Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the plot situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else which really you should all know by now. Thanks for reading and please review.

The Quest Continues

They'd been walking for an hour or so before they stopped for a break. The break was more because they had no idea where they were going then exhaustion though. Without some clue as to where exactly Ferio was hiding it was pretty useless to go wandering around blindly. Sitting down on a rock Andrea pulled a dagger out from her side and began playing with it, mentally causing it to twist, turn and expand in her hand.

Watching in amazement Kagome moved closer to watch. It was like the metal had become some sort of fluid matter as it moved like a snake around Andrea's hand. "That's amazing. You're doing that telepathically?"

"Yes. I come from a long line of metal artists on my father's side. Mostly jewelry." Andrea explained, causing the metal to twist around her arm into a makeshift bracelet before returning to its original shape and position. "We're considered the very best when it comes to workmanship and originality. We never make the same piece twice."

"Most impressive." Miroku commented from a safe distance. She was a mind reader after all and he still had bruises from before.

"So you can manipulate any sort of metal?" Sesshoumaru asked, surprising everyone since he'd been quiet since they'd leftthe holding. Now he was watching Andrea with just a hint of interest. After all, if she could manipulate metals mentally then maybe, just maybe...

"Yes."

"Wait a minute..." Sango said slowly, seeing where Sesshoumaru had been going with his question. Was it possible? "What about this metal?" She demanded to know as she held up the hand that was chained to Sesshoumaru's, urgency plain in her voice. "Can you manipulate something like this?"

"Of course I can." Andrea replied, looking slightly surprised and insulted that Sango would think she couldn't. "As I said, I can manipulate any kind of metal. That's simple gold, child's play really."

"So you could remove this chain then." Sesshoumaru stated, his eyes narrowing as the implications hit him. She'd been with them how long? And all this time it had been within her power to remove this god awful chain. He would never have had to be chained to the damn slayer if she'd spoken up.

"I can't break the spell binding your fates together but yes, I could remove the chain that physically binds you two together."

"And you didn't think to mention this before!" The exasperation and frustration was plain in Sango's voice as she stared at Andrea like the girl had committed a crime of some sort by not telling them about this gift of hers.

Not understanding why she was suddenly getting killer vibes from Lady Sango and Lord Sesshoumaru Andrea lifted a questioning eyebrow. "You never asked."

"I think you better undo that chain quick before they try to strangle you with it." Kyou whispered, looking at his aunt and uncle wearily. He knew when they'd reached the end of their chain, pun intended.

Shrugging Andrea raised her hand, the chain splitting in two, the ends wrapping around the wrists they were still attached to to form intricate and beautiful bracelets around the wrists of their owners. "There. If one of you is killed the other will still die as well." She reminded them, just in case they hadn't gotten what she'd said before. "I just separated the chain, not the spell."

The two automatically moving away from each other Sango hurried over to Kagome's side before she bothered to look down and admire the bracelet she was now wearing instead of the shackle. It was really quite beautiful, she thought absently. Especially since it had replaced the chain that had connected her to Sesshoumaru. She was free, Sango thought with a huge grin crossing her face. She was free!

Thank the gods, Sesshoumaru thought as he lifted his arm to study the bracelet before letting it drop back to his side. He was finally free of her. FREE! If no one else had been there he might have even grinned, he was that happy.

"You know, if it was anyone but Uncle Sesshoumaru I think he'd be doing a happy dance right now." Kyou said under his breath to Andrea as he watched his aunt and uncle rejoice in their separation in their own ways. "You know most guys would enjoy being chained to a babe like my aunt. But not Uncle Sesshoumaru. I think what they say about the men in our family is so unfortunately true."

"What's that?" Sango asked, trying to take her mind off the fact that she wanted to do a happy dance of her own.

"That Dare is the only one with the moves to go along with the sex appeal. All our men attract women easily but once they open their mouths those women tend to leave pretty damn quick." Sora answered with a chuckle as Kyou pouted at her. "And don't give me that look, Kyou. You know that you can't begin to compare with my brother when it comes to his harems."

"Casanova can't compare with Dare when he's on the prowl." Kyou muttered, hating to admit that he was no where near his older cousin's league.

"He's a playboy?" Kagome asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. A playboy that looked like Sesshoumaru. Talk about your lethal combinations. That was enough to make even the most happily married of women think twice.

"Well we like to joke that he got all the seductive charms in the family and the other guys were just left with their pretty faces." Kyou said with a smirk, even as he casted a weary eye towards his uncle in case the demon lord was paying attention. "The best way to put it I guess is that if Dare had Uncle Miroku's mission in life he would have repopulated Japan in less then two years. Women love him that much."

"Seriously?" Sango asked, biting her bottom lip to stop herself from bursting out laughing at the idea. Come to think of it, a man that looked like Sesshoumaru with a charming attitude would be any girl's dream man. She could see women falling for a guy like that easily. She'd nearly fallen for Sesshoumaru's seductive charms yesterday and when you really got down to it he didn't even have much to begin with.

"He is serious. It's really sorta scary the way they throw themselves at him. Then if he encourages them...well I prefer not to think about it." He was her brother after all, Sora thought with a face. Not to mention how many girls had tried to become friends with her for the sole reason of trying to get to her brothers through her.

"He is sort of a gentleman though. He doesn't go around groping women the way Uncle Miroku does." Kyou added, smirking a little at the monk who shot him a not amused at all look in response. "At least most of his ex girlfriends still talk about him nicely after its all over."

"Though there was that one that tried to impale him on one of his swords." Sora reminded him.

"Well true but that was because he told her that she had the personality of Joan Rivers and the body of a holocaust victim. That would piss anyone off." Kyou argued, shaking his head.

Putting her hands over her mouth Kagome laughed, unable to hold it back. "No kidding. I'd be tempted to murder a guy too if he said those sorts of things about me."

"Who the hell is Joan Rivers and what's the Holocaust?" Inu yasha wanted to know.

"Joan Rivers is a really annoying woman and when he said she looked like a holocaust victim he meant she was skin and bones." Kagome explained, not about to get into World War Two history with Inu yasha. His opinion of the human race was pretty low already without getting into a discussion on one of the most terrible atrocities humankind had ever committed in her time period.

"Well I'll certainly have my hands full." Sango said dryly, imagining being overrun with women trying to get at her sons. They might not all be the rake her youngest appeared to be but with her as their mother they had to at least have some manners. Unlike their father, Sango mentally added, sending him a dark look.

"Two down and two more to go. Well son wise anyway." Kyou said, looking pointedly at Sora who just gave him a don't go there look.

"Your stupidity is showing. Only one of my brothers has a mate." Sora pointed out, giving him a light whack upside the head.

"Yeah but Nomi and Kiyoshi are practically engaged." Kyou argued, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean the idiot's got to get around to it sooner or later. I mean I know he's slow to do things but it's starting to get ridiculous. The way things are going she'll ask him before he asks her."

"I wonder how long it would take him to decide to say yes." Sora said with a faint smirk. Her brother was unfortunately very slow to make up his mind on anything. He always had to weigh things and consider the alternatives before he acted. Poor Nomi.

"Lets just hope not so long that she ends up withdrawing it." Was Andrea's opinion on the matter.

Meanwhile in the Future

"So what's going on in that head of yours?" Ronin asked as he sat down beside his brother on the porch, facing the garden area where their nieces and nephews were running around with a soccer ball. Kiyoshi was supposed to be watching them but he looked a million miles away. Then again, when it was Kiyoshi it was never wise to assume he wasn't perfectly aware of what was going on around him.

"Nothing that concerns you." Was Kiyoshi's response, his eyes never leaving the gardens. Ronin was never one to go to when it came to advice anyway. His older brother was intelligent but usually hid it behind his often smart aleck attitude. The only time Ronin could be counted on to put a serious face on willingly was in front of their father. Their father didn't tolerate sass from his children, even now that they were all grown up and as big as he was.

Taking a shot in the dark as to what or in this case who could be on his brother's mind Ronin elbowed his little brother lightly in the side. "So how's Nomi doing?"

"Her condition hasn't changed since you saw her at breakfast." Was his dry response. Kiyoshi was, after all, unquestionably smarter then Ronin. A lot smarter. In other words he could see through his brother like a pane of glass.

"Well that's good. Now that she's nearly her old self again we won't have to worry about all her admirers coming here bearing get well tokens of their love and affection." Kiyoshi might have been smarter but Ronin was an excellent button pusher.

"We both know they're too afraid to set foot on our land without father's permission." Kiyoshi pointed out, his eyes just a little cooler to indicate that right button had been pressed. He disliked it a great deal when other demons came to try and court any female member of his family. They were always annoying, unintelligent weaklings that were easily gotten rid of. One would have thought that the demon world would have caught onto the fact that you didn't get into this family unless you were their mental and physical equals. That and no one was good enough for the women in his family, Kiyoshi added to himself.

"Yeah, especially after Dare tied that last one after Sora to a giant roasting pit and tried to cook him." Ronin said as his mouth twitched in amusement. "Boy was Sora ever pissed off."

"Well none of the women in our family like it when we dispose of the men before they can." Kiyoshi reminded him, recalling Dare's actions with some fondness. The guy had been a pig demon after all and pork had always been a favorite of his.

"Too true. But it's our job to do it. We're their older brothers and cousins. As it is we let Triton and Linc steal Rin and Hotaru right from under us!"

"We were children when Rin married Triton and anyone can see that Hotaru and Linc fit like two interlocking pieces of a puzzle." Shaking his head at his brother Kiyoshi was glad he wasn't as obsessed as Dare and Ronin were about monitoring and checking out every guy that showed an interest in a female member of their family. He and Kohaku at least had the sense to wait and see if it was serious before they intervened.

"Uncle Ronin! Come play with us!" Sakura called over, having just noticed that another one of her uncles had arrived. Running over with the ball in her hands the other children followed, crowding around their uncles.

"Looks to me like you're playing kick the ball all over the place, munchkin." Ronin said with affection as he reached out to ruffle the hair of his sister's oldest daughter. She looked just like Rin had as a child and if that continued they were going to have to help Triton beat the men off with sticks. And didn't that sound like fun. Well unless they were male water demons. Then it would hurt more than amuse. In that case it was probably better to let Triton handle it.

"Pay ball?" Ariel asked, holding onto her sister's skirt as the four year old looked at her uncles questioningly.

"Yeah, at least then we could actually play a game." Makoto grumbled from the other side of his second cousin. Since they were letting the little kids play with them all they could really do was kick the ball around. He was eight after all and much to big to play with his little cousins. Unfortunately his mommy was helping out in the orchard and his daddy was working at the shrine today and was too busy. Plus he'd promised his grandma Kagome to watch out for his little sister who was around Ariel's age and just as babyish. She couldn't even say play right.

"I think the game would be even more uneven if your uncle Kiyoshi and I played too." Ronin said with a chuckle, understanding the sentiments exactly. When he'd been a kid he hadn't enjoyed his little cousin Mika always wanting to play with him and his brothers either. Especially when it got to the point where she started kicking their asses at whatever sport they were playing. Kohaku was the only one that could match her when it came to speed.

"We could do something else?" Rogan suggested, ever the peacemaker like his mother. Shirtless, his little white wings fluttered in the breeze as he waited to see what the others thought of his suggestion. Quiet by nature he only talked when it was necessary or he thought it was in everyone's best interest that he spoke up. If Sakura or Makoto was in charge opening his mouth was often a requirement.

"Like what?" Akane, Makoto's little sister wanted to know, in the process of climbing into her Uncle Kiyoshi's lap where she happily snuggled while she waited to see what their new game would be.

"Well we could go swimming. It would be okay if Uncle Ronin and Uncle Kiyoshi were there to watch us and make sure none of the little kids drown." Makoto suggested as all eyes went to their uncles who squirmed under those puppy eyes.

"Uhm well..what the hell. Swimming sounds good to me. Kiyoshi?" Ronin asked with a chuckle, looking over at his younger brother who was frowning at him. "What?"

"You shouldn't swear in front of the children." Kiyoshi replied, a pointed look down where Akane was fiddling with his robes. "If they go back to their mothers swearing you can bet Chelsea, Hotaru and Rin will do more than just box your ears."

Wincing because that was unfortunately true Ronin could only hope that if it did happen he could use his near death experience to get off lightly. "They wouldn't do that to their Uncle Ronin, would you guys?" Ronin said with a hopeful look on his face.

"What'll you give us?" Makoto wanted to know, a gleam coming into his golden eyes. He was Inu yasha's grandson after all.

"Makoto! That's not nice!" Akane said with a pout as she looked up at her big brother. "I'll tell Mommy on you."

"How about in exchange for you all watching your language Ronin and I will take you all swimming in the watering hole." Kiyoshi suggested, coming to his idiot brother's rescue. "Then we'll go to the orchard and help with the fruit gathering."

The kids cheering in delight they marched through the gardens with Akane and Makoto perched on Kiyoshi's shoulders and Ariel and Sakura on Ronin's. Rogan walked between his two uncles, content to follow along behind. His Uncle Ronin had promised to carry him back and unlike his cousins he was capable of waiting his turn. Coming to the swimming hole the kids were eagerly set down, waiting impatiently while their uncles stripped down to their pants before they were allowed to wade into the water. Only Sakura and Ariel were allowed in the water without adults there. Soon the garden was full of shrieks and yelps as a water fight erupted.

Meanwhile in the orchard fifteen minutes later Kagome, Chelsea and Hotaru looked up with puzzlement as they noticed that in the last five minutes the number of young women had diminished noticeably. "Where did they all go?" Kagome asked her daughter, wiping some sweat from her eyes. It was a really hot day and she'd kill for a can of ice cold Coke.

"Well it is getting awfully hot." Sango pointed out as she came over with a basket full of apples, having overheard Kagome's comment. "As soon as I finish one more basket I'm going to the swimming hole to cool off."

"Now that sounds like an idea I can get behind." Chelsea said with a sigh, pushing back her damp blonde bangs. "I hope Kiyoshi remembered to put sunscreen on the kids. They're so fair skinned that part demon or not they'll burn and the last thing I need after today is a sunburned Makoto."

"He'll remember. It's Kiyoshi." Kagome said with a chuckle. Her nephew rarely missed a beat when it came to what needed to be done and when. Not that getting her grandson to stand still long enough to apply the sunscreen wouldn't be a challenge.

Turning back to their work as they all focused on one tree together Chelsea and Hotaru climbed up the tree, dropping down the apples for the other two to catch and add to their baskets. "God, where are they all going?" Kagome muttered under her breath, realizing that her daughter and daughter in law were the only young women left in the whole orchard.

Their answer came a few minutes later when Rin came over, shaking her head as she came over to see how things were progressing. "What's so funny?" Sango wanted to know, looking at her daughter questioningly.

"I went to go check on the kids and make sure they were sunscreened and not driving Kiyoshi up the wall. He and Ronin have them down at the swimming hole and I can guarantee you there's no way any of those kids could possibly drown at the moment."

"Oh? What did the guys do?" Kagome wanted to know.

"Oh they didn't do anything. But pretty much all the young women of the village are there enjoying the view. If one of the kids got into trouble there's no way someone won't notice."