Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Le Sigh…
Chapter 1
Kagome walked up to the hut apprehensively. It had been almost twenty years since she had last stepped foot inside. Everything looked much the same, except that now, instead of old Kaede sitting outside of the hut, there was a young woman weaving a basket. She was obviously a half demon, and even more obviously the offspring of Inuyasha and whomever he had found to replace Kagome in his life. Her hair was long and black, tipped in silver. She had cute sliver dog-ears atop her head and they twitched as her fingers flew.
"Excuse me," Kagome said, just as she finally reached the girl.
It was apparent that she had long been aware of Kagome's presence by the way she calmly looked up at her. The girl's eyes, she noticed, were a deeper shade of amber than her father's but they looked much the same. "Hello," she replied.
"Um… I was looking for Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, hesitantly. "Does he live here?"
"Yep," the girl responded. She stood up, brushing off her long skirt. "Papa!" she yelled. "There's someone here to see you!"
"Quit yelling at me Kita!" Kagome froze as Inuyasha shouted back from inside the hut. "If you've got something to say then come in here and say it."
The girl, Kita, heaved a sigh and walked into the hut. Her father was reclining against the back wall sharpening his faithful Tetsusaiga. "Papa," Kita said again, "there's a woman outside who wants to see you."
"A woman?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously. His heart sped up a little bit. It couldn't be.
"Yeah," his daughter responded. "And she looks just like Mama did. Except for her clothes. She's wearing the strangest clothes."
The whetstone dropped from Inuyasha's hand. She'd come back. Kagome had come back. She was nineteen years late, though, and Inuyasha refused to reopen old wounds. He picked up the sharpening tool again and went back to his sword. "Tell her to leave. It's too late." He told his daughter. "I… I can't do this again."
"Okay…" the girl replied. She had no idea what her father was talking about, or why this woman who looked so much like her mother was causing him such grief. Kita walked back outside to where Kagome was still standing. "He said that you have to leave." She told her.
Kagome recoiled. "Oh," she murmured. "Is that all he said?"
"He also said that it was too late and that he couldn't do it again. I don't know what he meant by that, but it probably has something to with the fact that you look like my mother."
"Y-your mother?" Kagome stammered. The only woman in this time that looked like her was Kikyo, and there was no way that she could have been this girl's mother. She was dead.
"Yeah," Kita was saying. "She died a while back. I was only five at the time."
"Kita!" Inuyasha yelled from the hut. "Stop talking to strange women and get inside!"
"Fine, Papa!" Kita yelled back. She turned to Kagome. "I'm sorry about that. He seems to be really upset."
"I-I can understand." Kagome said. "Tell him that I'll be staying with Miroku and Sango while I'm here, if he asks." She took one last look at the hut and began to walk away.
"Hey, um, excuse me!" Kita shouted after her. "Um, could I maybe get your name?"
"I'm Kagome."
"I'm Kita," the girl replied. "Do you think it would be okay if I came to see you at Uncle Miroku and Aunt Sango's?"
"It's fine with me." Kagome replied. "But Inuyasha…"
"I'll worry about him later," Kita said. "See you soon." Kagome nodded and walked on.
Inuyasha heard Kagome say that she was going to be staying with Sango and Miroku before he busied himself with sweeping the floor of his home so he wouldn't have to hear her voice anymore. "Nineteen years," he whispered to himself. It had been nineteen years since Kagome had last been with him. In all fairness, it was his own fault that she had gone back home in the first place, but she'd promised to come back.
Kita came back into the hut with her completed basket soon after. "Are you alright, Papa?" she asked.
Inuyasha grunted and continued his sweeping. "Where's your brother?" he snapped.
Kita rolled her eyes. "How am I supposed to know?" she retorted. "He said something about going into the next village."
"He'd better be back before nightfall." Inuyasha said. "I've told that boy about hanging out at all hours of the night gawking at the village girls. He gets more and more like Miroku every damn day."
"Papa, are you okay?" Kita asked.
"I'm fine!" Inuyasha growled. "I'm going for a walk. Get dinner started." With that, the half demon stormed from the hut. Kita shook her head and set about preparing dinner.
Meanwhile, Kagome had made it to Sango and Miroku's home. She had asked a villager where they lived. It seemed that everyone in town knew of the fallen monk and his demon slayer wife. Even more, they knew of the couple's two sons and one beautiful daughter.
Kagome took a deep breath and prepared to knock on the door of the hut when someone burst the door open. "Come back have you?" shouted the man. "You will leave immediately or suffer my wrath."
"Miroku?" Kagome inquired, slightly shocked. The monk hadn't changed much, his hair had grown a little longer and he'd released it from its usual strict ponytail. Now his blue eyes blazed with anger and he was brandishing his staff like sword.
At the sound of Kagome's voice, he looked at her. "Kagome?" he breathed. "Is it really you?"
Kagome nodded. "Yes, I've come back. And I'm sorry that it took so long and I'll completely understand if you never want to speak to me again-" she was cut off by Miroku throwing his arms around her.
"Kagome! I knew you would return!" Miroku exclaimed. He squeezed her once more and then let her go. "How did you know where to find us?"
"The villagers all know where you live." Kagome replied. She eyed the staff that Miroku was still holding. "Did I come at a bad time or something?"
Miroku leaned the staff against the hut. "No, I thought that you might have been another one of those village brats after my Kikara. She got her mother's good looks and every male in this village seems to know it." He shook his head. "But never mind that, come in. Sango will be overjoyed to see you, and you can meet the children." He took his old friend by the hand and led her inside. "Sango, come see who I found outside."
The demon slayer came around the corner. "Not another village boy I hope." She stopped dead when she saw who was accompanying her husband. "Kagome?"
Sango looked almost exactly the same as she had when Kagome had left. Her face was a little older, perhaps, but other than that, she was the same. "Sango!" Kagome cried and ran to her friend. The two embraced fiercely.
"Hey, how come I didn't get hugged like that?" Miroku joked. He shook his head as his wife and friend cried in each other's arms and went to find his children and Inuyasha's son.
Miroku didn't have long to look. Both his and Inuyasha's sons were outside sparring and his daughter was watching. "Hey, you four," he called. "Come inside for a moment, there's someone that you all should meet. Immediately, they stopped fighting and followed Miroku back inside to where Sango and Kagome were sitting on the floor talking.
"Oh, good, you found them, Miroku," Sango said. "All of you, this is Kagome. She is a dear friend. Miroku, Inuyasha and I all knew her long before any of you were born." She turned back to Kagome. "These are the kids." She pointed out her two sons and daughter. "Keigi and Sanosuke, our sons, and Kikara, our daughter." The boys looked a lot like their father and the young woman was very beautiful. "And that," Sango continued, pointing to the remaining young man, "is Inuyasha's son Taisho."
Kagome's eyes widened as she looked at Inuyasha's second child. He had his father's long silver hair and dog-ears, but those eyes were Kikyo's. There was no doubt about it now. Inuyasha had started a family with Kikyo - just as he'd always wanted to.
A/N: I haven't written an Inuyasha fic in ages. But this idea struck me and I want it to be really good. So I went out and got myself a beta reader. So thanks to Roses of Sharon for all her help on this.