InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Voices at Midnight ❯ In the End ( Chapter 17 )

~*Voices at Midnight*~

Meamiko

You wanna see a disclaimer? Go to the first chapter and leave me the hell alone!

* * *

Last Chapter: Miroku stood and backed away, joining the group of non-helpers. "I'm guessing all non-essential personnel should vacate the premises." He said half jokingly as they filed out of the room, casting sideways glances at Kagome and the "essential personnel" as they left.

~*~

Kagome glanced over to Kikyou and smiled slightly as the serious miko nervously held the small bundle in her arms. It was an odd sight to say the least, watching the older miko cooing over a youkai child as she sat in bed.

"How is she?" Kagome asked softly. Kikyou looked up slightly startled.

"She's healthy, strong. She'll be a powerful if not large Inuyoukai." She said offhandedly.

"And the boy?" Kagome questioned. Kikyou walked over to the bed and sat down, handing the baby to the new mother.

"Your children are amazing Kagome. A full-blooded female youkai, a male with a miko's aura who appears to be human…it's unusual to say the least in this situation." She looked down at the new mother and couldn't help but smile. "You have a beautiful family started."

Kagome returned the smile warmly then looked down at her daughter, cooing sweetly as tears started forming in her eyes.

"She has beautiful eyes right now. It's seems a shame children don't keep the same eye color they're born with." She paused and smiled up at Kikyou. "Do you think they'll be her father's color?"

"Youkai children's eyes tend to stay with what they're born with. Hanyou's take their father's eyes. Your case is different, of course, so there is no way of knowing what the outcome will be." Kagome smiled as the child gripped her finger but gave no sign that she had heard Kikyou.

"They're so blue…like ice." She said softly, staring into her daughter's eyes. A moment later she whispered, "Koori." She looked up at Kikyou. "Koori, heiress of the Western Lands."

Kikyou reached over and lightly brushed her fingertips over the waxing blue moon on the child's forehead.

"Welcome Koori-sama." Kikyou said with a half smile. She watched as Kagome placed a gentle kiss on Koori's forehead then looked back up at Kikyou.

"Where is her father? Where is Sesshoumaru?" She asked, smiling slightly.

"With the boy. He is worried for him." Kikyou said quietly. The atmosphere over the manor was hushed and quiet as solemn as could be. There was no real reason to be so quiet but everyone just…was.

"Oh." Kagome said just as softly. "Is there any improvement?" Kikyou paused, debating whether to take the girls hand or not but she had never been one for physical contact.

"Yes. The boy will be fine but he still worries. The miko in him will take over. It happens to all mikos. It happened to me and most likely happened to you. It's quite common." Kagome nodded.

"Why does it happen though?"

"No one knows for sure. Some say it's a test. The powers are testing the soul or such. They say what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Perhaps that is the case." Kikyou smiled then patted the girl's hand. "He will be fine."

Kagome smiled and seemed to pull her daughter closer to her as she thought about it. She trusted Kikyou's word in the matter. Now she was intrigued. She wanted to ask her mother if she had experienced the same thing. Finally she turned to Kikyou and smiled.

"Would you call on Sesshoumaru for me? Tell him his mate is calling. If you have you, scare him." She said with a lopsided smile. Kikyou inclined her head to her and left, shutting the door quietly behind her.

A moment later Sesshoumaru come through the door, his eyes immediately falling on her. With a few quick strides he was at her side and lowering his self onto the bed next to her.

"Are you alright mate?" His usual blank voice asked softly. He showed no emotion but Kagome knew better.

"I'm fine. We're fine." He watched silently as Kagome resumed her cooing to the child in her arms. Without thinking Sesshoumaru reached forward and traced the moon on the girls forehead, unwittingly mimicking Kikyou's action.

"She is our heir." He said in an oddly detached voice. "She will need to be strong."

"She already is. As is her brother." She wanted to say more. Tell him to stop worrying but she knew it would be pointless. When he said nothing she decided to continue. "Kikyou assures me that what he's going through is normal. It apparently happens to all mikos."

"He is male." He said as if it cleared up the matter. Kagome smiled softly and put a hand on his arm. He didn't move for what seemed to be an eternity then finally met her eyes.

"It hasn't happened before, a male miko, I won't lie to you. However, it is possible. He won't be a miko per se but he will have the powers of one."

Again he said nothing but this time Kagome was going to make him speak. She waited in silence, just looking into his eyes beckoning him to speak.

He looked down, at the child in her arms. "How can you be certain? If it has not happened before then how can you know for certain?"

Kagome smiled when he finally looked up at her. "Logic, intuition." Her smile widened slightly. "Magic. Besides, I'm his mother. I can feel it in my heart that he's going to be alright. They're both strong in their own right." She leaned against him, her head falling to his shoulder. "And look at their parents."

"There are times, my mate, I envy your optimism." She moved to grin at him and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by a new voice.

"Join the club." Inuyasha said in his usual obstinant tone. "She's an enigma that's for sure." The couple looked at the hanyou in the doorway, one with a smile one a frown.

"I agree." Miroku's voice chimed in as he squeezed into the room past Inuyasha who glared at him. Sango followed soon after with Soramiru, Shippou, Kohaku, Kikyou and Kaede holding the male baby in her arms.

"Kagome-sama's optimism is what kept us going when the going got rough." Miroku said, a crooked smile on his face. Sango's eyes narrowed at him, sure he'd made a hentai remark but couldn't figure out what it was so she kept silent.

"Kagome-chan, congratulations!" Sango said with a smile. "Have you thought of names?" Kagome blushed slightly and turned to Sesshoumaru.

"Well our daughter is Koori." Sesshoumaru quirked a brow but said nothing. "I figured that since I named Koori that Sesshoumaru could name our son."

Inuyasha mumbled something to the effect of 'fitting name for the daughter of Sesshoumaru' and was reworded with an elbow to the ribs. He coughed slightly, which actually sounded more like a wheeze then gave his best innocent smile.

Kagome glared half-heartedly at him then looked at Sesshoumaru. "So…"

Sesshoumaru beckoned Kaede to him then took the boy from her arms. He seemed to analyze the boy thoroughly then looked up at Kagome. "Seichirou." Kagome smiled and nodded, lightly touching the boy's cheek.

"Koori and Seichirou. Heirs of the Western Lands." There was a sudden uproar among all those present. Shouted "Congratulations!" and a sudden wave of huggers that once again led Sesshoumaru to back away from and pretty much run for cover. He never did like massive displays of emotion…

~*~

"Momma!" Kagome yelled from across the yard. "Momma! Sesshoumaru will you come on?" Kagome huffed in annoyance as she waited for Sesshoumaru to jump up out of the well. Finally she just got fed up and just stomped away struggling to keep a firm hold on both babies who were slowly waking and about ready to start screaming their heads off. It had taken some help and a bit of maneuvering to get the children in her arms safely but she was beginning to get tired and her mate was too busy jumping in and out of the well, going from one time to the other like a child with a new toy. It was really getting on her nerves.

"Momma! Sesshoumaru for gods SAKE! Will you stop acting like a crazed pup and come help me with your children?" Finally Sesshoumaru jumped out of the well and away from it, toward Kagome. His eyes flicked to the woman walking quickly toward them as he took one of the babies away from Kagome.

"Kagome? Oh, dear. Those aren't both yours, I hope." Kagome couldn't hold back the blush.

"Momma, I told you we were expecting two." Kagome said off handedly as the child in her arms woke and started crying.

"Oh, dear. I didn't think you'd actually know. Well here give her to me." She held out her arms to Kagome.

"This is the boy Momma, Seichirou." She passed the bundle to her mother and watched as she cooed the child to blessed silence. Finally she turned her gaze to Kagome.

"And how are you sleeping?" Her eyes flicked to Sesshoumaru then to Kagome.

"Fine, for the most part." Kagome answered softly.

"And how are you healing?" She didn't look at her this time as she cooed the child in her arms, smiling more than can be considered normal.

"I'm fine, Momma. We're all fine."

"Of course you are darling. You always were strong." She looked back at Sesshoumaru. "I can't seem to bring myself to quite get over the fact that you tried to kill her more than once and yet now you hold her child. Your child."

"Well you know Momma, they say love works in mysterious ways." Kagome said with a shrug.

"That's God dear." Kagome frowned then rolled her eyes.

"Same thing." She said with a wave of her hand.

"Well come on then." Kagome and Sesshoumaru exchanged glances. "We have to have a party since you denied your mother a wedding shower, a wedding, a baby shower, a birth, and a naming ceremony."

"Uh, Momma…one's a full-blooded youkai and so is her father. I don't think that'll go over well with our friends."

"Hmmm, well then it'll just be Souta, Ji-chan and us." Kagome smiled softly.

"Momma, we need to get back soon. We have much to do in our--sengoku jidai…" Kagome frowned at her slip but it was almost too natural to say 'our time'. If Momma caught it she didn't say anything.

Momma smiled softly and touched her free hand to Kagome's face. "Just dinner, I promise." Kagome's eyes teared up.

"I'm coming back Momma. There will be many dinners." A single tear fell down her cheek.

"I know sweetheart." She said softly.

"Then why did you say it like it was going to be our last?" Kagome's heart fell when her mother looked down.

"You can't blame an old woman for being worried." When she looked back up Kagome almost dissolved to tears as she noticed a shinning in the corner of her mother's eyes. "You've grown so much. You're so strong now. Come, lets have dinner." Kagome dried her eyes and hugged her mother, careful of the child in her arms then nodded.

There would be other dinners she was certain. This was her time too, her home. Besides, her children needed to know their Grandmother.

Kagome paused and watched her mother try to make small talk with her mate and smiled slightly at how uncomfortable he looked. She swore he was going to growl when her mother moved to take Koori from his arms but he apparently thought better of it and let her take the child in her arms. Kagome's mother paused on the stairs and looked back to Kagome. With a final smile and a slight nod she proceeded up the stairs and out of sight.

Sesshoumaru turned to face her from the stairs and she started walking again, stopping at the foot of the stairs looking up at her mate. No words were spoken as they looked up at each other, their eyes conveying whatever emotion they were feeling. There was a kind of unspoken agreement that passed between them in that moment as the sun slowly fell behind the horizon, casting purple shadows everywhere.

Sesshoumaru slowly lifted his hand and held it upward in an offering. Without a word Kagome walked up and took his hand, smiling softly. It was the end of a decade long fight against evil…but it was just the beginning for the two unlikely lovers.

~*Owari*~

A/N: Koori - Ice, thus the comment about it being fitting for Sesshoumaru's child.

Seichirou - Aggressive and independent, what any child of Sesshoumaru and Kagome would be.

See! I didn't abandon it. It is, however, finished. No, I don't have any plans for a sequel. Yes, if I decided differently I will let you know. It was fun people but I still have the other stories under Napea if you really want to read more of my stories. If I left out anything please let me know. I hate forgetting things.

Sayonara…