Thanks to SesshRinLover and Itzatakahashi for reviewing!
Chapter Twenty Three
Rin walked contently between AhUn and Sesshomaru. So accustomed to following him, it was still surreal to her and a bit strange to walk beside him now. Even as he stroked the back of her hand, their grasp never breaking since leaving the castle, she felt so...exposed. Certainly not tucked safely behind him as always. 'Well,' she thought, 'I guess I better get used to being his equal now...good thing we have plenty of time,' she gazed at him and trailed off into the deeper recesses of her own thoughts. She was holding loosely to their faithful dragons reins as Hikaru and Izayoi lay across his back napping. They walked at the back of the group with Jaken bringing up the *actual* rear as he always followed behind Sesshomaru, who was exasperated with the scene before him. His own nieces and nephews were perfection, but he didn't feel quite the same way about other children. Especially the monk and demon slayers children. Granted, he'd always been kind to them as he would any child, but the brats drove him batshit crazy. The exact reason he'd protested when Miroku mentioned tagging along. Kagome wouldn't hear it though, insisting on keeping her best friend, Sango, close. Sesshomaru scowled at his sister in laws back and felt Rin stifle a laugh beside him.
"Something amusing you, dear?," he slanted his gaze toward her with a petty gleam in his eye.
"No, nothing at all. I just like watching your facial expressions sometimes. They change so minimally, that last one was quite a shock," she let her giggle escape this time, earning a swift pinch to the butt.
"Behave. Don't make me spank you," he whispered in her ear.
"Heard that!," Amari and Inuyasha called from the front of the group, eating collective eye rolls from the couple.
"Please do...," she whispered even softer.
"Heard that one too, Rin," Inuyasha called and devolved into a fit of laughter, satisfied with himself.
"Hey, no fair! I didn't hear! What's she say?"
"I'll tell you when you're older," inuyasha answered.
"So uncle Sesshu," Izayoi sat up on AhUns back and rubbed her little brothers back as he stirred, woken by the commotion. "What's your mom like huh? Is she nice?"
"Uh...not really no. She very temperamental so please all of you kids be on your best behavior. When we get there, let me greet her alone. She's not expecting me, much less twelve visitors."
"So what's your moms name?"
"Her name is Inukami but you may call her Lady Mother."
"Mmm," Izayoi nodded in understanding.
The rest of their short journey was mostly quiet. Once they'd reached a huge cliff that dropped of into the ocean he let the party rest.
"I'll go on ahead and get my mother...this is as far as we can go without flying so I'll need her to help carry you all," he said before literally running off the edge of said cliff. All of the children gasped and ran to the edge, watching him freefall until, inches from the rocks below, he'd transformed into a giant dog, earning another round of this time astonished gasps. None of the kids had ever seen him transform, so to them this was the sight of a lifetime.
"Say, Rin? Have you ever met Lady Mother?," Amari inquired.
"Yes...only once," she shivered at the thought.
"Well what is she like?,"
"Cold...but playful? She has a soft spot for Sesshomaru but it's a very small spot at that. And I'm afraid she doesn't hold much kindness toward anyone else. Though she did bring me back to life when Sesshomaru rescued me from the underworld...so I guess she can't be all bad."
"Woah woah woah," inuyasha stood from where he was seated on a rock and tossed his ramen to the side. "I thought Sesshomaru brought you back to life when you were attacked by Koga's wolves?"
"Yeah, he did. But I died again and he rescued me...again. But apparently the Tenseiga can only reassure the a person once."
"So how?..."
"With the medio stone. The necklace she wears. Granted it was the stone that sent me and Kohaku to hell in the first place but..."
"Kohaku!," Sango blurted. "Kohaku was there? When was this?"
"Uhmmmmmm...it's hard to remember exactly because we searched for Naraku for so long. But it was a short while before his defeat, and before Sesshomaru abandoned me to a village," she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Oh, you can't still be harping on that can you," Rin hears Sesshomaru's voice before she saw or even sensed him. Something told her to look up, and when she did two ,almost identical, giant white dogs appeared before them, descending from the clouds. Sesshomaru seamlessly transforming back to himself and a song in front of Rin.
"Miss me?," he smiled down at her.
"Yes," she beamed and squeezed his fingers, not comfortable with kissing him in front of the Lady Mother.
"Let's make niceties back at the castle shall we?," his mother interjected while also trying to get a look at the girls face, not picking up her scent at all, only Sesshomaru's.
"Alright then. Rin, I'll take you, Amari, Izayoi and Hikaru across first. Mother will cross with Sango, Ichiro, Hitoshi, and Niroku. I'm afraid we'll have to make two trips for the rest of you."
Once everyone was safely inside the giant sky castle, Sesshomaru's mother turned to Rin with a playful gleam in her eye, her face showing no other emotion.
"Sesshomaru...is this the very same human girl you brought before me when you last visited? Still haven't worked up the heart to eat her yet?"
"Yes, mother. One and the same. She's no longer a human girl, but my mate and my equal," he said trying to quell his budding anger. Damn, did she know how to instantly get under his skin.
"A human girl? As your mate? Now that IS laughable. How on earth did you manage to turn her into a demon?"
"Diaroku explained you me that Rin's blood was unlike that of a normal mortal. This...small...group of humans posses a blood type that allows them to transform into a demon, if mated with one."
"Oh what an interesting twist," she clapped her hands together. "I see that you've also learned to tolerate your half brother...is that not him in red? I recognize the robe of the fire rat."
"Yes, this is Inuyasha, his wife Kagome, and their children. Amari, Izayoi, and Hikaru."
"It's good to meet you Inuyasha...do not worry. I sense your nervousness. I bear you, nor your mother any I'll will. In fact, you'll be surprised to find that my own marriage was over a good century before your mother was even born. I'm sure your brother never mentioned that," she said.
"No...it's never came up actually. Nice to meet you too."
"And who do we have here?"
"The Monk, Miroku. His wife, Sango, the demon slayer, and their kids. Ichiro, Hitoshi, and Niroku."
"My my my, more humans!," Sesshomaru cringed at the annoyance in her voice.
"They are just along for the journey. It is Inuyasha and I who need to...speak to you. Privately?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yes...the two of you come with me. The rest of you can wait here."
...
