Almost Three Months Later…

Haruna groaned as she rolled over in her bed, unwilling to open her eyes and greet the morning. Her parents were being loud and she stuffed her head into her pillow to try and ignore them. Seriously, sometimes they were just so loud. She heard a muffled bang as someone was gently pushed against a wall and she flipped over on her bed, arms and legs spread wide, as she squinted open her eyes to look at her ceiling.

Wait… It was still dark, it wasn't morning yet.

With an annoyed growl that she had learned from her Daddy, she slowly got out of bed and trudged towards her door. It was Saturday and in the morning it was finally her birthday! She would be turning six years old. It was going to be an awesome day with birthday cake, ice cream, and all her friends and family. So, why then were her parents being so noisy and waking her up? She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she pushed open the door. When she finally opened them she was greeted with a sight that made her happy, but also made her want to cringe.

"Ewww, that's gross." She said, using her voice to get their attention instead of signing as she usually did. The two people making out before her stopped and Kagome turned to look at her, her face completely flushed as the smell of her sudden embarrassment flooded down the hallway. Haruna's nose wrinkled up from the unpleasant scent. Inuyasha just turned and stared at her, clearly upset at her interruption, before his face softened at her sleepy appearance. She hadn't wanted to make them embarrassed or mad… They were just being so loud.

[Too loud.] She signed sleepily. Inuyasha looked at Kagome as Kagome's eyes widened slightly.

"We weren't that loud, were we?" Kagome questioned.

[Yes, you were.] Haruna replied as she folded her little arms across her chest defiantly.

Kagome's eyes widened once more and the scent in the room changed to something that Haruna couldn't quite place. A second later, Inuyasha was crouched down on his haunches as he reached a clawed hand up to her hair. Haruna stayed still, but frowned as he pushed her hair behind her ear. She was about to protest him messing with her hair when Kagome's excited shriek pierced her ears. Haruna and Inuyasha both winced and Kagome quickly covered her mouth with her hands as excited giggles burst forth. Inuyasha was just staring at Haruna, his eyes flicking between her face and her ear. She could smell salt and looked up to see Kagome's eyes brimming with tears.

Yep, by now she was completely fed up with her weird parents for the night. All she wanted was some sleep so that she had lots of energy for her big birthday party. She would get to play games with Ama and Chiho, she would get to see little Satoshi whom she loved so very much, and even a few school friends were going to join in the celebration. Haruna was at the top of her class in school, she worked very hard, she deserved to have an awesome sixth birthday party.

[I'm going back to bed.] She signed, turning away from them as she started to march back to her room until Inuyasha's amazed voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Haruna, where's your hearing aid?"

She froze for a moment before realization dawned on her. She hadn't put it back in… It was siting on her bedside table. Her small hand reached up to her ear to feel for the offending device, but it wasn't there. Her eyes widened. Her fingers froze. Tears of joy began to gather in the recesses of her eyes.

"Haruna, my baby girl, can you hear me?"

Haruna turned around slowly, her big eyes glistening with her unshed tears, as her hand fell numbly to her side. She looked at her Mommy and nodded, the tears spilling out with the gentle movement. "I can hear you, Mommy!" She ran into Kagome's already outstretched arms and wrapped herself into her embrace. A moment later and Inuyasha had joined their hug puddle. She could feel Kagome's tears lightly falling on the top of her head, but she didn't care. Inuyasha placed a kiss on the top of her head before he nuzzled in closer against the girls. Haruna just shook, her entire body was shaking and she couldn't control it.

She could hear?

She was so scared… Had she really gotten better or was this all a very cruel dream? She had been hearing things lately, small things… Like she had heard Kagome get out of bed on a few mornings, she had heard Inuyasha's deep purr that soothed her, she had heard the sound of paper on pencil as she did her homework… She had simply thought that she could hear those things because of her fancy hearing aid. Her lip quivered as her tears continued to spill over. She was just so scared, what if this wasn't real and she woke up and couldn't hear again?

"Am I dreaming?" She cried out. They pulled back from her a bit and Inuyasha spun her around to face him before he pinched her arm slightly. "Ouch! What was that for?"

He smirked. "See, you're not dreaming. This is real."

Haruna's small frown turned into a hopeful smile and she felt Kagome's arms come around her from behind as she pulled her against her chest. "I can hear?"

Inuyasha nodded. "You can hear." He poked her in the forehead, which made her smile grow even further. "I knew you could do it."

"Her demonic side really was healing her… All this time…" Kagome mumbled into her hair, coating her silver locks even more with her salty tears.

"Mommy!" Haruna fussed as she pushed herself out of Kagome's arms. "You're getting my hair all wet." She pouted.

Kagome simply laughed and wiped her own tears away. "I'm just so happy."

"Deal with it pup." Inuyasha scooped her up and walked into the living room before he tossed her into the air, making her giggles flow down around them, before he caught her safely in his arms.

"Everyone is going to be so happy…" Kagome smiled as she joined them. She leaned her head lovingly against Inuyasha's shoulder as she peered over at her little girl.

Haruna beamed. Her happiness was overflowing. It shown from her like an effervescent light. She was wide awake now, the excitement of their new discovery making her heart beat fast as her mind tried to race up to her new reality. She had thought that those things that she was hearing were just because of the hearing aid… She hadn't had any clue that her ears were actually healing themselves. That had seemed like too much to wish for, too much to hope for, because it would have only led to heartbreak.

She had accepted being almost completely deaf. She had accepted her new life.

But, now… She nearly felt like a part of her new identity had been torn from her, but even that negative thought couldn't sway the happiness that she felt. Just because she could hear alright now, didn't mean that she had to give up sign language. She loved sign language, it was a part of her.

"What about a big breakfast?"

Haruna's stomach growled at the thought, making Inuyasha laugh. "But, it's night time…" Her big golden eyes rose to look at her parents and her stomach growled again.

"Who cares!" Kagome announced as Inuyasha once again tossed her into the air, filling her stomach with butterflies as her happy laugh cascaded down around them. "We're celebrating. Chocolate chip pancakes with whip cream. Yep, that's what we'll have."

Haruna's giggle continued to light up the still dark room. She could hear. She could really hear… This was the best birthday present ever!

She, officially, loved her birthday.

~Author's Note~

This is the end! I really hope that you enjoyed "Letters".

Please, review and let me know if you liked this story.

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, especially my loyal reviewers. It means a lot, you are what kept me writing because I knew that someone, somewhere, liked my story.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Give me an Author Alert if you would like to be notified when I post new stories. I have ideas swirling around in my head and I hope to start writing them soon.

~FeudalAi