Author's Note:
Oh my gosh, this is the end of an era, final chapter of this story, that I've been working on for four and a half years! It's been so amazing, I've written it through some dark periods of my life and a lot of you have been following me since the beginning - to all of you, those that have been reading from the start and those that have just dropped in, thank you so much for reading and enjoying my story, it means so much to me that you've gained something from this, this is my baby, and my most popular story to date. So here it ends with a whopping 898 pages! I'm getting quite emotional as I type this, but for the last time, read and review!

Please enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-Nine
Pursuing the End

It had been five-hundred long years since last he'd trod the ground that now lay underfoot. He'd had that long – so long to ponder this moment, what he would say, how he would say it, but time had slipped away from him somehow and now he was faced with it, he was as unprepared as if he had been here but yesterday. Why is life always like that…? He wondered, 'life' meaning, his life in particular. Why is nothing ever simple? Takara, upon his departure, had said something akin to "the best of life's treasures are the most complicated"but that had not helped this situation any.

In considering this day he had been excited and just a little nervous but now he was facing it – living it, he was nothing short of terrified. His fingers trembled as he tucked them into his palms. The clothes he wore itched a little as anxiety-incited sweat slicked the base of his neck. Decades of wearing this bothersome, modernattire still did not make him accustomed to it.

Though they had integrated enough to survive they remained in a lavish estate far, far from the reach of civilisation – such distance allowed a kind of freedom that the demons of this era were not permitted otherwise. No, this way they could live untouched, undisturbed and simply visit the modern world when they wished. Their home was their retreat, their sanctuary and as-ever, their palace.

His head hung low, his ever-long, silver locks hanging into his eyes, though the main girth was drawn back into a thick braid down his back. His teeth caught his lip nervously as the sun streaked the dewy grass beneath his feet. He thought he had banished all feelings that would inhibit him, that would turn this day into something ugly, but he hadn't – and he was afraid.

"But this isn't about that," he assured himself aloud, straightening up and taking in a deep breath. "This is something that needs to be done, and it has nothing to do with anything like that." After a few more moments, he had just about convinced himself that this wasn't about the two of them, and even though he looked calm and steady on the outside, on the inside his head was storming with things that could have been. Things that made him consider old words of anger; of faded hurt…mostly things that made his heart ache…

Even though he thought he'd successfully rid himself of feelings of that kind years ago, he couldn't help but notice the sudden race to his heartbeat, as he trailed slowly towards the door of the Higurashi Household. He wasn't looking forward to this at all…or so he thought. I wonder if she looks any different, he thought, without even really realising, maybe she's taller, maybe her hair is different, maybe she's prettier – if that's possible. He blushed suddenly as he realised what he'd just thought. Years with Sesshomaru had not made him in the leastmore comfortable with girls, they still unnerved him.

So many things had happened to him since he last saw her, three, very important things in particular. A soft, natural smile dusted his lips at the thought of his only daughter, how she had blossomed into the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, with a temper to rival his own and a mouth that could silence even Sesshomaru at times. It had been as he feared – the men, demon and human alike, had not been able to keep away from her, like moths to a flame. But she had turned each suitor away kindly, as if waiting for something and Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had nearly imploded when they finally (or more accurately she finally) discovered it…

And of course, as expected, his unruly sons had grown into the two most rowdy brats he had every imagined. For the first time he had understood the frustration he must have caused Sesshomaru at the beginning. They were, for all intensive purposes, exactly of their temperament. Tsubasa the unruly 'elder' sibling and Tsuyoshi the unbearable brat, determined to keep up.

The still identical pair had Sesshomaru and himself under their thumbs. They fought constantly like their parents had at the start, but it was a different, subtler kind of bickering that even made Inuyasha smirk a little to hear. Even Kazuki and Rin (who visited frequently with their own boisterous brood) would constantly remind them of the undeniable similarities. Yes, the people of his life in the last few hundred years were still close, close enough for it to really hit him just how much they had all changed with time – just like their surroundings.

Of course, then he realised – over five-hundred years for him and the others had been but a few months for her. He had left it until the freshness of the pain had dulled for her somewhat, had timed it so that he would not shock or hurt her by turning up right after she had lost him. His eyes stung a little at the thought of her distress, he still possessed the soft, heavy ache of losing her all those years ago…

He stopped as he found himself paused on the front porch. Dare I chance the window? That had been his usual route, but then again, that was a long time ago, and what if she didn't even remember him? The Half-demon shook off the thought as quickly as possible; she wouldn't have forgotten me that easily, would she?

The Half-demon coughed, tapping on the door softly, (thinking better of the window route), he had decided that no matter how it hurt both of them in the process, it was better this way, in the long run. It didn't make it hurt any less, but it made him feel more ready to face it.

He nearly jumped out of his skin as the front door opened suddenly, and his golden eyes trailed over the lithe form of a woman in a tightly fitting dress suit. He blinked in confusion as wide, hazel orbs blinked up at him, no words exchanged for a long time.

"Kagome?" he asked quietly in disbelief; it was her. She looked almost the same. Her hair was longer, there was no mistaking that she was thinner, much thinner...and the usual school uniform had been replaced by some modern day dress that he now understood denoted her successful position in the working world, and found quite flattering to her. Kagome had frozen, staring wide-eyed at the half-demon, her pink lips parted in shock. It was as if her heart had stopped in her chest.

"Inu…Inuyasha?" He felt like he wanted to smile, like he wanted to hold her. All these years without her had made him go crazy for wanting to see her, to speak to her, even to smell her, but given how long they had been apart, he wasn't sure where his boundaries sat.

"What're you doing here?" she asked, her limbs, her voice quivering in her state of awe, "How are you even…?" But then her dark eyes scanned his clothes, the way his hair was pulled back and Inuyasha smirked as he saw the pieces falling into place in her head, turning on the spot so she could better look at him.
"I'm not the same person you left – this is me, five-hundred years later," Her lips twitched with a nervous smile, the next bit would be the hardest…

"A lot…a lot happened after you left, and I can give you the brief version for now but… Kagome," He could not help but feel at ease saying her name, and inhaled her thoughtfully before daring speech again. "It'll be hard to accept, and I…I need you to remember what you said to me before you left."

Kagome tipped her head slightly, walking out of the house and pulling the door shut behind her, before dropping to sit on the doorstep, her eyes reaching far out across the ground to where the sacred tree sat. "I said that I wanted you to be happy – to live, to smile, all this time I have wondered…wondered if you had managed that…"

Following her line of sight to the tree they had shared so much under, Inuyasha braced himself for the conversation to follow, before taking a seat on the ground next to her. "I managed it, Kagome," He breathed, turning his head to give her an uneasy smile. "I…I was lost for a long time, and then… Sesshomaru rescued me, Kagome." Her head shot up so fast it made Inuyasha jump.

"S-Sesshomaru?" She asked, confusion tinting her voice. "But – that's brilliant! Inuyasha, I'm so glad! You finally reunited with your brother!" She threw her arms around him and Inuyasha, though he wanted nothing more to return the embrace, knew it would be wrong to indulge his desires when she hadn't understood what he had meant. Taking her upper arms carefully in his hands, he pulled her back slightly so that he could look at her.

"That's…I didn't reunite with him as brothers, Kagome I…" He growled under his breath, frustrated at his inability to make the words work and his half-hearted attempt to make her understand. "Circumstance changed things. Apparently, some half-demons are born with the ability to carry – like females do." He watched the reality dawn on her features.
"You…you can give birth – to children, like a woman can?" She said, her eyes studying him carefully, struggling to understand. "And you're happy – so you have had them? Children?"

Inuyasha nodded, wishing he could smile, but he could see the human in her struggling to comprehend what he was saying, and what he wasn'tsaying.

"Yes… I had a daughter about a year after you'd left, and three years after that, two boys. They…" He turned his gaze to the ground below his feet, unable to look at her. "I didn't even want my daughter at first, I didn't want the situation I was in – a lot of it was just sprung on me. My ability, and my reintroduction to the demon society, where… Kagome, even I struggled to accept it at first but in the demon world… Me and Sesshomaru…it's normal!" He didn't, couldn't look at her, he could hearher shock, and so he rambled on, his desperation edging into his voice.

"I fought it for a long time, but in the end I… There were hardships, there always were – some worse than others, but..." He trailed off, losing his voice when he felt her move beside him. Daring not to raise his eyes, he stared, rigid with apprehension as she stood still for a moment, before walking forwards on shaky legs, along the path to the sacred tree.

Inuyasha watched her retreating back, leaving her a moment as her sorrow flared in his nostrils. The blossoms blew free of the tree's branches as the season's breeze took them, they wavered like feathers in the air, before showering her still form in their pink snow. The breath caught in Inuyasha's chest at the sight, one he had seen before and nostalgia pricked his chest, hard. She was still as beautiful and strong as he remembered…

Following his feet down to where she stood, the Half-demon paused but a moment behind her, wrapping his arms around her body. She was warm and leant back into him, the scent of her tears mingling with the smell of the salty rivulets that leaked from his own eyes. Whether it was from seeing her again, or knowing how the knowledge of what he had done must repulse her, he was not sure.

"I have never known what I wanted; I suppose…you know that better than anyone. At the start I hated him for seducing me, for wanting me and making me want him when all I wanted was you." Yes, bitter, spiteful tears clung to his lashes and he blinked them away furiously, determined not to cry but failing miserably. "But feelings, emotionsare probably the most misleading thing in the world, you feel so many things it's hard to find the line between what you really want and what you can't let go of…"

She turned in his arms then, her hair whirling in the breeze behind her with the movement, and her dark, rich eyes shining with emotion, emotion that Inuyasha felt strumming his heartstrings like a harp. A warm, aching smile graced her lips and Inuyasha couldn't find it in himself to let go of her. "It was hard to know if this really was the presentyou, and not the one I left, you know," Kagome said quietly, "You haven't aged a day but… I know now. You really have waited all this time...you're so...you've changed a lot – grown up."

Inuyasha smiled, his first, sincere smile since he had arrived at her door, because he knew what that light in her tear-stained eyes meant, and he drew her tightly to his chest. She tilted into his neck, fingers clinging to his shirt and breathing him in deeply, calming herself. "You are happy?" She asked, her words muffled by his intense hold and Inuyasha nodded into her hair, before releasing her reluctantly.

"I achieved so much, became so much stronger – Sesshomaru, he even sealed my demon! I don't have to worry about losing myself anymore." He studied her carefully as he spoke, reaching up to pluck a rogue pink petal from her glossy, obsidian locks. "I have to tell you all about it soon, about everything. Kouga and Ayame settled, and Old Kaede, she lived to a ripe old age! Sango and Miroku – they achieved so much, and I still see their great-great-great grandkids from time to time! Rin married my demon…well he was sort of my adopted son, so she's still alive and well. Shippo and Kilala are about, they drop in regularly, Shippo is a big help to forest preservation, you know."

Kagome laughed, the sound easy and light in the air. "Who'd have thought…? I'd like to see him some day, why do you think he hasn't visited me?" She asked thoughtfully.
"He never knew where you lived," Inuyasha explained, "And I…I was waiting, waiting for the right time to come see you and I wanted…wanted to come see you first. I wanted to come right away to make sure you were alright, but Sesshomaru said that maybe–" His voice cut short as Kagome shook her head with a sad smile.
"No, it was…better this way, I don't think I could've…could've been so…so rational about it if you turned up and dumped me as soon as I had lost you," She was smiling still and there was sadness in it, a self-sacrifice she had alwaysbeen so ready to make for him, and it hurt him to see. She had always given up everything so willingly so that he could pursue Kikyo without guilt, and now, she was forced to do it again.

"You have so much love in your heart," Inuyasha began, with a confidence his past self could have never managed. "I can't believe I missed it, all that time, but you…you shine, so much brighter than any star I've ever seen! You're dazzling, like a light in the dark and you…you saved me, time and time again, Kagome. You have…you have so much to offer someone, and you'll find someone, I know you will."

The girl – no the woman he adored so, tipped her head with a hopeful nod, sniffing lightly and brushing the tears from her eyes bravely. She was so ready for him to be happy, so accepting of him, always. Who else could ever accept that he was in love with, and, had had childrenwith his own half-brother so easily? As equally as he had loved Kikyo, he was not sure she would have been able to grant him the same selfless, unconditional acceptance and companionship.

A long time passed and the chilly breeze snuck up on them suddenly, uniting them in a joint shiver. Inuyasha sighed, his claws reaching up to finger the beads around his neck nervously. Kagome's knowing eyes followed the movement, lingering on the collar. "I've hung onto these for five-hundred years. They were the only peace of you I had and it's taken all this time to be able to let go of…you–" He choked on his words, as ever, irritated with his inability to phrase what needed to be said properly. But then, an easy smile took his lips, and hers, in joint amusement at his inarticulate speech. "Five-hundred years and you'd think I'd have had this all planned out but now…there were so many things I had to say…"

"And you have many more years, many more visits to the Higurashi Shrine to say them," Kagome assured him, smiling tearfully as she reached forwards to take the bead-necklace in her tender hands, pressing a kiss to his cheek as she did so. A small tug, a soft pressure of the teeth in the back of his neck and the collar broke, shattered under her insistent hands. She had freed him from any lingering hold she would have had and Inuyasha stared, a strange hurt still throbbing in his chest as the nostalgia swelled.

They both stooped to the grass, picking up every single fallen bead in thoughtful silence, until each of them sat in a neat pile in Kagome's hands. She stared at them for a moment, before her lips parted with quivering speech. "How can I live without you?"

Inuyasha smiled, rubbing her arm reassuringly. "I'll be here, as your friend, always. I'd like it…I'd like it a lot if you would come see Tsukihime and the boys one day, they're so full of life, you'd love them."

Kagome nodded, forcing a smile from behind the tears. "Yes, I'd like that too. And I'm glad you're alive, and safe, Inuyasha."

He went to turn, but could not bring himself to leave it at that, even if he would see her again very soon, and often, from now on. "You'll be okay, Kagome. The point of life is sketchy at best. All we do is live so that one day we may achieve something, even if that goal is to just have a family, to have friends and give anything to help them through the test which life is, help them to make something of it. But just because life is hard and may not have a point clear enough for the human – or even demoneye to see doesn't mean we shouldn't live it."

Again, she nodded, allowing but a small pause this time before replying. "I have to ask," she began, a sincere smile on her sweet face that made Inuyasha's heart flutter a little with relief, "Seriously, you and Sesshomaru? And kids? How did you not kill each other?"

Inuyasha laughed. "Well, you'd be surprised, the prick is a lot of hard work. But then I guess I am too; we complete each other, in a weird way. Put it this way, life is never dull."
She nodded, seemingly reassured by his happiness – and beaming. "And you're happy?"
"I am. Can't live with him, can't live without him, guess that is especially relevant when you're with a half-sibling – someone who by definition you are born to fight with." He laughed, gesturing his arms out dramatically. "Welcome to my fraternal romance." She chuckled, the tears dying in her delight at seeing him alive, and happy.

The picture in his hand was dark, ancient, and no longer even black-and-white but more of a faded sepia tone. But it was beautiful. As soon as photographic technology had been born, it had been taken. Inuyasha was standing there, smiling almost impertinently at the camera with Sesshomaru's arm on his shoulder. At around chest-height, a teen-looking Tsukihime's stunning smile shone, her arms around her identical brothers, masking the act of keeping them still with a hug. They were all happy, and this was the first record of that, there were countless others, stunning portraits and paintings, but this was the first real-lifeevidence, and he often referred to it when he was troubled.

"Papa, you are making that indecent face."

Sesshomaru set the photograph down with a small sigh, turning his intense gaze upon his daughter. Her lengthy silver locks hang down her back in thick ringlets, her ears standing up defiantly as she brushed her bangs away from her face. She was tall and slender like Sesshomaru, but the determined look in her eyes was all Inuyasha.

"Inupapa will come back; you are surely not concerned that he would return to a human female lover after you, are you?"
Sesshomaru frowned. His daughter was teasing him, as she so loved to do.
"Do not torment me, 'Hime, nor bother to try to distract me from the true reason you are here." His golden eyes narrowed, scanning down the willowy slope of her arm, to the place where her hand was joined with the man beside her. Sesshomaru made a small, intimidating noise in the back of his throat as he met those glaring crimson eyes. The suitor stiffened with undeniable fear and respect, but did not tremble, did not whimper nor cower and did not let go of his beloved daughter's chaste hand.

Tsukihime looked to her companion and smiled warmly. "Father – Papa, this is Hikaru."
"I know very well who he is, Tsukihime, you think my only daughter would be allowed to frolic with a demon boy I have no knowledge of?"
Tsukihime scowled this time, mimicking her father's expression perfectly. "We do not frolic, Hikaru is honourable – he has courted me flawlessly." It was then that she stopped, her posture drawing up into the perfect line only her father could duplicate. "And as you well know, he is half-demon, not fulldemon." She was her father's daughter. Right down to losing her heart to a half-demon. But she saw her father's distress and lost her forced countenance.

"Papa, please, you know Hikaru! You have known him since he was born; he is Rin and Kazu's son! Rin and Kazu are like my siblings, how can you deny how perfect for me he is? How can you deny me, when he has treated me with nothing but respect and proper devotion? He is not one of those brutish, rogue suitors that thought they could win my heart as if it were some prize!"

Sesshomaru raised a brow at that, scanning his daughter's fiancée intently. He had met Hikaru before, this was not what this was about – Tsukihime was introducing him as her intended, with the intentfor Sesshomaru to give his blessing.

Tsukihime confided a lot more in Inuyasha about such things, although they were both equally close to her, the maternal instinct brought their daughter to Inuyasha with such…romantictroubles. But his mate had warned him that this was coming, realising his, Sesshomaru's opposition to Tsukihime's joining this boy.

"My 'Hime," Sesshomaru began exhaustedly, folding his hands together and resting his forehead in frustration against them.
"Papa," she interrupted, breaking away from her chosen's hand to approach the desk, staring down into her beloved father's eyes. "Please, he is my soul-mate! Separated for centuries in time and never together due to tragedy, until now – there will never be another creature who waits centuries to love me, Papa. Why would you not want that for me?"

"Because there is no way that that soul can be good for you, 'Hime!" Sesshomaru interjected, leaping to his feet and slamming his fist upon the solid oak table, which trembled under impact. Tsukihime stood back, her chin high, unrelenting.
"He is not Hikireimaru," she insisted, "Just as I am not Touya, just as Lady Kagome was not Kikyo! And no matter the chaos and agony, or wickedness, if two souls are meant to find each other, they will. Kagome did not hurt Inupapa the way Kikyo did, so why should Hikaru harm me the way you expected Hikireimaru to?"

Sesshomaru sneered, turning his head away and staring at the ground to the left of his desk – anywhere but her pleading, shining eyes, asking him for the one thing he believed would hurt her.

"This isn't about Hikireimaru, is it?" Inuyasha had snapped at him once he had warned Sesshomaru of how serious this was becoming, and Sesshomaru had erupted into anger. Still Inuyasha had spoken over him. "It ain't what we planned for her, but this isn't about what we wanted – heck I am sure our old man didn't plan for us what we leapt into–"
"This is not about us, Inuyasha," Sesshomaru cut across him.
"No, that's right! She loves him, and he's a good kid, Sesshomaru, he loves her, whatever his past body, whatever Hikireimaru did – Hikireimaru, not him, it doesn't change that they are meant for each other. Even that bastard Hikireimaru loved her in his own way…"

"I will not have this!" Sesshomaru had exclaimed, despite the sense his mate had made.
"You're right, you will not have this – have her safe and indifferent to the world in the little palace you create. She needs to live and breathe and she finally loves something, someone besides us, she's finally a compassionate adult! You need to let her love this boy, and you need to let her get hurt by him, if need be, you cannot protect her forever and neither can I!"

Sesshomaru shook his head, clearing it of the memory of that argument. Inuyasha had possessed first-hand experience with the chaos involving an old flame's soul in another's body, so perhaps it gave him better insight. Whatever the reason, Sesshomaru could simply not understand it as well and that frustrated him.

Glancing up, he saw that Tsukihime had returned to Hikaru's side, both of her arms wrapped around one of his. Along with the rest of Kazuki and Rin's children, he had watched this boy grow. He had the same thick black hair as Rin and the same crimson eyes Kazuki bore – he was the only one of their children to have both, and the sight of them had haunted Sesshomaru from the start. It was not the parentage he protested to (of course), nor even the boy himself, who was generally intelligent and successful.

It was the memory of whom that image had belonged to, down to the last hair, and not only that, but the memory of what that brute had done. Inuyasha and he had been so initially shocked by the resemblance one visit (when Hikaru had returned after going away to university) that they had no choice but to look into it, and of course, research concluded, Hikaru was the reincarnation of the demon that had so heartily sought Tsukihime before – Hikireimaru. Inuyasha, however had grown accustomed to it, had even said it was poetic in a way. As if he knows of poetry,Sesshomaru thought bitterly, willing the tension from his body.

"Come here, my 'Hime," Sesshomaru murmured softly, his anger dissipating. Tsukihime gave her fiancée a reassuring look, before releasing him reluctantly to circle the desk and stand before her father. She stood there a moment, as rigid as she had been as a child about to be dealt punishment, but then, she softened, sliding both of her hands around one of Sesshomaru's.

How unfortunate Hikireimaru had been, Sesshomaru pondered as he gazed into his only daughter's eyes, so expressive despite her outer-hardness, so like Inuyasha. That he did not realise when he travelled forward into this time to find her – did not realise that when he found his Touya (Tsukihime) in the arms of another, that other was in fact his own reincarnation. He already had her in the future and did not realise…

The simple fact displeased him, regardless of Inuyasha and Tsukihime's insistence that despite all, Hikireimaru had loved Touya, had sacrificed the world to find him, and that in the end, they were destined for each other. Honestly, the Demon Lord simply came to the conclusion that his mate, daughter and her intended – allof them who knew, were behaving far too rationally about this. Was he the only sane one left in this confounded era?

Eventually, and with a small sigh, Sesshomaru drew from his reverie, offering his daughter a nostalgic, treasuring smile. "I wish you happy, and if this boy can make you so, I suppose I cannot argue, especially with fate." He brushed the backs of his claws through the long tresses hanging over her shoulder and watched her face lift into a grin – she was already anticipating his answer. Resigned to the truth, resigned to what was meant to be, even though he could not understand it, Sesshomaru ended her wait.

"I give you my blessing, my 'Hime."

She squealed with a childish delight she hadn't expressed in so long, leaping up and wrapping her arms around his shoulders and kissing his cheek. "Papa! Papa thank you!" She offered him another loving kiss, always having been her father's princess and danced over into her lover's arms, before dragging him out the door, nearly knocking over Inuyasha on the way. "Hi, Inupapa!" She chimed as she and her confirmed fiancée disappeared down the hall and Inuyasha stepped through the doorway.

"Inupapa!"
"No! I need him first–"
"You think you need everything first…"

Inuyasha caught Sesshomaru's gaze and rolled his eyes as their rambunctious boys appeared in the doorway. They were both still so young compared to Tsukihime, although they too were adults, they lingered and fought like stropping teens – they had not yet found their way, but they would, and until then, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had come to find their squabbles quite endearing…

Their sons stood in the door, silver hair cut identically short with modern spikes, their demon crests on alternate cheeks, the only way most could tell them apart. "Not now, boys, I need to talk to your father–"
"It won't take a minute!" Tsubasa declared over Inuyasha's voice. "Tsuyoshi seems to think that–"
"Bullshit, it's Tsubasa that thinks I–"
"Language!" Sesshomaru cut across them, and both sets of dog-ears on the twins flattened to their skulls to drown out the scolding. "Tsubasa, Tsuyoshi – out, we will talk with you in a moment."

Reluctantly, their rowdy twosome departed, shutting the door noisily behind them. Sesshomaru emitted a low, exhausted growl and slid back into his chair, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. "They were so much more agreeable when they were toddlers at my feet," Sesshomaru sighed with disdain. Inuyasha laughed, crossing the room to slide onto the desk directly in front of Sesshomaru, kicking off his shoes and setting his feet either side of his mate's thighs on the office chair.

"No they weren't," Inuyasha smirked, "They were always a handful, and you love it now just as you did back then." He leant forward, dusting Sesshomaru's lips with the briefest, most teasing of kisses, before drawing back, leaving the Demon frustrated and wanting more.
"Yes, they are definitely your children," Sesshomaru growled with a smile. Inuyasha rolled his eyes, leaning back on the desk to loosen his shirt collar and drag his fingers through his hair to unwind the braid. Silence fell between them, Sesshomaru watching him uneasily, until the moment those silver locks broke free and splashed down his mate's back…

Reaching forwards, he tugged Inuyasha's body onto his lap, running his fingers through the loose tresses before rubbing at the back of Inuyasha's neck, the way that made him close his eyes and let out a growling sigh of satisfaction. "Hmmm," Inuyasha all-but purred, pressing his head back into the touch. Yes, Sesshomaru thought, only I can make him feel like this, no matter what…

"Shall I put you out of your misery and tell you how it went?" Inuyasha murmured, and when Sesshomaru looked up to his face he saw that the insolent Half-demon had raised a brow cockily at him. The imp had known what he was doing by frustrating him with silence!

Shifting in the Demon's embrace, Inuyasha leant back, those arms cradling his hips as he sat almost upright on Sesshomaru's lap. "Idiot, I've been with you for five hundred years, you think I'd dump you?"
Sesshomaru donned his best affronted façade, but his words were tinted with honest doubt.
"Our pups are grown now, you have no responsibility. You could have returned to her with clear conscience, if that is what you had wished, I could not have stopped you…"

Inuyasha scratched the back of his neck in frustration, before allowing his fingers to slide over the mark his shirt collar had hidden during the day. Beneath him, Sesshomaru's marked hip arched into him, and as his shuddered Inuyasha descended to those lips.

"Actually, I couldn't," Inuyasha assured his mate, "Not only because I don't wish to, but also because I could never leave you with a clear conscience. There is nothing clear, nothing in me that is not full of you, and if me going to her and rekindling our friendship hurts your ego maybe you should think – just think who I come home to and who I go to bed with every night. If I wanted to go back to her in that respect I'd have gone as soon as she arrived here after leaving me."

A long silence fell, in which Sesshomaru turned his head away, a little shamed by his jealousy – he never liked Inuyasha to have the higher ground. Inuyasha ran a claw down his cheek, tipping his gaze back to him. "You're an idiot," the Half-demon repeated.
"And you are misguided," Sesshomaru spat, "I am your dominant partner, and despite your wishes to visit her in friendship, those wishes are fruitless without my agreement."
"Oh, really?" Inuyasha asked, leaning back once more to put more distance between them, to allow Sesshomaru to see clearly that his bluff was being called. As ever, Sesshomaru was pulling out all the stops to change the subject and avoid embarrassment.

"We've been together as equals for too long for you to pull that dominance shit with me, Big brother," Inuyasha stated plainly, "As you well know, we take turns in this house."
Sesshomaru considered him a moment, considered the confidence that had blossomed since they had first been thrown together. He, Sesshomaru had inspired that confidence, just as Inuyasha had inspired his love, had thawed his icy heart and filled it with summer's warmth. Inuyasha, his Inuyasha, had burst into his grey life with colour and vibrancy, and his world had never been dull since.

A low, doting purr slid through the Demon Lord's lips and he reached up to mark his Half-demon's chin with his mouth, scenting him in that way that made Inuyasha tilt his head and squirm at the delicious possessiveness of it.

"I love you," Inuyasha gasped out, exposing his pale column of throat readily for Sesshomaru to drag his mouth and fangs along. "So there is no need to keep me from her, she's my closest friend – you are my lover, and more than that."

The Demon Lord growled lustfully into his ear, pulling his mate tight against his body and jerking those lips to meet his own. Their tongues slid together eagerly, still passionate and insatiable even after all this time.

"I love you," Sesshomaru echoed, worshipping that mouth completely. "Maybe I will have to fill your belly, so that a new pup will occupy your free time that would otherwise be spent with her."
Inuyasha laughed at Sesshomaru's playful tone. "As I understand, it is you that steals my free time, and in any case," he purred, licking the soft shell of his mate's pointed ear deviously. "My belly's already full…"

~The End

A/N: This story has been about countless things, but for me, the main story is change. Hate can turn into love, love into hate, people change consistently, as do the people in our lives. People come and go through our own 'stories' we lose people we love, and no, we don't always get to see them again in the end, not like Kagome and Inuyasha or Tsukihime (Touya) and Hikireimaru, but that isn't the idea. It's the journey that matters. Every little thing that changes, every person that passes through our lives, for better or worse changes us, makes us who were are. This story was written by me for nearly 4 years, I wrote it during some of the most drastic, sometimes heart-breaking changes of my life and it really helped me to pour my soul into this, helped me to get through my hardships and I feel so sad now it, and my journey with you is ending.

But I hope that when you read this, even if you never read it again, that you can take away something similar to the comfort it has given me.

I thank you all, once again for being with me, whether you've been here from the start and reviewed or just turned up for the grand finale, I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read what is probably the story I am most intimately connected with. Please leave a review if you have time, even though this story is done, my email is so you can connect to me there or even add me on DeviantART as I hang out there alot (my name for DA is HyperLittleNori).

Either way, I will miss this story and of course you all, I can't believe this is the end, but I will never stop writing, I hope you can try out some of my other stories, even if you do not like the fandoms or whatever, just so we can stay in touch but if not, I hope to see you all on the next InuSess story I may write.

Thank you, Ta Ta For Now!
Love and Best wishes!
Shigure-san
x chuu x