Orange.

It was the color of Shippo's fur. The color of Rin's favorite yukata. To Kagome the color orange and yellow represented her happy children. They were the color of sunshine and after the well had closed and kept her in the past, that's exactly what the children were - her light and her happiness.

Shippo held a special place in her heart because he had adopted her as much as she had adopted him. Even though she was close to Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku, it was Shippo that made her feel grounded in the past and like she truly had a family here.

Rin held a special place in Kagome's heart because without that scary-observant girl, she may have never ended up with Sesshoumaru. He had brought her by often enough during the shard hunt, partly for the children but mostly so he could secret himself away and hunt Naraku on his own.

After Kagome had been locked in the past, Rin had asked Sesshoumaru to check on Kagome because Rin had noticed how sad the miko was.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, can we invite lady Kagome and Shippo to the stream with us?"

Never had Rin requested to spend time with the miko first and then the kit. His brow lifted in question.

"Since Lord Sesshoumaru defeated Naraku, lady Kagome has been sad. Shippo says it's because she can't visit her family any more."

He hadn't noticed anything amiss the last time he had visited the village and Rin. And what did she mean that the miko couldn't visit her home anymore? Did she truly live so far away? Surely, Inuyasha would be able to take her, no matter the distance.

"Why not?"

Rin bent over and picked a flower, twirling it in her tiny hands. "Shippo says that lady Kagome lives so far away that not even Inuyasha or lord Sesshoumaru can go there."

Now, affronted by the kit's slight to his skill and power, Sesshoumaru frowned.

"You may tell the kit and the miko to join us." There is no distance nor height this Sesshoumaru cannot reach. The proud demon did not see the smile on Rin's face as she continued to twirl her flower.

That day at the river had led to a walk through the forest, leading to a visit to a youkai town where Sesshoumaru had purchased youkai-made clothing for Rin, Shippo, and Kagome. The time passed in each other's company was time spent teaching Kagome about youkai children and teaching Sesshoumaru more about human female care.

Discussions on caring for children led to philosophical topics, science discoveries, the universe in general, and eventually Sesshoumaru began teaching her and her kit self-defense.

One day, months later while Kagome was catching her breath near a stream after a morning of rigorous training, Sesshoumaru asked what had plagued him all these past months.

"Rin mentioned to this one that you are not able to visit your family. Is it truly so far away that Inuyasha cannot take you?" Kagome looked over at her instructor and new friend and gave him a sad smile.

"I suppose it's safe enough to tell you now that I know I can trust you." He said nothing, just waited for the explanation that was coming. "I'm not from here."

Sesshoumaru barely held back from rolling his eyes. "I believe I have gathered that much."

Kagome let out a mirthless chuckle and the sound surprised the demon. "That well was a portal that took me to my home. My home - about five hundred years in the future."

He had to make an effort to regulate his breathing. There was no scent of a lie as she spoke, no teasing glint in her eye.

"Well?" she prompted him. "Do you believe me?"

He was silent for a moment before meeting her gaze. "How can I not? You are truly unique here. You have no survival skills to speak of, no formal training of your craft. The scents that are upon you when you emerge from your well are ones I have no name for. You are educated but are not a noble. You look at a being and do not see their station or their species. You are kind where you should be cautious, hopeful where you should be shrewd. The language you speak is Japanese but very informal and you often speak of things I know nothing of."

Kagome didn't realize she had been holding her breath until he said, "so yes, Kagome. I believe you are from where you say."

At first, there had been a deluge of questions, all one-sided, but as time went on, Sesshoumaru began to divulge information about his past and about demon culture. He could see that Kagome enjoyed learning new things and knew any time spent talking to her was not time wasted.

Time also gave way to his curiosity. There was no satiating it once it had been piqued. Questions about her knowledge and education shifted to questions about her and what she enjoyed. Sesshoumaru hadn't even noticed the shift until his thoughts away from her turned into him noticing things she had mentioned liking and his purchases of those items. His thoughts were consumed with her and his beautiful, naive, little miko had no clue about the feelings he harbored for her. To his surprise, these were feelings that were shared.

Today, Kagome lay in his arms on their bed with two bundles of orange curled up between them. They had come back from a recent patrol along the southern border and the children had not been allowed to travel with them. It was a good thing too because an ambush had been set up for them. Thanks to Sesshoumaru's training, Kagome had been able to protect them during the initial attack and Sesshoumaru dealt death to those imbeciles who thought they could kill the Western Lord and his mate.

When Kagome pulled Shippo and Rin close to her, Shippo struggled for freedom while Rin sighed and held onto Kagome tighter.

Shippo moved so he could look Kagome in the eyes. "Did something happen while you were gone?"

Her smile was wobbly and Shippo didn't need to see or hear anything further. He buried himself against her throat and held on.

"Did you let Sesshoumaru-papa protect you?"

"Yes, after I protected him."

It was early enough that Sesshoumaru was still in bed with them and Shippo moved to curl up against his shoulder and throat.

"Thank you for watching over mama."

Sesshoumaru stroked the kit's fur and let out a low rumble, meant to soothe pack mates. It worked and the kit grew lethargic.

"It is both my duty and my honor to protect your mother and my mate, just as it is my duty and honor to protect my pups."

"I love you, Sesshoumaru-papa."

"And I you, kit."

The second bundle of orange reached up and took Sesshoumaru's free hand in hers.

"Aren't you glad we invited Kagome-mama to the river that day?"

Sesshomaru ran his fingers through Rin's hair. "Yes, pup. I am glad that I listened to you."

That morning, the Lord of the West could not be bothered to move unless it was to serve his pack. It was the first morning that he felt it appropriate to lay abed for half the day, not knowing that he would spend many more mornings in this fashion. As they lay in bed, Sesshoumaru realized his mate had been correct in her assessment of their pups. Orange did suit their pups and all the happiness the pups brought them.