Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any of the characters-as much as I wish I did. All original characters are mine and I make no money off of this.

Once again Elizabeth awoke to find herself laying her head on Sesshomaru's leg. But this time, Rin lay curled between them. Sesshomaru's mokomoko was piled atop the two of them, keeping them warm.

Elizabeth sat up and replaced the mokomoko over Rin.

"Good morning Sesshomaru," she said with a smile. Unfortunately, she hadn't realized Jaken was awake as well. Her lack of an honorific immediately sent him into a tirade about how disrespectful and rude she was. She serenely ignored him and moved to sit beside Sesshomaru against the tree.

"Jaken." The icy voice snapped like thin ice

"Ack!" Jaken prostrated himself and began to mumble apologies.

"Jaken." This time it was Elizabeth that spoke coldly. "You're going to wake Rin. Hush."

Normally she had a great deal of tolerance for the little green kappa, since even though he complained he took excellent care of Rin. But he had been getting on her nerves for the past few days and she was just ready for a little silence.

Jaken protested for a moment longer, until an incredibly cold glare on the part of Sesshomaru made him shut up.

Elizabeth sat beside Sesshomaru in silence for perhaps ten minutes. She was simply contemplating her new life.

She had Rin, Sesshomaru, even Ah-Un and Jaken. Sure she no longer had access to the internet, but who needed fanfiction when you were living with actual fictional characters. She didn't really have anyone to miss back in her original world, what with her parents being dead and her sisters off at school. She hadn't had many close friends, much less a boyfriend. So now she found herself thrust into a new world, an entirely new way of living. And she was far more fulfilled than she had ever been before.

Taking care of Rin was a joy in it of itself. Elizabeth had truly come to love the little girl deeply in the past few weeks. She knew the feeling of loving a sister, but her feeling for Rin was very different. It was almost how she imagined a mother would feel for her daughter.

Jaken, she felt mostly ambivalent towards. He was annoying in the extreme, but he did an excellent job of taking care of Rin.

It was her feelings for Sesshomaru that took the most time to ponder. She had fallen in love with the idea of him thanks to the anime and fanfiction. But now she was actually getting to know the real him and it was wonderful. He was still a cold person for the most part, but he had his sweet moments. And it was those moments that were really making it difficult for her to resist showing her feelings for him.

As she thought, Elizabeth failed to notice that her head had dropped onto Sesshomaru's shoulder. She let her eyes fade out of focus and let herself get lost in a daydream of life with Sesshomaru and Rin. Even Jaken and Ah-Uh featured in her daydream to a small extent.

She didn't notice Rin wake, comfortable to remain exactly where she was.

"Good morning, Sesshomaru-sama, Elizabeth-sama, Master Jaken," Rin said sleepily.

"Huh?" Elizabeth jerked up and glanced around in surprise. Sesshomaru chuckled softly. Without thinking, she reacted and elbowed him in the side.

"Oof."

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry Sesshomaru!" Elizabeth turned and immediately went to touch him, but also held herself back. The result was that she hovered worriedly over him.

"I am alright Elizabeth," he reassured her. Then he turned to Rin. "Good morning Rin."

"Morning Rin," Elizabeth faced the young girl and rose to her feet. "Shall we get started on breakfast?"

"Elizabeth, Rin, we're leaving." Sesshomaru stood and began to walk. Quickly they gathered their things and followed him.

The day passed smoothly. They foraged for breakfast and lunch, munching on fruits and berries.

It was mid-afternoon when things changed. Elizabeth was teaching Rin a song about her homeland when she walked into Sesshomaru's back.

"Oof." She fell backwards and her breath left her in a rush. She looked up to find a strange person kneeling in front of Sesshomaru.

"My lord."

"Speak Itô." Sesshomaru commanded. The person Elizabeth assumed to be Itô rose to his feet and she gasped quietly at his appearance. His hair was black, his skin quite tan, but it was his eyes and the marks on his cheeks that surprised her. The marks on his cheeks were shockingly electric blue jagged stripes and his eyes were silvery-white.

Then Elizabeth firmly shook her head. She shouldn't let her past life prejudice her against people. She stood and dusted off her pants.

Unfortunately she had spaced out while Itô was talking, so now she had no idea what was going on.

"Very well," Sesshomaru said at last. "I will deal with it." He turned to Elizabeth and Rin. "Remain here until I return."

"Yes Lord Sesshomaru," said Rin.

"Yeah, okay." Elizabeth nodded. "Do you want some food before the two of you head out?"

"No, thank you Elizabeth. I must leave immediately." Sesshomaru leapt into the air and vanished from view.