InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Lucky Ones ❯ Chapter Eight ( Chapter 8 )

The Lucky Ones

By Terri Botta

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Sole copyright belongs to Viz and Rumiko Takashi. I'm poor so don't sue.

Rating: R for later chapters.

Pairing: Inuyasha/Kagome, Miroku/Sango

Summary: Sometimes Fate hands you a gift you never thought you'd ever get, and it's up to you to accept it for what it is.

Email feedback to: tci100@psu.edu

Webpage: http://www.wordsmiths.net/Botta

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Chapter Eight

"Hmmmmm," Kaede said, her face serious and thinking. "And you say Kagome just started making milk for the baby?"

Inuyasha nodded even as the object of their conversation sat not a meter from them, red haori draped over her shoulders and Yukio nursing noisily in the small hut.

"Yes. One morning her scent was different and then she said she was wet and wanted the pup. When I gave him to her, she put him to her breast and he started nursing," Inuyasha replied.

"But that was nothing new, Kaede-obachan," Kagome interrupted. "Yukio often squirmed under my pajama top and tried to get milk from me. The difference was that this time, there was actually milk there for him. It was just a little at first, but I've been making more and more, and he's been feeding more often, about six times a day now, almost every four hours, except at night."

Kaede nodded. "Your body is adapting to the baby's needs."

"Kaede-baba," Inuyasha said. "Do you know why this happened?"

"Hmmm… it's not unheard of for a woman to make milk for a baby that is not hers, although usually it happens in a woman who has already had at least one child. It is not understood why it happens or how, but sometimes a woman can force milk to come by letting a baby nurse from her," the elderly miko responded.

"So you're saying that by letting Yukio nurse from me all those times, I actually forced my body to make milk?" Kagome asked.

"That is one explanation, however, if it is, then it would be the first time I have seen it in a young maiden who has never borne a child."

"It was suggested that Kagome's miko powers might have something to do with it," Inuyasha added.

"It is possible, but more likely it is Kagome's loving heart."

Inuyasha digested the reply, his face intent. "So… she wanted to feed him."

"On some level of her mind, yes, and her body answered her wish by making milk."

"Wish?" Kagome repeated, a sudden frightening thought entering her mind. "Kaede-sama, could… could the Shikon shards have done this?"

"Unlikely, child," came the immediate answer. "The Shikon no Tama can grant wishes and increase an individual's power. However, in order to do that one must either implant or touch the shards or channel power through them. You do not do any of those things."

Kagome sighed with relief. She'd been involved with the cursed jewel too long not to be wary of any possible influence it might have, no matter how benign it might seem at first.

"Well, that makes me feel a lot better," she admitted.

Yukio made a noise that sounded like a combination of a whimper and a soft bark. It was his signal for `next please' and he only made it when it was time for her to switch nipples for him. Kagome responded appropriately and soon he was happily eating away.

True to Inuyasha's prediction, she had only had to scruff Yukio three times before he figured out that it was the biting that was getting him punished. But what's a poor pup to do when the breast runs dry? He began to emit a little whimper in anticipation of being punished and soon the noise was all he needed to make. He quickly customized it to be unique from any other sound he made, and only made it once to signal Kagome to give him the other breast. He had a separate sound for when he was finished, or at least when the milk was all gone, that prompted her to burp and cuddle him.

His adaptation proved three things. One: he was extremely intelligent, but that was already known. Two: he understood the use of sound as a means of communicating; something that also suggested that he would be talking a lot sooner than most babies. And three: that he could count, or at least he knew that he only got switched between nipples ONCE during a feeding, so he only needed to make the `next please' noise once.

"But now, I have a whole new problem," she sighed.

"What's that, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"Do you realize what day it is? I'm supposed to go back tomorrow because I have three tests next week and I have to go in to get my assignments. What am I going to do with Yukio?" she complained.

Inuyasha huffed. "Well, it's obvious isn't it? You can't go. You'll have to stay here."

"Inuyasha," she growled in a tone of voice that usually preceded a string of `osuwari's. "That is not an option and you know it."

"What are you going to do with the pup then? You don't know if you can take him through the well. And what are you going to do with all your milk?" he replied, his voice almost -almost- a whine.

"I don't know. I suppose I'll have to try to take him with me."

"Who will watch him while you're in school?"

"I dunno. Mama or Jii-chan probably."

Inuyasha gaped at her. "You're not leaving our pup with either of them! They don't know the first thing about caring for a hanyou pup."

"It's not that different than caring for a human baby. He eats, sleeps and dirties his diaper," Kagome replied drolly.

"No. I won't have it. Kagome, I refuse," he stated firmly, folding his arms defiantly.

"You refuse, huh. Well then I guess you're going with me."

"Eh?"

"Well, I'm going home no matter what you say. I'm going to try to take Yukio with me. I suspect that I'll be able to as long as I carry him. Since you refuse to let my mother or grandfather watch Yukio, it stands to reason that the only other person able to do it is you," she clarified reasonably.

Inuyasha sputtered indignantly. "I'm not going to your world just to play babysitter!"

"And why not? Yukio is your son as much as he is mine and that means being responsible for him no matter where we are."

Kaede chuckled. "She speaks true, Inuyasha."

"You stay out of this, baba!" he snapped.

"Hey! What did I say about cursing in front of the baby?" Kagome warned.

"What? I'm not allowed to say `baba' anymore?"

"Well… it is rather rude…"

"I'm rather rude! Or so you and the others keep telling me. And don't try to change the subject!"

Kagome sighed. "Inuyasha. You know I have to go. I can't miss the tests and I have to get my school work. Please, don't fight me on this. Don't make me subdue you in order to go home. I hate doing it."

Inuyasha scowled and looked away. "Feh."

Kagome knew him well enough to know that his `feh' meant that she would get her way. As always, it was an empty victory because half the time she was fighting to return to a place she really didn't want to return to. Oh it was wonderful to see her family and enjoy all the luxuries of the modern era, but as for the rest… for school and tests and seeing her girlish friends who never thought about anything more serious than make-up, boys and hair… She'd seen and done too much in the past two years for them to be able to relate to her, and she had long ago outgrown them.

Yukio made his `I'm finished' noise and she drew him up, cuddling him and burping him gently. He'd taken to snuffling her and gurgling into her neck when she patted him, his soft warm breath tickling her skin, and it always pulled on her heart-strings when he did it. She adored the infant completely and loved him as much as she had come to love Inuyasha.

`And what about this? What will my friends think of me having a baby? It'll be bad enough with Mama at first, but how could they ever understand? My place really is here with Inuyasha. Every time I go back I realize that I belong there less and less.

`But how can I leave my family? And what of the end of our Quest? We will find all the shards and we will complete The Shikon no Tama. But what will happen then? Will Kikyou come to claim her former lover and rob Yukio of his second father- the only father he is going to remember? What will become of me? Of us?'

Yukio, ever sensitive to his adoptive mother's moods, began to fret and fuss.

"Oi, is the pup okay?" Inuyasha asked, hearing the noises of distress.

Kagome bounced him a little bit and cooed. "I think he just has a little gas," she lied.

They were quiet for a few minutes as Kagome patted and soothed the distressed baby. When he settled, Inuyasha spoke softly.

"So... tomorrow. The well. What are we going to do about the well?"

"What about the well?" Kagome asked.

He gave her an irritated look. "What do we do if it won't let him through? And how do we test it without risking his safety?"

She looked at the baby who was now trying to doze. "Oh. Ummm... I thought I'd just hold him to my chest when I jumped in."

"And have him splatter all over the bottom of the well if you go through but he doesn't?"

Her eyes opened wide. "I hadn't thought of it that way."

"We have to think of a way to keep him from getting hurt if he can't go through."

"Ummm... maybe you could lower me into the well and put me down slowly, that way if he can't go through, he'll just be left behind at the bottom of the well."

Inuyasha nodded, noticing a coil of rope on the hut floor. "That might work." He pointed to the rope. "Kaede-baba?"

"Go ahead, Inuyasha," the older woman replied.

Inuyasha picked up the rope and inspected it. "If we make a harness with this and put it around you, I could lower you into the well."

"And I can hold Yukio above my head so my hands will be the last thing to go through."

"Maybe the monk can stand at the bottom and be ready to catch him if he gets stuck," Inuyasha suggested,

"But what if that happens? What if he gets stuck? What do we do?"

Inuyasha looked at her, but had no answer, or rather she knew what he'd say, but he wasn't about to voice it for fear of getting sat.

"I have to go. You know I do," she insisted.

He sighed and lowered his eyes. "Then I will stay with the pup and care for him until you get back. He can eat the gruel again if he has to. I don't know what you are going to do with all of your milk. What if you dry up with no pup to nurse on you?"

"I can pump it. Make my body think he's still nursing."

"And do what with it?"

"Throw it away I guess. It'll spoil before I have a chance to bring it back, unless I freeze it."

Inuyasha looked stricken. "You'd just... throw your milk out?"

Kagome shrugged. "I don't know what else I could do with it. If I don't pump it then I might dry up, and if he's not there to nurse from me..."

He looked away, his face sad and Kagome didn't know why it affected him so strongly. His forlorn expression struck her in her heart and she ached.

"But listen, Inuyasha. I don't think it's going to be an issue. I think the well will let him through because one of us will be carrying him. We carry things through the well with us all the time. I don't see how this is any different."

"We've never tried to carry anything living through," he pointed out.

"True, but I do think it will be okay. Kaede-obachan, what do you think?"

"Hmmmm, I think there is a good chance that the well will recognize the baby as belonging to you and Inuyasha, and let him through," the old miko replied sagely.

Kagome looked at her, then at Inuyasha. "See. Kaede feels the same way I do. I think it is going to be fine." She looked down at Yukio and stroked his ears. "I just don't know what I am going to do with him if he can go through. My mother… We'll have to explain to her right away, and even then she'll probably be very upset."

"Bah! Your mother is a good woman, and a good mother. She will understand," Inuyasha answered.

"Inuyasha…" she gasped, pleased that he had such a high opinion of her mother.

"I think our biggest concern is getting the pup through the well. Once he is safely through the well, the rest will be taken care of by me," he assured.

"I know, and I'm sure it won't be a problem. The well will let Yukio through; I'm sure of it."

"We'll find out tomorrow, won't we," he answered, standing. "For now, I am going hunting. You need more liver. There is liver in your time, yes, Kagome?"

She made a face. "Yes… but, I don't think I want to eat it. It is different here. There are no chemicals or preservatives in the food here. Back home food is processed and treated, and animals are fed questionable food. I don't think the liver of my time will be as good as the liver here."

He gave her a knowing look. "You just want to get out of eating it. I'm on to you, wench," he teased, a wry smile on his lips.

"I'm serious, Inuyasha. I eat the liver you bring me here, but I have doubts about the liver at home."

"Feh, then I'll just hunt enough here to bring enough liver to your time. We know we can take food across the well both ways."

Kagome gasped as a memory hit her. "That's right. I brought those youkai himono with me that one time. They were alive."

"Hmmm. Well, we should still be careful and lower you in," he answered.

"Of course. I want to be safe."

He gave her a tender smile and exited the hut, leaving her alone with Yukio and Kaede.

The following day was quite the production in Kagome's opinion. It seemed Inuyasha weaved and reweaved and re-reweaved the harness from Kaede's rope about four dozen times before he was satisfied that it would hold without biting into her armpits. She didn't see any difference in the multiple permutations he came up with but wisely kept her mouth shut. She'd long ago learned never to interfere with a hanyou on a `mission.'

When the time came, she wrapped up Yukio and packed her bag, and the whole entourage, Kaede included, made their way to the Bone-Eater's Well. Miroku climbed down into the well and stood at the bottom. He would be there to catch Yukio the moment he hit solid ground if the well didn't let him through. The others watched as Inuyasha put the harness on Kagome, then put it on her again, then put it on her again, until she snapped and threatened to `sit' him if he didn't stop messing with it. While his fussing and protective worry was endearing, it was getting on her nerves. Then she put her bag on her back, picked up Yukio and sat on the edge of the well. She leaned over the edge and waited until the harness pulled tight, then she let go of the ledge, allowing Inuyasha to lower her down.

She saw Miroku waiting at the bottom and smiled at him, a sudden nervousness hitting her. What if the well didn't let Yukio though? Underneath her, she already began to see the flashes of light that signaled the opening of the time slip and Miroku's shocked face as he witnessed it up close for the first time. The ground beneath him, of course, stayed perfectly solid, but as her feet reached the bottom, they sunk right in. In keeping with the plan, she lifted Yukio above her head thankful that he was being quiet because `mother was moving' and closed her eyes, cringing as she began to go into the slip.

`Please, please, please...' she silently begged. `Please let him through.'

The feel of him never left her hands as she felt herself be fully engulfed by the time slip. Then the harness went slack and she was free falling, Yukio still in her hands, and she knew that Inuyasha had released the rope the moment the well let Yukio pass with her. Elation filled her and she drew the baby to her chest, allowing herself to fall through time and land, still cradling him, on the other side.

"Whew," she sighed, allowing the tension she'd been feeling to fade out of her body. "Well, one obstacle down... a billion more to go."

Beside her the time slip opened and Inuyasha came through, his face belying his worry and then his relief at seeing them both safe.

"Heh," he said, a cocky smirk on his lips. "So it worked. I knew it would."

She stood up, rolling her eyes. "Of course. Never any doubts," she said dryly.

He took her backpack, slinging it over one shoulder, and put his arm around her, smiling as he lifted her up out of the well. Kagome paused as he slid open the well-house doors, her heart catching in her throat. She knew what lay beyond those innocent-looking doors. The time had come to face her mother.