A/N: Okay this was a long chapter because I didn't want to break it into two...and since I have been slower to update lately you all deserve a longer chapter. I just wasn't sure how to write the reunion. Anyway here it is. Hmm. Not my best work considering all the interjections life has made as distractions. Whoop!
Disclaimer: I do not own them.
Last Chapter: Shimo basically destroyed Shiroihana's plans. Everything except the annulment between Ginrei and Sess is gone or will be determined later. The doctor, Tsuki, and Shippo operated on Rin to remove the knife that Shiroihana left in her side. Rin ended up taking it out herself. Shippo got her up to speed on things and she went to visit Sess for the first time since he's mostly gotten better. She found him surprisingly emotional, kinda pouting, and eating lunch with Ginrei and Hanone. But Ginrei proved to be little of a threat and Rin ended up discussing plans with Sess on how they should get Saya back.
Goodbye
Nighttime had been unkind to Inuyasha. While Saya slept heavily, resting in the complete peace that could only be attained by small children and the dead, Inuyasha nodded off only fitfully. He had taken up a sitting position near the door, slouching on some plushy cushions that had been placed around the table in the room for sitting. Saya was inside his haori like a baby kangaroo in its mother's marsupial pouch, safe and warm.
Shimofuri had moved them from the room where Jaken was babysitting the inuyoukai boy Boroya. The new room was smaller but just as ornate and well-decorated. Miroku took the futon with one or both of them snoring, but Inuyasha refused to wake Saya up and wouldn't consider sleeping on the futon with the monk and the kit. What if he rolled over in his sleep and suffocated her? Saya was sleeping so heavily, and it seemed the moment he let his guard down something emerged out of the woodwork to attack her or him or whoever was vulnerable.
So it was that when a maid came into their room with tea and rice cakes for a small morning meal Miroku rose to greet her and eat, but Inuyasha lethargically declined. The crunch and slurp as the monk ate and the occasional attempt at conversation kept him awake, but he resisted moving anyway, unwilling to accept that he had to get up and face the ongoing issue at hand: Saya. His dozing dreams had been of Sesshomaru snatching greedily with grubby hands for Koinu, Akisame, or Saya and sometimes even Kagome. Inuyasha was always jumping awake, growling protectively and checking the pouch in his red haori to be certain that Saya was still there.
Shippo had been gone throughout the night, but after the maid came and went with breakfast, Shippo appeared hungry and full of news. He munched loudly on the rice cakes and then tried to lick up every crumb, oddly famished. The irritating noises at last made Inuyasha life his head and glare nastily, not even pretending to sleep anymore.
"Lady Rin is up and awake. The doctor took out the knife in her side." The kit crunched loudly on a rice cake and then chewed audibly. Inuyasha, sitting behind him, bristled at the annoying noise.
"That's excellent news!" Miroku put in, smiling. "Will she be coming to take Saya?"
"No one's taking her anywhere," Inuyasha snapped. When both Miroku and Shippo glanced at him with bafflement, confused at the vehemence in his tone, the hanyou's ears flattened down. "If she doesn't want to go with Rin she doesn't have to," he said, adjusting his meaning. "Not yet anyway."
"Inuyasha," Miroku murmured, clearing his throat cautiously. "Do you remember what I said last night?"
"What, you mean all that damned snoring you did that kept me awake?"
Miroku blinked. "I snore?"
"Feh," Inuyasha grunted.
Frowning, Miroku went on, ignoring Inuyasha's baiting. "I mean about you being overly attached to Saya. She's not—"
"Not my daughter," Inuyasha growled. His golden eyes were darker than usual, almost orange as he glared. "Yeah, I heard you the first time. Did you think I was stupid?"
"You are being really overprotective," Shippo muttered.
Inuyasha's ears shot upright, stiffly, mimicking the motion of his shoulders as rage erupted out of him like lava from Kilauea. "What do you know, runt! What should I have done, huh? Let that bastard brother of mine grab her against her will? I tried to make her recognize him!"
"Yeah, but you know Lady Rin is who she says she is now. You know she was telling the truth. She asked about Saya over and over again." Shippo puffed out a long breath. "Sesshomaru is really upset."
"Feh!" Inuyasha burst into gruff laughter. "He's never been upset in his life!"
Miroku glowered at the hanyou. "You don't honestly believe that do you? I felt his behavior with Saya was clearly—"
"Yeah, just because the guy doesn't cry doesn't mean he doesn't feel miserable!" Shippo interrupted the monk.
"Feh," Inuyasha grumped. "If he was so worried about her, why grab at her? Why scare her so much? Either he doesn't care or he's just fucking dumb."
"I'm not sure whether you're just in some sort of overprotective denial or just being dense," Miroku mumbled. "Either way Saya still isn't your daughter."
The hanyou spluttered, so outraged by Miroku's comments that he couldn't formulate a proper reply. What finally came out was, "Shut the hell up!"
The raised voices at last pierced through Saya's deep sleep. She moaned and moved in the artificial pouch that Inuyasha had provided for her in his haori. Shippo giggled, unable to resist commenting on Inuyasha's altered shape. "You look like you're going to give birth like Sango!"
"Shut up," Inuyasha barked.
"Sango has a much more refined shape while pregnant," Miroku said, frowning.
"Uncle?" Saya's voice rose out of his haori groggily.
The hanyou loosened his hoari and opened it, letting his niece sit up and gaze out. "Hey kid. You feeling okay? Need to pee?"
Shippo sniggered but fell silent when Inuyasha threw him a deadly glare.
Saya's small nostrils flared and she turned her head to look at Shippo and Miroku at the table, registering their presence and that there was food in the room. She struggled with the red fabric of her uncle's haori, climbing out and making a beeline for the table. Before she could stop and ask to share their food, Shippo passed a few of the rice cakes to her. "Eat up."
Shakily, Saya began stuffing the rice cakes into her mouth, chewing rapidly. Inuyasha eyed her from his corner with his ears flattened.
"How would you like to go and see your father, Saya?" Miroku asked, smiling brightly. Inuyasha recognized it as the grin he offered to his sons when they weren't eager to do something that Miroku had deemed vital like chores or lessons that involved sitting and writing or reciting something rather than notching an arrow in a bow or jabbing at an enemy with a pole.
Saya shook her head, a sharp and violent motion. Her little jaw kept chewing rapidly while her eyes stared ahead at the wall blindly.
"But your father wants to see you!" Shippo tried, using the same brightness that Miroku had.
Saya swallowed the last of her rice cake with a gulp and reached for another, one of only two left. She didn't answer the fox, merely continued eating heartily.
Footsteps thumped over the floorboards out in the hallway. Inuyasha's ears flicked, following the sound. "Saya," he barked. When the girl turned and looked at him, munching on her rice cake, Inuyasha motioned for her to come to him. "Over here."
She obeyed, holding the rest of the rice cake in her mouth and hopping over to her uncle. Miroku watched their interaction with a small frown.
The door opened and a plump middle aged human, a maid, was kneeling on the other side. She smiled confidently and told them, "Lord Shimofuri has asked for all of his guests to meet with him in the audience room. If you would all follow me…?"
They rose to their feet and moved after the maid, leaving the door to the room they had spent the night in open. Saya snatched the last rice cake before leaving and trotted after the adults and Shippo while stuffing it into her face, crunching on the cakes with a snap. Inuyasha kept his ears turned backward, trained on Saya's steady, fast-paced tread.
The maid led them through the residence halls and passageways and down a flight of stairs before they came to the audience room. The room was empty except for maids who were setting up a small tray of tea in the center of the room. Stacks of circular teacups were lined up. Inuyasha counted them in a quick glance and knew that this would not be a simple meeting with Shimofuri. They would not be the only guests.
The maid gestured for them to sit along the right side of the audience room in a diagonal line like half of a V shape of migrating geese. They faced the small raised platform where assumedly Shimofuri would sit as the lord and host, but Inuyasha calculated the spots left to be filled ominously. The entire left side could be filled, and then the space directly in front of the platform and again further back…
His hands were wet with perspiration, ready and expecting trouble from any corner. It was further troubling that Shippo and Miroku appeared completely at ease. The fox playfully transformed into the plump middle-aged maid as soon as she had left them alone in the room and whistled a tune Kagome had taught him while he poured tea for Miroku. "Did you want some Inuyasha? Saya?"
"Yes," Saya responded, eagerly. She was wiping her mouth free of the rice cake crumbs. After eating them so quickly her mouth was sure to be dry.
Shippo, in the maid's guise, flipped over another teacup and started pouring. The herbal smell was fresh and calming but Inuyasha resisted it. "Inuyasha?" Shippo asked.
"No."
"We may be here for a long time," Miroku muttered. "Lord Shimofuri has not been prompt about meeting his guests in my experience. Most lords aren't. Especially to their lowest ranking guests." Shippo scooted toward the monk with his filled teacup and passed it off to him with a wink. His eyes were green while the maid's had been a normal human brown. Miroku frowned at him but took the cup. After he had sipped he went on. "Of course if your brother was here we could expect Lord Shimofuri to arrive in only a minute or two. Any longer and I expect Sesshomaru would lop off his leg or…"
"Not right now," Inuyasha muttered, smirking darkly.
"No, he's better now," Shippo said, still knelt and pouring tea as the maid. "How do I look? Is it a good match?"
"Your eyes are wrong," Miroku murmured.
"What do you mean he's better?" Inuyasha demanded, only becoming further alarmed.
The maid—Shippo—turned and smiled at him in a mockingly maternal way. "He was up and about today! He went and had a bath and he was talking to his wife last I heard. Lady Rin wasn't too happy about that." The fox boy paused and cocked his head to one side. "Are you sure you don't want some tea, Inuyasha?"
"There's no fucking way he could be—"
"Tea!" Saya shouted gleefully as Shippo shuffled over to her with her cup. She took it from Shippo and gulped it, frowning a moment later as she registered the warm temperature. "Bleh."
"It's the way I look isn't it?" Shippo teased the hanyou, provoking him. "I could try another form…"
Inuyasha's ears folded down and he growled. "Don't you—"
Before he could go on Shippo's shape wavered. The gray hair darkened into back and took on a slight curl, the features morphed into something very familiar, a face Inuyasha had been sharing a bed with for many years now. Kagome sat before him, batting her eyes—but she was not completely Kagome as Inuyasha knew her in the present, instead she was younger, slimmer, more girlish and less womanly.
Saya was holding her teacup but had forgotten it and everything else as she stared with a baffled expression. Shippo's shape shifting hadn't bothered her because his scent was familiar, but she whimpered uncertainly now that he was mimicking known faces—as Jishin had when she took on Sesshomaru's appearance and attacked. Inuyasha noted her alarm and growled deeply. "Shippo, I'm going to wring your neck—knock it off you're scaring Saya."
"Sit!" Shippo-Kagome shrieked and Inuyasha cringed.
Miroku coughed, trying to hide his amusement.
A door slid open across the room and the group turned with surprise to see who had come to join them. Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief when Jaken appeared behind the maid, followed only by his charge Boroya, not by a fully recovered Sesshomaru. The toad regarded the others in the room with a snort and then yelled at the boy to sit where he told him to.
"Jaken!" Saya called, grinning.
The inuyoukai boy was sitting down when Saya spoke and he pointed at her, observing aloud. "She's the girl from last night. The sleepy one."
"Hush, boy!" Jaken shrieked. "Don't speak unless you are spoken to."
"Jaken" Saya called again. She got to her feet, placing the empty teacup aside carelessly, and started to charge across the room to hug the little imp but Inuyasha grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Uncle?"
"Just wait here," he muttered, glaring suspiciously at the toad.
Jaken returned Inuyasha's glare with one of his own. "Worthless half-breed!"
"Jaken?" Saya asked, confused at the strange tenseness, the negative vibes the room suddenly exuded.
"Let her go see him," Miroku said quietly, aiming the words at Inuyasha's flicking ears.
Reluctantly, Inuyasha released Saya and the girl rushed for the toad, pouncing on him like a kitten. The imp grunted and scolded her. "Stupid girl! Sit down and behave properly for once!"
"I missed you!" Saya cried, snuggling into Jaken's greenish clammy and rather bulbous head while he squirmed and fought to push her away.
Shippo giggled mischievously. "I don't know how anyone could miss that."
A few minutes later Ginrei entered the room and took the spot closest to the platform. Supported on one hip and shoulder she carried Hanone. Saya recognized her younger sister immediately by both scent and sight. She cried out in a high voice and rushed after Ginrei. When the inuyoukai woman had sat down and placed Hanone in her lap, she allowed Saya to embrace her.
Inuyasha watched the interaction intently, fidgeting with mounting anxiety. Control had always mattered to him so much and now this child that had come into his possession, had weaseled her way into his heart, was being gradually wrenched away. She was leaving his protection and his control. Part of him understood that this was what he had come for, that he had done nothing but act honorably—but in the end it was only causing him pain. He still had Sesshomaru to contend with and despite what he'd said to Shippo and Miroku, Inuyasha knew that his older brother had been deeply disturbed and upset. Just as it bothered the hanyou to see Saya reuniting slowly with members of her immediate family, Sesshomaru would have felt the same seeing Inuyasha's control over her.
If Sesshomaru was well again, Inuyasha couldn't begin to imagine his wrath. And although he had never really been afraid of fighting his brother—he'd done it often enough after all—now he had seen Sesshomaru's daughters. He had loved Saya. If Sesshomaru decided that Inuyasha would have to pay for stealing Saya away with his life…he could only think of how much such a thing would scar Saya. He could see so clearly for the first time their connectedness as kin as two families.
He opened his mouth several times; ready to call Saya back, but always silenced himself, gagging his mouth with his own thoughts.
"Lady Ginrei is in the position of honor," Miroku observed, whispering. He was speaking more to Shippo, who had come to sit next to him, closest to the platform but Inuyasha's ear twisted in that direction, overhearing. It gave him hope for a short time that perhaps this was the full extent of Shimofuri's audience—but those hopes were soon dashed.
More footsteps announced more guests just before Rin entered the room. She was dressed in a creamy white with red embroidered peonies. She carried herself with a regal bearing that she had held as a human but as an inuyoukai it approached aloofness that Inuyasha had thought only his brother capable of mastering. Yet all of the washed away when her eyes, a bluish color, fell on Saya. Her shoulders dropped as she was walking and her lips parted slightly. Inuyasha recognized the expression because it was one he had seen Kagome make when she was worried about one of their pups. It was entirely possible that he had made the same expression himself.
Rin's appearance distracted him so much that Inuyasha didn't realize that Sesshomaru was following her immediately until a dark shape drew his attention like a shadow following Rin. Sesshomaru was not wearing his usual white traveling robes, but had donned something dark blue with stripes of yellow splashed throughout. His hair was to his shoulders and it was bright white like fresh snow. The scent he gave off was almost normal. If Inuyasha hadn't been expecting something different he wouldn't have caught the change at all.
They sat in the middle of the room, another honored position.
Saya had spotted them and watched from beside Ginrei. Her golden eyes were wide as they trailed the couple, her mouth ajar.
"Go see your father," Ginrei whispered, nudging Saya.
Saya shook her head without breaking her stare. She got up and ran back to Inuyasha on her nimble, skinny legs. She crawled into his lap, a warm and welcome bundle, shaking with fear. Almost instinctually, Inuyasha touched her hair, stroking her head to calm her. He nearly began the deep throated hum he had used to lull Koinu and Akisame to sleep after a nightmare or a difficult doctor's visit or while Kagome was away—but Rin and Sesshomaru's expressions halted him. Rin was openly watching them, almost hungrily. Her eyes were warm and misty. Sesshomaru was staring straight ahead, purposefully ignoring them both as if he were alone in the room, but his jaw was tightened into a hard square shape.
"Don't let them take me, Uncle," Saya whimpered.
"No one's taking you," Inuyasha muttered, sighing.
Shimofuri arrived at last, accompanied by Tsukiyume. They took their places on the platform and Shimofuri greeted them jovially, smiling tightly but with true pleasure. "Welcome all of you, it has been my honor to house so many fine guests in the Nanka, but now I think some of you must be on your way."
"Do I get to go home?" Boroya asked. Jaken yelled at him and slapped the boy behind the head.
"I'm afraid not," Shimofuri told him, nodding his head in acknowledgement. "But I hope that you will one day think of the Middle Lands as your home."
Boroya made a face, about to tear up. "I want to go home to Mother."
"Hush!" Jaken squawked.
"Because you are eager for answers Boroya," Shimofuri said, "I will begin with you. In a few days your mother will come here to undergo discussions for peace between our clans. Boroya, you are key to these plans. You have a great future and grave responsibilities ahead of you. Do you understand?" Boroya nodded solemnly and Shimofuri went on in a calm, gentle voice. "You are to become my hostage, but I will treat you as if you were my own son. Your mother will visit you once every summer and I will provide for your education. In due time you will inherit the lands that once belonged to my uncle. This is a great honor for you."
When Boroya was silent, staring sullenly at the floor, Jaken swatted him on the shoulder. "You've been complimented by Lord Shimofuri! Answer him!"
"Yes!" Boroya shouted automatically. "Thank you!"
Shimofuri went on a little slower, with less enthusiasm. "I will also negotiate a proper marriage for you. Currently, with Lord Sesshomaru and Lady Ginrei's consent, you will be betrothed to Hanone, their daughter. Again, this is an honor some would say is above and beyond your station considering your mother's treason against my lands. It is your responsibility to act honorably here or these opportunities may be revoked."
"Yes sir," Boroya muttered.
"Good then," Shimofuri said, nodding. "You may take him out of here, Jaken. After that I free you from his service and you may rejoin Lord Sesshomaru as long as that is your wish."
Jaken nearly choked in his eagerness to reply. "Of course! Why wouldn't I—I would never—"
"Good, then go." As soon as Jaken had ushered Boroya out of the room, Shimofuri turned his attention to Ginrei with a warm smile. "Lady Ginrei, I have had the annulment document drawn up and completed."
"Thank you, Lord Shimofuri," Ginrei replied gently.
"You are free to do as you wish, but…" he paused and cleared his throat awkwardly. "As you know I would greatly value your continued company here in the Nanka. You and Hanone of course."
"I would be honored to stay in the Nanka with Lord Shimofuri," Ginrei said, smiling.
"In that case," Shimofuri began lightly, "the castle is yours to roam in. You may leave and go wherever you please."
Ginrei thanked him again formally and bowed. She held Hanone as she left but paused awkwardly as she passed by Sesshomaru and Rin. Hanone had reached out and snatched her father's newly grown white hair. She tugged it but Sesshomaru did not react except to calmly reach up and open her palm, freeing himself. Yet as Ginrei disappeared out the door, Sesshomaru turned his head and followed Hanone. His jaw relaxed and for a split second Inuyasha imagined he saw sadness, perhaps regret or some loss…
But it was fleeting like a robin hopping over open grass, hunting the ever-elusive worms.
"Cousin!" Shimofuri called, startling Inuyasha into blinking and facing the platform with a blank, open stare.
"What?" he grunted.
"It is always a pleasure to see you. You look well. I trust your son is—"
"Leave Koinu outta this. You ain't taking anymore hostages or making any treaties with me."
"I hope I can convince you otherwise," Shimofuri said, openly amused.
"Cut the crap," Inuyasha snapped. "I know why I'm here and it has nothing to do with you and me being distant cousins." He felt Rin and Sesshomaru's stares, as well as Miroku and Shippo, all of them fueling his tension. He let it come spilling out, like water bursting through a crack in a dam. "It isn't my fault that Saya doesn't trust them anymore and what kinda asshole would I be if I just threw her at them, huh? Do you know how traumatized this poor kid is? I'm not gonna make it any worse." He turned toward Sesshomaru and scowled as he jabbed his finger accusingly at his older brother, "And you! You want to fight about this well I'm ready for you but maybe you should stop and think about how this makes Saya feel. Poor kid is already fucking terrified of you!"
"Inuyasha," Miroku said, trying to stop the tirade. "Language…"
Sesshomaru himself raised his voice to protest the hanyou next. "If you were not so impatient, little brother, you would have waited to hear what Shimofuri had to say."
Dammit, Inuyasha thought, he hasn't been better a whole day and he's already Mr. Cool and in charge again.
Before he could reply, Shimofuri said, "As Lord Sesshomaru and Lady Rin discussed with me a short time ago, they are in agreement that you have performed admirably in protecting their daughter Saya. They wish to reward you."
This news left Inuyasha dumbstruck and silent. Shippo was the one to repeat it in hopes of clarification. "Reward him?"
Shimofuri motioned at Tsukiyume, sitting just behind him rather than directly at his side, and she moved for the small doorway that she had her brother had entered through. When she opened it a human scribe walked through holding several parchments crammed beneath his arms. He trundled awkwardly to kneel in front of the platform. Another servant, a young man, followed behind him with a small table for writing.
"I have had the documents prepared. Now only Inuyasha's approval and the signatures remain to be done."
"Backup," Inuyasha snapped. "Documents?" He looked suspiciously between Shimofuri and Sesshomaru. "I ain't signing anything that—"
"You will have every opportunity to review it," Rin said, speaking for the first time. "It asks nothing from you that you have not already shown yourself willing to do."
The scribe was busily setting up the table, unrolling the parchments, and preparing his brush and ink. In spite of his pathetic, crooked appearance, he was very fast with his hands. He began reading aloud in a wobbly voice that grated on Inuyasha's ears, making the hanyou cringe.
"In acknowledgement of a certain Inuyasha's generosity in caring for Lord Sesshomaru's young daughter Saya, the Lord Sesshomaru will be held in debt to him. The debt concerns familial matters and duty and binds Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands to the hanyou Inuyasha and to his closest kin. Therefore, in the event that any of Inuyasha's offspring should be in danger, or should Inuyasha and his wife die and leave their children unprotected, or some other unforeseen events endanger his offspring, Lord Sesshomaru will be honor-bound to protect said offspring. And should Inuyasha or his wife be unable to shelter their offspring at a future time, then Lord Sesshomaru would also be honor-bound to adopt them as his children with all the rights of—"
"Whoa," Inuyasha interrupted, waving his clawed hands as if he were an air traffic coordinator bringing in a plane to an airport. "Whoa, wait—what the hell is this saying?"
Rin and Sesshomaru were watching him, one with a benign and gentle gaze, the other impassionate but also annoyed. "You have protected Saya and saved her life," Rin said. "This is what we are planning to offer in return if you approve of it. If your children were in danger, Lord Sesshomaru and I would take them in and protect them until we could return them to you. We are pledging to offer your children the same protection that you gave to our Saya so selflessly."
Inuyasha's ears were lying flat, his golden eyes narrowed suspiciously. It wasn't Rin that he distrusted—but the dispassionate, seemingly bored Sesshomaru. "No fucking way."
"Inuyasha, language…" Miroku muttered.
"Fuck language! Don't you see what this is, monk? That bastard is planning to steal my pups! He's plotting some sort of—"
"The contract is binding and clearly states that your children are your own, Inuyasha." Shimofuri motioned toward the scribe and the parchment. "You are more than welcome to examine it yourself. If there is something you disagree with it can be rewritten and changed to suite your liking." He stopped and smiled patiently. "I assure you that Lady Rin and Lord Sesshomaru are genuinely grateful for your aid with Saya."
"Give me that paper," Inuyasha growled. The scribe moved awkwardly, scooting on his knees and extending his arm to pass on the parchment. The hanyou snatched it away violently and then searched only briefly, eyes flicking over the long, legal script. He scowled and his ears flattened. I can't read this shit… He pushed it toward Miroku. "Read monk, make yourself useful."
The room fell into a strained silence as Miroku read with squinted eyes and a look of intense concentration. Inuyasha peeked over his shoulder occasionally, fidgeting with impatience. At last Miroku lowered the paper and his expression loosened until it was blank, unreadable.
"It's some kind of trap, isn't it?" Inuyasha demanded.
Miroku shook his head. "I'm afraid if it is a trap I am unable to see just how." He cleared his throat nervously. "I believe, if I am reading this correctly, that if you and Kagome died Inuyasha, Lord Sesshomaru would adopt Koinu and Akisame and give them the same privileges as they would give to Saya. Nearly equal inheritance. Koinu and Akisame would inherit sizable plots of the Western Lands to watch over and rule under Lord Sesshomaru…"
Inuyasha scowled and glared at his older brother, dumbfounded and unable to comprehend how such a treaty would benefit Sesshomaru in any way. It lessened the inheritance Saya could take, or even other pups that Sesshomaru could have in the future. It struck Inuyasha as awkward and remarkably unlike the Sesshomaru he had always known. It was unbelievably painful to imagine his Koinu and his Akisame living in the Western Lands under Sesshomaru's fist, but if something killed Inuyasha…
"Let me see!" Shippo took the paper from Miroku and gawked at it, reading rapidly. After a moment he announced, "Lady Rin and Lord Sesshomaru have already signed it! And so has Lord Shimofuri as a witness. There's room for more witnesses too, one from your side Inuyasha. Can I sign it? Please?"
"No," Inuyasha growled. "Miroku's going to do it."
"Then you will accept our proposal?" Rin asked, smiling.
Frowning uncertainly, Inuyasha asked the monk, "Is there anything else I should know about on that thing?"
"It's exactly as Lady Rin said earlier. It asks nothing that you haven't already done. Just as Lord Sesshomaru will protect and adopt your children if something happens to you, you are obliged to do the same." Miroku paused and smirked, looking at Saya who was still in her uncle's lap, dozing off with her small arms wrapped around him. "I think it is fairly clear you are willing to uphold your end of this. The treaty here only puts into words a debt that Lord Sesshomaru now owes you."
"I'll accept it then," Inuyasha murmured in a surprisingly quiet voice. He looked to Sesshomaru, ignoring Rin's openhearted smile and warm face to peer at his brother. It went without saying that this was Rin's work, but Sesshomaru was unlikely to break to her desires unless he could see himself doing whatever it was. He understood debt and honor more than Inuyasha and probably lived with that knowledge as acutely as he could feel the air passing in and out of his nose. Inuyasha cared much less about honor at least, as a hanyou it had been denied to him. Yet he had always felt family above all of those other things. Now he could expect Sesshomaru to behave with family more on his mind than honor or ambition…
"One last thing," he said, turning toward the paper and taking it from the monk and the fox at his side. "I want this to include Kagome. If something happens to me and leaves her and my pups alone…"
"Of course—" Rin started to agree, but Sesshomaru interrupted her.
"No." Everyone in the room turned their eyes toward the Lord of the Western Lands with surprise. Sesshomaru leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at Inuyasha. "This is an agreement regarding blood. I am not bound to also protect your mate."
"My wife," Inuyasha snapped, "is as good as blood."
"I will not agree to protect her." Sesshomaru lifted his chin arrogantly, a show of power and stubbornness. "I have extended this promise as repayment for your care of Saya," he said. "I have no obligation toward your miko. Should you persist in questioning my honesty and insulting me, I will rescind the offer completely."
At the sound of her name, Saya stirred in Inuyasha's lap and turned her head, blinking out sleepily at the room. "Sister?" she squeaked.
"Fine," Inuyasha snapped, though he was bristling. He caught Rin's hungry gaze lingering on Saya and wrapped an arm around the little girl. The wide expanse of red fabric from his sleeve all but covered Rin's view. "Give me a brush and I'll sign the damned thing—but I'm not going to thank you, asshole. I know this wasn't your idea and you're a bastard for lying and saying it was. This was Rin's idea. Feh…"
Sesshomaru was glaring almost openly as the scribe prepared the brush and brought it to Inuyasha. The hanyou signed it sloppily, using an outdated script and unclear calligraphy that made the scribe blink as he tried to read it back. When Inuyasha caught the scribe lingering too long over his calligraphy, he barked at him gruffly, "You got a problem with that? You know how to read old man?"
Sheepishly the scribe moved to Miroku and let the monk sign as a witness. Miroku's script was free and loose, a work of art beside Inuyasha's. The hanyou scowled down at it.
"Excellent," Shimofuri said when the signing had concluded. "With luck the debt may never need fulfilling, but I am pleased to see your families tied together. There should never be hatred between siblings."
In the short silence that followed Inuyasha managed to fit in a loud and distinctly sarcastic, "Feh."
Shimofuri went on in a slower, more cautious voice, "There is one last thing to ask of you, Inuyasha, before you and your friends are free to leave and return home."
This was the cue for Rin to speak apparently, because she moved and startled Inuyasha, Shippo, and Miroku into turning their heads. Sesshomaru sat unchanged in his position, but he had cocked his head slightly, allowing himself to watch his brother, daughter, the monk and the fox without really seeming to do so. Inuyasha bristled, already aware of exactly what was about to happen. He tried and failed to stop himself from pressing Saya closer to his chest.
"Inuyasha," Rin murmured, direct and open, "you must be able to convince Saya that we are her parents. Please…"
Uncomfortable and suddenly hot, Inuyasha shifted in his spot, moving his legs around and jostling Saya on his lap. "I've tried…" he growled.
"Please," Rin repeated. "Try again."
Reluctantly, Inuyasha pulled his hand back from Saya and started to pick her up, grabbing under her legs. Saya whimpered and held onto him tightly. "Uncle?"
Inuyasha rose to his feet and for a moment the room was frozen, a scene caught in ice. Shimofuri, the silent Tsukiyume, stunned Miroku and Shippo, and the tense Rin and Sesshomaru waited. None of them knew whether Inuyasha was trying to walk out of the room with Saya or if he was going to somehow force Saya to accept her true parents. Perhaps even Inuyasha himself didn't know what he would do in that moment, but the scent of his niece, filled with his brother's unique aroma of power and strength, as well as the maternal longing and pain he saw in Rin's eyes were all indicators of truth and ultimately of his responsibility. He was Uncle, not Father and as a father he knew the terrible anguish that Rin and Sesshomaru must've felt throughout their ordeal.
He took several steps forward until he was standing over where Rin was knelt. Sesshomaru's posture had changed, stiffening more if such a thing was possible. His back was straight and erect and he had even turned his head to stare at his brother. Rin was looking up at the hanyou as well, waiting with her lips parted, her breathing stilled.
Inuyasha knelt down, facing Rin, knee-to-knee. He turned Saya's small body about, forcing her to face Rin and Sesshomaru. The little girl didn't fight his physical manipulation but she clutched at his sleeves desperately and gawked with huge eyes, yawning as wide as they would go. "Uncle…?" her voice had a pleading quality. "Uncle—!"
"Saya," Inuyasha murmured, solemn and stiff, "These are your parents. These are not shape shifters. They won't hurt you."
Saya shook her head frantically. Her golden eyes didn't blink even as they filled with tears. "No, Uncle—don't let me go! Don't let them take me!"
Rin's lips were pinched in a hard, straight line. She was determined not to frighten her daughter, but the desire to snatch Saya into her arms and end the scene was nearly overwhelming. Beside her and slightly behind her, Sesshomaru turned his face away with an abruptness that distracted Inuyasha, setting his heart pounding, anticipating a fight—but none came.
"Saya," Rin cried quietly, "it's me—it's your mother."
"No," Saya said, shaking her head. She tugged on Inuyasha's haori, on his sleeves. "Uncle…"
Sesshomaru had apparently decided to take interest in the scene again and a sudden noise from him, a soft but firm exhalation, drew Saya's attention. The gold of her father's eyes had returned, the color that matched her own. At first his gaze was hard like a predator's but the longer father and daughter stared at each other, the softer Sesshomaru's expression became.
The world had shrunken down into just the four of them. Rin and Inuyasha astonished together at Saya and Sesshomaru. For that time the rest of the room vanished. Saya had ceased caring about the mysterious inuyoukai woman shape shifter claiming to be Rin, and she had even forgotten that her uncle was holding her, a fortress of strength and protection. For his part, Sesshomaru was stripped of his posturing, of his aloofness and cold demeanor. Before Saya he was laid bare, open and vulnerable.
Saya began to shiver. She gripped Inuyasha's haori sleeves, leaving little puncture spots where her claws punched through. "Father?"
Rin moved away slightly, sensing that Sesshomaru had gotten through to Saya in some way that she could no longer could with her changed scent. Her movement broke the moment for Inuyasha and he turned his head, gazing at the rest of the room tensely, uncomfortable at all the ongoing staring.
Sesshomaru parted his lips to speak and then thought better of it. He looked away from his daughter, staring at the walls with their gold leaf and inked decorations.
Saya lurched forward, halfway out of Inuyasha's lap. The hanyou caught her around the waist and then cursed under his breath as he caught control of his overprotective urge. He crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat. "That's your father Saya, that's right. Remember him?"
Saya hesitated, then she turned back toward Sesshomaru and shouted, "Why did you hurt me?"
Startled, Sesshomaru gazed at her. Confusion darkened his eyes. "I did no such thing."
"You grabbed my neck!" Saya sobbed, trembling. "I couldn't breathe!"
Rin intervened, "That wasn't your father, Saya. That was an evil shape shifter named Jishin."
"I would never harm you," Sesshomaru told her in a soft tone that bordered on a whisper.
Inuyasha gave a small grunt but he stifled it and disguised it as a cough instead when both Rin and Sesshomaru glared viciously at him. He tried his hand at convincing Saya that she was safe once more to placate the angry parents. "Saya, these really are your parents, Sesshomaru and Rin. The shape shifter didn't smell like them, right? You can trust me, right? Believe me; I know a shape shifter when I see one and these two are really your parents. They won't hurt you—not on purpose anyway."
Saya had started to breathe rapidly, fighting hysteria and shaking with emotion. "Uncle," she whimpered. "You said Father was dead."
"I was wrong," Inuyasha stammered, ears flicking nervously as Rin and Sesshomaru glared all over again. "It was the only reason I could think of why you would be left alone like you were. I was wrong Saya."
"Wrong?" Saya asked, gazing at Sesshomaru. She blinked and tears cascaded down her cheeks. "Daddy?"
Sesshomaru did not correct her overly familiar terminology; instead he motioned slowly, so as not to alarm her, toward Rin. "This is your mother, Saya. She has changed, but she is still your mother."
Saya's attention swung to Rin and stayed there, examining the inuyoukai woman with a wary curiosity. "Momma?"
"Yes," Rin said and then wiped briskly at the tears that oozed out of her eyes. "I've missed you, Saya. I missed you so much…" Rin reached forward gradually to her daughter. Saya stayed still though she was shaking and crying in little whimpers.
The desire to pull Saya back swept over Inuyasha once more and irritably, the hanyou started to withdraw from Saya, shuffling back to rejoin Miroku and Shippo. His ears were drooping.
Saya twisted around to call after him, shivering violently. "Uncle?"
"You're safe with us, Saya," Rin said, gently touching the little girl's soft white hair.
Saya cringed and whimpered but did not flee. "You don't smell right," she whispered.
"I know," Rin murmured. "But it's still me, sweetie."
"Uncle," Saya cried, closing her eyes tight.
Beside Miroku and Shippo, Inuyasha's hands curled into fists and he held his breath to stop himself from growling.
"Saya," Sesshomaru called.
The tiny girl lifted her head and opened her eyes, staring past Rin's hands and arms, ignoring them as she responded to her father. "Daddy?"
"You will stay with us," Sesshomaru ordered, stiffly. "We are your parents."
Blood called to blood. On a night that seemed like it was years ago, the abandoned, feral Saya had snuck into a fishing hut to gorge herself on salty, dried fish, to steal like a starving mongrel from humans. On that night she had first seen her uncle and her cousin and felt the same call. Blood to blood. Her uncle and her cousin's white hair, and the golden eyes she shared with her father and Inuyasha had jolted her out of one existence and into another. Now her father's scent, his white hair and golden eyes like her own, performed the same miracle.
"Daddy!" Saya bolted from her mother's grasp, flinging herself at Sesshomaru. She buried her face into his chest and pulled at his clothing, breathing at his scent deeply. "This one was so lonely! This one has missed you so much!"
Sesshomaru closed his arms around her and almost absently stroked her hair and her back. The softness of his expression disappeared after a short time as the weight of the others' stares hit him. He gave Rin a swift and pointed look, a silent communication of something. She faced Inuyasha, Miroku, and Shippo with a short bow.
"Thank you for caring for Saya," she said.
"Not a problem," Shippo peeped.
"Inuyasha," Shimofuri called, breaking his long silence. His smile was melancholy, showing perhaps a little too much emotion for a proper stony lord. "You and your friends are free to go now."
The hanyou opened his mouth to protest. How could he leave without saying goodbye to Saya…? Shippo was pulling on his sleeve, urging him toward the exit while Inuyasha's brain spun itself in conflicting circles. If he stayed and tried to say a further goodbye to his niece she might never leave his arms again. And yet it was nearly as painful as leaving Koinu or Akisame behind.
"Wait," he growled, but then Miroku came at his other shoulder and tugged him along. Inuyasha struggled, dislodging the monk's hold. "Knock it off, Miroku. I have to—"
"You have to let go of her now, Inuyasha. She is back where she belongs. You've done well."
A strange coldness swept over the hanyou as he let himself be propelled from the room. As he passed through the door he craned his neck around and saw Saya embraced in his brother's arms, sheltered and warm and loved. A hot lump began in his throat. She won't even remember me…
But Miroku's words echoed in his brain, hard and unyielding, leaving no room for loss and grief. She is not your daughter.
He passed into the hallway, leaving Saya behind in the audience room. Goodbye Saya.
He turned a few seconds too soon. Behind him in the audience room, Saya lifted her head and peered out through her father's arms at the red shadow of her vanishing uncle. She whimpered, "Uncle…?"
Sesshomaru's arm moved, blocking her view. His clawed fingers tickled as they moved through her hair. Saya closed her eyes and leaned into him.
A/N: Yippee! So this is near the end now. Only like...well I imagine two chapters left including the epilogue. I think.