Theories- Part 1

Disclaimer- I do not own or get compensation from writing any of theses stories or by use of these characters.

A raven-haired child, known only as Rin, sat near a raging campfire. Just a few feet away laid the semi-conscious form of a toad demon she knew as Jaken. It wasn't a particularly cold night, but the air was far cooler than she wanted. The reason for the uninvited chill: Her protector and the one she called Lord Sesshomaru was definitely not in a good mood. He refused to talk to anyone, and when Jaken dared to approach the Demon Lord while he was in deep thought; the action awarded the lesser demon a beating, like none the great dog demon had ever inflicted on his servant before. Rin reached over to her small bowl, dipped her ragged cloth in the water, rung out the excess and applied the cloth to Jaken's bumpy brow. "It'll be alright, Master Jaken. I know Lord Sesshomaru will be sorry he beat you so badly, once he realizes what he's done."

Rising slowly from his prone position, he practically barked at the young child. "Foolish, human. It is I who will apologize to our Master when he is ready to receive me again. I should have known better than to bother him when he was in solitude thinking." Although he put on a brave front, the little demon was concerned. For some time now, his master had been even more distant than usual, and that was saying quite a bit, considering that Lord Sesshomaru was never one for great conversation or expressing his emotions. Still, it had been almost four months, ever since he had insisted on following closely behind his no-good, half-breed brother, InuYasha, and his vagabond group, and he was growing more emotionally distant.

Rin pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her head in them. Perhaps it would be best to leave Master Jaken alone for the night, also. Soon, in this unusual position, she was fast asleep. Jaken looked over at the sleeping human child, and knew that the fire would not be sufficient to keep her frail body warm for the night. If she caught ill, then Lord Sesshomaru would be angered and another beating would ensue. To avoid complications, Jaken got his beaten body up, limped over to the two-headed dragon, known as Ah-Un, retrieved a blanket and covered the sleeping girl. Deciding that sleep could do him no harm, and might aid his demonic body in self-healing, he too, soon found solace in sleep.

Not too far away, with his back to his small entourage's encampment, high upon a ragged cliff, sat the personage of the Great Dog Demon, Sesshomaru. His long, silver-white hair blew ever so slightly in the cool night breeze, from his vantage point overlooking the valley below. Never one to allow any of the elements to affect him, he merely sat there, cross-legged. His long, flowing fur boa, what he referred to as mokomoko, wrapped itself around him, It seemed not quite alive, but definitely not dead, and was part of Sesshomaru, at least he had never been seen without it gracing the right side of his body, or in this case, wrapped in it like a furry, spiral blanket. He was not sleepy, for he seldom found need for sleep, but he kept his eyes closed.

His mind was working, moving in many directions. He was keeping guard on the surrounding area for signs for danger, from humans, animals, or worse, demons. There were none that could stand up to his strength or power. He was searching for one particular demon, rather part demon, part human- one who called himself Naraku. That was the most heinous of all who could cause this Sesshomaru even a moment's real problem, but even he had never proven more than an inconvenience. But, since he had given this Sesshomaru problem, even once, that was reason enough to want him eradicated.

Also on his mind was his brother, or rather half-brother, InuYasha, and his wayward band of humans that followed him, also in search of Naraku. They all had reasons of their own, but found that working as a team, they had a better chance of finding and possibly defeating him. Fools! If even this Sesshomaru had been unable to defeat Naraku in their previous encounter, what made these feeble humans, and his half-breed brother think they could defeat him? Still, there was always a chance, a chance that their fight with Naraku could weaken him and leave the final kill to this Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru's mind tonight was not on finding and killing Naraku, nor worrying about his small entourage. No, tonight, like every other night for the last four months, he was thinking of a specific individual. His every spare moment was wrapped in the thoughts of this one, all consuming affliction. Miroku. As he looked out over the cliff to the valley below, his demonic eyes could clearly see the flames of the fire set for the night's camping of the rag-tag demon hunters. His brother was sitting by a boulder, arms crossed over his chest, with Tetsauiga clenched in his fist, ready to defend the little group from any invaders. Sleeping around the fire were the female demon-slayer and her demonic fire-cat curled by her side. Close to her was that strange dark-haired girl that was supposedly the reincarnation of the dead miko- Kikyo, Kagome was her name. She held the young kitsune in her arms. So motherly.

He surveyed around the campsite. There was a missing human, the monk, the one he really wanted to see. Miroku was not there. In an uncharacteristic move, Sesshomaru raised quickly, but oh so gracefully, to his feet, mokomoko unfurling from his body and taking residence along his right side and shoulder. He picked up Tokijin and Tensaiga from their place next to him on the ground and slid them into his sash. He could feel his heart beat within his chest, something he never felt before, and he didn't like it; something that Rin once claimed to be akin to panic! Wanting to waste no time in determining the cause for the monk's absence, Sesshomaru turned into a ball of energy and flew down the cliff into the valley, and straight into the camp. He didn't give InuYasha time to react, grabbing his hand that clenched Tetsauiga and holding it firmly in place. With his face inches from his brother's, and in his normal, low-tone of voice, he demanded, "Where is the monk?"

InuYasha started to yelp, but Sesshomaru's arm flew up at an angle and his elbow jammed into his brother's mouth. "Keep quiet, little brother, you wouldn't want your friends to be harmed, would you?"
InuYasha barely shook his head, and Sesshomaru removed his elbow from InuYasha's mouth. "Now, tell me where the monk is? He was traveling with you all day and I saw him come to this site to help make camp. Where is he now?"

InuYasha was shocked. His brother had been watching them and knew where they had been, when they got to this place. Now he wanted to know why Miroku wasn't here. "Feh! Why should I tell you anything, you big bag of wind? Just 'cause you're my big, bad, full-demon brother, the almighty great Lord Sesshomaru, don't give you the right to come in here and demand to know where my friend is." He took an even braver stance with Sesshomaru. "Hey, are you the reason Miroku's been acting so funny the last couple of months? Whatcha been doing to him anyway? He's been acting awful skittish lately."

Sesshomaru was quickly losing what little patience he had for his brother. He never let anyone delay him in getting what he wanted, and these tactics were so annoying. A clawed hand, dripping with poison poised itself around InuYasha's throat. "I will ask but once more, where is the monk?" As InuYasha gasped and grabbed at the deadly hand that was about to take his life, a voice called out from the dark.

"I'm right here, Lord Sesshomaru. Please, I beseech you, do not harm InuYasha. If it is I you are looking for, you need look no further." Sesshomaru lowered his hand from InuYasha's throat and threw him back against the boulder from which he had been resting. He turned to face the person attached to the familiar voice, the monk known as Miroku. He was standing on the far side of the campsite, having just entered from the darkened woods.

Miroku stared at InuYasha. Seeing he was not really harmed, only a bit scared and rubbing at the place on his throat where Sesshomaru had grabbed him, Miroku again turned his attention to the Demon Lord. "What does Lord Sesshomaru want with this lowly human monk?"

Sesshomaru walked over to Miroku, grabbed his arm and started to drag him back towards the woods from whence he just came. InuYasha started to say something, but Sesshomaru shot him a look that only invited a painful death if he opened his mouth and uttered a sound. InuYasha wisely closed his mouth, rubbed his sore throat. He sat back against his boulder and took up his guard duties for the night. With Sesshomaru around, no one, and certainly no demon, would dare to show up. Things would be safe.

Once he knew that InuYasha would no longer try to interfere, Sesshomaru took Miroku's arm again and led him into the forest. When they were what Sesshomaru thought was a safe distance from the vigilant ears of his half-demon brother, he stopped and turned to face Miroku. "Where have you been for the past two hours, Monk?"

Miroku was stunned by this sudden show of concern by Sesshomaru. In all their encounters in the last several months, never was there a show of emotion or concern for his well-being demonstrated. "My Lord Sesshomaru. I was not aware that my movements were your business. For as much as I have made myself available to you for your purposes in the past, you should know that I would not be far from the camp we set up at any given place. You did not indicate that you would be wanting my services again so soon, so I took a walk after dinner. I wanted to clear my head, do some thinking."

"Well, Monk, it seems that we both have been doing some thinking. Perhaps we should compare notes on our thoughts. As you stated, I have come to you on numerous occasions, and that is why I am here tonight." Sesshomaru looked at Miroku, trying to see if there was any rational reason he would want to be here. What he saw was Miroku, unceremoniously starting to undress himself, like he had some so many other times that Sesshomaru had come to him. "Stop! Keep your robes on, Miroku. I didn't come here for that tonight. I came to talk."

Miroku froze, unsure of what he should do. Sesshomaru didn't want him for sex this time? Was he tired of him, had he lost his appeal? He had dreaded this time would come. He had finally realized that he had fallen in love with the stoic demon lord, and knew that it was a one-way deal. Still, he hoped he could draw it out a little longer. He had been thinking of new things to do to make their sex better for Sesshomaru, but now, it looked like it might never come to be. He finally looked up to Sesshomaru's golden eyes, needing some answers. "Have I offended you, My Lord? Tell me what I have done wrong or what I can do to make it better, and I will try." Miroku fell to his knees in supplication.

Sesshomaru looked down at the human kneeling before him; the monk was acting like so many human females he had seen, used and then tossed aside by their male counterparts, like so much unwanted trash. This was not what he intended, not what he wanted. If anything, it was the opposite. All the months of sitting, contemplating what it was that drew him to Miroku, all the theories he had drawn up. At first, it was fascination with the lecherous monk who couldn't seem to keep his hands off anything, female or male, that struck his fancy. Then there was the theory that he was a fierce fighter. Their sexual encounters had definitely brought out a lot of fight in the monk, and on several occasions, only quick action by this Sesshomaru had saved him from that cursed Wind Tunnel in Miroku's hand. But more recently, the theories were leaned more towards liking the familiarity of being with the monk. Their encounters were never mundane, never planned, always welcomed by both parties, and always quite satisfying. There was a certain amount of wanting to be with the monk, something inside this Sesshomaru that drove him to be here. When he was forced to stay away for more than a few days, for any reason, this Sesshomaru felt … lonely for Miroku, and wanted. No, he needed to see him. Just seeing him now calmed his heart. The pounding stopped; there was no more of the panic feeling.

Doing something never expected, Sesshomaru reached down, and picked Miroku up by the arm and pulled him to his chest, wrapped his arm around him and gave him a genuine hug. He held the monk there, running his hand up and down the monk's back, caressing him. He bent his head down, allowing his silver-white hair to cascade like a blanket, shielding their faces, as Sesshomaru placed a long and passionate kiss on Miroku's trembling lips. After several moments, Sesshomaru pulled back from the kiss and stared into Miroku's ebony eyes. "My theories have come to their conclusion Monk."

Miroku placed his cheek against Sesshomaru's chest. Only his rapidly beating heart and bated breaths belied the fact that he was terrified of the next statement to come from the Demon Lord. Scared, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, an act to brace himself for the worst possible scenario he could think of, he asked, "What has my Lord concluded."

Sesshomaru moved his hand from Miroku's back and brought it to his chin, lifting the chin so there was no way their eyes could not meet. Seeing the tightly closed eyes, he whispered, "Open your eyes and look at me, Miroku." Once that order was obeyed, Sesshomaru could see tears well in the corners of each ebony-colored eye. "Why do you cry? Have I harmed you?"

"No, My Lord, It's just my foolish human emotions, please forgive me." Miroku all but begged.

Taking his tongue, he licked the cascading tears from Miroku's cheeks. "No more crying. I cannot have my mate crying every time I kiss him or show him any form of affection."

Again, Miroku froze, this time, staring into Sesshomaru's face. He knows he heard some of the words, but he wasn't sure he heard them all. "Did you say mate, My Lord?"

"Yes, Mate. I have theorized that the only conclusion for me, us, is to become mates. Therefore, on the first day of summer, I will officially take you for my mate. "

"But have you forgotten, My Lord, that I am a human, a male human at that?" Miroku was shocked, but not appalled.

"I am. And as I have said, this is the only conclusion that makes sense for us. Do you disagree?" Sesshomaru gave a stern look at Miroku, one that almost forbade the offer to be refused.

Miroku swallowed deeply. To be honest, he had done his own theorizing, and had come to a similar conclusion, but threw it out, because, well, who was he talking about mating with? Still, not wishing to anger Lord Sesshomaru, or give up his chance for some real happiness, he answered."I agree, completely. It's the only theory that makes any sense." Then he stopped to think about something he hadn't thought through completely. "What do we tell the others, InuYasha, Sango, and then there's Jaken and Rin?"

"We tell them we have both thought about it, and concluded it's the only thing to do." Sesshomaru took Miroku's hand and placed a ring on his left middle finger, a gold ring bearing the family crest. For the first time ever, and for the last time until their wedding night, Sesshomaru smiled.

TBC