I haven't been updating like I should. I spent the majority of the past month in Finals prep, and I have a comic book being published very soon. I'm very stressed right now, with being behind on the comic book, and when I'm stressed, all the sad things in life come forward full-force.

These Things Happen

He didn't go far. Far enough that he did not hear the morning shuffle as people awoke to begin to work the fields, but close enough that Miroku found him easily. He stood silently—the would have been father—staring up into the branches above. He moved nary a muscle as his friend of many years approached.

"Inuyasha. You need to come back."

Inuyasha remained silent, unaroused from his stupor. The wind blew through the branches above, making the leaves dance, creating moving pictures out of the heavens above. A play for Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, I've been tolerant long enough."

"What was it—I mean—what was it going to be?" His voice was monotone, the roughness of it was the only indicator of his state of mind.

"A girl."

Inuyasha's head slowly dipped from the trees. A scoff and a tug at the corners of his mouth did nothing to convince even Inuyasha that his attitude had changed.

"A little girl, huh?"

"Her soul will find another dwelling. It's not a common practice, but I did the rights of the Mizuko for you two."(*1)

Inuyasha nodded once in thanks.

"What went wrong?"

Miroku shook his head, "Well, sometimes—"

Inuyasha cut him off.

"I mean, one of us had to do something wrong, right?"

Miroku raised an eyebrow. Inuyasha turned to face him, finally. The expression he wore surprised the monk—it was anger. Not a deep rage, nor an annoyed expression—it was the hurt, seething underbelly of anger that was familiar to the monk. Suddenly Miroku found anger in his own blood, directed at the man before him.

"You don't blame Kagome. Do you? Is that why you walked away? Why you've been out here instead of with you wife—where you should be? That's ridiculous, Inuyasha." He tightened the grip of his staff, "She took good care of your child. Don't blame her for a second." The tone of his voice was fierce, a warning to those who question his truth. In this case, Inuyasha.

Inuyasha blinked, his expression sprouting confusion. Miroku was not one to jump on him so quickly.

"I… I never blamed her. Why would I?"

Anger still resided in the monk's face but the intensity lessened.

"That's what she thinks. Sango told me… Kagome thinks you're angry with her. She's a mess right now, and—dammit—she doesn't have you with her. How could you do something so stupid?"

"Shut up." The hanyou snapped. "Look at you. Four healthy children to dote on, how the hell could you tell me how to act when you don't have a clue how I'm feeling." He swallowed the rest of his words before they could make it out.

"Inuyasha?"

His brows knit. "I'm not mad at her okay. It's just… what went wrong? Why didn't it—she—get the chance to be born? She's part demon, a child like that should be strong. We were so close. If it were four months later…"

Miroku sighed. "These things just happen sometimes."

"But it shouldn't have. Kagome was taking care of herself. I, personally, made sure she was eating plenty, and resting properly. But then there's one thing…" Inuyasha shrugged.

"I've heard of many children being born to a human and a demon, but to a human and a half-demon? Maybe I just can't give her a child. "

"The fact that she carried the child this long tells me that's probably not the case."

Miroku rubbed his forehead. "It doesn't matter at the moment, anyway. What matters is that your wife feels terrible right now, and you just left her with those feelings, run off like a scared child."

Inuyasha stared at the ground.

"I don't know what else to do."

"Well," Miroku's tone was soft, just above a whisper. "Let's start with this; go back down to the village, and just be there for Kagome. If she wants to talk, talk to her, if she doesn't, then be kind to her wishes. I know it's rough for you, too, but she carried the Mizuko… you will recover from this. You have many years ahead of you. You two can have a child later on. Don't rush her though. If she wants to get started on another child right away—that's fine, but don't ask her until she's ready to talk about it."

She lay on her side, ignoring the rice as it cooked. She curled her legs up beside her, the air was still slightly chilled, but she did not want to crawl back under the covers. She had gotten used to frequent absences by her husband when he and the monk left for work, but she loved when she could lean against his warm chest on nippy mornings like this. But, her husband was not away to work today. She did not know where he was.

She laid a hand over her belly. There was a bit of extra skin there, but something was missing.

When she had started to show, Inuyasha had been the first to notice. He had wriggled his hands playfully into her clothes, and noticed how oddly firm her belly felt. He opened her clothes to inspect her middle, and sure enough, the change was just noticeable. She giggled when Inuyasha kissed her belly. He smiled and pulled himself up to kiss her forehead. He wore that same smile for the rest of the day.

But now he had been gone a full day—just as long as the firmness in her belly.

Kagome sat up, idly inspecting the rice. She scooped a little into her bowl and stared at it. She ate just a bite and stared at the bowl a while longer. She lifted her bowl back up and began scraping it back into the pot. She was not that hungry. She was no longer eating for two, so what did it matter if she skipped a meal?

The screen drew back as a missed face entered the room of the small hut. Kagome never felt his presence, and remained scraping the bowl.

"Kagome?"

The sound of her name drew her attention to the door. She exhaled sharply upon seeing her husband. He cautiously let the screen fall behind him.

"Inuyasha I…" she turned back to the pot, and began scooping rice back into the bowl.

"I, uh, wasn't sure if you'd be back today, so I just made enough for myself," she turned towards him, offering the bowl, "But I'm… not really hungry." She looked him in the eyes, and he looked back, deeply into hers. He still was not sure of what to do or say.

"I'm not hungry either."

Kagome looked away from him. She stared back into the rice bowl, setting it beside her. Inuyasha took the initiative and plopped himself down next to his wife. He grabbed the bowl and chopsticks and shoved a bite into his mouth. The next bit he picked up with the chopsticks and lifted it to Kagome's mouth.

"Hm?" She blinked at the rice before her.

"Open," he commanded gently.

She glanced at her husband.

"Come on," he urged.

She opened her mouth and took the food. Inuyasha took another bite before lifting a second biteful to Kagome's mouth.

"Inuyasha, this is—"

He plopped the food into her open mouth. Kagome shook her head as she chewed.

"Inuyasha, this is silly," she commented as she chewed, hand in front of her mouth.

"I know," Inuyasha replied. "Neither of us is hungry, but we've still got to eat something."

He smiled slightly.

Kagome tackled him. Inuyasha managed not to spill the food as he transferred the chopsticks to his left hand to adjoin the bowl. He wrapped his other hand around her back. She squeezed her arms tighter around his neck in return. He sighed heavily as he brought himself and Kagome back into a sitting position. Inuyasha set the bowl down at last. She continued to cling to him as not a word was said between the two. She never made a sound, but Inuyasha could feel the moisture on his neck, and smell the salt in it. He wrapped a second arm around Kagome. She sighed heavily when her husband turned his head to kiss behind her ear.

Rin followed Sango out, allowing Inuyasha back into the hut. Kagome lay on her side, her eyes were weary, but her face was peaceful. Inuyasha held his ears flat against his head as a reflex, though the noise level was relatively low. He smiled down to where Kagome was looking. The soft cries from the bundle were a lot less alarming than the shrieking Inuyasha expected to hear.

Kagome smiled as her husband came to sit beside her.

"White hair," Inuyasha remarked.

"And the eyes?"

Kagome chuckled. "She hasn't kept them open long enough for me to check."

Inuyasha looked over the face of the newborn baby girl. Human ears, hair thick and white already…but what was that? On her cheeks…were those faint purple markings—the same sort Inuyasha had when his demon blood took over? The baby was still flushed red; it was too soon to tell.

The screen at the doorway moved as a black haired child poked her head through.

"Come in, you two."

The toddler smiled and shoved her way past the screen. She was followed soon after by a taller, white-haired child. The older one—about ten—held the younger's shoulders so she did not get too excited. He walked the girl over to see their new sibling.

"Papa's hair," she commented.

Inuyasha nodded.

"Why are they red? That's not cute," she said, squinting.

"That's how all babies look at first," the oldest child told the middle, "They'll look cute in a few days."

The child cocked her head to the side, pondering the words.

The oldest looked towards Inuyasha.

"Boy or girl?"

"Girl," Kagome answered for him.

"Dammit."

Kagome scowled, "Arashi! There are little ears."(*2)

Arashi rolled his eyes, scoffing. Inuyasha pulled both older kids into his lap, the oldest via headlock. The girl giggled and the boy growled until his dad released him into the sitting position. The baby began to cry again at the commotion, Inuyasha lectured the boy about respect, Kagome rubbed her weary eyes, protesting that she wanted a nap, and the girl covered her dog ears at the loud noises.

It was a pretty noisy summer afternoon, but all-in-all, the family was happy the way things were now.

*1) A Mizuko is a "water child" in Buddhism, that's what unborn children are believed to be. The Mizuko Rites are actually not typically done until the late 1800s, but, there's a few web pages that say they date back much further. According to Wikipedia the modern version is to help grieving parents deal with the loss more than the unborn child's soul itself.

*2) I like the name "Arashi" the sound of it reminds me of both Inuyasha and Kagome's names, and it means "Storm". If the son is anything like the father, "Storm" certainly seems like a fitting name. It can also, if you break down the syllables, mean "a new story" like Inuyasha and Kagome's new chapter in life-them as parents. Yes, I quite like the name "Arashi".

My own mother miscarried at 5 months, and a friend at 17 weeks, recently. It was a very hard time for her and her husband, and I will probably never understand the emotions that go into a losing a pregancy. I know very little about the situation, I'm only carried by secondhand emotions through empathy.