Not long after, I finally arrive back into the village. The sky has practically turned black by now, the moon is out and the stars are faint in the sky. I hop off of Boshi and head to the big hut, I assume that they just finished dinner. It feels good to be back, I feel like I'm home again. Except, I have a goal to see through. I tie Boshi to the stable and I stand outside of the hut, I can hear talking. The voices of Miroku and Inuyasha's voice are the most evident, suddenly it goes quiet. I ready myself to lift up the curtain, I take a deep breath.

"You coming in or what?" I hear the familiar tone of straightforwardness.

The curtain lifts up and I'm greeted with bright amber eyes and white dog ears. Inuyasha leans against the door frame and looks at me with a slight grin.

"How did you know?" I ask him slightly taken aback.

Inuyasha casually taps his nose, and it hits me. How did I forget, he's a dog demon. He remembers my scent. I let out a laugh, then Kagome steps out from behind Inuyasha, she smiles as she sees me.

"___________! You're back! Thank goodness you're alright." Kagome say coming out and hugs me.

"Ya, I'm finally back, sorry for worrying you guys." I say hugging her back.

"You had something to take care of, you're not a young girl anymore. We believed that you would be able to take care of yourself. Of course, if it lasted more than a week then we would have went out to look for you." Miroku says coming out with Sango.

"Indeed, we're glad to have you back safe and sound. Not to mention, you look happy as well. Did things work out?" Sango asks me.

I smile and nod my head.

"Yes, Naraku and I have come to understand one another. Actually, it was I who has come to understand him. I actually convinced him to come back with me." I tell them.

Inuyasha's brows slightly furrows, his ears twitches a little.

"No wonder his scent is so strong on your body still. Why did you bring him here?" He asks me.

"Because I wanted you guys to see that he's not the demon that you all once knew him as. He has changed, I want you guys to give him a chance, to see the new him that I fell in love with." I tell them.

I look at Kagome, her expression soft and she shows me a smile. I knew that she's willing to give Naraku a chance.

"Where is he right now?" Sango asks me.

"Just on the outskirt of town on the hills, I wanted to come here and let you guys know prior so that you can prepare yourselves." I explain.

"I'm going to rip his head off." Inuyasha says grabbing his Tessaiga.

"Inuyasha calm down. Let's go and see Naraku. From there on out, we'll see and decide if he has really changed for the better. If you want us to see the real him, then don't jump in to cover for him alright? Last time you did you almost died." Kagome says holding my hand.

"As long as no violence are used, then I'll let Naraku handle everything, otherwise I'll be protecting him just like last time." I say firmly.

"Negotiating now are we?" Inuyasha says with a slight sarcasm.

"Wouldn't you do that if you were to protect the ones you love?" I ask back with a smile.

"___________ really has grown up now. She's not the cute girl that she once was, she has grown up into a strong and independent woman." Miroku says with a smile and a sigh.

Inuyasha raises his eyebrow in response with a light-hearted grin. Without anymore seconds to waste, I guide Sango, Miroku, Kagome, Shippo, and Inuyasha back to the hills where I left Naraku. Sango asked Lady Kaede to take care of the twin girls and her son for the time being, anxiety filled me as we walked in the night lit by the single moon. Although nervous, but I'm holding on to that hope that everything will be alright. The steps seems heavy, but they eventually bring us to the hills. Standing at the edge looking out at the horizon is Naraku, I can see his dimly lit silhouette laced with a silver outline.

"Naraku, I'm back." I say.

Naraku turns around slowly, I walk up to him as Kagome and the others stand a few feet away from him with alertness. Naraku's red eyes follows me as I stop to stand beside him, he stayed here. He didn't leave me. I take his right hand in my left, his cool skin mixing with my warm ones creating a perfect temperature. The two of us then turn to face them, Inuyasha and Miroku standing slightly to the front with Kagome, Shippo and Sango in the middle. 

"Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo... this is Naraku, the demon that I'm in love with, my other half." I say to them even though they already know who he is.

"It's a pleasure to see you all again." Naraku says with a slight bow. 

"Ya well, I'm not, I'm here to make sure that you don't go murdering people again." Inuyasha says harshly.

"I understand that what I have done in the past has left terrible impact on all of you, but I can assure you I have changed. All because of__________." Naraku says looking down at me.

I look up at him and smile, I gently give his hand a squeeze as a sign of support.

"How do we know that you're telling the truth, you were the demon of deceit, you were a demon that was born from Onigumo's darkness." Miroku says.

"All of those were true, but it's all because that I met___________ that I have come to know and understand what love is and see what is most precious to one person." Naraku answers with no hesitation.

"You left__________, you abandoned her and told her that you never loved her. Do you think that's true love? You hurt her so much that she couldn't rest well, she suffered because of you. How can you still say that you love her?" Sango asks with furrowed brows.

I want to jump in and tell them everything, but I remembered that it's not my fight. It's between Naraku and them, because right now, Kagome and the others are my guardians in place of my parents. If they were to entrust me to Naraku, then Naraku needs to clear everything up and prove to them that he has changed and that we are meant to be together. I bite down on my tongue and hold in my urges and frustration. I take a glance at Naraku, he looks absolutely fine, no hesitation nor in a state of thought.

"I left her and told her that I did not love her was because it was what I thought was best for her safety. I was being hunted by you all due to my past, and having_________ with me would likely put her in danger. Having been with her for some time, knowing her personality, I realized that telling her to leave me might have been impossible. So I could only go to the extreme of telling her that I never loved her, hoping that that way, she can find that opening to leave me and stay safe with you all. It was until afterwards, that I realized my decision hurt her more than any physical wound." Naraku answers straightforwardly.

I feel slightly embarrassed, but I know everything that has happened has lead us back to each other with renewed passion. I look back at the group, they all have a slight surprised expression, except for Kagome. She's behind all of them, on her face holds a gentle smile, she knew all along that what Naraku did was for me. Perhaps coming from the future, she knew more about love than all of us. 

"Well, we ain't going to hand_________ over to you so easily. Let's have a battle, if you win we'll trust________ to you, but if you lose, there will be more trials for you and more convincing in order for us to give__________ to you. What do you say? If you love____________, you'll accept this challenge." Inuyasha says taking out his Tessaiga.

I'm beginning to feel worry coming up inside me, I feel my hand going cold from the nervousness, but then Naraku's hand squeezes mine gently. His hand slightly eases my anxiety.

"I accept." Naraku suddenly says. 

I turn to face him, I tug on his kimono sleeve.

"Naraku don't, you can get hurt. I'll try to convince them, don't put yourself in harm's way." I say to him.

Naraku looks down at me and shows me a smile.

"If I don't, it just means that I have no right to be with you. This is a opportunity for me to prove myself, and to you." Naraku says with a gentle smile.

"I don't like this but..." I say with a frown.

"I'll be fine, go back to them and please, don't jump in front of me again." Naraku says with a slight smirk.

I feel my cheeks heating up slightly. But I nod reluctantly. Naraku lets go of my hand, and I walk back to Kagome and the others. Sango and Kagome keeps me close to them, I turn back to look at Naraku. He's standing close to the edge of the hill, his black hair having a silver outline from the moon. His red eyes dimly shining in the navy blue wash. 

"Make sure not to go overboard Inuyasha, or else________ might rip you apart instead." Miroku warns Inuyasha.

"Ya ya, just stay back monk, this is my fight. Time to release my anger that I had against Naraku for years." Inuyasha says.

Suddenly his Tessaiga grows in size, I gasp at the sudden transformation. Kagome holds my arm while Sango holds my hand. 

"Naraku..." I say quietly. 

Without a second to waste, Inuyasha lunges at Naraku, I feel my mind going blank. I trust Inuyasha that he won't hurt Naraku, or like what Miroku said, I might lose it on Inuyasha. Inuyasha dashes at Naraku at inhuman speed, I worry that Naraku might not escape or dodge the attack. Although I think that, but a part of my mind reminds me that Naraku isn't human either. Although he can fight back but he has no weapon to fight back with, unless he has magic skills. My mind is going in circles with worry and questions. Naraku dodges the swing of Inuyasha's sword, Naraku jumps a bit away from Inuyasha. Naraku stands back up again, then suddenly, I see a faint silhouette on each side of him. My eyes goes wide, is this one of Naraku's powers? I've never seen it before, guess he still possesses his powers from his past after remembering who he was. The silhouettes slowly gains form and they look like Naraku, now I see 3 Narakus. 

"Looks like he's the demon of deceit after all, he's going to trick Inuyasha and divert his attention from the real one." Miroku says.

I go back to look at them. Inuyasha's ears twitches and he lunges at the Narakus, he's aiming for the one in the middle, the real Naraku. I want to yell at him to tell him to dodge the attack, because Inuyasha doesn't look like he's holding back. The Narakus just stands there motionless like statues. Inuyasha then jumps into the air and swings his sword down at the Naraku in the middle, did Inuyasha see through the trick? Is he really going to hurt him? I watch in shock as the sword comes down and cuts down on the Naraku in the middle, I shut my eyes. I feel my heart drop, but I didn't hear the others say anything except for light gasps. I open my eyes quickly and look back at the fight, the middle Naraku that Inuyasha cut down on slowly turns into mists. Then the one on the right of Inuyasha moves agilely forward and swiftly kicks Inuyasha on his left thigh, Inuyasha tumbles forward and Naraku leaps into a distance. I let out a sigh of relief, Naraku's alright, and it seems like Naraku didn't take the opportunity to kill Inuyasha. Naraku really is different, he only returned an attack on Inuyasha but not enough to seriously injure him. I hear Inuyasha let out a growl of annoyance, he pushes himself back up from the soft grass. The other Naraku Illusion has slowly faded away, and the real Naraku is now back close to the edge of the hill, back to how it started. Can we stop now? Is it enough? Hasn't Naraku won already? Inuyasha turns and ready his Tessaiga again, his amber eyes almost flaring in the moonlight. 

"Inuyasha..." I begin.

But before I can finish, Inuyasha lunges again at Naraku. This has gone on long enough. I want to step in, and I take a step forward. I feel Sango and Kagome hold onto my arm and my hand tighter, they are acting like my restraints preventing me from acting out without thinking. I feel worry rise up again, when will this stop? I watch as Inuyasha raise his Tessaiga over his head, his silver white hair flowing around him. His fire red kimono fluttering from his movements, he then brings his sword down towards Naraku. Naraku slightly changes his stance so that he can dodge at the right moment. Suddenly, we see a glowing green aura zip through the air and wraps around the Tessaiga, it tightens and locks the sword in place in mid air. 

"What is this?!" Inuyasha shouts in annoyance.

"Enough Inuyasha." A familiar low voice says from atop of a tree. 

We all follow the green aura which now looks like a whip, an all so familiar whip. The whip leads us to one tree in particular not too far away from the battle area, the whip recoils, and from the darkness I see a white figure leap out of the tree and in between Inuyasha and Naraku. His white hair flows in the wind, the big bundle of fur on his right shoulder lands around him like a tail, his white kimono gently flows as he lands and then becomes motionless. The crescent moon on his forehead and the magenta strips on his cheeks, helps enhances the beauty of his amber eyes. 

"Sesshomaru, what are you doing here?" Miroku asks surprised.

"I'm free to be wherever I want, and I just happen to fly by and saw the commotion. I'm disappointed in you Inuyasha. Since Naraku landed the first blow on you Inuyasha, shouldn't it be right that Naraku has won this battle?" Sesshomaru asks him brother with a flat but serious tone.

Inuyasha's face contorts in frustration and annoyance of being lectured by his older half brother. I can't help but suppress a smile, thank goodness Sesshomaru showed up when he did. 

"Fine... guess you won Naraku. Ugh." Inuyasha groans.

Although he looks annoyed, but it seems like he finally begrudgingly acknowledged that Naraku has changed and finally trusts me to be with him. Inuyasha's Tessaiga transforms back into the small sword again and he trudges back to us. I look at Kagome, she looks at me with a gentle smile, she then nudges me to go to Naraku. I turn to look at Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango and Shippo. They all look at me with a slight worried expression but laced with a smile of approval. I nod with a smile of my own, I then let go of Kagome and Sango and run back to Naraku. I slow down as I got near Sesshomaru, I look into his amber eyes. They are beautiful but they look like they're hiding something.

"Thank you." I say to him.

Sesshomaru shows me a slight nod. I then run back to Naraku, I open my arms and hug him, Naraku holds me to him. I bury my face into his chest, his scent surrounds me and comforts me. 

"Thank goodness." I whisper.

"Everything's alright now." Naraku replies back to me in a gentle tone.

The two of us turn and look back at the others.

"You better not hurt___________'s feelings again or I'll take you down." Inuyasha shouts at Naraku.

Naraku nods. I let out a smile as I hold onto his kimono. 

"Let's head back to the village, it's getting pretty late. You had a long day___________. We'll go back and set up another futon for Naraku. It's going to take some time for us to get use to living with a demon who tried to destroy the whole world a few years back, but after today, it does seem that Naraku has changed." Miroku says.

"Thank you guys." I respond.

I then see Sesshomaru turn and walk away into the forest. I want to talk to him.

"I'll go back to the village soon, I have something to do first." I say to them. 

"Alright, but don't stay too long." Sango says.

I nod. They then turn and return back to the village. I turn to Naraku.

"I want to go talk to Sesshomaru for a bit, can you wait here for me?" I ask Naraku.

"I will." He responds with a smile.

I smile and hold his hand. I then turn towards the forest and run after Sesshomaru, or the direction that he went. It hasn't been long so I think I can still catch him, after a few seconds of running I finally see him. His grey washed kimono shifts as he walks.

"Sesshomaru!" I shout after him.

He stops underneath an opening that allows the moonlight to shine through, he looks celestial. He turns to look at me, his amber eyes are beautiful in the moonlight. I run up to him and stop a few centimetres away. His height looms over me.

"I just want to say, thank you for allowing Naraku to realize what is important." I say to him.

"I simply tracked him down to kill him." Sesshomaru says.

I smile, he's trying to hide it. I walk up to him and I hug him. Sesshomaru slightly tenses but then relaxes.

"Naraku told me everything. Thank you for going out of your way and putting aside your grudge against Naraku to bring him back to me. I just wanted to tell you that. I also want to thank you for being there for me when I needed someone to talk to or simply just to spend some quiet times together." I say to him.

His soft white kimono brushes against my skin and it feel heavenly. Sesshomaru doesn't respond, but then I feel his right hand come up and he gently places it on top of my head. I can feel the claws that tips his fingers gently brushing through my hair, it's soothing. 

"No thanks are needed, as long as you're smiling that's enough. Now return back to Naraku." Sesshomaru finally says.

Sesshomaru cares a lot, he cares about my happiness and for me to smile. I'm glad that I met him. I release him and I stand back to look at him. His face shows a gentle but expressionless expression.

"See you around." I say to him.

He replies with a slight nod. I then turn back and run back to Naraku, my long hair flying behind me as I hear the wind brushes pass me. I finally return back to the hill, and there he is. Naraku is standing at the edge of the hill and looking out into the night, I walk up to him and stand beside him. I look at his profile view and I see his expression, he looks at peace.

"Shall we head back now?" I ask him. 

Naraku turns to look at me, his ruby red eyes glimmers in the night. He smiles and nods. I take his large hand in mine and we turn and head back to the village. When we return to the village, it's quiet and serene. A few lanterns lights the street but all the huts are dark, everyone has turned in. I guide him to the hut that I stayed in before my departure, a few candles are lit and the flames flickers inside. Looks like Kagome and the others set everything for us. 

"Let's go in." I say.

"Yes." Naraku replies.

I then guide him into the big hut. When I open the door to the hut, two futons greets us and candles lighting up the room and giving the room an orange wash. It looks warm and cozy, and enough for the two of us. I let Naraku go inside as I close the door behind us, I then take off my sandals and step up into the wooden platform. Naraku looks around the room, his eyes moving from left to right as he turned. I walk up to him and he looks down at me.

"How is everything?" I ask him.

"It's perfect, it feels as if we're back at my castle, back to that night." He says with a smile.

I smile at the beautiful memory that we shared that night. I then walk up to him and hug him. Naraku seems taken aback at the suddenness but he wraps his arms around me.

"Thank goodness you're alright, I thought that Inuyasha actually hurt you when he brought the sword down." I say quietly.

Naraku holds me tighter to him, he then pulls the two of us down onto the soft futon. He sits down and pulls me onto his lap, I rest my head under his chin.

"I'm alright, you don't have to worry. I won't leave you again." He says. 

"I know. I'm glad that everything worked out." I say again.

"It was a risk that I took going against Inuyasha. But luckily no one got hurt." He says quietly in the big room.

"Well Inuyasha seems like he was really going to cut you down, but luckily you knew your spells and avoided serious injury. If you didn't you could have gotten hurt or killed." I say looking at him. 

"Yes, well I'm here now, I'm not injured and I didn't kill Inuyasha. I finally proved to them that I've changed, and that I fit to be your other half." Naraku says holding my face.

"Even if they didn't approve, you'll still be my other half and the one that I'll love. You proved to them that you have changed, that's enough. When it comes to our love, it's up to us to decide that for ourselves. Thank you for staying alive and proving yourself to them." I tell him as I brush my fingers along his lips. 

"Of course, and thank you for not stepping in to shield me." Naraku says with a smile.

I feel my cheeks heating up slightly, I think that will forever be something that will embarrass me from time to time. I smile and let out a small giggle. I then look back at Naraku's eyes. We just look at each other for a few seconds, no words are said, we just looked at each other.

"I love you Naraku..." I quietly say to him.

"I love you too__________, I loved you since that day that we met and even 12 years after." Naraku answers me.

 I smile at his heartfelt words. I then lean in and find his lips with mine, his lips are smooth and soft, they mold perfectly with mine. I wrap my arms around Naraku's neck, his long hair brushing against my skin tickles me. I feel my cheeks heating up from the kiss, actually my whole body feels warm, is it from the kiss or is it from something else... without knowing, my tongue gently Naraku's lips. His lips parts and his tongue finds mine, our tongues dances around each other as we kissed. I can feel his warm breath with mine, I hold his face close, the room is slowly starting to feel warm and I know it's not from the candles. I feel my heartbeat slowly speeding up as we indulge ourselves in this intimate kiss, our tongues entwines together for a few seconds and then I pull my lips away from his. Our tongues separates, a thin thread of our saliva remains as we separate from each other. It then breaks as we regain our composures again, I open my eyes to look at him, my vision seems fuzzy as I feel my eyes slightly become hooded from the feeling of love. Naraku's red eyes seems to burn brighter after the kiss. Our breathing has slightly fastened. It's been a while since we last shared an intimate night, but tonight, I want to feel him again.

"Naraku... I want to feel you tonight, I want to feel that you're actually here with me. That this isn't a dream anymore." I say quietly in the big room.

Naraku caresses my face softly, he looks back into my eyes with his red ones.

"I want this too. I want to show the love that I repressed from our time apart for you tonight." He says.

"I'd like to feel that love... no more holding back tonight." I say to him with a smile. 

Naraku nod, he then lulls me in and find my lips with his, our tongues seeking each other once again. The candles in the room flickers and crackles as our breathing echos in the big room that is for the two of us.