Another chapter just for you lovely reviewers. Enjoy.

Kagome

Kagome laid in the grass, watching the clouds roll by, completely and utterly bored. She was glad to see the land in peace, but after spending so long adventuring she was beginning to lose patience with the monotony.

She lived in the hut with Kaede and Shippo.

Sango and Miroku were expecting their first child.

Inu Yasha had been gone for a while.

She suspected he was searching for traces of Kikyou. She couldn't go anywhere without being recognized now. If it had been her own time she would have been considered famous and would have at least had paparazzi to fight off, but no. Nothing exciting for her.

Sesshoumaru

He caught her scent long before she came into sight. The mere wiff soothing him as nothing else could. A shiver slid down his spine as he entered the clearing where she laid in the grass. She didn't seem to notice his presence and he was stuck by how well this time seemed to be agreeing with her.

Humans could change so much in the span of eight months.

Her hair was longer, her skin kissed with the light of the sun, and she'd matured nicely since he'd met her. If he had known what sort of woman she would become he never would have brushed her aside as inferior. Even now, he could feel her Miko powers flaring out at him.

He flexed the arm that she herself had given back to him. Yes, she was certainly his equal now.

Should have jumped on that when you had the chance.

Sesshoumaru internally flinched as his beast reminded him exactly why he'd been avoiding her. He mentally shook himself.

Rin needed the Miko.

He needed to focus on why he'd come.

"Miko," he called softly.

She sat up and locked eyes with him.

His breath caught at the depth, knowledge, and power that those eyes always seemed to hold.

Focus.

Kagome

She blinked up at the demon lord for a moment. She hadn't seen him since the final battle and was a little shocked to see him approaching her now.

His expression was impassive as always.

She'd often wondered what the beautiful demon could be thinking, but had long ago given up on ever guessing.

Oh yes, the demon was beautiful. The sort of beauty that was designed to attract one close enough to face their death. The perfect predator.

She shook her head, realizing that she had allowed her thoughts to wander, and stood to face him.

"Afternoon, Sesshoumaru. Did you have a reason for seeing me?"

Sesshoumaru

His heart ached as his name slipped from those lips.

She had always said his name with such familiarity. It always served to remind him just exactly what he had rejected. What he could have had if he had only realized that the fates wouldn't have gifted him with a weak mate.

You reap what you sow, pup.

I don't need to be reminded of my own past.

"I require your assistance, Miko." He'd never said her name aloud. Not once.

She tilted her head slightly and blinked those wide eyes at him. "Um, sure. What's up?"

He mentally shook himself again, forcing himself to focus. No other being had ever made him lose focus the way she could.

"Rin requires the guidance of a human female, immediately."

Kagome

His expression never changed as he sort of asked for her help.

It made sense. Rin had to be around twelve by now, and the little girl only had Sesshoumaru and Jaken as far as she knew.

By the time I was twelve I'd…. As the thought occurred to her, she realized why the demon had said immediately. If she's started her period without ever being told about such things, the poor thing is probably scared to death!

"Take me to her."

The Daiyokai stepped forward and picked her up before Kagome could protest and launched into the air. Kagome clung to the demon in fear, not quite trusting him not to drop her on purpose.

Sure the demon had become a sort of ally, but she also knew that she offended him regularly with her personality and her lack of decorum.

Sesshoumaru

He had to concentrate to keep himself from reacting to the fear that marred her scent. Having her physically pressed to his chest had his heart racing and his body reacting as it always did to her presence.

Heh, I don't want anything to do with a human, no. I just want to claim her, and nuzzle her, and rut until we're both to sore to keep going.

Images filtered past his consciousness which he would swear came from his demon if a mind reader were to ask at that moment.

He snorted softly and blazed across the sky, back to his ancestral home.

Kagome

Sesshoumaru landed in a clearing and set her on her feet before walking toward a large ornate home. It could have been fit for royalty. Dark blues and gold decorated the house.

She rushed after the demon.

The house could wait till later. Rin needed her.

As soon as she entered the house she could hear the little girl sobbing.

Sesshoumaru motioned up the stairs, and she could have sworn that she saw a flicker of concern in his eyes.

Kagome rushed past him to where the sobbing was loudest. She found Rin curled up in a ball on the floor in front of a hearth, holding her stomach and crying. She rushed over to the child.

"Rin," she said softly as she dropped to the floor beside her.

"L-lady Kagome! Rin is dying," the small girl cried.

Kagome gently lifted her head to place it in her lap. "Shh, you're not dying. You're just becoming a woman."

"Why does it hurt?"

"Let's get you cleaned up and feeling better and then I'll explain it to you." Kagome looked over her shoulder to see Sesshoumaru standing there as she had been sure he would be. "I need warm water, and my bag from the village. I have herbs to help with the pains."

The demon nodded and disappeared. It wasn't long before a tiny demoness who looked to be barely older than Rin brought a basin of warm water and a couple cloths.

"Come on sweetie, let's get you cleaned up."

By the time Sesshoumaru had returned with her bag, she had Rin cleaned up and had the small child laying with a warm cloth on her belly, fast asleep.

"Thank you Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru

He watched as she rummaged through her bag and began grinding dried herbs.

She really was amazing.

He'd never seen another female with such open minded mothering instincts.

She treated any child as though they were her own. She had even adopted the demon kit, which he had brought along.

She would have made a good mother to our pups.

His heart twisted sharply at just how appealing that idea was. He quickly shook it off and focused to the human child that had come to mean so much to him.

"Is she in heat?"

Kagome glanced over her shoulder at him and frowned. "Not exactly, humans don't go into heat… Let me take care of her, and I'll explain it a little more." She brewed the herbs into a tea and woke the child long enough to have her drink the mixture before lulling the child back to sleep.

When she stood, she seemed surprised to see him still standing there.

Sesshoumaru turned and led the way down stairs to the sitting room where he'd left her kit.

"Where's momma?" The kit hopped up as soon as he entered the room, followed shortly by the Miko.

"Shh, Rin is sleeping Shippo." The boy flushed with embarrassment, and he was once again struck by how good the female was with children.

He watched as she sat down with the Kit. She explained that they were there to help Rin, but it was nothing for him to worry about. When the boy fell asleep she finally graced him with her attention.

"May we speak outside, Sesshoumaru? I don't want to wake him up."

He nodded and followed her out onto the front steps where she sat and looked up at the dark sky.

Kagome

How do you explain a period to a demon?

She supposed it would be good practice for when she explained it to Rin.

"All right, I'm going to start by saying that demon mating is absolutely nothing like humans."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could have almost sworn that the demon's mouth had dropped open slightly before his impassive mask was firmly back in place.

"What would a human know of demon mating?"

She huffed and stared at the demon blankly. "You forget that I can read. When I adopted Shippo, I made it a priority to learn about the child that I was taking on. Something you yourself should have done when you took on Rin."

The demon narrowed his eyes at her for a moment before looking up at the sky.

"Continue explaining human mating habits."

Arrogant jerk.

Kagome sighed and regathered her thoughts. "All right, what Rin is going through is called a period. It's something all human women have when they are of child bearing age. Every month human women's bodies line their uterus with extra nutrients and when she doesn't get pregnant the lining expires and the woman bleeds to remove the extra gunk and the process starts all over. This happens every month for about five to seven days depending on the woman."

She finally looked over at the demon lord to see him blinking at her in something akin to horror.

"This happens every month?"

Kagome nodded solemnly.

The demon breathed deeply before turning to look away.

"So… She will not be searching for a mate?"

"Oh no, no, no, no! Rin's just a little girl, it'll be years before she's ready for that sort of thing."

Sesshoumaru

He took in the Miko's words and nodded to acknowledge that he had heard her. The knowledge put him at ease. It also explained something that he had long wondered.

The Miko was definitely of child bearing age, and yet remained pure. It seemed that humans had a bit more freedom in choosing their partners.

She had certainly proven herself to be knowledgeable about such things. Though he hadn't expected her to have knowledge on how demon mating worked.

His attention was drawn to her, as the Miko yawned.

"I'm going to go get some sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight, Sesshoumaru."

Goodnight, Sesshoumaru.

As soon as the canvas fell back over the door he allowed himself to drop down to sit on the step she had occupied a moment before.

The human pup needs a mother, why not ask our mate to stay?

What makes you think she'd want anything to do with us?

After the way you behaved? She wouldn't. She loves the pup though, and it might give you a chance to fix the mess you've made.

Sesshoumaru stared up at the stars, silently contemplating whether or not he wanted the Miko to stay.