The blue wave of time receded, and with it the smell of old and powerful magics. Golden eyes tried to pierce the gloom cast by the shed that had been built over the well, nostrils aquiver.

The cross had been successful: they were in Kagome's 'time.'

The trip to the well itself had been uneventful. With little ado, they had gone over the plan once again – Sesshoumaru reiterating strategy as Kagome quickly packed what she could – and departed shortly after breakfast. Given their last encounter in his youki orb, Sesshoumaru chose instead to fly. Although slower, they would not lose much time.

Incidentally, it had turned out to be a good decision. While they had settled their quarrel earlier in the day, apologies and forgiveness had been left unspoken, which had translated to an awkwardness during their trip that had not existed since the very beginnings of their relationship. They traveled mostly in silence, the green of the canopies passing in a blur, and eventually the tension between them dissipated in the passing breeze of the early afternoon.

From that point on, cradling Kagome to his side with an arm about her back, he listened as she gave quiet explanations of what to expect upon breeching the time gate.

One thing she had mentioned was the human-generated miasma.

Sesshoumaru quelled the undignified urge to retch as the smells of the world began to penetrate his heightened senses. Nuzzling into her hair and breathing her scent for a moment, he gathered her securely and leapt out of the well, landing deftly in front of the well house doors.

Before she could even open the doors, he began filtering the scents as his father had taught him so long ago. A brief, wistful pang echoed in his chest, and the smell of sulfur rose, fleeting and unbidden, before slipping back into the abyss of memory.

Out in the sunlight, he focused on the changes to this place. Where there had once been a forest, some area had been cleared and a shrine and home erected. Trees still littered the landscape, the Goshinboku still reigning supreme among them, tethered with holy rope that swayed in the wind. Overall, the time itself had not changed; in the past they entered the well at late afternoon, and it appeared to be the same time of day in this time. The season, however, had still been in late summer. While it was still hot in this time, he could already smell the death of summer in the scent of decaying foliage, sense it in the strength of the wind.

They approached the sturdy, two-story structure – like a small castle, he wondered – with Kagome taking the lead. Just before she opened the door, she looked at him over her shoulder, then almost bashfully lowered her lashes.

"Sesshoumaru, I …" she sighed, "Thank you."

Leaving him no time to reply, she moved in. The door opened to reveal a wonderland of foreign objects that he could not even begin to categorize, much less fathom. Unusually startled, he had only just realized he had followed Kagome into the genkan when she knelt to untie his boots.

A strange feeling came over him as he watched her work as only a mate would. It was that same completion he felt in her presence, that strange remembrance of a forgotten longing he had never really had before her. Uncharacteristically bashful again, she glanced up at him with a gentle smile before resuming her work. This was her way of showing her gratitude, and yet he was at a loss for how to express his.

They had kissed, they had touched, but the sensation in his chest was so thoroughly tender, so unlike he had ever felt, that he could not understand how to express himself. As he thought to reach for her, she finished and was off into the strange home.

"Tadaima!"

Eying objects right and left, he followed her swiftly to what appeared to be a cooking room, or "kitchen" as she'd once told him. There, a woman draped in an apron stirred some pot of food, the scent of which was a delightful relief from the outdoors.

"Kagome!"

Kagome flounced into the surprised woman's arms.

"Mama, I'm so sorry it's been so long!"

Her mother appeared relieved as she returned the tight embrace, looking her daughter over for changes, but once the moment had passed, her eyes slid to the other occupant in the room.

Sumire was initially startled by the demon's appearance – after all, he was rather large and unmistakably not Inuyasha. But after all of the surprises Kagome had brought her over the years, she had learned to adjust quickly. Schooling her features into a welcoming smile, she turned off the stove and turned back to the visitor.

"Why don't you introduce your friend, Kagome?"

Kagome's smile turned nervous. "Well, this is –"

"Hey! You're not Inuyasha!"

All eyes turned to the doorway, where a young boy stood, gaping incredulously.

"Souta!" Kagome exclaimed, mortified, while her mother tried to smother a laugh. "Stop pointing, you rude little twerp!"

Sesshoumaru observed his accuser. Though he was nearly as tall as Kagome, his frame was thin and lanky. Long, awkward limbs gave way to hands and feet that were too big for him yet, showing he had still more to grow. A boy. A brother. Just like him.

"You look like Inuyasha though," Souta commented thoughtfully, ignoring his sister's growing ire and mild panic. Given Sesshoumaru's track record, she didn't know how he'd react to being compared to Inuyasha yet again.

Sesshoumaru squashed the urge to laugh. Kagome looked ready to kill her brother. It seemed that maybe Inuyasha had merely been filling the typical role of a younger sibling, rather than anomalously being a thorn in his side.

"Indeed," he answered wryly before Kagome could lunge at Souta. "He is my…brother."

His eyes slid to Kagome's, and for a moment she was shocked.

' brother, he says.'

Not 'half-breed.'

Not even 'half-brother.'

That the hanyou himself wasn't there to hear it, or that Sesshoumaru would probably never say it directly to him, made it no less significant to her. The significance, however, was lost on the rest of her family, and the moment was broken as abruptly as it had come.

"Inuyasha's brother?" her mother chimed pleasantly at the reveal.

"Yes, mama." Kagome took advantage of the interruption to finish introductions. "This is Sesshoumaru."

"How nice to meet you!" The older woman's face radiated genuine happiness, and a calm beauty even in her age which he could see in Kagome.

"Wait a minute!" Souta's energetic exclamation interrupted whatever Kagome was about to say next, much to her chagrin. "Wait one minute! You're THE Sesshoumaru?" he asked incredulously. "The evil, human-hating, ice-prick older brother?!"

Kagome wanted to die.

"Souta!" Sumire scolded, just as scandalized as her daughter.

"Whaaat?" he whined, "That's what Inuyasha said!"

Kagome dropped the hands that covered her face to glare at him. "Well not everything that Inuyasha says is true. Or polite for that matter!" She didn't even want to know what else the half demon had told her little brother.

"Hn." The huff was an attempt to hide a laugh, but it called the attention back to him. He couldn't very well deny the accusation. While he did not hate humans, he had been quite evil to his brother in the past. Eyeing the boy idly, he decided to give a political answer.

"If I hated humans, I would not be here now."

Souta issued a mumbled apology which Kagome ignored. What a mess! And that was without her grandfather involved yet. Face red, she turned to Sesshoumaru, hoping her eyes conveyed her apology on behalf of her family.

"Regardless, Souta, if your sister brought him home, he's welcome here!" Hands on her hips, Mrs. Higurashi looked every part the mother. "And you had better watch your language. Next time, it's the DS that goes!"

"Now, dear," she said sweetly, turning to Kagome, "what's the reason for the sudden visit?"

"Well…"

Abruptly put on the spot again, Kagome didn't know what to say. What could she say? Not that she hadn't thought about it, but the decision for Sesshoumaru to meet her family had been so sudden that she really didn't know where to begin. He wanted to mate her, to make her his wife. While this sent her heart aflutter, she couldn't help the scared pang in her stomach in anticipation of her family's reaction. They knew nothing about him, this man, this demon who would suddenly take over the life of their daughter.

At that moment, something on the stove splattered and hissed.

"Oh no!" Sumire rushed to the stove and turned down the heat, stirring the pot that had boiled over. "On second thought, dear, why don't you show Sesshoumaru around and take some baths. We can talk about it at dinner. Jii-chan will be back then, and you can tell us all about it."

"O-okay," Kagome forced a smile. In her head, she agonized, 'I can't wait.'