Sesshoumaru walked through the woods. He had retraced these steps millions of times. Behind him he heard the laughter of two children who somehow had remained so after all of these years. He felt the weight of the locket around his neck. Its metal always warm against his skin.
"Papa!! Look!" Rin yelled as she pointed to the Goshinboku. The little girl ran. She wore a traditional miko garb to pay homage to her beloved mother. Sesshoumaru felt a demonic presence beside him. His son walked past him and followed the little Miko.
Sesshoumaru remembered the day he was named his heir. The boy's training had finished and he had not spoken for two days once Sesshoumaru had informed him of the news. The blue crescent that adorned his forehead left no room for argument from anyone in the council as to his lineage. Shippou would be a great leader.
The memories of his family coming to live at the castle with him flooded his mind. That had not been the plan at first. The plan at first was to merely learn as much about Kagome as he could. They know more than he did. But eventually their presence comforted him as well. He had learned about Kagome's tests and how important school was. He had learned about her family and the shrine. Their stories were enough. They knew her family had a history with holy powers and that somehow they were related to the demon slayer village.
Sesshoumaru felt warmth from the locket around his neck and he smiled. 'Somehow though you have been gone over 200 years you still comfort me.' He thought as he allowed the power to flow through him. He heard more giggling as Rin was now covering Shippou with flowers.
The demon lord remembered that night after they had lost her and the letter she had given him. The anger about the loss would not fade. His aura screamed for her. Finally after a few hours in his chambers he remembered the note. As he paced the room he opened it. The locket still clenched in his fingers.
Lord Sesshoumaru,
I don't think I could ever repay you for all you have done for me and my family. This is a small gesture of my thanks. Wear it always and remember me.
~Kagome~
He had placed the trinket around his neck that instant. The full affects of what it was did not sink in until one day while patrolling he was approached by a few monks and a priestess. He felt their power and though it was not Kagome's it was strong. Still the demon lord was not worried. He watched bored as they threw sutras and arrows in his direction. Much to his surprised the locket answered a pulse of holy power escaped from the trinket and dissolved all the attacks. Sesshoumaru smirked as the attackers stared at the demon who had just used holy power against them.
"Demon! How is it that you can use holy power?" The woman yelled as he walked by.
Sesshoumaru ignored her. She grabbed his wrist in an attempt to purify him, but again her power was stopped by another much stronger power.
Sesshoumaru waited until she let his arm free and kept walking. "It would be wise to leave this area. This Sesshoumaru will not be so generous next time."
Sesshoumaru was brought out of his musings by a rather loud yell. He looked up to see a different monk and a priestess looking at him.
Rin and Shippou looked at the two and then back at Sesshoumaru and waited for the inevitable to play out.
"Demon, leave these lands immediately." The monk said as he threw a sutra at Sesshoumaru. The locket dissolved it. The monk stared at the demon. Sesshoumaru kept walking past the two. Shippou and Rin followed him, but not before talking for a moment with the petrified couple.
Rin smiled and so did Shippou.
The woman gasped as she saw the Jewel around Rin's neck and the Crescent moon on Shippou's forehead. She bowed as she realized who they were. "The Shikon Miko and the Lord of the Western Lands." She addressed the two and bowed. Both laughed at her declaration.
Rin pulled the woman to her feet. "I merely protect the jewel until I can give it to its rightful owner. The Shikon Miko is our mother." The little miko said.
Shippou smiled at them again. "I am the Heir to the Western Lands. The Lord is the man you just attacked and our father," Shippou responded.
The man looked at the two. "You are the children of the Great Sesshoumaru and the Shikon Miko?" He asked. Both children nodded. "Forgive us then. We are merely travelers looking for a place to settle down."
"How is it that you know of demons and their symbols? " Shippou asked. It was not common for humans to recognize the moon adorning his forehead.
The woman relaxed a little. "My ancestors were one of the very few to survive the demon slayer village massacre." She said she tilted her head and introduced herself. "I am Higurashi Keiko and this is my husband Higurashi Akiko."
Rin looked at the two as what they said sank in. As soon as it did she wrapped her arms around the woman and squealed! "We have been waiting for you!" Rin yelled in the poor woman's ear. Shippou grabbed a grey box from his pocket. Though worn, it still functioned. "Taicho, we would like you to come meet the Higurashi's." Shippou said into the box.
Within a few seconds Sesshoumaru was looking at the two who had attacked him earlier. The memories of Kagome attacking him made him smile for a fraction of a second. "Come, we have much to discuss."
As the odd little group walked through the forest they reached a well. Beside it was a shell of a building that was being built.
There the two humans saw the oddest site. There was a hanyo, two priestesses, and a monk and they were building what looked to be a shrine. The weirder part was that the demon lord approached them and handed them a box, the box contained things the hanyo called "Nails."
Shippou ran to his friends and filled them in on the two whom they have just encountered. This was followed by random hugging of said strangers.
Inuyasha hugged the two people that had just been brought to where they were building and laughed at the confusion that seemed to emanate from them.
Sango dragged the woman to some scrolls that were laid out on a tree stump.
Miroku handed the man some wood and a hammer. "Comrade, we must ask a favour of you." The monk said to his fellow monk.
Mr Higurashi just nodded.
"We are building a shrine, and we need caretakers." Miroku said as he handed the poor man more supplies filling his arms.
"Why? Why are you building a shrine, right here right next to this well. Wait more importantly why are you two demons, three priestesses and a half demon building a shrine."The man asked as he was handed more things.
Kikyo laughed at the man's questions. "We are building this shrine for someone we lost who was very important to us all." Kikyo said.
The man looked more confused. Miroku comforted the man since now his hands were free. "We might seem odd to you, but to us we are family."
***
The woman had no idea what she was looking at. There was a priestess, a warrior one at that rambling on about house layout. She looked at the papers and then to Sango.
Sango smiled. "We have been waiting for you two for a long time. It was destiny that you should come here. We figured we would start without you. This..." Sango pointed to the papers. "Is your new home, and you will be the caretakers of the well and the God tree." Sango said as she looked at the woman.
The woman smiled at the priestess. "Why us?" She asked.
Sango hugged her. "Because the fates chose you long before we knew."
And with that the two women returned to the group.
For the next few months they continued to build. The two new people lived in awe of the relationship between the humans and demons.
Once it was all done and furnished. It was time to say goodbye. Tears were shed as the group left the two to take care of the shrine.
Sesshoumaru was the last as he stood there and looked at the two. He was surprised when the woman threw her arms around his waist and hugged him. He resisted the urge to smile. She had to be the ancestor of Kagome to be that bold.
"You are under our protection now." Sesshoumaru said.
The monk thanked him and the woman nodded.
Sesshoumaru turned to return to his castle where his family would be waiting. He felt the warmth from the locket around his neck pulse again. His hand clenched it through his haori.
"Kagome, soon." He whispered before a cloud formed beneath his feet and he left to return to his castle.
***
Kagome looked at the books in the library. She was almost done with school. She was not sure exactly what she was looking for, but something anything to tell her what had happened to her family, and Sesshoumaru. The Miko from the future sighed as the hours passed and she still found nothing. All of this school, to get a degree in history and specializing in the Feudal era had turned out nothing. "How can there be nothing?" She whispered as she packed her bags up and left the large building. Kagome stopped outside the building as she felt something familiar. Something she had not felt in years. The miko looked around but saw no one. She sighed again and began to walk home. She didn't care, she would wait forever if she had to, to be with him again.
***
'Damn that woman.' Sesshoumaru thought as he saw her stop. Then he heard a familiar chuckle.
"You are using all of your power to hide your presence and she can still sense you." A familiar voice whispered. "Soon Sesshoumaru, we are almost ready, she is almost done with school. Then we will tell her." Miroku placed his hand on the demon lords shoulder.
"Come on you two, we saw her let's go." Inuyasha said, not very quietly. As the three walked away from the building to fade into the darkness Sesshoumaru wondered about how this would all turn out. Inuyasha smirked at his brothers apparent pondering. It had been almost five hundred years and he still wondered the same thing.
"Sesshoumaru, stop thinking about it. Once this is done and we have taken care of the jewel I'm sure you two will be married and have lots of children. I'll even put the sandbox in your damn yard for you, you bastard." Inuyasha smirked at his brother.
Sesshoumaru sighed. "Little brother it is you who are the bastard."
When the three returned home they were greeted by a not so warm welcome.
"You spied on her again! Damnit you three! She's going to figure it out! Why don't you take the jewel while you're at it too! Then we will all be in trouble." Rin yelled at her father and her uncles. The three men just nodded at the girl and sat down at the table for supper.
Kikyo came in with her son and Shippou helped set the table. Sango brought out dinner and a bowl of ramen for Inuyasha. After all of this time he was finally back in the era of ramen and now that was all he ate.
After dinner Sesshoumaru went outside and sat by the koi pond. His hands played with the jewel as he examined it. Soon he felt the presence of his children as they sat beside him.
Shippou looked at his father and back to the jewel. "Stop worrying, it won't take her from us again." He said. Rin nodded in agreement and the three sat and watched the fish for a while. The two eventually went to bed and left him there with his thoughts. "Soon Kagome." He whispered before getting up and going to bed as well.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Oh my gosh! I never thought this day would come. Never. Thank you all so much who read this story. When i first started it it was because i likes stories that were about 40,000 words, didn't bash Kikyo and had a reasonable Inuyasha. Then i decided that i wanted a series of stories that all tied together and were in each category. So this is the prequel to Museum which is the prequel to Brownies. Brownies is the only part of this series that is still going, but it is always complete since it is a series of one shots. Thank you so much to my beta. She is the person who kept me going. Thanks again! Also the AFA (Anime Fanfiction Awards) have begun. You can nominate any fandom, but you have to join. Its free and hosted at allsystemsred dot org. So go there and join nominate and vote. There are no time restrictions so you can nominate any fic, from any fandom. Have a good day!!
Love,
Nobody