"Hey, Kagome, that was Izayoi," Inuyasha commented, pushing the door aside.

"She said she saw the boys on her way back into the village, so…" Inuyasha's voice drifted off as he stilled the hands securing the door. He turned around to look over the woman beside the fire, curled under several blankets. He just stared for several more seconds, not daring to breathe, before a smile graced his lips with a chuckle. He nodded and finished securing the door. He grabbed a few sticks on his way to the firepit, tossing them in as he passed. He sat against the wall, watching the fire dance in front of him.

"It's really starting to feel like winter out there," he said after a few seconds. "I think we'll be getting snow sometime soon."

Inuyasha took a deep breath through his nose and immediately cringed. He shook his head.

"You remember when we were first married? God, even if we got the most pathetic dusting of snow, you always got so excited. You'd put on every bit of clothing you owned, and stay out playing in it like some little kid…" He rubbed his forehead.

"Stay out until you damn near got frostbite. Then you'd leave it up to me to make sure you didn't freeze…but damn if we didn't have fun getting warm," he gave, a suggestive edge to his voice.

He leaned forward to stare down at his lap.

"And…" he cleared his throat when his voice faultered. "And then the kids. That little girl of ours loves the snow just as much as you. It was madness worrying about both my girls losin' their toes."

His jaw began to quiver.

"And I always thought girls were easier."

He looked over at his wife. He sucked in a breath and let it out with a forced chuckle. "May- -maybe they're easier for someone who doesn't get so damned worried about them."

He crawled over to where Kagome lay. He sat right beside her and stared down at her lovely face. The face he had adored for years. She looked so sweet.

He gently tucked a strand of grey hair behind her ear. He held her cheek in his palm and delicately stroked her skin with his thumb. Her skin was so warm- -but Inuyasha knew it was not as warm as it was meant to be, and it was gradually getting cooler. With his other hand he lifted hers to his face, holding it to his damp cheek and letting tears continue down it.

He knew it would happen. Kagome had told him as the summer left that it would happen. He knew it, but he wasn't ready to accept it just now.

I was feeling a little sad. Not how it's going to happen in my longer stor(y)(ies).