A home, a future

It wasn't until he flopped over and his questing limb was met with cool bedding instead of warm curves that he began to stir. Blinking lazily awake, he squinted at the sunlit room. Judging from the intensity of the light, it was well into morning.

This, was definitely a new development. By new development, he means more of a new skill? He used to be a lousy sleeper. And it saved his life more than he could count. He could never sleep more than a couple of hours consecutively, woke with every little sound, and certainly always at dawn. It wasn't until the last couple of weeks that he found that he could indeed sleep very well, could sleep-in even, given the right conditions. These included warm bedding smelling a heavenly mixture of his new mate and himself. Oh and also some uh— nocturnal exercise.

Speaking of, where the hell did Kagome go?

Although he would rather endure pretty extreme forms of mutilation than admit this out loud, truth was, he still had moments of sheer panic, thinking she'd disappear from his life again. He wasn't sure he could survive mentally intact this time if he'd found out Kagome's return was just some fever induced delusion.

He quickly spotted her upon exiting their little dwelling. His wife was huddled on hands and knees a few measures from the hut, sleeves tied up and out of the way with a length of cloth. The pile of dirt she was unearthing steadily built up beside her as he watched her in silence a little while longer. His wife. It was hard to believe, harder still to say. Part of him was afraid that if he fully believed it, somehow, it would be taken from him. But here he was, an inu-hanyou, with his beautiful, incredible miko wife. It was something he'd never dared dreamed, and frankly been told he could never have. If he wasn't even fit to exist as a hanyou, how the hell would he be allowed to have a wife? The three years she'd been gone, he'd let himself half believe she could be back, and if she were to come back that nothing would've changed and she would agree to live with him. The act of cutting the timber, fitting each log, building the house that would be the home he could offer her, and then slowly filling it with small items he imagined she would use; it gave him hope, a reason to keep living while she was gone.

And now it was all true. This was his home, with her. Somewhere to come back to night after night. It was something he haven't had since he was a very small pup.

His chest tightened and his nose felt tingly.

"Oi," He called, voice unexpectedly hoarse. He cleared it quickly, tried again. " Oi Kagome. What are you doing?"

She glanced up over her shoulder and sent him a tender smile. One he had missed so dearly for so many long years.

"Ohayo. Did you sleep well?"

He scoffed in reply, traitorous cheeks heating for no good reason. Stupid thoughts, stupid reasons for sleeping in.

She ignored him, instead returning her attention back to the ground. Fishing something out of the fold of her robes, she dropped it into the ground and began to replace the soil, patting firmly as she went.

"I'm planting a tree Inuyasha." She explained, voice very soft. "I think it's a nut from the Goshinboku. I went looking for it yesterday. Jii-chan had a lot of old sketches of the flowers and fruit of the Goshinboku. And even if it isn't, I think any tree would be nice."

She got up, dusted off the knees of her hakama and turned to glance at him with a tiny smile tugging at one corner of her lips. Then turning back to look at the spot newly marked with a big stone, she continued.

"I think it would be nice for it to grow up with us you know? Watch over us throughout the years and over our—" The last part was so softly spoken it would be inaudible for human ears. Which he wasn't.

In a blur, he rushed to close the distance between them, chest now aching something fierce, eyes feeling hot. He gathered her tight into his chest, one arm around her shoulders, the other around her middle, and mashed his face into her hair, breathing erratically. Kagome just smiled, and put her own arm on top of his, stroking the hand that was clutched around her. The other she held up to soothingly comb through what she could reach of his hair and one fuzzy ear. She only squeezed comfortingly when warm liquid leaked onto her scalp where his face was pressed, and thankfully did not comment.

After a long moment, Inuyasha lifted his silver head from where he'd nestled it, his arms loosening around her just a fraction. "Woman… the ideas you get…"

"Not 'woman'—" She admonished, slapping at the arm wound snug around her middle. "Wife. Now repeat after me, Inuyasha, wife."

He growled, nipping her neck playfully though still making no effort to release her.

"Make me some breakfast, wife."

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Ohayo - a greeting used in the morning. Similar to 'good morning'.

A/N: Hope you enjoy the warm and fuzzies. One of my favourite quotes is: "to plant a tree is to believe in tomorrow".