Convivial

By: The Hatter Theory

Father's Day

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Inu Yasha

Happy Father's Day to those present and those not, to fathers by blood or choice.

Sesshoumaru was sitting at the table when she came down. Breakfast was already laid out, and Kirara was eating bacon happily in front of a window, purring loudly enough that Kagome could hear it as she walked down.

"You're going somewhere?" Sesshoumaru observed. Kagome nodded, pushing her purse strap higher on her shoulder. His eyes narrowed, although not with suspicion, but with concern. She knew she probably made a sad, if not strange picture. The past week had been a happy one, where they had both fallen back into their routines, spending time with one another with ease, sometimes talking, sometimes not. But the night before she had tried to go to bed early only to stare at the ceiling well into the morning hours. She knew with equal certainty that the lack of sleep showed, dark bags beneath her eyes and a pinched look she couldn't quite smooth out no matter how much she practiced in a mirror.

"It's Father's Day," She said, voice quiet. "I always go to the park."

Sesshoumaru seemed to withdraw for a moment, nodding mutely.

"Would you like company?" He offered, voice soft.

The last time she had gone to the park with someone had been her mother when she was fourteen. Souta had never known their father, and her mother had her own rituals regarding her deceased husband.

"You don't have to," She tried to assure him.

"If you don't mind, I would like to," Sesshoumaru volunteered. Unsure of what to make of the offer, she nodded. Sesshoumaru quickly put the extra food down the disposal and she helped rinse the dishes, feeling bad for the wasted food. But Sesshoumaru seemed set in his decision, and while she wasn't exactly sure why he would want to join her for such an excursion, she wasn't going to tell him he couldn't either.

Seemingly able to read her thoughts, he didn't offer the option of the car, and she didn't mention it, choosing to remain quietly grateful as they walked downstairs and outside. It was another beautiful day, and while most people associated remembering the dead with cloudy skies and rain, she couldn't remember the last time she had gone and the day been less than perfectly calm, the sun warm and the sky a placid blue.

They rode the train, neither of them choosing to break the silence, and when they began walking, he took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

The park had changed over the years, but some things had remained the same. She bypassed the swing sets and slides, ignored the merry go rounds, and made for a tall, thick tree. No one was beneath it, as if fate had nodded in her direction and allowed her the day, as it had for years. Even when she had gone to college in Okayama she had come back to Tokyo for Father's Day.

Wordlessly she jumped, grabbing onto a branch and pushing her feet against the trunk, half propelling and half pulling herself up. Grunting from effort, she quickly used the next several thick branches to pull herself higher.

Sesshoumaru followed, and if he found it childish, he didn't say so. When she finally stopped and picked a thick branch to straddle, back against the trunk, he used his strength and balance to pull himself up next to her, sitting further out. Thick foliage hid them from view, but a few errant sunbeams hit them, shadows in the shapes of leaves dark on the white of his shirt.

"You don't often speak of him," Sesshoumaru finally said.

"I was young when he died, I don't remember a lot," She answered honestly. "After he died, it seemed to hurt mom to talk about him, so I didn't."

"What is your favorite memory?" He asked after a thoughtful pause. He seemed genuinely curious, to sincerely care, and she realized she wanted to share the memory with him.

"Here," She said, nodding at the tree. "I was four and I wanted to climb the tree, but I wasn't tall enough. So he carried me up. I held on to him like a monkey, and when he stopped, we were so high I was terrified, and wouldn't let go of him to sit on a branch. So he sat with me in his lap. Mom had gone to get us ice cream, and when she came back she started shouting. My father laughed. He had this, this deep laugh, one that started in his stomach and just resonated," She told him, smiling at the memory of her mother's panic and her father's easy joy.

"By the time we got back down, the ice cream had melted. Mom was pregnant at the time, and dad teased her, saying she was just jealous she couldn't join us."

"It's a good memory," Sesshoumaru murmured quietly.

Kagome realized then that she and Sesshoumaru shared another facet of their lives, a loss that their siblings could not understand. Souta and Inu Yasha knew their fathers very much as abstracts, from stories and the memories of others. Sesshoumaru knew what it was to know a father and lose him too soon. The pains were equal, but different, and Kagome felt a selfish sort of comfort that she had someone that understood that loss, shared it with her.

"What about you? What's your favorite memory with your father?"

He grew pensive, staring beyond her, or perhaps inward. She could see him sifting through the memories, could see the flicker of different emotions in his eyes as he tried to find one. She hoped, desperately, it was because there were so many, and not because there were so few.

"The day he presented me to the dragon clan," Sesshoumaru finally said.

"The dragon, you mean-"

"Ryukotsusei? Yes, that clan. At the time relations were tense, but civil. He introduced me as his heir and future ruler. I was unimpressed with the dragons, including their leader, and in my childishness, said as much in very plain language."

Kagome gasped, not able to picture Sesshoumaru, even as a child, being so rude or impulsive. Sesshoumaru chuckled, smiling softly at the memory.

"My father made excuses for me, and led me from the hall. He took me a goodly distance away, I assumed to thrash me with the flat of his blade. But he began laughing. When he finally stopped, he was doubled over and his face was so red I remember thinking he might have been ill. He told me that he'd always wanted to tell the dragon that he was a self important moron, and that hearing me say it had been a vicarious dream come true."

"He sounds like a good dad," Kagome chuckled, unable to stop her own smile.

"When I was younger, I didn't think so," He admitted, still smiling. It shifted, changed, to a knowing sort of smile, an understanding one. "I think I understand him more now. He was a good lord, and a good father."

"Even if he left you with a useless sword?" Kagome asked archly, a sly smile blooming.

"Not useless," Sesshoumaru rebutted. "And yes, even though he left me Tenseiga. There was much I had to learn then, and very little I truly understood. That he had the faith to bequeath it to me, the faith that I would listen to what it would teach me, it's still humbling, I suppose."

It was the most he'd ever said about his father, and while he had been a proud youkai, it was a quiet pride, at least in this era. To hear him admit that he was still humbled by his father's gift was, in it's own way, as humbling for her as his father's faith was for him.

"He would have liked you," Sesshoumaru told her, looking up at the sky, the scattered light crossing over his features. "He respected strong women, and understood more about the soul than most. You would have gotten along well."

Kagome took the compliment, as absentminded as it was, for what it was, nodding.

"My dad would have liked you," She said with complete confidence. "If he knew what you do for youkai, for Japan, he would have respected you. And he would have loved cooking with you."

"He cooked?"

"He loved to," Kagome laughed. "And he was always experimenting. It didn't always turn out so well, but it usually worked. I think you both would have had a lot of fun in the kitchen."

"I wonder what they think of the pack," Sesshoumaru mused, his soft smile never fading.

"I think they would both appreciate it for what it is, for what it's become. I think they'd be proud of us, happy for us, that we have it," Kagome told him with complete confidence.

"I think so too," Sesshoumaru told her, eyes resting on her, reflecting the feeling of peace that had settled over her.

AN: You all are truly fantastic. In the rush to play catch up, the reviews and questions and curiosities have been amazing and encouraging. I am hesitant to answer questions since I have written ahead a -tiny- bit in my enthusiasm, and I don't do spoilers. I will say that the next few months are -fairly- busy ones for this story, so keep a lookout for frequent updates. Also, sorry this is late. I'm currently dealing with a kidney infection, which sucks, but the antibiotics I'm on are dealing with it, even if they are kicking my ***. I've slept for almost 2 days straight, and after the next chapter -ahem, hint- is uploaded, that's back where I'm going.