Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Boys Over Flowers or the Inuyasha characters.


Not Easily Broken: Boys Over Flowers-Inuyasha Edition Part II

Chapter 9

Aubrey stared in awe at the sight of her handsome lover dressed in his festival yukata. After a long and distressful week of trying to move past their first real dispute, Aubrey (and Sesshomaru too) were in dire need of a change of scenery. Sesshomaru's pale, six foot stature was clad in a long, exceedingly elegant blood red yukata made of fine, rare silk. All his silver tresses were pulled over his shoulder in a casual ponytail loosely. The belle had never seen the man look so striking, like he had been pulled right from an authentic Japanese painting. And Sesshomaru, too, was feeling the same way about her. Aubrey was dawning, for the first time (and after she gave him such an eyeful, certainly not the last) a baby pink yukata with an ivory floral print and a large obi in the same shade. Izayoi, since his father had insisted on the couple dressing at the estate, had done her hair. Pinning her midnight locks into a single, neatly twisted bun. Held in place a pair of her fine, crystal hair sticks. The traditional air about his belle, how wearing such things for the first time all but came naturally, made Sesshomaru all the more proud to have someone like her at his side. The belle was even more imposing than she ever had been before.

Sesshomaru felt nostalgic as he gazed about the many different booths around them. He'd been silent the entire car ride to the festival, his mind racing with all the things he could be doing to occupy his time while his family chattered away. Inuyasha had gone on and on about the games he used to play as a child, Sesshomaru himself couldn't even remember that far back (correction, he chose not to). Aubrey had practically been bouncing in her seat, steaming with excitement. But as he looked around at the wooden, hand crafted booths, the scenery took him back to the days he'd tried so hard to suppress. All around them, children of all ages in their own tiny yukatas, ran happily about. The young doctor was taken back to when he was that age, back when his father was his hero. His little body was shyly glued to his father's leg as the new, strange woman his father had met dragged him out of the comforts of his room and books to his first festival. Izayoi had smiled kindly down at the tiny child, offering him a hand. Little Sesshomaru, golden eyes wide with doubt, had gazed up at his father for approval, earning a soft nod and smile from the tall man. To that day, if nothing else, Sesshomaru could still remember the warmth that was radiating off the woman's porcelain skin. It was much different than his mother's, far more welcoming and inviting and less over baring, but still very tender and very motherly.

Izayoi, while pointing things out to Aubrey, realized what the young doctor was thinking as he stared off into the distance after the children that were now long gone. She smiled lovingly, placing a warm palm on his shoulder. "You should try winning Aubrey some goldfish," She said suggestively. "Remember? Like how I did for you at your first festival?" Her dark head nodded over to his fiancé, Aubrey's eyes wide with the same wonder that mimicked his from so long ago.

Sesshomaru found himself inwardly smiling. What had he done to deserve someone as out worldly as Aubrey, he'd never know. He gave his stepmother a nod, taking Aubrey's hand in his. "Let's look around." He said, gently pulling her along.

There were simply far too many things to see and do that Aubrey didn't know what she wanted to do first. "Oh! I know!" She said excitedly. "Let's take a picture!" She pointed to a man, a short and stocky little fellow, carrying around a fancy camera.

Sesshomaru looked down at his bouncing belle, more worried about her health than anything else, the thrill in her face and eyes tugging at his most sensitive heart strings. He nodded approvingly, allowing himself to be led over to the photographer.

"Can you take a picture of us, please?" Aubrey asked the man.

The photographer smiled kindly to the olive skinned belle, her fiancé too. "Sure," He said.

"Let's pose sitting down. That way you can sit on my lap and tell me the first thing that pops up."* Whispered the doctor deeply into the belle's ear.

"I don't want a tainted picture of us, you horrible pervert. I want one I can frame back at the condo." She said. A blush quickly formed in her cheeks after the words had left her mouth. The more Aubrey thought about it, her new role in life, the more docile she became. Sesshomaru chuckled, gazing down at the glaring belle.

"There you go!" The photographer said. "Pick up your photo at the photobooth at the end of the night!"

Aubrey whirled around to face him. Surprised to see that the short photographer had already disappeared among the crowd of people. "What the hell?!" She said. "He didn't even-"

"Come on, how about we get you something to eat? That always seems to make you happy." Sesshomaru said, pulling the raging belle along.

"My daddy called the other day while you were at work." Aubrey said, she and the doctor walking hand and hand. For the first time since being awake, she'd heard her father's gentle voice and it had brought her to tears. He said he'd been trying for months to fly back to Japan to see her, but at the time he just didn't have the funds. "He wants me to come visit him and Amber."

"Well, I'm going to go with you." Sesshomaru announced. There was no way in hell he was going to let her out of the country alone.

"Oh?" Questioned the belle. "Texas ain't nothing like Japan. I'm not sure you can handle it." Aubrey wasn't in the mood the listen to her pampered froufrou lover complain the whole time they were away.

"Please, I'm a Tashio. There's nothing I can't handle." The man had cared for his comatosed fiancé for three long years, four months, and three weeks. He constantly dealt with the nagging fact that his father had raped the only woman he'd ever loved. A little heat and no civilization were nowhere near frightening.

After visiting a few more booths and tasting foods Sesshomaru had never bothered to introduce her into before, and even winning a few prizes (some of which were some goldfish she was determined to keep alive), Aubrey found herself exhausted and ready to call it a night. Her body, after being shot and all, had suffered in more ways than one. Now minute tasks such as walking around for long periods of time, or in this case a couple of hours, proved to drain the belle dry. Sesshomaru hadn't had such fun, such down time with his little lover, in a long while and had enjoyed the evening (even if it was with his family, it was still ten times better than their dinner with Naraku) immensely. And although he'd rather die than admit this, he'd love to do it all again sometime soon.

On their way off the festival grounds, Sesshomaru quietly followed behind Aubrey as she led the way to the photobooth, searching for their picture. The young doctor watched as the belle's face lit up, her hands grabbing the picture and holding it close. "How did it come out?" He asked. Sesshomasu was never one to take pictures willingly, he felt he never truly looked his best in them. He scooped the belle up into his arms, carrying her on his back, the picture and her other tokens held tightly in her grasp.

Aubrey rested her head on his strong shoulder, her face buried into the warm crook of his neck. The belle, content on her lover's back, reached out to show him their picture. For the first real time in his life, Sesshomaru loved a photo that contained himself. The photographer had captured the perfect image of him and his fiancé. That split second of time, where things almost stood still, where he was gazing down at her and her wild curls, a soft smile playing on his thin lips. And Aubrey, the lightening of the different lanterns accenting beautifully against her skin, a clear blush in her cheeks. But what had the young doctor sold on the small portrait was the look of love, undeniable love, they shared in their expressions as they looked upon one another.

Sesshomaru gave her knuckles a gentle kiss, "This is definitely worth framing." He said warmly.


A/N: *that line i saw captioned from Junjo Romantica and i loved it! laughed so hard and had to use it, so i obviously dont own it. DX