Tōga stared at the dragons as they arced through the skies, smooth and swift like stars across the blanket of night. He was sure if the dragons had not announced their arrival, they would have gone unnoticed in the darkness despite the excellent training of his soldiers.

Soldiers who now waited, terse and quiet, for the reptiles to land with their precious cargo—cargo they firmly believed did not belong in the camps.

The news of Kagome's and Izayoi's arrival had not been taken well. What place did two young girls have in the presence of soldiers? Why bring them to a war camp where there every step must be protected? Tōga knew the majority of his camp felt this, but he was powerless to stop the girls from coming. F

uiasu had seen it. That was that.

When the four-legged scale-bound steeds touched down, graceful as felines, he strode forward to greet his wards. They had gotten taller in the almost year since he had last seen them, steps closer to womanhood.

"Tōga-sama!" Kagome shouted, and winced as her ears, and all the sensitive ones surrounded her, flinched. "Tōga-sama," she said again, and buried her face against his shoulder as he lifted her down from the dragon. "I missed you so much."

She clung, as she always had. Tōga could not help himself as a rumble edged through him, soothing the shaking girl in his arms as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She might have been growing into a young woman, but she was still his ward. He comforted her, running a clawed hand up and down the length of her back until she leaned back and smiled at him. "You have grown again."

Kagome smiled shyly up at him and nodded. "Yes. Fuiasu-sama said we both had and commissioned new clothing for us. Izayoi wanted to bring lots of it with us, but Fuiasu-sama reminded her we were going to a camp, not a castle—and had some special youkai clothing made for us too!" He set her down and she motioned to her indigo hakama and white kimono. Her kimono was embroidered with the scarlet crest of the West.

A glance at Izayoi proved this to be true, though where Kagome bore his colors and crest, the Hime bore her family's. The green hakama and silver crest of mountain valley's set her apart from Kagome—a reminder from his mate, he was sure, that though Izayoi was his ward she was not family. A reminder of the role she might yet play in all of their futures—of the birth and death that might lay in her hands and the part he would play in it.

Disgruntled, Tōga looked away from her and focused on Kagome again. There was a reservation in her nature that had not existed before the healer's death. He scented the curiosity on her, but she remained at Izayoi's side instead of wandering off to ask the hundreds of questions hiding behind her eyes. Perhaps it was a good thing—reservation often led to observation.

He sighed and he waved forward two guards. "Haruto and Kosuke."

Two tall youkai stepped forward. Their armor and uniform were distinctive from the rest of the camp surrounding them. Everything from their hakama to the crest of the West was black. Everything except their hair and eyes, which shone in the night like a beacon. White and gold were not a common feature.

"You have brothers?"

Tōga glanced at Izayoi, her question the first thing she'd said since they'd touched down several minutes ago. "No. Cousins. My uncle's sons."

"They look young," she said.

Toga snorted. "As do you." She watched them a moment, her hands clasped loosely in front of her, before turning her attention to the rest of the camp with a mild disinterest he did not believe. Fuiasu had already informed him that it was upon her request the girls were here. "They will be your bodyguards from this point on. Where you go, they go. You are both to follow their orders to the letter, should they give them."

Kagome paled as she looked at the bodyguards. Atsuki's memorial had only been a couple of weeks ago and though he hadn't been her guard, in so many words, he had given his life for hers. She was loath to watch as someone else did the same. "I don't want—"

"What you want does not matter. We are preparing for war and defending our borders. As wards of the West you are high value targets. Have you so quickly forgotten the events of a year ago?" He was harsh, but it was needed. Both girls were willful and prone to doing what they wanted, but that behavior could not pass here. He could not risk their lives, or the lives of his men, to put them at ease.

"I don't need a reminder," she mumbled.

Her eyes were starting to tear and Tōga forced himself to ignore it. "Horuto, you will mind Kagome. Kousuke, Izayoi." He could not ignore his instincts to comfort her much longer, and so turned to the two Inu still standing quietly at his side. "Take them to their tent for the night. Tours and training can wait until morning." Then, to the girls—"You will be expected to join Sesshoumaru and I for meals in the mornings and you will attend lessons and training throughout the day. Now go, rest."

He left them then and striding back to his own tent hoped he and Fuiasu were not making a terrible mistake.