DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN INUYAHSA :(

CHAPTER TWELVE

As the evening began, Kagome meditated again while Inuyasha was preparing her a bath to relax in. immediately seeking the aura that they noticed earlier that day, Kagome used the bond to let Inuyasha to see what was happened. Instead of a kernel of energy formed it now had a sort of embryo growing in the aura, astounded Kagome shared her knowledge with her mate.

''Gome it is the birth of an inu that is in you. I must of placed it there when I first bit you or when we completed the bond with your bite." unsure of what else he could say or do to make this a little easier on his very shaky mate.

Inuyasha continued on, 'its rare my love, usually this happens when we are in our mother's womb and the inu and baby grow together.' An understanding of sorts flared down the bond. Then a flare of joy that he had never felt in all his years living, his mate was happy beyond measure and that made him very happy indeed.

'Does this mean that I could have puppy ears?' Kagome asked excitedly. 'Maybe a tail?'

"We shall see wont we my love, now come cease worrying about ears and tails and worry about your mate and your bath." Inuyasha said plainly as he aided her up from her seated position. And carried her bridal style to the awaiting bath. Slowly allowing her feet to touch the ground, but not before flexing his hips to show appreciation.

They both stood there facing one another, while the steam rose from the bathtub. Inuyasha leaned towards her to brush his lips across her slightly parted ones. When it happened the second time she took her shot, grabbing hold of his locks of silvery white hair she brought him to her where they just stood there and continued the embrace that only lovers could.

Rin's stirring broke them apart and Inuyasha went to see what had made the child cry out in her sleep. When he got there the bedding was strewn across the room and she was thrashing about calling out in a gargled voice. He reached her quickly and picked her up in his arms and held her until the thrashing subsided, and she was peacefully asleep again.

The mental bond flared as Kagome asked her mate what was wrong.

The reply came the same way. 'She has suffered much that hasn't been apparent until now, and still suffers still. I wonder if Sesshomaru is aware that he has these dreams? Or that they continue even still?'

By the time that Inuyasha had arrived back at his mate's side she was relaxing in the bath with her hair hanging over the edge to avoid getting wet. She turned her head slightly to catch sight of her mate stripping and leaving his clothes on the floor and gently moving her forward so he could join her. This time together was blissful as they slowly explored each other in their bath play. Once clean and rinsed they rose. Inuyasha went to the only tall cabinet there and took down towels, and wrapped one around his waist while carefully drying off of his lady. The shock of that thought alone resonated through their bond.

The alpha in him was starting to become apparent, and it was pushing more to be acknowledged. It was now insistent that it not be denied. Realisation dawned to him. Kagome was not the only one changing, he was as well. He needed to become something more than he already was. Something more powerful. These things never boded well for him or Kagome. Obviously things are going to be moving up a few notches and he needed to get ahead of the race, as it were.

Once his mate was dry he carried her to their bedroom and laid her down. "'Gome what would you think of going to the headman's dwelling and announcing our mating?"

"I would say that it was about time it was suggested my dearest youkai," came the sleepy reply "We should make a day of going to the village tomorrow at least in the morning. We kinda missed going to Sango's today cause of that annoying Fluffy Lord."

Inuyasha made a deep rumbling in his chest and drew Kagome nearer to him, and settled down to his slumber, such as it was. With his senses on high alert he rested his eyes.

'Tomorrow will come soon enough dearest loved one,' Kagome mumbled in his mind. Inuyasha chuckled and pulled her closer still.

Western Palace.

Growing unrest and complete unease settled around Sesshomaru like a very heavy humid cloud that would not disperse no matter how strong the wind blew. More and more of the lords came to him with outrageous plans of forming alliances with publicly known enemies to gain power, trade, slaves and money.

Greed was rampant within his halls. Everyone was looking to have something over their lord so that he would bend to his will. He had already stopped several of his members of council being in his private wing of his residence. Calling for Jaken he decided to take action. There was a little known part of the palace lands that was heavily wooded, it was time to build his hut.

"Fetch me the master builder to meet with me today." Was all that Jaken got out of the sullen lord. As she sped away to carry out the order. 'Now what is the Lord Sesshomaru doing? Surely he is not bringing that troublesome child back after such a short amount of time?'

Pulling out a map he looked over his holdings, and decided that the forest would be a good place to build a private get away. Circling a place on the map he then went to the map that he had done of the hot springs in the area and conferred with it to see if there was one by in the location that he had marked. There was. He knew where he was building. Preparations need to be underway immediately if not sooner.

Jaken was hurrying and yelling at people to move and to get out of his way. The doors opened to the great hall then he was exiting the main doors to the palace and he was soon out side the gates in search of the master Builder.

The not so nice and rather rude imp made the village in record time as he was still running and yelling at people to move aside. He finally arrived at the hut that housed the builder and his family and lent over catching his breath before knocking.

"Master builder, Master Builder, please come to the door." Jaken yelled as he bashed on the door trying to gain someone's attention.

The builder was an older man and walked with a slight stoop from all the years of carting heavy lumber around for his projects. "What is it?" He yelled

"Master builder, come quick Lord Sesshomaru wishes to see you."

The man hastened in getting ready and grabbed his satchel to leave his residence for the palace. "all right all right I am coming, hold on youngin'"

Jaken raced ahead yet again telling people to move and to stay out of his way, the builder was taking his time, he wasn't as spry as he once was and was struggling hard to keep up with the imp.

When the outer gates appeared the builder breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn't need to rush for much longer. When he got through the great hall and further back to the private office of their lord. He took a breath to calm himself. Before he presented himself to his lord and master.

Waiting patiently was Sesshomaru in his study. When the builder was shown in and the door closed behind him.

"Master Builder, this Sesshomaru wish's for you to build a residence here, it is a forested area and wish for it to be modest. This one wants this kept silent and you may live on the building site until completion. Sesshomaru does not want another palace, Sesshomaru wants a home with a few bedrooms, cook area, main bedroom, bathing area, common room and shelter from the elements outside. That is all. Hire who you need to get the job done. But they have to remain quiet or it is your job to make sure they are" the builder was given the map where he would find the location. He then was dismissed.

"Hai," the nervous builder stood bowing and left the room to go and pack. He would leave in the morning with his sons.

Inuyasha's Forest

Dawn was breaking across the sky, and it was bringing another glorious day to them. There were hints of clouds on the horizon but that was the only blemish. Birds were waking and so was the rest of the forest. The gentle sounds of the wakeful forest were filtering in and caressing the occupants of the house.

Rin was the first to wake and made her way tip toeing to Inuyasha and Kagome's room, When she saw that there was enough room for her to cuddle in she did so. With a contented sigh she went back to sleep. The sigh woke Inuyasha and he simply leaned up on his elbow to look a the little girl that snuggled into his mate. A little smile graced his mouth as he lowered her again and went back to dozing.

A few hours later Kagome stirred and was wondering what was at her side. She peaked over the furs and saw that Rin had situated herself beside her and was sleeping soundly. She looked at Inuyasha and saw that he was awake. They shared a few quiet kisses as he slipped out of bed and dressed for the day. Foregoing the fire rat haori, he he picked up the sleeping child and returned her to her room so Kagome could do the same. Dressed simply she then began the day of getting breakfast prepared and served. Inuyasha went outside to continue clearing some of the land for the two extra buildings and the vegetable patch that they were planning. These activities kept him busy until nearly the midday meal.

By this time Rin was awake, fed and was bouncing all around the place wanting to go and play outside. Kagome told her that she had to have an adult with her should she get lost. This made no sense to her as she had always played at Lord Sesshomaru's palace in the garden. Kagome guessed she didn't see the guards that were assigned to her and believed she didn't need supervision.

When the inside chores were done, and the bedding was being aired, she followed the little girl outside so that she could chase whatever took her fancy. She stayed between Inuyasha who was working at the back of the residence, and Kagome who was working at the front of the house. When the midday meal arrived, they decided to take a walk down to the village to pay Sango and Miruko a visit.

Upon arrival Rin and Kagome waved to Kaede as they walked past her hut towards the shrine. Miruko was out the front with the twins trying to start teaching them letters in the dirt, Sango was on the porch watching as she took some time for herself. Both of them were startled to say the least seeing Rin beside them. With her best manners, Rin bowed to both the adults and said her greetings. And waited to be acknowledged she was given permission to play with the twins inside, so that they could have a meal.

"Greetings, so sorry we didn't make it yesterday, we had an unexpected visitor." Kagome explained. "Sesshomaru, dropped by. And pretty much did his I am King and you are peasants do as you are told.."

"Monk you should of seen her, she was absolutely stunning., while sitting in the common room of the house Kagome gave him a dress down that no one would come up from anytime soon. Her hotness went through the roof."

Sango and Kagome just looked at Inuyasha and the monk with silent amusement on their faces, and then turned to each other and burst out into hearty laughing. As they held each other they entered their house still laughing and went to the kitchen. The men went to the common room.

"So how long do you have her then?" Miruko questioned.

"Indefinitely at the moment. Sesshomaru was vague about the details, but apparently there are problems in his house and he wants to clean house, but doesn't want Rin to see him doing so." Inuyasha explained. "Sesshomaru knows of Rin's connection with Kagome and hoped that she would raise her, she needs to be around her own kind to learn how to act with them."

Miruko nodded, understanding that raising a demon and a human were completely different schools of thought and action. Demons were taught to be educated and warriors, humans were taught the land and religion and such.

When the meal was over, they bid everyone farewell and headed towards Kaede's hut, where they informed the old healer that Rin was staying with them. They also made inquiries as to if Rin could learn from her in the arts of healing. This was acceptable to the old woman and reminded Kagome that she also needed to begin her own training as well. They agreed to the beginning of the next week as they had a few important happenings occurring during the current week.

They then went to the headman's house, where they sat in his receiving room, and he pulled the scroll out of the recorded births, marriages and deaths. And then added their names to the marriage's list, insisting that they both signed the document so that it was official. This was done in quiet peace, and with no pomp and ceremony. The headman brought out three dishes of sake and they toasted the union. He also made mention that should they decide to hold a formal ceremony that he would happily officiate that as well.

The headman's family put on a small and quiet meal for them, in celebration of the union. Rin and the couple were honoured guests, and this put sparkles in her eyes.

Rin was called and they made their way back to their home. Inuyasha had his arm around Kagome and Rin was skipping on ahead. The light was fading, and they made it up the hill and back to the residence as the last rays of the sun disappeared behind the forest. Kagome raced around the house lighting lanterns.

Rin and the couple went into the common room where they were going to plan for the next day. When Rin made a request that studded Kagome. She asked for a piece of parchment and a quill and ink. She wanted to write a letter. Inuyasha rose from his prone position and retrieved the items from his room and Kagome pulled a smaller table out so that Rin could write on it.

Rin then made another request. Kagome's help in actually writing the letter. In the letter it was a detailed account of the day, in a childish way. But before Kagome would seal the letter she got Rin to write her name at the bottom. She also drew a little stick figure family as well. When the document was sanded and sealed they promised that the next time they went to the village they would send a messenger to Lord Sesshomaru carrying it.

This made Rin very happy with her new carers, as the old ones wouldn't tolerate her to do such things in case reported back to her lord something that they had done. Removing her from their presence was the right and safe thing to do. Rin didn't believe that pretty people like the last family were so mean.

With the meal already well and done and Rin bathed and in her night clothes, Kagome read to the little girl as she fell asleep. This left Inuyasha and Kagome swiftly cleaning up to spend some time with each other. The bath was emptied and the dishes were done and everything else was set to rights.

Inuyasha lead Kagome out of the house to sit on the porch where they could enjoy the night. As they were sitting there, Kagome turned to him and kissed him chastely. Inuyasha had other ideas on how the kiss should go and it soon became very passionate, with him laying back carefully and took her with him. Kagome's hands went to the beads still around his neck and tried to take them off. Inuyasha shook his head and went back to seducing his mate, into compliance. The night creatures in the forest were making their calls, and foraging for food all around them when Kagome finally settled on top of Inuyasha's chest where they were very content in just kissing and holding each other. In between kisses they would murmur how much they missed each other and how they were so much in love with the other, promising never to be apart again.