Yuki sat, staring up at the sky as she leaned against a tree trunk on one side, and Sesshomaru on the other. It had been several hours since her meltdown, followed by an incredibly embarrassed silence.
Yuki was mortified at how she'd broken down completely, more affected by Kanna's mirror trick than she had thought she would be. It had been so long since she'd really thought about it, but then that had been it: her dark thoughts had had 170 years to fester in her heart.
Thankfully, Sesshomaru didn't comment when she had followed her wailing, weeping, and then sniffling before finally going silent.
"It is late." Was all he'd said after ten minutes of silence as he turned away, while Yuki wiped at the tear tracks on her cheeks with the backs of her hands. "We shall head back in the morning."
And with that, he'd settled down against a tree trunk, leaning back with his arm propped up on his knee and closing his eyes. Leaving a completely chagrinned Yuki standing uncertainly, shifting on her feet uneasily.
It had taken her another ten or so minutes to finally gather enough courage to gingerly slide herself to the ground beside Sesshomaru, inching her way to the other side of the tree trunk from where he was sitting, before leaning back against it.
At first, she'd remained stiff and on edge, waiting for Sesshomaru to speak, to ask questions.
But soon, it became clear that he wasn't going to, and eventually Yuki relaxed once more.
Now, staring up at the sky in a comfortable silence, Yuki observed the stars and the moon. The crescent moon was bright as it shone down on them, and Yuki reached up a hand, as though trying to touch it, though instead she cupped her hand around to complete the circle. Like that, it looked almost like the symbol of Yin and Yang, and Yuki smiled a little ruefully.
It reminded her of Kikyo's words to Suikotsu, the last time Yuki had seen either the undead priestess or the undead doctor.
"Good and evil exist in all men who walk the Earth."
Did that mean Yuki's mother had had some good in her? It had been a question that plagued Yuki's childhood before she'd stopped thinking about it, not wanting to think about her mother. Not wanting to remember as guilt festered like a poisoned wound in her heart.
Now, though, now that Sesshomaru had helped her dress her wound properly, to let it heal… Now, Yuki wondered if there had been good in her mother.
Despite all her declarations otherwise, she'd still given birth to Yuki.
Despite her harsh words, she'd never actually struck Yuki, even if the odd broken pottery shard cut Yuki accidentally when the sake bottle went smashing into the walls and floor – though Yuki wondered if it was because her mother could never bring herself to actually hit her child or if it was because she didn't want to physically touch the filthy half-breed she always claimed Yuki was.
And despite everything her mother had done to prove otherwise, Yuki was certain that her mother had never really stopped loving the demon who had been her father.
'I'll never know though, will I?' Yuki reminded herself as she leaned back with a sigh. 'Just as I'll never know why father never came back to mother. I'll never know what was going through their heads – only guess.'
Yuki mulled that thought in her mind, and continued to think on the subject for the rest of the night while Sesshomaru simply sat there, offering her silent companionship and allowing her the privacy of her own thoughts.
"Yuki!"
"Lord Sesshomaru!"
Yuki smiled a little as Rin came running, throwing her arms around Yuki's waist and hugging her in relief. Yuki hugged the child back, feeling guilty for causing the child worry – both with her fight with Sesshomaru before the incident with Kanna, and for leaving them for a day while Yuki recovered from her emotional breakdown.
"You came back." Rin beamed up at the half-demoness, happy to see she was safe and – more importantly – clearly on better terms with Sesshomaru once more.
"Of course I came back." Yuki answered cheekily, looking like her usual self. "What, did you think you could scare me off, Rin?"
Rin giggled, as Jaken ran over crying: "Lord Sesshomaru! I am so happy for your safe return."
Sesshomaru ignored him, his face pensive as he stared at Yuki while the half-demoness laughed with Rin as the child showed the older female the flower crown she'd made. The flowers had wilted since, but the details were still clear for Yuki to admire over and let Rin puff up with pride.
"Mi'lord?" Jaken asked tentatively after another moment, and Sesshomaru suddenly stated: "Jaken."
"Yes?" Jaken brightened up instantly at being addressed, only to be crushed once more as Sesshomaru ordered: "Stay here."
"Wha- but, but mi'lord!" Jaken cried in protest, wailing as Sesshomaru strode forwards while Yuki and Rin looked over in surprise.
"You're leaving already my lord?" Rin asked, but Sesshomaru brushed passed the child without reply.
"Sesshomaru-?" Yuki began tentatively, but he cut across her: "You stay here as well."
She frowned, saying with a puzzled but accepting shrug: "Okay…"
"Hand me your swords."
"What?" She asked, wondering if she'd heard him wrong, and Sesshomaru looked at her at last as he warned: "Do not make me repeat myself."
"Okay, okay." She muttered, frowning at his abrupt request. But she undid the belt holding her broken swords, handing both blades inside their sheaths over to him. "Why do you want them?"
He didn't reply as he took off into the sky, and Yuki scowled after him. Even if he had watched out for her, and unexpectedly comforted her last night, he didn't have to be so…
"Where do you think Lord Sesshomaru has gone this time?" Rin wondered, and Jaken wondered: "And what did he want your swords for, Yuki?"
"Who knows?" Yuki answered slowly. "Although, we ran into Kagura and Kanna… I wonder if he's thinking of tracking them with my swords?"
"Kagura? Kanna?!" Jaken screeched, before wailing about not being beside his master for such an important 'battle' while Rin asked Yuki: "But how would your sword help him find them, Yuki?"
Yuki shrugged as she explained: "I cracked Kanna's mirror with my swords – maybe he'll be able to use that to scent them out."
"Is that possible?" Rin wondered, and Yuki admitted: "Not that I'm aware of – but why else would he want them? Especially since they're broken?"
Her voice only cracked a little at the word 'broken' but she smoothed it over quickly, and Rin didn't ask her any more about it. For that, Yuki was grateful – while the swords shouldn't mean too much, they had been with her her whole life. To lose them now… in some ways, it hurt more than re-living her worst memories.
Sesshomaru flew into the giant skull amidst the flaming craters and geysers, ignoring the heat from the flames. After all, it barely bothered a demon of his level.
The elderly demon inside glanced up as Sesshomaru landed softly just inside the threshold, and the demon's already huge eyes widened even further as he recognized the dog demon visitor.
"No!" Totosai began protesting before Sesshomaru had even opened his mouth. "I don't care how many times you demand it, I have told you a thousand times I will not forge-"
"I am not here to commission a sword, Totosai."
Totosai paused, swiveling back around to stare at his old master's eldest son in surprise.
"You're not?" He asked with no small amount of shock.
Sesshomaru disregarded the question as he tossed Yuki's sheathed swords over to the older demon, saying flatly: "I wish you to restore these swords."
Totosai frowned as he caught the twin swords reflexively, glancing down at the sheaths. His brows creased even further as he did so, and he removed the swords from their casing to make sure he wasn't mistaking them.
"You want me to repair these swords?" Totosai repeated incredulously as he lifted one of the blades and gave it a cursory examination.
Neither blade was so far gone that he couldn't fix it, if given the right adhesive material and some time, but what made Totosai pause more than anything else was that he recognized these swords. They weren't his creations, but he was sure they were the ones he'd seen before, wielded by one blue-eyed half-demoness.
"Don't make me repeat myself, Totosai." Sesshomaru warned. "You said you would never forge me a sword – but you still have a debt to me for the way you delivered Tenseiga to me."
"Hm, yes…" Totosai murmured, looking up at Sesshomaru thoughtfully. "And if it was just to mend these swords, I wouldn't object… but why would you come all this way for something like this?"
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed dangerously, and Totosai said quickly: "All right, all right, keep your fangs inside your mouth."
Totosai nodded at the swords as he said: "I can mend these for you, no problem; shouldn't take more than three days."
He then fixed Sesshomaru with a look, as he pointed out: "You do know that I would need something to bind the cracks."
"Of course I know, Totosai." Sesshomaru answered coldly, and Totosai waited for the dog demon to produce some fang from a bag or something.
Instead, the dog demon warned: "But know that if you try to pull out more than one of my fangs, I will kill you."
"You-you're offering your fang?!" Totosai asked incredulously, his eyes bugging wider than ever as he stared at the dog demon.
Sesshomaru had never once given up one of his own fangs, though Totosai supposed he shared a part in that as he had always refused to forge a sword for the dog demon. But even when he'd kept bothering Totosai for a sword, Sesshomaru had always seemed reluctant to give up a fang; something Totosai chalked up to childish, petty vanity.
But for the proud Lord Sesshomaru to offer up his own fang to protect the half-demoness Yuki…
'How interesting.' Totosai thought, when Sesshomaru's fist came smashing down on his head.
"I can see what you are thinking on your face, Totosai." Sesshomaru said icily, his gold eyes narrowing dangerously. "But those blades were damaged because Yuki's fang alone is not strong enough; therefore it is only logical that I ensure they are strengthened properly this time."
"… Of course." Totosai answered casually.
He didn't for a moment believe that was Sesshomaru's only motive for offering his fang, nor had he missed the fact that Sesshomaru had referred to the half-demoness by name. But he wisely kept his mouth shut as Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes further.
Instead, Totosai said as he reached for his metal tweezers: "And don't worry, Sesshomaru, I value my life too much to risk removing more than one fang."
He couldn't help the large grin that appeared on his face as Sesshomaru looked at the tweezers with a hint of apprehension, and Totosai sang: "Open wide!"
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. And it was with another large bump on his head that a silenced Totosai finally managed to remove one of the great Lord Sesshomaru's fangs.
"Sesshomaru?" Yuki asked in surprise as the dog demon returned, much earlier than the group had expected.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin and Jaken cried excitedly, while Yuki frowned as she glanced around and over the dog demon.
"… Where are my swords?" She asked, noting their absence.
"We are leaving." Sesshomaru ordered, not replying to any of them, and Rin paused as she glanced at Yuki uneasily while the half-demoness's eyes narrowed.
"Sesshomaru." She said in a deadly voice. "Where are my swords?"
He glanced at her before turning and starting to walk off.
"Er…" Jaken said, sweat-dropping as he too looked between the half-demoness who was steadily growing livid and the demon lord who was striding off as though nothing was wrong. "Mi'lord…"
"Sesshomaru, where are my swords?!" Yuki yelled, her long white hair flying out behind her as she leapt into the air and landed in front of Sesshomaru angrily. "I swear, if you trashed them somewhere-"
"They were already broken." He pointed out. "Why would it matter if I did dispose of them?"
"It matters to me!" Yuki yelled, blue eyes blazing as she glared at him. "So, you'd better tell me where they are right now-"
"You shall get them back in three days." Sesshomaru replied, annoyed with her yelling. He was doing her a favour – did she have to lose her temper? His jaw was still aching from the lost fang, too, though it would regrow soon enough.
Of course, he conveniently forgot he hadn't told her what he'd done.
"Excuse me?" Yuki asked incredulously, trying to figure out what on Earth he could have done with her swords, but Sesshomaru had walked on again, not bothering to respond.
Yuki glared after him, but – pacified for now, though she vowed to kill him herself if he didn't give her her swords back in three days – she followed him as Rin and Jaken sighed in relief in the back.
"Yuki's scary when she's mad." Rin whispered, and Jaken snapped: "Of course, to a human child like you, she could be!"
"Master Jaken, you were also shaking in fear." Rin argued, and the two started bickering while Yuki continued to glower at Sesshomaru's back.
'He'd better keep his word.' She thought viciously. 'And why three days? What did he do?!'
Three days later
Sesshomaru returned to Totosai's lair, once again alone.
"Ah, you're here." Totosai noticed, wiping his brow before nodding at two sheathed swords leaning against the wall of his home and workplace. "They're ready – and fine swords they've become, too; with my help and your fang, Sesshomaru."
"Hn." Was all Sesshomaru said as he took the swords and turned to leave.
"Wait, Sesshomaru!"
Sesshomaru glanced back at the older demon as he asked: "What is it, Totosai? I'm busy."
"Yes." Totosai agreed, scratching his head. "But I was wondering something…"
Sesshomaru raised a brow, and Totosai said with a dead-serious face: "You're still young for a demon, so I can't help but be concerned – you are being safe right?"
SMACK!
Totosai rubbed the large bump on his head as he cried from the pain, while Sesshomaru stalked out angrily, muttering: "Such things, with a half-demon? Ridiculous."
But Totosai watched Sesshomaru leave, the dog demon soon disappearing, with a thoughtful expression. For despite the dog demon's protests, it hadn't escaped Totosai's notice that not only did Sesshomaru continued to refer to Yuki much kinder than he'd ever heard the demon do, but his speech itself had softened. And Totosai knew who it had to be thanks to.
After all; 'half-demon' instead of 'half-breed'? Who else could have influenced the change in Sesshomaru's language, if not the caramel-haired half-demoness herself?
"Lord Sesshomaru!"
Yuki was waiting with a scowl, arms folded impatiently, while Rin called out brightly and waved to the returning dog demon.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken cried in equal joy as he hurried up to the dog demon; only to be ignored as Sesshomaru walked over the small imp demon and strode forwards.
Yuki did brighten when she saw Sesshomaru had kept his promise.
"My swords!" She exclaimed happily as Sesshomaru simply dumped the swords on her, not even breaking his stride as he continued to walk on through the forest. "But what took so long-?"
Yuki broke off, however, frowning as she felt the swords; before her eyes widened in disbelief as she realized what the difference she was feeling was.
Swiftly, she unsheathed both swords, and her dark blue eyes widened even further as she saw the sleek, smooth blades. Even Kiba, which had previously looked like the slightest blow would break it clean in half, was back to its original shiny state; no, it was better.
Yuki could feel the difference in the weight of the blades, slightly heavier now and of a different quality – a stronger quality. A demonic quality. And that could only mean one thing.
'It can't be.' Yuki thought as she shot Sesshomaru's back an incredulous look. 'He didn't… did he?'
Yuki ran her finger along the length of her blade, testing it, and she was sure… there could be no mistake. The fang used for the blades… And everything became clear.
Sesshomaru's somewhat sour mood when he'd returned three days ago as he unconsciously continued to clench and unclench a clearly uncomfortable jaw… why it had taken three days to get her swords back….
Yuki ran after Sesshomaru, catching up with him and peering up at him as she walked at his side.
"What is it?" He asked curtly, and Yuki grinned. So cold… and yet, not.
"I'm sorry." Yuki apologized, making him glance at her. "You mended my swords for me… and I yelled at you."
"Hn."
"Though, if you'd just been honest with me from the beginning…" Yuki hinted, making him glare sharply at her.
But it didn't scare her, nor did it even anger her this time – instead, Yuki smiled widely at him. It threw Sesshomaru, especially as she said sincerely: "Thank you, Sesshomaru. For everything."
He looked away, looking a little uncomfortable, so Yuki let it rest there. But in those five words had been all her sincerity and honest feelings, and she knew that something had irrevocably changed between them then. Whether it would be for better or worse, only time would tell.
*A/N Song of the day: If I were a bird from Code Geass. I couldn't find a short-ish piano version, so this is a link to a piano tutorial version: /19YySIPN4J0
Response to Guest(Lili): I don't usually respond on my stories, but I'll make an exception! I'm really happy to hear that you're enjoying this story. So thank you for the review, and showing so much support! It's made my day, and I can't tell you how grateful I am (to each of my readers and especially those who review) for keeping me motivated!