A/N: chapter bomb part 1 of ?

Though they left in the morning, Sesshomaru and Rin did not reach the palace until nearly sunset on that early December day. Rin had long since fallen asleep, soothed by the rocking of the fluffy 'hammock' she rested in, between his shoulder blades. She didn't notice when he stopped, but she sat up sharply in alarm when he lightly shook himself to wake her. She thought there was an earthquake at first, until she remembered where she was. He bowed, resting his forelegs on the ground, then put his chin between his paws, encouraging her to climb down by walking off his nose. She turned scarlet in embarrassment at how that might look to others and hurried down, watching her feet and hands. She gave a sigh of relief and turned around—

"WAAAH!" Rin shrieked in terror at the surprise sight of a second white hound nearly as massive as Sesshomaru standing in front of her, staring inquisitively down at the raven-haired woman. Rin quickly backed under her husband's front legs, hiding behind one as he lowered his head again, raising one lip to bare a few fangs in warning. The feminine InuYoukai seemed very amused at the exchange and suddenly disappeared in a cloud of lavender-colored smoke, appearing as a white-haired noblewoman no bigger than Rin was.

"Sesshomaru, my son, how nice of you to finally come and visit," the golden-eyed woman smirked. "I can see some rumors are true already." She nodded to his left foreleg, which had been missing when she'd last seen her son almost ten years ago. He gave a slight nod, then tipped his head upside down momentarily to make sure Rin was all right before he shifted back to his humanoid form. Rin gasped in surprise as the smoke cloud enveloped her as well, and she wound up behind him, hiding in his moko.

"in any case, I think you have some explaining to do. It's been ages, my son." She frowned slightly at the black-haired young woman who was hiding behind him, hoping he would explain her first.

"yes, I suppose it has." He sighed. It wasn't that he didn't like his mother…just that they never seemed to agree on very much, and thus, it was difficult to be around her for very long. "do you remember Rin?" he asked, taking half a step to the side to show off the young woman before she hid behind his moko again. Her hair had blown loose from its tie and covered her mark almost completely, so his mother couldn't see it.

"the little girl?" she smirked slightly and nodded. "yes. So you've kept her." She didn't like the way the human clung to her high-bred son, and sniffed suspiciously, her nose confirming her fear. "about time," she joked, letting none of her misgivings show. "your Otoutou's got two already." Neither Sesshomaru nor the human seemed to know what she was talking about.

"you wished to speak with me?" Sesshomaru prompted, suspicious of his mother's motives in all this. He heard Rin blow her bangs from her face and realize her hairpin had come loose, so she turned even farther behind him to fix it, exposing the moon on her forehead once more.

"well, yes. I've been hearing all sorts of rumors about you, and I wanted to know which, if any, were true." She decided to play dumb and see just how much he would be willing to admit to. "first of all, and most intriguing, I've heard you took a mate, and that was why you wouldn't come before. But if you have taken a mate, then why haven't you brought her along? I would love to meet her." She offered him a warm smile as his face showed slight confusion. She couldn't be serious…could she?

"but…I have, mother. She is standing behind me." He moved sideways again and wrapped his arm around the human woman to keep her from hiding. The Lady Mother's eyes widened in shock and she had to restrain herself from reacting beyond that at the sight of the moon on her brow. She prayed it was a prank he was playing. Surely her son, her only son and heir, would not be so foolish as to take a human to wife! And not just that, but to take her as his one true mate, preventing him, once she died, from ever taking another? But her nose did not deceive her, nor did her eyes. She collected herself quickly.

"well…I suppose, as far as humans go, you chose well." He looked down slightly, trying to hide his relief at her attempted compliment. "though I think this raises more questions." She sniffed lightly again just to re-confirm her earlier assessment, and looked up at her son. "have you come to congratulate me?"

"congratulate you? What for?" Sesshomaru was even more suspicious of his mother than before. He held Rin a little closer to his side to protect her as the white-haired woman covered her mouth with her sleeve and seemed to giggle.

"don't tell me you don't know, my son."

"what exactly do you think I don't know?" She frowned behind her layered sleeve as she realized he was completely serious and didn't know. She lowered her hand once more and scoffed.

"tsk- your father never taught you anything about women, did he?" except, apparently, human women, she thought angrily. He glanced momentarily at Rin, then back to his mother, who fixed him with a firm, serious, listen-up-this-is-important stare.

"Sesshomaru. Your mate is with child."

His face changed instantly from suspicious confusion to wonderment and cautious joy, and he glanced at his human once again. Rin still looked confused, as apparently she didn't recognize what the phrase meant. "with child?" he asked as if to confirm he'd heard right. The shift, the added warmth to Rin's scent, it all made sense now.

His mother had to hide her disgust at the wonderment and pleasure in his voice. This was not something to celebrate! "yes, she's pregnant. Surely you can smell it if I can." Finally, the human's face changed too—and the Lady Mother was dismayed to find the girl was just as joyous as her son. Rin turned to him and they embraced briefly, clearly celebrating the happy news. That needed to stop, and quickly.

"in all my centuries, raising and teaching you, my heir, I never dreamed you would need reminded of the laws." Sesshomaru looked up to his mother once again. She looked absolutely furious now, the outer edges of her eyes faintly red with her anger. "or our history—do you not recall the cause of the Yume Clan Massacre, that which put the Tsuki clan into power? Or are you content to allow history to repeat itself, for the sake of your own selfish desires?" Rin cowered from the terrifying youkai woman, and Sesshomaru held her tighter to him to soothe her. The Yume, he remembered, were the former ruling clan of the former Nine Clans of Inuyoukai. They were in power for centuries untold—until the heiress took a human to mate and bore him a hanyou child. She'd chosen to present that child as her heir, intending to still take the throne. The other eight clans, led by the Dou and White-yama clans, had revolted, killing every member of the Yume clan. They ended with the execution of the ivy-marked princess, her human mate, and the child last of all… he shivered involuntarily at the thought. It had been an awful and bloody civil war that caused such a drop in the InuYoukai population that they were still recovering from it, a millennia later.

"that will not happen," Sesshomaru stated shortly, meeting his mother's eye. "no one will lay a finger on Rin. I would rather give up the throne than her."

"you cannot abandon your position as heir—"

"then what would you have me do?!" he demanded sharply. "betray my mate, as father did to you? Never. Rin is the only woman I have ever cared for, and the only who has ever cared this way for me. I will not leave her for the sake of having a child you may approve of." He had his arms wrapped protectively around Rin and they shifted slightly downward to protect her stomach more.

The Lady Mother snarled, her eyes growing slightly more red as she fought to control her fury. Since he had brought her deceased mate up, she would use him for an example. "you are already like your father too much! I chose to pardon him after his little mistake, believing he would see the error in his ways and fix it. Yet he did not. Remember what it cost him, Sesshomaru."

He narrowed his eyes at the low blow, but nodded sharply. "I will keep it in mind." He glanced to the human woman in his arms. "we are leaving, Rin." She nodded and he stepped away, going to the courtyard a short distance away so he could change once more. Rin immediately moved to follow him.

"you, Girl." Rin paused and turned back to look at the Lady Mother. She didn't seem so angry anymore, more sad and tired. "I have nothing against you personally. But the laws condemn you both, and the child you now carry. If you were not his mate I would solve the problem myself." Rin was surprised to see the dainty claws on the woman's hand glow faintly with the same acid-green light that Sesshomaru's did. The white-haired woman turned away with a faint growl. "it's not worth my life, Girl. Just go." Rin hurried away to see Sesshomaru waiting for her in his true form once more, laying down to give her easy access to his shoulders. Once she was settled he left quickly.

Rin started to tremble from the shocking turn of events she'd just endured, then started to sob into the soft fur under her as she laid in the dip between his shoulder blades once more. Hearing how upset she was, he decided they should find lodging in a village for the night, before continuing, rather than going straight home. They could get back by dawn if he kept going, but he wanted to comfort her, and be able to ask what was wrong. Besides that, he wanted to ensure she had food and water, now that he was aware of her condition. He could barely believe it—his mind went back to his vivid dream, over a year previously. He had made her pregnant by accident, then, and she wasn't his mate, but still he chose to care for her and take responsibility. He certainly was not going to step away now, no matter what anyone wanted. She was his mate, and this was his child, even if they couldn't be the heir, as their birthright should be. There were also plenty of questions he needed answered. He wasn't sure, however, who would be able to answer them…