It had been a few months since Tsukuyomaru had joined their group, he'd become a very useful asset, using his barrier to protect them from incoming attacks, but also lending his skills as a slayer and bringing them a bit of needed coin. He'd helped a great deal when Sesshomaru had agreed to join forces, mostly by diffusing tensions and being one of the few among their group that showed the Demon Lord the proper respect. He was after all but a lowly bat demon in the presence of a much greater inu and though he was a demon lord among his own kind, he was nowhere near one of Sesshomaru's caliber. Kagome heaved a sigh of relief, gazing at the completed Shikon Jewel, purified and whole despite its efforts to continue the eternal battle that had taken place within it. A part of her pitied Naraku, evil though he was, because clearly his wish had been unfulfilled and he'd been little more than pawn of the jewel the entirety of his existence, a means to sustain itself. The battle had been long and hard, not to mention drawn-out, Naraku's most valiant efforts against them thwarted by Sesshomaru's new sword Bakusaiga and Inu Yasha's Meido Zangetsuha. Tsukuyomaru had fought alongside with the others, lending his efforts where he could, the shield he could produce helping to keep them safe from some of the more powerful attacks. It didn't stop them entirely, but it did take a brunt of the damage they would've been dealt. The feel of something heavier than air and warmer than the cool night coming onto her shoulders startled her from her thoughts and she turned to see Tsukuyomaru beside her without his haori, her eyes falling to see it draped over her shoulders.

She smiled up at him deciding that nighttime suited him, the light of the stars and moon twinkling in his eyes and shimmering in his hair, as he returned her smile softly. Over the last several weeks, they'd gotten to know each other as she had all of her companions before him and she'd grown closer to him, deciding that she'd outgrown Inu Yasha. She loved him as well, but as a very dear friend, her very best friend even, or as a brother, but she'd been hurt too many times by his inability to choose or even see if she or Kikyo had meant more to him. Then the bat demon beside her had happened along, sarcasm and wit combined with a gentle, protective nature and an insecurity that was downright adorable when it showed. It was easy to see how Shizu could have fallen for him and though Kagome had seen his more feral side, she couldn't help but wonder what wasn't to love when he seemed like every bit of what every woman fantasized about when it came to her perfect man.

"Have you decided what you're going to do?" he asked, glancing down at the jewel in her hand.

"Well, I know what wish to make on the jewel," she replied, "So that it will never fall in the wrong hands or tempts others."

"Not what I meant," he said.

"I know," she sighed, looking up at the night sky, "I think it's time for me to return to my own time, I've done what I came to do. I have my own life to get back to."

"Understandable," he answered.

"What about you?" she wondered.

"Me?"

"Yes, have you decided what you want to do?"

"There's what I want to do and what I should do. They are not the same thing."

"But do you know what you're going to do?"

"Kagome," he said softly and slowly, turning away from her, "I have thought long and hard on that. I know what it is I want and I know what it is I should, but they differ and go off on separate paths. I came in hopes of talking to you about that. Even if we go our separate ways, I will not let us part without making my heart known to you. I will not deny my feelings for you, you've freed me from the cage I've kept myself in all these years. I will stake no claim over you as Koga has, but I will not hide my feelings for you as Inu Yasha. So I am at a loss."

"Then let me help you," she said, placing a hand on his cheek and turning his face to look at her, "You have a mate out there and a daughter. Your family needs you, you should go back to them."

"You do not...?" he began, heart falling as his words faltered.

"I'm not saying that," she assured him with a soft smile, "I can't take something that isn't mine, that isn't me. They had you first and so long as your first mate lives, you should be at her side. I can't ask you to leave them for me and I won't, I have no right to. They need you more."

She reached up to brush the two strands of hair that always hung in his face back only for them to fall back in place before he reached up to pull her hand away, his eyes closing so she didn't see them misting over. Reaching up to a braid hanging from his temple, he used a claw to cut it free and, as an afterthought, untied his hair, placing the severed braid and hair-tie in her hand before closing her fingers over them.

"Remember me," was all he said as he turned from her and opened his wings.

"Wait!" she got out, "What about your coat?"

"It's chilly, keep it," he replied, barely glancing over his shoulder, "I can get a new one."

Opening her hand, she glanced down at the braid, her mind drifting back to a night almost a week ago when they'd all been settled by the campfire, winding down for the night as she'd sat and played with Rin, delighting in giving the little girl some much needed female company.

Like any little girl, Rin had wanted to play with someone's hair and try some of the styles Kagome had told her about, but whose hair to mess with. Shippo's and Miroku's were too short to be of much use, Sango had looked uncertain about it, like anyone was going to so much as touch Sesshomaru's flowing mane and Inu Yasha's was too matted and tangled. As one, Rin's and Kagome's eyes had fallen on Tsukuyomaru's own length of hair kept tied back in its usual tail, his purple eyes blinking at them curiously when he saw them staring at him. Before he'd known it, the two females had had him laying on his stomach with Rin astride his back as she brushed it and played with it with Kagome's help. Not having some reflective surface to see himself in, he had no idea what they'd done to his hair, but he'd taken everything out before pulling his hair back again save for that single braid that for his own reasons he'd left dangling from his temple. Pulling herself back to the present, she looked back up to see that he had left without another word, his silhouette headed back to the village as she stood with her own thoughts for a time. He returned to the village and started packing up his horse and meager belongings when a rustle of branches above him alerted him to Inu Yasha's presence though he did not acknowledge his presence till the half-demon spoke.

"Going somewhere?" he asked, leaping down from the tree.

"I am heading home," Tsukuyomaru replied, "I've a long journey ahead of me and I'd like to get going as soon as possible."

"Awfully late, ain't it?" the inu hanyou questioned.

"Not like you wouldn't have traveled at night yourself," the bat returned, "If it'd been up to you."

"Whatever," he shrugged, "Kagome know you're going?"

"She is aware of my decision, yes."

"Take care o' that girl of yours, she's got a rough road ahead of her. Come back if you feel like. Y'know, when your mate's gone. Not like the village'll want you two hanging around afterward. Trust me."

"You're welcome among us as well," Miroku's voice came from behind him, Sango with him.

"We'll need the help rebuilding," she added, "And your skills would be of great value."

For a few moments, he had no idea what to say to these people, these humans and half-breed, who were welcoming a demon among them. He'd traveled with them for quite some time, but he hadn't been sure if it had been long enough to count them as friends even though there'd been a degree of camaraderie between them all, even Inu Yasha. He wasn't sure if slayer and monk would be around when his mate passed away, but he greatly appreciated the gesture, accepting that to them he was as much a friend as Inu Yasha and Kagome.

"Thank you," he finally said, "I don't know what I can say beyond that. I will bear that in mind when the time comes."

Kagome returned herself shortly after, saddened but not surprised to find he'd left, and reassured her friends that he'd already bade her good-bye, wanting nothing more than to go to bed before returning home the next morning. She assured all of them that, if the well stayed open, she would come and visit them all once in awhile, eager to see Sango's village rebuilt and her family start. Although she wanted a heart to heart with Inu Yasha regarding their feelings toward each other, she knew that wasn't Inu Yasha so she settled with letting him know that they were friends and not to go picking a fight with Tsukuyomaru. The final wish was made, a simple wish that was just for the jewel to no longer exist, and, Midoriko's spirit finally at rest, it was gone and Kagome was through the well to her own time to go back to her life. She had told Inu Yasha and Shippo to make sure they were around in 500 years and to look her up then, given all the history she knew would happen between then and now, she hoped they survived. It would be hard enough to lose Sango and Miroku, she couldn't bear to lose her best friend and the kit she looked at as her own, she only wished she'd told Tsukuyomaru the same so that maybe he wouldn't be lost to her forever. She went back to being a regular high-schooler with nothing more than grades and boys to worry about and her fictional ailments to contend with, though inside she wasn't the same person she had been before this all began. By this time, her friends had heard tell of a new guy she'd been crushing on, possibly even dating, her resistance to Hojo's advance more adamant than ever since Tsukuyomaru had come along. So they'd gossiped about it, wondering where it left Inu Yasha, the infamous jerk boyfriend they'd heard about for more than a year, knowing this new mystery guy only as Tsuku or Tsukuyo depending on what part of his name Kagome dropped.

"Hey, Kagome!" Eri called one day some weeks later as Kagome had come dashing to school, "Where'd you get that coat?"

"This?" she glanced at the deep red haori she vaguely remembered grabbing.

"Is that from your new boyfriend?" Yuka gasped with a smirk and a wink.

"Awfully traditional," Eri remarked.

"Well, his family's kinda old-fashioned," Kagome blushed, "So he usually dresses traditionally."

"So it is a new boyfriend?" Yuka's grin widened, "It's this Tsuku you go on about isn't it?"

"What about Inu Yasha?" Ayumi asked.

"We're not dating," Kagome groaned, "He's a better friend than a date."

The conversation went on from there with Kagome barely listening and after that she wore that haori whenever it was cool out until winter coat-weather came around, finding comfort in it and understanding why classmates went gaga over wearing a boyfriend's lettered jacket.

Life went on after Kagome left, Rin staying and training with Kaede so she'd learn how to be among humans, Sesshomaru stopping by regularly to visit while his relationship with his half-brother remained as tenuous as ever though they weren't fighting nearly as much. Inu Yasha spent his time between Kaede's village and the slayer village where he helped out Sango and Miroku here or there, their kids pulling at his ears. Shippo stayed in Kaede's village with Inu Yasha, though he left now and again to train his own abilities and become a higher-ranked fox demon, maintaining a close friendship with Rin. Kohaku was often off training to become a stronger demon slayer, but, as Rin got older, made a point of stopping by the village to visit with her, occasionally having to fend off either a fox demon that seemed more than a bit jealous or an overprotective taiyoukai who thought the boy was getting too close for comfort. Eventually Kohaku and Rin were married (with Sesshomaru's blessing of course) and had two youngsters of their own, but amidst the peace and happiness in their lives, tragedy struck when Kohaku fell in battle against a demon. Saddened as she was having to mourn her brother a second time, Sango was proud he had at least grown up and died honorably instead of in the hand of treachery, a strong and skilled slayer in his own right and after a happy ten years of marriage. A few years after the death of her husband, Rin returned to the company of a demon, a place she'd once been so happy in, when she joined Shippo who looked physically around the same age Inu Yasha had been when he'd met Kagome and quickly took in her little ones as his own. They remained in Kaede's village, Rin aiding the villagers where she could while Shippo aided Inu Yasha and Miroku in their occasional ventures, hunting and disposing of dangerous demons. In many ways, Rin was like their own little Kagome, a fact which irked Sesshomaru to no end when Inu Yasha felt like mocking his older brother with the similarities between the two.

Unfortunately, as is usually the case, such peace and joy were not known to all and the peaceful times did not extend to everyone. Tsukuyomaru returned to his family, Shizu shocked and overjoyed by his return and too happy to have her love back with her to bear any grudge for being away from them for so long. What mattered to her more was the fact that he had come back to his family and that he'd been safe and alive all those years, so for a brief moment in time he had peace of his own in life as did his mate and child. Admittedly, he had moments when he was strangely distant, when he was silent and gazing off into the distance from the roof of their hut, times when his mind wandered to the girl he'd left behind, but she attributed such times to what his father had done to him. For the most part they were happy, Shizu and Shiori having a fierce guardian to protect them from the harassment and abuse of the villagers for though he didn't hurt anyone, he wouldn't stand for their treatment of his family. But the happiness was not to last, a harsh reality striking them quickly and suddenly when Shizu, heavily pregnant with her mate's second child, fell ill and she'd gone into labor a few weeks too early. Tsukuyomaru left her side, knowing if he didn't get help she would undoubtedly be lost even though he feared losing her in his absence, to find a healer or a midwife or both, but he was forced to venture farther than he'd hoped for those in neighboring villages weren't willing to assist a demon. After a few hours of searching he came upon a priestess skilled and experienced in healing and childbirth willing to help a demon and with little by way of payment. He swiftly brought her back to his ailing mate's side, taking Shiori with him when they were ushered out so the priestess could do her work, Tsukuyomaru staying far enough that Shiroi wouldn't hear anything, but close enough that he would.

The priestess called for him, he scooping Shiori up in his arms and flying with her back to the hut where the woman waited with a solemn look on her face, Tsukuyomaru fearing the worst as the smell of blood and death reached his nose.

"I did all I could, komori," she said softly, "But they are both lost."

Complications of the pregnancy brought about by the illness, she went on to explain to him, his expression stoic, but his eyes downcast, as he put on a brave front for the sake of the young child beside him.

"Did I do this?" he whispered, "Because of what I am?"

The priestess shook her head, "This is not because of the half-breed she carried. Such things can happen with any birth. So do not blame yourself, demon."

With that she departed, her duty done and not wishing to tarry in the presence of a demon who had just lost his mate and unborn child by a cruel twist of fate, not needing or wishing payment of any kind for performing her sworn duties. It had only been four years since he'd come back, surely his time with his mate could not have been cut so short, not before he had a chance to make up to her all the time they'd lost. Bidding Shiroi stay outside, he slowly entered the hut, a few stray tears escaping down his cheeks as he took in the still form of his mate, blood from the birthing staining the blankets beneath her though the child remained in her body, mother dying before it could be born. Some hours later, he stood outside the hut beside a funeral pyre he'd prepared as quickly as possible, wishing there were time for a proper ceremony, Shiori at his side crying over the loss of her mother and younger sibling. Tsukuyomaru stood with his hand on her shoulder, his eyes misty though he did not allow a single tear to be shed, his expression void of any emotion, determined to stay strong for the daughter he wished hadn't had to bear witness to this. Together they stood as their beloved mate and mother burned, Tsukuyomaru turning to begin gathering their few belongings as the last embers were dying out before finding an urn to gather his mate's ashes. His horse already laden with all father and daughter had to their name, he stowed the urn in a saddlebag, picking up Shiori and putting her on the stallion's back before grabbing the reins and leading them off.

"Can't we stay for a little longer?" she sniffled.

"No," he replied, "We must leave quickly before the villagers decide to force us out themselves. I prefer not to make myself a nuisance where I am not welcome."

Weighing his options, Tsukuyomaru first headed further inland towards the Eastern lands where he knew the remnants of his mother's clan dwelt on the borders between the Eastern and Western domains. What hopes he had of finding refuge with them and his mother were dashed when his grandfather, a bat demon called Ban, made it clear in no uncertain terms that no blood of Taigokumaru's was welcome among them. He knew his mother, Amaterasu, had lived and escaped her mate's cruelty, he'd seen her leave after she'd bade farewell to her son, leaving him to his father and his duty as the Shield-Guardian. He had hoped to see her and beg for her aid, but she was not present and as patriarch of the clan her father Ban's word was law, it didn't matter to the older demon that the male before him was blood and his daughter's son, all that mattered was he was Taigokumaru's boy. It made no sense to Tsukuyomaru, he could see the resemblance to himself in the face of this older, more human-looking komori, that all Ban could see was Taigokumaru's flesh and blood. He begged, pleaded, for himself and his daughter, argued and was even prepared to fight, a snarl ripping from his throat as a red light came to his eyes, his unexpressed grief pushing him to irrational things. A swift swipe of the claws, raking across his cheek, and a hand to his throat as Ban responded to his threat deterred any further action and Tsukuyomaru took his leave.

"Please," he asked, turning back momentarily, "Tell my mother I came."

"You're dead far as she knows," Ban growled, "You best be staying that way, pup."

"Why not wait for her, Daddy?" Shiroi asked as they walked away.

"There is no telling when she will return," he replied, "It is best not to try his patience with us. He would likely chase us off."

For days they traveled, now heading through the Western territories as he led them toward Kaede's village, the land bearing little food with spring only just beginning and not much to hunt to keep themselves fed.

They made camp nightly, Tsukuyomaru barely sleeping at all and rarely hunting for himself, preferring to keep watch over Shiori and unwilling to leave her alone unprotected for the time it would take for him to hunt and feed. They had little in the way of money, so they couldn't even afford to buy much food, certainly not enough to keep themselves fed, so the pair was much the worse for wear and had clearly seen better days when they reached Kaede's village.

"Inu Yasha!" Shiroi exclaimed, catching sight of the older half-demon.

"Shiori," he stated, shock written on his face as he looked at the two, "Hey, bat. I see you're back."

"Hey, dog," Tsukuyomaru returned, "I see you're... screw it, I got nothing," Inu Yasha smirked, "Don't look so proud of yourself for outwitting a half-starved, sleep-deprived bat. If you think that's something to be proud of... no, I take that back. I'd tell you to think, but you might hurt yourself. Oh! Look I did have something."

"Bite me," the inu hanyou snapped.

"Bad choice of words, half-breed," Tsukuyomaru smirked, "You see, I don't remember the last time I fed, so I might just be hungry enough to take you up on that offer."

"Whatever," he muttered.

"Lord Tsukuyomaru," Kaede gasped emerging from her hut, "What happened to ye?"

"I'll say," Inu Yasha muttered, "You look like crap."

Purple, weary eyes just narrowed at him in annoyance, Shiori holding tight to his leg unsure of what to do in this strange village he'd brought her to surrounded by pure-blooded humans.

"My mate..." he began, turning his attention to the old priestess and the little girl now behind her, "Passed away. We had to leave."

"Ye look as though ye have not eaten or slept in days," she said.

"It being early spring there is little to eat," he replied, "Game is scarce this early in the season and there's not much to forage."

"Surely ye have come across other villages," she offered.

"I preferred to keep my distance from them," he countered, "Being a demon with a half-breed child at my side, I can hide myself, Shiori isn't quite so easy. Besides we have almost nothing in the way of coin."

"Shiori?" Kaede questioned, looking down at the girl holding tightly to his hand and pressed firmly against his leg, "Be that the child's name?"

"Yes," he answered, looking down at her with a tired smile, "It's all right, Shiori, they're used to demons here. This is Inu Yasha's village."

"Aye, child," the old priestess assured, "They be quite used to his presence, they'll not harm ye," she looked behind her at the child now at her side, "This be Rin, she traveled with Lord Sesshomaru. Rin, perhaps ye should show Shiori around."

"Yes, Lady Kaede!" Rin agreed excitedly, smiling at Shiori.

"So she stays here now?" Tsukuyomaru asked as Rin pulled Shiori away behind her.

"Aye," Kaede nodded, "Lord Sesshomaru wanted her to live among her own kind so she might make her own choice as to where she wants to be. He comes to visit now and again."

The two girls became fast friends and before long Shiori had joined Rin in her lessons with Lady Kaede, giving her a place to stay and someone to watch over her while her father hunted and eventually took to traveling with Inu Yasha and Miroku on their treks to dispose of problem demons. So he and Shiori made their home in Edo and occasionally the slayer village where they were welcomes among Miroku and Sango and life carried on, though Tsukuyomaru was never quite the same.

Author's Note: I know I skipped over a lot of things. I'm not very good at writing out fight scenes and I want to try and remain true to canon in terms of Naraku's demise, but haven't had the chance to watch The Final Act. I wanted this to be a relatively quick chapter, basically just summarizing how things went after Kagome left. Next chapter will be 500 years later, but I'm not entirely sure of certain things yet, like what Tsukuyomaru's going to be doing with himself in the 20th-21st centuries, so any and all suggestions are welcome! So share your thoughts/ideas with me or I may just decide to make him a stripper X3