AN: So sorry for how long this took - but University is hard! Also - this chapter goes pretty heavy on angst... ugh I hate myself.

Soundtrack:

Brothers Under The Sun - Bryan Adams

This Land - Lion King OST

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters!

Sesshomaru didn't return, and, despite Touga's continued reassurance that he would be fine, Kagome couldn't help but worry about him. He had seemed so upset, more than upset, he had seemed hurt. Genuinely. Determined to take her mind off of his older son's distress, Touga began to gently steer her away with promises of going to cajole Sesshomaru later.

"I get the feeling that there's more to this whole 'married to my son business,' than you're telling me." He said softly, golden gaze peering at her guardedly.

They had stopped, on her request to rest for a while in an open clearing that reminded her strongly of the one she had first seen Inuyasha and Kikyo together in. Thinking of the hurt she had felt at that point, the confusion, vulnerability - the all-consuming jealousy she'd felt towards Kikyo was a wonder in itself. Before meeting Inuyasha, she hadn't known she could even experience emotions with that much depth.

"There's so much more," she whispered, in awe of how far she and Inuyasha had travelled together, the roadblocks they had overcome, "much more than I could ever begin to describe to you."

"Try."

That one word seemed to open the floodgates for Kagome and suddenly she needed for Touga to know Inuyasha. Know the son he had given his life for. Prove to him that his sacrifice wasn't in vain, Inuyasha was worth all of that and so much more.

"His name is Inuyasha," she began, glancing upwards to look into Touga's eyes, "and he's the strongest man I've ever met."

"The path I walk is one of supreme conquest..."

"Would you murder me...your own father?"

"Have you someone to protect?"

"I have no need of such a thing..."

"...your own father?"

Snarling at the memories his father's name brought up, Sesshomaru turned away from the hanyou who was staring expectantly at him, waiting for an answer to his earlier statement.

"Ey bastard! You said you know where that well took Kagome? Well?!"

Choosing to ignore the impertinence in his brother's tone, Sesshomaru sighed deeply, resisting the urge to punch the younger inuyōkai in the jaw.

"You would not be able to fathom a concept as such. This one suggests you leave it be." He ground out, taking pleasure in the anger crossing Inuyasha's face. He was so volatile, easily upset. So much like -

Pathetic. He was pathetic.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Sesshomaru. Tell me where the fuck she is!"

Hidden beneath the anger and dangerous levels of aggression, Sesshomaru could see the worry in the hanyou's gaze. To care for another with such abandon that their lack of presence caused such an upset - deplorable. A weakness that he would never partake in.

"Your mate has been taken to the times in which our father, whose name you so easily sully, walked these lands. She is under his protection now."

Ignoring his spluttering younger sibling, Sesshomaru turned away, needing a moment to put his thoughts into order.

Even dead, speaking of his father never failed to shake the very ground on which Sesshomaru stood.

"Inuyasha? Dog Demon? What idiot named the poor pup that?"

Kagome rolled her eyes at the immediate interruption, but hadn't expected any less.

"You did." She snapped back and watched as Touga's indignant expression faded into thoughtfulness.

"Hnnn, yeah I guess that's not such a surprise after all..."

Groaning loudly, Kagome pressed her face into her hands. How on earth had this man been the most powerful, terrifying demon around?

"I mean….There's a reason I wasn't allowed to name Sesshomaru..."

"Are you going to listen to me or not?" She growled. Flinching slightly before he could hide it, Touga nodded with an air of regality.

"Hnnn. Continue."

Realizing what she'd have to say next, it was Kagome's turn to flinch as dread welled up within her. She didn't want to have to attack her husband's father - but his reaction to her next words could seal his fate.

"Inuyasha is... He's a half-demon."

She kept her eyes tightly shut in order to avoid making eye contact with the demon that she was sure was incredibly displeased by the news.

"...is that another weird human woman thing you do? The keeping your eyes firmly shut? Where I come from, eye contact in a conversation is pivotal - quite rude of you to just-"

"Wait - I just gave you the most important news of your life and you're just gonna brush it off like that -" Kagome began, shocked by Touga's continued calmness.

"No - the most important news you gave me was that I would have another child. Whether he's a half-demon, quarter-demon, a bloody raccoon dog, it makes no difference to me. He is my son. That is all."

If she thought the words alone would have made her cry, the tone they were delivered in was absolutely devastating to her. Inuyasha would never know how much he meant to his father - even before he had been born.

"My son, Inuyasha, who is his mother?"

Aaaaand this was where things might get a little bit awkward.

"Uh well..."

"Spit it out, would ya?! I have to issue a formal apology to her for royally fucking her over...evidently in more than one way." His brash tone faded to slight amusement at his own pun and Kagome felt her face heat up at the innuendo.

"Why would you have to apologize to her?" She asked, confused by the implication. Myoga had always made it seem that Inuyasha's mother loved his father just as much as he did her. Their relationship, though short lived, had been told to be a happy one.

"For getting her with child when I'm in love wi- infatuated wi- uh well - have an interest for - ... When there's someone else in my life. Whoever she is, she doesn't deserve that." Despite his various hesitations, Touga seemed to eventually find the words he needed to convey his meaning.

Oh. Good. Lord. Kagome felt as if she could laugh and cry. Laugh at his refusal to admit he was so obviously in love with Izayoi, or cry at the fact that he wanted to apologize because he thought he had lain with someone he couldn't give his heart to.

And now he looked like a kicked puppy. Very similar to how Inuyasha had looked when she had informed him that she could not, in fact, make ramen from scratch. It was pitiful. Feeling her heart begin to clench in pity for him, she found she couldn't hold in the news any longer, and if she tried she thought she might explode.

"IT'S IZAYOI." She burst out, waiting for the blinding smiles, the joyful yells. Instead, she found herself being unceremoniously shoved over.

"You know that's a really shitty thing to joke about, you little twerp." Touga growled, struggling to stand from his sitting position, and wincing as he took in the pins and needles in his feet.

Seething with anger of her own, Kagome pushed herself back into a more stable position, glaring angrily up at her father-in-law.

"I'm not lying -"

"AND I KNOW THAT ITS A TAD BIT HYPOCRITICAL FOR ME TO TALK ABOUT BAD JOKES," he yelled dramatically, holding up his hand to silence her, "AFTER ALL IT WAS ME WHO TOLD SESSHOMARU THAT I FOUND HIM IN A TREE AND BROUGHT HIM HOME ONE DAY - Fuck InuKimi was livid about that. Did you know the idiot ran away from home after that? How was I supposed to know the stupid pup wouldn't use his nose to see that our scents are similar?!"

Not even wanting to know how that story had played out, Kagome surged to her feet to plant her hands on her hips angrily and began to stare the Inu No Taisho down in a similar fashion as the glare she used to subdue his younger son.

"Are you really doing this right now?! Why would you even say that to him - no! No! That is not what we were talking about," she growled to herself, wondering how she was supposed to convince him of this.

"Listen to me - Izayoi is Inuyasha's mother. Well - she will be. I am married to Inuyasha, years and years in the future. Now this part - probably going to get me laughed at - I came here through a well. A time travelling well..?"

All traces of humour had vanished from Touga's expression, brows furrowing over his deep golden gaze.

"The future you say?" He questioned softly, although Kagome had the impression that he was speaking more to himself than her. He turned back to look at her again quite suddenly and she froze, wondering what kind of important thing he would say to her.

"How well have I aged?"

"...what."

He wasn't joking.

"That's all you can ask?! You're not even going to doubt my explanation for a second?!"

Touga gave an indulgent laugh before he gently brushed her hair aside, "only humans believe they've conquered every secret of this world we live in. When you've lived as long as I have, you learn one thing – and that is that you know absolutely nothing."

Before she could begin to take in the vast philosophy behind his statement, Touga had moved on as if they had casually been discussing the weather.

"Am I still devastatingly handsome? Do people think I'm your brother-in-law? I'm willing to bet Sesshomaru gets called the father-in-law."

She couldn't help it. She laughed. Laughed harder than she had in a while. She could so easily imagine Touga telling people Sesshomaru was his father, while the latter glared icily.

But then she remembered she would never get to see that, and suddenly nothing was funny anymore. This man in front of her, this laughing, loving, good man – would never live to see his younger son settle down, never play with him, tease him, be his mentor, never get to love him. She wasn't surprised when she felt the sting of tears on her roughened cheeks.

"Kagome?" she felt his clawed hand gently wipe her tears away from her cheeks and could barely make out a soft smile on his face when she looked up at him through a watery gaze.

"I..." she began but found her throat had closed off and she couldn't get the words out no matter how hard she tried.

Touga gave a small chuckle at her apparent struggle before he brought his arms up around her in a comforting embrace, understanding what she couldn't bring herself to tell him.

"I had a feeling." He whispered, resting his chin atop her head and Kagome sobbed. Sobbed for the man Inuyasha would never know, sobbed for the son Touga would never get to raise.

"How does it happen?"

"Ryuukotsusei – Izayoi – Takemaru" she choked out before she began to take deep breaths to attempt to steady herself.

"You were battling Ryuukotsusei," she said in a muted tone, before Touga interrupted her.

"And kicking his serpentine ass, no doubt," he added on with a roguish smirk and Kagome gave a small laugh in spite of herself.

"You managed to seal him away, but not without being severely injured yourself, before you received news that Izayoi had gone into labour."

His expression turned grim as he seemed to connect the rest of the puzzle pieces.

"And naturally – I went to be by her side, but that son of a bitch Takemaru had to throw himself into the mess, didn't he?"

Nodding wordlessly, Kagome blinked away a new wave of tears.

"What about Izayoi? Is she alright?!" His previously dulled eyes burned bright again, the gold in them coming to life with the new fire that raced through him.

"She and Inuyasha survived the fire," Kagome whispered reassuringly.

Touga's entire frame seemed to deflate with his next words, "But Izayoi is only human. Why do I have the sinking feeling that my son spends most of his youth alone?"

"Because he does." She breathed, watching as pain flashed across his features.

"She – she didn't suffer, did she?" A simple enough question, but one that tore Kagome's heart to shreds. He had just found out that he was going to die, and yet his only concern was Izayoi and Inuyasha.

"She was sick, she went peacefully."

"How she must have suffered – alone with a yokai's son to care for. Fuck – the things they must have said to her, done to her." Snarling viciously, Touga slammed his fist into the tree behind him, causing the wood to splinter under the daiyokai's rage.

"And my boy – he can't survive on his own?! He's a hanyou pup in a world full of prideful yokai and prejudiced humans. What is he going to do?! Where the hell is he going to go!?"

Sniffling loudly, Kagome watched him pace erratically, growls tearing from his throat as the situation weighed on him. As he struggled to try and prevent his future family's agony.

"Sesshomaru!" he gasped suddenly, stopping his pacing to look at her again. "Sesshomaru has to -"

Unable to bring herself to speak, Kagome simply shook her head wordlessly, a choked sob breaking out of her when she saw devastation pass over his face. The face of a father who had just learned that his first born would leave his younger brother to die.

"FUCK – That – THAT IDIOT." He roared, clawing through the tree behind him which, unable to withstand the renewed assault, toppled over. "That stupid pup! He – HIS OWN BROTHER!"

Groaning, Touga pressed his face into his hands, cursing softly.

"Why, Sesshomaru – you prideful - it's not his fault," his voice had roughened considerably from all of the yelling and Kagome gathered the fragments of her own heart to try and bring him some form of peace, an explanation for his older son's actions.

"When I was a little girl," she began quietly, placing a gentle hand on her father-in-law's back, "my father died in an accident. On his way to see my newborn brother."

Lifting his head out of his hands, Touga regarded her evenly, his golden gaze glimmering with tears she knew he would fight tooth and nail against shedding.

"For the longest time I hated him. Him and my brother. If he hadn't been coming to see my brother, he would still be with me. We had just had a fight before, and now I wouldn't even get to tell him that I didn't mean all of the horrible things I had said to him."

She was jolted from her reverie by the feeling of Touga's hand covering her own.

"He knew. He knew that you loved him, as he did you."

Nodding softly, she continued, "My Mama told me that too. She said that Papa knew that I was just mad, that I didn't mean any of that. She told me that my father loving my brother didn't mean he loved me any less, and that my father was trusting me to look out for Souta now. Maybe Sesshomaru just needs someone to let him know that. Maybe it's time someone tells Sesshomaru that he's still loved as well."

"Father?"

Still facing away from Inuyasha, Sesshomaru nodded stiffly.

"Yes, Father. My father that died coming to your rescue. My father that –"

There was silence as Sesshomaru broke off. For once, Inuyasha was completely silent as he regarded his older brother.

"Half-breed," Sesshomaru snapped angrily, turning to face Inuyasha again.

"This Sesshomaru has informed of you of your mate's whereabouts. You would do well to refrain from using such a tone with this one again."

Without another word, Sesshomaru stalked off, unwilling to allow Inuyasha to sense the turmoil brewing within him. As he took to the skies, he pretended he didn't have a brother – and that he certainly didn't hear a barely whispered

"I'm sorry."

I know I'm horrible. Also - I didn't include the Izayoi scene in here just because it did not fit at all! So that is for next time!