InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Nigatsu no Hoshi (Stars of February) ❯ What Else Can This Thing Do? ( Chapter 19 )

SHOUT OUTS!!!!!

mm.org reviewers

Kag14: what? Is something confusing??? Lol, let me know if something isn't clear

Essie: thanks for the review! I can always count on you to review after my updates, glad you like it!!

Aitu: lol, yep I sure did! Pretty funny eh? Don't worry, I wont discontinue the story for my own selfish gain, hehe. I'm happy to know that you're enjoying the fic! I know, I like the tattoo thing too, I wanted the mating ritual to be unique for my fic, instead of repetitive.

Million Knives (inutaishou2005) - yay! thanks for the reviews taishou! It makes me feel bad for not moving as fast on your fic as I would like, especially now that I lost my internet at home, I barely have time to do ANYTHING! Thanks for the comment on my lemon, its my first so I'm excited to know that so many people thought it was good! Hope you liked the updates! ;)

Kikyo2713: you liked the part where kagome turned into a inu-youkai? cool! That was my main focus on this story. The way I got this started, was the basic idea of turning her into a demon somehow! Thus was born Nigatsu no Hoshi!

Hanyou_kagome: thanks for all the reviews hanyou, hehe, yes as you can tell I'm alive and well, thanks for your concern, lol. hehe, yeah, citrus blossoms, you liked that? oh yeah, and also, thanks for the review on fanfiction.net, I don't know how many other of the readers got a chance to read the alternate ending. And yes, I did use a couple of your ideas in the fic, you know which ones ;) keep reviewing and hope your happy with the updates!!

Essie: oh yeah, I'm sorry I didn't put a Miroku/Sango lemon in there, I didn't really see how to fit it in without it being too long. But don't worry! I'll put a lemon in there for them sometime in the near future!!

ff.net reviewers

Captured Moon: no! I actually haven't seen that episode, but I have seen pictures from it, looks hilarious, cant wait to see it. I wanted to bring the happy level back up for atleast one chapter. And to answer your question (although I already emailed you) Miroku and Sango's kids names will be revealed later on, at least for everyone that's reading on the site, I know you already know them. But I want to put that in so its revealed at its own due time. Sorry to all those that wanted to know them now! Don't worry, all will be revealed soon ;)

Koneko8844: thanks for the support!!

Nethira06: don't worry! I'll update a lot faster from now on, I'm aiming for at least 2 chapters a week, perhaps even more! But I'm working on getting my new fic (Missing You) started.

And thanks to everyone else that's reading, even if they're not reviewing! At least you've gotten this far and that's all that matters!!! Hehe. ;) okay, here's the next chapter!!!!!! Enjoy ;)

Chapter 17: So, What Else Does This Thing Do?

Kagome woke up before anyone else in the hut, although she had spent most of the night in-between the realms of unconsciousness and reality, and not gotten much sleep at all. She carefully maneuvered her way out of Inuyasha's arms without awakening him, and over the bundle of body limbs under the other couples sleeping bag. Once she was far enough away from the hut, she let out the breath she didn't even realize she had been holding, and headed off towards the forest.

As she made her way along the fogged over path to the water cannel, her eyes drifted lazily from the small trout in the glistening water, to the waking birds, and to the glow of the rising sun. She enjoyed the feeling of the moist soil under her bare feet, and inhaled deeply the smell of the wet earth. She had always loved the smell of rain, and the cool moist air it left behind. A few minutes later she entered into the forest, and continued walking, not really having any specific place in mind.

Some how, her feet had carried her straight to the sacred tree, and she stared in wonder at the large time tree. For some reason, this tree always seemed to calm her, she didn't really understand why, since it didn't hold to many fond memories in this time. This was the tree that Kikyou had sealed inuyasha to, it should have brought rotten memories of the corrupted miko, but Kikyou was far from her thoughts at the moment.

She immediately leaped high into its branches, searching for the limb she knew inuyasha favored. She found one which held the hanyou's scent, and settled in comfortably. She knew why he liked it, not only could he see the well, the village, and the sunrise from here, but, the arch from the trunk to the branch was perfect for the back, and quite pleasant.

The young demoness watched as the sun inched its way over the far mountains, a look of sadness sketched its way into her features the more she inhaled the musky scent of her lover. Kagome closed her eyes, and watched the scenes of her vision, as she remembered them in the order she was shown. She smiled at the sight of her and Inuyasha's `pups', trying to relish in that happy prospect. But she scowled as the scene of inuyasha taking a fatal blow for her, inevitably forced its way infront of the happy scene, and the laughter was quickly replaced by screams of horror and pain.

She clenched her teeth, and closed her eyes tight. `no…there has to be a way to change this…I wonder…what would happen if I were to take that blow, and protect inuyasha?' she thought desperately.

Suddenly, she heard a loud rumbling coming closer and closer to her. As she was about to open her eyes, the sound was upon her, and a wave of images filled her mind. She saw the battlefield that was in the vision last night. But now, she was standing, still wounded, but standing. As the strange woman charged her weapon, she saw inuyasha to the side, lying on the ground, trying to pull himself to stand. `ka-go-me' she heard him whimper. She knew he was going to block it, but she couldn't let that happen. She watched as the future inuyasha made a move to jump infront of her, she watched her future self, use what had to be the last of her strength as she yelled, `Osuwari!, and the inuyasha fell to the ground.

She then watched as the evil light consumed her future body, and she was destroyed, nothing left. She heard inuyasha scream out her name, and then watched in horror as her killer turned her attention to the inuyasha who was desperately trying to fight the spell. `you'll never hurt us again' came a strange yet familiar voice. `no, why…why did you kill her, and not me?' inuyasha asked, now clearly sobbing. `Because…she was a stupid wench for ever loving you…and so was I…now, where are those annoying brats of yours?'

Inuyasha desperately tried to get off the ground, but he wasn't fast enough. She watched as the evil persona found the children who were being protected by a holy barrier, and then consumed all the light with her dark aura, and nothing was left, except the echo of the painful shrieking and dying gurgles of her children.

Then the vision fled from her, and she was left completely horrified, and trembling with hatred and the feeling of loss. Defending inuyasha wasn't an option, the enemy was clearly after her and the children, so maybe inuyasha wasn't at danger. But either way, her children were, and she couldn't sacrifice them, even if they were not born yet, or even conceived for that matter.

`What if…what if the fight was avoided somehow, like, what if we never stumbled upon this person?' she thought to herself, and closed her eyes to await the next vision, which would hopefully be on a lighter note than the past ones. But nothing came, nothing at all. `what? Avoiding this isn't an option? Who is this person, why is she trying to destroy my future family? And that voice, those words. What did she mean, I was a fool for loving inuyasha, as was she? Who IS she? It cant be Kikyou, Kikyou has been long gone, and she would never harm children, Me, yes, but she has always loved children. So she's crossed off the list. It sure as hell isn't Sango…but who else knows inuyasha?'

She sat in the tree alone for at least another hour, going over different scenarios, but no more premonitions would come to her, and she began to become angry. There was no other clues that her powers would give her, it was either, sacrifice your children and yourself…or see if inuyasha can survive the attack. The vision had never actually shown her who else would die if she allowed inuyasha to protect her, and this only puzzled her further.

~*~*~

Back at the hut, a certain hanyou awakened as a strange feeling consumed him. He felt anxious and worried, and woke up on the verge of tears, `kagome'. Immediately becoming alert at the strange awakening, he reached for kagome, but she wasn't there. He expanded his senses, and told them to find his mate. He found her aura, it was in deep distress, and was wavering in anxiety.

In a flash of red and white, inuyasha was out the door, forgetting his haori in the bed, and took off in search of his distressed miko. He followed her scent to his forest, and was becoming more and more curious. He made a beeline for the Goshenboku, and jumped straight towards his favored branch.

`Then its settled, I will leave the matter to itself. Clearly fate does not want me to figure this out, it wants me to come to the outcome by myself. The matter has certain significance for it to have showed me so much of it, unlike the other visions. The events are not to take place for at least another decade, so perhaps in the meantime, I will find the answers to these questions. But until then, I do not see any reason to fret over this, and there is certainly no reason to alert inuyasha to the matter.' She smiled to herself, finally convinced that she had at least 10 more years of peace and `happiness' infront of her, and she would be sure to make the most of it.

`Speak of the devil…' she thought as she felt his presence extremely close, and opened her eyes to see his staring right back at her. `..and he will appear'

" Good morning yasha, what brings you here?" she asked, smiling at him. He raised a brow at her, "I might ask you the same question. I was awoken just now, by your aura. Tell me…why is it that I woke up wanting to scream, feeling like I had lost something? Eh bitch?"

She smiled at him again, although inside she was chastising herself for forgetting that the bond between them would alert him to any strong emotions that she was feeling. "I'm sorry koibito, I was just thinking of the nightmare I had last night, since I woke up only a little while ago, I guess it just still seems real. Its silly I know, I just don't have too many of these scares, I'm not used to it."

"You're gonna tell me that you, the girl who fought numerous demons, and defeated Naraku is easily frightened by a little dream? I don't buy it, what are you hiding from me kagome? Something's been bothering you since last night, and I don't think it was the boogie man."

"Boogie man? How do you know about that?"

"Your brother told me…hey! Don't try to change the conversation bitch, tell me what's wrong."

`He's actually worried about me? He looks mad, but I can feel his aura radiating with worry and hurt. He's hurt that I wont tell him the truth, he thinks I'm hiding something.' she thought to herself, scared that she didn't know how to get out of this without lying to him, and not telling him the truth either. `Guess ill have to get as close to the truth as I can.'

She looked up into his golden eyes, which immediately started to search her silver ones. "why do you always study my eyes like that inuyasha?"

His eyes held their spot and studied her for a moment. "The eyes are the window to the soul, and yours has always been clear to me, I can read you like a book by just looking into those beautiful eyes of yours. And what they're telling me right now, is that you've been hurt by something, and are trying to decide on whether to tell me or not. Why wont you just tell me kagome?! I'm your mate and I have every right to know what troubles my own bitch, now spill it!."

She wanted to hide her eyes from him, he really could read her like an open book, and it kind of scared her. But she couldn't leave his eyes, they mesmerized her and she was sucked into their golden warmth. She took to heart what he said about them being the window to the soul, and searched his own. His were well guarded, but she broke through quickly. She read the same hurt and worry in those eyes as she read in his spirit.

She sighed in defeat before she started, "okay inuyasha, you win." She diverted her eyes before continuing, staring off into the distance. "i…I had another vision last night inuyasha…and it was no where as joyful as the ones I had read off of Sango and Miroku, it was much worse. It held more meaning than the ones I had searched for, it held a mission for me, which came with many difficult choices. The future I saw scared me, and I was worried what I would do about it." she paused to calm her voice which she felt begin to crack.

"Vision? A vision of what? Of whom? What did you see kagome?"

She shook her head, "that, I can not tell you yash, I'm sorry but I can't. I've gone over it again and again this morning, searching for the solution, and it will give me none. For this, I can only choose to allow fate to continue unblemished until that time. If I were to tell you what I saw, who knows what that would cause, Fate could punish us if I were to do that. I'm sorry inuyasha, the last thing I want to do is keep things from you, you have to understand that."

He studied her face, his brow scrunched together in a worried and confused appearance. "You…you don't trust me kagome?"

"No! No inuyasha, I trust you with my life! This has nothing to do with trust, it has to do with my mission. Even I have limits, and this is one of them. Don't worry inuyasha, the events are not to happen for another decade at least, so we have time to work things out." She ended, smiling warmly at him. He held a thoughtful look on his face, and kagome brought a hand to his cheek.

He leaned into her touch, and closed his eyes, sighing heavily, "Okay kagome, I think I understand. I…I just hate to see you hurt. You deserve to be happy. What I don't understand is why you've been destined to live with such burden on your shoulders. It seems that no matter what, something's always there to bring you down. But…but you're always smiling, you've never lost hope, and you've always been there to laugh disaster in the face. Your spirit is strong…that… must be the reason you were chosen for something like this." He said, his features turning serious as he thought it over.

Kagome gave him a sad smile, she was happy to hear him tell her what he saw in her, but was saddened at the reminder that her life really didn't make much sense. "I love you inuyasha, and that's all we have to worry about right now. Miko, human, demoness, guardian of fate…none of these matter to me, I just want to live my life as happy as possible, for as long as time permits."

She said, almost in a whisper, and ended as she leaned in and gently kissed him on the lips. The kiss was sweet but long, both trying to comfort each other. When they both felt the others aura relax, they parted. Inuyasha switched places with kagome, and he held her close to his chest as he leaned up against the smooth bark of the tree.

He watched the sun as it finally rose, and kissed the top of his mates head. Kagome watched the rising sun intently, drifting in and out of her thoughts. `That's it, the sun will rise tomorrow, and the next day. And as long as that happens, I will be content with what I have, for however long I have it, that doesn't matter. I have this now, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.' She told herself as she smiled.

Inuyasha squeezed her lovingly when he felt her aura glow with a sudden joy, and was happy to know that she was feeling like her normal self. `I'm here for you kagome, just keep smiling and everything will be okay. You can get through whatever is thrown at you, I have faith in your ability to turn a hopeless situation into your victory.'

~*~*~

Sango awoke as she felt the warm rays of the sun peep through the door mat and warm her face. She turned to find Miroku still asleep, a death grip around her waist. `I'm surprised that all my clothes are still on, maybe he's not the pervert that we all thought he was.' "mmm, Sango. that feels good, don't stop." He mumbled in his sleep as he pushed his hips against her leg, reacting to whatever he was dreaming.

Sango's brow twitched, `what the…I guess I spoke to soon.' She sat up and stretched out her stiff muscles. She took that time to look around the room, and found that inuyasha and kagome were missing. `hm, wonder where they went.' Then she blushed as a thought came to her mind, `wonder if they couldn't stand not being able to be alone as new mates, and went to find some, eh, privacy. Maybe its about time that me and Miroku left to settle down in our own place. I mean, this was a nice place to rest between battles, and was a good home for an elderly miko. But for two couples, it just wont work.'

"Miroku, Miroku wake up." She whispered as she nudged her husband softly. He only moaned, in the pleasure of his dream or annoyance she couldn't tell. Either way his stubbornness was getting annoying. She reached for something and found his staff, she picked it up and wasted no time testing whether she liked using this instrument better than her hiraikotsu. *jingle jingle, whack!*

"owww!"

`hm, I like my weapon better, feels more solid than this stick.' "Get up Houshi, the sun shows that it is early morning, we should get up. Unless you plan on staying in bed all morning."

The monk stopped rubbing his throbbing head to send her a mischievous grin, "well, that depends Sango. Are you going to be in that bed?"

She growled in frustration, "Miroku! This is kagome-chans home! How can you think of doing that on the floor of your best friends one-roomed home?"

"Well, if you word it that way, it makes it sound all the more appealing." He said as he reached for her backside.

She gave him a death glare, and he promptly closed his mouth and pulled back his hand. "Okay Sango, I understand. You're right; it is rude of us to intrude on inuyasha and kagome-sama like this. Maybe, maybe its time we found a place of our own. Then we could start our own family, and leave Inuyasha and kagome to their privacy, which they rightfully deserve. They have shared their home with us out of the kindness of their hearts, and I believe we shouldn't take advantage of their, well, Kagome's generosity."

"Exactly my thoughts Houshi. But, where do you suppose we go?"

Miroku sat in thought for a moment, and then smiled to himself. "I know just the place. Pack your things Sango, we will leave as soon as you like."

Sango smiled in pure joy, she would have a home of her own soon! And she could begin the life she had always dreamed of, with the man she loved. "Oh Miroku, thank you! Where are we going? I would like to stay here at least another day, I want to say goodbye to kagome and inuyasha properly."

He smiled back at the young woman, "It's a surprise, and of course we can stay longer, whatever you wish my dear Sango. Now hurry and get dressed, maybe we could make them breakfast before they wake up."

"Wake up? But they're already gone. I didn't hear them leave, but they weren't here when I got up. I don't know where they could have run off to."

Miroku smiled his wicked grin again, but decided to keep his thoughts to himself, "I see. Well, in any case it would be respectful for us to prepare the meal, as a show of our thanks. And after which, we can tell them the good news. Does that appeal to you Sango?" she shook her head and moved to embrace the man, "I love you Miroku, thank you."

"Anything my dear, I love you."

~*~*~*~*~

As both couples continued their activities, an unexpected visitor was making their way to their home, with some very intriguing news that would indeed change the meaning of every-day-life for one of the two couples.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Suteki: mwuahaha, cliffy!!! Lol, sorry for that, just thought it would be nice to have one of those for a change. Hope you liked the chapter!! Yay, 3 within the span of what, 5 days is it?? Goody goody! Okay, review and tell me what you think of the developments! ;) Please and thank you! Oh! And by the way, incase any of you were wondering what happen to Shizuka (who was indeed a real person) she's been on vacation in England (our homeland) the lucky #$@%, and wont be back for a few months, ::sniffle sniffle:: so yeah, she's abandoned me on this one, hehe. Oh well! So for all those who missed her charm, just letting you know she's not dead either, lol.

Next Chapter: For a Change in Scenery…moving can be fun! Unless you have to fight for your home.