Chapter 28:

Sesshomaru looked up from his papers as two brawny servants brought in the chest he requested. He nodded his thanks and went back to perusing the letter Toshihiro had given him to read.

He chafed at all the paperwork awaiting him. Toshihiro had arranged everything in order of priority, but he found himself rummaging through items to find those he could complete quickly.

The secretary had gone to order them a meal so they could continue to work, but Sesshomaru found himself yearning for the bright sunlight and airy gardens he could see beyond the window. He had been at this since mid-morning and he felt as if he would scream if he did not escape soon.

Mavis followed Toshihiro back into the room. She was helping the old secretary carry trays of food.

"A servant could have done that," Sesshomaru chided her softly. "You are a guest here."

"I couldn't get to see you otherwise."

She knelt down to place the tray by his side. Today, Mavis was wearing a borrowed kimono – one of Yoshiko's if he was not mistaken. Her hair had been put up and someone had tucked a fresh bloom into the dark locks.

Sesshomaru reached out and tilted her chin up so he could kiss her properly. Gods, how he enjoyed doing that. He loved the way the light danced in her dark eyes and the way her lips quirked into a smile for him.

"Mmmm…. Unfortunately, I shall probably be at this for most of the day. Toshihiro, remind me not to stay away so long next time."

The old secretary grinned. "Aye, my lord. But we have accomplished much already. I thought it would do no harm for us to have something to eat and take a little respite."

"What he means to say is that you might be motivated to get through this stuff quicker if I came in and gave you a little taste of what you could be doing instead," Mavis whispered in his ear before she gently nibbled the pointed tip.

"Do that again, and I might just throw all of this in the fire."

Mavis laughed throatily. "No, don't do that. You'll just make more work for Toshihiro."

"Oh I shouldn't want to do that. Why are you sitting all the way over there?"

"So I'm out of the way while you take care of that pile of paper on the table."

Sesshomaru picked up the next item and looked at it, sighing. "Well – this one's simple enough. Why am I selling these horses?"

Toshihiro sighed. "Because they are from the stud farm, my lord, and you raise them to be sold."

"I see. Well… see to it, then. Next."

Mavis sat quietly while the two men finished the paperwork. Occasionally, her opinion was asked on an item, but for the most part, she kept silent, listening.

Finally, Sesshomaru rose and stretched. "Gods! That's all of it?"

"Yes, believe it or not," Toshihiro said, gathering up his materials.

"Good! Now off you go, old soul. I need some time with this pretty lady."

Toshihiro grinned impertinently and bowed himself out. "As you wish, my lord."

Sesshomaru paced over to the chest and flipped back the lid. "Ah! Mavis, would you help me pick something out for Kagome?"

Mavis moved over to look inside the trunk. "What's all this?"

"Some of my mother's things. Well – not precisely hers. They belong to the House and are handed down."

"Oh – I know what you mean. Heirlooms."

"Yes. Precisely. There is a fan I remember that I should like Kagome to have as a betrothal gift. And there should be something suitable to give her as a wedding gift as well. When do you think my brother is planning on marriage?"

"You'll have to ask him."

"I have already arranged for several bolts of silk to be delivered to the Bone-eater's Well. They should be there by the time we arrive back. I thought they would also make nice gifts. It seems that monk is intending to marry the slayer, and she could have the silk made into a wedding kimono."

"That's kind of you, Sess. Sango would be thrilled, I'm sure."

"Hmmph. Something for Inuyasha's tutor… ah! Just the thing, I think."

Sesshomaru came up with a small wrapped parcel. He peeled the coverings off carefully to expose a beautifully painted box. Mavis touched it gingerly.

"Oh Sess! Mrs. Mikata will love it! Are you sure…?"

"As Lord, these things are mine to dispense as I see fit. Here, I think this is the fan."

He flicked his wrist to open the fan and displayed the beautiful painting on the fine silk.

"This was one of my mother's favourites."

"It's absolutely gorgeous. Kagome will flip over it."

Sesshomaru closed the fan and laid it beside the box. "Oh! I remember this."

He revealed a lovely jade necklace, which Mavis exclaimed over.

"I'd like you to have this, Mavis."

"Oh – I couldn't! It's far too valuable, Sess! Why don't you give this to Kagome as her wedding present?"

"There are other necklaces that are appropriate for her to have. But I should very much like it if you would accept this."

"Sesshomaru…"

He smiled gently. "I would like you to have something to remember me by if it turns out that you will not be coming here again. Please?"

Mavis could not resist the pleading look in those golden eyes.

"Alright then. Thank you so much."

She allowed the demon lord to put the necklace around her throat and accepted his warm kiss. Which led to another. And then another…

Some time later, he levered himself up on his good arm, smiling down at the dishevelled woman beneath him. The careful coiffure was completely destroyed, and her hair was flung out across the floor. Mavis tugged at her clothes as she smiled back at him.

"I don't understand why you have to wear that… that bra thing," Sesshomaru complained quietly, straightening his own clothes.

"Keeps you somewhat in line." She tapped his nose.

"Next time, I shall just use my claws on it, no matter what you say." He sat back and tilted his face up to the ceiling, closing his eyes and sighing gustily. "Mavis… is this love?"

She grew very quiet as she sat up, trying to bring some order to her hair. The bloom that had been tucked in the coiffure had been crushed, but Mavis picked it up and examined it minutely.

"I don't know myself, to be honest," she said carefully. "You are one hell of a sexy man, Sesshomaru, and I love the way you kiss me and the way you touch me, but that's not everything there is to love, you know."

"I know. My father… my father was devastated when he had to divorce my mother. He hurt for a very long time. I suppose I did not notice because I had my own hurts to deal with. But when he met Izayoi, Inuyasha's mother, everything changed almost overnight. It was like the sun coming out again after a week of rain, you know?" Sesshomaru examined his hands – one steel, the other flesh. "I was… jealous, I suppose. My father had found an end to his pain, but there was no end to mine."

He closed his hands into loose fists. "Until now. I feel my pain ending, Mavis, thanks to you. There is something starting inside me. It makes me frightened and exhilarated all at once. I feel that the bleakness of my life is beginning to change… that I am opening up… like a moonflower." Hands clenched once more on his knees. "That's why I am asking if this feeling is love. This wanting… to touch you, to kiss you. To have you by my side, always."

He pressed his hands to his eyes. "Last night, I dreamed of you. With children about you. Our children."

Mavis leaned forward and covered his hands with hers. "Sesshomaru, it's a little too early to be talking about children, don't you think?"

The demon stared down at his lap and nodded. "Yes."

"Alright – if we're going to have this conversation…" Mavis ran a hand through her hair. "I'll admit that I was attracted to you right from the beginning. I rather enjoyed baiting you a little because you were just so… well, adorable, when you got your back up over something. But I'm also a realist and I knew that falling for you could be a big waste of my time, since you were coming back here. I'd already had my heart trampled on once before, you see."

"Jim?"

"Oh no. When I was off-world. There was a man I was involved with. We… lived together for a number of years before we broke up. You see, he became jealous of my power, that I was capable of being so much, when all he'd ever be was a second-grade hedge wizard. I loved him, but his ego kind of got in the way. He provoked arguments and fights until I couldn't take it any more and told him to get out." She sighed. "Silly me. I had visions of raising a family with him, and it all came to naught."

Sesshomaru took her hands and kissed them. "Mavis… I am not an easy man to live with. I will say that now. I have been callous and arrogant for much of my adult life. I wasn't always this way…"

"I know. Toshihiro told me.

"I'll never be that naïve young man again. For you, I will try to change my ways. I promised you that before." He smiled suddenly. "I see how happy my brother is with his little human, and how they complement each other. Theirs is a true partnership, and I find that I would like something like that for myself. I'm willing to work for it, no matter how hard."

Mavis took his face between her hands and kissed him gently, staring into molten gold eyes. "I think we can work on developing a partnership…"

OoOoOo

Some time later, Sesshomaru and Mavis finally made it out into the sunlight. His pointed ears twitched slightly as he heard faint shouts coming from the courtyard.

"Now what?"

Mavis had been laughing at him. "I didn't know you could do that with your ears…"

"Let us go by the courtyard. There seems to be some excitement."

There was indeed some excitement.

Akihiko and Inuyasha had squared off in the courtyard for a 'demonstration' with wooden practice swords. Inuyasha was wearing running shorts and a tank top, and it was this attire that was causing some of the buzz in the courtyard. At least among the ladies.

Kirsten's outfit of shorts and t-shirt was having much the same effect among the men.

Sesshomaru sighed, but found a spot to stand with an unimpeded view. Inuyasha's swordsmanship had vastly improved in the short time he had been with Kirsten. He no longer relied on brute strength, but showed that he had mastered strategy as well.

It took some time to disarm Akihiko, but Sesshomaru was impressed nonetheless. No one disarmed his Captain, except for himself, of course. He began to itch again to be done with the regeneration, so he could directly test Inuyasha's skills for himself.

Kirsten was up next, using the bo stick against a guardsman nearly twice her size. Despite his bulk, the man was exceedingly quick, but not nearly as fast as the Cobra. The little mutant was using a form that Sesshomaru was unfamiliar with, but it was very effective, if not as elegant. There was a cheer amongst the on-lookers as Kirsten managed to break her opponent's bo. The guardsman bowed and grinned at her.

"Good match, little human."

"I thank you, sir. You are very skilled yourself."

"Not quite at your level, I think."

"Nonsense. I am merely using a different form."

"Would you show me that manoeuver again?"

"Of course."

The little mutant walked off companionably with the guardsman and soon had a circle of men about her, all wanting to learn her tricks with the staff.

Inuyasha eyed the men dubiously, but decided that his presence was not needed. After watching his sensei this morning as she led Inuyasha through some exercises and an intense holhsi bout, he doubted any of the men would get out of line with her.

The young hanyou approached his brother and Mavis, and gave a slight bow.

"Impressive, Inuyasha," Sesshomaru said. "Lady Kirsten has worked marvels with you."

"Thanks. Hope you don't mind… after watching us do a workout this morning, Akihiko asked if he could test my sword skills."

"New techniques are always welcome and can give us an edge in battle."

"Hmmm. Yeah. How's that arm of yours coming along, Sess? Once you're up to it, we should be spending time in the simulations – all of us."

Sesshomaru flexed the exoskeleton. "It is coming along quite well, although I think it may be a few weeks yet before it is completely restored. When we return, I should be able to begin exercising it more."

"Can we start heading back tomorrow? Have you done everything here that's needed?"

"We can, little brother. So impatient, are you?"

"Well… missing Kagome, if you know what I mean." The hanyou winked at his elder brother.

"Hmmph." But the demon lord was smiling gently.

"You two seem to have found some common ground." Inuyasha's golden eyes twinkled merrily. He spied the jade necklace Mavis was wearing and drew in his breath. "Oh my. I remember that piece… Mother showed it to me once."

"Well then. Perhaps you'd like to come and see what I have put aside for your bride, Inuyasha."

"For Kagome?"

"As your wife, she is entitled to certain of the family heirlooms." Sesshomaru smiled again at the astonished look on his younger brother's face. "And I think we should discuss wedding plans, don't you? After all, you've already… ahem… claimed her."

Inuyasha grinned. "I'm letting her handle the wedding plans, Sess. If I so much as stick my nose in, I'll get it twisted for my trouble. All I have to do is show up in the appropriate clothing and say the right words." His gaze narrowed. "How about you?"

Mavis laughed and biffed Inuyasha's broad shoulder. "We're no where close to that stage, kiddo."

Inuyasha said nothing, but eyed his brother surreptitiously. It was amazing to see how much his cold arrogant brother had changed in the past few weeks, and he was certain Mavis had had a lot to do with it. The human woman was obviously unaware that the necklace she wore was reserved for the highest-ranking female in the clan. His brother could not have stated his intentions more clearly than if he had stood on the rooftop and shouted it out for all to hear.