DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.
Italic: thoughts
-- --: locations
"...": spoken words
~*~*~*~*~: time gap
*...* : noises
-by Kittymui-
A place to call home
Previously:
"Inuyasha..." Sesshoumaru suddenly spoke. "Take good care of
yourself and meet up with me when you have found your companions."
Inuyasha nodded. "I will." he replied. "Take care of yourself
aniki, and you too Kagome." With that, he turned around and left the room.
Kagome hugged her daughter and leaned against Sesshoumaru's shoulder. "Will
he be okay?"
Sesshoumaru placed his hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry, he's the son
of a Taiyoukai, he will be fine." he reassured her.
~*~*~ Several days later ~*~*~
Kagome and Sesshoumaru were walking over the streets of Ciel.
Ciel was a very cozy town although it wasn't very prosperous as Mayr. The inhabitants of this town weren't rich but they were very kind and polite towards other inhabitants as well as strangers from outside town. All houses except for inns and taverns were row houses and all of them were built with bricks and wood. But unlike the row houses of Mayr, the ones of Ciel didn't have gardens.
In Ciel, several streets were filled with small retail shops that sold clothes, weapons and food. There were not many of them but all the varieties in the things they sold made it possible for people to spend all day shopping.
"So...what are we going to do today?" Kagome asked, looping her arm around Sesshoumaru's as they walked passed several shops.
Sesshoumaru looked at her. "Since you don't have any other garments anymore except for your white dress, we will have to buy some new ones for you."
"And Yuri." Kagome happily added.
Sesshoumaru smiled. "And Yuri." he agreed.
~*~ Later ~*~
They returned to the inn after shopping several hours with Sesshoumaru carrying
several bags and saw Kouga waiting for them in the hall.
"You have finally returned!" Kouga cried relieved.
Sesshoumaru and Kagome were both surprised, but when they approached him, they realized that Kouga was carrying little Yuri in his arms.
"You can't imagine how difficult it had been, taking care of Yuri-sama." Kouga added.
"Where is the rest?" Sesshoumaru asked as Kagome took Yuri out of his arms.
Kouga sighed. "They pushed Yuri-sama into my arms and fled into town after she started to cry."
Kagome smiled. "Well thank you for taking care of her all this time. I'm impressed that you managed it on your own. It must have been very tough."
"Iie!" he quickly replied. "I'm already happy to know that Kagome-sama and Sesshoumaru-sama trust me that much not to doubt me of doing anything strange to Yuri-sama."
"Don't worry about that Kouga, I know you are trustworthy." Kagome smiled warmly. "You can go upstairs and rest now, I will take care of Yuri."
Kouga nodded and went upstairs to his room.
Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome and his daughter. "Shall we?"
Kagome nodded and together they retreated to their room with all the clothes they bought.
-- Later, in Kagome and Sesshoumaru's room --
Yuri was lying on her stomach on the bed and watching her mother as she showed her all the clothes she had bought. Her father was sitting next to her on the edge of the bed.
Kagome was wearing her newly acquired nightgown. It was a navy blue dress with silver embedded flowers that accentuated every curve on her body. It had a V-shaped neckline and long wide sleeves, and it was long enough to cover even Kagome's feet.
She and Sesshoumaru both smiled at the expressions of their daughter when she saw the clothes they bought for her.
"She had inherited the beautiful smile from her mother." Sesshoumaru suddenly spoke as he shifted his gaze from Yuri to Kagome.
Kagome blushed as she walked closer to him and sat on his lap. "Well, she's going to get the lovely sikly hair from her father." she smiled, pointing at the short silver hair that grew on Yuri's little head.
Sesshoumaru cupped her cheek with one hand and made her look at him again. "Your unique hair color will be part of it as well, love." he chuckled as their eyes met.
Kagome gave him a puzzled look.
"Look closer." he said, pulling his hand away.
She leaned closer to her daughter and looked more carefully until she noticed several strands of black hair between the silver ones. "You're right!" she agreed surprised.
Kagome felt his eyes on her and turned to Sesshoumaru again only to find herself looking into two eyes filled with pride and admiration.
"What?" she asked, bewildered by his gaze.
"You are truly the most beautiful creature I have ever seen." he said with a gentle voice as he ran his hand through her long black hair, which was already twice as long as the original length (a little more and it would be almost as long as Sesshoumaru's hair). "This Sesshoumaru is truly honored to be able to marry her."
Kagome blushed. "Stop that! You're embarrassing me!" she shrieked as she tried to hide her blush with her hands.
"There is nothing to be embarrassed about because I, Sesshoumaru, do not lie." he spoke clearly as he grabbed her wrists with his hands to pull them off of her red cheeks.
Kagome looked intensely into his eyes to see if he was lying but when she found nothing but truth her lips curled up into a grin. She freed her arms from his grip and pushed Sesshoumaru back until he was lying flat on the bed. Kagome was now leaning on top of his chest with her elbows and her head leaning on her arms. "Oh yeah? I don't believe that, you must have lied before." she teased.
Without warning, Sesshoumaru grabbed her waist and flipped her over until he was positioned on top of her. "I do not lie!" he growled quasi-angrily.
Kagome blinked several times as she looked up at him again and was surprised when he suddenly placed a kiss on her forehead.
"I...have never lied..." he continued, moving down and placing a kiss on her chin. "...and will never lie..."
Sesshoumaru moved up a little until their eyes met again and their lips almost touched. "...to you." he finished with a grin.
Kagome widened her eyes at hearing that and wanted to argue but before she could do anything, Sesshoumaru had already caught her lips with his.
She struggled for a moment at first but finally gave in and kissed him back as she placed her hands on his back.
"Da...dada...daaa..." a small voice suddenly sounded from next to
the kissing couple.
Kagome and Sesshoumaru immediately broke their kiss and looked aside. As they did so, they found themselves looking at their daughter staring at them with a pair of eyes filled with puzzlement and curiosity.
"You know..." Kagome smiled, shifting her gaze from the little one to Sesshoumaru. "...she has the same mesmerizing eyes as her father."
Sesshoumaru returned a smile when his eyes met the curious golden orbs of his daughter.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The whole party was standing at the entrance of the inn. They were prepared to leave the town after staying for about a week.
"Where are we heading to now?" Kagome asked. She was dressed in her newly acquired garments for travel and battle. It looked like the clothes of Sesshoumaru, only more feminine and without armor. It was tighter; with shorter sleeves and white, with black edges. A light purple sash was tied around her waist where her haori and hakama met. Below, she was wearing a pair of black boots.
Kagome was carrying her quiver on her back, her bow on her shoulder and her daughter in her arms, who was wearing a small yellow dress with long sleeves and long white socks.
"We cannot stay here too long, for our money has almost ran out." Sesshoumaru explained. "We are going to an old castle that I have conquered a long time ago."
"An old castle? But what if it's not empty anymore?" she asked.
"You don't have to worry about that, Kagome-sama. If Sesshoumaru-sama had conquered it, nobody would dare to inhabit it, and besides, it's an abandoned castle." Renkotsu reassured her.
"Let's go, shall we?" Kouga suggested. "If we depart now we would surely reach it before the fifth sunset."
With that they left Ciel and headed towards the abandoned castle.
~*~*~ Afternoon ~*~*~
Kagome and Sesshoumaru were walking in the front and Kouga, Renkotsu and Kyoukotsu right behind them as they traveled through the forest.
Suddenly Kagome stopped walking and turned around to Kouga, who was walking right behind her. "Kouga, could you hold Yuri for a moment?" she asked.
"No problem." he replied as he took Yuri into his arms. "But why?"
"I haven't used my skill for a long time now, I'm just wondering if I have lost it." she replied as she readied her bow and prepared an arrow.
Sesshoumaru smiled at this and took several steps away from her to grant her the space. Kouga, Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu followed his example as they watched Kagome concentrate and close her eyes.
It surprised them all when she suddenly aimed up to the sky and released the arrow.
*FWISSHHHH*
"Renkotsu, move your hands in front of you and catch." she suddenly
ordered as she lowered her bow.
Renkotsu gave her a puzzled look but did as he was told.
As soon as he did that, something suddenly fell from above into his arms.
*THUD*
"WHOA!!" he cried out of shock.
It was a bird, that fell from above...with Kagome's arrow through its head.
Kagome tilted her head a little with a bright smile on her face. "Nope! I still have it!" she giggled and walked towards Kouga to retrieve Yuri.
"Well...I guess we won't have to worry about dinner if she keep practicing like that." Kyoukotsu smirked.
After Kagome retrieved Yuri from Kouga, they continued their journey again.
~*~*~ Several days later ~*~*~
Just like Kouga had predicted, they finally arrived at their destination in the afternoon of the 5th day after their departure from Ciel.
They stood in front of an abandoned gray castle on a small hill, free from
the forest. The walls weren't very high but they were sturdy enough to withstand
any discontinuities of Mother Nature.
The castle was like a square shaped church with its leaded windows. It had four
towers on each corner and a small courtyard in the front.
The party entered the small courtyard.
Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome. "What do you think of it?"
"It's nice." Kagome replied, looking all around her.
Although it was small and untouched for a long time, the courtyard looked as if it had never suffered any battles. There were beautiful bushes and flowers everywhere and a small pond with white artistic marble benches around it.
As they entered the castle, they found themselves in a circular shaped hall
with three door openings spread equally over the half circle-shaped stone wall.
The one on the left was connected to a large space that used to be the living
-and diningroom and the kitchen. The one in the middle was connected to the
stairs that leaded to the four towers and the one on the right to the stairs
to the second floor, where the bedrooms and bathroom were located.
Kagome was surprised to see all the furniture standing perfectly on their original spots and turned to Sesshoumaru. "How did you conquer this castle by the way? Talking the inhabitants out of this place?" she asked sarcastically.
Sesshoumaru grinned. "Well, you could say that they wanted to stay alive so they shoved this castle right into my hands. Do you like it?"
Kagome raised an eyebrow at his answer and took several steps forward into the hall. "It's dusty and old..." she began but turned around to look at Sesshoumaru and the rest with a warm smile on her face. "...but it's a place to call home."
Kagome looked around her and nodded. "This place needs a huge clean-up and I think we'll have to start right away." she decided.
~*~*~*~ Several hours later: evening ~*~*~*~
Everybody, except for Kagome was sitting around the round diningtable. They were completely worn out of the whole clean-up thing and waiting for dinner.
The living -and diningroom was altogether about 10 by 5 meters big. It had a fireplace (burning at the moment) with a white rug on the stone floor in front of it and a cabinet filled with firewood next to it. There were several other cabinets and a round diningtable with 8 chairs. And the kitchen was located in a separate small space near the diningtable.
A couple of paintings with beautiful landscapes painted on it were hanging on the stone wall, together with some dried bouquets that were hanging upside down.
Yuri was sitting on the table in front of Sesshoumaru and playing with a small ball that they found during the clean-up.
"Dinner is ready!" Kagome's voice sounded from the kitchen.
Sesshoumaru picked Yuri up and put her on his lap as Kagome came out of the kitchen with a big iron pot and put it on the center of the table. She went back into the kitchen and returned once more with several bowls and spoons.
"Don't hold back okay? You all have deserved this meal with your hard work." she said as she filled the bowls with some delicious smelling meat stew and passed it to everyone.
"This is really delicious!!" Kyoukotsu cried after tasting the first
spoon.
"He's right!" Renkotsu agreed, looking up to Kagome as she sat down next to Sesshoumaru. "Where did you learn to make this?"
"By experience." Kagome smiled. "How do you think we have survived when you guys were away? Surely not with bread and water. And besides, I'm the only woman in the group and having a good cooking skill is the least I should possess."
"I think Yuri-sama likes her mother's cooking as well." Kouga laughed, pointed at Yuri, who was giggling after Sesshoumaru fed her the first spoon.
Everyone laughed, watching the little one and finished their meal.
~*~ Later ~*~
"Let's see, there are a total of four bedrooms." Kagome counted as
they stood in the hallway of the second floor. "Me, Sesshoumaru and Yuri
will take the biggest room and each one of you can have your own room until
Inuyasha and his friends join us again." she decided.
"Alright!!" the three cried happily in unison and each of them entered a room.
After the three doors closed, Kagome and Sesshoumaru, who was carrying Yuri, entered their bedroom.
-- In Kagome and Sesshoumaru's bedroom --
Their bedroom was about 5 by 4 meters big and it had a dark red carpet. There
was a king-size bed in the back (center) of the room with a small bedside table
next to it and a large cabinet stood next to the door.
"It's really fortunate that we've found this bed for Yuri, don't you agree?" Kagome asked as she approached Yuri's bed. "I'm glad it's still usable."
It was a small rectangular wooden bed, shaped like a box, with a high fence around it reaching the height of Kagome's waist and supported by four thick and round wooden pillars beneath it.
Sesshoumaru nodded in reply as he laid Yuri on the soft white mattress and tucked her in beneath the pink colored blanket.
At the same time, Kagome undressed herself from her white haori and hakama and slipped into a black satin nightdress that reached a bit above her ankles. She climbed onto the bed and settled herself under the soft red covers.
"Brrr, it's really cold without a fireplace." she trembled.
Sesshoumaru walked towards the bed and removed his armor before he joined Kagome under the covers. He grabbed Kagome's waist and pulled her to his chest. "Still cold?" he asked with a gentle voice, wrapping his arms around her.
Kagome stopped trembling after a short moment and snuggled closer. "Never...when you're with me." she sighed contented as she closed her eyes. "Oyasumi..." she whispered in his chest.
Sesshoumaru placed a soft kiss on her forehead before he replied.
"Oyasumi, love."
Vocabulary:
iie: no/ not at all
oyasumi: goodnite
Posted: 14 November 2003
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)
Spelling check: YES