Inuyasha 1. Chapter 1

Hakama-pants

Obi-tie(think bathrobe-style)

Najuban-lighter, smaller kimono worn underneath outer one, plain, unebroidered.

Note- I am not going to be using Japanese or Chinese honorifics in this because I find them distracting. But I will try to make the Foo-Dog Palace, as well as dress, traditions, etc. as accurate as possible.(also I won't make Sesshomaru say 'this Sesshomaru" because frankly, it makes him sound like he's unsocialized, which I believe he isn't, at least with demons.)

Tiao-Wen- pronounced like tow(as in towel) and wen as in (wren) means streak in Chinese

Wumei-caring in Chinese

Lihai- fierce, tough, capable, sharp.

Solid moon- one month

Half turn- half an hour

* * *

><p>It was the beginning of what promised to be a series of bitterly cold winter nights. The wind whipped around the entrance of the cave and nearly snuffed out the small fire he'd coaxed into existence a few hours ago.<p>

Ah-Un grazed a few feet from the small group, completely unmoved by the cold. Sesshomaru did not shiver of course and ignored a griping Jaken, his tail curled firmly around the twelve-year-old body of Rin. She had lived in that disgusting human village for six years before deciding that she wished to continue staying in his presence instead of living among her own kind. She was deep in sleep now and her body was keeping his tail comfortably warm.

Though the nerves in his tail were dulled from age of course- he remembered his father had not been able to feel his tail at all and let Sesshomaru tug at it quite hard once to prove he wasn't lying. The wind began to play with strands of his hair and he gave an irritated snort, gathering it just to the left of his neck with one clawed hand and fishing out his black, mother-of-pearl imbedded comb.

His sixty inches of beautiful silver locks required constant maintenance and there was nothing he enjoyed more than spending a few hours preening, except maybe for crushing his enemy's bones between his jaws. As he moved however the collar of his kasode slipped down on his collarbones.

He put the comb back in his sleeve, wrapped a black ribbon around his hair to keep it preserved and hissed, "Ah-Un." clicking his tongue to indicate he wanted the dragon to come closer. It did and he fished about in one of the saddle's many pockets until extracting a needle and a small ball of snow-white silk. Sesshomaru nodded at the creature and it cleared off again a he set to work threading the needle. _This illusion-cloth is more trouble than it's worth_, He thought. Having done so he began pulling in the sleeves of his kimono again, another half-inch, same as the night before.

It wasn't the case of course that his clothes were growing and so although he'd been avoiding it until now the fact that his own shoulder span was shrinking struck an odd chord with him. He didn't know what it meant, what he was supposed to do about it, or how to resolve it which was certainly a first for him. Also the constant weariness he'd been feeling as of late-what was that about? He'd certainly been sleeping more than usual the last week or so too. Unfortunately that left him with one option.

One he preferred to avoid at all costs.

Sesshomaru would have to pay Inu-Kimi a visit. Rin stirred in her sleep and grabbed a fold of Sesshomaru's tail, wrapping her arms around it and pulling it under her chin. He watched her for a moment to see if she would move again and when she did not, began on the right sleeve. It pained him to shorten the length of the hand embroidered scarlet trim, but he had no choice.

If he did nothing, it would simply slip down over his shoulders and gather where his armor currently resided.

Not to mention the fact drawing his sword was becoming harder- his fingers kept grasping cloth instead of hilt.

Usually his claws were enough but he preferred to have a quick draw as opposed to slow. He touched the cool hilts of his two swords, bakusaiga and tenseiga and let his claws run over the well-worn metal. As he did he felt an uncomfortable tightening sensation in his gut and a small grumbling noise emanated from his belly.

He blinked in surprise. The demon couldn't remember the last time he'd hunted for actual hunger instead of sport. _Oh well. _He put the needle and thread beside him and fetched out the comb again. _Anything to distract from the journey to that … place is most welcome. _As he groomed he pondered what kind of demon flesh he was in the mood for.

He could sense and smell a variety of lower demons nearby and it occurred to him that he was close to that human village where his half-brother and his mate resided. His nose wrinkled in distaste at the fine particles of his half-brother's scent as well as the scent of their child, a human with a slight trace of demon blood. To his nose it was a statement to the dilution of what could have been perfect, pure yokai blood.

_Disgusting. The least he could have done is not dilute it any further. _ Before he was fully aware of it the sun had bobbed up over the mountains again, an oily slick of orange light and Rin was stirring awake as well as Jaken, who was complaining about how cold the night had been. Sesshomaru slipped the comb back into his sleeve with a sigh.

"And I see you've been letting Rin use your furs again, my lord! What about me?"

He uncurled the tail from her slowly and flicked it over his shoulder as he said coolly, "What about you, Jaken."

He looked off into the distance and his nostrils flared a bit as he caught demon scent. "Take Rin to the Foo-Dog Palace." As usual, he did not tell Jaken where he intended to go, how long he would be gone or when he intended to catch up with them. Rin crawled up onto Ah-Un's back and took a hold of the reins, letting Jaken sit behind her.

"See you later than lord Sesshomaru!" He inclined his head to indicate he'd heard and waited until the dragon took off. As soon as the animal cleared the tree line Sesshomaru shot off into the forest, darting past trees and over underbrush faster than a human eye could track. The land dipped down into a valley and the sclera of his eyes began to darken to full blood-red as he caught sight of his prey. It was a twenty foot tall boar, its side's slick with sweat as it tore down what appeared to be a human village in some kind of rage.

The humans were shooting arrows and the like at it without much success- though they had managed to blind it in its left eye. Sesshomaru approached from that side and took on his true form before leaping and barreling into the animal, crushing a few more houses and humans in the process.

_How dare you! _The animal raged at him and attempted to roll him off but Sesshomaru caught it just under the tusks and pinned it to the ground with a roar.

_I am the second in line to the northeastern Boar tribe and- _Sesshomaru snorted and rolled his head to the left, snapping the boar demon's neck in an instant.

-_And now you're dinner… _The lord of the West finished for him and dragged the body a few feet from the wreckage before tucking in. As he did he was aware of a few humans gathering around which sort of irritated him, but he ignored them until he was finished. As he ate the blood spilled across his snout and stained his claws but he was too hungry to care. When he'd returned to his humanoid form there was barely anything left of the carcass and he realized he still had the demon blood painted across his face and down his neck.

_I must be quite a sight. _Ah, it had even gotten into his hair.

Now he had to bathe before arriving at the Palace; he couldn't stand being anything other than immaculately clean.

As he made his way back to the edge of the forest a dirty-looking human holding a bow blocked his path.

"I wanted to thank you for-"

"Get out of my way." Sesshomaru snapped and easily side stepped him, sprinting off into the forest towards the nearest stream or river. Another thing that certainly chafed him the wrong way was how humans seemed dearly to want to find a strong demon who wanders the world helping them with their infestations. If they wanted that they should look to his idiotic half-brother, not him. Sesshomaru frowned as he realized he wasn't anywhere near a hot spring. He didn't like taking cold baths but any water would to in a pinch. That was one thing good about the Palace, he admitted to himself- no shortage of hot water to speak of there.

_Oh well. _What must have been a half-hour later his leather-bound feet touched down near the edge of the moat.

The Foo-Dog Manor was completely surrounded by a four-meter deep moat, topped only by its eight-meter high walls made of mortared, baked brick painted their color- red. Benibana red, actually- the flower responsible for the dye also used on Sesshomaru's kimono. The kind of dye the very wealthiest could only afford. It was often said in the demon world it was Dog Demon Tribe's fault the dye was so expensive for almost pushing the flower into extinction while building the Palace. Sesshomaru had to admit this was probably true.

He walked onto the bridge and waited to be noticed at the Gate of the Golden Phoenix, The Eastern Gate. He was anxious to solve this little problem and be back on his way. As he waited his gaze fell back to the water.

A great may vile and loathsome demons lived in this particular moat but Sesshomaru knew they were familiar with him. A little too familiar, it seemed. The roiling water settled suddenly and the shadows disappeared and it turned a clear aquamarine. As it was, Inukimi was still in charge of the Western territory, which stretched from The Yangtze River down through Bhutan and Bangladesh, and bordered by Mongolia, India, and other lesser countries. Movement caught his attention and another dog demon, obviously a guard by his armor, shouted from the other side of the doors, "Who goes there?"

"It is I, lord Sesshomaru, heir to the Western lands."

The dog demon nearly tripped over himself opening the gate "Oh- oh!" and once they were open Sesshomaru recognized him by the tail over his right shoulder- a soft brown with a thin white stripe down the spine. "Tiao- wen."

"Indeed, my lord!" The lesser demon replied cheerfully, unable to control himself as he closed the gate, the feet-thick oak being simple enough to push back for a demon. He hadn't seen Sesshomaru in a good six years and he was a little flushed with excitement. "Did you require an audience with Inukimi my lord?" Sesshomaru paused and stroked his tail once as he observed a small group of younger demon dogs chatting with demon foxes near the gardens.

"Indeed." The dull winter sunlight shone as the two made their way to the inner court within the Palace, separated from the outer courts by the sudden change from marble floors to baked golden bricks.

"She is having an audience with the Rat demon of the East and a few representatives from the Tiger demon tribe, but I will inform her you have arrived. It should be over fairly shortly…" Tiao-wen trailed off uncertainly and Sesshomaru resisted the odd urge to roll his eyes. Things were _never '_over fairly shortly' with the Rat demon of the East- true to her zodiac sign she was always very talkative. It was a trait he found annoying and more than once was compelled to tell her as such, but didn't. She, Inukimi, the Tiger demon of the North and the Dragon demon of the South made up the four main demon rulers. Under each two other demon tribes were placed- in the South for example, the monkey and rooster demon tribes were placed, thereby becoming the South-west Rooster demon tribe and so forth.

In all they made up the twelve main Zodiac characters, and the twelve Royal families.

They were usually recognized by either an all-white or all black pelt (or scales, feathers, etc.) usually paired with bright facial or bodily markings. Sesshomaru was fortunate enough to have both. Tiao-wen gave a polite nod to him and entered the meeting hall, closing the ornately carved golden double doors behind him. Sesshomaru waited quietly and looked down at the binding shoes his mother had made for him that he'd consequently altered so his feet wouldn't be completely useless. When the trend had first started it had originally been for all of noble birth, men and women and so Inukimi had broken the arch and bones of Sesshomaru's feet herself.

And when she found she couldn't take his screams of pain she hired the professional who first dislocated the toes entirely, then bound his feet tighter every day until they were hardly three inches long, the perfect 'lotus' feet. It wasn't until a few hundred years later Sesshomaru had decided to stop wearing the ridiculously small shoes and swapped them out for a pair of the same soft deerskin, but larger so his feet could spread and heal.

She had been upset but by then the binding was usually reserved for women so she agreed to allow him to let them heal. _It will take a few hundred more years before they're fully healed. _He thought and his yellow eyes narrowed.

It was one of the many things he held against his mother. Tiao-wen emerged and Sesshomaru wiped the canvas of his face blank.

"Well?"

The dog demon sighed. "She suggested that she'd be at least another half-turn and that she would see you in her private quarters then. Is there anything else I can assist you with my lord?" Sesshomaru stroked the thick fur of his tail, "I think that will be all for today. I shall go check on Rin. Good day." and nodded, giving the guard permission to leave. "Of course. Good day." The guard gave the standard reply and walked off and Sesshomaru was slightly relieved he didn't interrogate him about his female human companion. Something he was sure his mother wouldn't hesitate to ask about, he was sure. No doubt a human had entered the Palace by his orders was all over by now.

He made his way back to the outer courts. He hadn't wanted to attract any more attention to Rin than need be so he'd ordered her to be placed under the supervision of one of the minor demons, a cat yokai of good descent. He entered the low, simple wood building and was greeted by a snake demon who was quite surprised to see him.

"M-my lord." The male demon was wearing black hakama pants and the short-sleeved brown kimono of a laborer, either a blacksmith or field-worker. "I have come to check on the human girl."

"Ah." The demon nodded, his orange-blonde hair falling forward to reveal tiny striped scales at the nape of his neck. "You'll want Wumei then. This way then, if you please- she's in the library right now." Sesshomaru followed the young demon through a series of buildings and connecting outdoor walkway covers until they entered another dwelling. Sesshomaru felt quite at home amongst the books lining the walls and even recognized a few he'd allowed outside from his own collection. "Wumei, the lord is here." Wumei twitched her white tail, the black and orange spots of color bright as she made a move to stand even with Rin in her lap.

"Just a nod is fine- I can see you're preoccupied." Sesshomaru stated and the cat demon gave a half-nod half bow gratefully. "My lord, she just finished reading a section of 'Bandits of Liangshan Swamp'. She's quite good at it for a human her age." "I am!" Rin added with a smile. "Would you like me to read to you lord Sesshomaru?" As she talked, her legs kicked. "Perhaps some other time Rin. I must speak with my mother first." He addressed Wumei again.

"You would not mind looking after her until tomorrow, then. I will not be able to keep her in the imperial city without her causing a stir." _And unfortunately, being in some danger. _In fact there was still danger here but less so. Besides he would only be here a day and night, two at most.

"Of course my lord. Though I can't guarantee I'll be able to keep her immaculate…" Sesshomaru nodded. He was well aware of Rin's attraction to dirt and vice versa. "Of course not. I shall take my leave, then." Sesshomaru gave them permission to leave with a nod and made his way back through the labyrinth of hallways and buildings until finally he was back in the inner courts, making his way to his own private quarters.

They were quite inaccessible to the general public but were quite a bit less extravagant than his mother's many rooms which was the way he liked it. He nodded at the single horse demon guard outside. Sesshomaru was partial to horse demons in his own guard- they were always underestimated because of their slightly sinewy build and friendly (for a demon) personality.

But an interesting fact about them was even in their humanoid form their hands and feet still remained as hard as their demonic hooves; they could smash through flesh and bone as easily as Sesshomaru would through a delicious pastry. " Lihai." He acknowledged and the guard loosened his grip on his sword slightly. The guard had deep sorrel color in both his hair and the thick horse tail over his shoulder.

"My lord- please tell me if Lady Inukimi's changes to your room are not to your taste."

The lord raised a silver eyebrow. "Changes?"

"Indeed. I did encourage her not to but she can be insistent." One of the narrow horse ears on his head flicked back and forwards again and Lihai's expression held just a hint of amusement. This worried Sesshomaru more than anything else. He swept past him and entered through the ornately carved wooden doors. His rooms were made mostly of phoebe zhennan and namu wood, dark and glossy. The ceilings were decorated in gold leaf with images of the twelve zodiac animals- the floors were of tiles that took ten years to produce and were worth their weight in gold.

His room had been kept as he left it; nothing but a set of wood chairs and desk, a few tapestries he's painted himself on the walls and… _Wait a minute. _He strolled over to the bed and his nose wrinkled in irritation. His mother had apparently thought his tastes were a bit too simple and had replaced his plain white silks with hand-embroidered red ones, complete with a pattern of dancing phoenix's and dragons.

She had also added curtains around the front of it of the same shade, only a bit less extravagant.

Sesshomaru brought his claws up to his face and gently pinched the skin on the bridge of his nose, thoroughly put-out. His mother had made his room look like a wedding suite. On his desk he also noticed a rather large pile of parchments waiting to be reviewed. He stepped back outside.

"Lihai fetch a palace maid to get rid of these ridiculously extravagant beddings for anything…less so." Since he'd known the horse demon for quite some time he added with a hint of sarcasm,

"We both know nothing particularly exciting will be happening in my bedchambers anytime soon, and therefore there is no reason for such decoration." The guard nodded and smirked, "I had tried to make that argument myself for you, my lord." and left with his armor clinking softly. Sesshomaru went back to his rooms and lit a fire, peeling off his double-lined kimono and armor in favor of the lighter one underneath and settling into his desk chair.

He reached into his wood desk and retrieved a small ornately carved pipe which he placed between his teeth as he read the many letters. Most were just of updates concerning the royal families- who was warring with who, who had just been wed and therefore created alliances, etc. Some were inquiries addressed to him personally which he planned on answering later. There were even a few marriage proposals from demonesses to him which he politely and coldly declined. They were not of noble breeding and to send them anything less than a stone-cold rejection would reflect badly on his family's reputation. _What's left of it. _He thought grimly.

The moment Inu-Taisho, his father had taken a human Japanese woman as his mate was the moment they almost lost control of the Western lands. Even more so when they produced the scum half-breed Inuyasha.

Had Sesshomaru not been born they most certainly would have lost the West. Just as he was about halfway through the pile he realized it was almost past the time he was supposed to meet his mother in her chambers. He sighed and arranged them neatly before slipping his kimono back on against the cold and making his way across another marbled courtyard into the court of Fire Purification.

Unlike his rooms, hers were in every way expressing the wealth of her current position. The tiles on the roof were gold- the building itself was double tiered, with alternating bronze statues of demon dogs and tigers on the rooflines.

He made his way to the throne, which was set five stairs up from the rest of the floor and flanked by two enormous stone pillars the size of trees, meticulously painted red, as well as an ornate gold-leaf backboard.

The throne itself was gold leaf and brass with the backing as interlocking images of the demon form of the four royal families. The arms and legs of the throne were imbedded with the patters of the Foo-Dog Clan- the triple hexagon with the six-petal plum blossom. Among those were also butterflies, bells and birds but Sesshomaru had never looked at it long enough to find everything carved into it. Besides it was the person occupying the seat he was concerned with.

Inukimi was lounging with her legs off one arm of the chair and one elbow holding her up, a porcelain blue-and-white cup of demon blood-sake in her right hand. Her kimono was a deep scarlet with black sleeve ends and a black-and-white plum blossom pattern across the left shoulder.

"I thought this was going to be a private meeting." Golden hair pins holding her silver locks up flashed and the black strings of pearls at their ends twitched as she moved her head.

"This is private."

Sesshomaru's eyes flicked to the two sets of guards on each side of the two halls leading to the court.

"Oh. I'm so used to them by now I actually forget they're there."

She gestured for them to leave, "I suppose we're going to talk about something he'd rather keep quiet. I hope it's a love affair." and though the guards didn't answer Sesshomaru's face still flushed. "Mother."

He waited until the guards had closed the inner doors before continuing, "That's hardly something you need to discuss with the guards."

She sighed dramatically, "Oh it's just that I get so lonely I simply have to discuss your lack of enthusiasm for a mate with someone." She blinked and suddenly set the cup down beside her and made her way to him, picking up and stretching out his sleeve. "Sesshomaru! What have you done to your kimono! I taught you better sewing than this."

"I was in a bit of a rush-" He frowned and stopped when he realized she wasn't going to listen until she was done examining him. He didn't particularly like being touched by her and forced himself to keep still. Inukimi put her hands on his shoulders and brushed outwards. "You're shoulders are smaller…" She picked up his hand and compared it to her own.

"Your hands too. And your scent…"

Something seemed to suddenly occur to her and she snapped sharply,

"Sesshomaru, when was the last time you took a woman to your bed?"

This time he did jerk away from her and a very pretty flush lit up his cheeks as he struggled to keep his face flat.

"I hardly see what that has to do with anything, mother."

She put her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me the last one was that wolf demon a few hundred years ago!" Sesshomaru was having a bit of a hard time remembering himself. "No, I never actually took her…" He looked off at the ceiling and his eyes narrowed a bit in thought.

"I think it was… Ah. It was that tiger demon. You remember the one from the North." He'd never really seen his mother gape at him but she was certainly doing so now.

"You cannot be serious. That was over five hundred years ago! " Her sincere alarm was beginning to unsettle him a bit. "Well it is, so why are you so alarmed?" She slumped back into the throne and picked up the half-empty cup of blood-sake wearily.

"Ah, you see? The one time your mother tells you something important… I suppose you'll have to stay at the outpost, and…" Inukimi seemed lost in thought and Sesshomaru brought her back with a barking,

"If you could tell _**me**_ what's going on when it tickles your fancy, I'd be most grateful."

Her yellow eyes met his and she said plainly, "It looks like your yokai has taken matters into his own hands. Don't you remember what I told you? That long periods of abstinence trigger a response in royal yokai?" Sesshomaru did not remember, but this was no surprise because most of the things his mother told him were tips on clothing and makeup so he tended to block it out. Apparently he had blocked out something important.

"Get to the point."

She took a sip of her drink. "Plainly speaking, you're yokai is going to turn you into a woman and force you into heat." It was his turn to gape. "It appears your transformation has already started- it should finish in about two weeks, and then the next two weeks afterwards will be the heat period." She tapped her claws on her chin thoughtfully.

"Hm. I suppose to keep the line pure you'll have to be mated to your second cousin, though I'm not even sure if he's still alive…"

"I don't have to mate with anyone!" Sesshomaru spat, his shock having been totally replaced by rage sprinkled with humiliation. "If this is a joke it is the most ridiculous-"

She touched a finger to his lips. "I joke about many things but even I am not so cruel as to make a joke of this. Believe me this is not what I wanted for you." She removed her finger and said quietly, "If you wish not to mate with anyone you'll have to be completely isolated that entire time. If all goes well, by the end you will transform back into yourself and all will be as it should."

At this Sesshomaru visibly relaxed. "Ah. Good. I am quite good at that. I shall leave the palace tomorrow then." Inukimi immediately shook her head. "No- you should stay here where my female yokai can keep you isolated. Do you not understand? You won't be in your right state of mind during the heat. If any demon that appeals to your yokai is anywhere in nearby you will… well…you know."

Sesshomaru blinked. "Enlighten me."

Inukimi sighed. "You will seduce them and mate with them. Probably even keep them captive for a few weeks so there isn't a chance you couldn't have been impregnated." Sesshomaru almost choked on his own spit and a strangely loud bark of laughter escaped his throat.

"Will I? Is there anything else you haven't told me- like perhaps I'll eat them afterwards?"

A flash of red in her eyes told him he was pressing his luck.

"If you end up breeding with anything but a royal dog demon…" She put her claws gently at his throat.

"It will mean the end of our control over the West. I cannot allow that to happen."

He swiped her claws away with a low warning growl. "Perhaps you should keep your claws to yourself. I will be taking this… setback outside of the Palace." The thought of being confined to his rooms surrounded by all female yokai for a solid moon turn made him feel slightly sick. He loved his freedom; one choice he'd never regretted was deciding to roam outside the walls of his home and embrace the world himself, instead of receiving letters about it. The idea of her setting him up with someone he'd only met twice in childhood as his new mate was equally sickening, in fact more so. The last thing he wanted was the responsibility of a pup.

His skin actually crawled at the thought of it.

Crying for food, crying for attention, crying just because it felt like it… Ugh. Rin was at least far from that stage. He turned and prepared to leave.

"Sesshomaru." His mother called. "When you do come back with a belly full of pups, bear in mind that my nose is sharp enough to detect the slightest difference between dog demon… and anything else."

The lord snorted through his nose. "I do not intend to come back with a belly full of anything, least of all some damnable whelp's pups." He stormed out of the Fire Purification courts and back to his own rooms to finish addressing his letters and calm down. Though he hated staying he knew it was rude to leave without at least staying the night. He relit the fire in his room, stuffed his pipe with a little sun-dried tobacco and set to work, the dark grey smoke snaking around his head and shoulders in transparent ribbons.

As soon as the sun began to peek over the mountains he put his armor back on and just as he'd finished with the iron corset Jaken suddenly burst into the room. "My lord! I have searched all over for you!"

"I have been here all night Jaken." He replied without turning around and began attaching the bottom part of his armor to the rest using thick leather straps. "But my lord why are you putting your armor on already? It cannot be that we are leaving so soon- we have only just arrived!" He took the small shallow bowl of freezing water near the fire and drowned the orange flames in the fireplace, releasing a cloud of smoke.

After that he went back to his bed and pulled out a few drawers built into the wood, drawing out a few extra kimonos and other clothes. He certainly didn't want to stoop to having to buy clothing from another human village, although if worst came to worst he could always slip into a market at another demon's territory.

"Rest assured you will have as much time as you need here, Jaken. I will be going on an expedition alone."

The little demon seemed stunned. "But my lord-!" His sentence was cut off as Sesshomaru stepped on him on his way out. "I expect you to get a hold of the cat demon Wumei and inform her that I cannot be taking Rin with me and will return when a solid moon has passed." Jaken somehow managed, "O-of course lord Sesshomaru…"

The yokai made his way across the courtyard to the stables where Ah-Un resided and snatched up one of the combs from another stall, using it to tame the dragon's unruly dark green locks. Now that he thought about it his nose informed him Ah-Un was due for a bath as well. The animal groaned happily at his touch and he rubbed his horse-like ears with his claws gently.

Out of all his companions Ah-Un was the only one he trusted not to flip out at what was apparently going to be happening to him. He packed the extra clothing into the saddlebags on Ah-Un's demon-leather saddle and picked up his four talon tipped feet one at a time. It seemed that someone had trimmed and polished the long claws and even filed down some overgrown scales near his elbows.

_Hn. I'll have to remember to request that stableman again._

Most of the time Ah-Un was so unreasonable no one could get anywhere near him except for his master. He tightened the cinch around the dragons belly and led him by the reins outside. It was another cold morning and Sesshomaru's breath came from his mouth in long silver puffs while Ah-Un's stayed smoky grey. The right head looked at him questioningly as he climbed up.

"Rin and Jaken will not be accompanying us this time. But you will get to see her again soon."

He knew his mount had affection for the girl but really couldn't care less about Jaken. The dragon's feet left the ground and they were off in the direction of the most isolated area Sesshomaru could think of- an abandoned trading outpost at the foot of the Himalayan mountains. He'd actually restored it himself, minimally on the outside but quite a bit on the inside so there were no longer drafts and leaks. It was actually one of his favorite places, since it was almost guaranteed to have very few yokai and humans.

Unfortunately the journey there was quite long; almost four days even by riding Ah-Un. Sesshomaru just hoped that he'd be able to get himself away before the supposed transformation set in.

The thought of another demon stumbling upon him in female form was mortifying- especially if it was his damn hanyou brother. _I'd kill him, and then myself if that happened. _That was highly unlikely though since Inuyasha was still in Japan and had no reason to come anywhere near this particular corner of the West.

Inuyasha rarely strayed very far from his mate's village nowadays. Sesshomaru didn't blame him- the woman seemed to stir up trouble even worse than the stupid half-breed.

He was surprised she was still alive. _The plan is set, then. After a solid moon has passed this will be nothing but an unpleasant memory I shall never revisit. _

Luckily the days seemed to pass without incident and Sesshomaru fell back into his old routine- staying up all night to hunt, bathe and attend to anything else that needed to be done and sleeping during the day. Usually he'd manage to find a decent cave or tree and sometimes he just slept on Ah-Un's back as they traveled.

Today was the third day and Sesshomaru was relieved that he'd only be spending one more day this close to so many other demons and humans. He was beginning to notice… changes in his perfect demon body. Something he wouldn't let himself think about fully or even acknowledge. At least not yet.

Sesshomaru sank deeper down into the river he'd found, his tail and hair spreading and floating on the surface. His clothes were piled on a rock just behind him along with his armor and shoes. He certainly did not want to be separated from those, most especially now. The lord had just finished another large meal, this one of a demon caribou and had come to wash off the mess of blood and hair it had left behind on him.

He took a deep breath and dove under the water, scrubbing his face and claws until his white skin shone almost pink with his efforts. Once clean he took a small jade container of his own special soap and lathered up his hair before diving under a second time. The water was absolutely frigid snow-melt, and would have killed a human in a matter of minutes but for Sesshomaru it was just very cool and invigorating.

Once he was absolutely sure every nook and cranny of his body was sparkling clean he hauled himself out, his tail dragging behind him over the frozen ground, and dressed in front of the fire.

"I'm sure you're beginning to understand why I decided not to bring those two with us, Ah-Un."

He spoke to the dragon as he finished folding his kimono into his hakama. He was having a little bit of trouble getting the thin garments over his hips. _Well that's just wonderful. _He thought as he finally managed to get them on. It looked like his hips were getting larger now and they were a bit sore- if he poked one of them the bone hurt like it had been bruised. His dragon gave a little snort and folded one of its head atop the other, his large reptilian eyes staring sleepily at his master. The iron corset was next. It fit well enough, if a bit tightly around his chest, but the bottom part of his armor was impossible to hook around his waist comfortably. The metal and leather cut into his hips and after a few tries he set the piece aside with an angry growl. The corset was the most important part of his armor anyway but he still felt not fully dressed without it.

_Well, I have some leather to work with back at the outpost. I can customize it later._

He tied the colorful yellow and blue obi around his waist and settled down against the dragon's side, facing the fire. His tail was curled around the fire as well and he knew it would be at least an hour before his fur dried through all the way but he didn't care. As he sat staring into the orange and yellow flames his mothers words came into his head again and he felt a trickle of apprehension. If what she said was true that would mean he'd soon pass control over himself over to his yokai. Every time that had happened in the past… well…

He looked down at his left arm and flexed it, staring at the space where the stripes on his original arm had been. But surely he could keep himself in control as far away as he was going to be.

Surely his demon would come to realize it was useless to try and force him to mate- that Sesshomaru didn't want the burden of pups or a mate and never would.

Out of curiosity he tried to imagine it- him, holding a pup, letting the child follow him around, teaching him things as InuTaisho had taught him.

Nope. Nothing.

Except dread maybe.

If his mother had lain off a bit on the pressure he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. It was part of the reason why he'd avoided having relationships with other demonesses- the first being that he was kind of a jerk, and the second that he had no interest in children at all. Whenever he'd discussed his reluctance with them they seemed sympathetic, but unable to understand why his freedom was more important at the moment than his obligations to the Palace.

And their odd mind games- trying to figure him out, trying to slip beneath his cold exterior.

_Heh. They never did though. _ He sighed and leaned back into the dragon's warm uniform scales and ran a clawed hand through his hair. To date he couldn't think of one demoness who had managed to- Oh wait, there was one, but she was dead so it was of little consequence.

_Dead and the pup with her. _He added, his face once more a mask devoid of emotion except for his eyes.

He'd only found out about it when they'd brought her body back to determine which tribe had killed her. He still remembered it vividly- the unstable torch light, her beautiful golden tail twisted and broken underneath her. The captains and guard clearing the way as he bent down beside her and touched her cool cheek; how he'd barely noticed the strange way the cloth was laying across her abdomen.

How it had looked a bit… stretched.

His hand had immediately dropped to her belly, his claws gently tracing the curve in her body. His eyed had flicked up to the physician and the rat demon had immediately looked away, his jaw muscles tight.

He remembered his screaming, crying and cursing.

He remembered raking his claws across her guard's face, so deep he could see bone,

"Why couldn't you protect her, you useless- you whoreson! I'll fucking kill you!" before blacking out as he was smashed in the back of the head by the wood rod of another captain.

His hand automatically went to the nape of his neck where he'd been struck- his mother had been furious because it had taken him a full week to wake up, and a week after that to become coherent again. He'd never really been the same after that. Sesshomaru yawned, his canines catching the yellow light of the flames and curled up into the fetal position, trying to put that night out of his mind.

At any rate, he needed to sleep- this whole transformation was taking quite a bit from his body. He flicked his tail up around his body and Ah-Un wrapped his scaled tail around the silky white fur to keep it in place.

Soon enough both master and servant were asleep just as the blue light of dawn began to creep across the sky.

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><p>Hi there! If you've read this and liked it, please leave a review to let me know. I'd like to know at least a few people are reading before going on with this story ^^<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Diaozuan- tricky, crafty

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><p>Sesshomaru awoke from a surprisingly deep sleep for a demon and stretched with his pink tongue curling slightly at the end like a cat's. He threw his tail over his shoulder as he usually did and packed away the bottom half of his armor onto Ah-Un.<p>

"This will only be temporary." The dragon snorted in disbelief but allowed his master to secure the burden with some leather straps, grunting slightly as Sesshomaru threw his leg over and climbed on. Once they had risen above the tree line Sesshomaru pulled on the reins for a moment so he could clearly see where they were going. _If only these damnable clouds would clear- _He thought angrily until suddenly he spotted the tips of the mountains, far off in the distance_. Ah, there._

"This way, Ah-Un." He nudged the animal forward but since the dragon had been there before he didn't need more than the general direction. As they flew over the Western lands he saw a great number of human and demons alike going about their daily business, so small they were like ants. After a few turns the scenery began to change- the lush forests giving way to sparse pine, the thick grass for hardier mosses and lichens. Eventually as the moon had reached its peak in the sky the ground below them became blanketed with snow and the human villages were few and far between indeed. The air around the two changed into true cold, a cold that even Sesshomaru felt but would be more than capable of enduring until they reached their destination.

Frost collected on his fine fur, hair and eyelashes along with Ah-Un's scales and talons.

He began to feel slightly more comfortable as time passed. Perhaps everything was going to work itself out as it should- with him emerging as himself, unchanged and unburdened. The thought made him slightly happier. What made him even more so was the thought of finally getting to the damn outpost and curling up in the many thick demon furs there, and starting a fire.

He even remembered stashing some demon blood-sake somewhere… Of course all their food was demon blood or demon flesh based; royal yokai couldn't stomach anything else except for the flesh and blood of children. It had been quite a while since Sesshomaru had eaten any children though, and now that he thought of it they hadn't been so tasty. Even the rather stringy demon caribou he'd captured had more meat. He realized he was thinking about food again and raised an eyebrow. Had he been this obsessed with it before?

No. He'd gone weeks, months without eating and thought it normal. The good news about the outpost was he's still be able to keep contact with the demon world as he'd tamed a few raptors to stay near the outpost and respond to his call. Luckily they were smart enough to deliver messages to their proper places or else he would have eaten them too. Eventually they touched down a few good yards from it and Sesshomaru began unpacking the saddlebags, his claws coated with a film of moisture. To test and see how cold it was he turned and spat at the snow- his spit froze and shattered like glass as it hit the ground. "Oh." Ah-Un let out a worried sound.

"The stables have four sides- and I have insulated the walls of them for you." He knew that though his dragon could cope with such temperatures he preferred not to and would mope around if Sesshomaru didn't do anything about it. He stuffed the extra robes and letters under his arms and made his way over to the sorry-looking structure. The dragon followed, looking quite a bit more optimistic than before. The outpost was made of sturdy but old wood and seemed to bow downwards at both corners- the door was warped and the rock steps were cracked. He was bringing Ah-Un around to the stable when he thought he heard a noise and paused.

The fur over his shoulder bristled as he realized there were voices coming from inside. Human voices. He dropped Ah-Un's reins (it wasn't like he had anywhere to run to) and went back around to the front, throwing the door open hard enough to splinter the wood.

His eyes shone red and the usually smooth marks on his cheeks became ragged with rage.

"Get. OUT!" The two humans, who appeared to be some kind of looters, pulled out guns at him as they stood.

"Oh yeah? Well why don't you-" A long poisonous whip of glowing green wrapped around their ankles, "…Make us?" and they were both thrown so far from the small structure that when they hit they broke bones. Sesshomaru stood at the doorway growling for a few seconds like a rabid animal, his mouth slightly open in a snarl before realizing they were not coming back and getting a hold over himself.

He closed his mouth and blinked, running his claws through his hair to help calm down. _Miserable interfering humans. _He placed Ah-Un in the stable and made sure the door was shut tight against the cold before entering the main trading area again. Fortunately it looked like the humans hadn't been here long- perhaps a day or so, as their stink hadn't permeated the area yet. The area he was standing in was the main trading hall, filled with rows of wooden racks where demons could show off and sell their finest furs.

At one end of the hall was a fireplace large enough to fit a full grown boar in and at the other were three much smaller rooms reserved for the trader who would be living there full time. Sesshomaru made his way to these rooms, his claws running over the many fine furs, scales and feathers of what at some point must have been great demons. The room was filled with the smell of pelt-curing herbs and the wood currently being burned on the fire, courtesy of the humans. It was not at all unpleasant to his sensitive nose.

The post had been abandoned because it was an extremely difficult place to get to, and that the demons running it had also been busted for deliberately poisoning lesser demons to get their hides. They had left in such a hurry they hadn't bothered to grab any of the pelts and so they were still here. He opened the door to the private bedroom and stored his extra kimonos and other items in the small dresser, spreading the letters out on a very low, old desk.

He took off his shoes and armor and tucked them under the long flat bed, digging his toes into the thick hide of a caribou-demon's fur.

He would have taken off his swords too but considering he was quite alone he felt much better with them on his hip than anywhere else. All the stones floors were strewn with pelts so the customers hadn't gotten cold feet as they made their decisions. He sat down on the bed and brought his left foot up, pushing down on the too-high instep until he heard a small pop, then did the same to the other foot.

Of course it hurt, and of course he'd rather be doing anything besides touching his still disgustingly misshapen feet, but this was the only way to get them close to... normal.

He then went back to the bed and rummaged around underneath until he found a vase-like bottle of blood-sake. After he was finished he stroke back into the main hall and grabbed up two furs. One of them was a beautiful rare zebra-demon pelt and the other was a golden and scarlet phoenix feather one, the feathers seemingly still warm with the fire they once held. Now that he thought of it, he didn't even know if there were any phoenix demons left. He certainly didn't have any in his guard and couldn't recall seeing them around the last hundred years or so. _Oh well. _He settled down with his sake and spread the phoenix pelt underneath him and the zebra one over him, completing his cocoon by wrapping his tail around his feet and under his head. In moments he was toasty warm, and the long sips of blood-sake were warming his insides as well._ A solid moon of this. _ He though sarcastically, I_ don't know if I'll be able to endure it._

His chest twanged with pain suddenly and he rubbed his palm across it in irritation. That was the only thing spoiling his mood.

He hoped it'd be over quickly, the whole transformation.

As it turned out it wasn't. It was sickeningly, gruesomely, painfully slow. _And from a person who's had their arm lobbed off I think I know what I'm talking about. _He wasn't sure entirely how much time had passed between when he'd arrived and now… He'd been sleeping too much…. But he was sure it had been at least another week. And here he was now, in the fetal position with his arms wrapped tightly around his middle- which currently felt like someone was clawing and scraping around in his guts, gently tugging and rearranging and destroying and reforming and… Even though it was so cold his body was slick with sweat from the pain.

He was doing some kind of truly pathetic trembling too but he couldn't stop it- tensing his muscles to still them made it worse.

"Ah… nn…" His hip had cracked again and now was a wide smooth curve, wider than he'd ever thought was normal, what his mother used to refer to enviously as 'childbearing hips'…. He fell into another sleep, but this one wasn't renewing at all.

He'd flicker in and out of consciousness, all the time in a haze of the burning, twisting never ending pain.

It was the closest to dying a slow and painful death he'd ever experienced; save for the time Rin had come to him.

Many turns passed.

He ate too much, he slept too much, he didn't bathe often enough to his liking… Everything was put on hold.

When he woke up again-truly, clearly woke up, his body finally freed from the grip of agony, he did not feel himself at all.

He felt weak and shaky and vulnerable as a newborn pup. Like a great glob of royal jelly just waiting to be eaten.

It was cold, and something in his mind told him the fire had gone out days ago, which wasn't good because Ah-Un would be very displeased.

His hand automatically went to the hilts of his two swords and he pulled them gently-slowly, because his arms ached like hell- up to his chest.

They rested in the center of his chest nicely. A little too nicely... He opened one of his hands and ran his claws gently over his chest. Something was wrong- was he dreaming? It wasn't flat at all- granted they weren't enormous but most definitely he had, well, breasts under the thick silks of his sweat-soaked kimono. _… what… what? _He struggled to sit up and shoved the swords back into his obi, opening his eyes and exploring his body with them and his claws. His hands were small and delicate with attractively long fingers- like child's hands. He used one of them to pinch himself quite hard in the thigh and gritted his teeth. _So I'm not… but… _

He ran his hands down his front again and let them settle against his smooth, flat, ab-less belly. Then he switched his weight to one side and ran a hand over his butt. It was defiantly bigger than before. _Oh no. Oh f… it happened. It actually did. _He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to ignore the way the new breasts stretched the cloth as he did so. He felt sick but came to a decision- there was only one way to be absolutely sure of this transformation. His cheeks were flushing red as he thought of it. _Thank Buddha I am alone._

Except for Ah-Un, that is, but he was a dragon and hardly cared. He reached down, untied his obi, and then untied his hakama.

Then of course, he… _she, _feverishly tied it shut again, choking down a scream. _Wait. I'm alone… I don't have to suppress anything…_ Sesshomaru let out a growl instead, and then another because he sounded like the... the _girl _that he- she.. "Dammit…" Because it made her feel better she let out a string of curses she'd learned from Inuyasha and stood up, pacing back and forth in a kind of bottled rage.

Her tail thwacked powerfully against the floor as she did so, shaking some of the pelts. "Why in the name of-! She could have at least had the courtesy to tell me how important-! How dare she… " This was all probably a part of Inukimi's plan anyway- by not emphasizing this… she was getting what she wanted from him- pups. _Not in this life, mother. _She touched her milky-white throat.

It was so strange, hearing this female voice when she talked. Like her voice was broken. And the way her thighs barely brushed against each other as she walked… The weight of these stupid things on her chest… She went next to the fireplace and threw a few more logs in, grabbing a small container of oil and throwing some of it on before lighting the fire again with the torch on the side wall.

It roared to life and heat penetrated through her kimono and she realized it would be awfully nice to change into something clean.

That, and find the sake she seemed to have misplaced. _And maybe my pipe too. _Nothing sounded better than a long drag on his… _her_ tobacco pipe. _Anything to distract me… anything at all. _But then of course as she entered her room, she realized that changing into different clothing would in fact result in her having to look at her body. Naked. She froze in the middle of the doorway. _But… it's no longer a big deal now right? I'm a… a female, it's a female body… _Well than why was she feeling like an absolute pervert?

She shook her head. _I might as well get used to it then. If I'm going to be in this useless form for a while. _She took off her double-layered kimono and laid it aside as she picked out another outfit. _Hmm. Well this one brings out the pink markings on my eyelids, but this one brings out the moon on my forehead…But if I use the outer kimono of this and the inner kimono of that then they will complement each other and… _Sesshomaru blinked and put the two kimonos down for a moment in horror. _Good god I'm becoming my mother._

She made a face and wrinkled her nose. _No. I shall never become her, not even like this. _Closing her eyes she stripped down to nothing, flinching whenever her claws accidentally touched raw flesh as she dressed. For some reason her skin was ultra-sensitive, especially the chest area, and not in a pleasant way. But the kimonos she'd packed were warm and dry, and so she laid down the sweat-soaked one near her bed to wash later. On the other hand, now that her clothes were cleaned she wished her body was clean as well.

A bath sounded deliciously refreshing- a way to clear off all the old sweat. She ran a hand through her frazzled, tangled locks.

_Oh, an__d to spend a few hours grooming… _It was settled, then; that was exactly what she was going to do.

Half a turn later she was bathing in a basin of water she'd warmed in the flames of the fireplace, wringing out her long strands of beautiful silver-blue hair. Finally she was beginning to feel a bit more like him-her… _normal _again.

She dried herself off as best she could and settled down in front of the fire with her black comb and a single thin kimono on, enjoying the freedom of wearing such a small amount of clothing. As a lord- _Or a lady now I suppose… _Sesshomaru thought- it was completely inappropriate to be seen in anything but at least two or three layers. But out here she could do whatever struck her liking.

She began on her hair, combing slowly and firmly tugging out each knot, the end of her thick tail twitching like a cat's.

_I shall be able to return to the Palace and show that old crow my flat, virgin belly__._

The tail flicked back and forth once and stirred the deep red phoenix feathers underneath her. _And just to spite her I will wait until I'm basically sterile before giving her a damn heir. And then, I'll just do what she did and let the servants raise it, so that it gets so confused it begins calling them 'mother'... _Her tail stopped as well as the liquid movement of her comb.

_Actually… _Sesshomaru didn't really want to wish that on anyone. Why did these memories keep springing up? It was so irritating.

It had nothing to do with her now but they still decided to bubble up to the surface. She resumed combing but let one hand drop down and drum out a pattern with her claws on her belly. _I wonder… if you felt much of anything when you were carrying me, mother._

But of course he already knew the answer to that, didn't she? She'd heard it from her own mouth.

* * *

><p>"<em>Mother, what was it like?" <em>

"_What was what like?" He'd been struggling to keep up with her, per usual, his small still-chubby legs unable to keep up with her fully grown ones. And it was beneath her dignity to slow down for him to catch up. "Having a pup inside you?" She'd stopped then, and he'd been relieved because it meant he wouldn't have to keep chasing her at least for the moment. "Why do you ask? Men needn't ask such things." Her kimono had been soft grey and white, with patters of purple and pink lilies. He'd grabbed a handful of it without thinking._

_ "I just… I was wondering." She'd frowned, her sleek red lip stain showing brightly. "It was nothing but an inconvenience. And so incredibly painful at the end." She removed his small hand from the cloth of her outfit. "Now, go find your maid and pester her with these silly questions. I must go."_

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><p>Sesshomaru swallowed. He'd heard later as he'd grown, that Inukimi's pregnancy had been unusually long- almost two years as opposed to the usual single year. People would say that Sesshomaru was born only after Inukimi had begged him herself. Or after his father had- the story was always a bit different.<p>

_Perhaps I only decided to be born because I thought you were giving me affection. _She mused darkly, her eyes capturing the light of the slowly undulating flames. _Perhaps if I had known better I'd still be there now, waiting. _Though, she remembered his father's voice.

She had a great many memories of him, her greatest friend and simultaneously largest rival. She remembered falling asleep in his arms, snuggling up to his chest, listening with eyes wide as he told of his many great battles. His scent. Later, when his father fell for the human and his confusion- faking disgust because he thought it was the right reaction.

Unable to hide his confusion when his father called him into his rooms to tell him that soon he would have a baby half-brother from the human woman.

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><p>"<em>But father- a hanyou- his life will be…" Sesshomaru trailed off- it was clear to him what the end of that sentence spoke of. And it was to his father as well, for he leaned down and took Sesshomaru's narrow shoulders and said with a soft urgency,<em>

_ "I know. That is why I must ask you to make him strong, Sesshomaru. Do whatever is necessary. I do not ask you to befriend him- he shall have to make his own place in this world." _

* * *

><p>And Sesshomaru had, one way or another. His battles with the hanyou had strengthened him and prevented him from perishing many times over. Sesshomaru finally put the comb aside and pulled the second kimono over her shoulders to keep off the cold.<p>

Somewhere in her mind a tiny flicker from her demon suggested that it would be nice to have another warm body to snuggle up to, as he had with his father so long ago. Sesshomaru told the demon that that was a stupid idea and added that if the demon thought it was going to get her to mate with anyone, it was severely brain damaged. In return all she heard was a kind of smug growling chuckle.

Two days later as Sesshomaru was training with her swords, getting this uselessly weak body used to them a strange hot shiver passed up through her body. It made the hair at the back of her neck stand up in alarm and her heart speed up as some kind of foreign hormone jolted through her. The sword clattered out of her hand and onto the floor, its blade gleaming orange from the light of the fire.

Her mother's words again, _the first two weeks will be the transformation, and the last two will be… _She shook her head and ignored it, picking the blade up off the floor and doing a few quick strikes with it, then a few blocks and finally pretending to use his final attacks.

She didn't train with bakusaiga yet but instead kept it at her hip as a precaution. Even though it was better connected to her energy the fact she was in this form might change it somehow, make it weaker. She went through the motions again but this time switched to her left arm. Her shoulders ached but she didn't want to stop, didn't dare because the thought of being unable to protect herself was more than she could bear. She would not stop until her muscles screamed for mercy- until they were shaking and unable to move with accuracy any more. Besides it reminded her of her training within the Foo-Dog Palace and took her to another place entirely, which is what she needed just now. The pelts were replaced by targets, the floors by deep cool sand, and the walls with the bloody red barriers of the Palace.

Of course she didn't actually strike at any of the pelts- it was all just a fantasy but still it was enough to take her mind off the female body she was now trapped in. And as another turn passed the strange heat wave came again and stronger. She placed sword back in its sheath with irritation and sat, catching her breath. It was like her skin was suddenly hot and uncomfortable, almost like having fleas only… they were under the skin. She rubbed her arms to try and get rid of the sensation but it only seemed to make the sensitivity of her skin worse.

_Ugh. _Well, instead of this perhaps now would be a good time to answer some of those letters. Still it took a few more minutes before she could get up and walk comfortably. It was the strangest feeling- almost like hunger but for the moment Sesshomaru had no idea what and therefore no idea how to make it any better. The good news was there were no other demons… _no other male demons_ _around;_ she corrected herself, to make it any worse. Which brought up another curious line of thought- what if some female demon showed up about now? Would she see her as a threat and try to attack her, or drive her away?

_It doesn't matter. Here I shall not be bothered with the answer to any of these questions._

After she'd snatched up the now lighter bottle of sake from underneath one of the pelts she settled down at the old worn desk and began sorting through the letters again, answering one from the Tiger tribe about the price of salt and another on ink brushes. The ink brush and ink Sesshomaru had kept at the outpost wasn't the finest but the blood seal on the bottom, a drop of bright blue blood over the characters of her name, proved its authenticity. That and the faint oils on the pads of her fingers and claws.

She was not worried about anyone discovering the change in gender through a single drop of blood, as most other demons did not have noses sharp enough to detect the faint difference. And even if they did they'd most likely assume it was from the maid or servant delivering the parchment.

She was sure his mother spread many rumors about the Palace but this was one truth she'd never let escape into the outside world unless she had to. Sesshomaru poured herself another shallow cup of sake and leaned back as she read a particularly interesting letter.

Halfway through she almost spewed her sake halfway across the room, swallowed, and let out a hearty mellow chuckle.

_Oh, this is just too good. _Swiping her tongue over her fangs she finished the letter a tentative smile crossed her lips.

From the sound of it this young demoness was trying to claim that Sesshomaru was the father of her unborn pup.

She placed the brush between her teeth and thought how best to respond to the accusation.

Should she be entirely truthful and state that since she hadn't taken any lovers in five hundred years that was…unlikely?

Or should she draw this out and pretend that she remembered this…

She looked down until she found the exact line, _Ah, 'night of earthly delights'? _ Keh. Nights of delights indeed.

As her thoughts dipped into the slightly naughtier realm the tingling shot up her body again and she shook her head to clear her thoughts. _Best not encourage the heat if I can help it. _She answered the letter sincerely, stating that since she was both not in the area and had not taken anyone to her bed in years it was impossible that the pup was 'his'. She slit one pad of her finger with the needle at the end of her paintbrush and dropped a single spot of blood next to her name. When it had dried she considered putting it in an envelope to be sent off but placed it aside instead. It wasn't of top importance and it certainly was an entertaining read- she certainly didn't have much to do in the coming weeks. _Ah! _Speaking of which she needed to adjust the kimono's to fit her smaller curvier frame.

All except one of course, which she planned on wearing once all of this was over and done with.

Sesshomaru went to Ah-Un's stable and fetched out the rest of the sewing supplies from the saddlebags and scratched the dragon's ears in apology, then took the few other kimono's and carried them to the front of the fire. She started on the one with Prussian blue patterns, pulling it in at the shoulders and out at the waist before adjusting the finer details of the kimono.

It was slow repetitive work but something she was used to doing and therefore a comforting ritual. Managing the needle with her claws had always been difficult but it was just as much of her training as sword fighting and learning about the setup of the royal families. Sesshomaru brought the cloth up to her mouth and pulled the needle through with her teeth, snipping the thread from the needle with a single bite. She tied the tiny silk threads together tightly and examined her handiwork. _Not quite as good as mother, but good enough. _The slight change in the air told her it was almost morning and so she set the project aside and after throwing another log onto the fire she settled down between a different set of pelts, tiger and horse, and fell into a light sleep.

She wasn't sure exactly what had woken her, or why it had been so important that she go outside.

In retrospect she should have suspected the influence of her yokai but was too muddled from sleep that she simply fell into the act of getting dressed without question, as a child would follow the orders of a mother. Blinking and yawning she stumbled into her small rooms and pulled on the soft dyed deerskin boots, then the hakama over that and the double-layered kimono against the cold.

Tying the obi over the ensemble she made her way through the maze of furs, their pelts shining a dull yellow and orange from the dying fire and opened the decrepit front door. It creaked and the gush of cold wind and snow over her body ripped away any remnants of sleep as her flesh broke out in goosebumps. She immediately shut it to keep the warmth inside. _What? Why am I going outside?_

Nothing was amiss- she could smell Ah-Un was safely in his stable and there was no scent of any humans… Still.

She opened her mouth slightly to get a fuller scope of the scents around her, but it was impossible to pin anything down with the direction of this wind. It was bitterly, mind-numbingly cold; even Sesshomaru was close to shivering and wished for nothing more than to burrow back under the many pelts of her lair and sleep this off like a bad dream. But as she turned she noticed some black thing out of the corner of her eye and paused.

_A human? _

But no- it immediately occurred to her it would be suicide for a human to attempt this particular pass in this weather.

_A demon. _She thought and her heart skilled a beat.

_Oh, I am such a fool- _She tried to turn again but her skin was crawling with heat and frozen to the spot.

The wind shifted and she was able to get a good scent trail from the intruder- high ranking, male…

_No. No, no no! _She gritted her teeth so hard the fangs almost split the gums and drew blood. Her hands balled into fists, the claws digging in as Sesshomaru fought for control of her body with her demon. The demon within her was currently trying to place the scent and mulling over if the unknown demon would make a good mate or if she should simply kill and eat him, then go back inside.

A long, low growl escaped Sesshomaru's throat as she stood there shaking, unable to get her yokai under control.

_Go back inside! Now! _She screamed within her head, terrified now more than angry. She was losing- she was losing control.

This could not be happening- it couldn't and yet it was and the figure was getting close now. So close Sesshomaru could see the outline of a steed- some kind of antelope with long curling horns. Her yokai didn't respond except for letting out a quiet satisfied rumble as she finally recognized the scent and suddenly Sesshomaru was striding forward with her shoulders back and spine straight with confidence.

_No! No! _She cried again softly but knew that it was over, as simply and damnably easy as that- she had lost.

The figure was wearing typical feudal armor but the color and materials suggested someone high on the social ladder…

Whoever he was he was muddled by the whipping snow but came within a few yards of Sesshomaru before dismounting the grayish-blue antelope, steadying himself by leaving a hand on the animal.

"Who is there?" His voice was music to the dog yokai's ears and the fur on her thick tail twitched happily as heat came back again, worse by tenfold because of the other demon's presence. Her skin was prickling, seething, on fire.

She no longer felt the cold. No longer felt anything but the want of something unspeakable.

Instead of answering Sesshomaru was forced to watch as her demon came closer to the lone figure. Finally the features of the male demon became clear- a gorgeously full black tail over one shoulder. Deep purple locks and caramel-colored skin.

And finally their eyes met and she was greeted by rings within rings of wine, plum, and every shade of purple in between.

The eyes opened in surprise and a fierce deep blue flashed in the whites, indicating the demon within was coming to the surface.

That flash was the last thing that Sesshomaru remembered clearly before the demon within her blocked her out, forcing her into a kind of sleep.

* * *

><p>But even in that sleep she still remembered bursts of sound and scent and taste. There was the metallic tang of blood, the smell of the stifling smoke of a fire. But they were so jumbled it was impossible to make any sense of them. And at any rate Sesshomaru was too angry and tired to try and figure them out; angry that it her control had been ripped so easily, so completely, from her. Like snatching a toy from a pup.<p>

_It will not happen again. _It was the only thought that brought her shattered ego any comfort.

_This will never happen again. I will not allow it. _Her demon was currently wallowing somewhere between contentment and smugness.

_Do you hear me, you lovesick bitch? _The demon chuckled but said nothing in return save for another satisfied grunt-growl. Sesshomaru did not want to open her eyes but knew that whatever the demon had wanted had occurred, and she was now back in control.

Instead of letting everything pummel her at once she eased back into her body. She gained back her hearing first- the cracking fire.

That was good- it meant she wouldn't be sorely uncomfortable. There was also something else but Sesshomaru ignored it for the sake of retaining her own sanity. Next, taste- nothing odd their either except for a faint case of dry-mouth as if she'd recently run a marathon.

Oh, and just a hint of bitter but also sweet- like that drink his mother had once indulged him in. _Choco something… A memory, _She told herself firmly, and moved on to touch. The feathers of the phoenix were spread underneath her and shielded her delicate orchid-white skin form the hard rock underneath. Encouraged, she let other sensations sink in. The tiger pelt was above her- she could tell simply by the way the fur rubbed against her skin. For some reason her body was slightly tired, and a bit achy in a place she didn't dare mention.

The memories of the last thing her demon had allowed her to see flashed across her mind and she quickly opened herself up to all the sensations, hoping, praying that wasn't the case-But of course it was. She was curled up in the arms of the demon and they were both very much … naked. And if she had any doubts about what had transpired between them she could always ask her nose, who confirmed her worst nightmares with a single delicate sniff.

_Oh… Oh…_

She didn't even know how to begin dealing with that.

So instead she barely opened one golden eye to see if the demon had woken up yet from her squirming. Nope- he was still sound asleep, his wide chest rising and falling slowly against her front. His body was warm and limp and-since her arms were curled up to her chin they could feel- a bit hairier than she'd imagined. His black tail was also curled over her hip. _Wait, scratch that, tails. _

There was definitely more than one. Seven, actually _… A fox demon? _They were the only ones Sesshomaru could think of that grew multiple tails.

She was surprised to find that she was embarrassed and admittedly, a little fearful of being in the demon's grip- she could see bright red stripes along his ribcage, the undersides of his arms and his thighs indicating that he was equal to royal status even though foxes were not 'technically' a part of the twelve royal families. His smell also told her he was strong and healthy.

Strangely, though she felt like screaming and throwing a fit and perhaps drowning her sorrows in sake- she didn't want to leave just yet. Something about the … this feeling of being held… was setting off a reaction in her stupid weak woman's heart.

She felt…_what? What was the word for it? _Like she didn't have to fight for her own safety anymore. That she didn't have to worry about that for now… _Safe. Protected. _Yes, those words sounded right to describe it. Of course Sesshomaru didn't need this demon, didn't need him at all, and didn't need anyone other than herself to depend upon but for now, just for this second- she could pretend.

She allowed herself to relax again and as she did he moved and nearly startled Sesshomaru out of her wits.

"Mnnn…" The arms around her stretched outward and she could her little pops and crackles as the ligaments realigned, then more warmth as his arms settled around her back again, his claws just barely touching her skin. The feeling permeated her body again and for a moment she thought it was the heat again but it was different. Less intense and more tentative. Since she didn't know the word for it and didn't care to investigate she moved on- just as the fox demon decided to nuzzle into the place where her neck met her collarbones.

A place even Sesshomaru's mother didn't know she was ticklish.

"Ah-aha!" She squeezed her shoulder up to block his head and gave him her best glare for making her laugh so… girlishly.

"Oho, you're ticklish huh…" He said and tightened his grip on her, leaning into her neck again.

"Don't you dare. One this heat is over I will track you down and kill you for what has transpired here tonight." He looked surprised at first, then grinned wickedly. "Oh you will, will you? I think you have forgotten the first rules of yokai pairings, my delicate little orchid-"

He leaned foreward more and ran his fangs gently along her neck and to her disgust; she positively melted in his arms. He leaned back, obviously satisfied and murmured, "Your yokai has chosen to be subservient to mine. Which means you are as well. Even if you did manage to catch hold of all my tails-" He flicked them happily, "Your demon would prevent you from dealing the final blow. Now then…"

He reached over to his pile of clothing and fetched out a long kimono and obi, making himself somewhat decent.

"I believe introductions are in order." Sesshomaru looked around fruitlessly for her own clothing and pulled the tiger fur up to her chest to cover herself. "I don't introduce myself to fox demons who ruthlessly scour the landscape seducing women." She pointed her chin up and flicked her hair to end the sentence, finding it slick with sweat. "Oh is that how you remember it?" He hummed with amusement and his tails thumped against the rocky floors. "Shall I tell you where your clothes are?" He seemed to have noticed she'd been searching for something.

"If you please."

He just kept grinning that stupid grin. If her demon hadn't… ooh, he'd be so dead, dead and in hell, she'd make sure of it….

"They're outside, by the doorway." He then pointed to his own clothes, "And notice-mine are inside. Hmm. Quite a puzzle! Well, the only logical conclusion is that-" The fox didn't get to finish his sentence as Sesshomaru slammed the door, clearly ignoring what that meant. Surely- surely she had not become undressed before him? Surely he'd thrown them outside as a joke? But no, her clothes were covered in a rather deep layer of snow, and since it wasn't snowing anymore… She kept the tiger pelt firmly around her body as she eased back inside with the clothes, giving the fox demon another glare. He seemed as happy as a kitten with a bowl of cream.

"Oh, you are just a treat." His voice was like warm velvet. "I am Sesshomaru." She spat out as though her own name was a curse.

"Really?" He brought a hand up to his chin. "Last I remember, he was a man. Wait…" That grin spread again, infectious, and his fangs gleamed in the firelight. "Oh I _**see**_…"

Sesshomaru bristled, "You see nothing! I'm going to change and if you value your life you'll have gone before I get back." She'd never dressed so quickly or angrily in her entire life. How dare he! She was the heir to the western lands and would not be treated like an insolent child!_ And how dare he use my own demon against me. The impudence! The audacity! _ She stormed back to the main hall and was both astonished and irked to find that he was still there, grooming one of his many tails with his tongue. The fox was fully armored now, the metallic plates across both arms reminding Sesshomaru vaguely of Inu Taishou's armor. The color and patterns used in the kimono underneath told Sesshomaru he was one of three fox brothers in line for the lands beyond the West-Mongolia and the like.

It also stated that one of the brothers had been killed in battle and… As Sesshomaru read along the cut of fabric it also stated the demon sitting so comfortably in front of him wasn't a virgin, but hadn't yet produced an heir. She shot across the room and pinned him to the floor with her claws, somehow unable to force poison from them, "Did I not tell you to-…" He was leaning forward against her grip for some reason and his face as coming uncomfortably close to hers.

"What do you think your-" Suddenly he gathered her long hair into a ponytail and pulled her into him and their lips clashed together- hard at first but then soft and apologetic.

"Shh." Her heart was pounding again and the only semi-logical thought that came to mind was… _So this was the taste left in my mouth._

"You forgot the first rule again." His lips were oh so playful and seductive. Finally he pulled away from her and pressed his cheek against hers, whispering in her ear, "My name is Diaozuan, second heir to the Fox Tribe Palace. It is an honor and a privilege to share a bed and your company, though I wish we could have met under slightly different circumstances."

Sesshomaru said nothing, shocked enough that he seemed to be attempting politeness. His breath was tickling her hair and his claws were still deeply embedded in the silver locks. And of course her demon just had to point out that his scent, even hidden under his clothes as it was now, was quite pleasing. "You may call me Diao for short." Sesshomaru snorted and brought her hand up to pull his out of her hair, "You don't deserve the privilege of a nickname, Diaozu-" and paused as she felt the scars on his hand. She brought the rather large tanned hand up to inspect it and saw the scratches were fresh.

"When did you get these?" He blinked.

"From you, I expect. That's the first thing demons always do when they meet each other-fight. Or in your case, fight to see if I am a worthy mate."

"Were you?" Sesshomaru hated to admit that his knowledge of normal demon behavior was lacking, to say the least.

"If I wasn't I'd be in your belly right now instead of sitting here talking to you." The tip of her tail twitched as she thought of asking another question but decided against it entirely. He seemed to sense this somehow because he'd murmured, "I see a question in your eyes." She shook her head and her pale skin suddenly appeared to have a tinge of color, particularly across her cheeks.

"It is not proper to speak of such things."

"We are quite alone."

Diao pointed out, "And since when did what was proper or not dictate what the great white demon of the West wished to know?"

She gritted her teeth. "Very well then! We… we only mated once?" The fox brought a hand to his chin and thought for a moment.

"Mm- no. At least twice, as I remember. You were quite… insatiable." Sesshomaru covered her face with her hands as it had now become a deep scarlet, even up to the pointed tips of her ears. "I hope you're aware I do not normally behave like …" He seemed quite amused again and she felt his many tails curl around her back to try and give her some peace of mind.

"Of course. That was the heat and your demon. I hope you do not think I behave that way on a regular basis either."

"Considering the kiss you stole from me-!"

He interrupted, "But you would have surely carried out your threats had I not, correct?"

Sesshomaru looked away again. "I might not have."

He gave a little chuckle. "I very much doubt that."

She snarled, "It is your personality that prompts me to remove your head from your shoulders. Permanently." And he squeezed her gently with his tails, his eyes the color of African violet petals as he hummed, "Funny- that's wasn't the opinion of your demon last night."

Sesshomaru's eyes shot open wide as the fox demon continued, "But then again, we didn't really spend much time…_talking._"

Sesshomaru was so stunned that for a few seconds was unable to say anything at all except leave her mouth slightly agape. When her wits finally came back she vowed, "That little comment just ensured you to fall at my blade."

The fox demon grinned, "But I was already condemned to death before, wasn't I? You cannot kill the same yokai twice."

She indicated her swords which she'd retied back to her hip as she'd been getting dressed.

"I shall kill you with bakusaiga, and then bring you back to life with the tenseiga only to kill you again."

The fox demon nodded agreeably. "So much trouble to slay one fox demon- surely that is proof enough of your sincere attachment to me."

Sesshomaru almost choked, "A-attachment?" as the demon stood up rather suddenly. "Either way though we should draw up a contract with each other." Sesshomaru pulled herself to her feet as well, still seething from the last comment.

"Oh? What kind of contract?" He glanced around. "Surely you have parchment and a brush somewhere?" Sesshomaru nodded and began walking to the smaller rooms at the other end of the outpost. "Of course, this way." As she opened the door to her private rooms he commented, "Your rooms?"

"Yes." Her tail bristled slightly.

"They smell lovely." The fox demon purred and Sesshomaru snapped, "You are a walking dead man. Stay here." She fetched out a few leaves of parchment and the brush and ink, carrying them back to the fireplace. Once they had both settled back down and she'd organized all the supplies in front of her she asked, "Now, will you tell me what this is for?" He dipped the brush in the ink and began writing. "It's just a formality." Sesshomaru poked him with the hilt of her sword.

"For…?"

"In case our little romp results in any kits- it's a formal statement that we were both present and an acknowledgement from me that I am the father." At the look on Sesshomaru's face he added, "Highly unlikely of course."

This was actually the closest thing he'd told to a lie in Sesshomaru's presence so far- the chances she _would_ conceive were much higher because of the heat. But for some reason, he didn't feel like haggling her on that account.

She seemed… rather vulnerable in that regard. He signed the characters of his name at the bottom and slit open a pad of one finger with his canine tooth, letting a drop land just next to the black ink. The wound almost immediately healed itself and he moved the parchment in from of Sesshomaru, "Here. Your turn." She signed and did the same as him before rolling the parchment up and securing it with a single ribbon. "I suppose… You are a part of the wars going on in the Fox Demon borders. Is that why you were taking this pass?"

Sesshomaru had read in one of the letters that a scuffle over territories between the foxes and cat demons was going on but assumed no one would cross this way because of the weather and risk.

He nodded. "No one else knows it by heart and they say that those who take it get lured in by the female fox demon spirits but…"

He shrugged, "That was hardly applicable for me. And it was the easiest way to get back to my brother's armies."

Sesshomaru frowned as he noticed the lack of swords on the demon.

"My swords are back on the antelope demon." He clarified and added, "But of course swords aren't the only weapons we carry, and I usually prefer them."

Sesshomaru tucked the roll of parchment away into her robes and muttered, "Your tongue certainly is weapon enough."

He chuckled again but the laughter didn't seem to make it up to his eyes. "That is a weapon I would never use on you."

He slowly slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap, placing her head just under his. Sesshomaru had been surprised by one too many things this evening and allowed him to hold her body. Besides it wasn't as if they were truly being affectionate with each other were they? Her gut squirmed at the thought. He didn't mean any of it did he… or did he? It was all very confusing.

"And now… I am truly sorry to say this, but I should be going. If I am late my brothers will certainly want to know why, and I will need a few hours to disguise your scent." She listened to the sound of his heart and was comforted by his warmth.

"Is it revolting to you." She said flatly, unsurprised that he would find it so now that he was back in control again. After all, dog demons often ate fox demon children for sport. "No!" He said louder than he'd intended and seemed a bit embarrassed by the outburst.

"No… I…"

He let her sit up a bit farther so he could look at her face and asked plainly, "I should like to come and see you again, when this war is over."

Sesshomaru let out a snort. "I shall be back in my male form by then. I sincerely doubt you would want to throw your life away so fruitlessly."

The fox demon looked off and murmured, "I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you."

Before standing up and making his way to the front door.

Her demon forced her after him with a tentative, "Wait."

He stood at the door, the blinding snow reflecting white so brightly it hurt her eyes.

"Hmm?" As her mouth opened to say something however he caught it with his and stole another kiss, this time even letting his tongue flick once around the inside her mouth. He pulled away just as fast and held her chin in one hand.

"I'm sorry Lady Sesshomaru- but you are so very beautiful that I am helpless against it." He was grinning again and she was blind with rage- _how dare that stupid fox demon! _But still, the complement tickled her already massive ego. Of course she knew she was supremely beautiful but it was very nice to hear it from someone else.

As she stood there, fists clenched, frozen from a mix of confusion and anger he hauled himself up on the blue-grey demon antelope and took off into the snow, very soon disappearing into nothing but a small grayish blot against the feet of the mountains.

* * *

><p>Alrighty here we go-<p>

katastrifi-so glad you like it, and glad you stumbled upon it ^^

petpeeves12-He pulls everything off with grace, does he not. XD

IntelligentFerretFreak- Oho! You decided to follow this one after reading, then. :D

Sola05-Very Well, I have.

Bob- eheh thanks. here ya go then ^^

And to all- whaddya think of this chappie? better? worse? made you throw up a little in your mouth XD?


	3. Chapter 3

Luo- witty

A day after Sesshomaru had left the Foo-Dog Palace Inukimi tapped out a pattern on the arm of the throne with her claws. When she wanted things done, they were usually done quickly but tracking down Sesshomaru's second cousin proved to be quite a challenge for her guards.

They had almost spent two days tracking down and retrieving the dog demon and she was now waiting for him to enter her rooms for a rather private discussion. Luo of course didn't have much choice in the matter, but he, like Sesshomaru had chosen to live mostly outside of the Palace for he found the inner workings to be quite boring. Also, Inukimi's constant, barely-concealed gloating of her wealth and position irritated him.

He was in his usual clothing and armor, his kimono deep plum and ivory blossoms smattered across the sleeves and shoulders.

He was wearing an iron corset but this was overlapped with bronze metal plates, interlocked like European chain mail. The tail over his shoulder and hair looked to be white at first glance but was actually very light red, marking him as lower than royal status. However he had inherited the single stripe across each cheek of InuTaisho and had the same caramel skin as well, making look as if he did belong right at Sesshomaru's rank. He adjusted the swords at his waist and sighed, allowing himself to be led into the court of Fire Purification by two demon-goat guards.

"You requested an audience with me my Lady?" He said in an almost bored tone as she eyed him up as one would livestock before buying it.

"Yes, Luo." She twirled a shallow cup of deep red blood-sake in one hand, her kimono a light grey with patterns of red and lilac.

She waved the guards away and waited until the high golden doors had closed before continuing, "It seems my son has found himself in a rather delicate situation." Luo couldn't help but raise his brows slightly at that- Sesshomaru wasn't the type of demon who had anything to do with the word 'delicate', much less find himself entangled in those kind of situations.

"Oh?" Her claws stopped their tapping much to his relief- it had begun to grate on his nerves.

"Indeed." She took a sip of the drink and then picked up the still smoking jade pipe and took a long drag, letting the smoke curl out of her slightly parted mouth. "He didn't take finding a mate seriously and now, his yokai has forced both the female form and heat upon him."

_Uh-oh. _Luo seriously did not like the direction where this was going at all, but due to his position he could do nothing but allow her to finish.

"I know your rank is a step below because of your red tinge but your blood is still pure demon dog blood. I would like you to go to the outpost at the base of the Himalayan mountains- that is where he-excuse me, _**she**_ is currently located and become her mate." Inukimi tapped her claws on her chin. "I am worried about her choosing the wrong mate. Since InuTaisho's indiscretion with that human woman and the production of that filthy half-demon, we've developed a bit of a reputation for choosing poor mates. I should like you to fix that."

At this he could not help but protest, "My Lady he is hardly the type to- that is, we were never friends…He would not accept a lower demon as a mate." Never friends was putting it mildly- Sesshomaru often enjoyed the pleasure of putting lower-rank dog demons in their place and Luo had certainly not been an exception. She blinked and said coldly,

"Oh I am perfectly aware of the fact he may just kill and eat you, it's entirely possible." and added with a tap on her pipe, "As aware as I am of that hanyou atrocity you produced with that human woman near the Yangze Valley."

All the color left his face in an instant- _How had she…? _He had been so careful to hide it, to hide her from contact with other demons…

"Oh yes… so small- about nine months now if I'm not mistaken?" She grinned and her fangs showed clearly, slightly elongated as she thought of that tender human flesh. "I always liked them at that age-hardly a mouthful, but so swee-"

"Enough." He interrupted, his head and shoulders bowed in defeat. "… Enough. It will be done as you have asked, my Lady." His mind searched frantically for an escape. There was always something- first things he had move his mate and pup to a safer area and then…

"Glad to hear it." She waved at him once. "Off you go then." He got to his feet and walked out stiff-legged with anger, walking at a quick clip until he had finally reached the gate before stopping and being stuck by an idea. It was insane, a terrible risk- and should anything to wrong it would be him and his pup that suffered but… It was still a better alternative than leaving his boy fatherless. He touched the hilt of his sword and thought feverishly, _Oh it will be done, my __**Lady**__, but not as you would will it. _

He set off in the direction he had last heard of activity concerning the half-demon Inyasha.

* * *

><p>"Hahaha! Take that! And this!" Inuyasha shouted, swinging the Fang sword like a wild man through ogre demon flesh, turning and leaping as soon as he hit the ground to sever the ankles from the rest of the body. The black-skinned demon screamed in agony and fell; the trees in the forest shaking as it finally hit the ground. He waited in a crouched position to make sure it was dead and after a few moments sheathed his sword and passed it with a huffed, "You're so ugly it'd make blind kids cry…" snatching up the basket of herbs he'd been carrying and making his way farther down the winding dirt path, away from their village. Kagome was pregnant with their second child but it wasn't going as smoothly as it had with their first- which was why he was out here now, searching for anything that might smooth out the whole process. Kagome had showed him the herb that she needed. It was some weed with blue flowers that grew at the base of the mountain.<p>

It smelled terrible to his sensitive nose but seeing as Kagome already had her hands full with their two-year old pup he figured he could at least do this for her. His rounded dog ears lowered even as he thought of it. It was probably the fault of the demon dog blood coursing through his veins. She was almost five moons long so far but had hardly felt any movement from the little one within her.

Even that old hag Kaede was getting concerned. After he'd been walking for about an hour he suddenly caught a whiff of an odd scent.

He had only seconds to drop the basket and place his hand on the grip of the tetsusaiga when a demon barreled into him and pinned him to the tree behind him. "Guh! Ah, what is it with you damn demons today?" He froze as he stared into the eyes of his father- but no, the scent was different but the resemblance was uncanny. The flesh on his arms broke out in goose bumps and in that single moment the dog demon snatched the tetsusaiga from him and threw it across the path, gritting his teeth as the scabbard burned the flesh of his hand.

"Are you the half demon Inuyasha?"Of course as soon as he asked he felt a bit foolish. The red robe of the fire rat, the long silver-grey hair and the two dog ears atop his head- it was obviously him. The hanyou was putting up quite a fight- bucking, slashing, kicking and snarling,

"You got a bone to pick with me or something?" Luo found it was hard to keep him pinned for long. He'd have to do this quickly. Their two deep yellow eyes met and as he brought a wrist up to his fangs he murmured, "Know that I do this for the sake of a hanyou close to my heart-" before biting into his own flesh and forcing the bloodied wrist into Inuyasha's mouth- which was halfway open in the midst of a curse.

"Nn!" The half demon threw his head back , his mouth full of the bright blue liquid and broke the demon's grip. But Luo's other hand came up and pressed down on his throat and as Inuyasha swallowed and slashed at his armor with a snarled, "Iron reaver soul stealer!" he slid down the tree trunk and onto the grassy forest floor. His body was going numb and the dog demon was eyeing the gaps in his armor with surprise. He was also panting from the struggle of keeping the half-demon still. _Thank goodness I never had the pleasure of meeting InuTaisho. _Inuyasha spat, "What the hell did you do?" and tried to stand to fetch his sword but staggered and fell to his knees halfway there.

_My blood- my blood is on fire! _"I'm creating a full demon within you." Luo said quietly, going to crouch next to the trembling hanyou.

He saw the eyes of the half-demon go red, saw the lengthening of his teeth and claws and slit open his wrist again. The demon within Inuyasha was still soulless, incapable of thought and attacked the first thing within its range of sight- Lou' s wrist. He bit down into it with a loud growl, the blue-purple markings on either side of his cheeks clear, and pinned the limb to the ground with his claws.

"…Ouch." Luo murmured. _His demon form does resemble me…_ He wondered just how much blood Inuyasha's demon needed to take in before…

Of course the original intention of Inyasha's demon was to tear the limb apart but that bright blue blood was too good to resist and he began gulping it down like the animal he was, smearing his face and hair. After a few mouthfuls though he suddenly pulled away and a shudder ran up his body. Lou took the opportunity to get his arm back and lapped at it to speed up the healing and then took a few steps away.

He could see the dog ears on the demon's head were twitching and suddenly they began to move downward on either side of his head and narrow, turning into full-demon ears just like Sesshomaru's. _Is it…?_ The demon growled in anger and then yelped in pain as Luo heard a sickening crack, then another as something bulged and then dropped out of the back of Inuyasha's red robes.

It was a tail.

A tail so pure, virgin white-silver that for a moment the reflection in the sunlight hurt his eyes. _Royal. _The thought immediately came to mind as the demon crouched before him on its hands and knees, whimpering as the tail continued to elongate, streaked in a few places by blue blood.

Luo waited patiently for the transformation to be over, somewhat astonished that the mixing of his own blood with the hanyou's had actually resulted in this new pure-blooded yokai. He had expected failure. The tail got to about eight feet long before finally coming to a stop and once it did the newborn demon immediately curled it around him protectively, blocking Luo out. He walked closer and crouched down, placing a hand gently on one fold of the enormous silky tail. "Little yokai?" It dipped down as a tanned, clawed hand pushed it down just enough to reveal light yellow eyes.

"Don't touch it- it hurts." Inuyasha's demon murmured, his voice sounding completely different from the rude tone Luo had heard from Inuyasha's throat before. He removed his hand form the tail, "Of course. I'm sorry." and retrieved the tetsusaiga from the other side of the path, being sure to only touch it with its claws. "I believe this belongs to you." The demon hesitated for a moment before taking the sword from him. Luo expected the sword's seal to prevent him from touching it but the sword seemed to recognize its owner even through the pure blood.

He tucked the sword away at his waist and sat up carefully, wiping the blue stains from his face and picking flecks of it out of his hair.

"What… what has happened to me…?" He asked in confusion, flexing his claws before meeting the other dog demon's eyes again.

"I have given you a soul- you are no longer a mindless beast locked in the body of a hanyou." He unsteadily got to his feet and Luo did the same. "A soul?" He blinked and looked down at his naked, clawed feet.

"Why am I not wearing any shoes?"

Luo shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine." and added, "I should probably give you a name too, before we continue." _A name. _He already had a name didn't he? Or… did he? _No, that's not me, that's the other me. Inuyasha, the hanyou. _"What name would you give me?" He gathered the long tail up over his shoulder so it wouldn't drag on the ground and the other dog demon's eyebrows drew together as he thought.

"Hmm…. How about Gao? It means 'to teach'." _To teach? _The new demon thought to himself. _Yes, that would be a good name. I have a lot to learn after all. _He reached one hand out and gently shook the other dog demon's hand.

"Gao it is then."

Luo gave a little nod, "Well met. My name is Luo." He reached into the folds of his kimono and brought out two things- a rolled-up piece of parchment and a scrap of cloth. "Now then…"

* * *

><p>Sesshomaru sat adjusting his second kimono to his new size, taking his anger out by sewing as fast and accurately as possible. <em>How could I have allowed this to happen? Damn that fox demon to hell! When I see him next I shall slaughter him, eat him, I shall use my sword to send him to hell myself….<em>As she fumed the tip of her tail twitched spastically. She could still sense her demons smugness- she was almost purring, if dogs could purr. _I hate you. I hate you and him, but mostly you for causing this. _Of course her demon did not have words to reply properly but Sesshomaru sensed it was something along the lines of, _… it did you some good. _

At this of course she only became for furious because as much as she hated to admit it, her body did feel very… good.

If a little bit on the strange side. _But how can I tell if it feels strange or not? It is a damn female body after all. _Suddenly via their connection Sesshomaru's demon shared a memory with her. The memory of being laid out on her back with the fox demon above her, his slick fangs nipping, licking a path down the curve of her neck and chest. The smell of sweat and her emotions- fear, excitement. Sesshomaru dropped the kimono she was working on and curled up, her arms around her legs. Even remembering had set off a reaction in her- her heart was pounding all over again and a flush had risen in her cheeks. _Stop it._ She snapped at the demon. _Do not make me remember this. Even knowing that it transpired is humiliation enough. _As she thought of it however another idea occurred to her. One that made even Sesshomaru's blood run ice cold.

_I do hope… that is, even if there was I would destroy it of course… _Her hand went between the curves of her hips and paused, laying flat on the soft layers of kimono. She immediately moved it, picking up her other clothing and setting to work again and refused to even acknowledge that as a possibility. Her heart and body were too cold, to devoid of emotion for a kit to burrow in and grow.

After a few hours she was finally done and sighed, picking up the outfit and bringing it back to her rooms. Once there she folded them neatly away in the drawers under her bed and made her way back to the desk. After much stamping and pricking of fingers (they were actually beginning to hurt now- six years worth of messages after all) she was finally able to deliver most of the messages. Save of course for a handful of very old ones and that one funny one about the 'night of earthly delights'.

She was almost tempted to copy it down on a different piece of parchment. But then, that would look weird once she returned back to her normal self. _Hmm. Well plenty of opportunity to read it here. _Though, not just yet. _Not until this damn heat has passed. _Speaking of which…She felt the strange urge to sleep. Or maybe it wasn't so strange, after all she had gotten into the habit of sleeping during the day before that stupid fox messed up her schedule. She gave her long hair a few quick strokes with the black comb and tied it with a ribbon, then took a few of the more important letters to the front door. She threw it open and whistled, sticking two claws between her teeth and then waited.

Soon enough a pair of eagles soared down from the grey-white mass of clouds and Sesshomaru held out her arm for them to land on, tying the letters to their talons as soon as they had settled.  
>"I believe you know where these must go." She commented dryly as they took off and went back inside, untying her hair and deciding that she'd done enough for one night. It was almost morning anyways and the likelihood of her encountering anyone was little to none.<p>

She went to her bedroom and shut the door tightly. Still, just in case anyone happened to be walking by as the fox demon had she opened the bottle of ink and allowed the smell to permeate her room before settling into her bed. This way, her sense of smell would be completely negated, and any demon passing by wouldn't be able to pick up her scent easily amongst the pelts either. _And even if they did, _Sesshomaru mused, _they would think I am still in my male form and only an idiot would dare try to interrupt me in the middle of a nap. _

For that was all this would be- a light nap. She propped a golden cougar pelt between herself and the rock wall of her bed and closed her eyes, her clawed hand resting loosely on the hilt of the tessaiga. _Although it is a bit strange, wanting this much rest…. _It was one of her last thoughts as her head dipped and her body relaxed, her tail unwinding and giving a small twitch every now and again as she dreamed.

* * *

><p>Gao paused from his flat-out sprinting for a tiny break and took the scrap of cloth from his fire rat robe again. He made sure not to touch it with his fingers in order to preserve the scent and took another sniff, then tucked it away again and dropped to all fours, snuffing around on the frozen ground until he caught the scent trail again. The problem was that whoever he was tracking had gotten to where they were used some dragon-creature to get there, so the trail was very faint and sometimes tapered off for yards or miles at a time. Luckily Gao was sort of enjoying himself- he was able to catch much finer smells than he had before and the bloodlust in him so far had been docile.<p>

Besides he was sort of enjoying the challenge of finding this strange mix of male/female smell. In fact the hanyou half of him was telling him that this was a scent he should probably stay the hell away from- all the more reason to track it down now in this full-blood form.

Now that he thought about it though Luo hadn't mentioned exactly why he was supposed to track down this individual or what would happen when they finally did meet. But then he hadn't had much time to talk because he'd told Gao that he needed to leave because his own pup of a hanyou was in danger from a demon called 'Inukimi'. He could smell his anxiety and so had agreed to track down the scent of the scrap of kimono, as well as give the person who carried the scent the parchment roll Lao had given him.

Ah- the memory of the person's name suddenly bubbled up from his hanyou side.

_Sesshomaru. Hmm. Kind of a scary name._

He'd caught a demon-bird and ordered it to carry him over the ocean between the island and the continent in exchange for letting it live. Of course the demon had agreed and so now he could tell he was getting very close to his destination. Though for the life of him he didn't understand why this 'Sesshomaru' had chosen to hide themselves away in such a desolate location. The cold was even beginning to get to him- his hair was slick with cold condensation and his clawed feet with caked with frost and snow. As long as he kept moving them of course he'd be fine but nevertheless what he wanted to do most was curl up in front of a fire and burrow underneath his tail.

He backtracked again, caught the scent again, and took off again, surprised at the change in the scent.

Oh it was the right one to be sure, but now it seemed to be leaning more in the direction of a female demon scent.

_Odd. _That seemed like something Lao probably should have mentioned- Gao didn't want to piss off some female demon that just wished to be left alone. _Hmm. _Well, he could always turn tail and run if that happened. Around the afternoon time he finally caught sight of his destination.

It was a tiny sorry-looking abandoned outpost. Another scent still lingered outside as he approached and he stopped as both the hairs on his head and tail bristled. A male fox demon had been here quite recently. He didn't really know why that ruffled him so much- hell, he was even growling. He stopped himself and shook his head. What did that matter? This wasn't his territory- and he certainly wasn't so involved with Sesshomaru that he needed to feel threatened. Besides his nose informed him that whoever the fox demon was he'd left. He only smelled one scent in the outpost, though it was obviously trying to be covered by the oily, stifling smell of ink.

_Sesshomaru. _He wondered the best way to get the dog demon's attention. From what he could detect of the demon's breathing and heart beat she was sound asleep. But as he stood there her scent told him something else as well.

Gao was not expecting her to be in heat- nor was he prepared for the sudden, powerful convulsion it invoked in him.

He was halfway inside the main hall before getting himself back under control. _What am I doing? _He took a few scared, quick steps back and covered his nose. _I need to get the hell out of here until she's back to normal… _But now he was in her _**nest**_, and her smell… And the fact that the smell of her recent mating with that fox demon was quite obvious…

He heard her stir awake in her rooms, heard her take a few steps to the door and tried to force himself to leave but her delicious smell rooted him to the spot. It was seeping through his closed fingers, a mix of spice and warmth and a bit of musk. Suddenly without warning the door opened and she was upon him and slammed him into the ground. The impact had knocked the breath out of him and he wheezed. The blade of a cool sword rested tightly against his throat, one flick away from severing his head from his shoulders.

She was growling deeply, the striped on her cheeks jagged, and the normally icy eyes red-rimmed with anger.

Those eyes snapped open in confusion as she realized what the other demon was wearing- Inuyasha's fire rat robes. And yet the tail over his shoulder and the stripes across his cheeks obviously attested to the fact that this was _not_ Inuyasha, as well as the scent. Either way she didn't care. She wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

"…Get out…" In that moment of indecision Gao did the only thing he could think of to protect himself- he twisted her arm and forced her to the ground instead of him, then pinned her right arm above her so she would not be able to use the weapon.

"I-!" She was still snarling and bucked to get him off, her free hand tearing at any flesh or robes it could reach, slashing him rather badly across the chest. As his blood stained her claws he opened his fanged mouth and a sound erupted from him, not a snarl but a full-out roar that shook the feeble wooden stands holding the pelts and sent a rush of hot air across Sesshomaru's face.

It lasted for a good five or ten seconds and when it was over the silence between them sounded a hundred times louder than before.

Without meaning to, without even really knowing what she was doing Sesshomaru let out a small whimper of apology and her free hand went to the intruder's striped face, tracing over one dark bluish-purple line of his heritage. The hand trembled slightly- Sesshomaru was not afraid of what would undoubtedly soon transpire between them- but she was afraid that her yokai had not made an appearance so far. What that meant of course is that the heat was affecting her directly and everything she did from this point onward she most definitely would remember.

He covered her bloodied hand with his own and asked, "So you're not going to kill me…?" The skin on his hand was rough, no doubt from wielding the tensaiga for so long. … _And the heat is back again. Of course_. What he hadn't realized when he'd let loose that roar was that it wasn't just a warning telling her to stop- it was also a sign of dominance.

Basically, _I'm telling you to be quiet and you will, because I'm bigger and stronger than you._

Although at this point she admitted it probably had something to do with repressing all sexual urges for a good five hundred years as well; her body trying to make up for lost time.

She cursed inwardly- no doubt he could smell it pouring from her body; she saw the pupils in his eyes dilate with interest.

"..I… can't."

She answered truthfully. She wasn't sure who made the first move- perhaps it was her leaning up to kiss him, or vice versa. Or perhaps they had met halfway but the result was the same. _I have to stop- I have to. _The first kiss was fleeting and barely enough to feel the warmth left behind. "Stop…" She said quietly. The demon above her murmured, "…I can't…" Then Gao caught her bottom lip between his fangs and sucked, being careful not to break skin, and Sesshomaru knew that she couldn't stop herself from wanting this.

And the worst part of it all was… a part of her was secretly glad he'd taken the choice from her. She was so tired of resisting- there was a sort of sweetness to just giving in. After all there were so few things Sesshomaru allowed herself to indulge in.

She growled quietly, happily and pushed on his back with her tail so their bodies met. He was wonderfully warm and heavy and his knees were on either side of her hips, his weight effectively pinning her underneath him. Their tails wrapped around each other and squeezed gently, wagging from one side to the other in a staggered manner and making it look like one very large, tipsy caterpillar.

He kissed her again, not even knowing what the hell he was doing, and lapped at her hot skin. She gave a little needful sound almost a mewling, and put her hands on his shoulders, her nails digging in and almost piercing through the hardy cloth. She ran her claws down his back in a fierce raking motion and he bit down on her neck just hard enough to leave a deep purple bruise, pairing this with another small growl.

His clawed hand explored her front, slid up underneath her and went two different directions- one under her long mane of hair and the other around her waist, his claws slitting through the kimono and straight into Sesshomaru's skin, creating five tiny half-moon cuts.

They healed almost instantly and she curled her claws into his collar and pulled the red robes down to his waist, revealing his tanned torso slightly slick with sweat. As he dropped down again she felt the strip of light silver hair drawing a line down from his belly button into the waist of his blood-colored hakama, and she shivered again. But she was far from cold. His body was nicely chiseled with muscle.

She caught the pointed tip of his ear and grabbed it, gently pulling it down to her lips as she murmured, "I think… We should go to my bedroom." She finished the sentence with a kiss to his earlobe and then a harsh nip, almost piercing a hole through. He gave a surprised yip as it healed itself and somehow the two of them made their way to her bed with their bodies never once parting from contact. He helped her untie the obi, and the many layers of kimono until they came to the undergarments, and then stripped those away too.

His claws abruptly paused as she stood before him naked as a newborn. Her marble-white skin shone with health, the many stripes of her royal lineage like tasteful accents to her every curve. She had her arms covering her small but full breasts and looked so very innocent and vulnerable it took what was left of his breath away.

Seeing that he had stopped, she asked, "What?" her voice thick with heat and those slanted, cat-like, icy yellow eyes blinked at him. So cold but at the same time they burned with an inner fire. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her in just enough so their hips touched, and smiled softly. "You are what terrible men dream of in the dead of night, my dear." Then he gently pushed her down into the bed and felt her legs curl around him.

As things went along the biting and clawing became fiercer, the scent of blood mixing in with their own. She discovered that she was quite the screamer, to her own embarrassment- from mewling, to snarling, to barking and growling. Finally as the act came to a close and their bodies came together in arching, aching fulfillment she let loose quite a caterwaul that even the stranger in her bed raised his eyebrows at, trying through his panting to form a sentence, "Are you… alright?" Her chest was still heaving as she slowly came down from the high and she colored all over again.

"Yes. I suppose…. I'm a bit of a screamer." He removed himself and laid down beside her, grabbing one of the many pelts to cover his lower half with and handing one to her as well.

"No kidding- if any other demons were around, they'd think I was murdering you." The afterglow of their mating still permeated Sesshomaru's body and she took the zebra pelt handed to her, curling up underneath it and letting her tail flop down beside the bed to join his. As the tails met his tail wrapped around hers again, giving that same gentle squeeze before laying it to rest.

"So much the better." She yawned and struggled to keep her eyes open. Her mate smiled at her dilemma and reached over, brushing his hand down over her face so her eyes closed. Her woman's heart was touched by the simple display of affection- her man's self huffed and snarled that he'd be kicked out tomorrow for sure.

"Go ahead and sleep. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

His voice was a whisper of fondness and somehow she heard herself say, "Promise…"

He leaned in and brushed her hair from her forehead to reveal the crescent moon, kissed it and murmured, "I promise." before he settled down next to her and fell asleep himself.

* * *

><p>When she woke up the next morning she felt a cool spot beside her and pain shot through her heart as harshly and efficiently as a knife.<p>

She sat up quickly and pulled on most of her clothes before realizing that the outer red kimono of his clothing was still on the bed. Sesshomaru picked it up and looked it over, confused. If he had left… surely he hadn't been so stupid as to forget the most important part of his armor?

Unless he was still here. She put a hand to her chest and let it rest for a moment, gauging her reaction to the scent still on those clothes.

It was normal- no sudden increase of heart rate, no burning sensation. _For now, the heat must have passed. _She mused it was hardly surprising- she'd been doing a lot of mating lately, despite her best efforts not to. It may have even passed permanently, which would be a blessing considering she would now be around this anti-Inuyasha. She went to the door still yawning and rubbing her eyes and as she opened the door, stretched her arms above her head. As she saw what directly in front of the door of the outpost she paused mid-stretch and opened her mouth in surprise.

An enormous demon-caribou carcass was spread out less than a few yards from the outpost, its long neck snapped cleanly.

The shadow easily eclipsed the entire structure she was standing in front of. She saw movement above the ribcage of the animal and the anti-Inuyasha was at the very top, looking extremely pleased with himself. He saw Sesshomaru and gestured to the length of the demon happily.

"Look what I found! I figured you would be hungry too, so I brought it back for you." She blinked and closed her mouth, realizing how foolish that probably looked. "…For me?" She was genuinely surprised. Demons rarely shared their food with each other, that much she knew.

"You should eat what you want first. I'll eat whatever's left." He hopped down in front of her and before she could react had already nuzzled across her check with a velvet, "I can hardly let my mate starve can I?" At the word 'mate' she stiffened and snapped,

"Just because we've mated doesn't mean we're 'mates' … I don't even know your name." However, her belly grumbled loudly and the physical needs outweighed her psychological ones as she transformed, digging into the fresh-killed caribou like a wolf.

"It's Gao." He said and transformed with her, taking a few steps back once in his full-dog form to give her room. His dog demon was a bit larger than hers and had the same single stripe near the end of the corners of his mouth as InuTaisho. She managed to strip the caribou halfway before realizing that for now she was full and pulled away again. He came up beside he and began eating as she cleaned her paws as best she could, then vowed that once back in her human form she would take another bath to wash the smell of _him _off her. _Though why bother? _She thought sarcastically. _Even if I do, the taint of his seed is still in me. Him and that stupid fox demon. The heat had made me into an absolute whore- and I'm not even getting paid for it. I'll never be clean again. _But still, she wanted to bathe, to at least be clean on the outside.

Once he was finished and they had both returned to their human forms she immediately stated, "I'm going to bathe. You go and roam around outside for a few hours or… whatever it is you do." He raised his eyebrows. "But… there is not that much to do out here. Why don't we bathe together?" Sesshomaru almost fell and was sincerely glad she had good coordination.

"Excuse me? Only married couples do that. And sometimes not even then." Even bathing suddenly seemed like a delay to the inevitable and Sesshomaru settled down in front of the fire, curling her tail around herself.

"I've changed my mind. I want you to leave. I want you to leave and if you try to come back I'll kill you."

He stopped in the doorway, then came in the final foot and shut the door. "You made me promise to stay." In a flash she was at his throat again, her fingers squeezing his windpipe, cutting off his air. "Well now you see what my promises are worth don't you! Get out!" Her demon prevented her from seriously harming him of course. She flung him at the door and he hit hard, cracking the wood near the nails holding it in and sliding to the floor. Gao was pretty confused at this point, and a little hurt too but not from being thrown.

"Do you really want me to leave?"

He said and his voice was strangely flat as he continued, "Because… If I do, other mates will come. And this will keep happening."

"Shut up." She hissed, her tail twisting in fury and her eyes beginning to taint red. It hit the ground so hard he felt it all the way at the door.

"I can smell that there was a fox demon before me. He's not coming back is he."

"I said-"

He continued, "I want to stay here and protect you." Her eyes were still red-rimmed but somehow he sensed that this time it wasn't indicating the imminent release of her demon.

"I don't give a damn what you do." She finally snarled quietly and hugged her knees tighter. He walked back to the fire and she let out a deep growl, letting him know he should stay away. He settled down a good five feet away and looked into the roaring fire, trying his best not to incite her anger. Gao wasn't sure how long they'd sat like that- it must have been two or three hours- before she finally uncurled her legs and leaned back, her long hair spreading on the floor behind her. Still wary of getting choked by her he finally summoned up the courage to ask,

"Why are you angry?"

She fired back immediately, "What happened last night should not have happened."

Gao put his hands in his lap and his head drooped, his hair falling foreword. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." He looked sincerely dejected and she found herself acknowledging, "It was my doing too- I should have been more careful. I thought the heat had passed."

They were both quiet for a few more seconds and his tail lolled in front of the fire happily absorbing the warmth.

"But… it didn't feel bad." Her face flushed a little and she bit back a scathing comment- for some reason the demon's mannerisms and speech reminded her of an older pup still trying to figure the world out. Lashing out at him was about as rewarding as kicking an injured puppy. In the face. "Of course not. What is bad is what could result from it."

At this he seemed to perk up a little- he'd been thinking along the lines that he'd been so bad at it that it had incited this anger in her.

"Oh." His tone indicated he had no idea what she was talking about.

She almost sighed, "Pups, Gao." and could almost see the light bulb above his head flick on. "Oh! Oh, of course. But… Why would that be bad?" Sesshomaru touched her swords moodily. "Well, normally speaking they wouldn't be. But I have no interest in them, do not desire them, and do not wish to be burdened with them."

He gaped at her and she raised an eyebrow. "But… but they are not such a burden! I mean, they are at first-" He was speaking of the experience Inuyasha had had with his first pup of course. "But it gets better… and when you hear their voice and they follow you around and …"

He got quiet again and finished while looking into the fire, "They bring so much meaning into your life."

Sesshomaru snorted and Gao clearly saw she didn't believe that they were anything more than a burden to be dealt with and disposed of.

"I think… you would benefit from them, Sesshomaru."

The female demon's lip curled. "I doubt it." If anything, her reaction to that sentence proved it was true more than anything. "Anyhow, I should like to bathe in front of the fire. Please go and wait in my rooms until I am finished." Gao nodded and went, waiting patiently in the pile of pelts and tangled blankets that was now Sesshomaru's bed with his arms crossed behind his head and his legs hanging off one end.

Strangely, he had the feeling that he was forgetting something… No, that wasn't quite right. Like he was needed somewhere else…

* * *

><p>Lady Kaede went looking for Inuyasha the morning after his disappearance. After only a few short hours she found the basket he'd taken with him lying in the middle of the dirt path as well as a few of his silver stands of hair. There were signs of a scuffle- the bark on one of the trees had recently been scratched and torn and the dirt was ground up from claws as well. As she was looking around for any other sign of who could have abducted him she noticed a few strands of short soft dog hairs and picked them up between her fingers.<p>

_Sesshomaru? _But no- a few scraps of linked brass armor lying in the grass beneath the tree told her otherwise.

Sesshomaru changed outfits often but his armor was usually the same more or less. She went to the base of the mountain to collect the herbs Kagome needed and returned with the news that Inuyasha seemed to have been taken by some unknown dog demon.

* * *

><p>After taking a bath Sesshomaru felt much better. She sat near the flames with her long comb out and brushed the many tangles in her hair out, allowing Gao to sit next to her as she did so. He had bathed too but had no fancy comb with which to tame his locks and so was picking out the knots with a combination of his teeth and claws. He seemed to be having quite a time of it.<p>

After a few minutes watching him struggle she said, "Here, stop. I will take care of that for you."

She ordered him to turn around and began brushing his hair for him with her comb. She always suspected that Inuyasha had fine hair and as she worked out the snags in it she discovered it was true. If the half demon had even cared slightly about the state of his hair he could have a silky, shiny mane similar to Sesshomaru's, only shorter of course. He was still too young to grow his hair out as long as hers.

Gao sat patiently and found that he was enjoying himself, especially when her claws touched the nape of his neck or back of his ears as she brought the hair closer to her. "So tell me-" She began, actually quite curious to find out who had taken the beast within the hanyou and given him pure blood. "Who was it that gave you the blood to change you?"

Gao answered, "A demon-dog with a slight red tint to his tail called Luo." As he spoke of it he suddenly remembered the roll of parchment still in his robes and fished it out, handing it over his shoulder to Sesshomaru."He wanted me to give you this." She set her comb down and unrolled it, reading it by the light of the fire.

_Lord Sesshomaru,_

_ Greetings from Lao of the demon dog tribe. It has come to my attention that Lady Inukimi wishes a union to be made between myself and you. I am sure you want no such thing to take place based on your interactions with lower-level demons in the past._

_ So I have devised a scheme that will get both you and myself free from what could be a terrible pairing- I have created a royal-blooded demon within the body of the half-demon Inuyasha, who will act as your mate in my stead. No doubt he has found the outpost by now- his nose is quite sharp- and no doubt you have shared a bed with him- through no fault of your own of course._

_ I urge you to keep him by your side for at least a half-moon in order to drive any other potential suitors away and should any pups result from your time spent together I shall claim them as my own since Gao and I have extremely similar looks. However he must not be spotted by any demon of class as they will only recognize him as the hanyou Inuyasha and if the two of you are spotted together- well, I hardly need to spell it out do I. I shall be residing just outside of a human village near the Yangze Valley should you need to contact or update me regarding anything to do with this plan. _

A rather awkward, sideways line break told Sesshomaru this letter had clearly been written in haste.

_On another note- I believe Gao's demon blood will stay dominant until the time when Inuyasha takes on his human form, whenever that may be. I'm not entirely sure if Gao will be able to resurface after that- but I'm sure if you call him he will come, as you two undoubtedly will form a bond. _

Sesshomaru snorted.

_And if you scoff at that, keep in mind that he is entirely different from your half-brother. I spent only a few minutes in his presence and found him to be quite endearing. Well, then. I suppose I've covered everything for now. Here is my address._

Below that was the address, Luo's name in black ink and a dot of his blue blood beside it. Sesshomaru rolled it back up and placed it in the folds of his own kimono. "What did it say?" Gao asked curiously.

"You didn't read it? Apparently you're part of an elaborate scheme to keep me out of a union with Luo, courtesy of my mother's wishes."

"I knew it." He murmured quietly. "But why would your mom want you and Luo to become a pair?"

Sesshomaru shivered a little at the thought. "Because he is the closest thing to a royal-blooded demon dog around, besides myself. And his blood is thick enough to produce royal blood, obviously-" She indicated Gao's tail with a poke and his striped with one tap of her claw.

"So she was taking a gamble." Gao finished for her and she blinked. "Yes." She slowly finished with his hair. "Next time I will let you use some of my special soaps- your hanyou self has done quite a bit of damage that washing alone won't fix. The color and texture of your hair also indicates status in the demon world so it's important we fix this."

She picked up a lone strand and held it in front of his nose. "See? Look at those split ends."

Gao frowned. "I see them. But aren't we not supposed to be seen together? I mean…" Sesshomaru pointed out, "Of course not- but as long as you are staying with me you will be in top shape. No exceptions."

_Besides I think Luo was a bit wrong on that account- They will recognize him as Inuyasha surely, if he wears the fire rat robes and lacks shoes. But if he was wearing another outfit entirely? If he had shoes, armor, a mount, and his hair in a high ponytail, the patterns of the dog demon tribes clear on his sleeves? I doubt it._

"Sesshomaru? … Um, do you have any other kimonos I could wear so I could wash this one?" Now that Gao mentioned that it came to Sesshomaru's attention he had no idea the last time Inuyasha had washed the robes- and likely, Gao didn't either.

"Of course. I'll go get them." She searched through her kimono's until she found the unaltered one and brought it, along with its matching articles back over to Gao. "Here. We are about the same height and build, and though you're a bit more muscular than me these should work well enough. I brought plenty of silk to adjust them." She shooed him into her room. "Now go change." Then she settled back in front of the fire to wring out what moisture was left in her hair. It occurred to her that he probably was having quite a time of it actually getting into those clothes, as well as layering them properly. _Oh well. _It wasn't as if she was about to burst in there and fix it for him.

Gao would have to learn some things for himself.

Her hair was almost completely dry by the time he finally emerged from her rooms, his hands still on the collar of the outer double-layered kimono. The dark pink and purples complemented the two blue stripes on Gao's cheeks wonderfully and the kimono was a bit too tight around his shoulders, therefore tight against the muscle along his neck and arms.

He seemed so like Sesshomaru's father for a moment that no words came to her and she simply stared into his amber, innocent eyes.

This somewhat alarmed Gao. "Oh I knew it- it was this one that was supposed to go on the outside, wasn't it?"

She snapped her gaze away from his face and smoothed down his collar, "No, that's just right. You forgot the obi though." She took off her own and wrapped it around his waist, tying it deftly into a small loose bow. "There." She took a ribbon from the many folds of her clothing and tied his hair up in a high ponytail as well, then stepped back again. "Ah. So this is what Inuyasha would have looked like had his mother been a full demon." She said quietly. A truly worthy adversary and the spitting image of a much younger InuTaisho.

"It looks alright then?" She nodded.

"I'll have to adjust it around the shoulder of course, like I thought, but otherwise it fits you well. You look…handsome, like Inuyasha's father."

Gao thought for a moment and then his amber eyes changed color, dropping their usual golden hue to something more dull and brassy.

"Ah. That's why you look like you've seen a ghost."Sesshomaru changed the subject. "At any rate, I'll have to go and pick up some more clothes for the both of us, seeing as we now only have two each."His eyes flared back to their normal color.

"Oh? So does that mean you've decided to let me stay after all?" Sesshomaru snorted.

"Only to keep other potential suitors away, you understand. Nothing more."

He nodded but there was a slight grin in the corner of his mouth. "Of course."

And of course there were always moments in the next few weeks where she was sorely tempted to throw him out but one way or another, never seemed to get around to it. When it came to the ins and outs of the demon world his knowledge was basically negligible, and so she'd explain to him every day a little more about the twelve royal families and the way the demonic structure of government worked.

She had ordered him to sleep in the living room as she slept in her own room. But somehow, she felt strangely … lonely.

_It must be that I am missing Rin. _One night he came in and asked politely of course, if he could sleep with her.

She couldn't help but be a little amused at the double meaning underneath it but allowed him in under the threat that she'd tear off his genitals if he tried anything while she was sleeping. He agreed, looking a bit scared and from then on they slept in each other's company, being the first thing they usually saw when they got up and the last before they fell to sleep. His sudden and unexpected gestures off affection made her cringe at first because she wasn't used to them. But as time went on she became used to his nuzzles and nibbles and soon began throwing them back at him as well. Once she even sneaked up on him and scared him so badly his tail puffed out for almost an hour.

She knew that something was seriously wrong with her but had already accepted that she'd gone completely off the edge of restraining herself as far as that went, so she did whatever struck her fancy. Before she knew it three weeks had passed and the night of the new moon was only a day away. He was sitting on the roof of the outpost looking up at the full moon, the tip of his tail hanging off the gutters and twitching. She reached up and tugged it gently, then allowed it to snake around her hand.

"You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here all night."

"Am not." Gao stated automatically and wrapped his tail around her, pulling her up to join him. It was bitterly cold still but his tail was soft and warm so it didn't bother her. "I feel like something's going to happen to me soon. Like I won't be myself anymore." He nodded up to the moon and his breath drifted away from him in silver puffs.

"When the crescent moon disappears."

She put her head on his shoulder. "It will. Your human blood will assert itself and you'll change back into the hanyou. I already told you didn't I?" He swallowed. "Yes. But you didn't tell me if I'd ever be able to see you again." Sesshomaru got very quiet.

There was one thing… One thing they hadn't done that would call Gao back from the depths of hell if need be, and certainly easily through the hanyou. She hadn't said anything and yet Gao suddenly narrowed his eyes,

"There is something isn't there? Some way to make sure I can come back."

She swore on the inside and looked away from him. "Well, yes. But it would not be a temporary thing- It would not be something that can be taken back or removed. You would have it forever, as would I." He turned her head to face him and his yellow eyes glowed softly in the night.

"Tell me."

She told him of the Mark- the way to tattoo a marking onto another demon. How it was a statement of ownership and a promise if the mate was harmed, there would be consequences. How that depending on their rank once it was made, they might be able to communicate over long distances using only thoughts, and their emotions would always be tied to the other. She finished this by saying if another demon tried to mark one that already was mated to a different demon, they would either reject it completely or die. He sat and listened patiently the whole time she was explaining but once she had finished said seriously, "Sesshomaru. I want you to mark me."

"No." She said immediately. "No. Do you not understand what would happen if Inuyasha was found with _**my**_ mark somewhere on his body? Demons would swarm to kill him- he's already second on everyone's hit list." Gao suddenly took Sesshomaru into his arms, hugging so tight it almost hurt. "Then I will turn back into myself and kill them all." He buried his head where her shoulder met her neck and gave her a gentle nip, marring her perfect skin for a half-second before she healed.

She gave a surprised gasp and through a series of kisses he whispered, "I want… to be… yours."

He leaned back a little and touched his forehead to hers.

"I know that you value your freedom over anything, so of course I won't mark you back. That way, you won't be tied down, and I will be able to see you again." He closed his eyes and she said with all seriousness, "You're sure, then." Her stomach way tying itself in knots as she realized both her demon and herself had become attached to Gao. Sincerely. Deeply.

And that if she was to be cut off from him she would be quite saddened by it. _When did that happen? _

And there was another possibility as well, to why she would want him around… Her hand twitched to move but she prevented it from going to her abdomen. But again, she pushed the possibility from her mind, even paired with the fact she had been feeling a bit nauseous these last few mornings. "Of course." His arms were still around her and her shoulders relaxed as she finally gave in. _The likelihood that another demon would discover the mark on Inuyasha was very low since he rarely involves himself with high-ranking demons anymore. Perhaps… this will work out fine._ Now, where was a place Inuyasha wouldn't notice? Anywhere on his front was out of the question…

Ah! Perfect! She knew exactly where to place it.

"Well then. Just try to relax okay? I've heard it's a bit of a jolt." Gao nodded as she gently pulled his head forward and down and exposed the back of his neck after she'd brushed his hair aside. Luckily all demon dogs had quite thick skin at the back of their necks so Sesshomaru didn't have to worry about cutting through anything vital. Her fangs ached as they grew and she paused for a second above him, having second thoughts.

But suddenly the demon within her took away her insecurity and reservations, knowing instinctually that it was a good idea for her to have a mate like this at her beck and call. Her fangs sank in and she felt him stiffen with pain as the blood trickled down either side of his neck.

She split two pads of her fingers open with her teeth and just as the wounds in his neck had almost healed, pressed her fresh blood into them.

He jerked hard underneath her and gasped in surprise and fear as their blood mixed. She felt it too- a connection being formed in the back of her mind, almost like a headache. The blood from the two marks suddenly began to drip in a different direction- it defied gravity and ran back up to the initial wounds, pooling in a crescent-moon pattern and sinking into his caramel skin.

Finally the marks healed completely and all that was left was the crescent moon, deep blue. She ran her claws over it gently and smiled faintly.

_I suppose he's mine now, for better or worse. _He sat up slowly and wrapped one hand over the mark before saying, "For better, I hope."

Her eyes snapped open wide. "What?"

He seemed confused, "Didn't you just say I was yours for better or worse?" She shook her head- so, their bond had manifested in that way after all. "No I didn't- I thought it." He stared at her for a moment too before throwing his head back and laughing, "I suppose from now on you'll have to careful what you think, eh?" She shoved him hard, almost so that he lost his balance on the rooftop._ You're damn right about that._

"Aww. Oh! And I was going to ask you…" He looked off pointedly, "Since the new moon starts tomorrow night… Could we…?"

Sesshomaru finally snapped, "What? Spit it out." He took her face in his hands.

"Could we do what we did the first time we met?" Behind him his tail wagged back and forth hopefully.

At the look on her face he continued, "I mean you have to admit that any consequences that could be had from then have already happened right?" She sighed. That much was true. Not much more damage could be done, at this point. And also, marking him had kind of put her in the mood…

_What do I have to lose at this point, really? I mean, it is sort of…fun. _

He grinned and purred; "Now that's what I want to hear." Gao grabbed her up and carried her back inside the outpost.

* * *

><p>They spent their last day together lounging in Sesshomaru's bed naked except for some pelts. They talked about many things, some stupid and some serious. They groomed each other's hair and fur and Sesshomaru told him stories of her many battles over the years.<p>

When he'd piped up, "Wait, so how old are you then?" She answered coyly, "Old enough to be your mother, to be sure." and he'd stared.

"Your robbing the cradle aren't cha?" _Well, it's your fault. _She fetched her pipe from the desk and allowed him to try it, laughing as he coughed and made a disgusted face.

She let him drink some blood sake- She found out Gao was quite the lightweight and had fallen asleep after only his third cup.

She'd curled up in his arms and fallen asleep listening to his heart thudding under his ribcage.

She wished she could spend every day just as they had.

When she woke up it was almost nightfall and she could smell the change in his blood, the taint of human. She dressed him quickly back in his red fire rat robes, stuck the tenseiga into his belt with her claws and carried him to the wall beside the fireplace, propping him up there as if he'd fallen asleep sitting up. Sesshomaru would have gladly shipped him off to his human village but the fact remained that it was far too cold for a human to survive outside, much let at a high altitude on Ah-Un's back.

Unfortunately her smell would still be on him but luckily the robes were clean and only held his scent.

Besides it wasn't like his human nose could tell the difference. She hoped that by the time he'd changed back into his hanyou form her smell would have faded from his skin completely. She settled down a good four yards from him all the way on the other side of the fireplace and waited, knowing that it was useless by now to try and use her armor to hide her gender.

She'd already tried the iron corset back on earlier and it had actually pressed her boobs up, making them look much bigger.

So instead she settled down with a wolf pelt over her body and waited for Inuyasha to wake up.

* * *

><p>intelligentferretfreak- We all secretly like it when he roughes up the humans, dont we?<p>

katastrifi-there, some smut, just for you XD Happy nao.

bob-does that answer your question? ^^ This wasn't exactly lemon but anyways XD

petpeeves12-*looks into the distance and coughs* not...exactly?

ffwer19- Yea . Hmm. Be gentle with me in the review please.


	4. Chapter 4

Inukezi- combination of ke- classifier for small spheres, pearls, grains etc and zi-small thing, child, seed, egg etc.

Btw- Yes, I am aware that Inupapa's true name is Inu no Taisho. (nods) But I am lazy-what can I say? It could have been worse- I could have spelled it wrong.

Ugh, shortest chapter yet- *hides

* * *

><p>In the end Gao's transformation into the Inuyasha's human form went fairly smoothly. Except for the tail- it sort of sucked back into Inuyasha's spine and by far took much longer than the other changes- the claws retracting, the pointed ears rounding out into human ones, the silver hair changing to black from the roots out. And once Gao's scent had lost every trace of demonic blood Sesshomaru knew his transformation into Inuyasha complete.<p>

Inuyasha startled awake, immediately reaching for and gripping the hilt of his sword. Where the hell was he? He didn't recognize the huge wooden hall and even this close to the roaring fire in the enormous fireplace he was freezing. Also, his back hurt like a mother but he decided to ignore it for the time being. The pelts of demons were out on wooden stands everywhere, every kind he could think of too and it freaked him out a little bit when he realized he couldn't pick up their scent. _What the hell? _He held his hands out in front of him, and then grabbed a strand of hair to make sure. Yep- his usually silvery locks were a dark, dull black.

_Shit! _Also, they were strangely silky.

And just when he thought it couldn't get any worse he saw his arch nemesis, Sesshomaru stretched out in front of the fire like a god-damn cat in the sun. Strangely his brother wasn't wearing his usual armor-actually he wasn't wearing any at all. This was odd for him.

But Inuyasha really didn't give a crap about Sesshomaru's fashion decisions. He had a pup and a sick wife to get home to and now. "Sesshomaru!" He spat venomously and saw his brother jerk a little at the loud noise.

"Yes?" Inuyasha's mouth dropped open as he realized something was very, very different about his brother. He stood up and took a few steps to him in order to confirm his suspicions. Sure enough he could see that the curve in Sesshomaru's hips were too pronounced- that his shoulders were too small, his lips to full and his chest too… big to belong to a man. And yet even as his mouth dropped open Sesshomaru stared at him with cold yellow eyes as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"What in seven hells happened to you? You get cursed or something?"

"I don't see how it's any of your concern."

Inuyasha huffed, "Your damn right it isn't! And you know what, I don't even care why I'm here-even though it appears that you've been playing pretty princesses with my damn hair- because I'm leaving right now!" Sesshomaru yawned and the pink end of his tongue curled up. "See you in five minutes then." His brown eyes narrowed, "What did you say?" Sesshomaru vaguely wondered why everything he said was a threat. "A human body can't last in this cold for more than five minutes. Hence, the comment."

Inuyasha scoffed, "Keh! I'll see about that!" and stomped out the front door, slamming it loudly. Sesshomaru picked his teeth and waited a few minutes before hauling herself to her feet and going out the front door herself. She made sure to close the door to keep the heat in. As much as she disliked Inuyasha having him die was not an option. When she got outside she realized it was also snowing and quickened her pace, using her ultra-sensitive nose to snuff out his trail. To give him credit he'd gotten pretty far from the outpost before dropping to his knees. Shivers racked his body violently and when he spotted Sesshomaru he snapped, "D-don't you touch me!"

She blinked at him and crossed her arms- not saying a word. "I don't expect an ass like you to understand…" His sentence was cut in half by another shudder, "… that I have a sick wife and pup to get home to! I don't have time for this shit!"

She stated blandly, "If you stay out here, you will die. And then your wife will have a dead husband and a fatherless pup to take care of." She indicated the outpost with a flick of her eyes. Inuyasha struggled to his feet, his arms wrapped tightly around himself.

"Sh-shut up." His lips were blue and suddenly he dropped to his knees again in a dead faint into the snow. Sesshomaru sighed and picked him up by the collar of his red fire rat robes, threw him over one shoulder like a sack of meal and carried him back to the outpost.

She laid him out near close to the fire, but not too close- his skin was cold and he needed to be warmed gently otherwise his stupid human body would go into shock. And of course at the moment the only thing in the outpost that could possibly warm him slowly was… Sesshomaru made sure to wrap her tail evenly across his body, slightly disgusted at having been reduced to being his little brother's damn babysitter. Perhaps she would get lucky and the storm would clear by tomorrow morning.

But something in her gut told her that wasn't to be the case. She could feel Inuyasha's body warming between the coils of her tail but it took at least a few hours for it to come back to a normal temperature, and longer than that for his breathing and heart rate. During that time she didn't have much other choice than lounging in front of the fire and drifting between sleeping and wakefulness.

Luckily it was in one of these semi-awake states that she noticed he'd begun to move. Not that he was awake or anything but she loosened her tail just in case, leaving it just within his reach. To her surprise he gave an angry grunt and snatched it back, wrapping his arms around it and placing his head upon it as well, something she wasn't entirely comfortable with. After all just because the tetsusaiga wouldn't work when he was human didn't mean he couldn't do some damage to her tail.

_He certainly seems comfortable. _She thought sarcastically. Maybe in some weird instinctual way he knew that he was irritating Sesshomaru and that was why he was so happy. Come to think of it she'd never actually seen Inuyasha sleep before- not since he was a tiny newborn pup anyways. He'd been cute back then. Sesshomaru glanced back at his younger brother- he'd been too young to remember that one of his first words had in fact been 'Sess'. Back before Sesshomaru had been poisoned while thwarting an assassination attempt on the young Inuyasha by the snake demon tribe and falling into a coma, after which her mother forbid him to see him and ordered guards to watch him around the clock.

She settled back down against the many pelts and just for a moment and indulged in one of the memories from back then. Shortly before the assassination attempt on the pup.

_He'd come to the island to visit Izayoi in her residence, and was padding softly through her small but quaint human accommodations, ignoring the stares and whispers from the other humans as he made his way to her few private rooms. She'd given him permission to come visit whenever he wanted and that was precisely what he meant to do, despite what his mother had said. As he made his way down he heard Inuyasha repeating something insistently and his mother rounded a corner in a soft blue kimono with the chubby half-demon on one hip, trying to sooth him with, "Now now none of that my dear I'm sure he will come to visit us again soon." _

_Suddenly she spotted him and gestured for him to come over. "Ah- Sesshomaru! Thank goodness you have come he's been fussing all morning about you." As soon as he came close she crouched down and let Inuyasha take the few wobbly steps to him, saying softly, "There, Inuyasha- did I not tell you?"_

_ The little hanyou ceased all caterwauling and gave a happy little mewling instead, "Sess…" _

_He reached up and ran his fingers through Sesshomaru's hair, then captured his fingers with one tiny chubby fist._

_ "Sess." He said again as if to confirm it and Sesshomaru gave a tentative smile. "Indeed- more or less." His gaze turned to Izayoi for a moment and he asked, "When did he start saying that?" She thought and tapped her fingers gently against her thigh. "About a month or so I suppose. He really had quite an attachment to you." Sesshomaru gently ran one claw along the edge of his round cheek and Inuyasha giggled. "I hardly know why…" He hadn't been there for the birth or for many months afterwards. In fact had his mother had her way Inuyasha wouldn't know him at all. "I think he likes you for your eyes. After all they are just like his father's." Sesshomaru picked Inuyasha up and let him put his arms around his neck, his face tickling the fur of Sesshomaru's tail. _

_"Hmm. Perhaps." He certainly made a lot of eye contact with his older sibling. The hanyou's soft, rounded puppy ears were slicked back with happiness and he smelled warm and clean._

Suddenly more movement from the half-demon snapped him out of his thoughts and he curled his tail away as Inuyasha sat up, but of course the hanyou saw the tail anyway. "Eh… Oh so you tried to strangle me in my sleep instead of letting me die in the cold huh?" Sesshomaru curled her tail behind her and snorted, watching him as he stood up shakily to put some more distance between Sesshomaru and himself.

"Believe what you want hanyou." He flopped down near the other end of the fireplace, his legs bent and the handle of his sword close to his cheek. Inuyasha let out a snort, "I will! Just stay on that side and shut up so I can pretend I'm not here right now." Sesshomaru nodded, "Very well-" and wrinkled her nose in irritation as Inuyasha added, "So what the hell did you do anyway? Keep me drugged for few weeks?" The female demon looked up at the ceiling and said lowly, "Did I? What is the last thing you remember, Inuyasha?" Inuyasha's grip on his sword tightened so Sesshomaru could see the tendons in his hands clearly.

"Getting attacked by some damn dog demon is what I remember! Probably one of your subordinates!"

Sesshomaru laughed lightly. "Oh? And why would I hire someone to kidnap you?" Inuyasha glared at him and had his demon blood been present, no doubt would have been bristling too.

"Don't fucking mock me. If you're so smart that explain just what the hell I'm doing here."

Sesshomaru met his eyes for a moment then looked out at the many rows of pelts again, finally answering, "Best if you don't know, I think." Inuyasha shifted his weight so his feet were underneath him-they were getting cold- and snarled, "So helpful, as usual. Keh."

His thoughts flitted immediately back to Kagome. _Kagome- I'll be home soon. Dammit, please be alright. And of course the little runt too- Inukezi. _"Once I get back to my normal form I'm gonna beat an answer out of you." He snarled, pressing himself moodily against the rock wall of the fireplace like an angered child.

Sesshomaru lifted one eyebrow and then let it fall back into place. "We'll see."

A rattle from Inuyasha's sword informed him that the half-demon's human body was still cold. "You make take one of the pelts if you-"

"I'm fine." Inuyasha snapped and scooted a bit closer to the flames but not by much. There was silence between them, broken in places by the snapping and popping of the wood in the fire. "Your miko- what's wrong with her." Sesshomaru asked and stretched her arms before curling up again. "None of your-"

"I'm well aware that you and she have already produced a son. Is she sick with the sickness that comes from carrying a child?"

Inuyasha flinched and glared at Sesshomaru. His expression in itself told Sesshomaru the answer more clearly than words ever could.

"I see." She nodded to herself. "Of course it would be hard on her- the demonic aura that comes with the demon dog blood." _Her body must be trying to purify the fetus. _She finished in the privacy of her own head. _How unfortunate. But then it is just Inuyasha's luck to fall for a human with purification powers. _Inuyasha's chocolate brown eyes clouded and he snorted, "Yeah. Ain't that always the story- blood too damn weak to protect myself with but strong enough to make her sick as a dog." He closed his eyes and let out an angry huff of air through his nose. Sesshomaru lay down on her back and crossed her arms over her middle.

"Hm. However if your blood was not mixed she would have already perished from your many misadventures, would she not."

Inuyasha blinked in surprise at his words. For whatever reason at this particular moment Sesshomaru wasn't feeling well. She wasn't sure exactly when it had started in this conversation with Inuyasha but it was certainly settled in now, like her stomach was toying with the idea of spilling its contents.

"What of that old human priestess? She cannot find the adequate herbs for her?"

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose. "She said the ones that work best are too far away to be gathered and processed in time. And since when do you care about anyone but yourself?" She closed her eyes and took a long slow breath, hoping that would clear the feeling away. It didn't. "I do not care about what ails your precious miko- I was merely trying to make conversation." She heard another clinking sound as Inuyasha attempted to stifle the vibration of another shiver through the scabbard of his sword.

She sighed and got to her feet with an irritated snarl, "I did not haul you back in here so you could perish feet from a roaring fire-"and suddenly stumbled and would have fell if not for one clawed hand snapping out and grabbing one of the wooden stands. She realized she had almost no energy- like it'd just disappeared. _Poof. Ah… I really do not feel well… At all… _

She heard Inuyasha's incredulous, "What the hell? You drunk or something?" He knew better than to say 'sick', since powerful yokai like Sesshomaru did not become sick unless they were severely poisoned. _Or for demonesses, carrying pups. _Inuyasha thought to himself. But he wasn't worried about that on Sesshomaru's account. _What kind of sick twisted person would bed him/her? Unless they liked being physically and emotionally hurt._

She straightened and growled, "Utterly wasted. I'm going to my room. Try not to perish." Before chucking a pelt at him and making her way across the hall gingerly, being careful to keep at least one hand on something stable in case she fell again.

"Since when do you sleep?" Her half brother piped up.

"Since… shut up."She didn't feel like explaining anything to him. Once inside her room she didn't bother shutting the door- it wasn't as if Inuyasha couldn't resist her or something- and flopped down into the bed which still held Gao's scent.

As she did she realized when his sense of smell came back the evidence of what transpired between them would be all but plastered in the air, the pelts, everything. She needed to get him out of here before his demon blood came back. Her eyebrows met and she curled her tail over herself with a tiny noiseless whimper. But right now she would sleep and pray that the storm passed, along with this sickness.

_Of course, if he was wrapped up in my tail traveling the distance would be no problem. _A voice within Sesshomaru's head piped up, _Yeah- good luck with that. Got any sedatives? _She sighed and burrowed into her fur. _Tomorrow, I shall deal with all of this… _

* * *

><p>Sesshomaru slept for a good seven hours before returning to the main hall. Luckily for now the sickness seemed to have passed and she was glad for that- she wouldn't be able to take Inuyasha out of the outpost if she was that sick.<p>

When she got there Inuyasha was awake and she was greeted with an immediate glare from the chocolate human eyes. However she could tell that he'd gotten some sleep- there were no bags under his eyes and he looked as alert as ever.

"Oi, you weren't really sleeping that entire time were you?" She smoothed a few strands of hair and ignored the question.

"Your human body requires three meals a day, yes?"

He huffed, "I'll be fine. What're you gonna do, cook for me now? And what's up with this damn babysitting act anyways?"

Sesshomaru's tail bristled. "Hardly. And if I killed you it'd be another blow to the demon dog tribes already shattered reputation." Inuyasha scoffed, "Oh, so all those attempts before were just play or something?" and suddenly Sesshomaru growled lowly and the stripes on her teeth turned jagged. "Be silent. Or I will spill your tainted blood all over the floors." Her half-brother glared but said nothing more and a tiny part of him admitted it probably wasn't the best idea to rile Sesshomaru up. She left through the front door and a strong clear wind played with the long strands of her hair. It was still snowing of course, but lightly. Almost perfect travelling weather.

Miraculously the terrible storm seemed to have evaporated overnight.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the weak sunlight, the crisp coldness that cleared away her tangles feelings and thoughts. _Kagura. _Even after all these years her memory still stayed with her. Once in a dream he'd thought she'd come to visit him, wearing her same purple and white kimono and taking his clawed hand in her own, smiling, _"It… is so beautiful where I am, Sesshomaru."_

The tessaiga at her hip rattled as if in apology and she placed her hand on it until it stilled. _Had circumstances been different… Had I not been who I was, or had she not been an incarnation of Naraku…_She came back a half-turn later with two freshly killed rabbits in hand.

"Here. Eat." He chucked the two dead animals at Inuyasha and he yelped, "What the hell? I can't eat these raw! I'm not an animal!" and Sesshomaru pinched the skin between her eyes. _Damn these humans and their needs._

"There is plenty of cooking equipment in the kitchen." Inuyasha stood, holding the rabbits at arm's-length as if they were diseased. "Well if I knew where the kitchen was-"Sesshomaru pointed and Inuyasha's eyes followed to where there was clearly a menagerie of pots, pans, a cauldron and wood and metal spoons. "Oh. Well what about water?" Somehow Inuyasha was giving him a headache.

"And what would you need water for?"

Inuyasha moved both the rabbits to one hand and gestured wildly, "_**Because**_- that's the easiest way to cook a pair of conies is boil them! Don't you know anything?" and stomped over to the kitchen, grumbling something about, "…pure-blooded yokai…can't even cook worth…" Sesshomaru leaned against the wall and casually commented, "I'd thought you'd be in a better mood considering I'll be taking you home after you finish eating."

Inuyasha paused, his hands full and raised an eyebrow, "But it's still snowing. It's too cold for me to be out for more than a few hours." Sesshomaru indicated the fur over his shoulder and Inuyasha looked confused, obviously not understanding what he was trying to imply. "Uh…"

And then it hit him.

"Oh HELL no! You are not getting anywhere near me with that fuzzy death-boa! I've been flung by that thing enough to-"

Sesshomaru poked him with a claw, "You want to go home, and I'm growing tired of your company as well. And so." Inuyasha flinched, "Don't touch me." turning around and picking up one of the knives to skin and gut the two rabbits. Sesshomaru chuckled. "Oh, so if I threaten her during a fight you find enough strength to shatter my armor, yet you won't brave the coils of my tail even if you've been kidnapped and subjected to-"

"Alright fine. But you make one wrong move and I will…" He paused as he looked down at the currently useless tetsusaiga and finished angrily, "…give you the worst paper cut you've ever received." Sesshomaru nodded, a little amused herself at her brother's last comment. Of course she didn't let it show on her face. She went and packed her things, the clothes and letters and rolls of spare parchment.

She packed everything away on Ah-Un, who seemed unaffected by his complete transformation and rubbed the dragon's ears.

"Are you ready to go back to the Palace? I shall request the stableman who took care of you before." Ah-Un growled agreeably and Sesshomaru secured the saddle underneath him, making sure he was ready for the long flight. As she was fiddling along the bottom of the saddlebags her claws bumped into something squishy and cloth-like that wasn't the silk roll she'd packed.

Curious, she retrieved it and opened the door to Ah-Un's stable in order to see it clearly. _Oh. I thought I'd lost this years ago. _She gave it a little squeeze between her claws, enjoying the way the dried beans inside the ball moved around.

It was a small plaything her father had given him quite a while ago. _Heheh. _She lost herself in the amusement that was squishing the tiny thing and watching it reshape itself. If she remembered right Izayoi had given one to Inuyasha too- a smaller blue one.

But, it had probably been lost along the passage of his tumultuous life. Realizing she was having entirely too much fun she put it back in the saddlebags and took out her bag of dried and bottled herbs instead. It had struck her as Inuyasha had told her of Kagome's illness that she might have an already-prepared concoction of the very thing she needed. It was a moss that actually grew not far from here and in addition to its qualities of soothing a troublesome pregnancy it also was good for foot pain, which was what Sesshomaru mainly used it for. She sniffed out the many wood containers until she found the one she was looking for and slipped it between her kimono.

She didn't know why she intended to deliver this to the miko. Other than the fact that Inuyasha did bear her mark now, so his anxiety might transfer to her. But what she did know was that if she thought about it too much she'd 'accidentally' forget to give it to her.

By the time Sesshomaru came back inside Inuyasha had almost finished the soup and was scraping the last remnants from the bottom of his bowl. With his tongue. "I thought you said you weren't an animal." Sesshomaru said flatly as Inuyasha lapped up the brew and wiped his arm on his sleeve. "Keh- I'll bet I have better table manners than you! Not that I've ever seen you eat…" He straightened up, leaving the bowl next to the fire which by now had ebbed down to very small flames. "We ready to go or what?" The dog demon nodded and flicked her hair. "Indeed." The hanyou ventured, "So uh, how exactly did you want to…"

"Like so." She answered and her tail flashed forward to wrap around his body and carry him through the door as Sesshomaru made her way out. Inuyasha started thrashing around, his feet dangling tantalizingly close to the ground.

"Hey! Put me down! I'll bite you!"

Sesshomaru settled down into Ah-Un's saddle, "I'm shaking. Besides this is what you agreed to." _So deal with it. .._and plopped Inuyasha down behind her. The more he struggled the more coils she threw around him until he was nothing but a big ball of fluff, with arms and a head sticking out at the top. "Plech! Yeech! I think I swallowed some…" He coughed for a minute and decided in fact that his bare hands were much warmer between the folds of Sesshomaru's tail.

"I'm sure you did." Sesshomaru said dryly.

"Hey, how long is it gonna take to get back to my village anyways?" She answered wryly, "Four days at least, depending on the weather."She met the hanyou's eyes. "However, if you think I'm some kind of shuttle service think again. I shall drop you off outside of the Foo-Dog Palace. You should be back in your normal form by then."Inuyasha snorted.

"Your damn right I will be. And maybe then you'll be so kind as to tell me what I've been doing for almost a month trapped with you in that outpost." _It's __**really**__ better if you don't know… _Sesshomaru thought and didn't answer.

Inuyasha realized he was freezing again, "Not very talkative eh? Works for me." and despite every instinct he ducked down into the folds of Sesshomaru's tail, curling up into a ball. Thank goodness his nose wasn't working; otherwise he knew he'd probably throw up from being drenched in Sesshomaru's smell. He kept one of them slightly open so he could breathe and also so he knew where they were flying over- even thought the snow was pretty much blocking his view. As it turned out it was pretty much the best mode of transportation he could think of as his tiny space soon became toasty warm and Sesshomaru's tail didn't move much, so sometimes he could even forget he was trapped within the coils. He still didn't sleep though and never placed his sword out of his reach.

Sesshomaru was uncomfortable with Inuyasha's presence and therefore did not sleep either. A half day passed before Inuyasha noticed they were lowering their altitude and sighed with relief inwardly- he had to pee like a racehorse.

"Oi. Why are we stopping." He poked Sesshomaru in the back of the head with his sword and Sesshomaru growled, "Because I know of a hot spring near here and wish to bathe. And your delicate human body probably wishes to relieve itself, yes?"

Inuyasha snorted and answered, "I. Ain't. Delicate." emphasizing each word with another poke to Sesshomaru's locks.

The ball of tails around him squeezed and temporarily cut off his air in warning. "Do not touch my hair again, or you will suffer a most painful death." Ah-Un touched down and Sesshomaru's tail released its grip on Inuyasha. When it did he breathed a sigh of relief- the air was warmer already, even though they were close to the ocean. He wouldn't need to be wrapped up in that damn death trap that his stupid sibling called a tail for much longer. Speaking of which Sesshomaru had immediately gathered it up and flopped it over one shoulder and was now heading away from Inuyasha and down a slope. "Looks like I won't be needing your tail."She flicked her hair.

"Hm. Perhaps. Still I doubt you'd be able to get far without my protection- " She inclined her head and suddenly he was aware of a symphony of demon roars coming from the scant woods. "I will meet you back at Ah-Un in a half-turn. Try not to get eaten."

She padded her way down to the springs, stripped and bathed, then returned while still wringing the water out of her hair.

Inuyasha and Ah-Un had apparently bonded while she was gone- the dragon had his long body curled around Inuyasha's black-haired human body and one of his heads was lying over his naked feet, keeping them warm. When he heard Sesshomaru approach his eyes snapped open and he announced, "Before we go, I'm going to take a bath too. If you leave without me I will-" Sesshomaru waved her claws, "Yes yes insert favorite threat here now just go would you?" and settled down just where he'd been leaning against the dragon. Ah-Un raised one of its head's and nuzzled along its master's shoulder before relaxing again and Inuyasha stormed off. _Excellent._

Her plan of course lame as it was, was that perhaps Inuyasha would figure that he didn't want to be smothered in the scent of her tail and so would take at least one bath on the way over- thus erasing the smell of… well…_but it wasn't as if Inuyasha and I actually mated-... I mean, Gao's blood is a different color! _

A voice inside her head sneered, _Oh really? Well guess what- half of Gao's blood is still from InuTaisho isn't it. So technically he's like a half brother too. …iiinceeest…._

Sesshomaru's grip tightened on the swords at her hip. _It was not! Just shut up whoever you are. And besides that, it isn't unheard of in the demon dog world to mate with siblings… or cousins… As long as they have a different mother or father than the other._

Still, her tail was bristling and a shiver had begun to run up her spine. Had she- technically speaking… done it …_with Inuyasha?_

As Inuyasha bathed he heard an odd, high pitched scream but since he assumed it wasn't Sesshomaru, he turned back around and submerged himself deeper into the steaming water.

"No! This cannot be…!" She howled and Ah-Un stared at her like she'd gone insane. "Ahh! Ah-Un, why didn't you tell me- Oh that damn Lao when I catch him I am going to murder him- I will get him dismembered by horses! I will-" She went on for several minutes until it occurred to her she did in fact have his location. _Ohoho someone's going to be getting one angry letter in their mail- _

She paced back and forth, fuming. Though, this was probably a more desirable outcome than her being paired with Lao, considering she'd found him annoyingly weak since childhood. Perhaps it wasn't entirely his fault… Now it occurred to her how foolish it had been to allow Gao to… Why hadn't she made the connection? It was pretty obvious….

Why had it taken her this long? She wasn't normally this slow.

But it must have been the stupid heat clouding her judgment per usual, making it somehow both okay and desirable for her to bed someone who had the same father as she. She thumped down next to Ah-Un's side again, defeated.

At any rate she couldn't take back what had happened. And somehow it didn't seem right to blame Gao either, though Sesshomaru was in desperate need of someone to blame other than himself. Gao was a lot like Rin in a way- learned in some things but totally ignorant in others. As she thought of Rin she was surprised at the sudden bad feeling that bloomed in her chest and stuck there like a cloud.

_I miss her. _She missed her more than when she'd been gone for those six years because the memory of her was still fresh in his mind.

_Rin. My dear Rin. _She was sure Rin was being well looked after but still. Jaken was another case entirely. When she got back she'd make sure to give him a good kick, just to show how much she cared. _He's probably going to have a heart attack when he sees I've turned female. I suppose everyone will have to start referring to me as 'Lady' now, as well._ When Inuyasha came back Sesshomaru was already in the saddle. But the tip of her tail was thrashing and so he knew she was pissed off.

"Something got your knickers in a knot?"

Sesshomaru growled, "Again, not any of your business. We shall stop again soon to get you more food." She wrapped her tail back around him and sighed dramatically.

"You humans and your constant need for food_. I_ can survive on one large meal for a half-_year_."

Inuyasha sneered, "Well isn't that just peachy. At least I don't turn into a damn forty-foot rabid dog when I get hungry!" before flopping down into the folds of Sesshomaru's tail again.

"Keh." Sesshomaru muttered under her breath, making sure it was so quiet Inuyasha didn't hear.

As two passed the air got warmer and so Inuyasha no longer needed the protection of the tail, sitting as far from Sesshomaru on Ah-Un without falling off. Sesshomaru could tell Inuyasha was applying all of his small brain power to the task of trying to figure out why he'd been kidnapped by one demon and ended up in Sesshomau's presence. But even if he did stumble across something close to the truth she was sure he'd immediately dismiss it because… Well, it was too disturbing to think about.

It was almost evening now and the last bit of pinkish-purple sky was beginning to disappear. Inuyasha was tired but he refused to sleep in Sesshomaru's presence so he suppressed it even at Sesshomaru's prodding. She'd been turned away from him for a while and he'd noticed something rather odd. It was almost like she was nodding off; her head kept lolling forward and just as she was about to hit Ah-Un's neck she would snap awake again and shake her head.

Also even with these ridiculously weak human eyes he could see a bit of sweat on her skin.

_What the hell is wrong with her? Maybe she was cursed. _Or worse yet, maybe was on like some demon-period or something.

That thought made him shudder. _Oh God no. _He was just reaching out to poke her in the back of the head with the hilt of the tetsusaiga when she suddenly dipped to one side and slid out of the saddle entirely.

"Eh?" For some reason his arm lashed out and grabbed the collar of her kimono, preventing her from plummeting to the ground several hundred feet below. _Damn she's heavy! _He snarled as he threw his weight backward to pull her up in the saddle.

Ah-Un was shifting his weight to help Inuyasha and soon enough the two of them had Sesshomaru safely on the dragon's back, though still unconscious. "Dragon, we'd probably better lower our…oh." Ah-Un had already dropped almost to the tree line and a few seconds later had touched down. Ah-Un's two necks were twisted as he craned back to look at his master, making a worried growling noise. "Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha barked angrily, giving her a little shake. She was as limp and pale as Kagome had been the last time he'd seen her… In fact, Sesshomaru was worse. _Although she's so damn white it's hard for me to tell if she's gotten any paler… _Using his last resort option and secretly fulfilling a long-awaited desire Inuyasha bitch-slapped Sesshomaru across the face. Her yellow eyes fluttered open and she touched her cheek with amazement, still feeling the sting. It didn't really hurt or anything but still….

"Did you just… slap me?" Inuyasha turned his head to one side. "Of course not! I just wanted to wake you up so you can get me back to my damn family." The great lord Sesshomaru, heir to the Western Lands, had just been bitch-slapped across the face by his hanyou brother? Well there was only one way to redeem herself. Sesshomaru pimp-slapped Inuyasha before crawling back into Ah-Un's saddle. "What the hell was that for?" She snatched him up with her tail and slammed him down in the saddle before taking off again.

"No reason. I just…wanted to make sure you were awake." She ended the sentence with a pointed stare and he added, "No offence, but you look terrible." She curled her lip. "No offence, but your human form makes me want to vomit from the stench."

Inuyasha growled, "Well excuse me for noticing! What the hell is wrong with you anyway? You pregnant or something?"

Inwardly he shuddered at the thought and was relieved when Sesshomaru snapped back, "Of course not." Still it was sort of fun to tease her about it considering he had nothing else to do. He sat with his knees out on either side perfectly balanced and leered, "I'll bet you are. I'll bet that Lao guy was your mate and you two made passionate love for the two weeks I was unconscious and you made him attack me because-"

He thought about it for a minute, "Because you just like messing with my head. And taking me away from my family gives you warm fuzzies."

_Warm fuzzies? _Sesshomaru cleared his throat, "First of all, Lao's actions were entirely his own. Secondly he is most certainly not my mate because he is slightly below royal rank-you must have seen the red tinge in his fur- and he disgusts me. And thirdly though messing with you head does give me 'warm fuzzies', you tracked me down to the outpost yourself."

Inuyasha glared at him. "I did not."

"You did."

"Didn't."

"Did."

"And why the hell would I do that?"Sesshomaru realized that now would be a good time to shut up before he revealed too much and she did just that, flicking her hair to indicate this was the end of the conversation.

Inuyasha slumped back in the seat, "Keh. Figures you'd clam up." He continued to nag until finally Sesshomaru was forced to hang him upside-down by the tip of her tail until his face turned red and was seconds from passing out. Once he'd quieted down she plopped him back down behind her. The rest of the journey was made in silence and when they finally reached the Palace almost before Ah-Un had touched down Inuyasha had jumped off. His hair was just beginning to gain back its silver hue, as the light of the morning began to brighten the sky. He paused just as he was turning to sprint off and snarled,

"You know what I hate most about you? You always blame me for being an ignorant hanyou- but you never tell me anything. So how the hell am I supposed to _**learn**?_"

He scampered off in the general direction of his human village and Sesshomaru approached the West gate, completely unmoved by his words. It was the closest to his rooms but the best part was there was a secret corridor just next to the gate that led directly to them- for when he didn't wish to be disturbed by anyone.

_See? This was back when your thought process still worked. Such a long time ago… _Sesshomaru told herself to shut up and snuck in through the corridor, making it in record time to her own rooms. This way at least for a time she could rest and be in a fairly safe location unnoticed without anyone addressing the obvious fact that he was in fact a she now, and having to deal with his mothers 'I told you so' speech. No doubt she would thoroughly enjoy herself. _At least she hasn't changed my bedding again._

_She _went to her front door and knocked gently, knowing that no doubt their was still a guard outside. Sure enough she heard the shuffle of footsteps outside and a voice inquire with surprise, "My Lord, you are back. Is there something you require?"

It was Lihai. Being sure not to let the gaurd catch more of a view than her arm and a tiny slit of her body she handed the wooden container of medicine to him and said quietly, "Send this to the human village just beyond the North gate- to a human woman named Kaede." The horse-demon took the container from her, his eyebrows furrowing at the slightly smaller hand and odd tone to his Lord's voice. Was he sick? "My Lord-"

She shut the door to end the conversation and waited until she heard his boots stomping away before relaxing again.

She thehn got out of her many layers of kimono as fast as she could, peeling off her shoes and throwing the thick demon-down blankets over her head. _I suppose I shall have to make an appearance tomorrow. _That is if her stomach allowed it.

And the fainting didn't kick in again.

As she thought more about the little episode she realized that Inuyasha had probably prevented her from falling to a very painful stop- because they had been quite high when she blacked out, and quite low when she came to again.

_Of all the things that have happened today,_ she thought, _that by far is the most… odd._

* * *

><p>katastrifi- haha thanks XD<p>

ffwer19- i dont have to ask for mercy this time ^^

petpeeves12-yep, basically. The cousin? Eh, maybe. I think Inukimi does too for that matter.

Bob- yeah, I know she does. Ill write that in if I remember XD

Pinkyni21-aww thank you!*blushes yeah, i tried to be original. . I will


	5. Chapter 5

As Kaede woke up and shuffled outside, glad for the sun as it helped her joints she noticed a red-tailed hawk perched on the wooden slats of her home.

The animal noticed her too and squawked, tearing a tiny wood container from its left leg and dropping it just at her feet before flying off in a general southern direction. She didn't recognize the bird so of course was very suspicious of it and didn't bother picking it up for a half-turn. When she was sure it wasn't some kind of firecracker she brought it into her hut and just barely rotated off the top part of the container to catch a bit of its scent. When she did she blinked and opened it completely in surprise, sitting down next to the fire pit with her legs folded and her eyebrows narrowed.

_Who…? _Of course it had traces of demon blood in it so it had obviously been used by a full-blood yokai before being delivered here. But those were easily enough to purify- and this was just the crushed, powdered and liquefied moss herb that Kagome needed. Luckily the miko's home wasn't far from her own and so after wrapping the container in purification sutras and setting it by the fire she went off to go see the girl.

Once Kagome was settled back at Kaede's hut, her son Inukezi at her side Kaede sat down to tell her the good news. Kagome didn't look well- she was pale and a bit out of breath even from such a short walk. She patted her son's black hair and he stared up at her with green-gold eyes. Kaede picked up the container and handed it to the younger priestess first though and asked, "Did you happen to have someone deliver this medicine to me?"

Kagome looked confused and rolled the container over in her hands. "No, why?"

Kaede explained, "Because it was dropped off by some powerful demon- have you done a demon a favor lately? This is the moss I was telling you about." She shook her head and her ebony tresses bounced around. "No- not recently. In fact all Inuyasha's been doing of late is keeping the demons in the forest away from Inukezi." Her hand tightened around the boy's smaller one, being careful of his claws. His eyes and claw-tipped hands were the only indication he was anything more than human. Kaede nodded. "I see. Well than the gods must have smiled upon you today- you should go home and have a few sips of that every few hours, and if all goes well your sickness will have eased in a few days."

Her eyes lit up and she reached across to hug the old woman with the container held tightly against her chest. "Really? Oh thank you!" She led her son out of the hut with a few more enthusiastic thank-you's and went home, wondering if somehow Inuyasha had managed to send this to her from the demons.

* * *

><p>Inuyasha returned very early the next morning with his face and hands streaked with dirt and red markings from where branches had slapped him in his haste to arrive. Kagome and Inukezi were both sleeping soundly but she woke and met him outside their hut, pulling away the thin intertwined reeds that made a flexible door. He smiled a bit and but his dog ears were slicked back from shame- he knew she most have been worrying herself sick… well, sicker. "Hey Kagome." He tried tentatively, wondering if he was going to get a 'sit'. The beads of subjugation had been a part of the reason why she agreed to marry him in the first place. "Inuyasha!" She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders to pull him close and he stiffened a bit- he wasn't going to get it after all...? But apparently for now he wasn't so he relaxed and returned the hug. It was sort of hard to get close to her with her belly as big as it was now, though, but he didn't mind. For some reason in this light she was looking better. She had more color in her cheeks and the fire had come back into her eyes as she dragged him to one side of their hut with an excited,<p>

"Here, before you even tell me what happened I have to show you something."

She took his claws hands and placed them on her belly and his ears flicked up, "Kagome-" then flicked in surprise as he felt movement underneath her kimono. The blush on her face deepened and she murmured, "It's wonderful, isn't it? He's almost as strong as Inukezi was, now. Kaede received the medicine for me from someone." He took his hands away and gave her belly a few pats before letting them fall at his sides and a blush seared across his own face for a minute. It was strange that even after one child he still got a bit… choked up at these sorts of things.

"Yeah… Wait, someone?" His brain suddenly finished processing her words.

"Who?" Kagome brought a hand to her chin, "Kaede didn't know." His ears were back again, wary and she squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, "Inuyasha, its fine-"

"Do you have the container with you?" She frowned angrily at him and fished it out of her robes with a flourish, slamming it into his chest. "Here! Honestly, I prove to you that our baby's fine and the first thing you do is go on some detective case!"

He barked, "Well excuuuse me for actually being worried about you and the pup! Don't drink any more of that crap okay? It's probably poisoned!"

She stomped her foot, "And how many times do I have to tell you it's not a 'pup' it's a 'baby'! Get it right!"

He crossed his arms and looked away from her haughtily, "That's what my mom called me and that's what you're gonna call the damn wriggler too!"

"Oh really…?" She smiled at him evilly. _Uh-oh. _He braced himself for the inevitable.

"Sit!" She went back inside and when Inukezi asked, "Momma, why did you sit dad?" She threw the blankets over her head and muttered, "Because …He's being a silly, overprotective father." Inuyasha pulled himself out of the hole in the ground he'd made, which was quite deep since he's been sat so many times in that exact spot and sniffed at the container, holding it with his claws. Then his nose wrinkled in disgust and his ears slicked down angrily. There was no mistaking that scent, even under Kagome and Kaede's.

_Sesshomaru. What the hell does that damn he-she think it's doing? _He sprinted off to Kaede's hut to tell her the news.

He was less than thrilled at her completely neutral reaction. "Well I hate to break it to yeh Inuyasha but I examined that medicine thoroughly myself and it wasn't poisoned." He put his hands on either side of his head, "Not poisoned! Had everyone gone stark-raving mad around here! Well if it wasn't poisoned I'll bet it was filled with acid or something." Kaede stoked her fire with a sigh. "Ye really think I would give anything to Kagome that wasn't safe Inuyasha? And I'm sure by now she's shown you the good results yourself." He crossed his legs and threw himself down by the fire, refusing to admit that he knew the old woman couldn't be manipulated. She wasn't a sprinter anymore but she'd definitely not lost her abilities to detect poisons.

"Well why the hell would she help Kagome? Why the hell would she help us at all?" Kaede shrugged. "Why don't you ask her?" Inuyasha laughed out loud. "You think she'd tell me anything? Lemme tell you a story-"He recounted everything he remembered since he'd woken up in that stupid outpost as a human with Sesshomaru. She waited patiently until the tale was told and as he rolled over with his arms crossed she offered,

"Indeed. Your brother hasn't ever been the wavering type but some people, and demons… have the capacity to change if they want to. If they're not too far gone." Inuyasha snorted. "M-hmm. Sure, you think that, and I'll… track her down and force her to tell me everything."

He flicked his swath of silver-white hair and for a moment Kaede thought she saw a crescent moon tattooed at the base of his neck.

"You know, some things are best left unlearned." She said quietly and continued to stoke the fire as the half demon drummed out a pattern on his knee with his claws. "Keh-when did not knowing something ever get me anywhere? I didn't know the stupid humans would gang up on me as soon as my mother kicked the bucket did I?" He played with the handle and grip of his sword, sliding it in and out if the sheath with soft 'clicks' each time.

"Whoever thought ignorance is good is a god-damn dead fool." He stayed in her hut until he was sure Kagome was either asleep or less mad at him than before and then left. He snuck tentatively back into her bed once he'd reached the hut and she snuggled up into him with a whispered, "I'm still a bit mad you know." He sighed. "Yeah, I figured." As she came close to him he could feel the curve of her belly and again, that strange restlessness just under her skin. "But I'm happier about the … puppy than I am mad at you." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow but then lowered it, deciding to let the argument slide, "…Keh." and wrapped an arm around her waist. As much as he hated to admit it the arrival of that medicine was a blessing to his entire family.

He had Kagome's health back and the health of the pup and Inukezi and when it came right down to it, that was all that really mattered to him.

* * *

><p>Sesshomaru didn't bother rising the next morning. The sickness was back tenfold this morning, clouding her head and making the floors of her rooms sway as if she were on some kind of boat. She groaned and fussed around until her sheets had been turned into a giant nest of blankets, threw her tail over herself and attempted to go back to sleep. She would have too if it hadn't been for the sudden urge to empty her stomach of all its contents.<p>

It was only after she'd done so and sat dry-heaving amongst the bamboo stalks for a few moments when she realized her body might be trying to tell her something.

Maybe. But instead of addressing the issue at hand she walked as dignified as she could to the bathroom, washed her face in the basin and went back to bed. And that of course, was when she heard the knock at the door.

Sesshomaru groaned, "Go away…" under her breath but of course another few light, businesslike taps after told her the person outside didn't intend to. She stumbled out of bed and went through the process of dressing as slowly as possible with her stomach still churning. In fact she hadn't even combed her hair or groom, her tail yet- it slid smoothly across the slick tiled floor behind her. She opened the door just a crack to see Tiao-Wen stroking his white-striped tail nervously. He seemed to perk up at seeing his 'lord's face and somehow this only irritated Sesshomaru further.

"My lord, shall I tell Inukimi you're…" He paused and took another sniff and his eyes widened in realization. "M…my lord?" Sesshomaru swore softly and yanked the guard inside. She'd been so sick she'd forgotten to keep her face hidden. She hissed in warning, "You must tell no one of this until I permit you to, Tiao-Wen." She paused when she realized he was just staring at her like a retarded fish, mouth agape.

"What…how-how did…" The poor dog demon put his hands on either side of his head, the sword at his side forgotten, and was obviously close to panicking. "What _happened_ to you?"

"Be quiet!" She snarled and her fur puffed out on the floors. Tiao-Wen's own tail curled up behind him and he muttered an apology, his eyes still scanning along Sesshomaru's obviously female body. "But…but …" Sesshomaru sighed- at the moment she couldn't think of anyone worse finding out about her little 'condition'. She should have never opened the door. Though knowing Tiao-Wen, he would have stood at the door long enough to catch her scent anyways. "Get a hold of yourself." She ordered, and he took a deep breath and let his hands relax back at his sides, his face still a mix of curiosity and disgust.

And unfortunately, a blush that indicated some part of the dog demon was pleased by what he saw.

She indicated the desk chair and gave him a wide berth as he sat down. "Sit. It's obvious you won't believe what your eyes and nose are telling you until you hear the unfortunate tale for yourself. As long as you obey me, I will tell you what happened." Tiao-Wen almost seemed a bit amused by that.

"I am bound to serve you either way, my… Lady." She drew her sword and had its blade at his neck before he could draw another breath. The dog-demon looked at her reproachfully; his hand was on the hilt of his sword but did not draw it of course. "There was no offence meant, but… it is what you should be referred to as now." Sesshomaru ignored how maddened the title had made her.

"Give me your word. This will not leave my rooms until I deem it the correct time."

He nodded. "Of course." And after she'd gathered her wits she sheathed her sword and began, ignoring the constant nagging wooziness in her head. She was about halfway through the story when the sickness came back full force. She stopped talking and put a hand to her head. _Damn it all… Will there be no end to my weaknesses… _Tiao-Wen had been sitting patiently when all of the sudden Sesshomaru's face had gone pale-well, paler than usual, so much so he could see the delicate blue veins in her neck and temples.

He stood up as she swayed and she snarled, "Do not touch me-!" and her claws cut across his chin leaving three thin blue cuts. Just as he drew back he saw her yellow eyes roll back in her head and her body dropped- luckily he was so close otherwise she may had cracked her head on the expensive tiles lining the floors. For a moment Tiao-Wen could do nothing but process the insanity of the situation. The fact that his master had been forced into this female form- the fact that she'd obviously contracted some kind of disease while staying at the outpost but most of all the strangely vulnerable look unconsciousness gave her. As a rule Sesshomaru never let others observe him when he was asleep. And since he almost never slept this usually wasn't a problem. The first thing that came to Tiao-Wen's mind was to carry her to the physician, but then realized that would be a very bad idea.

He'd have to call both the physician and maybe a few chamber maids too. Or... Maybe just one. He put Sesshomaru down on her bed and left to fetch the physician himself. Surely… Sesshomaru would not protest that since it was obvious she needed some kind of medicine for the illness.

He'd never seen his master so… weak. And she'd been light in his arms too… was she even eating? Sesshomaru was notorious for waiting obscenely long amounts of time before gorging himself instead of eating often like most other demons- no doubt once again trying to master mind over body. He glanced back once more at Sesshomaru. _Obviously this time, her body is winning._ Then shut the doors to the Lord's chambers, giving a nod to Lihai who had come to take his post and explaining, "Lord Sesshomaru isn't feeling well. He's sent me to fetch the physician."

Lihai snorted. "It's about time something made him seem the same level as us." _If only you knew… _Tiao-Wen thought and was sincerely glad that the horse-demon only had a fair sense of smell before he cleared off towards the inner courts.

A half-turn later Sesshomaru woke up surrounded. Her hand flashed to the hilt of her sword tessuaiga and in the half-second before she slashed all her company to bits the snake-demon physician snapped, "Sesshomaru. No one here wishes to harm you." and gently lowered the blade with the slightly-scaled pads of his fingers. The red in Sesshomaru's eyes faded and the striped on his cheeks thinned back to normal.

The snake demons name was Tian, and Inukimi had taken the black mamba demon from his clan when he was very young to be raised within the palace.

It hadn't been an act of cruelty though- in fact the clan had already been almost completely decimated by constant raids from other snake tribes due to fear. It had been the closest thing to an act of kindness Sesshomaru had seen out of his mother. _But of course even her acts of kindness are thoroughly calculated, not given out on any whim. _Because now she had one of the few snake demons whose venom could bring down almost every animal within the royal families, save dragons.

Tian had very long straight black hair, nearly as long as Sesshomaru's and today it was pulling back in a tight, high ponytail and held with a single pin. His kimono was black with white-and-red lotus patterns save for the sleeve and right collar which were stamped with the design of the dog demon tribe. The low collar revealed the two vertical black stripes that ran parallel just on either side of his spine. He would have been next in line in the royal snake tribe had their tribe not been usurped of power a good half-century ago. Sesshomaru's eyes flicked to Tiao-Wen, who looked like a child ready for a scolding and narrowed. "You may go." She indicated the door with a nod of her head and the brown dog demon looked both relieved and apprehensive, as if he'd expected more of a fight than that. "I am still mad at you for ignoring orders, Tiao-Wen." She clarified. "I shall figure out a way to pay you back later."

He stiffened and to her surprise stated flatly, "I did not follow your orders, but when they contradict you you're well-being I will brush them aside, my Lady … I believe I made the right decision." She waited until he left before turning her attention back to the snake demon, who had his arms crossed and was tapping his clawed fingers on the side of her mattress impatiently. "What."

Tian sighed, "So are you going to allow me to ask… why you let yourself fall into this condition?" and Sesshomaru wrinkled her nose. "No."

"And what of me examining you?"

Sesshomaru snarled, "I am absolutely peachy. Now leave. There is nothing wrong with me." Tian suppressed what almost looked like a laugh and began opening and unpacking his many herbs and potions. "I remember you saying something similar during the blood wars- when your tail almost got hacked off? So this time… I shall be the judge of that." Sesshomaru's tail curled around her body in unhappy memory and bristled a bit. "Are you ignoring a direct order from-" Tian interrupted calmly, "Your orders hold little weight if they fly in the face of your health, as your guard stated. Now lie down and try to relax- you're color's off." He got up and stoked the fire, which had gone down to nothing but a few embers before returning to Sesshomaru's side, rubbing his arms with a slight grimace.

"Ugh. I despise these winters."

Sesshomaru settled down on her back and stared up at her intricately painted ceiling as her tail curled lazily underneath her. "I suppose you hardly leave the hothouse in the winter." Sesshomaru was referring to the steam rooms next to the hot springs. Being a cold-blooded snake demon would be miserable in cold weather. "If I can help it."He placed his cool hand across her forehead and then down to her neck, listening to her pulse. "Well if you had a mate- better yet the whole tribe- come down, you could all burrow up in a cave somewhere like garter snakes for the winter." His arched eyebrows drew together slightly; _Her pulse is a bit higher than normal. Temperature too, but… _It wasn't the kind of heat that indicated a fever. _If anything… _

"You're hardly in a position to be giving me that advice." He muttered calmly but with a hint of slyness.

"At least my yokai seems satisfied with the number of people taken to my bed."

Sesshomaru flushed and sat up, "Why you-"and Tian pushed her back down with a single finger and the words, "You wouldn't want to be accused of having the same temperament as your brother now would you?" Sesshomaru settled back down and said with forced evenness, "Well?" The snake demon patted one of the many folds of her tail, "Patience, Lady Sesshomaru. Now since were on the subject of you health, tell me some symptoms."Sesshomaru folded her arms. "I shall not, because there are none to describe because I am fine."

Tian stared at her levelly. "You have a pallid color, high pulse rate and body temperature, have obviously either not eaten for a few days or recently expelled anything you have eaten, and are unusually weak." Sesshomaru's yellow eyes glowed and Tian's own dark amber ones met hers with a strangely knowing stare. One so uncomfortable in fact Sesshomaru found herself wondering if there was some way he could tell everything she'd been doing in these last few weeks. She sincerely hoped not.

"Perhaps I'm just tired from my journey…" She offered rather lamely and snapped her gaze away from his, sitting up and pulling her double-lined kimono sleeve off the floor.

"You're not a stupid demon, Sesshomaru and I sincerely doubt a little change in your body has drastically affected you intelligence." He fetched a small clay container from his case and then snapped it shut, setting the container of Sesshomaru's desk. "Let me guess. Because of your recent 'activities' you've neglected to keep track of when your cycle should have come." She colored, "As a matter of fact-" and paused for a moment when she realized that was indeed the case. She hadn't actually thought of it until the snake demon had mentioned it. Or rather had been purposefully ignoring it. Quickly she did the math in her head-_three weeks with Gao, the week before then, a few days of transforming… _

"I have and am aware that it is a few days late but it is nothing. I shall return to my male form in a few days time."

Tian said quietly, "Come now. With these symptoms?" Sesshomaru grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes.

"I refuse to acknowledge what you're implying as a possibility." The slight scaling near his temples caught the light from the fire as he bent and stood up with, "At any rate, that is just some blood-broth, you should be able to keep it down if nothing else. There is only so much I can do if that is indeed the case." His vertically-slit pupils eyed her once more. "Word in the Palace is you've been paired with Luo." Sesshomaru was familiar with the snake-demons speech and knew this was more of a question than a simple statement- he wanted to know if Sesshomaru's pups, if there were any, were pure dog demon. "The word sways between truth and lies, does it not." She replied softly, picking the sheets up from their discarded clump on the end of the mattress and beginning to spread them out again, smoothing the silk with her claws. _Please, just leave. _She thought in the privacy of her own mind.

_I do not wish to think of this. I do not wish to dwell on it- it can be nothing more than impossibility… And even if it is the case, I shall simply- get rid… of…it. _Strange how suddenly timid that last thought had become. Tian nodded, "Call me again if your symptoms get any worse." and finally left her in peace with nothing for company but a roaring fire. But of course when she tried to sleep her mind was busy caught in a loop of 'what if' questions.

_What if she was. What if it wasn't Gao's after all. What would her mother do? Surely she wouldn't- ah, she'd make her drink the potion is what she'd do. The potion that forces a miscarriage. Willingly or not. She'd heard of strands of the potion that not even their superb noses could detect. Well if that was the case she could leave right? _She almost laughed aloud. _Leave Rin? Leave her for almost a year, how long it would take to bring the pup to term(not that there was, there wasn't, this was all hypothetical) ? Ridiculous. And to take Rin with her? Ugh. She was still too young to be of much help in that kind of a situation, and Sesshomaru certainly didn't want the role of educating her about female reproduction and the like. However… _

Her mind suddenly latched onto a possibility. _However. _In order for that strange little strain of thought to work though, she'd have to be sure of her 'situation'. Her hands crossed over her abdomen wither consciously or not as she continued to gaze off into space. Sesshomaru had never been one for prayers and she wasn't so now, simply closing her eyes and willing that when she woke up tomorrow she would have regained her male form and had all this useless cobwebs of thought cleared from her mind.

* * *

><p>Two months had passed and she'd lost her faith in waiting. Her symptoms had persisted and she hadn't been able to keep down anything but the many broths Tian concocted for her. By now her female form was too hard to keep a secret and so Sesshomaru had given Tiao-Wen permission to both inform Inukimi of her former son's current state and hint at the possibility of a pregnancy as a reason for her sickness. However Sesshomaru had requested that she was not to be visited until she felt well enough to walk to Inukimi's chambers herself. The real reason of course was that she wasn't entirely sure whose pup it was yet and therefore didn't want Inukimi picking up any scents she shouldn't. She'd kept her guest list down to the physician, Rin, Tiao-Wen and Jaken.<p>

So far they'd all taken to her female appearance unusually well. When she'd asked Jaken of this he'd admitted meekly, "Well, my Lord…did always take after his mother and… Well, you don't look all that different…" He was rewarded with a swift kick to the head and for good measure, a smack also with his two-headed staff. Now thankfully she was back in her own rooms, alone, and sitting cross-legged next to the potion Tian had prepared despite his protests, once he understood the valid reasons behind it. It was a dreadfully cold winter day and even though she wasn't far from the fire she could feel the cold inching up through the sleeves of her soft powder-blue and white kimono. The potion was deceptively clear, a kind of tea-like green and Tian had told her that once it cooled it was ineffective so it had to be drunk quickly. Sesshomaru stared at it for a moment, let her hand rest on the slight curve in her abdomen.

She reached for the simple, brown clay cup and twirled it between her claws. She'd been spending a lot of time with Rin as of late. The poor girl would be devastated when Sesshomaru told her the same excuse as everyone else- that it had been a miscarriage. Condensation from the draft settled on her face and eyelashes and she stood up, her tail curling around in front of the fire in a wide ark and turning the pure white fur a soft yellow.

_No doubt she will cry for me for this, as well… _Her nose wrinkled in disgust- the scent alone was beginning to get to her. It was an intensely bitter and slightly rank smell like death itself. She brought the cup to her lips and just as she was about to take the first sip felt a stirring in the room like a sudden draft and a very clear, familiar voice say lowly,

_What do you think you're doing, Sesshomaru. _

She whirled around with her fur prickling and the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. Of course there was no one there. Sesshomaru stood for a moment, the contents of the cup still sloshing from her movement. But what had she been expecting really? Some full-body apparition of her father?

The notion was ridiculous. She turned around and felt the oddest sensation- like an arm had been nonchalantly slung over her shoulders. She could feel the warmth of it, and the unyielding press of metal into one of her shoulders but there was no denting in her clothes to suggest that it was…real. Suddenly she was no longer standing in front of the fireplace in her rooms but in one of InuTaisho's rooms, back before Inukimi had repurposed them.

InuTaisho himself was stretched out on his bed, the glossy golden silks of the draperies just as Sesshomaru remembered them with his favorite jade-carved pipe in his right hand. He was wearing the same armor he always had, the enormous interlocked shoulder and forearm pieces, the arks of the spikes curving upward around both sides of his tan neck. The purple smoke from his pipe curled up past the blue stripe on his cheek and seemed to fill the entire room with a dreamlike haziness. She remembered his smell and relaxed despite herself, then looked down to realize that wherever _**here**_ was, she was in her true form again as the lord of the West. _At least in dreams I am still myself. Because surely this is just a dream. _InuTaisho blew smoke from his mouth and his eyes met his son's. Although his lips didn't move Sesshomaru heard his voice as clearly as a bell within his mind.

_Believe what you like. It hardly matters._

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes. _Father- _and he conceded, _If you'd like to think on it further you should ask yourself what powers that life within you already possesses. _He tapped the ash from his pipe into a pale green and white ashtray. _And so we come to the matter at hand. _His father's eyes flicked away and Sesshomaru felt a slight emptiness- if this was a dream it was one of the most realistic he'd ever had. It was as if his father really was here in front of him. But still he maintained that it was just an illusion, and in it being so, he was allowed to speak how he really felt.

_I know you may not agree with the decision-_InuTaisho cut him off entirely. _I hardly raised either of my sons to be cowards, Sesshomaru. _He put the pipe between his long upper and lower canines, applying just enough pressure without breaking the brittle stone work. _But it appears you are trying to take that way out. Have you learned nothing from my absence? Have you taken no lesson from my words? _Sesshomaru's tail twitched and curled under slightly. _Father, it is not… _Damn, he was flushed even as he spoke.

_It does not carry the blood of a full dog-demon. I can tell by its scent. _Or rather, the way her own scent had changed. His fists began to clench as he continued, _If you thought my half-brother had a hard time of it, that will be nothing compared to this… We will lose everything. The Palace, what is left of the unity in the demon-dog tribe, the West. _InuTaisho's enormous shaggy tail thumped on the floor once. _We? Since when have you and you're mother's ideals been the same? _ He laughed richly and the sound seemed to echo inside Sesshomaru's ribs. _You know whom can cover even the most obvious of scents. You know he can and will help you-for a price, of course. _The great dog demon seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. _But our power-_

_Power is nothing without reason behind it. _His father snapped. _Power for the sake of power is a snake eating its own tail- as I'm sure you've found with the tessaiga and your precious girl-pup, Rin. _Sesshomaru flinched- he remembered a little too well. Her tiny body limp, devoid of a soul. All because of him. _What is the true meaning behind this reluctance? This hesitation? Surely you do not __**want**__ to kill your own precious pup? _Sesshomaru stiffened and his father seemed to sigh. _Haven't you tired of killing? _He tried to interrupt, _Father- _but InuTaisho continued, his yellow eyes brightening until they seemed to be two flames in the darkness, _You waste my time. If you kill that pup you may as well kill what is left of yourself- _

Sesshomaru finally bellowed, quite shocked at the volume of his own voice, _Of course I don't want to kill it father! _He quickly calmed himself- it would be a disgrace to lose composure, even if this was only some kind of hallucination. He was ashamed that his father's presence effected him so much.

_But its life will be- it will always be persecuted by demons…_He gritted his teeth as InuTaisho blinked and cursed softly._ I don't want it to suffer… _Sesshomaru looked at the smoke-blurred tiles lining the floor. He was going to go with his usual rant about hating children and the responsibility it held but that wasn't the root of it so much. _… How can I care for another, when I am so twisted myself… _He closed his eyes and heard the shuffle of cloth but dismissed it, willing himself to wake up from this dream. _I will wake up. I will…_

He felt his father's arm around him again . _Is that all you silly boy? _His words were harsh but his tone held a warm rumble. _You think I did not feel the same when learning of you and your brother? _Before he's really had a chance to think about it his father's arms were around him as he continued,

_It will be alright Sesshomaru. That pup has an important role to play in the shaping of the world of men. You will learn what all your power is really for. Now, wake up. _He was given a rather rude shove and stumbled nearly hitting the fireplace and something dropped out of his grip and shattered. She stood for a few moments collecting herself and curled her hands slowly, looking down at the shattered pieces of the brown cup.

_I could ask him to make another brew- _Sesshomaru cut off that strain of thought quickly. His father was right- that would be the coward's way out. Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes and she blinked them away.

It was not the pup's fault, any of it- it had been hers and so… _And so… It should live…right? _And besides that… Besides that, there was some part of Sesshomaru that had writhed and cried out as she'd held that cup. An entirely new spectrum of emotion she'd thought she'd shrugged off years ago.

Her heart was beating hard and fast underneath the finest silks.

_... Its true, isn't it? Ah..._

Of course the painful experience he'd had when finding out the fate of his first child stuck in her chest like a knife.

_.. I ...Don't want that to happen ever again. I want it to live..._

The light green liquid took on the hue of the flames, a pool of dull orange-yellow light, and the door to the right of her clicked open as Rin trotted into the room with a startled, "Sesshomaru! Are you okay?" The small human girl made her way over to the demoness quickly, explaining, "I thought it would be fun to come and surprise you but I heard a crash and-" She trailed off as she saw the expression on Sesshomaru's face- a mix of shock, sadness and understanding. Sesshomaru could also see the girl's caretaker, the cat-demon Wumei just outside the open door with a slightly apologetic look on her face. "Forgive the intrusion my lady, I-" Sesshomaru gave a tiny nod to indicate she was pardoned. Rin's orange and yellow kimono made a soft shuffling as it slid down her arm and she took Sesshomaru's sleeve in her hand and gave it a tug. "Sesshomaru?"

She blinked and her yellow eyes met soft, brown human. "Rin. I didn't mean to scare you." Since the dog demon's outer kimono was open she was able to see the slight swell in Sesshomaru's abdomen better than before. Rin gave a surprised little "Oh…" and put her hand against Sesshomaru's belly.

"Is this the puppy?" The dog demon put her clawed hand over Rin's, surprised that the human touching her belly didn't bother her. Then again it wasn't as if Rin was any kind of threat. Her hand was small and warm and Sesshomaru was too tired to even correct the fact that it was a 'pup' and not a 'puppy'. "Yes." All that had transpired seemed to hit the dog demon all at once and she picked Rin up gently and placed her on her bed, adding to Wumei, "You may go. I shall visit with her for a little while." Once the cat demon was gone Sesshomaru stretched out on the bed slowly without saying a word.

After a moment or two she put her hand on Rin's shoulder and gently guided her down so that the human's head was resting on the dog demon's shoulder. Rin snuggled into her embrace and buried her hand into the folds of the demon's silky kimono with a sigh. Her claws were in Rin's thick black hair and not for the first time, Sesshomaru wondered if she should have insisted on the little human staying with her own kind. After all, she would die fairly quickly, in Sesshomaru's view of time. And no doubt the humans were naturally far more affectionate towards her than any demon could be since affection and family ties were generally viewed as a weakness. "Sesshomaru, what's wrong?" She asked in that plainly honest child's voice, and the demon was a little ashamed to see how well the girl could see through her. "I thought I understood, Rin." The demon said quietly and stroked her small head once.

"I thought I understood everything. But it seems… that I do not."

_She will probably have to be sent away to the human village again. _Sesshomaru realized. Rin played with the sleeve of the dog demon's outfit for a moment. "I don't understand why you're sad. Shouldn't having the puppy be a happy thing?"

"Pup." Sesshomaru's obsession with proper grammar got the best of her as she continued, "Well, usually, it would be. But…"

_I've forgotten to write a letter to him, as well. Ah, so much to do. I wonder what his reaction will be._

"The father of my pup is a fox demon, so it will be half dog, half fox. And since fox and dog demons hate each other, well." Now that Sesshomaru thought of it, she couldn't think of the last time she'd seen a fox-dog demon… alive, anyway. Rin blinked. "Why do they hate each other?"Sesshomaru sighed.

"It's a long story, Rin." The little human poked her in the arm. "Can I hear it? I'm old enough! I'll probably understand." A little annoyed growl rumbled in her throat before she relented. "Fine. But you must stay awake until the end." She immediately agreed and Sesshomaru paused as he tried to remember every part of the story. "This is a story my father told me." She began quietly.

_In the beginning there was nothing but the blackness, the silence and the phoenix. It was not like the demon phoenix one may still come across today, burning with light and fire and music. It was as dark as the nothing around it, but at its very center was a single spark. The Dark Pheonix, Fenghuang, knew that within her was the possibility of the world, but also knew that in order for the world to be created she must be sacrificed in order to set free the spark within her. She was afraid that without an overseer the making of the world would go astray, if there was no one to shape it, for it would take her hundreds of years to be reborn in the world. So she tore off her right wing and from her feathers and blood a dragon, Xueliu appeared. _

_She instructed the dragon to look over the creation of the world and find her reincarnation when it appeared, so that they may oversee it together. _

_He agreed and so she allowed the spark within her to overtake her body, and the silence and darkness was broken by an explosion of color and sound. _

_Her body became the earth, her blood the seas, and her feathers and tears the stars and planets beyond. _

Sesshomaru paused- Rin didn't really need to know of the other dragon, the product of the Dark Phoenix's left wing. It would probably give her nightmares. She skipped that part and moved on.

_The dragon waited until the core of the earth had stabilized and the smoke had cleared before setting foot on the new world in search of the phoenix. _

_He threw a great lamp into the sky in order to better light his path, what we refer to as the moon. Eventually he did find her, although she'd changed her form into that more or less of a human, though infinitely taller and more glorious. He changed his form to compliment hers and for a while they walked among the moonlit earth and were content. They watched as the tides and quakes molded the landscape and eventually the rise of many creatures both beautiful and deadly. But they came to realize that while the creatures were wondrous they did not speak in the same time as them._

_ One day while out hunting Xueliu noticed something caught in one of his traps. But as he neared a gold fox managed to slip out of his trap and, as it darted past him, he caught it by the scruff. Of course the touch of the great dragon was enough to subdue it. Xueliu had been impressed by the animal's wit and decided instead to try and create a creature that would be the likeness of the Dark Phoenix and himself. _

The dog demon glanced in Rin's direction to make sure she was still paying attention. To her surprise, she seemed enthralled.

_So he spilled his blood upon the fox's pelt and vowed that after three days and nights the creature would be equal to him. And so it became that fox was equal to them. And though he had human form he had another form as well, and so he became the first true demon of the world._

_ Once the Dark Pheonix had seen what her mate had done she gathered twelve other animals about her, each with a mate, and performed the same magic, and thus the twelve royal families came to be._

"But Sesshomaru how does this-"

"Rin. I'm getting there."

_Fox, since his power was still greater than the other demon's, created a mate for himself as well, and together they created the land of the dead, for the souls of the other demons. The first Dog demon saw this and asked how it was that Fox was more powerful than the other's. Fox knew that Dog had been given a piece of the new land, just as every other demon had, but that his was a particularly valuable piece, bordering caves filled with many jewels. _

_And so Fox tricked Dog out of his land in exchange for telling him, for Fox had none for his own, and Dog was forced to move to the mountains where game was scarce. Dog explained to the Dark Phoenix what had happened but since Fox wasn't her creation, she turned to her own mate for guidance._

_ And since Fox was Xueliu's favorite creation he allowed the demon to get away with but a light warning. So it became a disagreement, which overtime became a feud, which overtime became a war. _

Rin yawned, "But…but when did humans…?" and Sesshomaru sat back up. "I shall walk you back to Wumei's now. It's a bit late." She was too tired even to protest and after a long cold walk Sesshomaru settled down in front of the fire in her room. _I suppose I shall have to make a visit to that damn dragon after all. _She thought. Sesshomaru hadn't seen the dragon since he was in his teens, but was sure that he'd been cunning enough to escape the many hunts humans had initiated to kill dragons. _The Dragon of Chaos. _

Sesshomaru's arms were resting gently underneath the curve in his body and his right hand came up, cupping the anamoly. For now, it was all too easy to still pretend that she'd simply been eating and lazing around too much-three months for a demon was about two by human standards, so for now it still... hardly looked like anything except pudge.

And yet... her body seemed to know the difference. She just felt that that wasn't the case.

"Hmm." Sesshomaru didn't know quite what to make of the situation now... Now that going back to normal was no longer an option. But... It didn't feel bad, having this strange fragile warmth deep in her body.

* * *

><p>petpeeves12- yep. For now ^^<p>

katastrifi- XDD

Pinkyni21- Maaaybe... XD

Fireflower19- Yep. just hitting him. Probably just repressed it, like everyone else. yeah, I know. I use he/she a lot. In the same sentences. Its not my fault . xd

fleura- thanks. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter too.

pumpkinpi- yep! I had fun writing his past.


	6. Chapter 6

EK chap 6

Mai-Zei- Evil wing, first Enemy of the World, otherwise known as the Dragon of Chaos

Youshi-to lure, to trap,trick,or entice

Sesshomaru twirled the ink brush in her hand, trying her best to write a letter to the demon fox that didn't involve her basically chewing him out and blaming him for everything. So far, it wasn't working out well. She looked down at what she'd written so far.

_Diaozuan_

_I hate you with every fiber of my being. When we next meet I will personally see to it that your soul will be sent to the netherworld and never gain redemption for what you have done. I blame you for everything that happened and every consequence of that action from now on, including the fact that I'm now carrying your damn spawn. Luckily thanks to my inherit genius I have figured out a way to disguise you're scent from my mother, guards and immediate family up until its born, but after that I can't say what will happen. If there was ever a time for your silver tongue to get you out of a situation, I suggest you use any ideas you may have now. I expect you to answer this letter shortly unless you've managed to get yourself killed on the battlefield, which would be quite disheartening for me, since it would mean that the little runt's blood will be weak as well as polluted._

Actually Sesshomaru sort of liked it as it was… Except the word spawn. But it was just too much for her to write the kanji for 'pup' in her current state of mind. She put the end of the wood brush into one corner of her mouth, being careful to not actually apply any pressure as that would probably send splinters flying everywhere. Not knowing what else to add she signed it at the bottom and let a drop of her blood fall next to it before rolling it up and biding it together with a ribbon. He placed it in a pile to be sent out by the maids later.

"You're not blaming your…state on whomever the father is, are you?" Tiao-Wen commented from the hallway, his hand tapping on the sheath of his swords. "If I was, it's certainly none of your business, pup." Sesshomaru snarled as she stood up and pulled her tail up through the sleeve of her kimono so it wouldn't drag. "And it's also none of your business where my travels take me, so you can tell my mother that her orders do not eclipse my own." Tiao-Wen had informed her just a few minutes before that he had been ordered to follow her on her trip, though of course Sesshomaru hadn't told anyone exactly who she was planning on visiting. She heard Tiao-Wen sigh and offer, "Sesshomaru, you have to understand that you were allowed so much freedom before because one, you were not of the fairer sex and two, you were not carrying the heir to the Foo-Dog Tribe-"

"Be quiet." Sesshomaru said lowly, not wanting to hear anything that had to do with her pregnancy at the current time.

"My body may be in a weakened state but my mind and my sword are as sharp as ever. I refuse to be 'babysat'. That is the end of this discussion." She picked up the small amount of food and clothes she'd packed for the trip and brushed past him, her tail still bristling as it sat on her shoulder. "Then I guess I will just have to follow you." He sighed, padding along after her. "The one I am visiting doesn't appreciate a crowd. He will chew you up and spit you out before I have a chance to draw my blade." Sesshomaru forced the other man to stop by placing a hand on his chest. "If you wanted to help me, you would stay here." He blushed, and Sesshomaru pulled her hand away in irritation. A guard was supposed to be a servant of protection, and if he was spending a lot of his time thinking stupid thoughts about Sesshomaru his efficiency on his job would be lax. "I will inform the Lady that you have opted to go without guard, then."

Sesshomaru sneered, "Indeed." lifting her lip just enough to show a bit of fang before heading off to the stables, more shaken by Tiao-Wen's reaction to her touch than she wanted to admit. She breathed in the familiar animal musk of the stables and calmed a bit as she made her way over to Ah-Un. He was picking at his teeth with one claw as she arrived and snorted almost questioningly at her, as if to ask why they were leaving again so soon. She closed the small wood half-door behind them and began packing up his saddlebags silently; every hair on her tail still bristled straight. When she was finished she leaned against his warm scaly hide and sighed, running her thin fingers through his tangled dark green mane.

"I no longer understand what I'm supposed to do, Ah-Un." Her original purpose- to gain more power was being completely put at the wayside in light of this damn … She put a hand to her abdomen for a moment. How was it that bringing a pup that would undoubtedly be persecuted its entire life for the choice its parents had made… Why did it feel like the right thing to do? Why did it feel… good.

Sesshomaru's thoughts went to Izayoi for a moment. _Is this what she felt? _She still couldn't bring herself to draw a parallel between herself and the human woman. She shook her head and let Ah-Un outside, checking his feet and condition before mounting him and sailing off in the exact opposite direction of her previous adventure. _…Disaster, really. _But at least she wasn't stuck on Ah-Un with Inuyasha. Though of course what little of what she remembered from their night together would haunt her dreams forever. Her grey-blue kimono with black trim blended in well with the sky around her and she curled up on Ah-Un's back, content to only rest her eyes. It was a few day's journey but she found she couldn't sleep and by the time they landed in front of the dragon's dwelling she was a bit restless to be done with it all.

The dragon lived at the foot of the mountains, the entrance of his cave littered with picked-clean bones of many demons, the soft earth flattened by his belly. Sesshomaru picked through her bags until she found the one object that would sway the tables in her favor and tucked it into her kimono. The grass in the clearing was stunted and brown from the cold, glittering with grey dew. Ah-Un made a soft worried nose from where Sesshomaru had left him, smart enough to know that where his master was heading wasn't safe. She continued walking until she disappeared into the darkness of the cave. The experience reminded her of going into the depths of hell to steal back Rin's soul… Something she wasn't too keen on reliving. Suddenly the darkness all around her turned to bright amber as the torches around her suddenly lit and she was able to see a bit more clearly. The cave was lined with white limestone, with streaks of emerald and other semi-precious stones.

"Greetings. I call on Youshi, Dragon of Trickery and grandson of Mai-Zei, the Dragon of Chaos." She crossed her arms and waited for him to crawl up out of the network of tunnels he no doubt had under the mountains, quite sure he could hear her voice clearly. "You wouldn't want to keep a member of the Foo-Dog demon tribe waiting." She added and sure enough she heard the scraping of hundreds of scales against stone as the dragon approached, pausing a good ten feet from her. His dark blue scales glowed in the light, a stunning contrast to the garnet mane that started just over his eye ridges and ended a few feet from his tail.

"You were always impatient…"He huffed, his voice sounding like antlers being dragged in sand. He tilted his head to one side and gazed skeptically at Sesshomaru.

"It seems quite a bit has happened to you." He chuckled, settling down on the scant sand on the cave's bottom and picking at his yellowed fangs with one claw.

Sesshomaru immediately colored, "Indeed-" but before he could speak further the dragon snapped, "I do hope you've brought sufficient payment. My services are never free." Sesshomaru sighed. "Don't you think I know you well enough to know that?"

She brought out a bottle of her mother's rarest sake as well as something Sesshomaru had stolen from her mother's private jewelry collection, a dragon egg. She'd replaced it with an imitation from the best carver she could find… And it wasn't as if Inukimi really cared to look too closely at any of her jewels. Not only was it beautiful, a deep clear purple but it was worth easily twice as much as the rest of her pieces simply because it required so much maintenance, and because it was so rare. Inukimi had stolen it back in her prime and had never bothered giving it back. It had been quite a hassle keeping it warm the entire way here and Sesshomaru was almost glad to be rid of it.

"Hm." Youshi pulled the items closer with his tail, grabbing up the egg first and disappearing down one of his caves with it. Sesshomaru heard the sound of him spewing flames and the dragon returned a moment later asking, "Where did you get that? It was stolen from us so long ago I'd lost all hope of getting it back, much less alive." Sesshomaru sighed as the dragon pulled the cork out with his claws and took a long swig of the sake, "My mother." Youshi nodded, unsurprised.

"The payment is fair. What is it you want?"

Sesshomaru sighed. "I'm sure your nose has caught wind of my condition. I would like the scent of this pup's father to be hidden from anyone who would wish to do him or I harm because of it."

The dragon sniffed and nodded, "The fox one, I'm assuming."

Sesshomaru nodded and then paused, "Wait. E-excuse me?" Youshi snorted, "Three heartbeats is what I hear." and grinned at the dog demon toothily. "Yours, and the pups." Said dog demon reached over to the wall to steady herself and said feebly, "Y-oh, funny as ever…" growling slightly. "You know I wouldn't lie when it causes me so much amusement." He huffed back, blowing blackened smoke smelling of sulfur out of his nose. "W-just give me what I came here for." The dragon nodded, smirking, and indicated the demon to come closer. "For a charm like this, you will have to take in a drop of my blood." The demon narrowed his eyes. "That is-"

"Poison, yes. But only in large amounts. Of course, there's nothing it can do once the pups have left your body." Before Sesshomaru could say anything further the dragon had slit the area between the joins of his fingers with a claw where the scales were weak and held it out for him. "Hurry-its useless cold."She took the tiniest bit of the deep purple blood and began to cough, dropping to her knees and holding her throat.

"H…hot…" It was an understatement- her throat was on fire, and she felt it burn all the way down to her stomach. "It's the magic." The dragon said, seemingly unconcerned with her distress. Sure enough after a few moments she was able to stand as Youshi explained, "It will obey what it master needs, and for you, that's the protection of the pup. An exceedingly simple charm, but unfortunately requires you to have the charm on or within you at all times. The only other way would have been to brand something into your skin, which is a bit more risky."

Sesshomaru straightened, "Thanks for explaining that to me afterwards. I think I'd have preferred the branding to this…" she coughed angrily.

"I'll be leaving now."

"Make sure to bring the pups to come and visit. I'm sure they'll be every bit as cute as you were…Before you went sour." Youshi grinned as Sesshomaru stiffened and clarified, "I. Was never. _Cute._" spitting the last word before practically running out of the cave and back to Ah-Un, who seemed happy that his master was alive and well. She hopped back onto the dragon in relief and headed back towards the manor, relieved that she would finally have a longer period of time to rest and reflect on everything that had occured to her.


	7. Chapter 7

The Eternal Knot Chapter 7

Note: For clarification, Sesshomaru is pregnant with one pup from the fox demon Diaozuan, and one pup from Inuyasha's alter-ego, Ryo. So, one of them will be a fox and the other will be a demon dog.

Note: This chapter is kinda filler. I'm just trying to get myself back into the writing mood.

The journey back to the Foo Dog Palace was particularly arduous this time with the knowledge in the back of her mind that thus may be the last time she was to be outside the palace until the damn pups were born. Not to mention her stupid guard, Tao-Wen, who seemed to have developed inappropriate feelings for her, as well as he annoying tendency to follow her around like a lost kitten. On top of all of that, add her mother, Diaozuan, Inuyasha and his other half Ryo to the mix and she was ready for a full blown-breakdown. Luckily, according to everyone at the palace they hadn't caught scent of either of them, which was good, but sooner or later one or both of them was going to come sniffing around to see if the pups were theirs, and then…

This was all getting far too out of hand, and the worst part was, once Diaozuan was aware that one of the pups was his he'd probably do something stupid like try to show up at the birth. One of the leaders of the fox tribe going full demon in a fight against Inukimi was exactly what Sesshomaru didn't want to happen.

She landed, going in the East gate which was the closest to the stables, and set Ah-Un up in his usual stall, happy that she had arrived in such a horridly late time of the morning. Most demons preferred to hunt at night and were spending this wan, thin sunlight on catching up on sleep or polishing their fangs with the bones of their latest meal. Her stomach growled. Speaking of which… But more on that later. For now, she wished only one thing; to spend time in the area. Specifically, she wanted to spar, but doubted that any respectable demon within the palace would want to go up against her in this new, less powerful form. For now she would have to settle with the stuffed, straw-filled demons and her sword. It was a minor irritant when she had to sneak by her own quarters to get to the arena though. Yet another insult to injury that she had to hide from her own bodyguard in order to relieve this stress. If she was lucky, a good seven or eight hours would pass before the first few dedicated demons came in with their sparring partners and she intended to be long gone before she could be seen like this. Sesshomaru hoped to keep all this foolishness under wraps as long as possible but, knowing Inukimi, perhaps everyone in all of China knew by now.

After setting up a veritable army of sawdust opponents, Sesshomaru sparred, using only her two swords or her body rather than her preferred method of poison whip or her poisonous claws. It was the physical exercise itself that she needed, not to mention the constant maintenance of her swordsmanship. In this form, it was more important than ever that if she should be attacked, at least she could be on defense long enough to transform. There were no breaks, no distractions, and by the time she heard the stirrings of the Foo Dog Palace coming alive with her citizens, nearly six hours had passed. Her legs and arms were shaking with exertion, her throat dry, and her long silver hair caked to the back of her neck with sweat. She spent precious few seconds drying it before slipping out the back sliding doors just as the first few demons were coming in the front.

Of course that was when Li-Hai spotted her before she had a chance to slide into the bushes and, seeing her state, immediately began to chastise, "Lady Sesshomaru, you cannot keep holding your body to the same physical prowess you had before-" She shoved him to the ground, his armor clanking loudly, and made sure that his face was only inches from her own before roaring directly at him, her face morphing just enough to give her jaws the full dog teeth that she needed to get her point across. Though, to give him, credit, he did not flinch or even make a move to cover his ears at the deafening roar, only narrowed his eyes and face slightly. If his ears had been attuned to canine tunes, perhaps he would have caught not only the anger, but the anguish and confusion; the slight undertone of fear and loneliness. When she was finished, she let go of his uniform and ran a hand through her hair, flicking it off to one side as she usually did after a battle, and waited for him to stand before saying very quietly, "I hope I got my point across. " Her own ears were ringing and, given the horse demon's equally excellent hearing, she doubted he did not at least understand that he was being an annoyance and she would not take much more of it. After smoothing his own tail and straightening his armor, he nodded and murmured, "Now, let me offer this as a rebuttal." and backhanded her.

Being that he was a horse demon and that at the time his hand was half-morphed into hoofed tips, the result was an immediately unconscious but not seriously harmed Sesshomaru, who Li-hai carried to the Foo Dog's quarters, setting up a change of clothing, some water in a cold metal pitcher, and a veritable feast of warm roasted boar demon for when she awoke. After an hour or so Sesshomaru awoke and virtually ravenous, devoured the boar with what could only be described as anything but good manners, washing off the blood with the pitcher of water before settling back, the tip of her tail twitching in annoyance as he could still detect LiHai outside. He had no right to lay a hand on her- and for someone who was so concerned for her welfare, knocking her unconscious seemed a bit excessive. Still, the thought of dismissing him never crossed her mind, for he was one of the few she'd kept long enough to actually trust. Sesshomaru stripped down to nothing, throwing the old, wetted silks in the corner and changing into new ones, irritated to find the colors complimenting her skin tone and stripes so well. After some time, she found herself looking at the empty pitcher and plate and had to admit that his efforts, though crude, had been effective. She was now rested, fed, and had a clean pair of clothes that would be acceptable to be seen in the public. Sesshomaru to some extent had a sense that despite her usually better judgment and fine intellect, other demons often found her 'stubborn', 'prideful', and other less appropriate terms.

She went outside, facing Lihai, and stated, "You will never strike me like that again or I will kill you. " and he nodded, waiting for further words, but she just looked at him, almost thoughtfully. He said after a moment, tentatively, "May I, your highness?"

She lifted her lip a little, but nodded.

"When I agreed to be your bodyguard, you informed be of your peculiar brand of stubbornness, and stated that I 'use any means possible' of ensuring that your health and welfare are taken care of. I feel it was necessary. "

"Does t look like your feelings were ever brought into account when you agreed to be my servant?" She said, spitting the last word before stating carelessly, "I am going to check upon Rin." Just so that he didn't follow her around anymore like the sad, irritating little excuse for a demon that he had become ever since she gained this form. As she walked around, suddenly, and for the first time in her life she began to feel very self-conscious. All eyes were upon her, conversations stopped, and demons went out of their way to avoid her gaze if they could, all of them shocked and slightly apprehensive to see the once-grand Sesshomaru, the great white daiyokai, reduced to a feminine, flimsy form. For the first time, her chin dropped a little, her shoulders curving ever so slightly inward, and the tip of her tail trying to hide itself deep in the coils of fabric between her legs. She was a disgrace that could only be rectified with the promise of a pregnancy and the birth of a new daiyokai.

Little did they know, she thought, frowning softly. At some point, she needed to discuss with her mother her current state, and tell the Palace that she was expecting pups. The same snake demon as before, Wumei, greeted her, and seemed both pleased and relieved at her presence. "Rin has been insisting to see you my Lady, and she I worried that she will have to be sent away from the Foo Dog Palace because she is a human.. " Sesshomaru nodded and went to the back where Rin was kept before taking her hand and leading her back through to her own quarters, sure that she would be safe here. She was talking excitedly the entire time, all about the 'puppy' and how good of a big sister she was going to be and all of the things they were going to do together. Sesshomaru wasn't sure exactly how and when to tell her that in fact, she probably would never see her pups, and not only that, she was seriously sending Rin out to a human village for her own safety. She wasn't as strong as usual and was beginning to have doubts about Rin's safely among so many cunning and powerful demons. Unless she slept right beside Sesshomaru, and accompanied her almost everywhere, how could she be assured of Rin's safety? Especially since she seemed so accident-prone… Thank god Jaken was still buried in work and hadn't yet been able to smother Sesshomaru with stupid requests.

"Sesshomaru you were going to tell me when humans were created remember?" Rin said cheerfully, tugging on Sesshomaru's sleeve, her own kimono a soft pink and with white flowers. She nodded softly, picking Rin up and placing her on her own huge, silken bed, rich with embroidery. "Rin, in the next few months I am going to have you taken away to a human village until after the pups are born. I am not physically capable of caring for you as I was before, and it is… Not possible for us to share the same quarters." Possible, but yet another black smear to their family name. Not to mention, Rin being in Sesshomaru's care would make her an even more evident target. Rin blinked and nodded, clasping her hands together and sighing a little, "Okay… Will you still come visit me?" Sesshomaru sat down next to her and nodded, glad to see she hadn't started crying or any of those other annoying human reactions. "I will when I can. For now it is what's safest for you. Jaken will accompany you." She added, grinning a little. A perfect excuse for the little lizard demon to be kept out of Sesshomaru's hair.

"I still want to hear how humans got invented." She insisted, and Sesshomaru nodded again, looking outside for a moment before saying, "Well… it's sort of –" Before he could finish, an upset looking Lihai and an embarrassed and flustered looking Tiao-Wen burst inside. "La- Sesshomaru, these two letters have been received for you. I managed to confiscate them before Inikimi got a hold of them and well uh-" Sesshomaru got up and took the two letters, sniffing at one and then the other for a moment before growling softly and shooing the two other demons away. "Go." He sat down next to Rin again and she crawled into his lap, asking, "Who is it Sesshomaru?"

"Apparently, my hanyou brother and Diazuan both want to pay me a visit." He said, his nose crinkling in disgust.


	8. Chapter 8

The Eternal Knot Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Sesshomaru was pacing. Rin had been sent back to the demon cat's care and soon, she would send her back to Inuyasha's human village. She was simply at too much risk in a nest of demons, especially now that Inukimi had had an audience with Sesshomaru and found out exactly the nature of his condition.

Inuyasha's letter had been nothing more than a simple, few, scribbled lines that he was coming around eleven o clock through the eastern gate and expected to meet Sesshomaru in her private quarters at around lunch. To be honest, she was a little happy to see that he'd at least done the courtesy of sending a letter, as well as sealing it, as was proper. Despite his mangy breeding, he somehow managed to remember that at least as far as Sesshomaru was concerned, he couldn't just tear over the Foo-Dog wall and smash his way into her living quarters without getting attacked by all of Sesshomaru's guards, not to mention all the ones inside the Palace itself, and the guard monsters that lived in the moats. She assumed it was about the potion that she'd given Kagome and was somewhat prepared for a shouting match with him, but internally, felt like all she wanted was to eat, sleep, and occasionally, train at their academy to make sure her swordsmanship kept up to par. The pregnancy was making her excessively lazy which was a trait that irritated her to no end.

Her appetite was monstrous- even today, she'd gone through three wild boars, two veritable vats of fish, a trough of demon blood soup, and already her stomach was beginning to growl again. After this meeting Sesshomaru hoped her guards would allow her a long hunt in the mountains. As long as she was in her demon form, she should be less of a target to the enemies of the Foo-Dog tribe.

As she paced she passed in front of the mirror and adjusted the red and white kimono. The ties were above the slight bump in her form now. Four months along, now. Just enough to see the beginnings of it. No matter how many times she adjusted it to go _**over **_the stupid bump and hide it, the ties always wriggled their way above or below it and showed it off for the world to see. Of course Inukimi had been informed, and there had been so much feasting and rejoicing that the Foo Dog Palace had run almost completely out of blood-sake. Even now demons lay strewn about the courtyard drunk out of their wits.

Sesshomaru of course did not attend the festivities. News of a new Foo-Dog heir was something that hadn't been heard of in generations

… _Little do they know. I can only hope one of the ones in here actually carries full demon dog blood. _ Sesshomaru thought, hands going still for a moment as they were halfway through retying the obi. Her nails and hair had become insanely lustrous and glassy, as was normal with a Foo-Dog pregnancy. All these changes were a mixture of fascination and horror for a being whose lips once curled in disgust at seeing a pregnant demon rubbing her great belly and fawning over the pups inside.

She retied the obi quickly, wondering exactly how her half brother would react. Even he knew these symptoms. One look at her and he would know exactly the secret under the thick silk ties over her abdomen. _It's not as if the opinion of a hanyou matters. And his sword is no threat to me even in this state. _There was a knock, and Sesshomaru almost jumped. She hissed in distaste. "Yes?"

Tiao-Wen answered nervously, " My Lady, your half-brother is-" and was interrupted with, " Let me in or I'm gonna make a new entrance that wont' be half as small!" There were scuffling sounds outside, something banging, and the sound of someone being thrown against the front door; and also quite a bit of swearing. "Go ahead and let him in, Tiao-Wen. I'm expecting him." Sesshomaru said, running a hand through her hair and then letting it drop to her swords.

The cool rough metal was comforting. Inuyasha came busting in in his usual feral manner, immediately starting with a screeching, "What do you think you're doing?! How dare you slip Kagome one of your poisons!" and grabbing Sesshomaru by the collar and forcing her against the wall. Of course the moment he did, Lihai and Tiao-Wen appeared like living shadows and had him by the back of the neck, shoving Inuyasha to his knees in what was almost a bowing stance.

" My Lady, I would strongly advise not giving a violent hanyou your time, especially in your state."

At that, Inuyasha's dog ears perked up, and he gave Sesshomaru a once-over before getting a very strange, slightly sick look on his face. He said nothing until Sesshomaru waved an arm and slipped out of his loosened grip, wiping the front of her kimono before summoning her poison claws. The green whip struck Inuyasha's face and his blood splattered in a moonlike ark across the tiles.

"Tsh…" He gritted his teeth and stared up at her as she said calmly, " I believe even he knows the rules for harming a female carrying the heir to the Foo-Dog tribe. But, I suppose you two had better stay just the same." She moved to the couch and crossed her legs and the green whip disappeared into thin air. Even Inuyasha knew the punishment for that was worse, much worse, than a simple clean killing, and he almost shuddered to think of the mistake that had almost occurred.

"I _**told **_you to never come near my family. " Inuyasha hissed, and she could see his hand on his sword and that he was seriously considering fighting her guards. " I was saving your precious miko's life."

A sneer and a disbelieving huff was her answer. " The only thing you know how to do is kill."

" Every time you impregnate her, her body is at war with itself trying to cleanse your demonic blood." Sesshomaru took a long drink of demon blood herself and licked her lips as Inuyasha fingered his sword with just a little less surety than before. "You're lying."

" What I gave her temporarily overwhelmed her purification powers. Don't tell me you haven't noticed how weak they've gotten. She could barely protect the pathetic human village you reside in without your aid. I doubt I higher level demon would have any trouble breaking her barrier." Sesshomaru wasn't trying to be condescending.

"Why in seven hells would you ever help us?" He snarled, trying to rise to his feet only to be showed down again by Sesshomaru's guards, this time with more force. The wound on Inuyasha's cheek was dripping, and the smell was turning the whites of his guards' eyes slightly red.

"Because I'm sick of watching her struggle, and if I can prevent her from dying early and having you mope about it for the next hundred years, I will. Anything else? I'm ravenous, and though I prefer demon, hanyou may do in a pinch." She said matter of factly. Inuyasha was going to live many lifetimes without the human at his side already- Sesshomaru was just saving herself the trouble of listening to his moping about, waiting for yet another reincarnation of the same being. Things were quiet for a while. So long it was quite unnatural and Sesshomaru felt tingles through the hairs on her arms.

"What did Luo do to me." Inuyasha said in a voice quite unlike his own. A voice that was almost calm.

" It is none of your concern. It will soon be undone. " Sesshomaru murmured, lifting his feet just as Inuyasha twisted out of the guards grip just enough to lift and throw the low table into the wall where it cracked in half, spilling fine bone china to the floor where it shattered in curved fragments.

" If you ever come near my family again, I'll kill you, no matter what 'state' you happen to be in!" He shouted, slipping free from Sesshomaru's guards like an eel, up and across the rooftops, and over the golden arch of the eastern gate. Sesshomaru could hear him using the tessaiga on the demons within the moat and their screams of agony.

She stopped the guards from going after him with a single shake of her head. "For him, that was actually a somewhat civil conversation. And I don't intend on interfering with Kagome anymore." Tiao-Wen looked offended, "He threatened your life! We can't just sit here and do nothing!"

Sesshomaru assured him, "He is not a match for me even with my father's sword. And I'm fairly confident he has no wish to return here anytime soon, nor do I wish to see him." and ran a hand through her hair before stepping past the both of them. "If you two will excuse me I'm famished."

Tiao-Wen started to follow and she paused, bristling, "You will allow me this." and turning back to face him, the yellow from her eyes a bright blue and the white, now the deepest scarlet. He swallowed thickly, and nodded, watching as she walked through the same gates the hanyou had left from only moments before.

Of course, Sesshomaru went the opposite direction, towards the mountains. No point in tempting fate and running into the hanyou while in his true form.

If she did, she wasn't sure what would happen. And after running around and bringing down two wild boars, six demon deer and a numerous amount of pheasants, rabbits and weasels, Sesshomaru felt considerably better. After licking her muzzle she even decided to settle down atop one of the mountainous outcroppings and take a rest.

It was quiet except for the howling wind and the dry rustle of feeble grasses and stunted trees that grew at this altitude. From here she could see the vast expanse of the Foo Dog Manor, its high red walls proud and straight against the landscape. The inner and outer courtyard, the gardens, the training arena… A

ll seemed so insignificant. She was beginning to give serious thought to birthing the pups outside of the Palace, no matter how dangerous it may be. Sesshomaru's mother was still a greater threat than any wayward demon hungry for new, pure flesh. The ground was still dotted with powdered snow in some places but it didn't bother Sesshomaru; her coat was far too thick and insulating to be bothered by that cold. She licked the blood streaks off her face and paws slowly, meticulously, promising a long bath later as well to get rid of the smell.

Up here it was easy to forget the coming storm that her children would bring from the moment they were born into the world and the dragon's magic could no longer conceal them. Easy to forget his idiotic brother and his alter ego and the fox demon Diaozuan…

When was he visiting again? Today right? Ah well, plenty of time to rest up here and still make it back. God forbid his mother 'accidentally' dropped by for a visit and found Diaozuan drinking tea in her Palace. Her head dropped to her paws and without a single conscious decision to do so, she fell asleep.

A few hours later, a light crunching of the grasses behind her informed her she wasn't alone. She spun, nailing the other demon with both back feet and sending him into the side of the mountain, letting loose a roar at the same time to warn she was not in a playing mood. She took a few steps forward, bristling from ears to tail… only to hear her opponent give an amused chuckle and shake dusty snow out of his fur.

"As high strung as ever I see, little orchid."

Sesshomaru coughed and let her fur smooth, looking off and huffing indignantly, feeling the tiniest bit of embarrassment though of course there was no reason for it. "I knew it was you."

His grin widened. "Of course." She'd never seen his demon form close up before and couldn't help but give him a once-over. Discreetly, of course. There were telltale purple markings on his cheeks and shoulders, bright against the black fur. He had a deep and wide chest like that of a well-bred horse, thin but strong limbs, and a fan of six or- no, seven it looked like- tails around his back end. They twitched with amusement when Sesshomaru's eyes caught his own again.

"You were supposed to meet me at the Palace." She said haughtily, sitting down now and turning deliberately away because his smug face annoyed her.

"You're supposed to be taking good care of our little ones. I caught your scent on my way here. As a thoughtful and caring mate I of course had to check up on you-" Sesshomaru cuffed him across the snout, bristling worse than ever. "We are not mates, Diaozuan! And if you ever suggest such a ridiculous notion again I won't hesitate to-" This time it was Sesshomaru who was interrupted as she was pinned underneath the fox demon's weight. She went to bite him but was stopped by the fact he did something so stupid, so ridiculous, that she was stuck processing it was actually happening.  
>He was licking her face.<p>

The strokes were slow and gentle, and helped clean away the last little bits of blood on her muzzle. It was the sort of thing a mother would do, or perhaps a mate. But the fact that this was happening to the lord of the west was so disturbing it caused Sesshomaru to pause long enough for her demon to get a good whiff of Diaozuan and realize she did not want to kill off the familiar fox demon. And though Sesshomaru was no longer in heat, it did help to curb her temper somewhat.

It was then that she realized he was bleeding from where she'd struck him earlier, across the nose, and little droplets were falling onto the ground beside her head. Her long ears tucked back against her skull. " … I didn't mean to cause you harm." This was somewhere between a whisper and a growl. Diaozuan was surprised, and touched their noses together for a moment of brief affection before rolling off of her, tails wagging. "Didn't hurt. But why are you out here alone?"  
>After a moment of brief silence she said in a growl. " My hanyou brother came for a visit."<br>"I see." He sat beside her in silence for a moment as they both looked down at the Palace, then glanced over at her. " I… Don't want Inukimi around when the pup is born. It's not safe. You will be too vulnerable." Sesshomaru couldn't help but agree. After the disaster with Inuyasha keeping the line pure had been on everyone's minds. If she was present and the pup was Diaozuans… A shudder ran up her spine.

"I agree. But the moment I move elsewhere she will get suspicious. Give me time."  
>"You are always welcome in my home, especially if you need our protection. My family protects anyone willing to carry fox children." He said, very quietly. Since they were not officially recognized as being of the twelve zodiac, they mostly bred within their own clan. A fox and human crossbreed was rare. A fox and a pure demon dog? Unthinkable.<br>"You being present will practically scream at her who the father is." Sesshomaru said with a roll of his eyes, and Diaozuan responded with a huff,

"You can't keep that a secret forever. Better that it survives with me to protect it than die a horrific death in your mother's jaws when she smells fox demon scent, don't you think?"  
>"It's not an 'it', it's a 'them'. There are two." She corrected tiredly. Maybe a sign around her neck would save her the breath. As Diaozuan gave a little happy noise in response Sesshomaru added, "Though to be perfectly honest, I'm only sure about one of them. The other is probably pure dog demon."<p>

She was pleased at his horrified reaction. She considered his answer. It was shame his Palace was so far away. Perhaps she could make a dash on his dragon during the last couple months of pregnancy. It was certainly food for thought.

There was something else she needed him to know before he became too confident of her mothering nature.

"I almost took the poison." Sesshomaru murmured, and was sure he knew what she was talking about. He seemed hurt, but unsurprised, and moved a tad closer to her before saying. "But you didn't. That's what matters to me."

He looked her over for so long she began to prickle with annoyance. "What."

The light changed in his eyes to something playful, and he seemed a different demon entirely as he noted, "You're finally getting chubbier." He pawed her stomach, which indeed was slightly swollen even in her true form. This time, she sprang upon him with every intention of hurting him, and their fighting which somehow along the way turned playful echoed in the valley of the mountains.  
>_<p>

Diaozuan stayed as long as Sesshomaru was sure news of his arrival wouldn't make it to Inukimi, which was about a day and an half. During this the fox demon never left Sesshomaru's quarters and Sesshomaru didn't allow either of his bodyguards inside to see his guest. Of course they had seen them enter, and exit, but Sesshomaru was sure that neither of them knew it was for anything other than official business. And for all intensive purposes, this was official business. Sesshomaru would need him there during the birth, of that she was becoming more and more certain. Of course it made her disgusted to think she would be incapable of protecting her own young, but after witnessing a few demon births, Sesshomaru was less sure of her own strength than she was willing to admit. She gave Diaozuan a curt bow as he left though the West gate, her mind already cluttered with thoughts as she headed back to the inner courtyard.

Now the loose end of Gao needed to be tied up. After all, since they were linked he would inevitably change into his true form when he felt Sesshomaru's pain…. And if he did that in front of Kagome, he could well imagine the consequences. Of course, before that, he needed to deal with the one who had turned InuYasha into Gao in the first place. Which meant… It was time to pay a visit to the labrynth of prison cells underneath the Palace. She already had a suspect in mind for who could have accomplished such a feat. After all, they had so few relatives it was hardly a challenge, really. Inukimi already had him jailed for some minor offence but it was obvious she was just biding her time until she could pin him with something much more concrete.

As Sesshomaru passed through the crowd, it seemed like every other demon came to congratulate her, give her advice, or god forbid touch the bump in her form. Luckily, a flash of red in the whites of her eyes soon made them remember exactly who they were touching. Still, it sent shivers of disgust through her, and she wondered how she would react when the things inside her started moving. Sesshomaru didn't want to think about that.

The foreign affection was so different from the gentle, loving kisses Diaozuan had placed on stretched ivory skin the night before. She probably shouldn't have allowed it, but he had practically begged.

Sesshomaru wasn't about to think about that either. The fox demon was curbing her vicious nature and she didn't like it. Didn't understand why she acted so… Collected around him, allowed him so much more… leeway than anyone else she had ever encountered. But there would be time to analyze these irritating feelings later.

She grabbed a torch from the wall and opened the gate to the labyrinth with a single drop of pure demon dog blood. Once it closed behind her, she allowed a few moments for her eyes to adjust to cave darkness and register the range of normal sound- rats squeaking, water dripping, and a slight breeze from the cracks under the door.

Once that was finished he used mostly his sense of smell. After that it was quite easy tracing a scent that was almost his own, but not quite, don and around and through the horrid maze that resided underneath the Palace. After about an hour of walking Sesshomaru found who she was looking for.

"Luo."

He sat down on the slab of marble outside the cage that was a small seating area. It was immensely cold, and drafty, and moans from the other inmates could be heard from both directions. Sesshomaru set a hand lightly on her abdomen and leaned in, asking in a flat voice, "What did she get you for?"and handing a flask of demon blood sake through the bars. This was snatched up by clawed hands and a few messy, throaty gulps ensued before an answer.  
>"…One of my family members confessed they'd seen me in the same area as the unknown Foo Dog Demon. T-they knew you and I weren't exactly childhood sweethearts and knew I held the books which had the key to turning Inuyasha's blood to suit my needs… "<br>Sesshomaru lashed angrily, "So she knows about Inuyasha." suddenly very short on patience. Well, at least the thing with Diaozuan wasn't known yet. Meeting him again wouldn't be a good idea though. At least not until the pups were born. She won't care who got Sesshomaru pregnant as long as they would be Foo Dog pups.

Sesshomaru wrenched the bars open with a sickening hiss, the poison in his claws melting through the metal like butter.

"Get out. Flee to your human lover and half breed child. My mother might decide you're not worth the trouble if you are quick enough."

"Thank you." The thanks was unexpected, and the squeeze to her shoulder even more so. She stayed there for some time afterwards before shaking herself, looking down and whispering to no one in particular, "You're making me soft."

Whew! I've actually had this done for a while, but I had trouble with the last scene for some reason. Anywho, thanks for the correction about the characters-

I had to write myself a character guide to make sure that doesn't happen anymore. Hopefully it won't and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know if you want me to change/improve on anything. ^^


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