As Raven travels down the road home she can hardly contain the excitement she feels over the prospect of finally seeing her family and pack again after so many years away. As Raven travels she sees that land around her is becoming more and more familiar. Her nervousness increases with every step that she takes closer to her home. She knows just how disappointed her family is going to be that she has stayed away for so long. It does not take long before Raven reaches her packs territory which surrounds Rivendell. All the wargs notice her arrival, and go to greet her. As Raven is spending time with her pack she can't help but think how happy she is to be home. After awhile Raven's longing to see her family becomes to much, and she goes into the city. The first person that she sees is her father, and she is keenly reminded of the time that she woke up in his garden broken hearted and alone. Her father sees her, and looks like he can hardly believe his eyes. That look only lasts for a minute before he has her wrapped up in the warmest hug you can possibly imagine. Raven can hardly believe that this is happening, but she excepts that it is happening none the less. Raven wraps her arms around her father, and pours all her love into their embrace.
When they let go they look at each other, and Raven says.
"I missed you so much father." Raven
"I missed you too Raven, and I am so proud of you for helping those I was unable to." Elrond
"Thank you father." Raven
"You have arrived just in time for dinner. I will have a maid help you dress for dinner." Elrond
Raven nods, and follows the maid that came up to them as they were talking. When they got there the maid helped her select a dress for her to wear after she had her bath. She bathed, and put on the beautiful dress that the maid selected for her to wear to dinner. Raven puts her mokomoko on her shoulder, and heads out of the room to go to the dinning hall. When she gets there Raven looks around the room, and sees the shocked looks on the faces of her mother and siblings. That shock quickly changes into happiness as her remaining family members come to greet her. When all the greetings are finished everyone sits down at the table for their meal. After the meal ends Raven and Elrond go to his study for there are many things that need to be discussed.
Raven and her father are sitting in his study about to discuss some very important matters. Elrond looks at her, and says.
"While I am very proud of you; I would like to know why you broke our agreement for the sake of men." Elrond
"You are always telling me that men are weak, but is that not more reason to help them. Because they are in need of our love, and protection as we are the first born children Iluvitar, and they the second they are ours to care for, and protect until they are able to stand on their own. When I heard of all the horrible things happening in the world of men I could not stand by and do nothing. So I went to the aide of Gondor." Raven
"Were you able to help them?" Elrond
"Yes father. Not only did my assistance improve their view of elves, but my valor and integrity earned me a permanent commission in the Gondorian army." Raven
"Oh then why are you not still there? I would have thought they would be sorry to lose such a valuable soldier." Elrond
"King Umbardacil asked all the Generals if they would continue to serve Gondor after the death of the previous King. Everyone but me agreed to do so. When the King asked me why I told him that I missed my family greatly, and needed to go home. He agreed and took me off active duty." Raven
" I see so you can still be called back to active duty if Gondor is in dire need?" Elrond
"Yes. I'm just hoping that it will be a long time before that happens." Raven
Elrond nods, and is contemplating all that has been said when he notices Ravens red hands. He looks at them, and says.
"Why are your hands still red? Have you not washed them?" Elrond
"Yes I washed them, and the reason they are still red is because my energy had a very negative reaction to me spilling the blood of evil men." Raven
Oh?" Elrond
"The energy in my soul, and my blood did not recognize the evil deeds of the Easterlings. All it knew was that I have covered my hands in the blood of men. So my beast used the blood of the men I had killed to dye my hands blood red as a token of what was in her opinion my shameful act." Raven
"So does this mean that when the beast is in control your hands will no longer be red?" Elrond
"Yes, but they will turn red again when I am in control once more." Raven
Elrond nods, and sits back in his chair thinking about all that he has just learned. After a sufficient amount of thought he changes the subject by saying.
"Something has been bothering me fore awhile now. I just did not know how to ask, but now seems like the perfect time to do so." Elrond
"What is it father?" Raven
"The object of power you were entrusted with protecting; What was it?" Elrond
Raven closes her eyes, takes a steadying breath, and says.
"It was called the Shikon no Tama, or the Jewel of Four Souls in the common tongue. It was a gem made of four powerful souls that could grant anyone their deepest desire. The Jewel was neither good nor evil though it could be used for either." Raven
"You were entrusted with guarding such a dangerous artifact. What were you required to do exactly?" Elrond
"It was my job to keep the Jewel out of the hands of those who would abuse it." Raven
"Why did you not just destroy it right away?" Elrond
"There was a very specific way in which it must be destroyed, and before you ask that method was the only way in which it could be could destroyed." Raven
"How?" Elrond
"The Jewel's guardian must make a completely unselfish wish." Raven
"How is that possible wishes are by nature selfish?" Elrond
"Oh it's possible under the right circumstances." Raven
"What circumstances?" Elrond
"You have to wish for some thing you do not want; Something you have absolutely no desire to do, have, or want anything to do with." Raven
"I see, and what did you wish for?" Elrond
"I wished: That the souls of the Shikon would pass on and be at peace." Raven
"That is a good thing to wish for. Why did that destroy the Jewel?" Elrond
"Because what I wanted to do was keep and protect the Jewel. I knew it was the right thing to do, and still I had absolutely no desire to do it. I did not want to do it even though I knew it was the right thing to do." Raven
"Why didn't you want to do what you knew was right?" Elrond
"Because protecting the Jewel would give my then meaningless life purpose." Raven
"To be clear on what we know. What would have happened if you had followed your selfish desires?" Elrond
"Then you would never have met her." ?
Lord Elrond and Raven look at the door leading to his study, and see what looks to be a spirit with a white fur pelt on his shoulder. Raven runs to him, and says.
"Sesshomaru-papa. I'm so glad that you are here. How are you here? Not that I'm in anyway complaining." Raven
"I'm glad to be here with you Kagome. As for how I am here; I attached my soul to my mokomoko at the last moment as your mother breathed her last." Sesshomaru
Lord Elrond can tell how emotionally hard it is for him to talk about his wife's death. So he decides to inject himself in the conversation another way to spare the other man his pain for the moment. He looks him in the eyes, and says.
"So you are the dark presence I would occasionally feel form time to time." Elrond
Sesshomaru knows exactly what his daughters new father is trying to do, and he greatly appreciates it. He smirks, and says.
"Yes that was me. Now what was this I hear about you spilling human blood Kagome?" Sesshomaru
Raven blushes in embarrassment, looks at the floor, and says.
"Sorry Sesshomaru-papa I got caught up in a war between good and evil men. There was no way to avoid it." Raven
"I am so disappointed in you Kagome. You were meant to be better than I ever was. That being said I understand that the circumstances behind it made this tragedy unavoidable; So I forgive you just try your hardest to avoid having to do such things in the future." Sesshomaru
"Yes Sesshomaru-papa." Raven
Lord Elrond has been watching the whole exchange between his daughter, and her birth father. Suffice it to say he is some what confused by the whole thing. This man is tall, cold, and imposing yet the love he has for Raven or should he say Kagome is unmistakable. No he will call her Raven as that is her name, and this man is no longer her father. Lord Elrond will admit that he does feel certain measure of jealousy toward the man before him, because he got to be the one to care for her throughout her childhood. He pushes that away, and says.
"I am Lord Elrond, and I welcome you to Rivendell Sesshomaru. Raven come we must find your mother, and the rest of the family so that we might tell them about this new turn of events." Elrond
Raven hugs Sesshomaru, and leaves to follow Lord Elrond out the door. Sesshomaru smiles very glad that his daughter has found such a loving family to take her into their home, and their hearts. He had told his mate that he would only be here as long as their daughter needed him there, but he finds that he just can't resist the allure of adventure. So he decides that he will be staying in this strange world permanently. He only hopes that his mate will be able to find it in her enormous heart to forgive him for leaving her in favor of staying in this strange new world for the adventure, and his daughter. He walks out of the Lord's study, and follows them down the hall to meet the rest of the family that he and his daughter are now a part of.
Lord Elrond and Raven arrive at the garden, and find the rest of their family relaxing in the peace and tranquility of the valley. They look at them, and smile then they see the intimidating figure standing behind them, and begin to panic especially when the stranger puts his hand on Ravens shoulder. The twins get up with swords in hand ready to defend their sister from this creature of darkness. They only sit back down nest to their mother and Arwen when they see Raven smile up at the intimidating man behind her. Raven notices this, and says.
"Eladan and Elrohir I'd like you to meet Sesshomaru, Sesshomaru-papa meet my twin brothers Eladan and Elrohir. I'd also like you to meet my sister Arwen, and last but definitely not least is my mother Celebrian." Raven
Sesshomaru nods to the family in respect, and says.
"It is a pleasure to meet Kagome's second family. I wish you nothing but happiness in the future for as long as you shall live." Sesshomaru
"Thank you Sesshomaru." Celebrian
The younger elves nod to Sesshomaru in thanks. Arwen looks at Sesshomaru, and says.
"You are dead. So how is it that you are here?" Arwen
"I am here because I attached my soul to my pelt as I was dieing." Sesshomaru
"Why would you do such a thing as that thereby denying yourself entry into the afterlife?" Arwen
"I did it so that I could be there for Kagome when she needed me the most." Sesshomaru
"I see then why did we have to save her from being suicidal?" Arwen
"I did not interfere because I knew that if I did then Kagome would have missed out on her second chance at having a family." Sesshomaru
"I see. Well then I look forward to getting to know you." Arwen
"Hn." Sesshomaru
Sesshomaru thinks about his interactions with this family so far, and finds them to be suitably protective of Kagome. He knows that they will do a fine job of taking care of her.
Sesshomaru spends his time exploring the valley. It does not surprise him at all that Kagome has taken in this pack of strange looking wolves. He knows that after such a major trauma Kagome would be craving canine companionship. What does surprise him is that she is continuing to do so even after she has recovered so greatly from the pain of their deaths. It only takes a single look and the wolves recognize that he is some how related to their alpha. They can also tell that he is some kind of canine though what kind they are not entirely sure. They know that he smells a lot like Huan the hound that was given to the elves by the Valar. They do not know how they know just that they do. Nevertheless this dog does not seem to be aggressive toward them in anyway so he is obviously not an adversary. It does not take them long to accept his presence as a fact of life. They continue with their daily activities as if he was not even their. Sesshomaru finds endless amusement watching the wolves living their simple lives. Their pups are also extremely cute. They kind of remind him of Kagome when she was a pup.
The Elves are another thing all together. Their lives are complicated in their simplicity. Sesshomaru is still having a hard time understanding them. Their ways seem very peculiar to him; So it will take some time to wrap his head around them. One thing that he likes about the elves is that they go out of their way to preserve nature. Their respect for the world around them is something to be admired. He looks at the city before him, and Sesshomaru is in awe of what he sees. Sesshomaru has decided that he will accompany Kagome on her next trip that way he will get to see more of this strange new world. Sesshomaru is rather upset about the fact that Lord Elrond is allowing Kagome to spend so much time slacking off when she should be training. On the other hand he can see Kagome's need for balance in her life. He just hopes that all her skills will not go rusty from disuse. Another thing that has been on his mind is the fact that the elf lord has changed his precious daughters name the name that his beloved mate gave her. While he knows that Lord Elrond is her father now, and therefore has the right to change her name if he wants to. It just really bothers him, and what bothers him even more is the fact that Kagome has actually accepted this new name with out hesitation. He knows that Kagome still loves him, because if she didn't she wouldn't call him papa. It is still a shock that Kagome actually tried to kill herself in her grief. Then again yokai have been known to be driven mad by grief. So maybe it is not so surprising after all. He can tell that Kagome has already accepted her place in this world, and now it is his turn to find his place. The only way he can think of to do this is to learn as much about this world as he can. Sesshomaru knows that Kagome is in trouble with her new family; So it will probably be awhile before he can go traveling with her. Sesshomaru wants nothing more than to be involved in Kagomes life in any way he possibly can. He loves his daughter so much that he probably wouldn't be able to move on even without the seal. Lady Arwen is correct that the seal binding him to his mokomoko prevents him from being able to move on, but what she does not know is that if the seal remains in place for the spirit will be unable to move on with or without the seal. The time limit for removal has already passed; So now his mokomoko has become his body. He is for all intents and purposes alive once more, and this is possible because what he is currently inhabiting is actually a part of his body. It is the only part of his body that is still alive; So technically the seal was unnecessary for him to inhabit it. He used it so that no one would be able to force him to pass on when he does not want to. He knows that his mokomoko still has life in it, because he can sense it pulsing within every inch of the pelt. Sesshomaru knows that he will probably have to talk to Lord Elrond if he wants to figure out this very puzzling conundrum. The elf lord is very wise so he should have no trouble at all helping him to figure out the answers to all of his questions. Sesshomaru could not have asked for a better person to take care of Kagome than Lord Elrond. This elf will give her the well balanced life that he has never been able to give her.