All familiar properties belong to the owners of Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho. I own nothing and now I'm done futzing with their ideas.

Huge thanks goes to these fast reviewers: ultima-owner, kimmico, Alanna-sama, Fairy Demon26, Silversun XD, Lovelywitch and MollyBergstrom.

And officially, it's done. It was a blast. See you on the flip side.

Enjoy!

oOo

Epilogue:

Many, many years later:

Visiting Kouga and Ayame was always a treat. However, this time was different. Currently, Kagome and Kurama's daughter was finally able to join her parents. Appearing to be six years old in human years, she was wide-eyed and far too sharp for her parent's own good.

During the negotiations, Kouga's boisterous young son swept the little girl into a game and they both disappeared into the Western Fortress.

Kagome did not think too much of it until Kouga's son came barreling back into the room with her daughter's wrist clutched carefully in his little hand.

"She is my woman!" He puffed out his tiny chest.

All conversation stopped. Ayame dropped her teacup. Kagome's face paled. Kurama half-stood from his chair.

Kouga dissolved into howling laughter. "Like father, like son!"

"Kouga-kun!" Kagome admonished.

"It's harmless!" He cried.

"What-" Kurama snapped, "do you mean by that, Kouga-san?"

If possible, everyone froze. The ice in the fox's tone seemed to physically cool the air around him a couple of degrees.

"Y-you didn't tell him?" Ayame gasped.

Kouga and Kagome exchanged a panicked glance.

"It never came up!" Kagome defended shrilly.

"Please. Tell me." Kurama demanded.

Ayame stood and hustled over to her son. Picking him up, she scurried out of the room. Her message was clear.

You two deal with it.

Kurama gathered the light of his eyes into his lap and waited. She giggled and prodded at his stone features, not at all intimidated.

Kouga held up his hands. "I-It was a long time ago."

"Then you should have no problems enlightening me."

Kagome's forehead sunk into her hands. Well this was awkward.

oOo

Yukina made an extremely wonderful friend. Soft spoken words hid inner steel that Kagome admired. Unfortunately, it was only after Kuwabara's death that the two women managed to bond. Yukina missed him more than she admitted and found comfort in an old friend of his, even over a hundred years later. Kagome, whose lifespan had been elongated to match that of her husband's, took comfort in the fact that Yukina's life expectancy matched hers.

On this day, they wandered a market in the Makai. Kagome idly looked through the wares. Yukina enjoyed shopping more than the ambassador did and was haggling with a merchant over the price of a bolt of periwinkle silk. Unfortunately for the merchant, he did not realize that with her soft suggestions, she actually managed to lower the price significantly.

Everything seemed fine until an aura pricked at Kagome's senses.

Her head snapped up. Why did that aura seem so familiar?

Before she could puzzle it out, the aura was in front of her. Kagome startled and stood on her tiptoes to peer around the shoulders blocking her view. She grabbed Yukina's kimono sleeve and pulled her to safety.

Just beyond the strange newcomer, she could see a group of demons gathered. It was clear by their violently moving youki and expressions that they were up to no good.

Kagome sighed and stepped around the newcomer's drawn sword. She placed a hand on his arm and smiled serenely.

"Thank you, Sir. But I'm sure this group would hate to get in a fight with the Shikon Miko, right? I know I might look like a normal human tourist," she laughed self-depreciatingly, gesturing to her non-descript clothing.

The group froze, until the leader hissed out a warning and the hooligans scattered. The stranger blinked, straightened, and then scuttled backwards to bow deeply.

"I-I'm sorry, I just… I know those guys and they're always trouble and they were talking about you and…" He trailed off and laughed nervously. He sheathed his sword with only a little trouble. "I apologize, Miko-sama."

"It's okay." She smiled. The man in front of her was a hanyou by his aura, barely out of maturity. His eyes were very catlike and the tips of his ears were pointed and furry. "I'm Kagome and this is Yukina. May I know your name?"

The hanyou lifted his gaze a bit and his purple eyes widened as they caught on Yukina. Kagome smothered her smile in her kimono sleeve.

"I-I'm Itsuki, ma'am."

Hmm. Tree. Kagome spared a glance at the woman next to her. The beautiful demon's face was flushed. She looked like she had been struck by lightning.

"It's very nice to meet you, Itsuki." Kagome hummed. "Maybe you can show Yukina and me around the market? Having a bodyguard like you would certainly ease our fears."

Itsuki's face flashed with confusion, but he was no fool. Glancing at Yukina one last time, he readily agreed. So caught up in each other, neither youkai noticed when Kagome slipped away.

Her amused smile turned wistful. Clearly, he was not like his predecessor in many ways. In others, his old personality shined through so brightly, it was almost painful. It was clear; he was still tied to Yukina by the red string of fate. Now it would be up to Yukina herself to make a move.

Trees were steadfast and this one had been waiting a long time.

She made a note to tell her husband about this meeting. He would be overjoyed to see an old friend reborn.

oOo

*Notes: Kouga is toast.

"Itsuki" means tree. "Kuwabara" means mulberry field/tree and was the plot device that was used where he gave one of the best (and shortest) speeches in anime ever.

Kuwabara's speech if you're interested:

A mulberry is a tree, Kuwabara is a man and I'll prove it,
we all have to die when our time comes,
but if we do our duty we don't got regrets,
so taste a little piece of my sword Toguro!

Ciao!