liked the way she wore it on her shoulder, he liked the smooth texture, the overwhelmingly delicious scent. He couldn't have enough of his Kagome.

“So… how was it?”

He blinked.

“The fight with Naraku… how was it?”

“Um… just like any other fight,” he said hesitatingly, unsure if he should burden it with the gross details of it. He didn't want to remember any of it, he'd been so down thinking she was dead, too.

“But why did you do it?” He heard what she didn't say - alone, why had he done it alone?

“I had been planning on it ever since he told me… ever since…” Kami, it was so hard to say it, did it matter now? He'd thought she was dead, he'd mourned her loss. He'd ended his marriage to Kikyou, recognizing the difference between his feelings for his now ex wife and the ones for Kagome. Suddenly, he regretted terribly having ended their bond.

“You don't have to say it,” she said softly, placing a warm hand of hers on top of his, smiling brightly at him in reassurance. He didn't feel he deserved this woman,

As if to save them from this awkwardness, two little wonders started squirming in their mother's hold, the first signs that they were waking.

“Move a bit to the right, I want to make some place to feed them.”

Dazed, Inuyasha did as told and watched silently as the woman he loved more than he'd ever known possible uncovered her breasts to feed their babies. He didn't feel that powerful surge of desire that usually encased him at the sight of her nakedness. This time it was a different, deeper, more powerful feeling. It was male satisfaction and fatherly love. Love for his family. Infinite love for this woman that amazed him more and more every day, love for the two little creatures that he now couldn't do without.

They didn't have names for them yet, but the conversation had stood on the tip of their tongues for a few days.

Finally, Kagome approached the topic.

“What should we call them?”

“I was thinking of Ken and Takehiko…”

Kagome smiled. So he had thought about it. Ken, Takehiko… it sounded nice. She watched the babies suck on her nipples with a comforting sense of peace.

“Welcome to this world, Ken, Takehiko,” she greeted with a beaming smile. “Okaa-san and Otou-san love you.”

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“Have you heard?” Miroku was elated, he had never ever thought he could feel so relieved.

“Hear what?” Sango asked, frowning at her husband's delight.

“Inuyasha, he's not dead!”

At this, Sango jumped to her feet and ran towards him, placing her hands on his chest as her eyes widened.

“Really? He survived?”

“And Naraku's dead!” Miroku continued, unable to believe his own happiness.

“Naraku's dead…” Sango repeated, as if to let it sink in. She gasped, “Naraku's dead!”

“He is,” Miroku confirmed with a nod, “He's so dead that not even the Jewel can save him this time. He got purified by a barrier.”

“A barrier,” Sango repeated dumbly. It seemed the only thing she could do at the moment.

“But wait, that's not all,” he added, urging her to sit down once again. “Look into my eyes.” She did as told. “Kagome-san is alive.”

If he'd had Inuyasha's ears, they would have flattened against his scalp.

“What?!!”

“She hid herself inside Mount Hakurei-s pure barrier. But that is still not all.”

Sango clutched her hammering heart as if afraid it would beat right out of her chest. She couldn't believe this… it couldn't be true, it simply could not. And there was even more? What could be more impressive?

“They have twins.”

Sango frowned, trying to decipher the meaning of that last statement. “Who?”

“Inuyasha and Kagome-san.”

The woman froze. T-twins?

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Yes, I am very sure.”

“How could that have happened? I don't… it's hard to understand.”

Miroku's brows furrowed more in confusion than anything else. “Are you not happy?”

Naturally, Sango's smile came unfettered. “Of course I am. I am, I truly am. So much time of feeling guilty, so many missed opportunities for poor Inuyasha-sama, so much heartache for Kagome-san… I can't believe it's finally over.”

“It is, my love, it is,” her husband confirmed, kissing her hands then rubbing them thoroughly with his own, larger ones. “They finally have their happiness.”

“I'm glad.” The smile the taijiya wore was probably the brightest in a long time.

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Suikotsu met everyone he was supposed to, including Kagome's charming mother who couldn't seem to stop thanking him for his efforts in healing her daughter. He realized he hadn't thought about how much her family had suffered, too.

He'd met every miko he was supposed to, except the most important one of them, the one that had been Inuyasha's wife. He didn't know the circumstances, but somehow knew that the end of the marriage must have been because of Kagome. Inuyasha's love for the recent mother was a palpable thing, one had to be entirely blind not to notice how heartbroken he'd looked when he'd misunderstood seeing him carry the babies out of the hut and how happy he'd been afterwards.

Desperation was a thing that drove many mad, and Inuyasha might have become one of those had he not found Kagome on time. They were truly destined for each other.

Still, he was interested to meet the head of the mikos in Kagome's absence. Fujiwara Kikyou was well known even in China for her powers, even if now Kagome exceeded her. But no one had the poise the former princess had, no one could be as detached and as passionate at the same time as she was. Or so he'd heard.

Yes, Suikotsu was eager to meet her.

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Kikyou couldn't believe it. Her eyes stung with fresh tears, but she willed them away. She would not do this. She would not cry. She simply would not.

I'm stronger than this, I'm stronger than this…

But the more she repeated it, the more the reality of things crashed against her chest.

Otou-sama. Otou-sama…

She'd found it, the letter the vile creature had left explaining how he'd absorbed Fujiwara Onigumo into his own body. It was so disgusting, so utterly twisted, she wanted to throw up. Devastated, she brought the back of her hand to her mouth, trying to stifle a scream. Her hands trembled with the paper in her hands, what was she supposed to do? What could she do?

Otou-sama…

So that was why he'd disappeared for so many months with no trail.

I will stay strong.

Her features hardened and she became the Fujiwara Kikyou everyone knew and respected her as.

She'd heard the news about Inuyasha and it hurt a little bit to know, but she was genuinely glad for them. However, Naraku's death meant she couldn't have her revenge, and she wasn't so sure how she felt about that. At the moment, it felt as if she'd do anything to bring him back to life only to kill him all over again with her own hands.

Naraku, you bastard…