Epilogue: In a Perfect World

Sugimi blinked, then stared in awe at the perfect little pup that was being held out to him by his mate's mother. Almost in shock, he gently took the cooing pup and pulled him into his chest.

He was beautiful.

Silver hair but with one black streak through it, an inverted copy of his mother's mate mark, along with blue eyes with a gold rim, opposite of his own mate mark, quickly gave the proof of who had fathered this child.

In every other way he was a copy of his father, even to the jagged crests he carried on chubby cheeks. Moving to sit on some scattered cushions he unwrapped the babe and inspected him, eager to make sure the child was normal in every respect.

He was.

Proud, he looked up at his mate's mother's smiling face. "Kagome?" he murmured.

She understood what he was asking immediately, despite his lack of eloquence at the moment. "She is getting cleaned up a bit – you can see her in a few minutes."

He nodded, then looked back down at his third son. Born of both of us... you are beautiful, my son. It pleases me that you carry her blood as well as mine.

Hitomi watched her son-in-law hold his son and smiled wider before turning to deal with the cry of her granddaughter. Five years old now, Hina was the apple of her father's eye as his only daughter, looking every bit like Kagome – with Sugimi's coloring and that mix of her parent's mate marks.

His own mother watched him indulgently as he growled soothingly to his new son, who was getting a bit impatient at being stared at – he was hungry and wanted his mama.

Just then, Kaede and Kikyou stepped from the birthing room and smiling, gestured for him to bring his son in to his mother. Standing carefully, he immediately entered the room, eagerly looking to his mate to make sure she was okay.

She was smiling radiantly at him, holding her arms out for the pup so he could be fed. As she bared her breast for him, he rooted impatiently around for the nipple, making unhappy noises until he finally latched on. "Impatient pup," she laughed. "It has to come from you – after all, look at your other sons – they're just as impatient."

He grinned. "My father is the same," he said, "so I suppose you are correct – it comes from my side of the family." He sobered, then, and carefully looked her over. "You are well, beloved?"

She nodded. "I'm fine, no worries. From what mama said, and the things I'd heard before in my old world, childbirth was painful. All I can say is I'm glad it's not anymore!" she laughed, as her son nursed happily, watched contentedly by his father.

After a few minutes of quiet as the parents smiled at each other and their newborn son, the door was opened and a small bundle of energy came flying into the room, throwing herself at her father. "Papa! Papa, is that my new brother?" the excitable girl asked, and Sugimi nodded at her.

"Yes, Hina, it is." He hugged her to him for a moment, then let her pull back.

Wriggling her way out of his lap, the child scampered closer to her mother and scrutinized the pup still nursing happily. She growled just a little, and to Kagome's surprise her son pulled away from his meal and looked over to his sister, a scowl on his little face as he growled back.

Sugimi couldn't help it, he started laughing as Kagome just stared at her children in surprise.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

"Hina is establishing the pecking order. She's older, so she feels as though she is ahead of him."

Kagome eyed her children warily as they continued their showdown. "Is she right?"

He shrugged, watching the confrontation with interest. "Possibly. They will probably fight for dominance quite a lot over the years, love. It's a given that neither will want to submit – they are both stubborn."

She laughed lightly as her son decided to continue his meal and ignore the uppity female. "What do you want to name him?"

He considered that for a moment, then smiled at her. "Kouhei - peace. In this new world, it is a fitting name, do you not agree?"

Kagome thought about that for a few minutes while she switched breasts, her daughter watching all the while. Finally, she nodded. "Yeah. It's a good name for this world we've found ourselves in," she agreed, her eyes unfocused as she thought about it.

Peace and calm... yes, they'd had that in abundance. And she could only be grateful for it. This world suited her right down to her soul – she'd always wanted the best for everyone... and that was exactly what everyone was getting.

Izayoi had finally found her other half about a week after they had all been introduced to their new world, and now had two more children. It took Inuyasha a while to get used to having her around, but he finally managed, especially as Ayame had finally given him a son to keep him occupied and out of trouble.

Sesshoumaru and Kagura had one child, a boy as well, and to Sugimi's ultimate amusement the child was a carbon copy of his father – in all his anal retentive glory. It was truly amusing to watch the boy run circles around his father, and provided much amusement for Sugimi, Satori, and Inuyasha. But no one laughed more than Kagura herself.

Satori had also found her mate, and surprisingly, he was as warm and open as she was cool and reserved. In their case, opposites seemed to attract – because they were like bunnies, always going at each other. More than one of the large group of friends and family had caught them out – including Sesshoumaru, who was permanently scarred by it as he complained later to his father.

Koga and Kikyou had also produced several children, who, along with Kaede and her mate, had ensured that their family line, of which Kagome was a member, would never be wholly ningen again.

The community had grown and expanded, but always with the mentality of protecting the world around them so as not to disrupt the natural flow of things. In all ways it was a thousand times better than her old world, and Kagome never once regretted her actions in helping kami make sure this world came into being, even unknowing.

It was always such a pleasure for her to sit and watch her friends lives now that they weren't overshadowed by tragedy, and listen to their happy chatter. As much as she'd had her own hard times, she certainly hadn't suffered on the same order as Inuyasha, Shippo, Miroku, or Sango, or any of their family members. It pleased her beyond measure that they were now living with joy instead of pain.

Of course, that hentai monk (his supposedly cursed hentai hand had supposedly followed him into their new reality) had kept Sango on her toes with giving him those children he'd always wanted. Poor Sango was the busiest mom in the entire region, and not one woman envied her the mate she'd gotten.

Shippo pretty much lived between his parents house and Kagome's, being unable to go back to the way things had been before meeting the miko. And his parents truly didn't mind – they themselves were very close to Kagome and Sugimi – their gratitude to Kagome stronger than either could ever verbalize. Usually, with them both dead, a tiny kit like Shippo would also have died, being younger and weaker designating him as prey for anything larger.

But Kagome had taken him in and loved and protected him, and for that his parents would always be devoted to her.

The same could be said for Rin's family and their feelings about Sesshoumaru. They would always and forever be indebted to the supposedly human-hating daiyoukai that had revived their youngest child from death and then cared for and protected her from all harm.

The one person Kagome was at first uncomfortable around was Kikyou. When she had been revived by Urasue, only part of her soul had been left inside her when Kagome had called the rest of her soul back – the darker side of the soul that everyone, including Kagome, had. Because of that her actions had not been tempered by the good side of her soul, which had been trapped in a sort of limbo, and Kagome couldn't really blame her for that. It took a little time, but encouraged by her friendship with Koga the two women eventually became friends, as well.

As for Kagome's family, they took to the new world they'd found themselves in with a vengeance, and it wasn't long before Kagome and Souta had a new sibling.

As exciting as it was to have her father back, and her grandmother, and all the extended family from generations of life, she was a tad bit uncomfortable to discover that some of her old school friends from her time were now living in close proximity to her. Once they realized that Kagome was partially responsible for the world they now lived in, she was pretty much forced to tell the true story of her life since her fifteenth birthday.

After a while she got kinda tired of talking about it, and was supremely glad when everyone had finally heard the story and she could move on from there.

All in all, though, the world that had been created by the Shikon no Tama from the chaos of the other one was much appreciated by those who had suffered so much in the previous one, and they were pleased that their children would grow up without having to know that suffering.

It was a world that would never have worked without the gods interference, but since the kami wanted things that way, it was, whether it was logical or not.

Because really... what use had the gods for logic?

They didn't... and Kagome would always be thankful that it was so.

~Owari~

Edited 12/04/13