InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Palm of Your Hand ❯ Tea for the Tillerman ( Epilogue )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, not me. I'm just having fun and making no money doing it.

Epilogue

Ru was feeling something completely foreign to him; unpleasant sensations that he had never felt before in his long life.

He had been so distracted that he missed his bus stop, a stop he had made thousands of times before. As he backtracked on foot the few blocks he had overshot, he could feel his heartbeat in every finger and every toe. He stood there in front of the sparkling chrome and glass doors, clasping and unclasping sweaty palms. Hesitantly, he reached forward and grabbed the handle. As he pulled open the doors, he thought they seemed larger than he remembered. More imposing. Heavier.

His ride in the elevator was exceptionally unpleasant. The motion doing nothing to settle his stomach, which seemed to have jumped up into his throat of it's own volition. He glanced at his reflection in the polished steel walls, running his hands through his hair, which he still kept short. He suddenly wished that he hadn't. 'He'll hate that I cut it...'

When he exited the elevators he immediately saw the familiar, heavy oak door that he hadn't seen in almost eighteen years. He made his way toward it, while several silent observers watched his trek, some he recognized and some he did not. As he pushed down on the handle with a shaky hand, he couldn't help but feel more alive than he had since he had taken his first breath.

When he opened the door, the man behind the desk was already standing, no doubt having caught his scent the second he stepped off the elevator. Still, the look on his face was one of disbelief; as if he were, for the first time in his life, doubting what his own nose was telling him.

Ru took a deep breath and swallowed thickly. "Hi, Dad." he said, his voice quaking ever so slightly.

"Hello, Ru." Sesshomaru greeted back hesitantly. Several uncomfortable seconds of silence passed between them. "It is good to…"

"Listen," Ru cut him off unintentionally. "I just…" the room suddenly felt as if it didn't contain quite enough oxygen for the two of them. "I moved back to Tokyo." he said simply.

"I'm glad." Sesshomaru said as he made his way around his desk to stand before his son. His movements were slow and cautious, as if attempting to catch a feral kitten.

"I just came here to see you because…" he paused and lifted his head to meet his father's eyes. "I...I'm sorry... I just wanted to tell you that. Lately I've been thinking about a lot of things and…" he looked back down to the floor and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I think I may have messed up. I mean...I know I did. I acted selfishly... and I'm sorry. I was insecure and...I guess I just so badly wanted you to be proud of me… but I shouldn't have let myself be defined by that. By your approval or disapproval."

"I am proud of you, son." Sesshomaru asserted.

Ru let out a quiet sigh. "You know, it wouldn't have killed you to tell me that every once in awhile. It would have been nice to hear my dad say that he was proud of me, or that he loved me, or that he even gave a shit about me once in my life." Ru said, already letting go of the emotions that he had swore to keep in check.

"You want me to be someone that I'm not? That is something I never once asked of you, Subaru." Sesshomaru retorted. "It was never my intention to make you feel as though I didn't care about you. There is nothing more important to me than my mate and children."

"Yeah...your mate and your children..." Ru said wryly.

"And you do not consider yourself to be one of my children?" Sesshomaru asked, furrowing his brow.

"The whole reason I was born was to be a clone of you… and I'm nothing like you! I only exist because you wanted a backup, and obviously I'm a failure at that, so what good am I to you?"

"What good are you to me?" Sesshomaru snapped back, exceedingly rare emotion breaking into his voice. "Ru, I never intended for you to be a clone of me. You are my son. I am sorry if the circumstances of your birth led you to believe that I would ever consider you anything less."

"Well, how would you have felt if you'd have been in my shoes?"

"I was in your shoes." Sesshomaru said as he took a seat in one of the chairs sitting in front of his desk. "You forget, Ru, that my situation wasn't all that different from your own."

"And did you feel like your dad loved Yash more than you?" Ru asked as he slowly took a seat in the chair next to his father.

"I didn't give much thought to such things as love in those days… but yes, at that time I felt that I was treated unfairly. I felt that InuYasha was given the superior inheritance, while I was given a sword I deemed useless. The very same sword that ultimately restored your mother's life...but you couldn't have convinced me at the time I received it, that I would owe my entire life to Tenseiga."

"Hindsight's twenty-twenty." Ru said, letting out a mirthless chuckle.

"Yes." Sesshomaru said. "It certainly is…"

"Have you ever told Mom that you love her?" Ru asked frankly.

"I have never felt it necessary. Rather, I strive to make it apparent." Sesshomaru answered honestly. "And I can assume I have been successful thus far, as she has never expressed the desire to hear the words."

Ru nodded. "Well...It was never apparent to me, Dad...just so you know." he said solemnly.

"Then I am sorry that I failed you."

"You haven't failed me yet." Ru said, raising his head to meet his father's eyes.

For a few moments the two men sat, eyes locked, silent understanding passing between them.

"And how do you envision our relationship moving forward?" Sesshomaru asked, breaking the silence.

"Well for starters, you could try talking to me like I'm your son and not a business associate." he said chuckled.

"Would you prefer if I spoke more like your uncle?" his father asked dryly.

'Is he making a joke?' Ru thought in awe. "Well, I won't lie to you, it would be hilarious..." he grinned. "But no...I won't ask you to be anything you're not."

"Good…" Sesshomaru smirked. "because I'd fucking hate it."

At that, Ru belted out a laugh. He couldn't remember ever hearing his dad make an intentional joke before. 'Maybe this separation was good for both of us afterall.'

"So... we're okay, right?" Ru said in a more serious tone, motioning back and forth between them with his hand.

"Are you okay?" his father asked him.

Ru nodded.

"Then I'm okay..." Sesshomaru said. "And I assume, since my phone isn't ringing, that you haven't yet told your mother that you are back home."

"Nope. I haven't been to see her yet."

"She will be very happy."

"Yeah, I might stop and buy a set of earplugs on the way over." Ru chuckled.

"That might be a good idea." Sesshomaru smiled ever so slightly at the thought of his mate's happiness as he stood from his chair.

Ru followed his father's lead and rose to his feet. "Well, I'm gonna get a move on. I've got a lot of stops to make today...I'll probably see you later tonight, when I visit Mom…"

The two men stood in awkward silence for several seconds.

"Are you waiting for me to hug you?" Sesshomaru asked his son. "Because I will." he finished seriously.

"Uh...no, no I'm not." Ru said honestly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

Sesshomaru nodded. "It's good to have you back home, son."

"It's good to be home." Ru said, returning the nod, before turning to the door without another word; exiting his father's office, and entering a new phase of his life. The hard part was over.

As he stepped back into the elevator, he smiled to himself. 'It's going to be a good day.'

<<>>

"My back is killing me." Kagome whined, both hands on her lower back as she arched forward.

"You know you can just ask me to rub your back. That hint dropping crap is annoying." InuYasha said as he grabbed her shoulders and directed her to take a seat at the kitchen table.

"I wasn't hinting. You just offered because you are such a good husband." she chirped as she turned and grabbed him under his chin, squeezing his cheeks between her fingers and thumb and softly kissing him, his coarse facial hair tickling her upper lip. Her nose crinkled at the sensation. "You need to shave that, or I'm gonna stop kissing you." she teased as she turned the chair around to sit straddling the back. Her head resting against her forearms on top of the backrest. InuYasha was currently on a vacation from work, and had seized the opportunity to allow himself this temporary display of machismo. Kagome made sure to voice her disapproval of it at least once a day.

InuYasha smirked as he knelt down behind her, sliding his hands under her shirt and gently massaging her lower back.

"Harder." Kagome pleaded.

He marginally increased the pressure.

"Ow!" Her whole body went rigid. "Too hard!"

He lightened up.

After several seconds she spoke up again. "Can you do it just a little bit harder, please?"

He rolled his eyes and increased the pressure again ever so slightly.

She hissed through her teeth.

InuYasha sighed as he dropped his forehead against her back. "Is there a problem, sweetheart?" he mumbled wryly.

"Could you let up just a little bit? You're gonna bruise me." she whined.

This had been the state of affairs for the last couple of weeks. She was constantly cranky and impossible to satisfy. InuYasha had been rolling his eyes so much he was starting to worry that they actually were going to stick that way.

"Is this better?" he asked after changing the pressure yet again.

"Well…"

They were interrupted by the jingle of a video call coming in on Kagome's laptop.

"Oh! Will you bring my computer over here?" she asked him.

'Saved by the bell.' he thought. "Yes, Master." he grumped as he rose to his feet. He retrieved the laptop and placed it on the table before her.

"I told you I prefer 'Mistress'." Kagome joked as she answered the incoming call, Ru's face popping up on the screen.

"Geez, can't you guys cut out the kinky shit long enough to answer a call?" Ru immediately started in on the teasing. "You know you can't put another baby in there until you're finished cooking that one, right?"

"Shut it, Ru. Don't make me come through this screen." she mock-threatened him.

Shortly after returning to Tokyo, Kagome and InuYasha had discovered, quite by accident, that InuYasha's youkai blood would sometimes rise to the surface under the right intimate conditions. It worried InuYasha, at first; Kagome, on the other hand, had immediately found it to be quite the thrilling experience. Unlike his full transformations that would occur when his life was in danger, he seemed to be able to remember most of what transpired; although, he still didn't have total control of himself in this state, and Tessaiga didn't seem to hold any power over it whatsoever. He described the feeling as being 'completely hammered, and completely sober at the same time'. They had learned, also by accident, that this particularly uninhibited version of InuYasha didn't seem to comprehend the importance of condoms, and would remove them, quite literally, behind Kagome's back.

InuYasha had initially been mortified at his actions, until Kagome assured him that she was ready to have a baby, and she had been planning to talk to him about it.

They spent the next several days making sure that if she did get pregnant, it wouldn't be by accident.

Still, Kagome couldn't help but wonder if this child was going to be a true hanyou like his father, or a quarter youkai like his sisters.

"So, how's my boy?" Ru asked smiling.

"Huge!" Kagome answered. She stood up, turning to the side and lifting her shirt to expose her firm, round belly.

Ru chuckled. "Looks like little 'Subaru Takahashi Junior' is gonna be here any day now!"

"Oi! Kagome, put your shirt down." InuYasha scolded gently as he came into the camera's view. Kagome sat back down in the chair and InuYasha leaned over her shoulder. "Ru, if I hear you make that fucking joke one more time, I'm gonna come through that screen, and I'll make sure there won't ever be any Subaru Takahashi Juniors!"

"You do know that you can't actually come through the screen, right? It's just a figure of speech." Ru said, barely containing his mirth.

"Keh!" InuYasha scoffed at the insult to his intelligence.

Kagome and Ru both giggled.

"I can't believe you let that neanderthal put a baby in you, Kagome." Ru teased.

"KEH!" InuYasha crossed his arms and turned away, scowling.

"Be nice, Ru." she scolded. "Besides, I'm actually kinda starting to like it…" she said smiling as she ran her hand across her husband's scruffy black beard. "It's growing on me…"

"So can I keep it then?" InuYasha asked hopefully.

"Oh, gods no. I was just trying to be nice." Kagome chuckled. InuYasha's ears drooped as he immediately deflated. "Besides, do you think your brother would let you come into work looking like that?"

"No, 'cause he's jealous that he can't grow one." InuYasha said, frowning smugly. Ru belted out a laugh.

"Oh, shut up, Ru. You're just jealous, too." InuYasha barked as he strode out of view.

Ru smirked. Although he was kind of jealous...he wished he could grow a beard…

"Well, how much longer have you got before you pop out that baby?" Ru asked.

"Well, the doctor says it could be anytime, but my due date is September eighth. So that's…" Kagome paused, lips counting silent numbers. "Only five days. I'll probably be single by then, though. Yash is gonna divorce me any day now, I'm just sure of it."

"That ain't funny, woman." InuYasha cut in.

She giggled. "I know it isn't funny. Little Subaru Junior is going to grow up without a father." she said as she rubbed her distended belly.

"KA-GO-ME…" InuYasha ground out through his teeth. He quickly scooped her up in his arms, sitting down in the chair with her in his lap and one arm around her waist. She kicked and giggled as his free hand began squeezing her ticklish kneecaps.

"NO!" she screamed through her giggles. "STOP! I-I can't hold it!" she said cryptically.

By the time InuYasha realized what she was talking about, he could already feel a warm wet sensation spreading across his lap. He let out a gasp. "You peed on me!" he said in shock.

A loud bark of laughter erupted through the computer speakers.

"Well, I said I couldn't hold it!" Kagome yelled.

InuYasha couldn't help but break out into laughter himself.

"I can see I've interrupted something here." Ru chuckled. "Maybe I'll just call back another time."

InuYasha stood and sat Kagome on her feet. "I'm gonna go change my pants." he said as he headed off in the direction of the bedroom.

"Are you going to visit when the baby gets here?" Kagome asked Ru hopefully.

"Yes." he said simply.

"Is that a 'Ru yes' or a 'real yes'." she asked.

"It's a 'real Ru yes'." he said grinning.

"I'm gonna hold you to that." she said.

"I'll see you soon." he smiled.

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too, bye."

"Bye."

The call disconnected and Kagome shut her laptop and headed for the bathroom to wash up and get changed.

No sooner than she had finished doing so did the doorbell ring. She immediately perked up with excitement.

"It can't be food if you haven't ordered anything." InuYasha called to her teasingly as he walked past the bathroom toward the front door.

"Ohh…" she said, visibly deflating.

InuYasha couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. "But I'll go out and get you whatever you want after I get rid of whoever this is." he said. He knew who it was. He had smelled him before the door bell even rang.

"Caramel apples!!" she squealed.

InuYasha huffed. 'Where the hell am I gonna find caramel apples? Maybe one of the girls know how to make them...' he thought as he flung open the door.

Almost faster than his eyes could perceive, Ru lunged at him. In an attempt to avoid Ru's advances, InuYasha darted backwards, only succeeding in tripping himself over an end table and taking a lamp with him as he and Ru crashed to the floor. Before he could get back to his feet, Ru had all four of his uncle's limbs pinned to the ground with his own, and then he leaned down and planted a theatrically loud kiss right on InuYasha's lips.

"MUAH!"

For a moment Kagome was startled, until she rounded the corner from the hallway and saw just who it was that was attacking her mate. She cracked a huge smile as she watch the scuffle unfold.

InuYasha let out a loud growl, struggling valiantly to break free as Ru erupted into a fit of giggles. "YOU DUMBASS!" InuYasha shouted.

"Ooh, calm down, Yash. I just couldn't resist this face!" Ru said as he pinched his uncle's cheeks before roughly scuffing them with his knuckles.

InuYasha turned his head and snapped at Ru's hand, missing by a hair. "GET. OFF. ME!" InuYasha shouted as he took advantage of his free arms to try and choke his nephew.

Ru easily deflected his attack and in a split second had InuYasha's arms again pinned at his sides.

"Who's rusty now, huh old man?" Ru leaned down to taunt him..

InuYasha seized the opportunity to head-butt Ru; their skulls meeting with a loud crack.

"Okay boys, break it up." Kagome finally intervened.

Ru rose to his feet, releasing InuYasha from his hold, desperately fighting the urge to rub his forehead.

"Well, well, well." Ru said as he approached her. "What have we here?" He clicked his tongue and shook his head in mock disapproval. "I leave you alone for one second and you go and get yourself in trouble." he said, placing a hand on her belly. The baby chose just that second to push some appendage directly against his cousin's hand. Ru's mouth dropped open and he raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "You see! I'm already his favorite!" he said enthusiastically.

"No, he's trying to push you away." InuYasha interjected as he slowly rose to his feet. Trying to cover up the fact that he had almost knocked himself unconscious in his effort to overpower Ru.

Ru and Kagome chuckled.

"Are you sure there aren't two in there?" Ru asked. "Yash rolls doubles, you know."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "I'm sure." she said flatly, aware that the comment was a joke about her size. "I can't believe you actually came." she said, changing the subject. "No offense, but I was for sure you'd flake out on me."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world, Kagome." he said sincerely as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a hug. She squeezed his waist in return as he breathed in deep of her scent. He lingered a little longer than he probably should have. She just smelled so...good. He felt a sharp pang of... something…in his chest. Some emotion he had never felt before. He shook it from his mind. 'What the fuck? Damn emotional day is getting to me...'

"All right, that's about enough!" InuYasha barked.

"InuYasha, calm down please." Kagome said patiently as she and Ru broke their embrace.

"That was his timer going off, Kagome. He can't help it." Ru joked.

"So Ru, how long are you staying?" Kagome asked him.

"Indefinitely." he stated simply.

"Are you moving back?" she asked in shock.

"No... I moved back already." he corrected.

Kagome gasped. "What?! When?" she shrieked.

"Just like a couple days ago." he said casually.

Kagome was bubbling with excitement.

"Does your mother know?" InuYasha asked.

"No, I'm going to see her after I leave here."

"What about…"

"My dad?" Ru finished for him. "We talked." was all he said.

Kagome's eyebrows shot up. "So everything's okay then…?"

"It will be." he replied shortly.

She knew prodding him wouldn't do any good. They would talk about it only when and if he was ready to talk about it.

"Anyways," Ru continued. "I have something I wanted to show you." he said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small stack of white pages that were rolled into a tight cylinder. He walked over to the dining room table and smoothed the coiled pages as best he could.

Kagome's eyes went wide and a smile broke out across her face when she saw what was on them. "It's us?" she said awestruck.

"Yep. I told you I was going to write a book didn't I?"

"Ru, this is amazing..." she said as she ran her fingers across the blocks of black and white drawings. "Are you going to try to get it published?"

"I sent a copy to a manga publisher weeks ago and they want to pick it up as a weekly series."

Kagome let out a loud gasp. "Get out!" she said, pushing him playfully. "You're messing with me aren't you?!"

"No, for once I'm being dead serious. I was thinking maybe you could help me write it."

"I'd love to help!" she said, bouncing with excitement as she sifted through the pages, looking at Ru's cartoon depictions of them.

"Don't bounce around too much Kagome, you might end up in the basement." Ru joked.

If looks could kill, Kagome would have reduced Ru to ash in that instant.

"What are you, some kind of a wise guy?!" she ground out through her teeth.

"Uh...what I meant to say was...you look so pretty..." Ru backtracked as he chuckled nervously.

"That's what I thought." she said, glaring at him before picking up the pages from the table and thumbing through them.

InuYasha was thoroughly enjoying seeing someone else incur her wrath for once.

"This is crazy… did you see this, Yash?" Kagome turned to InuYasha, who had come to stand beside her.

He nodded, but remained silent.

She flipped to the next page to find herself looking at an image of Kikyo; her bow raised, arrow drawn; her face twisted in anger. "How did you know how everyone looked? Some of these people you could never have met." Kagome asked.

"I worked from portraits I had Shippo draw up for me from memory." Ru answered.

"Ah…" Kagome nodded. She watched carefully as InuYasha picked up the colorful title page from the table, his eyes scanning it contemplatively.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him as he looked over the pages in her hands.

"I was just kinda wondering whether or not your mom might still have some of those short little skirts you used to wear." InuYasha said, smirking as he looked over the page.

"Why you!" she punched InuYasha's arm playfully and Ru belted out a laugh.

"I missed this." Ru said.

"We missed you too." Kagome said as she wrapped one arm around his waist in a side-hug.

<<>>

InuYasha slipped quietly into the dark bedroom where his very pregnant mate already lay sleeping. He stealthily removed his clothes and slid into the bed, trying his best not to wake her as he snuggled against her, back to chest.

Almost immediately she began to stir. He propped up on his elbow to look down on her as her head turned toward him and her eyes fluttered open.

"Hi." she greeted him sleepily. She could just barely make out his features in the very dim light of the bedroom.

"Hey. I didn't mean to wake you." he said as he swept a loose strand of hair from her face with his clawless fingers.

"It's okay. I was hoping you'd come to bed early and cuddle with me."

"Well, why didn't ya just ask?" he said as he leaned down and nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck.

"It's not as good if I have to ask." she giggled. "I like surprise cuddles."

He turned his head and kissed her shoulder. "Go back to sleep."

"Kiss me." she said, turning her head toward him, and he swiftly obeyed. Pressing several soft kisses against her lips.

"Mmm…" she cooed as she ran a hand across his smooth cheek. "You shaved." she said smiling.

"I didn't want you to stop kissing me." he said with a chuckle.

"I'll never stop kissing you." she said as she slid a hand behind his neck, pulling him back down to her and kissing him more deeply. Breathing in his scent of cedar trees, and tasting that watermelon kiddie toothpaste that she had grown to crave. She let out a quiet moan as she slid her tongue against his for a better taste; one hand gliding, almost instinctively, to the top of his head, grasping at air when an ear was nowhere to be found.

"What are you up to sneaky little wench?" InuYasha said barely above a whisper.

"I want you." Kagome whispered back, pulling him back to her lips.

InuYasha hesitantly broke the kiss a second time. "Can we wait until morning?" he asked her.

She let out a little whine. "Why?" she pouted, his resolve almost crumbling against his better judgement.

"I don't want to take any chances of you going into labor tonight. I want to have my senses when the baby is born if I can help it."

She sighed quietly. "O-kay." she conceded, pressing her lips to his in one final, chaste kiss.

"Goodnight, Kagome." he whispered when they pulled apart.

"Goodnight, InuYasha." she returned before releasing him and snuggling back against him.

Many nights, InuYasha would lie awake watching her sleep. It always reminded him of times long passed, when he would watch her sleep beneath the stars; her face illuminated by the flickering incandescent glow of the fire. Secretly falling in love with her while she secretly dreamed of him. He often wondered, if he had it to do over, knowing what he knows now, would he change a thing?

Hell yes, he would.

He would wake her up, and tell her he loved her, and kiss her senseless. He wouldn't waste one second of the precious time he had with her.

But he didn't have it all to do over, and that was okay, because everything was just as it should be.

He never asked her if she would still have chosen him as her mate had Ru been an option. He no longer felt the need to. Her love was always shining through his insecurities to illuminate the dark places in his heart. Every night when she fell asleep in his arms and every morning when they awoke. When he argued with her, and when he made love to her, both with a fire that only she could ignite. When they saw the black and white image of the life they had created, and heard his tiny heart beating for the first time… It was in those moments he knew that every piece of her heart was reserved only for him.

It was in those moments that he forgot about the five hundred lonely years without her.

It was in those moments that he knew he was her first choice.

<<>>The End<<>>

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Author's Note:

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To everyone who read, and everyone who reviewed, and everyone who will read and/or review in the future, thanks. Big time.

I was so nervous to post this story and you all gave me the confidence to keep going.

I know there was room for so much more in this story, but I didn't want to force out a bunch of crap. That's how you get hemorrhoids…

That's not to say I wouldn't be open to writing a sequel or possibly one shots set within this universe if the inspiration strikes. Although, I have no plans to do so as of right now.

Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. It was fun.

Have a glorious day,

StoatsandWeasels