Epilogue: Ever the Lotus

"Inuyasha!"

The hanyou turned around with a smile at the cheerful shout and waved, waiting for the owner of the voice to catch up to him.

He watched her carefully and was pleased to see the bright happiness in her aura – it seemed his brother was keeping his best friend content. Of course, they had been together for some years now so it wasn't as if he hadn't known of her happiness, but sometimes it was still so difficult to believe that his ass of an uptight older brother could ever be what someone like Kagome needed to be so electrically ecstatic.

"Hey, you," he said, his smile softening and a fond light in his eyes as he looked down at the small woman who had managed to conquer his arrogant brother. She was glowing with health – and also quite large with child. It was her first.

"I've missed you, you big jerk," she giggled as she leaned in and gave him a careful hug. "Where's Hiroko, and what are you doing here?" she asked, falling into step next to him as he headed down the hall towards his brother's study.

"She's at home – you know she's ready to whelp soon and isn't in the mood for traveling. She's doing that 'nesting' thing you two talked about," he wrinkled his nose. "I swear the servants are all going to quit en masse if she makes them take the palace apart just one more time to clean and rearrange it," he finished wryly as Kagome chuckled understandingly. The inuyoukai female, who she had become very close to in the intervening years since the beautiful female had mated her best friend, was closer to giving birth to her second child than Kagome was to birthing her first, and she hadn't yet hit that 'nesting' period.

She could feel it coming, though.

"Poor thing – I bet she's terribly uncomfortable right now, what with the weather and all," she said sympathetically. "How much longer does she have?" she added questioningly as she began to plan – she had every intention of being there to assist as the midwife in the birth of her newest niece or nephew, but with her own condition, traveling took a little bit more planning – read arguing with her mate, who was insistent on keeping her locked up in the palace and always took several days to argue into submission.

Inuyasha, knowing what she was thinking, chuckled. "Within the next week, she says. That's actually why I'm here – she's been asking for you. I don't think she feels safe with anyone else as a midwife, and she finally nagged me enough that I decided it would be easier and more pleasant to face Sesshoumaru's temper when it comes to taking you anywhere." He scrunched his face up comically in disgust. "I would never, in even the most outrageous dream have ever been able to imagine my cold, arrogant, 'I don't have anyone to protect' brother becoming so... well... overprotective of anyone. He's almost insane when it comes to you, seriously!"

Kagome couldn't help the chuckle that teased from her – because Inuyasha was right. Sesshoumaru was almost insane when it came to her – he freaked out if she even sneezed. Who would have ever thought something like that was possible?

They slowed as they reached their destination, and Kagome rapped on the shoji before sliding it open and stepping inside, followed by her best friend and brother. Just as he caught sight of the other occupant of the room she said, "I know, right? But I wouldn't worry about him fighting with you about this trip – your papa's been here a while and working on him." She looked up at her mate's perturbed face and smiled gently. "Plus, he already knew that I would be attending the birthing anyway, no matter what he says. I'm fine, and still have some time yet before this little one-" she patted her belly affectionately as her baby pressed against her hand, "-is due to arrive, so there's no danger."

A low growl followed that proclamation as their father laughed merrily. "Is it then time to leave?" he asked after a moment to calm his amusement.

Inuyasha shrugged. "Hiroko says so. She's been panicking, worried about what would happen if the rabid fluffball over there decided to put his foot down and refuse Kagome's desire to attend her." He smirked at the glare his brother hit him with. "Of course, we all know who really wears the hakama around here – he's never able to deny her anything she really wants."

Sesshoumaru snarled at the impudent puppy even as Kagome managed to look demure, smoothing her hands down her rounded little belly. "Oh, calm down, Sesshoumaru," she remonstrated with her irritable mate, watched with great interest by his father and younger brother. "I'm fine, and I'll be quite happy to get out and about even if it is just to take care of Hiroko. You are being silly about this – you know I'm in perfect health."

Sesshoumaru sighed, disgruntled but unable to deny her words. She was in excellent health, the pregnancy going smoothly and so far fairly easily for her.

He still didn't want her out of the palace.

"Very well. We will be there this afternoon, Inuyasha," he finally said tightly, looking not at all happy about the coming time spent at his brother's home.

At first, when Kagome had found that she was pregnant he was pleased and content – but unworried. Females whelped pups all the time without any problems, and it hadn't occurred to him that anything could really go wrong. Until one of the household staff, a young female recently mated, got pregnant. It was rare for youkai to have problems with birthing, he'd since found out, but she had for some reason, miscarrying and almost dying herself in the process. And that was when he'd lost his mind – after all, his own mate was carrying their first child, and she was not youkai. Even if she wasn't entirely human, either, it seemed that race often had such problems, and he'd become totally unreasonable about her desire to go anywhere, let alone be out of his sight.

Kagome clapped excitedly and turned towards the door, chattering a mile a minute about the coming trip outside her erstwhile prison, determined to have her things packed and ready to go as soon as possible. The three males left behind in the study watched her go off, two with fond, indulgent smiles, and one with worried eyes that he was trying very hard to hide from everyone else.

After a moment Sesshoumaru followed his little mate from the room to make sure that she didn't try to do any of the packing herself – that's what the maids were for. I may as well ready myself, too, he growled to himself, annoyed. He looked up and frowned, then hurried after his practically racing mate.

"Slow down, woman!" he demanded, reaching out and taking her arm to force her to stop her - in his opinion, anyway - headlong rush down the corridor. "Inuyasha's female isn't likely to birth the pup within the next day, so there is no need for you to endanger yourself rushing around for no good reason."

The two left behind in the study couldn't help the laughter as they watched the couple disappear down a hallway towards their quarters. Truly, to see Sesshoumaru in such a state was almost mind-blowing, and neither male wanted to forget the sight.

The Inu no Taisho, however, was really more happy about his son's seeming insanity than amused – because it proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he'd finally learned the lesson that he'd been trying to teach him. There was no way he could ever deny that he had found his someone to protect or that he was happy with her, either.

It is as it should be, he smiled to himself before turning to his younger son and beginning a conversation while they waited for the couple to ready themselves.

Finally.

~oOo~

The piercing cry of an infant echoed throughout the palace, and Sesshoumaru froze, his eyes widening at the sound and his heart beginning to race. His heir... his son had finally arrived!

It had been two months since Hiroko had given birth to Inuyasha's first son, and the anticipation of his own heir's birth as well as the worry for his mate and child had made him as tense and testy as he'd ever been. Even his father had finally stayed away, not willing to deal with his out-of-control son.

But now clearly his pup was born, strong and healthy from the sounds of the fiercely angry wails, and he could feel that though exhausted his mate was also just fine. In that moment all his worry and yes, fear, dissipated and he exhaled slowly, centering himself once more.

Now fully calm again for the first time in months he turned from the room he'd been waiting in with his family and strode towards the birthing room, pleased to find the doors already open in welcome. He swept up to the futon his mate lay reclined on... and froze.

Two? But how is that... possible? We only heard one heartbeat and felt one aura... Brows in his bangs with surprise, Sesshoumaru looked at his mate with confusion. "Two?"

Kagome met her mate's gaze with a small, tired smile and shrugged. "That's not even the strangest thing," she sighed, before settling the blanket wrapped bundles down and peeling back the blankets enough for their sire to see them.

Eyes widening, Sesshoumaru gasped just slightly, shocked. This... had never occurred to him.

One of the pups was in true inuyoukai form, silky silver fur catching the light. But even as his father watched, his form began to blur and he shifted, taking on his human form. His brother was doing the same thing in reverse, his human form blurring and silver fur sprouting across his body as his transformation completed.

Inuyoukai were born in their true form, unable to change for several months until their youki had finished developing. Apparently that wasn't going to be the case for his twin sons...

I wonder what other surprises we will find as they grow?

~oOo~

Sesshoumaru's thought that day was an accurate one, because there were many such surprises throughout their children's lives – and they had several of them. Not a one was like any other, either – even their twin sons were completely opposite each other, even if only in temperament.

All of them, however, had their mother's shape-changing ability, to their father's pleasure.

They were all youkai in manner though their gifts were each different and marked them as something more. But no matter how many times in the following centuries another youkai met his young for the first time, the reaction was always the same.

"Their mother is... human?"

He was even challenged several times by other youkai for bedding a seeming human and breeding his heirs from her - although once or twice a male showed a modicum of intelligence in challenging him for her instead. Of course, that little bit of intelligence in wanting her for themselves disappeared when it came to them actually challenging him to combat over the matter. He didn't kill any of them in deference to his mate's soft heart, but they would certainly never forget the lesson he'd imparted to them through massive amounts of pain.

It was definitely most foolish for the ones that had challenged him over her seeming humanity - when he'd defeated them in the arena he'd parade his pups before them and point out quite viciously that there was no weakness within them. And once Kagome's questionable humanity was dismissed those youkai became quite as jealous as the ones who'd challenged for her, because all you had to do was open your senses to tell just how powerful the pups were.

There really was no discernible weakness within them.

Sesshoumaru wasn't stupid enough to believe that his pups were perfect. But they were much closer to it than any other youkai he'd ever come across, their weaknesses minor and easily hidden behind their strengths. That was only helped as he trained them assiduously through the centuries to be the best they could possibly be.

Those intervening centuries were quite interesting, as well. Kagome had allowed him to read one of her history books, one that dealt with his era through the advent of her own, and he watched with intent curiosity as those same years began to pass and things were in many cases much different than what they had been originally. It seemed that the changes Kagome was initiating with her presence and choices were indeed changing the world for the better, and he could only be thankful for that because most of the world she'd come from that he'd come in contact with was no kind of place for a youkai.

According to Kagome, in a lot of cases it was no kind of place for decent humans, either. She much preferred his world to her own former one, and now at least it wouldn't be what it had been originally when it finally came around again.

The first time they'd visited her world after their mating had shown them the differences between what had been originally and what was now. The world was less crowded and much less polluted - and there were now youkai there, as well.

That fact had pleased Sesshoumaru immensely, of course, as it did Kagome. That didn't mean the world was perfect, because it was far from it. But it was better than it had once been, and that was a step in the right direction.

Sesshoumaru's interest in his mate never waned, and even centuries after mating her he was just as drawn to her as he'd originally been, maybe even more after so long together because there was always something more to discover about her, always something new. Bokuseno hadn't been wrong when he'd named her the Lotus, and she would ever remain that way to him.

She would always be his Lotus, queen of mystery...

... and goddess of truth and change.

~oOo~

A/N: And finally, the oldest one of my still open stories is complete. Sheesh. What a long time this one took! I am so sorry to all those who were left hanging on this one - I just couldn't decide how to finish it. And with the recently ended bout of writer's block that I've been struggling with for over a year, that's not surprising. But I promised I wouldn't abandon any of my stories ever, and I am still upholding that promise!

Amber