Chapter 2 - Unexpected

Kagome's nervousness came back as she walked back to camp, she wondered if Inuyasha had come back. But as she neared the campsite, she couldn't sense Inuyasha's aura, confirming he was not back yet.

She sighed. 'Inuyasha…'

Kagome hadn't realized that she had reached the camp until Sango brought her out of her thoughts. "Are you alright, Kagome?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." She tried to smile to reassure her but Sango could clearly see it didn't reach her eyes. Nothing but sadness was visible in her eyes at the moment.

When Kagome had come back from her walk, Sango and Miroku immediately noticed the sadness and the pain it caused her heart. They were glad that Shippo had fallen asleep, that way; he didn't have to see how his surrogate mother was being torn apart by some grief she didn't want them to know about. The little one would surely feel bad that he hasn't been able to figure out a way to make her happy again.

They knew it had something to do with what was going on with Inuyasha but they didn't want to push her to tell them if she wasn't ready to tell them. But they hated to see her like this. They just wanted her to know that she was able to trust them to help her with anything; after all, she had done so much for them.

"Kagome, what ever it is that troubles you, you know that you can tell us." Miroku stood up from where he sat near the campfire and came to stand next to Sango. "We are your friends and we worry about you."

"I know guys and I'm sorry for making you worry. It's just…" Kagome sighed and hugged herself. She hadn't notice the night chill until that moment.

"Come. Let's go sit near the fire." Sango noticed her shiver from the cold and took Kagome by her shoulders, leading her to the campfire with Miroku right behind them.

Kagome sat down, Sango and Miroku sat facing her, the fire between them. They waited for Kagome to continue.

"Inuyasha told me that he… he finally had chosen me. He asked me to become his mate."

'So that was it!' thought Sango. Miroku had thought along that same line about what was causing the miko grief. "So you told him how you feel, didn't you?"

Kagome nodded.

Now everything made sense to both of them. Both Sango and Miroku knew that Kagome didn't love Inuyasha anymore. Knowing Kagome, she was feeling guilty for causing Inuyasha pain. After all the pain he had caused her, she still felt guilty for his.

"Kagome, don't blame yourself. You waited a long time for him. You even made the decision of stepping aside so he could be happy with Kikyo and as time passed, your heart was able to mend. But it's not your fault that Inuyasha didn't realize his mistake in time. If his hurting right now, its because of his choice, not yours."

All Kagome could do was lower her gaze. She understood, but she still couldn't stop feeling guilty. 'Just because Inuyasha hurt me, doesn't mean that I have to make him feel the same way now.'

Kagome knew that Sango and Miroku were only trying to help her, but no matter what they said, she still felt guilt.

Miroku was able to sense her distress. "Do not worry too much, Kagome. Just be yourself; Inuyasha will eventually understand that you no longer see him the same way and his pain will subside."

Kagome thought about it and decided it was worth a try. "I hope so."

"We should get some rest; it's getting late." Sango stretched her stiff limbs and yawned.

Seeing Sango made both Kagome and Miroku, realize how tired they actually were. They all said their good nights and as Kagome got into her sleeping bag, she couldn't help give one last thought about her situation.

'I really hope things go back to the way they were.'

As she closed her eyes and gladly let sleep overtake her, she had no idea of what was in store for her the next morning.

His tall form moved gracefully among the trees as the sun rose, announcing a new morning. At his heels, followed a small imp-like youkai, a two-headed dragon youkai, and a small human child.

The small human child lay asleep on the large two-headed dragon youkai while the imp-like youkai heartily followed behind his lord. Being youkai, Sesshomaru, Jaken, and Ah-Un could walk many nights without rest; however Sesshomaru would not push Rin. He knew how long she was able to keep going without rest. And as she reached her limits, he would allow her to ride Ah-Un and rest.

As he thought about his young human ward, he gave thought to something he had witness two days ago as they had walked near a human village.

Sesshomaru could smell the human village from the far distance they still were from it. He normally would avoid humans but he considered that there might be some sort of article that Rin might require and if she wished to, she could visit the village. She never did leave his side when he did this but nonetheless, he would always travel near a human village.

As they were passing the village, Sesshomaru did not feel the intent of leaving from Rin once again. However, all of a sudden, he felt longing radiating off of her. He turned to her to see what was causing her to feel this. He saw her looking towards the human village and turned as well.

Of in the distance, there were rice fields and he could see a human woman and her child. As they were tending to the fields, they sang and laughed together. They seemed to care and love each other.

'So, Rin longs for a mother.' Sesshomaru had never considered that she would ever be in need of a mother figure. She seemed content with him. 'However, she is a child, it is natural for a child to seek affection from both parents.' Maybe it was time for him to look for a mate.

He turned forward again. "Is something the matter, Rin?"

As her attention was diverted from the human mother and child to him, he felt her longing disappear and replaced with one of content.

"No, Sesshomaru-sama." She smiled and started skipping as they continued to walk.

As Sesshomaru returned from the memory, he had continued to walk and looked back to find Rin still asleep on Ah-Un's back.

The issue of taking a mate had been on his mind even before Rin. He wasn't considering taking a mate so soon but he knew he would have to eventually. However, considering that it was for Rin's well being, he would allow this change.

But who could be worthy enough?

He didn't know how he was going to find a worthy mate, but he knew it would have be someone that would care for Rin and that Rin would care for her as well. Someone who would be able to protect her if he ever were not able to do so. She would have to be his match or stronger.

Out of all the females he has come across, there has been only one that has come close.

Before he could even continue his train of thought, he stopped as he sensed a demonic aura near by, as well as a strong power from the miko that had been on his mind just a second ago.

"What is it, Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin had woken up as she had felt Ah-Un come to an abrupt stop.

"The half-breed is nearby."

"Inuyasha!" said Jaken with a disgusted tone.

As she heard Jaken say Inuyasha's name, Rin immediately got off of Ah-Un and ran to her lord. 'If Sesshomaru-sama's younger brother is near, then that means that Kagome-sama is too.'

Rin had grown to care for Kagome. Kagome was always kind to her. Whenever they crossed paths, Kagome would always give her some foreign treat called "candy" and she would also teach her games. Rin rarely saw her so whenever Sesshomaru went looking for a fight with Inuyasha, she would tag along her lord to go see her.

However, she hadn't seen her lately and thought this was a perfect opportunity to see her.

"Sesshomaru-sama, may we please go visit Kagome-sama? She has always been nice to me and I want to go give her flowers. May we please go?"

Sesshomaru thought for a moment. He had noticed the affection Rin had developed for the miko. But was she really what he is looking for? She was just a human. But as he thought more about the miko and all their encounters, he knew that she wasn't just human but a very formidable opponent.

Sesshomaru was brought out of his thoughts by Jaken's usual uproar. "You insolent girl! How dare you even suggest…" But before he could finish, Sesshomaru cut in.

"We will go see the miko."

"B-B-But my Lord…" However, his protests were interrupted as well by Rin.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama. I will start picking the most beautiful flowers I can find." She ran back to Ah-Un and took his reins. "Come Ah-Un. You can help me."

Sesshomaru turned and sought out Kagome's scent. It had been a while since he let himself take her scent in. She smelled of a foreign floral that he once came across during a distant travel he made. He had done some research on the flower and discovered it was called a Jasmine.

He had found the scent pleasant and never forgot it. He hadn't come across the scent again until the miko showed up. When he had discovered that the smell of Jasmine was coming from her, he had despised her. Why was such a pleasant scent joined with a weak mortal girl?

However, she had changed his perception of her. When she pulled out the Tetsusaiga from his father's grave, he immediately realized she was no weak, ordinary human. There was something he was able to feel coming deep within the girl, it was faint, but he felt her power and he was able to feel that it wasn't fully developed.

Now, her power was almost as great as his. Almost, but he knew that it would surpass his own in time if the miko kept up with her training. Now, she wasn't a weak human but a very powerful miko and he had grown to respect her.

As he thought more about, he had to admit to himself that the miko intrigued him. She possessed traits that he viewed a mate should possess. He never would have thought that he would ever consider the miko as a potential mate. However, he needed to acquire more knowledge of her to be certain that it was her own strength and not luck in her favor.

He caught the odor of Jasmines and started heading towards its direction, with Rin looking for flowers with Ah-Un and a grumpy Jaken behind him.

Kagome could hardly believe it. It worked; it actually worked. She had acted like nothing was strange between them and things with Inuyasha seem to have started to go back to normal.

When Kagome had woken up, Inuyasha was on the opposite side of camp, resting on a tree branch as usual, while everyone else was still sleeping. She remembered what Miroku had said to her and tried to think of a typical way to approach Inuyasha.

"Good Morning, Inuyasha." She tried to sound as cheerful as she possibly could but not so much as to make it sound like she was being cheerful by force.

"Morning." He said it so low; she wasn't sure what he had said at first.

'I need something more, something to get him riled up.' She thought quickly and came up with something perfect. There was nothing Inuyasha hated more than getting ordered around.

"I need you to go get me some water for breakfast." She smiled in triumph as she saw Inuyasha's ears twitch and his body tense up like he always did when he got mad.

"What do I look like, your lap dog? Keh, go get it yourself!"

Kagome was trying so hard not to laugh. It was working, now all she had to do was push him a little more so she could get him in his usual crater. She would know for certain how Inuyasha would take things from then on.

"Come on, Inuyasha. Everyone else is sleeping and I don't want to wake them up yet. I can't do it by myself either."

"Of course you can't. You're just a weak human." Hook, line, and sinker!

"Inuyasha, sit!" All she saw was a red blur fall from the branch Inuyasha was just a moment ago to find him face down on the ground. This was it, if Inuyasha yelled at her, she would know for certain Inuyasha would heal in due time. But if he reacted in a different way, she just wasn't sure how things would play out between them from then on.

"What the hell, Kagome! What was that for?"

"Nothing, never mind." She quickly turned around and walked away. As she left, she was able to hear something he was saying to myself.

"Ch, not like I said something wrong."

She smiled to herself and felt a giggle bubbly up inside her. As she prepared breakfast and all through out their meal, Inuyasha kept nagging for her to hurry up, it was already late and that they were losing time. But this time, Kagome didn't get mad as usual. Instead, she wore a small smile on her face. Inuyasha seemed to be coming to terms with their relationship. It seemed that everything was going to fine between them.

"Can't you guys eat any faster? We're burning daylight!" Inuyasha's cheeks were full with half eaten food as he tried to make everyone get a move on.

Kagome was finishing the last of her ramen when she felt a very strong demonic aura. Just when she turned to Inuyasha to see if he had sensed it, she saw his body stiffen and he turned around.

"What's wrong?" Miroku noticed Kagome and Inuyasha had turned completely serious and immediately knew something was not right.

"It's Sesshomaru."

As soon as Kagome said Sesshomaru's name, Inuyasha unsheathed Tetsusaiga and took his fighting stance. Not a moment later, Sesshomaru walked out of the forest, towards them.

Inuyasha almost let out a growl. "What do you want, Sesshomaru?"

Even as Inuyasha spoke to him, Sesshomaru continued coming towards them.

"I have come to see the miko."

Kagome suddenly became nervous. 'Me? Why would Sesshomaru come looking for me?'

They were all stunned at the reason of Sesshomaru's visit; they didn't notice that Sesshomaru was headed for Kagome at first. Inuyasha came out of his stupor first as he caught Kagome's movement when she started stepping back as Sesshomaru came closer to her.

He immediately went to her side, blocking Sesshomaru's path to her. He stopped a few feet from them.

"What do you want with Kagome?"

Sesshomaru's usual unimpressionable face betrayed nothing. "Rin wished to visit the miko. And there is something I would like to discuss with the miko as well."

Hearing that Rin wanted to see her immediately calmed Kagome. She thought that whatever Sesshomaru wanted to talk to her about was about Rin as well.

Before Inuyasha could say anything, Kagome spoke up first. "Where is she? I would like to see her too."

"She is with Ah-Un and Jaken, across the stream. Knowing that the pitiful half-breed might attack my person immediately after I made myself known, I left her at a distant from harm. I told her that I would bring you to her."

At this, Inuyasha let out the growl he was holding back. "You, bastard! You aren't going anywhere with Kagome." And immediately charged, closing the few feet between them with Tetsusaiga in the air. Sesshomaru swiftly unsheathed Tokijin as Inuyasha brought down Tetsusaiga on him, commencing the fight.

Kagome with Shippo in her arms, Sango with Kirara on her shoulder and Miroku moved a distance a way to avoid getting caught in one of the brothers' strikes in their usual "brotherly quarrel".

"This is probably going to take a while. Why don't you go ahead and go see Rin, Kagome. I know that you've grown attached to her and want to go see her. It has been I while." Sango knew how important Rin had become to Kagome. After Rin's visits, Kagome would go on and on about the little girl and saw the adoration in her eyes.

In such a short time, Kagome began to see Rin like a daughter. And Sango has seen that Rin also sees Kagome like a mother. Every time she visited, she would always tell her stories of her time with Sesshomaru. She would share what he taught her and would seek Kagome's praise when she shared her little endeavors. They always cherish their time together so Sango made her the suggestion now.

However, Kagome wasn't sure about leaving Inuyasha. "But what about Inuyasha?"

"Do not worry about Inuyasha, Kagome. He can manage his own against Sesshomaru. You know he will never let himself go down easy. Besides, I and Sango will be here to make sure nothing get out of hand."

Miroku also knew of the new developed affection between Kagome and Rin and thought this would be a good opportunity for Kagome to get a break from all her recent worries. Spending quality time with her children always lifted her spirits.

"Oh, thanks so much guys. It really has been a while since I've seen Rin." Kagome looks down at Shippo in her arms. "Would you like to come with me, Shippo?"

"Yeah, it's been a while since we played a game of tag." Shippo had also grown attached to Rin and always love to play the games Kagome taught them with her. He loved the idea of having a younger sister.

"All right then, we're off. If things get rough, please come get me. Later!" Miroku and Sango waved at her as she left.

Author's note:

I'm not really sure how I like this chapter. I feel different things for the beginning, middle and end. But that doesn't matter, what does matter is what the readers think, so tell me what you guys think. Constructive criticism is also appreciated.

I would like to thank everyone that favorited (I don't think that's a word, LOL) this story. But I would especially like to thank:

- Trinity Fenton-Phantom

- casedeputy

and

- yuseirulez34

for taking time to share their thoughts about the beginning of this story. Thank you guys so much! OXOX