Two Demons of the Western Plains

by Jet.2DA

The years have passed and Sesshomaru has settled in a vast forest, but when two new females end up in his care, he'll be more burdened than ever. But will something good come out of it in the end? Something unimaginable for the great demon? SesshxOC

25. Chapter 25

This is it! Holy crap it's here! The last chapter of "Two Demons of the Western Plains!" I can't believe its here! (seriously, I wasn't sure if I'd even put this story out to the public!) I want to thank everyone for reading and hope this last post will make you all want to kill me for the sequel.

So here it is! Chapter…

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Twenty-Five

What seemed like déjà vu came all too quickly for the great dog demon.

Resting peacefully in his chambers, a comfortable pillow beneath his head, his boa draped around him in a semi-circle… all would have been all right if not for the woman in his arms, whose grip on his shirt had not faltered even in the depths of sleep. All would have been great if not for morning.

Damn his internal senses. Damn the sun. Damn the misery he felt every time he thought about waking her up.

And so, instead, he did nothing.

Though he knew it would not last, he felt it could at least wait, even if only for a bit. For as long as his body would allow, he would stay with her, he would remain in bed with his arms wrapped around her and enjoy every passing moment, content to do nothing but hold her in the bliss of sleep and watch her as she dreamed.

Nearly half an hour had passed since Sesshomaru first awoke, almost drifting back off had it not been for those blasted morning birds and all their twitter-twittering. It was time, he hated to admit, for the day to begin. After raining all night, there were sure to be quite a few demons out and about, scavenging for food.

And with every approaching second, all the way until Lenezma's eyes blinked open, it tore at his heart to wake her.

"Mmm… is it that time already?" she blinked curiously as she tried to look around, trying her best not to actually release him as she did so. He didn't answer, quite aware that she had no desire to see him leave either, to separate from him after such a passionate night. What almost hurt just as bad was the slight willingness to let him go; she knew how much this place meant to him and to what means he protected it – and he was grateful for that understanding, really – but still found it so hard to break apart from her. If only she fought a little harder, maybe it would have helped…

"Don't worry," she whispered softly with a faint smile, as if sensing his reluctance, "there's always tonight," she reminded him with a pure and genuine smile, as if simply spending the evening together was all that mattered.

Before she let him go, however, she heaved herself back up onto his chest where she leaned in for a kiss, receiving more than she had bargained for, but no less than what she wanted.

As if inspired by her words, Sesshomaru pulled her in close and embraced her powerfully, eventually flipping her over onto her back. His arms were wrapped around her torso, his lips ravaging her neck shortly before returning to her lips, her arms wrapped around his neck to keep him close.

Their burst of passion did not last long, but certainly caused a powerful spark to course through them, to anxiously await the coming night when they could again hold each other tightly in their embrace, to sleep in one another's arms…

"You'd better get going," Lenezma whispered softly in his ears, trying to hide her true emotions, "before the desire to keep you here gets any worse…" Her voice trembled under the power of her own heart, unable to allow her to say such a thing without revealing the feelings she bore for him.

Sesshomaru stared into her eyes intensely after such words, desiring to stay with her more than before… But she was right. If he had any hope of stepping outside, it would have to be soon.

Without a word, Sesshomaru's hand grazed her cheek subtly, her body reacting to its tender warmth; he leaned in easily, kissing her softly with a quiet passion that only made her heart ache even more.

As he backed away, he slowly pushed himself to a stand, trying his best not to linger on these thoughts any longer.

With a gentle hand, Sesshomaru pulled Len up to her feet where, to both of their dismay, they did not meet lips, but greatly desired to. Using what will power was left in them, they backed away from one another, doing their best not to meet eyes for too long.

"So, where are you off to today?" Len spoke up after a bit, still hesitant to look directly into his golden eyes.

"I'll take care of any nuisances around here first. There are some paths in the far northeast that I have not checked in a while, so I'll head that way near sun high."

"I see… Then maybe I'll join you later?"

Sesshomaru nodded peacefully, "I'd like that."

With a curt smile and nod of the head, Len forced herself to the door. "Well… take care," she called over her shoulder, barely meeting his eyes for a painful second before opening the door and stepping out, shutting it quietly behind her.

Sesshomaru watched her go with a similar sense of agony.

In a neat and orderly fashion, Sesshomaru changed into his usual ensemble, but this time it was a different set of clothes. Today, he wore a misty gray shirt and pants, the sleeve and leg ends dyed a rich navy blue. Following came his armor, tying it around his waist with a navy sash, short, pale orange streaks stretching across its length, giving the outfit it's only bit of standout color. Next came his boots, swords, and finally, the white mass of fluff that had been left on the bed with him all night.

He wrapped it around his arm carefully, smoothing the fur gently as he headed for the balcony door, able to detect some of Lenezma's scent in its fibers…

Sesshomaru pushed those thoughts away before heading out and, as explained to Len, spent the next few hours taking care of any pests that came too close to the mansion before making his way out east.

-/\-\/-/\-\/-/\-

The day grew hotter as the sun rose higher, the humidity after last night's rain quite miserable, but still the dog demon hardly broke a sweating despite his heavy equipment and the boa around his shoulder. He had always felt more adapt to the cooler weather, but never really had any problem with the hot weather, unlike his mother.

Summer was always unbearable for her, and though she had always seemed in a better mood in winter, she preferred the spring and fall seasons when the temperature was at neither extreme.

As for his father, he wasn't bothered by any of it, really. From what he could remember, it was probably spring and summer that the dog general had preferred, the most active times of the year for all life forms, but also looked forward to every snowfall, when they could run around and play in the white fluff that covered the grounds so thickly.

In fact, some of Sesshomaru better childhood memories came with the snow; it was where he and his parents would run around and 'play,' where he had been taught how to hunt and track down other creatures.

And suddenly a different kind of thought popped up in his idle mind: winter with Lenezma.

This warm weather is what allowed her precious plants to grow and bloom – what would happen when the frosts came and there were no plants to tend to? If she was so keen to run and play in the rain, surely she did so with snow as well. What could they do? They could run through the drifts, she would surely start a snowball fight and make 'snow angels'… and while she would lie in the snow, he would join her, they would sink further into the white powder and he would remind her of how much she meant to him.

It felt so strange… to rely on someone so strongly…

Since his adolescent years, Sesshomaru had not relied on anyone. His mother and Father protected and raised him from infancy, teaching him to take care of himself for when he decided to leave their shadows. Though there were occasions when he called on them for some form of support, it was nothing like what he felt now.

His connection to Lenezma was so much stronger, almost clingy in the sense that if he could, he would not let her go; would keep her in reach at all times. Since those early years under his parents, he had not truly needed anyone like he did Len, as if seeing her at the end of the day was all that mattered, to hold her, to be with her…

And it was at that point that Sesshomaru realized something. After centuries of life, the days set before him almost endlessly with little difference between the previous and next, he finally found himself anxious, looking forward to the passing of days, the prospect of seeing and being with Lenezma became the light at the end of the tunnel. He could not wait until tonight to be with her again, or tomorrow night, or any other night that followed…

Slowly he came to a stop in the middle of the path, lost in his thoughts and this new revelation with a fondness he could not understand and yet didn't mind. She was all that mattered.

His eyes opened slowly before turning his head to the left and gazing through the trees silently. He could sense something drawing closer, an unusual presence that almost felt familiar and yet could not describe the sensation.

Come to think of it, where was he? How had he come this way? Had he really been so wrapped up in his obsession that his body moved of its own accord, heading straight for this strange presence out of instinct?

Nonetheless, Sesshomaru moved towards it. No matter how it happened or what this peculiar sense was, he would investigate and settle the matter once and for all.

He stalked through the trees silently, all senses alert in seeking out this presence, searching for any sign of trespassers.

Not even five minutes later, his prey had been located.

Coming from the north along an old, overgrown path, came two men, heading towards the southeast and away from the Western Plains, it would seem.

Hidden in the shadows, upwind of these strangers, Sesshomaru went unnoticed, free to watch them as long as he wished. Even from this distance, he could hear them conversing freely, unafraid that someone or something else might hear them.

"… see Tenkei before we left? I thought she was going to burst into tears!" he caught a few of their words as they came within hearing range.

"Well, she's still very young. ... I still can't get over how much she resembles her mother though," the other replied, a deeper, gruffer voice, most likely older than his companion.

The hidden canine stared as they came into clear view, observing them from afar as their bodily features and scents soon reached his senses: both were demons with a human guise, wearing rather decent clothing; they were not peasants by any means, but nor were they high class enough for some of the richer clothing that could be found in Sesshomaru's mansion.

"I noticed that too, but I still think she's going to turn out more like Hikumo than Gecchouseki," the younger one commented, glancing at his companion with his dark green eyes. His skin was not as dark as his friend's, but not far from it; his hair, Sesshomaru noticed, was quite unusual though. Instead of the traditional black, like his friend, his hair was loose and shoulder length, a wild and unkempt mess of reddish-brown with random splotches of black, almost like spots.

"Well, I guess that won't be too bad. He's a pretty good guy for his kind!" the darker demon replied, his long black hair tied back in a high tail swaying as he turned to smile at the other, his deep blue eyes flashing with a light that somehow seemed familiar to Sesshomaru. To add to the overall effect, coming from a hole in the pants was a long black tail, waving innocently behind them as they walked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he said the same about us," retorted his young friend, causing both to chuckle for a moment before coming to a dead halt, a heavy silence befalling them.

Slowly, they began to turn around, finding the gray and blue Sesshomaru standing on the road from whence they just came, staring back as if he'd been there for several minutes.

He stared long and hard, waiting for any movements, wondering how he should handle them.

The one with the gruff voice did indeed appear older, but the resemblance between them was so strong that it could only mean they were father and son.

They were undoubtedly felines, both bearing slit irises and that unmistakable smell. What confused him, however, was a third scent that he couldn't quite decipher, smelling it as if it were a perfume, and yet sensing it as part of them. Again, he found himself somehow drawn to this scent – had he encountered these two before? There was certainly something familiar, but…

Sesshomaru was silent and unmoving.

The older one sniffed at the air.

"Aw, you must be the master of this forest. Good day," he spoke politely as he turned to face the gray demon, bowing respectively, his son following his lead. "You've got a nice forest here."

Sesshomaru continued to stare, arms to his sides, unmoving.

"I see," said the young one, narrowing his eyes. "We are merely passing through. We shall be out of your lands within the hour,"

"You better hope you get out before then."

"Hmm, I see. Come on, do as he says," the old one suggested, lightly patting the son's arm before turning to keep walking; the young one stared a moment longer before doing the same.

As they walked, Sesshomaru stood there, still, debating on whether he should kill them here and now or actually let them go. His eyes narrowed faintly: Damn, I'm growing soft... This shall be the last one.

But just as he was ready to turn away himself, intent on heading back a little ways so as to meet up with Lenezma, the two demons quickly spun on their heels and dove at him, clawed hands reaching out to strike.

Sesshomaru dodged both of their assaults, jumping back-and-forth, avoiding slash after slash. Hating the feeling like he was running away, he unleashed his venomous whip, heading straight for the old one.

His blue eyes grew large just before he threw up his arms in defense and flames burst forth, protecting him against the whip.

Sesshomaru glared, turning just in time to see the young one throw his hand out, also shooting fire.

He leapt to the side, avoiding his assault as both cats joined each other. They can both use fire… Perhaps that is the extra scent in the air - one is mixed breed. But…

Before Sesshomaru could finish his thoughts, his eyes watched as the younger one began building up his flames. He tensed, ready to move just as he saw the fire shoot from his hands.

Suddenly, at the last minute, the sound of rushing footsteps echoed in his ears just before he was tackled to the ground roughly, the attacker remaining at his side on the ground as the man's fire blast flew overhead… as well as another? Where did that second fire blast come from? It wasn't either of them – there must be another! He realized quickly, a little more alarmed at the fact that had he dodged the known blast as planned, the second assault most likely would have hit him.

His golden eyes darted away to look down at the person who'd tackled him, but all he could see was lavender clothing and brown hair with silver streaks. Lenezma… His heart reacted when he realized it was her.

There was a small shield around them, protecting them from enemy fire - obviously Len once again protecting him. He wasn't used to this at all…

When the flames stopped, it was Lenezma who made the first move.

She flung out her hand, her own fiery whip lashing out, wrapping around the known attacker's ankles tightly, dropping swiftly at her quick jerk.

With his fall, she jumped to her feet, throwing a wall of fire at the older man before he could react, knocking him back into a tree.

"Watch it!" Sesshomaru growled, back on his feet, standing beside her protectively as flames began jumping out at them once again.

With a quick draw of the Tokijin, blue lightning exploded through the trees, its power disrupting the flames easily, but more sprang up suddenly on their other side. Before it could hit, Lenezma's fiery shield saved them once again, but it was taking a lot of her strength to hold off the attack, the flames stronger than her own.

Sesshomaru quickly glanced over at the younger feline, finding him back on his feet and ready to go another round. Without an instant's hesitation, he sheathed Tokijin as he rushed forward, grabbing the demon by the neck and slammed him into a tree.

"Enough of this!" Sesshomaru shouted as his victim made contact with the tree, gasping painfully. "Stop this or his life is over!"

Almost immediately, the mystery person called off their attack against Lenezma, the feline finally able to relax before glaring through the trees:

"Show yourself!" Len commanded.

Both watched intently as the source of the fire came out of hiding; it was a woman, surrounded by a red aura. She almost appeared human, but her fiery red and yellow hair gave away that secret, her eyes glowing like hot coals, but she was not of feline origins like the other two, but a fire spirit.

For a split moment, Lenezma was painfully reminded of her grandmother.

The man struggled against Sesshomaru's claws; he grabbed his wrist, flames erupting from his finger tips, but he quickly stopped for two reasons: Sesshomaru's grip tightened immensely when he tried, and Lenezma was using her powers to call his flames to her, protecting Sesshomaru as much as possible.

All three of the trespassers blinked at this feat – but how could she have that kind of power? Only fire elementals bore that ability!

Lenezma stood not far behind Sesshomaru with a clear view of all three of their 'kind guests,' her eyes glancing between them almost curiously. Her eyes squinted as she looked upon each of them in turn, something about them causing an uneasiness to overwhelm her. And as they looked back, they too, felt something…

Looking to Sesshomaru for some possible solution, her eyes suddenly became glued upon the figure that was pinned to the tree. His green eyes glared wickedly at Sesshomaru, struggling to breathe and somehow fight against this beast without his assistance interfering. It was at this point when the feline glanced over and got his first good look at Lenezma, and became instantly curious of the strange stare she was giving him.

"Sesshomaru, stop!" she suddenly screamed.

All turned to stare at her in surprise, finding her cerulean eyes large with both fear and shock.

"Sesshomaru…?" the woman muttered under her breath, a new surge of fear running through them.

"Please! Let him go!" she screamed again, the urgency in her voice growing.

Sesshomaru eyed her curiously, searching for an explanation, but her eyes were fixed solely upon his victim's, gazing with a desperate fear that he had not seen from her before. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew something was wrong if she was begging for him to release this man. If he could trust Lenezma with his life, he could trust her now.

The man dropped like a rock, immediately gasping for air after just putting his neck through a pinch. Sesshomaru stood nearby, easily within distance to land a fatal blow to the man should he try anything; in the meantime, he waited on Lenezma, waiting for her to explain why she stopped him.

Slowly, she advanced towards him as if in a daze, walking and breathing shakily as she approached the man, still sitting at the base of the tree, coughing slightly.

The demon watched her approach, confused by her behavior. What did she want? To kill him herself? But that thought vanished when she suddenly dropped to her knees, staring eye-to-eye. This woman… who was she? She looked like…

The other man and woman exchanged nervous glances, confused by this strange woman.

That's when one simple word slipped out of her mouth, every one of them catching it:

"… Father?"

Every eye opened wide, every mouth dropped (except Sesshomaru's). Father?

The man gasped at her words, his heart flinching in both shock and pain. A horrible old wound scorched his insides, one that had not perturbed him like this in some years. In an instant, he hated this woman for reminding him of this injury, but at the same time, his eyes studied her appearance.

The man stared at her carefully, noting the peculiar hair color, her fluffy ears, and her sharp sapphire eyes that instantly reminded him of his father just feet away. A thought crept into his head, slowly and ever so painfully. No, it couldn't be! … Could it? He greatly doubted it, and yet he felt compelled to ask, driven by a lost hope he thought had died years before… "Lenezma?"

His companions' shock grew, both staring at the girl, their hearts racing as they, too, began to recognize the familiarity in her, the details that they had failed to notice before now standing out with obvious clarity.

To hear him speak her name brought tears to her eyes as a taut smile overcame her: "Father!" she suddenly exclaimed, lunging forth to hug him tightly, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck desperately as she cried onto his shoulders.

Sesshomaru and the others watched in apparent shock as she did so, the man simply sitting there, staring off in vacant sadness before slowly allowing his arms to embrace her back; the situation was starting to hit home more and more as the seconds passed, and before long he was clinging to her just as tightly.

"I… I don't believe it…" the older feline spoke up, still staring with wide eyes as the two hugged tearfully, his own heart twisting in agony.

"But…" the fire spirit began to mutter, "Suzuran said… I mean, we saw it…" she stuttered hopelessly, glancing over to the feline for help, but he provided none, lost to these thoughts as well.

Sesshomaru could hear them all, listening in hopes of an explanation, but it was obvious that even they did not know. Was this really her family? Lenezma claimed her father had passed away many years ago. Her grandparents were one thing, but how was her father still alive? And why was it that all of them were stunned to find her alive?

None of them seemed to know what was actually happening here. Sesshomaru had considered the man's affection to be a trick, but quickly realized that the feline had called her by her name – Sesshomaru never said it aloud.

"Lenezma…" was all the feline could say as his tears were soaked up by her kimono, his fingers stroking her hair, as if still trying to prove to himself that this was real and not some fantasy, not a reoccurring dream that had haunted him since he lost her.

Slowly she pushed herself away, sitting on her knees as she stared into his green cat eyes, both still grasping the other with their hands. "Is this real? Is it really you?" she mumbled helplessly, simply wanting to hear the words from his own mouth.

And as he stared back, he saw in her a vision that tortured his heart, that caused it to cry out in anguish… But it was an image that only proved who she was. "I… I think it is…" he replied slowly with a cracked voice.

Len choked on her tears as her smile brightened, a hand wiping away at her tears as she slowly began to stand, pulling him up with her.

"Lenezma?"

She turned to find the older feline and fire spirit standing there, close now with heart-broken gazes.

Her tears returned in an instant before moving to embrace them as well, crying out "Grandfather" and "Grandmother" in turn.

The fire spirit slowly backed up in order to look at Len clearer, seeing, like Mikeneko, Hanshou's eyes and the resemblance to Len's mother.

She carefully took her thumb and wiped away a tear from Len's eye, a wisp of steam rising up at the connection. And as she did so, she could not help but smile and embrace her yet again with long lost love: "Oh! It is you!" she cried, clinging to the young woman tightly, but despite this, she shot the most unusual gaze towards Sesshomaru, watching, judging...

Sesshomaru did not miss her suspicious eyes.

Somewhere amidst all the hugs and tears, Lenezma heard fading footsteps and turned quickly to find Sesshomaru with his back on them, attempting to sneak away. This was no place for him - Lenezma's family was alive and here, they'd finally found each other… it was no place for him, especially after he'd just attempted to kill them.

"Sesshomaru, wait!"

He hated himself for actually stopping, forcing himself to look upon her as she approached, but only out of the desire to see her for himself.

"Sesshomaru, please wait! This is my family! They're alive!" she exclaimed, simply overwhelmed by the joy of it all as her fingers clung tightly to his sleeve. "This is my father, Mikeneko; Grandfather Hanshou; and Grandmother Hakkou," she introduced briefly, unnecessarily pointing them out in turn.

Sesshomaru made no motion, merely continued to look over the three of them as they stared back uneasily.

"So this is the great Lord Sesshomaru…" Hanshou spoke up, not intending to mock him in anyway. "You definitely live up to your reputation as a merciless killer."

His golden eyes stared, glad someone took notice, but indifferent nonetheless. He turned to Len:

"Lenezma, escort them away from here. I won't be back till late…"

"What?" she gasped as he turned his back on her once again, slipping out of her grip. "Take them where?"

"The mansion, of course."

Sesshomaru disappeared into the darkness of the trees, Lenezma smiling brightly. At least he understood how much this truly meant to her…

She turned back to her family, thrilled beyond words, literally leaving her speechless as she soaked in their sights and smells. It'd been so long this didn't seem possible!

"I still can't believe this… you've been alive all this time! And I never knew…" Mikeneko mumbled as Lenezma began leading them back to the mansion, taking a quick yet conveniently scenic route, showing off some of the best of the Western Plains. But Mikeneko stared at the dirt as they walked, his thoughts intent on something beyond Len's knowledge, causing his insides to churn mercilessly.

"But how?" Hakkou asked. "What happened? Suzuran said…"

"Need you say more?" Hanshou interrupted her quickly with a low growl in his voice as he slightly bared his fangs."No good lying wench… she lied to us! She lied to us and we fell for it, simple as that!"

"Suzuran…" Len whispered under her breath as she stared at her grandfather. "Mother? What do you mean? What did she say?" her voice suddenly raised as a horrible fear welled up inside of her, the truth revealing its twisted self before they could even speak it:

"She told us you were dead!" he cried out, his fangs much more evident than before, his fists balled up at his side.

Hakkou sighed at Hanshou's anger, turning to Len softly to explain in a little more detail, catching Mikeneko's distant gaze as they walked. "A long time ago, your father had come to our home to assist us with… some issues… We decided to follow him home to come and see you, but…"

"Suzuran had already set everything up by then."

Everyone stared at Mikeneko as he spoke, his eyes filled with melancholy, looking ahead but obviously thinking deeply back on that day. It would be the first time he had ever recounted the tale to anyone, and he did so with a lot more strength than even he thought possible.

"By the time I returned to the house, Suzuran was crying her heart out… or so I thought at the time.

"She began screaming… she said you'd been killed while playing out in the forest…" He smirked with a soft laugh to his voice, finding it almost funny as he thought back now, or was he enjoying a memory that played in his head? "You were always out there despite some of our warnings, so I had no real reason to doubt her.

"I tried comforting her, but she kept screaming… That was when we split: she couldn't stay with me, not after your death. Unable to persuade her otherwise, I left…"

"She… she told you I was killed?" Len muttered, unable to believe such a hurtful act. Who in their right mind could ever lie to someone like that? To convince someone of their child's death?

"We searched the forest," Hakkou continued, "looking for where you'd been killed, but found nothing, only the grave Suzuran told us was yours."

A grave? Something suddenly clicked in Lenezma's mind, an old memory long forgotten. "Wait… You wouldn't happen to remember if there were white and yellow flowers on the grave, would you?"

"Chrysanthemums… Suzuran's favorite," Mikeneko replied, obviously remembering, with that same distant voice of his, still refusing to meet any of their eyes. The flowers were just another touch as to why he should trust his wife, despite his disbelief; his hope.

Len's eyes gazed downward as they walked.

"That was the grave of a neighbor… another demon girl I used to play with on occasion. She'd been killed by other devils just a day or so after you left," she admitted to them, remembering the sadness she'd felt. "I picked those flowers from Mother's garden and put them there… She even yelled at me for picking them without permission…"

Hanshou's angry humph could easily be heard behind them.

"And what about you?" Hanshou asked Len. "What lies did that deceitful woman tell you?"

"Hanshou!" Hakkou snapped.

"No, he's right," Len defended him gently against her grandmother's reprimand. She knew she was only trying to ease Len and Mikeneko's feelings, but Lenezma had hardly any room for love towards her human mother, not after all the horrible things she's done. And at this point, she doubted Mikeneko would challenge such anger either, not when he felt the betrayal so much more strongly than the others, even over Lenezma.

Lenezma glanced Mikeneko's way sympathetically, saddened by the lack of optical communication, but knew how he felt.

As much as he felt betrayed, he had loved Len's mother, something that had probably stuck with him these past ten or so years. Considering the conditions under which they broke up, it was not surprising, but seeing his daughter alive and well tortured him and battled with his old love ruthlessly. He wanted to deny the love, and yet couldn't, not after all they had shared… They bore a child together, raising her in a loving environment… seeing Suzuran's heartbroken tears, hearing her hurtful words, ripping his heart apart…

Lenezma sighed before turning back to the other two.

"I don't think the lie she told me compares to the pain you all endured, but it hurt just the same.

"Not long after you'd left, she just… told me she was leaving you, telling me flat out that she intended to break it off when you returned, as if expecting me to accept it without question.

"Like you, I tried talking her into staying together, but she sent me away … One morning, a few days later, she told me she was leaving to break it off, promising to let me see you once more if I behaved and stayed inside all day…" Len faded hoarsely, the old pains welling up just as they had for Mikeneko. Like him, she had never described to anyone what happened, not in detail like this, not even to Sesshomaru. "She was gone most of the day, returning late at night; I remember how anxious I was to see you, but when she came in crying… (her head shook) She claimed you had succumbed to a broken heart…"

"What?"

"It seems so stupid of me to believe her now that I think back on it, but what did I know? I was only a little kid, I didn't know any better… only that I'd never get to see my father again…"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Mikeneko called gently, finally meeting her gaze with gentle, compassionate eyes. "If anything it's my fault for not sticking around longer, then I could have seen you again… could have saved you from that woman… But I was blinded with grief, unable to linger any longer than necessary, not when my wife rejected me and my daughter was no more… Of course I believed her, she was my wife – why shouldn't I? Especially when it came to you… I never dreamed she would sink so low as to lie about our daughter's death…" he faded miserably, his knuckles turning white as he fought back the tears, the lingering sadness and newfound hatred mingling painfully in his chest.

He hardly flinched as Hakkou's gentle hand graced his shoulder comfortingly; "Don't be so hard on yourself, Mikeneko… We were all blind to the truth…"

"But didn't she say anything about us? Didn't she think you'd wonder about us?" Hanshou called, still a little more angry than hurt, but definitely not as much as before.

"I asked, but… all she really said was you wouldn't be coming around anymore, not after what she did to your son…"

Silence fell upon them, all hurt, all tricked by the same woman whom they had loved at one point.

Lenezma's smile and voice did not return until they approached the manor, all of them hoping to put this horrible past behind them for now. Of course, she had not told them the aftermath – not yet, at least. If she had, it would certainly cause more anguish and anger, but it was not what she wanted.

They had found each other – a miracle, for sure – alive and well, and that was all that mattered. She wanted this to be a happy occasion, to relish in the warmth that she had missed all these years, to enjoy being in her family's company like before.

As they came upon the gates, an elated mood did indeed return to her. She ran ahead to stop in front of the doors (she made sure to lead them around to the front, to give them the grand entrance), waiting on them as they kept walking at their pace. She grinned.

"Everyone, welcome to Sesshomaru's mansion!"

Len pushed open the gates with relative ease, revealing the great, lush green yard with the beautiful mansion erected in the center, large walls scaling the yard to keep the devils out.

"Oh, wow!" Hakkou gasped, glancing around in awe.

"Certainly big enough," Hanshou muttered as he too gazed about. It should be pointed out yet again that Hanshou and the others are not used to such a rich surrounding – they have some wealth to their names, but nothing like this, and are thus impressed with such a domicile and surrounding terrain. "How many live here?"

"Well," Len giggled, "there are five of us…"

"What? You only have five people to this whole house?"

"Well it wasn't like Sesshomaru built it! It was handed down through his father!"

"Don't you have any servants or anything that keep the place orderly? You know, cooking and cleaning and all that?" Hanshou questioned yet again, surprised to hear that only five people lived in that huge thing.

"Well, believe it or not, but Sesshomaru isn't exactly the social type and probably wouldn't have the patience to deal with any real servants. Besides, me and the short one pretty well take care of everything around here."

"You? You wouldn't even pick up after yourself as a kid and now you're cleaning house? How much have we missed?" her grandfather teased again.

Lenezma smiled playfully, forcing back the horrible memories that had brought her here. More than you think, Grandfather, more than you want to know…

"Oh, stop it, Hanshou! Lenezma is all grown up now!"

"Hmm… She must get it from the human side – I know sure as hell she didn't get it from you!"

Lenezma watched and laughed merrily as Hakkou punched his arm rather roughly, a sly grin never leaving his face.

Mikeneko also watched with a smile before glancing over the mansion yet again, somehow feeling at ease in this place and in present company. Hmph, why am I not surprised the Great Dog General would have such a nice home? He thought as he and the others walked further inside, Lenezma shutting the gates behind them and joining them once again as she led them to the house, a slight bounce to her step.

Suddenly their ears caught the sound of approaching laughter, all turning to the left where two small girls game running up to them, but stopped almost instantly upon the sight of three new demons.

"Hey, Lenezma," Hanshou whispered, but loud enough for all three to hear. "Your kids don't look like either of you!"

"Ah!" Lenezma immediately gasped, turning to him with a horrified expression. "No! No! No! Those are NOT our kids!"

Calming herself - slightly - she called to the girls, urging them forward. Slowly, they finally approached, remaining close at Len's side.

"Come here, guys! I want you to meet some very special people!" she called to them with her motherly warmth, Kikka and Rin eyeing the strangers cautiously despite Len's friendly attitude.

Seizing their hands gently, she pulled them along until they were but a few feet from the strange demons, who looked back with warm expressions, but were really just as confused as they were. Who were these human girls? Why were they here?

"Leny," Rin cocked her head curiously, "Who are they?"

"Girls, I'd like you to meet my family… This is my father, grandfather, and grandmother…" she introduced, feeling her heart sing at these words, being able to show them off.

"Your family? But I thought…" Kikka muttered.

"So did I, but it turns out they're alive! We were lucky enough to run into each other at the edge of the forest!"

Kikka retained the same, reserved expression as she looked upon them, while Rin was now standing in the open with a silly grin. If they were Len's family, she knew she had nothing to fear!

Lenezma, bracing herself, lifted Kikka into her arms, holding her tightly as she spoke her next few words, staring directly into Mikeneko's eyes.

"This is Kikka; she's… my half sister…"

All eyes widened, but none so emotionally as Mikeneko's.

"You mean…?" he stuttered slightly.

Len nodded gravely, "Yes… She's full human."

In an instant, Lenezma knew that Suzuran's prediction had been accurate: her father looked as if he could have fallen over dead. Though they'd been separated for so many years, after hearing about her hideous lies, just beginning to accept her betrayal, a whole new wound was struck at these words; to hear of his lost love's separate child caused his heart to throb painfully within him, just as bad as before.

"And this," Len grabbed Rin's hand, intent on changing the subject quickly, "is Rin. She's not our real sister, but she's as close as she can get," she smiled down at her, Rin returning the smile, full of joy at Lenezma's words.

"Oh, I don't know," Hakkou smiled as she knelt in front of Rin, her motherly instinct kicking in, "I think she could pass off as being your sister pretty easily! She looks a lot like Kikka, and Kikka definitely resembles you!"

Rin beamed even brighter, giggling speechlessly while Kikka's anxiety lightened up a little, but she was still very nervous. There was a tension in the air, uneasiness that she knew came from the fact that she was Leny's half-sister, knowing there was some resentment towards her.

"Come on, I'll make everyone some lunch and then we can all catch up, all right?" she offered, receiving a cheer from Rin only as she began running towards the house, Kikka following her after being released, desiring to keep a distance between herself and these new demons, even if they were Lenezma's real family.

Len and her family followed in silence, Len wishing nothing more than for them to just talk, but couldn't find it in her heart to bring up any subject… she knew what they were thinking about.

They all settled in the kitchen while Lenezma began scrounging around for something quick to make. Until Len got Rin to talk with them, there was a quiet tension at the table.

After a while it gradually disappeared as Hanshou and Hakkou chatted softly with Rin and even Kikka. By the time Jaken came down - which was a very interesting time - Mikeneko had even begun to open up towards Kikka.

They love them - I can tell! Even Father seems to be growing attached to Kikka… And I KNOW they all find Jaken one big kick! She smiled as Jaken's words began flying once again, trying to make up for any offenses, but only letting more words slip.

Apparently he was more keen towards Hanshou and Hakkou, being pure blooded demons despite their relation with one another. He was even pretty social with Mikeneko, though she knew he held it against him that he'd mated with a human. And now, she knew, that he did too.

When lunch was over, Len dismissed the girls to go play in the yard while Jaken was practically forced out, caught up in a conversation with Hakkou.

Left alone to themselves once again, Lenezma decided a quick, half-tour of the mansion would be a pleasant past-time before leading them to the fire room, where they could all settle down and talk some more, talk about things that were not mentioned before and were avoided with the munchkins around.

To start things off, Lenezma began to explain what happened after they were separated: her step-father, Kikka, they reason they left. None of them were pleased with Suzuran in the end, to say the least; even Mikeneko's hatred seemed to grow the more he heard.

Then she spoke of the old Lord and their horrible life with him. Even after leaving out some of the worst details - things which she only admitted to Sesshomaru, and barely at that - both Mikeneko and Hanshou were growling while the fire place was reacting wildly to Hakkou's fury.

"If Sesshomaru hadn't killed him, I'd be over there right now to do it myself!" Hanshou snarled.

"And that's pretty well it, that's been my life up until a few months ago, since we started staying here with Sesshomaru."

Hakkou and Hanshou exchanged glances.

"Speaking of Sesshomaru… Why is it that he allowed you to stay here? Not that we disapprove, but we've heard some pretty horrid stories about him."

Len blinked questioningly at Hakkou before grinning nervously. "Well, Sesshomaru had actually intended on killing Kikka and I on the night of the slaughter, but through some miracle, Rin vouched for us and begged he spare us… and he did. I think he initially figured he could use Kikka in order to keep Rin company, but he kind of got stuck with me," she gave a silly smile. "So as payment, I help out around the house and play with the girls, sort of a way to earn my keep."

"By the way you fought us back there, I figured you'd be helping keep the territory safe as well," Mikeneko smiled, remembering when she knocked him off his feet with her whip.

"Well, occasionally, yes… Sesshomaru was kind enough to agree to train me, making me stronger and reminding me what being a demon was about… But enough about me! I want to hear what's been going on in your lives!" she changed the subject rather abruptly, steering it away from the dog demon. She knew they would only question her more about him if this kept up, and feared they might catch on to the truth of their relation. Besides, she really was tired of reminiscing on her painful past; she wanted to hear about them and what they had been up to all these years.

They spent the next while telling her about the rest of their diversified family, almost every member falling for a different kind of creature; there was positively no prejudice within their blood.

Apparently they'd just visited her great-aunt Gecchouseki and her newborn, Tenkei. Her great-uncle and several of Mikeneko's cousins came as well, practically turning the whole thing into a family gathering, only using Tenkei as an excuse to come together.

Shortly afterwards, they went back out into the yard where Mikeneko and Hanshou were invited to play with Rin and Kikka, Hakkou and Lenezma politely refusing before taking a walk around the house, spending this short time together to catch up - just the two of them.

"And this is the backyard. It's a little more cluttered with trees, as you can see, and the walls have been overrun by all the flowers I planted back there," she added bashfully, feeling ashamed by the colorful overgrowth, untidy since she'd been paying more attention to her prospective garden than keeping this one in orderly fashion.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Sesshomaru actually gave in to my need to garden, allowing me to plant some seeds back here," she smiled, remembering that day so many weeks ago and their huge argument. Her smile was genuine, however, finding their fight amusing, especially considering how angry they were then and what they'd experienced since.

"So… he's been good to you, right? He hasn't hurt you has he?" her grandmother spoke carefully, the same maternal instinct kicking in yet again. Lenezma may have been lost to them, but that didn't mean she couldn't still be there for her after all these years.

"What? No! Sesshomaru… is Sesshomaru. As you said before, he lives up to his reputation, but he's been pretty lenient towards Kikka and I. You don't know how much I have him to thank for…"

Hakkou stared a moment as Len stared off at the trees, watching Ah-Un graze in the shade by the back wall. She grinned quickly.

"I noticed you never call him by 'Lord' Sesshomaru."

A flicker of resentment came back to her at these words, interrupting her silent reverence. "Why should I? He's not; and after my last lord, I don't intend on ever calling anyone that again."

"Then, might I ask, what he is to you?"

Len blinked curiously as her grandmother spoke, wondering if she could sense a bit of the truth. After gazing for a long moment, considering her words carefully, Len whispered her answer with a faint fondness and shy smile: "I guess… he's my teacher… my savior - on more than one account - and… I've come to think of him as a friend… Sesshomaru is probably the closest thing to a real friend I've ever had…"

Hakkou blinked in silent surprise. A friend of the great Lord Sesshomaru? Is that even possible? But without a word of doubt, she smiled to herself before following Lenezma around the corner, heading back to the front yard. "You've certainly done well for yourself, haven't you? After all you've been through, you still managed to grow up into an intelligent and beautiful young woman… I'm very proud of you, Lenezma."

Len smiled lovingly back, nodding once to hold back her desire to hug this wonderful woman. "Thank you."

-/\-\/-/\-\/-/\-

Sesshomaru approached the fire room, desiring to relax in the presence of the powerful flames before returning to the forest. It was getting late and he knew that certain demons only appeared in the dead of night, so he knew he had maybe an hour to rest.

He stopped at the murmur of voices, breathing in the strange scents. He could smell them all over, but only after hearing the voices did he realize that Lenezma and her family were in there, chatting the night away.

He stared long at the door as he thought of those people, of Lenezma…

She'd finally found her family – or, better worded, learned they were still alive. He knew he'd have to ask her the story behind this.

His eyelids came down upon his golden rods, his mind actually finding sentimentality as he felt… happy… for Lenezma. He knew the pain of losing your father, and could only dream of having that great man back in his life. But unlike Lenezma, there was no chance of that dream ever coming true.

However, despite the joy he felt in knowing Len was happy, despite his better judgment, he could not help but feel uneasy about those three. He knew nothing about them, but their character was not what concerned him.

They had all found each other through some, strange miracle, brought together again after years of separation, of solitude and torture on Lenezma's part. Frankly, there was only so much that could be shared in a day when there were so many emotions and memories to reminisce in. A single day was simply not enough to indulge in the other's company.

Basically, he feared she would leave with them.

Lenezma had been reunited with her family, surely she would want to be with them as long as she could; you could not fully come to appreciate the other's existence if hardly any time was spent together.

And his home would not shelter such ideas: not only was her family probably ready to get the hell out of Sesshomaru's company, but he wasn't exactly thrilled by their occupancy, not when there weren't enough beds, not when it disrupted everything he had built up so far with their daughter.

After a morning spent reminiscing over Lenezma and his slight obsession with her, after becoming excited by the prospect of spending another night with her close at his side, his heart clouded over angrily for being denied this simple pleasure, the only thing he had been looking forward to so eagerly.

He hated to feel this way: jealous of the attention she gave to them, even though he knew their predicament; anger for being stripped of his only hope; fearful that she would leave him.

Sesshomaru turned away from the door with growing rage, deciding to find relaxation elsewhere, away from the source of the problem. As he began striding away, the hall around him filled with orange light as the door was slid open gently.

"Sesshomaru?"

Simply hearing her voice caused him to stop despite what he tried to command his body. With a very casual air about him, he turned to look upon his beloved Lenezma tenderly with one eye.

This was probably the first time he'd gotten a clear view of her since they parted ways in his bedroom this morning. The kimono she wore looked somewhat familiar, but was altered greatly: it was the same, lavender kimono that had been torn up by the wolves on the day she turned human.

Jaken had done well in repairing it, transforming it into an outfit that he greatly wished he could have taken advantage of earlier had it not been for the discovery of her parents.

Instead of the usual, ankle-length robes, this one was short, almost up to her knees, which allowed her legs much more freedom than the traditional kimonos. To his slight dismay, however, her legs were not bare, but covered in a thin, black material. This, he recognized: those were the "pants" she had been given recently with her newest outfit. Though not really pants, in modern times they would be considered a pair of black tights, covering the entirety of her legs and even her feet.

The sound of the shutting door brought him back to reality, realizing Len had shut it behind her, separating them from her still conversing grandparents before approaching him delicately.

"Where are you going?" she cocked her head slightly, a strange emotion lingering in her eyes.

Sesshomaru remained silent.

"Why don't you come in here with us? I'm sure they want to see you more than a few minutes after finding out you won't kill them," she smiled, attempting to make a joke out of this, but of course he showed no sign of amusement.

"All right," she sighed. "Well, at least allow them to stay the night. I know it's kind of late to be asking, but I still wanted to run it by you. Please? I promise they won't be a bother!"

"They can stay," Sesshomaru finally replied after a few more moments of simply staring at her silly grin. Despite any qualms he may have had, he wasn't about to turn his mate's long lost family away. His mate…

"Thank you, Sesshomaru. And don't worry: they said they would leave in the morning."

He continued to stare as she spoke, merely gazing into her eyes insistently, sensing many different emotions in her eyes, thoughts that concerned this last statement…

"Well… I'd better get back to them… I'll see you later, Sesshomaru," she spoke, a feint glimmer of hope in her voice as she spoke, staring longingly back into his eyes. Like him, she had been looking forward to another night at his side, but both knew it was no longer an option at this point.

He watched as she turned and headed back towards the room silently with a faint air of sadness and disappointment despite what her smiles tried to portray.

Damn.

Mikeneko and his parents continued to talk lightly, cups of tea in their hands as they sipped at it peacefully. All gazed upon the door as Lenezma reemerged, but found a much more interesting figure to watch come in from behind her: Sesshomaru entered the room with closed eyes, avoiding eye contact, instinctively heading for one of the nearby vacant chairs that surrounded the small fire.

They forced their eyes away, the room falling into silence beyond the crackling of the fire.

It wasn't as though any of them were nervous, but all found the moment awkward just the same. It was unknown to Mikeneko and the others if they would be seeing the dog demon again, but now that he was here, a slight apprehension filled the air, no one knowing what to say or if they should even attempt to start a conversation with him.

It was apparent that he would not be the one to start any interactions. Like them, he was uneasy in the company, especially when considering he'd come close to killing one of them just that morning.

Lenezma, who sat not far between Sesshomaru and Mikeneko, glanced between the two parties just as anxiously – both sides were important parts of her life, she wanted so desperately for them to get along with one another!

Just about to break the silence, Len was interjected by her grandfather, the loudest and most outspoken of them: "So!" he started, searching for the right words to say. "I take it you've been taking care of my granddaughter?"

Sesshomaru grumbled to himself as he forced himself to answer - there was a good chance they'd take his silent stare as a bad thing, and he constantly forced himself to keep Lenezma in mind.

"I have," he replied, attempting to be polite.

"We can't thank you enough for all you've done for her and Kikka," Hakkou spoke, smiling, but Sesshomaru did not even attempt to smile back. He'd respond, but that'd be the extent of it.

Lenezma glanced back and forth between the four of them as the silence began to creep back up on them. Something had to be done!

"Uh, Father? What were you saying before I left?"

"Oh! Right," Mikeneko started, easily realizing she simply wanted to ease the tension in the air. "Well, you were still really little when this happened, maybe a year or two. Now, apparently you thought…"

Sesshomaru sat in silence amongst these strangers for nearly half an hour, listening to their strange, yet oddly amusing tales. They were mostly memories from when Lenezma was still very young, while some of the less interesting tales concerned themselves.

As they chattered on, Sesshomaru took this chance not only to listen and learn, but to study these new demons as well. And within no time at all, it became obvious to him where Lenezma got her features: all of them loved to smile and laugh, Hanshou and Mikeneko were both agile and strong, as well as Hakkou, who definitely attributed to the looks department as well.

It wasn't uncommon to find an attractive fire spirit, for most tended to be particularly beautiful, often luring love struck victims into a fatal trap with just their aura.

Suddenly it struck Sesshomaru.

Lenezma had true fire running through her veins. It was why she was so certain that was her element, why she could manipulate the flame so well, possibly even contributing to the existence of her beasts; and to go one step further, he thought about how fire spirits could lure victims in with their looks… almost similar to what she'd done to him.

Upon inviting her to his home, somewhere in the back of his mind he had always felt something strange about her, but it was easily avoided; overlooked. But as he spent more and more time with her through their training, it had become harder to ignore that invisible force, eventually bringing him to desire her touch… That burning aura of hers…

He glanced at Lenezma, her cheeks red with embarrassment at her stupidity as an ignorant child. He could trace a few of Hakkou's attributes, as well as a few details passed down through the male portion of her family, but the rest was a mystery to him. He began to wonder what all she inherited from her mother…

Hakkou suddenly let out a great yawn as she stretched, the fire wavering slightly to her deep breath. "Oh! I suddenly feel so tired…"

"We should probably get to bed soon if we want to head out early," Hanshou added, bringing himself to a stand.

Soon all but Sesshomaru had risen, ready for a good night's sleep.

"Come on, I'll show you all to your rooms," Lenezma smiled, ushering them out the door, but Mikeneko hesitated in following. "Father?"

"Uh, give me a moment. I'll be up shortly."

Len glanced between him and Sesshomaru for a second, both silent as they met each other's eyes. With a silent nod, she closed the door behind her and led her grandparents up to their room.

The silence returned once again as both stared into the other's crisp, slit irises, almost sizing each other up before Mikeneko's mood lightened with a faint smile and strong nod of the head.

"Thank you for allowing us to stay in your home," he finally spoke, genuine in his appreciation. "And thank you for taking care of my daughter… Please continue to do so as long as she lives here."

Without a words response, Mikeneko could only assume that this powerful gaze of his was confirmation.

"If you know anything about Lenezma's past, I'm sure you have a lot of questions about our existence, but… I think it would be better for her to explain.

"What I'm about to tell you will also be brought up by her, I'm sure: we have asked her to come home with us, at least for a little while, so that we could have more time to be together. To stay here in your domain would... well, let's face it, neither of us desire that.

"It's just that… I haven't seen her in so many years… and to lose her again so soon hurts me… She has not given us her answer yet, for I'm sure she intends to ask you about it first; as such, I also ask for your permission. I doubt she would stay with us for very long, though… it is evident that she has grown quite an attachment to this place, but at this point, anything would suffice…" he faded softly, averting his eyes near the end.

But still Sesshomaru made no comment, simply watching him plead for time to spend with his only daughter. Sesshomaru also wished for this simple pleasure, but understood the feline's reasoning… He did not give an answer, and Mikeneko knew he would not get one.

But his efforts were not for naught. After sitting in their company for so long and listening to Mikeneko's words now, much of Sesshomaru's distrust and fears had melted away; they did not want to keep her for themselves, to take her away, they were just happy to find her after all these years, alive, happy, and safe.

With a forced smile, Mikeneko's gaze returned to the goldenrods before him, "Forgive me, I don't believe it is my place to be making such requests… But I am grateful for all that you've done for her. You saved her and Kikka from that brothel, gave them shelter and even taught her to defend herself. I must admit it is more than I would have expected from a demon such as yourself, but I couldn't be more indebted to you for all you've done. And besides, if not for that chance meeting this morning, me and mine would probably still be oblivious of her existence…"

With still a vacant gaze, Mikeneko finally began to bring his lingering to an end. He did not expect anything from Sesshomaru, merely wished to… talk… to thank him, and to explain a few things.

"Before I leave, however, there is one last matter I'd like to discuss with you," his eyes narrowed, revealing the serious intent behind his words. "Should you continue to watch over my daughter, there are some things about her you should know.

"As you know, she is part human, and thus reverts to one every so often. I know not if you have experienced her change yet, for it is a very fickle thing, very abnormal compared to most half-demons. Instead of a single day or night, she will remain a human for several days, following the full moon's cycle; not just any full moon, but the rare blue moon."

Sesshomaru hardly reacted, having indeed experienced her change. This 'blue moon' he spoke of, however, was new to him – was it really blue? It looked the same as any other full moon that he could remember…

"But the full moon is not the only problem. I'm not sure if Lenezma is under the same curse as the rest of us, but all the same it would be wise to keep her inside on nights with an eclipsed moon."

Sesshomaru's hand twitched. The eclipsed moon?

"If exposed to its light, she will be tormented by any influence she is currently under. If she is angry, it will grow tenfold and she will turn extremely vicious; if she is sad or hurt, the pain will be amplified. No matter what the case, she will lose control over her mind and body, consumed by the emotion with her powers running amok, unrestrained. So if you can, keep her out of the moon's light; if not, all that is around her is in danger, including the girls and yourself."

It was the first time that Mikeneko had gotten a reaction out of the stone cold dog demon, his golden eyes staring back with a narrow gaze; he could not tell if this was out of recognition or wonder, curious of the rage she would become intoxicated with. Either way, Sesshomaru had been warned, and Mikeneko no longer needed to stay.

"Please take my warnings to heart; from what I've heard, you have taken good care of both of those girls – Kikka may not be my real daughter, but as long as Lenezma loves her, so will I… I hope I can trust them in your care."

Once again, Sesshomaru made a response, but this one surprised him: the dog demon had actually nodded, as if accepting his words and promising to uphold this responsibility.

Mikeneko nodded once, "Thank you, Sesshomaru… That is all I wanted to say," he bowed respectfully before heading towards the door, opening it just a pinch before glancing one last, gentle smile: "In case you do not see us off, I'd like to say it was an honor to meet you and be spared – but do not worry, everything we've seen here will be our secret. Farewell, Lord Sesshomaru."

After all of that, Mikeneko finally slipped out of the room and closed the door gently behind him, following Lenezma's scent towards the stairs, leaving Sesshomaru alone…

"There you are! What took you so long?" Lenezma greeted as she met Mikeneko at the corner of the hall and stairs, coming back for him since he still hadn't come up yet.

"Sorry about that, I guess I had more things to discuss than I thought," he grinned almost goofily as Len led him towards the bedroom hall.

"So… what did you talk about?" she turned to him curiously.

"Oh, this and that… I just wanted him to know how grateful we are for all he's done… I'm not sure how well he enjoyed that – the man never said a word! But… I feel better knowing it has been said."

Len nodded easily before leading him to the spare bedroom between Rin and Kikka's room and Sesshomaru's. Her grandparents were sleeping in her room at the end of the hall, while she would be rooming with the girls.

As Mikeneko followed her, he gave a faint sigh, feeling honest in the words he'd spoken tonight. And as he watched her, he could not help but wish he had made one last comment to the dog demon, yet did not know how or at what point to mention it: Whatever happens, please don't hurt her…

Of course Mikeneko had no idea of the existing relationship between them, nor did his parents, but all of them felt, deep down inside, that a man and a woman who shared this great territory, with no other options but each other, were deemed to have some form of connection at one point or another. Whether it had happened or had yet to occur was anyone's guess, but the reality of it was almost inevitable.

Sesshomaru's preferences were unknown, but Lenezma's lack of prejudice made her susceptible to fall for just about any bloodline. And if she was indeed like the rest of her family, she was almost certain to wind up with a man of some other heritage far from her own.

"I'm afraid it's a little musty in here, we usually don't do too much with this room. But there's a small window on the far wall to air it out if you like,"

Mikeneko nodded vacantly as she spoke before turning to her once again, silent, a solemnity that was very unbecoming of such a carefree feline like himself. His green eyes glowed eerily in the candlelight, staring intently at Lenezma as she stood before him, tall and beautiful. He smiled, a grin that looked as if a tear would follow at any second.

"I still can't believe you've been alive all these years…" he sighed, his hand brushing some of her hair to the side. "You look so much like your mother…"

Lenezma's grin faded at those words. "Hopefully looks are all I got from her,"

And with one final goodnight, Mikeneko and Lenezma hugged each other tightly, a tear escaping her eye as she embraced him so powerfully, feeling her heart warm to his familiar touch.

Back in the fire room, Sesshomaru had not moved far since Mikeneko made his exit, now sitting idly and patient against the wall behind him, considering everything the father had said and more:

I do not understand this 'blue moon' he spoke of, or how it might be calculated… I shall ask Jaken about it later, perhaps he knows.

Right now I'm more worried about the eclipse moon… he said it had the power to make her lose control, lost in whatever emotion she was bound to at the time. The moon was indeed obscured that night, and I think her window was open… But what was she feeling when it happened? She was in bed when we found her, ready to sleep, but…

His heart cringed as he remembered how her body once rejected him, how it had caused her pain whenever he would touch her, even when in the depths of the eclipse curse… Could it be that Lenezma was actually thinking about him when it happened? The reason the pain she endured at his touch was so much more agonizing for her than usual?

In one sense he was touched that she had been thinking about him, perhaps even to the extent the pains had returned just because of her thoughts; but in another way, he felt just as horrible as when he realized her bodily rejection, to think that he always meant to touch her with grace and tenderness and yet she was forced to endure an unnatural pain that coursed through her body, all because of the simple desire to be with her…

Lenezma…

It was at that very moment that his head rose to approaching footsteps, watching as his favorite feline's figure slipped through the doors daintily, closing them behind her as she casually joined him on the floor.

She settled next to him, staring into the base of the fire where the wood burned slowly.

"Now was that really so bad? Spending just a little time with my family?" she smirked, refraining from laughing at his lack of response, continuing to stare into the fire. "Well, thank you anyway… It meant a lot to me that you decided to stay," she leaned against his arm. "Besides, I'm sure you got your fill on embarrassing stories about me – kind of strange hearing about my life through someone else, isn't it?"

For her benefit, he came close to smiling in response – close – but it was only revealed through his eyes.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru…" she whispered softly before snuggling up against him closely. "I have the girls… I'm with you… and my family is alive and well… I don't think I've ever been this happy…"

It was at this point when Lenezma finally divulged the truth of their existence to him, about her mother's awful lies.

He made few verbal responses to the story, but certainly felt a sense of betrayal. He understood Lenezma's hatred towards the woman before, but to convince her of her father's death was unforgivable by all means.

After all was said and done, an eerie moment of silence followed, Len fidgeting lightly at his side – Sesshomaru was positive she was trying to find a way of telling him about the idea to leave with them. Giving her all the time in the world, Lenezma finally broke the silence:

"Hey, um… listen…" she started, her hesitation catching Sesshomaru's eyes, but she refused to gaze back. "Seeing my family after all these years has really been a… a big shock to my system. I haven't seen them since I was very small, and… well, I'd like to spend more time with them. But no matter how genial you may be, we all know you don't care much for their staying. So…"

Sesshomaru's gaze returned to the warm blaze of the fire. "…You want to go with them."

"I mean, it wouldn't be for very long!" she added quickly, hoping it may not seem as bad, an attempt more or less for her own benefit. "It was just this morning that I realized they're alive, but it hasn't truly sunk in. I feel that if I spend more time with them, I'll come to appreciate it more… When that time came, I would return."

"Lenezma…" he called softly, still staring into the burning embers. "Why are you asking me if you are allowed to leave?"

Len gasped softly, her wide blue eyes revealing her expression more than that breath. He turned to her softly…

"Not once have you called me 'Lord' nor pledge any form of allegiance to me. Thus you have no reason to ask; you are not bound by my word as others are. If you desire to leave with your family, then do so."

Lenezma stared deeply into his eyes as they reflected the fire's glow. Where she thought she had finally learned to recognize his emotions through his eyes, these senses failed her now. There was an undistinguishable look about his goldenrods, something she'd never encountered before.

"Just because I am not bound to your word doesn't mean I shouldn't ask for your consent on the issue… That's what people do if they truly care about each other…"

And that was all it took for Sesshomaru's longing to return.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru…" Len spoke softly, her eyes glowing peacefully in the fire's light. "Also, I was wondering…"

"You may."

Len blinked vacantly before smiling, "You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"You were curious if Rin and Kikka could accompany you." Len blinked hard several more times. "They may."

Lenezma smiled and shook her head softly before embracing him gently, "Thank you, Sesshomaru. I promise we won't be gone long… just wait…" she whispered faintly as she rose up higher in order to match his height, a seductive glow in her radiant sapphires that only called out to him more. And when her lips met his, he could sense her thoughts behind it: not only had she thanked him verbally, but she wanted to do so physically as well.

Their kiss was strong yet innocent, a quality that was slowly fading as Lenezma pressed on, pushing it beyond the usual boundaries of sweet passion.

The intensity began to pick up hastily, finally driving Sesshomaru to do something he had long desired to do – and Lenezma went without a fight.

Pushed to his limit, Sesshomaru grabbed her shoulders and flipped her over onto her back, coming down on her with all lust intended, his lips aiming straight for her neck.

Her claws grabbed at his shirt roughly, one hand grasping the back of his head as it snaked up the side of her face, their lips meeting once more in aggravated ecstasy.

His left arm was wrapped tightly around her torso, keeping her body as close to his as possible while the other hand assaulted her ribcage and even her breast, stroking the length of her side roughly before gliding down and around her thigh. Her parted legs reacted to this single touch, both knees rising around him, accepting him in.

Her gasp rang loud and clear in his ears – it was the first time she had felt like him like this, his manhood the closest its ever been to her center, rocking back and forth against her pelvis, sending shivers down her spine, her claws about to tear into his shirt even before his mouth at her neck accentuated this heightened sensation.

Slowly his kisses rose higher, following her jawbone back up to her voluptuous lips, enhancing the euphoria she'd fallen into. When he would reconnect their lips, she would be ready, ready to unleash the building tempest inside of her.

Her heart quickened with every touch, every inch he covered to return to her lips building the anticipation. Finally! His lips were elevated just above hers, the hunger inside of her crying out to meet them with her own.

Len's claws tightened her grip and she heaved herself up, too desperate to wait any longer, reaching for him…

But his head backed away.

For a moment, the waver of the flames was the only movement that took place.

Still clinging to him, her heart beating powerfully from within her, Lenezma stared into his eyes with clear confusion, unable to understand why he did not kiss her, why he stopped so suddenly.

Sesshomaru could see the longing in her eyes, hurting him even more to do what he must: he closed his eyes and sighed deeply as he leaned forward to rest his forehead upon hers, making sure to keep his lips out of reach, his own chest throbbing painfully in its boney cell.

Len held her breath as he moved, wanting him to embrace her as he always did, readying herself for some kind of tease as he opened his mouth to speak…

"Goodnight, Lenezma…"

Lenezma simply lay there in silent confusion, listening to her heart rate calm … What?

It was at the same time that Sesshomaru began to push himself back up, still bearing a pained expression upon his face so that the severity of the moment came crashing down on Lenezma, causing her heart to beat in agony as her eyes closed dejectedly.

Sesshomaru had pulled himself away and leaned back against the wall, his eyes avoiding any and all parts of her to prevent this growing hunger from getting any worse.

They couldn't do it… not this… not now…

Lenezma came to terms with this fact before pushing herself back up, understanding his reasoning – he was right, this was a bad time. Her father and grandparents were trying to sleep not from here, as were the girls even though they did not have the ears of the felines – probably wouldn't need them. They couldn't do this… and yet she wanted to…

Lenezma slowly came to a stand, also averting her eyes from his visage, to avoid feeling her heart cringe at his denial…

Very slowly, she headed towards the door, the silence between them unbearable; "Goodnight, Sesshomaru…"

His chest writhed in agony as soon as the door shut behind her. A clawed hand grasped at his shirt, wanting to make it stop at all cost, even if it meant ripping the blasted thing out of him. He had not felt this way since first becoming attracted to Lenezma, and had forgotten just how severe it could really be.

She had pushed him – she claimed she knew her limits, but it seemed obvious she didn't.

No, she knew what she was doing… She meant to push me like that, her reactions only proving that she wanted it… His heart cringed just at that thought, knowing she wanted him to do it, to throw her down like that…

So as usual, she teased him into getting her way. She allowed him to pin her down, to be consumed by this hunger. She was willing to commit herself right then and there to him, despite her family's presence just upstairs – she had parted her legs for him, after all, allowing him access to a sacred area that, when properly met, would truly bind them to one another: they would officially be mates.

The disappointment she felt when leaving was overwhelming, torturing him even more. Why did this have to happen? Why was it that the one night she opened herself up to him, the one night he could have had her, had to be the one night they couldn't?

Why was this happening? Why did it seem like every time Sesshomaru's life appeared to be on track, something had to happen to disrupt its flow?

First his half-blooded brother, then his father's death; finding the Tetsusaiga only to learn that he could not wield it; Naraku, etc… When he had reclaimed this manor, the four of them had settled in nicely for quite some time, disturbed by the appearance of Lenezma and all the trouble she brought with her. And when he tried to win her over, she rejected him. And now, now that she was his and willing after so long, her family had to appear out of the blue and upset the balance yet again.

Was fate really so determined to make life hell? Not just for him, but it had played quite a number on poor Lenezma's life as well: her mother broke up their family and married an abusive human, she lived in a brothel all for Kikka's safety, had to put up with all his shit… Had life, after giving her a second chance at happiness by living here in Sesshomaru's home, decided to ruin things for her once again?

Another sigh escaped his breath, his chest still hurting considerably when he thought about his sweet Lenezma, but he knew she would understand… Now simply was not the best time. They would have to wait for a time to be completely alone to fully relish in the bliss – no demonic family, no Rin, no Kikka, no Jaken, and if possible, no Ah-Un. Just them…

"Please wait, Lenezma… our time will come, I promise you… no matter what it takes… I will make you mine…"

-/\-\/-/\-\/-/\-

The next morning, daylight rolled around a lot quicker than usual, it seemed.

After a quick breakfast between everyone (excluding Sesshomaru, of course), all assembled in the front yard near the large gates, Jaken and Ah-Un present to see the young travelers off.

Kikka and Rin were dressed in casual kimonos, each holding a small bag full of personal belongings for their trip, both looking absolutely adorable. Lenezma, too, was dressed for travel, wearing an older kimono that still had a certain beauty to it, while also bearing a satchel of goods. She wasn't as cute as the girls, but nice just the same.

If only her appearance was what concerned her the most.

Where's Sesshomaru? She wondered almost worriedly as she would glance around the yard once in awhile, searching for him, hoping he would come to see them off…

Hakkou noticed her occasional glance.

"Is everyone set?" Hanshou called loudly, smiling as Rin and Kikka bounced with excitement. "I hope you have everything! We won't be able to turn around for anything if we hope to get there in time for supper!"

"Don't worry! Leny helped us to make sure we packed enough!" Kikka smiled back, glad to no longer be afraid of them. In fact, after playing with Mikeneko and Hanshou yesterday, Hanshou actually asked them to simply call him "Grandfather" like Lenezma. Needless to say it had brought bright smiles to their faces. Neither of them had ever experienced their grandparents before, so to adopt Leny's seemed almost like a dream come true.

"All right! So are we all set then?" he called again, glancing around at their new companions.

"Wait! We can't leave yet!" Rin cried out suddenly, catching them off guard. "Not until I say goodbye to Lord Sesshomaru!"

Lenezma gasped faintly, surprised that Rin was waiting for him though she should've known better. She tried to smile, "Rin, I'm not sure if he's coming…"

"But he has to see us off! He just has to! I want him to know that I'll be bringing him a bunch of flowers once I get back!"

Lenezma stopped Jaken before he could retort rudely – and so did Sesshomaru: "I'll be looking forward to it," he replied with a purely emotionless voice, making him appear rather rude and sarcastic in most eyes, only Rin and Lenezma (and maybe Kikka) knowing the truth.

He had appeared in the gateway without detection from any of the demons present, all surprised to find him suddenly standing there, once again decked out in his full armory.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" both of the young girls cried out, running to him strangely joyous – Len's family was completely shocked at their fascination with the dog demon, personally knowing him only as a ruthless killer and the man who helped their daughter. If he had helped Len and Kikka, perhaps that was the story behind Rin as well?

If only they knew that everyone here was alive because of a strange act of kindness – even Ah-Un, who, though given to Sesshomaru as a form of gift, had been well cared for over the years, and treated much better than Jaken.

"I knew you'd come!" Rin smiled as she bounced at his feet. "Will you wait for us to return?" His reply was sweet and simple - a mere nod of the head - but both girls took it to heart.

"Well then, now that that's settled, shall we get going?" Hanshou smiled down at the girls, who turned to him nodding enthusiastically. "Lenezma?"

Len's gaze jumped back to her grandfather's, stunned to hear her name after she had been staring at Sesshomaru ever since his appearance. With a bit of a stutter, she nodded once, trying to keep herself from meeting Sesshomaru's eyes, knowing they were on her at this point.

One-by-one, Lenezma's estranged family filed out the front gate, the girls leading the way with Mikeneko and parents right behind them, Hanshou offering to carry their bags for them should they get tired.

"Farewell, Sesshomaru," Hakkou nodded to him as she passed, smiling.

Sesshomaru still found her the oddest of the three, remembering the strange looks she'd randomly thrown at him, none of which he understood.

Lenezma gave Ah-Un a quick bit of loving before following after them: "Be good, Ah-Un! Keep an eye on the place for me and make sure Jaken stays in line." Jaken hmphed at this comment. "And you keep an eye on that crazy lord of yours!"

"It will certainly be easier without all of you in the way! … But, have a safe journey… and take care of those crazy sisters of yours…" he mumbled louder than he had meant to, Lenezma smiling warmly, touched to hear him actually speak some form of fondness towards them.

"I will. See ya!" she waved amiably before jogging after everyone, but slowed reluctantly as she passed Sesshomaru, meeting eyes with him for only a second…

Ah-Un and Jaken walked closer to their lord in order to watch the only females of the house walking away from them, heading towards Mikeneko's home in the east. The two-headed dragon groaned sadly as he watched them go, the imp and canine remaining silent.

"Everyone!" Hakkou suddenly turned around, "Wave!"

As if on cue, all six of them turned and waved their arms widely, the girls crying out "Bye!" as they did so, just as cheerful as always.

Jaken chuckled as he waved his arms as widely as he could, while Ah-Un roared their farewells; Sesshomaru remained silent and still as he watched, amused by the girls, but focused more on Lenezma.

"We'll be back soon… Wait for me, will you?"

"… Everyday…"

-/\-\/-/\-\/-/\-

The small group drew further and further away from the mansion, excited to be together, but Mikeneko could see a strange look upon his daughter's face.

"Lenezma? What is it?"

"Huh? Oh, er… it's nothing," she replied faintly, involuntarily glancing over her shoulder.

His gaze narrowed but softened. "Are you all right? …Are you sure about this?"

Lenezma stared at the ground, lost in thought, before raising her head strongly and meeting his emerald eyes firmly. She nodded her head once, and followed her family through the beloved forest and away from the Western Plains; "Yes… I'm ready."

---

"… Everyday…"

---

Ahh! Oh my god! That's it! That is IT!

I know - What the hell kind of ending is that? It's the last chapter, it's supposed to be epic, yet it was probably disappointing. I mean, Len found her family, Len and Sesshy ALMOST had sex, and then she takes the girls and leaves with her family. What the hell, right? Sorry, but that's just the way it goes! Besides, that's what part two is for!

ANYWAY! I would just like to thank you all for reading and reviewing my fanfic, which took up more of my life than it did yours (hard to believe, isn't it?) and I hope you all will come back for the second part, "Return to the Western Plains".

Thanks again everyone!

-Jet

PS: Okay, so... TECHNICALLY I have a few chapters of the sequel, "Return to the Western Plains" up, but, for your own good, ignore them. I only left it up for those who had already read and commented, because I am going to be changing things! Lots and lots of changes are being made, and I'd hate for you to read those chapters only for it to change. Obviously I can't stop you if you still want to read and see what they're about, but I just wanted to warn you now. As soon as I finish the changes and get some consistent chapters flowing, I more than welcome you! I love all of you for even giving me a chance! So please check in for those updates and, as always, sorry! D: