Reunions by Leloi The breakfast table was animated with reunited friends.  Sango and Kagome gaily chatted as if very few years had passed between their partings.  “Last time I saw your mother, she was bigger than a house,” Sango confided sweetly to Kaede.  “No… I was the size of a village, at least,” Kagome laughed. Kaede looked between the two women.  She hadn’t seen her mother so quick to laugh in a long time.  She smiled and looked down at her teacup.  She could feel Shippou’s hand tighten in her own and perked up an ear to listen to the men. “The area has been crawling with demons.  Your brother claimed the lands near the village and we have every monster around, wanting to challenge him,” Miroku said gravely. The ladies stopped their reminiscing and listened to their husbands’ conversation.  “Is it really that bad?” Kagome asked, suddenly serious. “Shippou, Sango and I have our hands full.  Apparently your brother is under attack.” “My guess is because he’s taken a human mate,” Myouga said thoughtfully. “A human mate…” Inuyasha echoed in wonder.  “Who?” “Rin,” Shippou said softly. “That little girl he adopted?” Kagome queried. “She’s not so little any more,” Shippou replied. “It is my guess that his choice in mates has unbalanced the demon’s hierarchy.  They are struggling to take his power, and he’s too young, unlike my lord’s father, to handle it,” Myouga said. Inuyasha thoughtfully gazed at his teacup.  “Those are my lands too.  If my brother falls, then it’s up to me to defend them.” “But… You’re human,” Myouga quietly responded.  “You’re not a part of their world anymore.” “No,” Inuyasha sighed, sipping from his cup.  “But my daughter is.” Everyone, except Inuyasha, stared at Kaede.  Kaede turned a few shades of red.  “M-me?” Myouga stared at Kaede’s eyes for a moment before gently shaking his head.  “There isn’t enough demon blood in her for them to submit to.  She’s powerful, but not powerful enough.” Shippou slammed his hands on the table and sat up straight.  “Well, why the hell not?  Why won’t they submit to her?  If Sesshoumaru is too weak or young to defend his lands and Inuyasha can’t… then why can’t Kaede do it?  She’s heir apparent.  That would restore their ‘precious’ hierarchy.” “Kaede has rights to claim the lands, but she would need a full demon to support her as mate.” The table went silent with the flea demon’s words. “Maybe,” Sango began, looking around and blushing. “Maybe that’s why Sesshoumaru wanted to take Kaede-chan as mate.  That would have solved all his problems by having a woman that had both the demon blood and the right of heir apparent to the lands.” Everyone stared at her in shock.  They looked to Kaede who sat blushing a deep red. “Well he can’t have her.  I won’t let him have her without a good fight, and even then it will have to be over my cold, dead body,” Shippou growled. The group around the table stared at him in various stages of both surprise and amusement.  The kitsune blushed and sat back down at his place. Inuyasha smiled and caught Kagome’s eye.  Kagome gave him a confused look.  He indicated both Shippou and Kaede with his eyes and stared back at his wife.  She raised and eyebrow, still unsure.  He rolled his eyes and indicated the two again.  He made an obvious gesture by pushing a finger of one hand into his fist in the other hand and made it slide in and out.  Kagome’s eyes went wide in surprise. “We haven’t done that yet!” Shippou yelled. “Papa, stop it,” Kaede whispered, burying her face in her hands, trying to hide her burning cheeks. Inuyasha stared at his wife and she nodded.  “We approve of the match,” he announced and turned to Shippou.  “You have our blessing.  Which tradition will you follow?” Shippou turned to stare at Kaede.  “Both?” he suggested.  She nodded and he sighed.  “Both… but not yet.  In a couple of years, hopefully.” Inuyasha nodded. “I’m confused,” Sango said. “Looks like our heir apparent will have a full blooded demon to support her,” Myouga answered. “That’s not all he’ll be doing,” Miroku mumbled. Everyone stared at him in shock. ^-^ “It is a good match, isn’t it?  Shippou will be good for her?” Kagome whispered, seated on a log and staring out at the river. “Of course,” Inuyasha replied, navigating the rounded stones of the beach.  He collapsed on the log, next to his wife.  “I remember I used to come here a lot when I was younger.  Very peaceful.” “Do you miss it?” He regarded her thoughtfully.  “It’s a part of me.” “Do you have any regrets?” He snorted and shook his head.  “No… never.” “Yes you do.”  Her voice softly cut into his soul.  He stared at the pained look in her eyes and slowly shook his head.  “Never about anything important.  Sharing my life with you… the children… I wouldn’t change it for the world.” “There’s something else…” “You feel it?  The connection to this place… we belong here, don’t we?” he asked a little too quickly. Kagome nodded, a small smile on her lips. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while now… and I think we should stay here,” he said quietly. “What about the twins?” “They’ll learn to love it.” “Shippou and Kaede will need us.” “And… I don’t know how to tell you this…” Kagome stared at her husband. “From what I understand from Shippou, Kaede-chan had a near death experience and she talked to my parents.  They agreed that this should be done.” “Our baby nearly…?  How?” Inuyasha sniffed and shook his head.  “They didn’t tell me.  It was some sort of battle.  She survived it, though.  She’s tough like us.” Kagome nodded.  “That doesn’t mean I can’t worry about her.” Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair.  “Of course,” he whispered. ^-^ He was living as two people… two in one.  At first it had been so easy to give up the demon in him.  It was wild and passionate.  He banished it to be with the woman he loved, so he could grow old with her.  After he returned to her world, he found himself sucked into the husband role.  He didn’t mind that much.  In fact, he rather enjoyed it.  He traded his kimono and haori for sweaters and jeans.  Shoes never appealed to him, they were too constricting, so he wore sandals… Birkenstocks.  He pulled back his long hair with an elastic band at the base of his neck.  On occasion he would allow his wife to braid it into a thick coil. He got used to sleeping in a soft bed next to his mate.  He loved waking up in the morning before she just to watch her sleep.  During their love making, he could almost feel the demon he once was.  It would flicker for a moment inside of him before he crested. The children… the children were beautiful.  Kaede was like him in many ways.  She was stubborn and impassioned.  She had him wrapped around her little finger from the moment of her birth.  He regretted the separation he had to take from her during the first year.  When she woke him in Kikyou’s prison, it was like an angel had come to be his salvation.  His awe and silent worship of her only increased when he returned home.  Many a time he would watch her play or sleep and think, “I helped make this little person.” The twin’s arrival had been a surprise.  He was expecting one baby to fall in love with and instead got two.  He worshipped Sakura and Yoshi, but they often puzzled him.  It was very hard to get them excited about anything he enjoyed.  They had very little interest in swords or the shrine.  He spent a great deal of time tending to the shrine or the house while his wife worked.  It wasn’t traditional, but it suited their family.  Someone had to take care of the shrine and someone had to make money to feed the family.  He had been thrust into a world of responsibility with very little experience on how to deal with it.  He lacked the basic education needed for any sort of career.  “What do I do?” he had asked his wife. She stared at him in shock as if it never occurred to her that he would have to “do” something.  “Ask Grandpa,” she replied. He had asked Grandpa and ended up patching holes in the roof, cleaning floors and running errands.  It wasn’t glamorous, but it was needed.  Grandpa taught him to meditate over the years and eventually help in minor shrine functions.  “You’re a natural,” Grandpa teased.  “We’ll make a priest out of you, yet.”  Grandpa seemed to take delight in helping focus the former demon’s energies on the shrine maintenance.  “People forget old ways.  As long as someone remembers and keeps the tradition, there is hope for the future when it may be needed.” He found this thought comforting, knowing he too was a part of the “old ways.” Some days he would sit for hours and stare at the God Tree.  It had been his prison for 50 years and now he lovingly tended to it.  It was his connection to another world, long gone… a call he couldn’t answer.  Almost reverently he would touch the bare, smooth bark on the one side.  It had been rubbed smooth by many pilgrim’s fingers in homage… or maybe it was his lasting impression on the tree after 50 years its prisoner.  There was a small hole where the arrow had pierced the tree.  “We are both wounded,” he would sometimes reflect. He glanced down at the marker.  The kanji was just beginning to make sense after a lot of tutoring from his wife and grandfather-in-law.  “To this tree, a great demon was pinned for a 50 year sleep, until a great Miko woke him and saved his soul.” It was his story, his tree, simplified into a single sentence.  It said nothing about the struggles he and the miko had to face.  It made no mention as to why he had been pinned in the first place… only that he had been great and saved.  It didn’t even finish the story. “What happened after the miko saved the demon?” he would ask Grandpa. “Not much is said,” Grandpa replied. “Did they marry?  Have children?  What?” “It’s just a legend.” “I’m just a legend,” he would whisper when he was once again alone with the tree.  The tree understood.  It had been there.  It had felt the arrow and tasted his blood.  It had known his sleep and stood alone when he was woken.  It later felt the pilgrims that touched its bark with respect. Perhaps the bark had been rubbed smooth by pilgrims who wanted to touch the greatness of the demon he had once been. His fingers brushed the smooth surface.  “I want to go back.” The longing finally found its words.  He nurtured them for many long years until his angel grew restless and flew away.  “Maybe we should follow her,” he hinted to his wife one night after lovemaking.  She settled in his arms for sleep and he was afraid that she hadn’t heard… even more afraid that she had.  Finally, a whisper… “Yes.” ^-^ There was no particular reason she found herself drawn to him.  He wasn’t much to look at, really.  He was like any boy from any village.  But he wasn’t from a village.  He had given that up in search of peace.  He was a traveler like herself, unsettled and transient.  He followed a different path… a tougher path.  He was dying… and he knew it.  She had learned that soon after she met him.  What she found most intriguing was he wasn’t afraid as most men are when faced with their own mortality. She would often watch him for hours when he meditated.  The way one of such young age could find tranquility… was amazing.  And yet he knew what was going on around him.  If she came within his little meditation circle, something would seem to radiate from him, swallowing her up. His presence made her feel excited. The only problem was he liked women.  He looked and it was very obvious that he looked.  He asked then to bear him children.  She didn’t like that.  It made her feel so angry inside to see him offer up something so casually to other women what he wouldn’t offer her.  He finally stopped when things got… complicated.  Someone came out of his past to claim him.  He declined… politely, but after that he never asked another woman in her presence.  He finally got around to asking her and she wanted to feel flattered except he said it offhandedly, as if he didn’t really mean it.  He would still occasionally comment on their beauty and that bothered her. Things changed after that.  She followed him around and he seemed… flattered.  He only touched her when she mentioned it.  But more and more he began to say and do things to show her that he was thinking of her.  There had been a fight with Naraku.  She watched the monk walk off in silence and followed him.  Something about him seemed broken.  She sat down beside him and he looked at her in his overly calm way. “I was just thinking,” he said. “About what?” “Sango… I know this isn’t fair of me to ask.  I wish to all I hold sacred that things had been different and we would have met under better circumstances.  Then this wouldn’t be so tough because it would be a question of marriage and not widowhood.” “What are you trying to say?” He stared at the ground.  “I want…” he faltered and went silent for a moment.  “I want to have a child with you.  And I know it’s not fair of me to ask… that’s why I haven’t really… because I care about you and I don’t want you to hate me when I die.”  His eyes flickered up to meet hers. She slapped him.  Hard.  “How can you say that?  How?” she demanded. He stared at her with despair as he rubbed his cheek. “What do you want me to do?  You don’t want me to hate you for dying but you want me to hate you for being a womanizer?  If things had been different…?  Why can’t you let me be the judge of what is fair for me?  I know what I’m getting into with you.  I know what this means… how little time you have left.  I KNOW!”  Tears filled her eyes as she looked away.  “All you have to do is ask me…” “Will you have my baby?” he whispered, still touching his cheek. She stared at the ground. He touched her arm gently.  “Will you fall asleep in my arms at night and wake with me in the morning?  Will you share what little time I have left in this world, content in knowing you were loved when I am gone?  Will you raise our child to follow in my footsteps and help reassure them that they were conceived in love and not desperation?  Will you…” he faltered, caressing her hand, “let me touch you?  Worship you?  Make love to you?” She turned and stared at him, her cheeks burning.  “Miroku… I…” He kissed her.  His lips were warm and tender.  She melted against him, wanting him to touch her. They didn’t speak.  Their movements were slow and unrushed.  His body covered and filled hers.  She took delight in feeling him want her, need her.  Deep kissing and sweating bodies moving against each other was all she remembered of her first time with him. He was a conscientious lover.  He always seemed mindful to when she needed him to be there for her.  At night he would hold her close even if they didn’t make love. She found it amusing when they were traveling and he acquired a place for them to sleep.  He often referred to her as his wife when he spoke to their hosts.  She loved waking up beside him, watching him rub sleep from his eyes.  His hair would often be messed from traveling dust and dried sweat.  She loved the way he smelled and often spent predawn hours snuggling against him so as not to wake the others.  He smelled of dust, musk and something sweet.  He had admitted to her that it was the herbs he used to wash with. “Have you ever thought about what you would do if you got rid of your curse?” “Yeah… sometimes.” “What?” “I think I’d find a village and build you a permanent house… no more sleeping on the road for us.  We’ll have a real bed… soft and warm…” “You would still keep me?” “Of course,” he smiled, holding her close.  “But… can you imagine me as a wrinkled old man?”  He chuckled. He was elated when she missed her womanly cycle.  The nearest midwife confirmed it.  They were soon to be parents.  He relaxed and a bit of his inner pain dissipated.  He spent his days taking care of her by making sure she ate and was well rested.  She found it a bit annoying how doting his was. A few months had passed.  It started as a small pain after dinner.  She rubbed at her belly and it went away.  As night wore on she could feel her insides cramp with more and more intensity.  She sat up, willing the pain away. “What is it?” he asked, his voice full of sleep. “I… hurt,” she answered, stumbling away to relieve her bladder.  Blood… so much blood.  She stifled a cry as her insides twisted.  She gasped for air as the pain ebbed.  She was cold… freezing.  Her teeth chattered as she crawled back to her bedmate.  “Miroku… something’s wrong.” He sat up in alarm.  “What?  What is it?” “It…” she broke off and writhed in pain on the ground.  A moan escaped her lips as she clutched at the grass under her fingers. He moved to touch her.  His hands caressed her shoulders. She flopped back on the ground, her body contorting with each wave of agonizing pain.  She screamed and cried. He helplessly held her hand and tried to offer support. She struggled against him and managed to stand.  Only a few steps away she felt an overwhelming sense of dizziness.  She collapsed and the pain subsided drastically. He crawled to her, cradling her in his arms. Tears ran down her cheeks.  “I lost it… I lost it… I’m so sorry…” He held her close and lightly rocked with her.  He let her cry. ^-^ “Will this work, Miroku?  We’ve tried for so long.” Miroku gasped for air after his exertions.  He gazed down at his wife… his reward for a hard life.  “Sango-chan,” he whispered and kissed her nose.  “Don’t worry about it.” “We’ve tried for ten years, Miroku.  What if…” He silenced her with a deep kiss.  “You’re all I want for now.”  He caressed her body and begged her with his touch to relax.  “We’re in no hurry.” She looked away and gently massaged his calf with her foot.  “I just think Naraku’s curse scarred us deeper than we knew… why else have we lost all those babies?  I should have been able to provide you with at least a dozen children by now.” Miroku’s eyes filled with pain as he bent forward to soothe his wife.  “We’re in this together.” ^-^ “Shippou-chan… please?” Shippou grinned at his play “mate” and carefully wrapped his arms around her.  “No.  Not yet, love,” he whispered.  She tried to wiggle closer to quench her burning need for him.  He allowed her to sleep naked with him, but refused to mate with her.  “I promised your papa.” “You are cruel, mate.” He curled his tail around her and watched her squirm.  “Go to sleep, love.” “I can’t.  I want you.” He smiled and passed a hand over her forehead.  “I’m glad, but we can’t do that yet.” “Why not?” His smile wavered.  He nuzzled her neck and sighed.  “You aren’t ready for me.” She whimpered and pressed her pelvis against his, wanting more.  His arm moved between then and for a moment she thought he would give into her.  She could feel his penis hard and ready between them.  He didn’t move it.  Instead he slid one finger and then two within her, gently massaging her with his thumb.  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and thrust her hips against his hand, “Pretend this is me,” he whispered, biting her neck. She cried out and tried to imagine his fingers were something else.  “Shippou,” she whimpered. He sat up a little and grinned at her.  He leaned forward and kissed her, his fingers pumped into her and rubbed the right spot.  She arched her back and cried out as she suddenly crested.  He smiled and kissed her again, his fingers slowing to a gentle rub before pulling out.  He licked his hand clean and settle back next to her.  “Now go to sleep.” She nodded. ^-^ Inuyasha opened one eye.  He could hear the voices and sounds in the rooms surrounding him.  Miroku and Sango were muffled in one room after long lovemaking.  The other room also held lovemaking sounds.  That bothered him a little because it contained his daughter and Shippou.  He frowned at the wall after hearing Kaede cry out. “She’s a big girl now…” Kagome whispered. “I know,” Inuyasha frowned.  “I just didn’t think it would happen so soon.” Kagome curled up against him and he wrapped his arms around her.  Kaede’s cry of pleasure echoed through the wall.  Inuyasha cringed. “She takes after her father,” Kagome laughed lightly. “That is not funny,” Inuyasha growled, rolling onto his wife. “What are you going to do about it?” she whispered, opening her legs for him to settle between. “You’ll see.” ^-^ The woman that was once a great miko stood outside the house.  She knew who was in there.  She could feel his presence.  She touched the wall outside the room that contained him.  Through a window drifted the sound of lovemaking… a gasp and a grunt.  Occasionally a soft moan would reach out to burn her ears.  They were his moans.  She should have been the one to bring out those moans, but he rejected her and took another to his bed.  “Inuyasha,” she whispered to the man inside.  “I have come for you.” There was a stifled cry of someone as they had an orgasm.  Such passion… should have been hers to share with him. Voices within… his, “Did you say something?” “No,” Kagome replied. ^-^ Sesshoumaru stepped out into the night.  The slight breeze cooled his naked skin.  His time of heat still affected him.  It should have ended days ago, but he still felt the burning desire.  His poor mate lay exhausted in their bed. He couldn’t remember when he had fallen for her.  Perhaps it had been the first moment he had held her in his arms after he had saved her young life.  She had looked up at him with such innocent and trusting eyes… much like his brother when he was younger. Sesshoumaru shook his head to clear his mind.  The little boy persisted, his small hands clinging to his sleeves, “’Niiue!”  He had loved the little boy, the half breed.  He knew it was wrong to feel any love for the human tainted wretches of his species, but he couldn’t help himself.  It made him angry that could be so weak in an innocent boy’s arms.  He hated it.  It poisoned his love to pure hate. And then she came along… just as young and innocent, making him just as weak.  What had been the difference?  Looking at her, he could see his brother, helpless and trusting, waiting for him to shape his spirit into the companion and partner he should have been.  It was the way of demon brothers.  Instead his love was poisoned.  Looking at the girl, he hoped he could fix that.  She could be his companion and partner. Years passed and it seemed he suddenly woke up one morning to find a woman living with him, her eyes still innocent and trusting.  It was the way of brothers to seal their partnership after the younger came of age.  The girl had been raised as his brother should have and he saw no wrong in taking her to his bed to seal their partnership.  Afterwards he realized his mistake.  Then demon brothers share a bed they are partners.  When the two are of opposite gender, they become mated. The trouble began soon after.  Sesshoumaru never felt regretful over his mistake.  The demon cared for her and she gave him good pleasures.  Other demons started sniffing around his territory, calling him, “human lover.” The dog demon finally understood his father and he remembered when his sire took a human for a mate.  The other demons had been angry, but they were chased away.  Sesshoumaru wasn’t old or strong enough yet to do that and it worried him.  “What am I to do, father?” He asked of his father’s memory. Then he went into heat and met the answer.  She wasn’t human or demon.  She was young and beautiful.  She was the child of the demon who should have been his partner.  In her he saw hope and retribution.  The dog demon took her and tried to mate with her.  She had been naked in his arms when his mate stopped him. The frustration and agony of the unconquered answer kept him in heat. Looking around to make sure no one was there, the young lord slipped farther off into the night. ^-^ Kaede woke and had to relieve her bladder.  “When will I ever learn not to drink tea before bed?” She mused to herself.  Disentangling herself from Shippou, she stumbled for the door.  There was no indoor plumbing so she had to brave the outdoors.  The cool air felt good on her naked skin as she wandered over to the otearai.  For the moment she tried not to think about what could be hiding in the area and went about her task.  As she returned to the house, strong arms wrapped around her.  Kaede froze, unsure who or what held her.  “Don’t scream or I’ll kill you,” A voice hissed in her ear. The girl nodded and felt a hand grope downwards to the place between her legs.  Shippou had touched it with such love, this person seemed to do it in hasty need.  A hand touched her hip, pushing her to the ground and rolling her over.  Kaede came face to face with Sesshoumaru. The dog demon paused and inhaled sharply.  His eyes softened from their lust to pity and back again.  “You are my brother’s child?”  He seemed to beg for confirmation. The girl nodded, too shocked to do much else.  A shaking hand caressed her breast.  She stared at it, feeling sick with dread. “I want to mate with you,” he said quietly, visibly fighting his lustful emotions.  “I need you to help me reclaim my lands.” “I… I can’t,” she found her voice. He stared at her in thinly veiled lust.  “If you don’t, I’ll kill… I’ll lose control of the Western Lands… The lands of your grandfather.” “I won’t help you.  You’ll have to force me,” she snarled with a dangerous gleam in her eye. Sesshoumaru shook his head.  “I won’t force you.  You are heir apparent until I provide one.  I was hoping you would help me.” “Get your mate to do it,” Kaede snapped, sitting up.  Sesshoumaru allowed her to move. “She’s too human.” They stared at each other in the darkness.  He sniffled.  “You smell of mating.  You and that thieving…” “Shippou is my play mate.” Sesshoumaru nodded.  “When will you take him?” “A few years.” Sesshoumaru sniffled.  “The Western Lands won’t last that long.  You have to take him now.” “What are you saying?” “You must rule the lands with me,” he said quietly. “What are you doing to my daughter?” a voice cried out.  Kaede and Sesshoumaru turned to stare at Inuyasha, also naked on his way to the otearai. “Nothing,” Sesshoumaru growled.  His eyes lingered on his brother’s body regretfully. Inuyasha put himself between his daughter and his brother.  “Don’t touch her,” he snarled. Sesshoumaru stared at him long and hard.  “You’re human.” Inuyasha frowned, feeling his daughter use his as a support to stand up.  “Get inside, Kaede,” he whispered. Sesshoumaru watched her leave before looking back at the human in front of him.  “Last I saw you was the night she was conceived.” “What do you want, Sesshoumaru?” “I want to join with you.” Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.  “What?” “You are my brother, Inuyasha.  You will always be my brother.” “You tried to take my mate… and daughter.” Sesshoumaru looked down between them.  His tail wrapped around his body.  “I am not who I once was.  I didn’t hurt Kaede.” “Why should I believe you?” Sesshoumaru reached out and pulled the other to himself.  “Because I could kill you right now.  I could always kill you.  I’m older and stronger and I never have.” “Not because you didn’t try,” Inuyasha grunted, struggling to get away. “I never tried.  Did I ever seriously harm you?” Inuyasha stopped struggling.  “No.” “Did you ever wonder why?” “Not really, no.” “You idiot.  I love you.” “W-why?” “Because you’re all I have.  We were supposed to be a team, but I messed all that up.”  Sesshoumaru slowly wrapped his tail around his brother, keeping him warm. “Why are you telling me this now?”  Inuyasha demanded. “I’m in trouble and I need your help.” “My help?” “Yours, Kaede’s and Shippou’s.” “All because you mated with a human?” “You know about that…” “Of course I know.  I also know you wanted to switch to Kaede.” “She would not agree.” “I’m glad.” Sesshoumaru stared at him.  “In the old days demons would pair off with their brothers.  They would work together to catch a mate and conceive a child.  Their bond was deeper than the bond formed with the female who bore them children.  Eventually the female would leave them and together they raised the child the female abandoned. “It was the way of our father.  He lost his brother during the claiming of a female.  He raised me while in grief over his brother.  I always thought he claimed your mother because he couldn’t subdue a demoness by himself.  Now I know it’s because he changed inside after he lost his brother.  He needed the companion, the love.  “Then you came along.  Instincts told me I had to bond with you, but you were so different.  Father died defending his mate.  Your mother died defending you and I was afraid you’d change me.”  Sesshoumaru tightened his hold on Inuyasha as he whispered his story.  “You did… and I couldn’t handle it.  So I abandoned you too.  I hated you for changing me… for making me love you when you were so human.”  Gently he nuzzled the other’s neck.  “But now I understand.” Inuyasha closed his eyes.  “What are you doing ‘Niiue?” Sesshoumaru pulled back a bit and beamed.  “You haven’t called me that since you were a child.” Inuyasha blinked at him. Sesshoumaru regarded him for a few moments, unsure how to begin.  “We need to form an alliance.  Your daughter must mate with her play mate and we must become partners.” “How will that help?” “As my partner, your children are mine.  Our heir must be strong with support.” Inuyasha looked away.  “I am mated…” “So am I,” Sesshoumaru responded. “I’m human.” Sesshoumaru stared at him.  “We both know that it’s only your exterior that is human.  I can feel the demon in you… the part of you that comes from my father.  His fire, his spirit… His legacy to us, his sons to pick up where he left off.”  Sesshoumaru’s hand caressed the other’s shoulder.  Inuyasha didn’t flinch at his touch. They embraced and felt power of their shared spirit wash through them.  Somewhere on the spirit plane a dog demon turned to his mate and smiled.  His sons had joined forces. ^.~ Kikyou watched the two in the darkness.  Their spirits mingled as one in the embrace.  She frowned at the man that should have been her mate.  All the pain and suffering his brother had inflicted was swept away in the hug.  Forgiveness came so easily for him when her soul burned with anger since her death.  It was unjust.  She melted into the shadows as the pair came back to their senses. “I smell a woman,” the full youkai said quietly.  “Smells like you mate, but different.” Inuyasha stared off into the direction his brother indicated.  He shivered against the warm chest.  “Kikyou.” The full demon looked down at his companion and lifted him to his feet.  “Return to your mate, I’ll take care of the intruder.  I’ll be back tomorrow.  Advise our heir to mate.” Inuyasha nodded and returned to the house, forgetting why he had left it in the first place. Sesshoumaru watched him leave before looking in the direction Kikyou was.  “I know why you are here, but it’s too late.  He’s complete.” “We shall see,” she chuckled and walked away. ^.~ Inuyasha stumbled through the door and found himself being steadied by soft hands.  “Careful, Papa.” “Little one,” he whispered, hugging her in relief.  He took her hand and pulled her to the door of the room she shared with Shippou.  He slid it open and entered to shake the kitsune awake. “Inuyasha?” he mumbled. Inuyasha took the young demon’s hand and pressed it to Kaede’s.  “I give you my child as your mate and wife.  Always cherish her.” “What?”  The kitsune grunted, sitting up. “Keep her happy or I will hurt you.” “Inuyasha, what are you doing?” “She is yours, now and forever… if you accept her.” “I thought we were going to wait.” “Do you accept her?” Shippou stared at him in confusion.  “Yes,” he said quietly, unsure what else to say. Inuyasha nodded and stood to leave. “What do I do?”  Shippou’s question followed him. “What do you want to do?”  The man replied and shut the door. Back to the Gallery