InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Hanyou Wars ❯ Epilogue ( Chapter 15 )

Disclaimer: Still not mine, but I won’t give up hope!

15. Epilogue

The eight-year-old boy tore around the corner of the house, nearly running down the woman who carried the scrolls for that day’s lessons back from the schoolhouse. “Okaa-san!” he panted, out of breath from the long run, “He’s back!”

The woman followed the flash of silver hair--so much like his father’s, she thought--as the boy vanished back around to where the visitor was emerging from the forest. He was becoming a very handsome young man, she thought, looking at the long ebony hair that flowed down his back and his flashing dark eyes. With a cheery wave, he stepped forward to sweep her into a tight hug. She nodded in satisfaction that he seemed especially well, and asked, “How are all the others?”

“Couldn’t be better! The illusion spells that you and Shippou invented are doing the trick.” He removed the earring that held his own illusion, allowing his canine ears and amber eyes to be once again visible. “Anyway, we got to thinking--”

The woman held up a hand. “If there’s going to be some real news, hold on for a few minutes and you can tell us all at once. Come on inside.” Once the visitor had been settled into the main room of the house, she stepped outside to the wide porch before raising the small silver whistle to her lips.

Moments later, six more children converged from all directions--including a set of brother-and-sister twins--and a fully mature inuhanyou arrived, silver-white hair flying behind him as he leaped from the trees. Though a couple of the little ones appeared to be superficially human, they had all inherited their father’s incredibly acute senses.

When all were finally assembled, Takara began his story. “When I went to stay with my mother’s sister a couple of years ago I decided that I’d travel once I was old enough. I’ve been doing that for the past year or so. I’ve mostly been traveling between the others--they’re scattered pretty much all over the country now. Anyway, we got to talking, and decided that we want to set up a sort of network for hanyous in trouble. I came back here today to see if you’d like to be the first stop. You know--they could come here for a while to be healed if they need it and to get the illusion spell that will let them fit in. Once they’re ready, they can go and stay with one of the others so that they can learn some kind of trade before going out on their own.”

The older hanyou snorted, “As if we’d turn down the chance! Don’t forget that we still go through the well for a day every couple of weeks so that Kagome can give her fertility treatments.”

Takara nodded. “Ketsui is still here with the old miko, right? She could probably keep an eye on things until you got back.”

That, it seemed, was that.

Takara made it a point to return every few months for a day or two, sometimes with a young hanyou in tow. On one particular occasion he arrived alone, looking distinctly uneasy. Before he could even make his request of the woman who had opened her life and heart to him so long ago, she smiled and asked, “Tell me all about her.”

As it turned out, Takara’s chosen mate was a full inuyoukai he had met over a year ago, while escorting a wounded tiger hanyou to one of what Kagome called “safe houses” maintained by the others that had been rescued from the slavers when they were younger. Having been raised in relative isolation, she had no particular prejudice against hanyous, preferring to judge each individual she met on his or her own merits rather than based on their backgrounds.

Their relationship grew slowly, becoming a great success on both personal and practical levels. Because of her blood ties to the youkai community, she knew of hanyou children that he might otherwise never have learned about.

They were officially mated only a few weeks later, and began their own family in less than a year, with a little help from Takara’s foster mother.

Gradually, word began to spread that there was a place that welcomed unwanted hanyou children. Though it was seldom spoken of openly, those who were sympathetic to the cause--both youkai and human--readily passed the information along to those who had need of it.

Over time, the facts of the matter became lost, falling into legend and then into the realm of myth and fantasy. Still, over the years, hanyous--despite the necessity of having to live in disguise among their human counterparts--became more and more numerous.

And that, the seventy-five-year-old woman who had started the whole thing so very long ago thought, is exactly as it should be.

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A/N: When I first wrote this more than a year ago, I didn’t have the epilogue. That was added much later, when I decided that it would be interesting to see what happened to some of these characters over time.