124A/N: A handful to thank for reviews: AuthoressAurora17, Rukia's Reflection, Taraah36, xxdarienchibaloverxx, icegirljenni, and Esha Napoleon. And thank you to anyone who added this or its author to their lists. Oh my… Two years! I am now officially ashamed. Hopefully these coming out all at once will make up for it a bit.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Inuyasha characters, manga, anime, movies, etc. They belong by copyright laws to Rumiko Takahashi et al.
What Ifs and Plot Holes
Hail, Hail the Gang's All Here
Sango and Miroku watched Inuyasha pick himself off the ground and glare at his miko. Laughter escaped the married couple and they didn't bother to hide their amusement. When the dog demon's glare was sent their way, they merely grinned and began to make their way home, the other two following after a few moments.
Kohaku stood talking to Shippou and Rin, Sesshoumaru watching over the children with seeming reluctance. The twins and their little brother were busy playing as if nothing dangerous had occurred and Jaken was fending off their advances with little success.
"Thank you for watching the children, Kohaku," Sango said, although she knew the real babysitter. Not that she would say. Sesshoumaru might have become more tolerant of their presence in his life but he could still lose his temper over the tiniest bit of teasing.
"You're welcome, Aneue," he replied, petting Kirara on the head when she jumped into his arms. She might go with him now but if her sister needed her, she'd no doubt immediately run to her side.
"Sesshoumaru-sama helped," Rin defended loyally, looking up at her guardian with a wide smile.
"Hn."
"Yes, he did," Miroku agreed, a little surprised that the demon lord had helped. Although, perhaps Rin's presence in his home was the reason the taiyoukai was there and his kids had just benefited.
"No one was hurt?" Kagome asked, hugging Shippou tightly. He was a lot more independent now than he had been three and a half years ago but there were still times when he preferred to stick close to her.
"Nope!" Rin answered, shaking her head.
"Ridiculous," Sesshoumaru scoffed, recognizing too late the trap that she'd set for him.
"My mistake," the miko giggled. "Of course Nii-san would never allow anything to hurt the children."
"Your mouth has not improved since your return." Kagome just grinned at him and adjusted her bow and quiver.
"Keh, he's going to kill you one of these days, Kagome," Inuyasha put in, speaking for the first time since she'd said the kotodama.
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, contemplating just that. Finding that it wasn't worth it, he turned his gaze on the other woman. "I see that you can still wield that weapon."
"What, did you think that motherhood would make me soft?" Sango retorted, a bit miffed that he thought she'd put aside her father's teachings so easily. "Someone's going to have to teach the children how to slay demons when they're old enough." Sango placed Hiraikotsu against the house and stretched briefly. She might not have lost her edge but she didn't practice as often as she should either.
"I stand corrected," the demon lord allowed, a tug on his fur pelt drawing his attention to the two girls. Raising a brow in inquiry, he waited to see what they would do.
"Doggie?"
"Two doggies?" the second one asked. He had no idea who was who.
"Dog demon," he corrected, ignoring Jaken's shout of indignation.
"Doggie!" the first shouted and promptly wrapped herself in his fur.
The others watched the scene for several moments before giving in to their laughter. None of the inutachi were afraid that he would harm the toddler. While he may detest humans on basic principle, he seemed especially lenient with little girls. "Slayer, you will…" the demon lord gave a start of surprise and looked down at the child with wide eyes. She was sound asleep, a tiny trail of drool running down her mouth onto his fur.
A growl of anger rose in his throat but never made it past his lips. The other twin was tugging on Inuyasha's pants' leg and the other three human females present were cooing over the "cuteness" of Sango's daughter sound asleep in his pelt. Kirara looked at him with merriment but thankfully said nothing. "Let me take her," Miroku said, his smile softened now that he was looking at his daughter. "It has been an eventful day and the children need their rest."
Sharp grey-purple eyes didn't miss that although Sesshoumaru's face was filled with disgust, he was careful not to harm the child when he unwrapped her from her cocoon. "Hn," the taller man said and turned to leave.
"Leaving so soon?" Inuyasha asked, the other girl in his arms, also asleep. Their brother was nestled in his mother's embrace, too tired to even make a sound.
"I came to do what I needed to," his half-brother replied. "Rin, be good for the old priestess."
"Yes, my lord!" Rin waved goodbye, a smile on her face until both the demon lord and his servant were gone. Turning to Kohaku, she gave him an imploring look that the adults all zeroed in on. "Kohaku-kun, you can stay a little longer, can't you?"
"Uh…I really need…"
"Mew!" Kirara replied and jumped down to enter Sango and Miroku's. If the boy wanted to leave so bad, he'd have to walk away on his own.
"I guess I can stay a while…" the young man grudgingly agreed. He reluctantly followed Kirara inside, his brother-in-law and sister right behind him. Rin's smile blossomed across her face and Inuyasha snickered at Kohaku's reaction.
"I'm so glad you can stay a bit," Sango said, relieved that her brother wouldn't be taking off immediately. "Please have something to eat. Afterwards, you can help Miroku and Inuyasha fix our home."
"Oh, dear, that's right. That demon broke your wall," Kagome commented, looking towards the large opening.
"Uh…" her brother began.
"It's either that, or you can watch Komori and the twins again. I have more chores to do after this." Sango had to admit that she'd gotten a kick out of his panicked expression when she'd plopped the baby in his arms earlier. She knew he'd have liked to go after the demon himself but the instincts of a mother that she'd developed over the years had told her to protect him as well as her own. Plus, she'd wanted a chance to get back into the action. Even if it was only temporary, Sango wanted to stand beside her husband and fight, just as Kagome did with Inuyasha.
"I'll help Aniue," the younger taijiya said in capitulation. How had he gone from just stopping by to help with a demon to this?
"Excellent, thank you," Sango returned, hiding her smile. Turning to the others, she began dishing out their meals, thankful that it hadn't gotten too burnt to eat.
"You know, it was kind of nice, having everyone together again. We should do it more often," Kagome said, pouring tea for everyone.
Sango raised a brow but didn't say anything at first. She knew that it was a slight reprimand at her brother for not coming to visit as frequently as the miko thought he should. "It was rather interesting to be slaying demons together again although I would prefer that it wasn't right in front of my own house."
"Of course! I'd never want these sweet angels to get hurt," Kagome agreed, smiling softly at her friend's trio. "Having Nii-san and Kohaku-kun stop by really helped. It's good to have family you can count on." A faraway look entered the young woman's eye briefly before she focused back on the present.
"Keh," Inuyasha scoffed. "That jerk just stopped by because of Rin."
"If that were so he wouldn't have been standing on the house. He would have ordered someone to take Rin away or picked her up and stood guard over her himself. Since the children were vulnerable, he protected them. You really don't give him enough credit."
"Whatever the reason, I'm thankful," Miroku interjected before their arguing could become a full scale fight. He already had to fix a wall; he didn't want to need to redo the floor too.
"Anyway…" Sango began, "I did enjoy it. Perhaps something could be arranged. One day when the children are older…"
"Oh! Like a family reunion. Yes, that's an excellent idea."
The males exchanged looks and sighed in defeat. "We leave it in your capable hands, Kagome," Miroku said, a slight smile on his face. He had a feeling she'd get everyone together without much trouble.
"Me?" the miko asked, surprised.
"Of course, it's your idea," Inuyasha added. "It isn't like the jerk is going to agree if I ask him to come."
"He'll come if I ask him," Rin put in, smiling at the half demon.
"Yeah, we know. You've got him wrapped around your little finger. Fine, you'll be in charge of inviting Sesshoumaru."
"Okay."
"It's a deal. We'll plan to get everyone together in a few years." Kagome smiled, contented when she got nods of agreement.
Kohaku sighed, resigning himself to the fact that his sister was going to get her dearest wish whether he wanted to participate or not. Kirara would make him come and Inuyasha would track him down and drag him back by force if necessary on the off chance that he managed to get away from Kirara. There was also the elder dog demon brother to worry about. If he came across Lord Sesshoumaru, the demon lord would dangle him by his collar and fly him here just so that he wouldn't be alone in his misery.
It wasn't that he didn't miss his sister and want to see her; it was just that it was too crowded here for him. "I will come," he said quietly, unable to stop the slightly guilty feeling that came over him when his sister smiled brightly.
"I can't wait!" Rin said.
"Then it's settled."
Three years later in a field not far outside of Lady Kaede's village a gathering of humans, half demons, and demons celebrated their reunion and reaffirmed old friendships and alliances. Under the shade of a large tree at the edge of a clearing, a new mother patted her newborn's back lightly while gazing with nostalgia at the scene.
"Are you satisfied, Imouto?" a baritone voice asked, leaning against the far side of the tree.
"Yes, and wistful. I wish Jii-chan, Mama, and Souta could be here too."
"Why did they not come?" It wasn't that he was interested.
"Don't you know that I'm not from this time period originally, Nii-san? The Bone Eater's Well near the Goshinboku allowed Inuyasha and I to travel through time when we were on the quest for the shards. Once Naraku was defeated, it only allowed me to pass through once more to come back here to Inuyasha. I can only hope that one of the many demons I know and trust will be kind enough to go to them when my original era is here and tell my family what became of me, of us."
"Hn. We shall see."
Kagome smile as he walked away, content with the idea she had put in his head. She knew that he could be counted on to let her family know the truth. "Well, come on, little one. Let's go rejoin your papa. If we don't, he may start fighting with Kouga again." She leaned down and kissed the top of a downy head and stood. He was a miracle and a gift and she would do everything in her power to let him know that he was wanted and that he had a lot of family that loved him.
Inuyasha held out one arm for her as she approached, never taking his eyes off of the wolf demon. One ear canted towards her to check on her and the baby, a small sniff satisfying him that all was well. "What did Sesshoumaru want?"
"Nothing, he just protected me while I fed our son. He's a lot like you. I guess he just wanted to make sure nothing snuck up on me."
"Che, nothing is sneaking up on this crowd," Kouga scoffed, his two close friends nodding. "Suicide to try."
"True," she mused. "Say, have either of you seen Shippou? He wanted to hold Eiji."
"I think he was playing with Miroku's brood."
"Ah," she said quietly, shifting the infant gently. "Good, then everyone made it. I was afraid someone wouldn't be able to."
"With you as the organizer, how could we not?" Ginta asked.
"Wolf's right. You're the glue that holds us together, Kagome. Without you, we'd never be allies." Inuyasha tightened his arm around her and finally looked down at the raven hair he'd fallen in love with years ago. Twinkling eyes met his and he couldn't hold back a small smile.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Family should stay together, don't you think, guys?" Looking between the three wolf demons and her husband, she pretended innocence when they tried not to gag at the thought of being family.
"Of course, Kagome," Kouga finally managed, hearing his mate giggle from somewhere behind him. Ayame was going to tease him mercilessly for days because of this.
"I'm so glad."
The demons just nodded and tried not to think of something else. They couldn't very well anger her. Motherhood might have softened her but it has also made her temper slightly erratic. There really was no telling what would set her off.
"Keh," Inuyasha uttered, unable to think of anything else.
"We'll have to plan another for next year." While the four men choked on nothing, Ayame laughed hysterically and passed on the message.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted but didn't have the heart to say anything else. His beautiful miko laughed joyously and he'd put up with all manner of things to hear that for the rest of his life.
Kagome Higurashi had been the one to release him from an endless sleep and battled the worst demons in history to put together a tainted jewel. It was only fair that she got anything her heart desired.
Even if that meant he had to put up with his brother and Kouga.
A/N: Eiji means two protectors.