Under the Dog Star

by Catwho

A retro-generation fic dealing with how Inuyasha's parents met . This is now AU based on movie three canon.

3. Part III

Under the Dog Star Part III
(Containing the whole of chapters 13-18)

Chapter 13: Training

Tomiko slept in much longer than usual, because the medicine had also been laced heavily with a sleeping draught. She lay on the spare futon for a long time, trying not to remember the horror of yesterday.

Mother . . . all my sisters . . .Hanako-chan . . . Father . . . why did they have to die right when we were discovering each other again? Why did they have to leave me? Why wasn't I there when it all happened?

Why am I still alive?

She found no answer in her thoughts, and though tears slipped silently down her face, she vowed to be strong. Though she knew not the reasons, she had survived, and now she was going to start a new life as a student with Makoto. Even through the overwhelming grief, she felt that this was, well, destined. Perhaps this was part of her gifts, to know that a thing had to happen no matter what it cost.

Through half lidded eyes, she took a good look around the hanyou's hut for the first time. It was cozy without being overly small, although it was cluttered tremendously. Apparently, Makoto was not much of a housekeeper, as books were piled precariously all around, interspersed with dust and detritus. In a sunbeam that lazily drifted through one of the high, square windows to tangle itself in her hair, she saw the dust motes hanging thickly in the air stir in the slight wind that formed with the hanyou returned.

"Good morning," the smiling woman said, and placed the greens she had been carrying on a small table in the corner of the hut she used as a kitchen. Tomiko sat up, and rubbed her eyes. She saw that the other two futons had already been rolled up for the day.

"Excuse me . . .," she began hesitantly, "but where is Inutaisho-sama?"

"He is outside near the creek, doing some morning exercises." The hanyou turned to her, and offered her another crooked smile. "He wants to say goodbye to you. It seems to me that the taiyoukai has fallen pretty hard, all right."

Tomiko blushed slightly, and slipped out of the futon, which she then folded up. She was slightly embarrassed to realize that she still wore the same kimono from the day before. She brushed the wrinkles from it as best she could, and then went outside, too see Inutaisho.

He was, indeed, near the creek, and Tomiko paused outside the hut, awed by the sight of her lord in the morning sunlight. He was running through a basic set of martial arts training kana, and for this activity he had stripped down to nothing but his loose, billowy white pants. Tomiko again admired his trim, wiry figure and grace as he moved from one fluid motion to another.

Where had he learned a martial arts kana? Tomiko asked herself, as he continued the solo dance. For the first time, she realized just how little she knew about the youkai that had entered her life just a few short days ago. He was old, he had admitted that much himself, and he had at least one son. Her heart clenched ever so slightly at that thought, and it took Tomiko, innocent she was, a few moments to realize that it was jealousy on the part of Sesshoumaru's mother. But that wasn't right, nor fair, as that one had died long ago and what had been resurrected burned with the soul of a mononoke.

She admired him for quite some time before he finished the kana and leaned forward, hands on his knees, breathing carefully and resting from his workout. Sweat glistened on his muscles. He was slightly tanner than she herself, although not overly so. Sesshoumaru must have gotten his pale skin from his mother, she decided as she walked toward the taiyoukai.

He heard her approach, and looked up, his face lighting as if glowing from within. Tomiko stopped a few feet away from him, her head bowed, her hands clutched demurely in front of her.

"Makoto-san said you wanted to say goodbye to me," she whispered.

She was more than a little surprised when she felt his strong arms surrounding her, so that she was held tightly against his bare chest. She stared at the creek, barely remembering to breathe. He smelled earthen, and now slightly sweaty from his morning workout.

"I don't want to say goodbye to you, but it seems I must," he said softly, also looking off into the distance. "So many people are after my life now that I'm dangerous. No one will expect you to be here, and so you'll be safe. That's the most important thing, Tomiko-chan, that you be safe."

"Inutaisho-sama has kept me very safe so far," she protested gently. He gripped her shoulders, and looked into her violet eyes with his golden ones.

"Only by luck, and I don't want to take any chances on that luck running out." His voice wavered ever so slightly. "I don't want to lose you . . . now that I have found you."

"Inutaisho-sama . . ."

He kissed her then, a soft whisper of a kiss that lasted but a moment. Tomiko felt her eyes widen in surprise as he pulled back.

"I hope I have not overstepped my bounds," he said quietly.

"No," she answered, and impulsively reached up to her shoulders and covered his hands with her own. "I am happy that I have found you as well, Inutaisho-sama. I want to know everything about you. I -- and -- that is, I like it when you kiss me," she stammered out, shyly.

Inutaisho smiled fully at her modesty, and then kissed her again, this time much more deeply, and for a much longer time. Tomiko felt warm and peaceful then, and responded as best she could guess, sliding her hands from his up to his neck, which she then encircled in an effort to pull him closer to herself. Apparently she had done something right, for Inutaisho groaned slightly and crushed her small body to his own.

It was only when Tomiko needed air that she broke away, gasping. A thousand new sensations were running through her body, and her heart reeled from a sudden rush of emotion.

She had fallen hard for Inutaisho herself, hadn't she? He was handsome and strong and kind, and he seemed to see more of her than a common girl raised in a teahouse. Who wouldn't fall in love with such a man?

"Unfortunately, Makoto-san is kicking me out after breakfast, or else I would teach you some more this morning," he said, his voice suddenly a lot deeper than its usual warm bass rumble. Tomiko stared up at him, not wanting to think about how she would survive without him. "I'll be back in a week," he promised with another quick kiss.

"Breakfast!" Makoto called from the entrance to the hut. "And Inutaisho-sama, don't you dare come in here without your shirt on."

Inutaisho blinked stupidly at the hut door, and then laughed, letting Tomiko go so he could dress again. "She's something, isn't she?"

Tomiko smiled back. Life with the hanyou was certainly going to be an adventure, all right.

* * *

Breakfast was a quiet affair for Inutaisho and Tomiko, although Makoto filled the silence with a constant stream of gossip from both the human and demon worlds. Inutaisho seemed knowledgeable about both worlds as well, and even offered her a few tidbits from the island of Kyushu that she hadn't been aware of.

It ended all too soon, though, and then Inutaisho had to go. "But I will be back soon," he reminded her between kisses. Tomiko, weepy thing she was, ended up crying silently the whole time.

"Don't let that one trick you into allowing him to come back early," Makoto called as a warning. "He's a slippery thing and he'll go back to his naturally mischievous state in a heartbeat if you let him."

"If you haven't noticed by now, Makoto has a tendency to talk about people as if they weren't really there," Inutaisho observed with a smile. "I'll be back in a week -- or less."

He left eastward, toward Ise, flying through the trees as swiftly as the wind. He did not turn back once.

Tomiko sank to the ground, suddenly feeling hollow and weak.

"Well, now, you're not supposed to actually drop down when you fall for someone," Makoto commented. Tomiko ignored her and continued to cry softly until she felt Makoto's hand on her shoulder. The hanyou knelt down beside her, and patted her on the back sympathetically.

"Inutaisho-sama loves you very much, but he cannot take you as his own so long as there are other youkai out to kill him."

"I know," Tomiko answered, still weeping silently. The tears simply wouldn't stop. "But I'm afraid that he'll be hurt. I don't want to lose him, too."

"He's too stubborn to get killed, just like his stubborn son," Makoto said wryly. "Come on, let's get started." She stood up, and Tomiko weakly followed her into the hut.

"Your Gifts have already been awakened on their own, which means that they are especially strong," Makoto began, and started looking through a stack of books in the corner. "That also means that there's a good chance you've got some demon blood from many generations ago."

"Youkai . . . blood?"

"Well, yes. Youkai and humans have been interbreeding since the dawn of time. In fact, it's recommended every few generations or so by most of the youkai clans, because a youkai with a human heart is usually far stronger -- and smarter -- than a pure youkai. Only two of the great clans -- the dragons, and the bats -- refused to allow half-youkai children to be born. They stupidly think that it weakens the blood. While it is true that a hanyou does not possess the full range of youkai powers, a mix of human and youkai blood often awakens new abilities. In our case, it awakens psychic powers." The hanyou finally found the book she was looking for, and she set it with a loud thump onto the low table.

"First things first. You have to know some history. This tome contains the full tale of Japan; from a human perspective, of course, but it's still good reading. You can read, right?"

Tomiko nodded uncertainly. The book was imposing, and she didn't read all that well.

"The best way to learn to read is to simply do it. Go on. If you run across a kanji you don't know, just write it down here," Makoto said, setting a piece of paper, a small brush, and an ink tray onto the table. "I've got an errand to run in Kyoto and I'll be gone for a few hours."

The book was old, and its cover cracked. The unevenness of the pages and their blank backs seemed to indicate that it had once been a scroll, too. Tomiko read slowly, mouthing the syllables as she read along, so that while she did encounter a few kanji she wasn't entirely sure of, she could often figure out the meaning from the context. Still, she wrote them down, just in case she was wrong.

Out of nowhere, however, she had another vision, and she felt a sharp pain throughout her heart. Images raced through her mind. The red dragon . . . the one who had slain her village, had been killed. Her city had been avenged. Was it Inutaisho? No, he was nowhere in the vision . . . instead, there was a second dragon. This one was much larger than the red one had been, and its gray hide shimmered in the morning light. Tomiko did not like the looks of that second dragon at all.

In a flash of insight, she realized that the paper was not really so much for her to write down unknown characters, but for her to record her visions. She took another leaf of paper, and began to quickly write all that she had seen.

Where had she learned to read and write, anyway? None of her sisters had ever bothered to learn, and Father and Mother had never taught her.

Puzzled, she stared at her recorded sheet of visions, and realized that she'd somehow always known. No one had taught her. She had simply been literate as long as she could remember. In some ways, that thought was far more frightening than her vision had been.

Chapter 14: The Ladies of Ise

Inutaisho didn't appreciate Makoto's ultimatums one bit. Even though she was all but a daughter in law to him (he knew far more about her relationship with Sesshoumaru than either on would EVER admit to), the girl was uppity and bossy beyond all reason.

Not like Tomiko, who, while containing a steel inside her tiny body that many noble ladies lacked, had a certain grace and manners about her that drove Inutaisho almost to distraction. Tomiko didn't have to put on airs or yell at people to get them to do as she wished; she had an innate charm that demanded obedience on its own. Her soft voice commanded as much authority as the hanyou's arch half-shout.

However, he had left his woman in Makoto's care for the time being, and as much as he hated it, taking her to Makoto's had given him some much needed time to straighten out his life. In the past few days, more chaos had fallen upon him than he had imagined possible. A former mate had risen from the dead and possessed his son, then he'd picked up a human mate almost by accident, and now the dragon clan wanted his head on a platter. Oh, and so did his own dog clan. A whole lot of people thought he'd be better off dead at the moment.

At least he could appease Natsumi now. No doubt she'd already heard through the gossip network that Sesshoumaru had developed a sudden new ability. Like all the lady demons in her social network, she was far more inclined to trust a juicy rumor than she was actual physical evidence. Natsumi still had the mentality of a teenager, after all.

The way to Ise from Kyoto would have taken a human over a week, but Inutaisho had transformed and was again traveling almost too fast for the human eye to see. He arrived there in a matter of hours, and quickly returned to his human form before any of the humans at Ise saw him.

His sharp nose picked up the strong scent of the ocean here. Natsumi had chosen Ise as her territory centuries ago because of the sea, which what had earned the Summer Dog her family nickname. Here, in Ise, she had settled, and for a long time she had been the center of a social network that stretched across all of Nihon -- and beyond.

Inutaisho entered the city of Ise silently, and wished he'd thought to bring his wig with him as the streets were swarming with humans. He sniffed delicately at the air, and amidst the scents of the city he caught notes of youkai coming from one end in particular. He made his way toward this corner of Ise, and before long he found himself on a street with large mansions that positively reeked of youkai.

He had only been here once, long ago when Natsumi was still but a pup and he was a minor taiyoukai with only three centuries under his belt. The place had changed drastically since then. Natsumi had been living in a tree with her younger brother, laughing and helping the humans slowly turn the village into a solid trading center for the country.

Even then, Natsumi had lived comfortably among humans. Unlike her cousins, with their distinctive snow-white manes, the half-dragon's hair fell in soft, rose-colored strands. Inuaoiryu's hair had been dark blue. Hair color for youkai always depended on the strength of the demons involved in their conception -- demon heredity was anything but human, naturally. That's why hanyou like Makoto were usually far more human than demon. Of course, a lot of that had to do with the fact that hanyou were always conceived while the demon wore a human form. There were horror stories, of course, of weak demon parents whose hanyou children were hideously deformed, but none of the great clans had ever spawned a hanyou monster. If Inutaisho and Tomiko were to have a child -- Inutaisho savored that thought for moment -- then the hanyou would be strong and perfect. If a little on the small side.

Natsumi's house was the largest in the youkai section of town. Inutaisho flitted up the hill around her grand house, ignoring the steps, and began carefully peering into windows until he found the main room. His keen ears picked up the conversation easily, and he looked through a large chink in the wall into the room.

She sat at the center, on an imported Chinese chair. Around her, some on the tatami, others on chairs as well, were the demon ladies of Ise. As he had suspected they would be, they were gossiping. Natsumi reigned queen of the society.

"And so I said to him, if you mate with THAT one, your children are like as not to end up with almost no powers! A fire demon and a water demon seem like they would cancel out to ME." The speaker, a large thunder-demon wearing a kimono that was too small for her, placed her hand dramatically on her plump bosom. "But did he listen? Oh no, not at all."

"I heard she's already expecting their first child," a thin, hawkish youkai added.

"We'll see," the thunder-demon answered with another sigh.

For a moment, there was a lull in the conversation, and then a moth-youkai filled it in with another story. "Did you hear that Yumemaru is back as a mononoke? I heard it from good authority that she's come back from the dead to exact her revenge upon Inutaisho."

Glad to know I'm so popular in the social circles, Inutaisho thought wryly, and listened carefully. Inunatsu also looked very interested, although she said nothing and pretended to look at her delicately painted claws.

"I heard that the dragon clan resurrected her after the mess with -- well, sorry Natsumi. That's a little too close to home."

"No, go on, I'm interested. My family is after him now too?"

The hawk-demon nodded eagerly. "Yes. Your honor is safe, Natsumi-sama. He shall not go unpunished."

"Well, I heard that it was Yumemaru that possessed Inuaoiryu to begin with," the thunder-demon said importantly, and then added proudly, "from Sesshoumaru himself."

The other demon ladies oohed at this new tidbit. Inunatsu suddenly paled.

"Do go on," she said, and poured the thunder-demon another cup of tea.

She drank it eagerly, and took a deep breath. "I was in Kyoto just this morning and I bumped into him. He was with that hanyou -- you know, the cat-girl --"

"Makoto? They're mates now, aren't they?"

"It's still unofficial. Anyway, he said that Inutaisho was on his way to Ise at this very moment to let you know, Natsumi, that he had found out what had happened to Inuaoiryu. Yumemaru IS back -- and she's apparently the one that possessed Inuaoiryu."

"How would Sesshoumaru know that?" the moth-youkai said indignantly.

"Because she had possessed him as well! And he has a new ability to prove it -- his right hand now shoots poison. Yumemaru's back as a mononoke. Whether she came back on her own or under someone else's power -- now, come on, it couldn't have been the dragons, they don't have that sort of knowledge -- no offense, Natsumi-sama -- anyway, it's still anyone's guess."

"But who would want to resurrect Yumemaru? She's stark raving mad!"

"And there lies the question," Inutaisho said softly to himself, and decided to make his presence known. He left the window, and went back to the front door, where a human servant let him in once he saw the hair. Inutaisho knew enough to take his shoes off, and he waited patiently why the servant made his presence known to the ladies in the main room.

Inunatsu herself came out, looking flustered and distressed. Inutaisho greeted her with a smile.

"It took me a little less than a week, Natsumi-chan," he said with a friendly grin. Natsumi glared at him coldly.

"You were listening, weren't you?"

"But of course. I adore the sounds of guesses flying around the room."

"Well, is it true? Is . . . did Yumemaru really . . .?"

Inutaisho sobered up instantly. He nodded gravely, and took his cousin's hand. She had started to look cross again. "Yumemaru has returned. She is the one who possessed . . . who made me fight Inuaoiryu."

"I see. But what are you going to do about her? She was your mate."

"But never my life-mate. She was a mistake for me as I was for her. I must have hurt her deeply, and she -- well, she did give me Sesshoumaru . . . but for me that was enough. She wanted more from me and I simply couldn't give it. I should have waited for love to produce an heir, no matter how many centuries it may have taken."

"Haven't you taken that human for a mate now?"

"You can say that. I cannot make it formal until my honor debts are filled." He looked into his cousin's jade green eyes. "I will return her to her rest, Natsumi. I shall avenge our clan on your behalf. No spirit deserves to become a mononoke for vengeance."

"I'd have made you one for vengeance." The younger demon smiled crookedly, a note of sadness in her voice.

"I don't think I would have become a mononoke if you had killed me. I might have haunted you and bothered you for a bit for killing me without letting me explain myself, but I'd rather pass on to the next life than be a ghost in this one."

Natsumi nodded. "I think I would as well." She sighed heavily. "I shall free you from your honor-debt to me. By wildest blood you have kept your promise. Please, do try to return her to rest quickly, though. I don't like the thought of that woman possessing another."

"Neither do I. I want her to rest in peace as soon as possible, too." Inutaisho hugged his cousin and friend tightly, then started to walk toward the foyer again. But Inunatsu stopped him.

"And, Inutaisho, do be careful," she added. "I cannot control my father's clan. They will still seek vengeance upon you."

Inutaisho grimaced. "I'll have to prove to them, too, that Inuaoiryu was possessed."

"Is that even possible? But anyway, good luck. And take care of that little human of yours." The Summer Dog reached up and kissed her cousin on the cheek. "Go to her safely."

"Thank you. And take care of yourself as well."

With that, he slipped his shoes on, and left.

Natsumi sighed, and returned to the main room, where the gossip had once again turned to the dragon clan.

"It's true," the moth-youkai said insistently. "Seikaryu attacked a human village without provocation and absolutely destroyed it, and his father killed him outright. Said the humans didn't need to be involved in a battle between youkai honor, even if the youkai in question had taken a human for a mate."

"Really? I'll never understand the dragon clan. Oh, welcome back Natsumi. Wasn't Seikaryu the red one?"

"Yes, he was," Natsumi interjected, and sat back down on her Chinese chair, picking up her teacup and refilling it casually. "Grandfather killed uncle Seikaryu?"

"Oooo, you hadn't heard? Well, it was just this morning, but I heard it from Shinmaru who was coming from Edo, and He'd heard about it from Inu-Mizu . . . who actually saw it on his way from Osaka today."

"Do tell, do tell!"

The gossip continued until long after the sun had set over the seas of Ise.

Chapter 15: A Side Story, Part I

Kyoto. The classic city of Japan, now in its decline during the feudal wars. Once Kyoto had been the true seat of power, and the Imperial court had been famous throughout the eastern world. But now, with the constant warfare of the feudal age, the court had deteriorated into a mere shell of formalities.

Soon, Makoto knew, the capital would officially be transferred to Edo, marking the start of the Tokugawa period that would last for two centuries until the Meiji Restoration. Makoto knew this not because she was from the future, but because she lived the future in her mind. Visions of the past, present, and all possible futures swirled around her as she picked her way through the cobbled streets toward the mansions surrounding the Imperial castle.

Makoto was a Seer. A hanyou Seer. They called her the Hanyou Seer of Kyoto.

She didn't mind being a half-youkai or a Seer so much as she minded being born in the turbulent time she was fated for. One of the few things that she couldn't see was her own future, and in such a dangerous world, her life was constantly threatened. She did not want to die yet, at least not until she had punched Sesshoumaru in the nose, or broken his leg, or somehow wounded him otherwise. She was still smarting from his attitude the day before. "Won't enter the hut of a hanyou" indeed. He was simply being an asshole because his father was there, she knew; but Sesshoumaru was also still angry at her for not wanting to mess around with the Emperor a little. So she had to go apologize to him today.

Sesshoumaru had, for murky territorial reasons not even she understood, decided to get involved in the political arena in Kyoto last year. He had quickly earned a reputation for clear thinking and level-headedness among the human courtiers, and the Emperor favored him now as his best advisor. Sesshoumaru had managed to blend in remarkably well, through the judicious use of disguise spells to keep his markings invisible and his eyes a more human color than yellow. Despite his shock of white hair, no one at the court ever questioned his humanity, and he was respected by everyone so much that the Emperor had hinted at a possible betrothal to one of his daughters.

That was making Sesshoumaru panic, and he had demanded that Makoto use hypnosis or some other mind-altering substance on the Emperor before he found himself engaged to a human. Makoto had angrily declined. Even if the Imperial Court *was* a defunct shell of its former self, there were some things that you just didn't do, and brainwashing the Emperor was one of them.

Her refusal had left Sesshoumaru miffed at her, and his audacity left her equally miffed at him. Since she had moved into his territory several years ago, he had never been so angry with her. Well, what did he expect? She herself didn't exactly relish the idea of Sesshoumaru engaged to anyone else -- to be honest, the thought made her insides knot up in jealousy -- but she wasn't going to get involved in his affairs if he couldn't handle it himself.

Screw the apology. She wanted to smack him more than ever now.

She drew her cloak further over her head, adjusting it to better cover her golden skin and sand colored hair, which she had twisted into a knot for her journey. Even Sesshoumaru blended in better than she did here in Kyoto. Her tiny cat ears flicked in irritation at the coarse hood of the cloak, but she dared not take it off until she reached the sanctuary of Sesshoumaru's home. She earned a living here on festival days as a psychic, but even then she was carefully wrapped up so that the only thing visible was her clear lavender eyes. It added to her sense of mystery.

Finally, the hanyou reached Sesshoumaru's moderate castle home. She looked up to the broad, curved tile roof in mild trepidation, then took a deep breath and walked up the stepping stones to the veranda entrance.

She was a well-known presence in the household, and so she merely nodded to one of the guardian servants as she slipped her shoes off and stepped onto the raised floor. She walked quietly down the hallway to the office, where she was knew she'd find Sesshoumaru. And there he was, sitting at an imported, ornate desk, carefully poring over an old scroll and writing comments on a fresh one. He looked up when he heard her.

"What do you want?" he asked without any clear emotion beyond annoyance.

She flipped back her hood so he could see her whole face. "I came to pun -- I came to apologize." She gritted out the words, making fists at her side as she tried to control her temper. "I won't hypnotize the emperor, but I should have been more sensitive to your situation. I'm willing to help you devise a plan to avoid a betrothal."

"It's too late," Sesshoumaru said with deadly calm, and ran his ink stick over the friction tile, creating a darker ink in the tiny well at the end. He dipped his brush in silence, and continued writing, while Makoto tried to regain control of her jaw.

"Too late?" she finally managed to choke out.

"I received a notice from the Emperor that he intends to announce my betrothal this afternoon."

Makoto leaned heavily on his desk, feeling as though her stomach had suddenly split and dropped into her feet. "No," she whispered.

"Oh yes. I told you the situation was grave, but you refused to come to my aid. And now I will be forced to leave Kyoto in dishonor, or marry a human. Either option annoys me very much."

"But it hasn't been announced yet, right? It's not formal. You can still get out of it."

"How?" Sesshoumaru said calmly, as if he was certain she'd have no answer. But Sesshoumaru wasn't the only quick thinker in Kyoto.

"If you're already married, he can't make you marry someone else."

Sesshoumaru actually dropped his brush onto the new scroll, and his mouth tightened in mute anger as he picked up a rag and wiped the inkblot clean. "Since I'm not married and I have no intention of marrying, that is not a viable plan."

"You silly! You don't actually have to GET married before this afternoon. You just have to present the image of 'wife' to the court. All you need is a willing female to stand in during the ruse." Makoto stood up straight, and tried not to preen.

Sesshoumaru appraised her coolly. "Certainly you don't mean yourself."

"And why not?" she answered indignantly. "I know the ways of the court, and I know you better than anyone else in the entire city."

"What about your appearance? You look even less human than I do."

"I look like --" she glanced down at her warm golden skin and delicate little claws, and then twitched her sandy ears. "You're right." She sighed, and then suddenly perked up. "But tonight is the waxing quarter moon."

Sesshoumaru blinked. "That's the night when you become human, is it not?"

Makoto smiled to herself. He had remembered. She'd been angry when he had found out several years ago, but it would work to their advantage this time. Hanyou, like herself, lost their youkai powers about once a month, usually on the day of the same phase the moon had been in when they were born. "It is. So when the Emperor offers you his daughter, explain that you are already married and that you sent for your wife once you received the notice this morning, and that she will be arriving late this evening. After the moon rises, I will make a brief appearance."

The youkai was silent for a moment. Makoto could see that he was contemplating the solution. He just has to agree, she thought to herself. It's the best solution, and he knows it.

"All right," he finally said. "But you can't go wearing . . . that . . .that --"

"My work robes are completely inappropriate, I know. I will change. I always wanted an excuse to wear my mother's favorite long-sleeved kimono." She grinned. "And my hair will be black, and my eyes a deep brown. My skin will lighten considerably, too. And the cat ears will go."

Sesshoumaru nodded. Makoto thought he looked relieved. But maybe it was only her imagination.

"I'll be back here just before the sun sets. Good luck with the emperor," she said with a final smirk, and turned to leave.

"Makoto-chan," Sesshoumaru called softly, and she froze. He had only called her that a few times . . . and all of them were rather private, treasured memories of hers.

"Yes?" she said, afraid to turn around.

"I'm sorry for my behavior yesterday as well."

A deep, genuine smile spread across the hanyou's face. Sesshoumaru had truly forgiven her.

"Apology accepted," she shot over her shoulder, and practically skipped back to the foyer where she had removed her geta. Even if she had to be human to do it, for one night, one glorious night, she would be Sesshoumaru's wife.

To her surprise, Sesshoumaru followed her to the foyer and also put on his shoes.

"This Sesshoumaru will escort you home," he said unexpectedly, and offered her his arm. Makoto smiled warmly. He really was thoughtful when he wanted to be.

* * *

Makoto really didn't live all that far from Kyoto, and so to her the walk home was far too short. It had been prolonged by several interruptions -- Sesshoumaru was the only youkai lord in Kyoto, but the city itself was a popular stopover for youkai travelers, and more than one had asked about the rumors circulating -- that Sesshoumaru's mother had returned, that he had a new power (Makoto had not known about that), and that she'd possessed both his second cousin and Sesshoumaru himself. Makoto never ceased to be amazed at the speed at which youkai gossip traveled. Natsumi had spies everywhere. She knew all. She saw all.

Sesshoumaru left her by the creek, and told her he would be back at nightfall to escort her. She wondered if he'd felt her floating two inches above the ground the whole journey.

Makoto returned to her hut to find Tomiko dutifully learning kanji. She was surprised to see how few the girl had not known -- Tomiko hadn't seemed particularly well educated, and that history of Japan had many older, infrequently used characters. However, Tomiko did have a very queer look on her face as she read.

"I'm home," Makoto called, causing Tomiko to nearly jump a foot. She shook her head to clear it and smiled sweetly at Makoto. The hanyou could see how the taiyoukai had fallen instantly for her -- Tomiko's friendly smile could probably melt the icy heart of even Sesshoumaru if it were properly applied.

"Welcome home. I had another vision while you were gone."

Makoto nodded. "Until you learned to control them, they'll come often. Did you write it down?"

Tomiko smiled again, this time proudly. "I had a feeling that is what you really meant for me to do. Yes, I did. A gray dragon killed a red dragon, the same one that killed -- the same one that attacked my family's village." Tomiko's expression grew sadder. "I am happy that they are avenged, but it does not feel right yet. They were avenged for the wrong reason."

Makoto instantly forgot her own bliss in the face of Tomiko's revelations. She sat down across from her at the low table, and set her head on her hands, thinking, for a long time. Tomiko waited expectantly.

Finally, she said, "Sometimes the feelings associated with a vision are not important. But sometimes they are. I think it's good that you recognized an emotion for this vision. However, be careful not to let the emotions cloud your Sight. What you have seen is only one possible future."

Tomiko was shaking her head. "This was not the future. Like my vision that told me it was the red dragon who attacked Kusabana, what I saw today has already happened. I know it to be so."

Already happened? That meant . . .

And finally Makoto's own Sight decided to kick in. She closed her eyes and let herself drown in the vision. Like Tomiko, she saw a gray dragon -- the patriarch of the mighty Dragon clan -- arguing with his son, Seikaryu. But in her vision, they were in human form. Before long Ryukossei transformed and attacked Seikaryu. The younger dragon didn't stand a chance.

"He killed his own son. Bastard dragons," Makoto said, her ears now laying flat against her head.

"Who did?"

"Ryukossei. The one who is now out to kill Inutaisho -- and you as well."

Chapter 16: The Thrill of Hunt and Battle

Inutaisho ran through the forests north of Ise, trying to relieve some of the tension that had built up during his visit to his cousin's house. Inunatsu, queen of the southern lands and most renowned gossipmonger in the entire country (and probably all of the Eastern youkai world), had granted him a reprieve. He had fulfilled Makoto's first condition well ahead of schedule.

It did frustrate him that he would only had limited contact with Tomiko while she was under the hanyou's tutelage, but at least she was safe there. No one bothered the hanyou; they considered her too insignificant a threat to their territory to even worry about her. As long as she stayed at the hanyou's hut, she would be fine.

Not so for Inutaisho.

Now that word had gotten out that Yumemaru was back and that the dragons were after him, his life would be in constant danger. The confirmation that Seikaryu had attacked Tomiko's village -- and the new information that Ryukossei had killed him for his impertinence -- rubbed something deep in Inutaisho exactly the wrong way. Ryukossei was perhaps the only taiyoukai in all of Japan that was stronger than Inutaisho, and the inu-youkai did not relish the idea of a battle with him.

Battles were part of the never ceasing struggle for territory. Inutaisho had taken over much of eastern Kyushu and the western lands of Honshu over the course of a millennia through such battles. Kusabana had been part of some recently acquired lands, and look what had happened to it. Maybe he had tried to take over too large an area. Maybe it was time to simply control what he had, and give up. Maybe, in fact, Seikaryu's destruction of Kusabana was simply part of the normal territorial battle.

No, Inutaisho decided. No way was that simply a territory squabble. Seikaryu would have sought out Inutaisho himself, not attacked a helpless human village. Seikaryu's attack had been deliberate malice.

The dragons hated humans. All the youkai in the world had some reservations about the mortals who shared their territory -- some considered them food, others a nuisance, and still others a natural part of the landscape to be ignored. But the inu-youkai, and many of the large clans, had intermixed freely with them. They recognized that humans, too, had souls, and could offer valuable contributions to the welfare of youkai, just as the youkai could offer protection to the humans. The arrangement with the dressmakers was perhaps the most visible aspect of that silent agreement.

Oh, that's right, Inutaisho remembered. Tomiko's wardrobe is probably done by now. I'll need to pick that up.

Shaking his head clear of his contemplation, the ancient demon stopped his run, and inhaled the sweet smells of the forest. He was nearing Edo now, an area too inhabited with humans for most youkai. The scent of youkai was faint and old near the villages here, but the scent of wildlife was still strong. This would be good hunting ground.

He turned to go when he spied a human building in a clearing off in the distance. The smell of humans was lacking in this area. He frowned, and gave into curiosity. He had a week to kill, after all. He might as well explore a little.

The house was abandoned, although relatively intact. It had not been particularly grand even when it had been inhabited; most likely it had been a hunting lodge for a noble lord at one point, small but fine and serviceable. Inutaisho examined the outside critically, making mental notes of what needed to be repaired and judging whether or not he could do it on his own. The more he saw, the more he liked. He stepped inside.

The tatami was worn but serviceable. Many of the rice paper squares in the walls had small holes in them, but rice paper was easy enough to acquire. He glanced up, and saw that the timber roof was still sound. Underneath the tatami, the floor was also strong. By the time he had finished his impromptu tour, he had come to a decision.

I can make a home for Tomiko here. Kyushu is too full of painful memories for her. Here, near Edo, I can protect her, and she can be near enough to humans so that she won't be lonely. Here . . . I can provide a home for her.

Suddenly the youkai berated himself. I had said I wasn't going to make her my mate. Now look at me, already planning to make a home for her. She's better off with Makoto than here.

Inutaisho sadly left the building, but he knew he was lying to himself when he said he wasn't interested in mating the human girl anymore. In the short course of a few days, the tiny woman had worked her way deep into his heart. He wanted to love and cherish her, and he wanted her to bear his children. They would be hanyou, of course, and thus there was always a chance of deformity, but Inutaisho knew that children of taiyoukai more often than not came out just as strong as their youkai parents, if not stronger.

There he went again! He could not think of Tomiko as a potential mate. It simply wouldn't work, not with his life in shambles as it was. Growling in frustration to himself, the taiyoukai decided to hunt the old fashioned way in order to clear his mind of such thoughts.

* * *

Silent, swift, invisible. The delicate, aged stag had no clue he was being hunted. Inutaisho could smell the calmness radiating from the animal as it nibbled on the bark of the tree. It was completely unaware of his presence.

Inutaisho had dropped all of his disguise spells, so that his human form was at its most youkai. His eyes glowed a piercing red with pale, bluish iridescent pupils. Large claws extended from his hands. A deep purple stripe reached from his ears to halfway down his cheeks, and matching stripes were on his arms and legs. The markings were those of a taiyoukai only; the ancient clans who bore them shared common ancestors from thousands of years ago.

The inu-youkai felt a humming in his blood as he studied his prey. Sometime, long before his birth, a dog's spirit had started the clan of inu-youkai, and those instincts still burned within them all. While the majority nowadays had adapted themselves to the human world as human civilization progressed, deep down inside they were still creatures of the wilderness, untamed, unchecked, and thirsting for death.

The stag shifted its position to another tree, and Inutaisho dropped softly from above. The stag never knew what hit it as the ancient demon tore at its throat, killing it instantly. The warm blood ran down Inutaisho's fingers, and he licked them one by one. Hmmm, he thought, I still prefer my food cooked. The raw meat didn't taste bad; in fact, it fulfilled the craving for fresh blood that had been nagging at Inutaisho for a long time. Perhaps that was why Sesshoumaru had chosen to always hunt the traditional way and never touched human food; somehow the uncooked flesh sharpened Inutaisho's already honed senses even further, and lightened his head a little. It took him a few moments to remember that it was the youkai blood rejoicing in the kill. He hadn't felt that in almost a hundred and thirty years, not since that fierce and monumental battle against Menoumaru.

I have been around humans too long. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like. Not even when I had to kill Inuaoiryu did I feel the blood heat. Of course, that was different. Inuaoiryu had been family.

Gorged on blood, the taiyoukai stretched and decided to head over to Kyushu after a quick dip in a nearby stream. It had been nearly a week since he'd checked on his territory, and he needed to spread his scent around the island once more before someone else decided to take it over.

* * *

In his true form, Inutaisho raced across the country. While he was unimpeded by a human in his mighty paw, he could cross it within the course of a few brief hours. By the time he reached the edges of his territory, however, the moon had risen and the sun was beginning to set.

Inutaisho paused as he entered the mountainous forests of his lands. A vaguely familiar scent was permeating the territory; another youkai was near. Would someone else be so stupid as to try to fight him so soon after Inuaoiryu's inglorious defeat? No, this smelled almost like the lingering scent of Inuaoiryu or Inunatsu . . .

Suddenly he knew. He knew who it was who had invaded his territory, and he felt a surge of anger spurred on by the blood heat.

Ryukossei!

He stayed in his demon form. He no longer had to worry about the village of Kusabana, or any of the human villages; Tomiko's people had been the only ones silly enough to try a virgin sacrifice, and with them sadly gone, hopefully the rest of the humans would be smart enough not to try that useless tactic again. In some tiny way, Seikaryu had helped him.

The scent of the great dragon was nearby, and Inutaisho did not have search long before he found him hiding behind a hill in his true form as well. Dragon and dog squared off.

"This infraction will not go unpunished, but I will hear your excuses first," Inutaisho almost spat out. The dignified dragon turned the human face on his head toward Inutaisho, and regarded him with the coldest, impassionate eyes that any youkai had possessed.

"You have taken a human to mate, they say."

"I have not," Inutaisho replied, although he felt a faint flash of guilt. He wanted to take Tomiko as his mate. He wanted her to bear his children. He wanted to love her.

He DID love her. Since he was going to fight with Ryukossei anyway, he might as well do it truthfully.

"I have not," he repeated, "although I have intentions to. What does it concern the clan of dragons? She will not be in your way, and your relatives will not be smirched by contact with her. Not that you seem to have any concern for your own children."

Ryukossei answered without emotion. "If you are referring to Seikaryu, he acted without my authority. By our laws he had to be cursed with death. That is not the concern of the dog clan. But your taking a human as a mate is most certainly our concern, and the concern of all youkai. Hanyou must not be born, and born, they must not be allowed to live."

So that was his complaint. "It is a falsehood that hanyou are weak. Look at the Seer, Makoto."

"That one should have been killed as well. Only her mother prevented her death, and once her mother and father were both disposed of, she should have died as well." Again, the dragon spoke as if from a distance, as though the words he said simply passed through him. He spoke as though all he said was logical and obvious, and as if he were patiently explaining it to a child.

Inutaisho was younger than the great dragon by several centuries, but that did not make him a child by any standards.

"Then why didn't you kill her as well?"

"She has the maddened spirit of the one you refused to mate with her. We cannot interfere with the one who has passed on."

It took a few moments for that declaration to sink in, and once it did, he almost refused to believe it. Makoto? Yumemaru was protecting Makoto?

It didn't make any sense. Yumemaru had been insane at the time of her death. But had she even died? In a sudden flash of horror, he realized that she might never have been properly sealed to begin with. He had only assumed that someone had resurrected her soul. However, the soul may have been wandering the world for almost twenty years -- no, not wandering, staying with the hanyou Makoto to protect her.

He wondered if the hanyou had ever even known. It still made no sense. Had it been a promise to Aijo?

"I thought you might like to know that before I killed you, Inutaisho," the dragon said, a note of smugness creeping into his voice. "Now that you are here, I formally challenge you to the island of Kyushu and all of your lands on Honshu."

"You mean to disguise your cold blooded murder as a territorial squabble? Well, that's more foresight than most have had." Inutaisho stretched almost casually, and flexed the claws on his paws.

Inside, he was a roiling turmoil of fear and anger. The blood heat of the kill hadn't yet faded, and he was very glad he'd indulged in the primitive hunt earlier. His head was clear despite his pounding heart and soul-deep dread.

This was one fight he was probably not going to win

Chapter 17: A Side Story, Part II

"Hold still," Tomiko commanded softly. Underneath her careful hands, the brilliant gold mass of Makoto's curls had been transformed into a swelled coif that was enough to make any princess in Kyoto jealous. The two women had been working all afternoon; it was enough to take Tomiko's mind off her tragedy, although she still had a hard knot of apprehension in her stomach.

Makoto squirmed again, and strained to see outside the window. "The moon is about to rise . . . I can't smell anything."

"Does it hurt, to become human?"

"No, not really," Makoto said with a shrug, and her still exposed ears twitched. "But it does bother me. Normally, I would never do something so foolish as to leave my home while I was human, but this is for Sesshoumaru."

"You love him," Tomiko guessed. She pinned down another blond curl, and was startled to see it turn to a shiny jet-black, starting from the roots. All of Makoto's hair quickly followed. Her ears disappeared and reformed underneath the coif, displacing a few strands. With a sigh Tomiko reattacked the coif. She wanted it to be perfect.

"How can I not?" a now fully human Makoto asked with a smile. Her ethereal golden skin and hair were both gone, but as a human the hanyou was even more beautiful to Tomiko's eyes. "I don't claim to understand the way his mind works entirely, but I can see that deep down, he's afraid to trust. He doesn't want to love, because it might mean getting hurt in the end. I want to be the one to make him love, to make him trust. I want to heal his heart."

Tomiko nodded, and thought of Inutaisho. The father, unlike the son, wasn't afraid to love, he's just been waiting a long time to fall for someone. A small thrill ran through Tomiko's blood at the thought. Had he been waiting nearly a thousand years . . . for her?

She finally compensated for the newly human ears, and made Makoto stand so she could dress her in her mother's formal court kimono. It was lavender with golden embroidery, and the enormous sleeves gathered softly at her side. Her under kimono were wheat colored and pink, with a narrow contrast obi in deep rose. The outfit had used at least four entire bolts of silk, if not more. She would be a credit to Sesshoumaru in it, even if the style was several years out of date. Tomiko was also wearing a borrowed yukata in moss green with an enormous fuchsia obi, as she would be going with them to act as Makoto's handmaiden.

"You, too, want to heal someone's heart," Makoto said, resuming their conversation as if there hadn't even been a break. "Inutaisho is a good man, although he seems to be an avatar for chaos at the moment. He's utterly besotted with you, too. He's yours if you only wish it."

Tomiko smiled sweetly, the action causing her face to light up. A faint blush tinged her cheeks. "If I do marry him -- or mate him, whatever the term youkai use -- will that make me your stepmother-in-law?"

Makoto blinked for a few moments, and chewed on her lip, considering. Tomiko erupted into a fountain of giggles, and it only took Makoto a few moments to join in. The women laughed for several minutes before gaining their composure.

"Let's be friends instead," Tomiko offered with a grin.

"Okay," Makoto answered, with a matching grin of her own.

They worked on pressing any remaining wrinkles from the silk until a small knock on the door announced Sesshoumaru's arrival. Tomiko hurried to answer it; Makoto dared not move until her train had been settled properly.

Sesshoumaru stood there, nervous as a fifteen-year-old boy courting a girl still in the care of her mother. Tomiko eyed the youkai critically; he wore his usual formal kimono with armor, but for some reason he had added an enormous fur boa. Still high from her bout of giggling earlier, Tomiko found herself laughing harder than she'd ever laughed in her life. She gasped for breath, her eyes streaming, while Sesshoumaru grew increasingly annoyed. Makoto risked ruining her train to see what was going on.

Tomiko could only laugh and point at the fluffy boa.

"It's current fashion at the court," Sesshoumaru said quietly, vaguely offended. Tomiko only shook her head and continued laughing, clutching her sides, which had begun to ache.

"Well, I think it's adorable," Makoto said loudly. Sesshoumaru looked over at her, and his eyes widened. Without her usual golden color scheme, and wearing the full court kimono, Makoto seemed like the perfect picture of a proper Japanese lady. All she'd need to do at court was tilt her head forward a little, and she'd leave no doubt that she was nobility.

Tomiko's laughter finally subsided, and the small group moved outside. Sesshoumaru had arrived in a very unusual conveyance. A fancy carriage had been harnessed to a half-dragon, half-horse youkai. The youkai pair snorted and stamped impatiently. They were a minor youkai, a different breed of dragons than the one who had destroyed Kusabana. Intelligence but not sentience shone in their eyes.

"You can't expect to arrive at court in that thing," Makoto said, raising one eyebrow.

"I did not plan on it. We will walk to the court after arriving at my home. There is a glamour on the carriage so that no one can see it in the air."

He helped his lady into the strange conveyance, and then helped Tomiko in as well. They took off into the night air and were soon soaring high over the trees outside Kyoto.

"You're driving them yourself?" Makoto said in admiration.

"Yes, Jaken has still not returned from the task I set him to last month."

"Who is Jaken?" Tomiko asked Makoto in a low voice.

"Sesshoumaru's majordomo. He's been searching for an artifact called the Staff of Heads for Sesshoumaru. I'm not sure exactly what it does, but Sesshoumaru wants it badly. He won't be able to use it, though, as it's an artifact of Jaken's clan."

Tomiko nodded in understanding, although she didn't quite get it.

* * *

On Kyushu, the two mightiest demons in all of Japan were preparing for a battle to the death. Ryukossei, the fierce dragon. Inutaisho, the great dog-demon. There were none their equal in all of Japan, and yet due to circumstances they would have to try to kill one another.

It was casual and gradual. Both youkai, in their full forms, had allowed the other ample time to stretch and limber up. The battle was almost foreordained, although the outcome was unknown.

Their calm conversation also belied the tension.

"I'm going to give you a fight such as Japan hasn't seen since that gaijin you sealed a hundred and thirty years ago," Ryukossei said solemnly. He still spoke with no humor, although Inutaisho knew it was the closest the dragon would ever come to a joke.

"Not much of a fight then," Inutaisho answered with equal solemnity. "I sealed Menoumaru with hardly a scratch." On the outside, he was as calm and serious as the dragon, but inside his mind was racing with battle strategies. The dragon had several distinct advantages, not the least of which was his enormous size.

They both paused then. On unspoken agreement, they both attacked at the same time.

The dragon immediately went to his favorite strategy, and tried to wrap his long body around Inutaisho in order to choke the life from him. But Inutaisho had been prepared for such and attack, and he made sure to leave one leg free to slash viciously back, much to the dragon's dismay.

Abandoning his constrictor tactic, the dragon instead wrapped himself around Inutaisho's neck, squeezing his true form's air passage nearly shut. Inutaisho's mighty paws could not gain proper purchase, and before long he was nearly seeing spots. In a desperate effort, he dragged the enormous dragon along with him at top speed toward a mountain, and slammed the side of his neck into one craggy outcrop. The dragon took the full brunt of the crash, and quickly loosened his stranglehold as one of his enormous ribs cracked under the pressure.

The dog decided to go onto the offensive, and pulled the damaged area of the dragon's long body down with one paw, smashing him into the ground. But the dragon had been careful to keep his head free, and he sank his sharp fangs into Inutaisho's shoulder. The taiyoukai yelped in pain, but he didn't have fangs of his own for nothing. He nipped angrily at the dragon's tail, neatly several the last few joints.

The battle raged on, the outcome still unclear.

* * *

"Well, that was remarkably easy," Makoto said with a satisfied, if slightly feline smile. She had been presented by Sesshoumaru to the Emperor as his wife, and the Emperor had forgiven Sesshoumaru's neglect once he saw the demure young lady. Afterward, the pair had kneeled quietly among the other nobles as court was wrapped up for the day. Tomiko had been behind them the whole time, the knot of apprehension still tight in her stomach. Sometimes she flinched for no reason.

Now, they were walking among the beautiful wooden walls of the palace, as Sesshoumaru showed his "wife" some of the odder splendors of the court.

"It was indeed. I am indebted to you. Now, this is a sword that was presented to the Emperor as a gift from a lord in the far north. The Emperor was slightly embarrassed and decided to put it here, in the gallery, because while it is a fine weapon, it's a bit . . . ugly."

"It's so old, and rusty!"

"As old as it is, they don't make swords like it anymore. Over here is a bolt of embroidered silk from China that the Empress said looked hideous with her skin tone . . ."

Tomiko stopped to study the sword. The handle, once wrapped in the finest leather, show signs of wear -- the leather was frayed in several places, and the inlay had a few chunks missing. However, Tomiko had always been able to look beneath the surface of things, and she saw that the blade of the katana was still sharp and deadly, and that the hilt still gleamed dully with gold. It was a fine sword indeed, and the Emperor had been foolish not to recognize its worth.

Tomiko started to move one, when a sudden stab of fear lanced through her soul, and she dropped to her knees in mental agony.

"Inutaisho," she cried hoarsely, and resisted the vision as long as she dared. But her mental powers were still raw, and it was not long until she succumbed to her Sight.

* * *

Battered and beaten, both demons kept fighting only through sheer willpower. One of Inutaisho's fangs had been broken, and Ryukossei was distinctly shorter than he had been before the fight. They each had numerous broken bones and internal injuries, and the very mountains were sprayed with their blood.

"This ends NOW," Ryukossei shouted as he made one final, carefully calculated attack. Inutaisho tried weakly to mount a defense, but his forearms were both broken and all but useless. The dragon opened his mouth wide, and to Inutaisho's horror, bored directly into and *through* the dog demon's chest.

Pierced by the living flesh of the dragon, the might dog fell to earth, stunned, and mortally wounded.

Ryukossei slithered through all the way, covered in Inutaisho's blood, his stump already regrowing as he redirected his battle energy to healing. The gray dragon nudged Inutaisho once, twice, before decided that the dog demon was as good as dead. Inutaisho's eyes were glazed over, and his nearly shredded body was nearly drained of blood.

"I pity you, Inutaisho," the leader of the dragon clan said. "Once you fall for a mortal, you leave yourself open to the mortal influences. I had honestly hoped for more of a challenge from you."

Inutaisho did not have the strength to answer. His eyes dimmed further as his life drained away.

Quickly bored, and satisfied with his victory, the dragon left Kyushu for the warmer climes of Osaka to heal.

* * *

Both Sesshoumaru and Makoto were trying to calm a hysterical Tomiko. Their noise had attracted several other courtiers, who peered at the screaming handmaiden with a curiosity borne of ennui.

"He's dead! He's dead! Oh, my dearest Inutaisho . . ." Tomiko kept sobbing.

"Do something, woman," Sesshoumaru commanded Makoto, who was trying to forcibly restrain the hysterical girl.

"I'm trying," Makoto snapped back, then managed to constrain Tomiko in her arms, willing her to gain control of her Sight. The girl immediately calmed as her vision left, and her screams subsided into muffled sobs.

"I saw him die, I saw him die," she repeated over and over again.

Makoto looked at Sesshoumaru desperately, her own face wrought with sorrow. Sesshoumaru's own face remained impassive, until they all became conscious of the mutterings around them.

". . . can't even control her own servant. Is she really a noble lady?"

"She talked back to her husband just then, I'm sure of it . . ."

" . . . said Inutaisho? Her dearest? She's in love with a demon?"

The sadness on Makoto's face was slowly replaced with anger. How dare they! Couldn't they see that Tomiko was distraught? Couldn't they see that she needed attention and support, and love, not accusations and gossip?

Still clutching Tomiko, the hanyou-in-human-form stood up to her full height, which was impressive. Before she had been in the slightly hunched position courtesans used to give their silhouette the distinctive, beautiful S shape. Now, however, they could see that she towered over most everyone else in the room, except her husband.

She opened her mouth to deliver a stinging rebuke that would have destroyed everything she and Sesshoumaru had worked for that evening, but was interrupted by a cackle from above.

Everyone looked up in horror to see an enormous mononoke soaring above their heads. Even Tomiko managed to catch her breath long enough to see the familiar, frightening shape. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers.

Chapter 18: Finale

The mononoke bore down on the crowd, grabbing people's shoulders at random and shaking them, her not-quite-corporeal body going right through them more often than not. Sesshoumaru shielded Makoto's body with his own as they all watched in horror.

"Where is Inutaisho?" the mononoke screeched, searching around, "He must die!" Her voice was laced with years of pain and madness.

"He's already dead!" Tomiko cried, stamping her foot angrily. She had had quite enough of the interfering ex. "And no thanks to you. Why can't you just rest in peace? Why can't you leave us alone?"

Without thinking, much as she had the last time Yumemaru attacked, Tomiko grabbed the old sword from its display case and brandished it. Sesshoumaru couldn't attack his own mother, and now Inutaisho was not here to save them.

"Foolish mortal," the mononoke hissed, her glowing green robes billowing around her tall, thin body. Her gray eyes burned with power, and her blue hair flew out from her flawless, pale face. She was the opposite of Tomiko in many ways. And yet . . .

"It's because you loved him, isn't it?" Tomiko said softly, still holding the raised sword in front of her.

"Silence!"

"Is that why you came back from the dead? Is that why your soul returned?"

The mononoke began chuckling low in her throat. "I never left, my dear mortal. I was simply biding my time until Inutaisho grew weak enough for me to destroy." Her chuckle developed into a mad cackled, and she threw her head back, pointing one clawed finger at Makoto.

"Her mind was a safe enough place, and had power enough to spare. Aijo's daughter never even realized she had a second person inside her mind all those years."

Makoto's face darkened, and Sesshoumaru had to forcibly restrain her as she suddenly tried to jump Yumemaru.

"But why did you come out now? What made you think Inutaisho had weakened any?" Tomiko wanted answers. The story was finally beginning to make sense. The attacks on Inutaisho's territory . . . on Kusabana . . .

Now the beautiful face was twisted in rage, and her silver eyes burned ever brighter in the dim hallway.

"YOU happened. You tricked my Inutaisho, human. If Inutaisho is dead, then my work here is done. Now I shall kill you too."

Tomiko, to her credit, didn't shake as she faced the demon. The members of the court around quaked in fear but stayed, spellbound by the dramatic scene.

"I can't let you do that," Tomiko said, the faint note of steel in her voice again. "Everything I have loved I have lost this week. I lost my family, my home, and now the man I love. The one thing I have left is my life. I'm not going to throw it away so easily." Tomiko's eyes welled up in her usual silent tears. "Inutaisho did love you, in his own way. But he believed you betrayed him."

"He betrayed ME!"

Tomiko shook her head sadly. "I cannot undo the past, and I will not ask your forgiveness for loving Inutaisho as I did . . as I do. But please," she entreated to the mononoke, "please rest in peace." She lifted the heavy sword once more, and an odd crackle of power swelled around it. She felt as though there were hands behind her, helping her to hold it, and those hands imparted a power to her that could destroy Yumemaru once and for all.

"Do you honestly think I'll do the bidding of my rival?" The taiyoukai swooped low to nearly Tomiko's face.

It wasn't until a few moments later that she realized Tomiko's hands had moved. The sword was embedded in the mononoke's chest.

"I'm sorry," Tomiko whispered.

Yumemaru closed her eyes, a smile curling onto her face.

"Well. The mortal has a backbone after all. I leave you with this . . ." she said, and suddenly gasped for air. "I curse you . . . I curse your firstborn son . . . curse your whole line. This has not been resolved yet. It will have to be done . . . again."

Gravity suddenly reclaimed the taiyoukai, and Tomiko dropped the glowing sword with a clatter. The purifying aura enveloped Yumemaru, until the Death of Dreams was finally no more than a pile of dust.

* * *

Dusk had settled over Kyushu long ago, to be replaced by a crisp, starry night. Inutaisho's body had dropped to its human form soon after the fight with Ryukossei, to conserve energy as it desperately tried to heal.

The dragon had underestimated Inutaisho. Too weak to shred his enormous body as he should have done, Ryukossei had fled with the other taiyoukai intact.

Inutaisho lay still, unmoving, puddles of his true form's blood surround him.

He looked quite dead.

"Well, what's this? This must be the hour of my good fortune! " A tinny voice seemed to come out of nowhere. The source of the voice was a small speck that landed with a tiny smack on the dead taiyoukai's cheek.

"Poor thing. Got in a territory dispute, it seems. Glad I'm not a taiyoukai and I don't have to deal with this."

The speck sank his teeth into the tender flesh of the taiyoukai's cheek.

With a loud SMACK, Inutaisho instinctively slapped the flea demon.

His eyes snapped open. In the cool night of the tropical forest of Kyushu, they burned with anger and fire.

Alive. He was alive.

* * *

Tomiko had been surprised when the emperor insisted she keep the old sword. Makoto and Sesshoumaru both told her she earned it -- although Sesshoumaru spoke with a strained voice and a pained look in his eyes. Makoto, still in her human form, had pulled him home, and mouthed to Tomiko to follow behind.

They would stay in Kyoto that night. None of them had the energy to go back to the hanyou's hut.

Tomiko cradled the sword. She felt empty; what everyone at court had called a smashing victory meant nothing to her.

Inutaisho was dead. The youkai -- no, the man -- who had taken in a human serving girl and turned her into a woman was gone. The idea of living without him when he was the one who thought her how to live was impossible.

She stopped outside Sesshoumaru's mansion home, and stared up at the calm stars that shone, while the ancient city of Kyoto mirrored it below with the light of a thousand lamps.

"I'll live my life, though, with the small hope of a miraculous encounter," she quoted softly. "I know I shall see him again."

Then she felt a new burning in her blood.

"Don't be stupid," she whispered to herself in denial. But the burning was strong. She began weeping silently again.

Inutaisho was alive! She should have known that he wouldn't die that easily. Yet . . . he had been dead . . . only divine providence could have saved him at that point.

For once, she gave into her tears and leaned heavily against the sword in the middle of the street, sobbing for joy. He lived. He still lived, and would live on for years to come.

"Thank you, kami-sama, Buddha-sama, all gods and goddesses who may be," she prayed through her tears.

* * *

With a groan Inutaisho sat up and took in the battered state of his body. There was a gaping hole in the left side of his chest, but it was already healing rapidly. Somehow, Ryukossei had missed his heart and simply pierced a lung. It still hurt like hell, but a youkai's only completely vulnerable spot was his heart.

He looked down at the squished flea in his hand. With a pop! the flea returned to his normal size.

"Ah! Glad to see you're not dead, sir!" the flea said cheerfully.

"I'm glad, too" Inutaisho said, and looked around him at the great pools of blood. "I'm going to be dehydrated for a while."

" Those look like the claws of dragons, but I wasn't aware that the dragons were seeking territory this far west now."

"This wasn't a fight over territory." Inutaisho explained, and poked idly at his left canine, which had been snapped in two at some point during the battle. Pulled out, it would regrow, but broken it would forever be there as a reminder of his bitter loss of Kyushu. "The dragons oppose my mating choice."

"I see," the little flea said. "I'm Myouga."

"I am Inutaisho."

The flea nearly face faulted. "Inutaisho? THE Inutaisho? The Lord of the Western Lands?"

"Not anymore. The only reason I survived is that Ryukossei was too weakened to bother finishing me. It's a mistake he won't make again."

Inutaisho's face hardened, and he felt horrible and weak. The loss of Kyushu burned in his heart, but it was secondary to the pain he felt at the loss of Tomiko. You wait a thousand years to meet the mate of your heart, he thought bitterly, only to lose her because you suddenly turn out to be weak as a kitten.

At least he would be able to ask Makoto what the dragon had meant by Yumemaru protecting her. There were other hanyou out there as well, but Makoto was the only child of a taiyoukai in all of Nihon who hadn't died at an early age. Now he knew why.

"Hmmm. So your true form isn't strong enough to defeat his true form." The demon flea looked thoughtful. "Then that means you must find a way to defeat him in your human form, instead."

Inutaisho laughed hollowly. "Now that's impossible. How can a youkai in human form ever hope to defeat a taiyoukai in true form?"

"You'll have to figure out some way, because if any youkai sees your true form again word will get back to Ryukossei. Perhaps a sword?"

Inutaisho looked sharply at the young flea. An idea was beginning to form in his mind, and he idly fingered the broken canine.

"A sword that could defeat a taiyoukai would have to be strong. And it would have to have powers beyond a mortal sword."

"You should see Toutousai," Myouga suggested. "If anyone could craft a demon sword of that power, he could."

"I have been to Toutousai before. Yes . . . it would have to suppress my instinct to transform into my true form. And it would have to throw power from a distance . . . and it would have to be strong enough to break through a dragon's hide . . ."

"Toutousai would be able to do it. "

"Yes. But regular steel won't be strong enough."

Inutaisho stood up. He was sore and battered all over, but he was determined to protect Tomiko, no matter what. The dragons thrived on the fear humans held for youkai; they would kill Tomiko just because. He had to protect her.

And he wanted to see her again.

"I'm going to Edo."

"This unworthy one would be more than happy to accompany you," the flea youkai said hopefully.

"Fine. I appreciate that. What once was a few hour's journey will take me all night."

"You should rest first, sir," Myouga protested, jumping up and down to emphasize his point.

"I can't. Not while my mate lies in danger."

The two set out toward Edo, although Inutaisho stopped to pick up the large chunk of fang that had been broken off.

"We'll be stopping near Kyoto to see her. She's probably worried about me."

"Who were you going to mate that made the dragons so angry? One of them? One of the minor youkai?"

"A human."

Myouga, for the first time since meeting Inutaisho, was stunned speechless.

* * *

Tomiko rose the next day from her borrowed futon in Sesshoumaru's home with a splitting headache and few memories of the events of the night before. Then she looked down to the sword she had fallen asleep cradling, and remembered.

She had killed Yumemaru.

Had she actually killed her, though? The mononoke had already died; it was her vengeful spirit that had lived on as a parasite in Makoto's mind. Yumemaru hadn't really been alive to have been killed.

The curse she had hurled on Tomiko bothered her, too. Her first-born son would bear the same fate as she herself did. What did that mean? Would he fall in love with a taiyoukai, only to learn that father of the taiyoukai's son was still around and wanted them both dead? She shuddered at the fate that her children might have to face. She didn't quite believe that the curse was real, however. Yumemaru hadn't had any power of her own at that point.

"Tomiko?" Makoto's uncertain voice came through the door. Tomiko rose and slid the door open, revealing the hanyou wearing a different robe than she had the night before. The carefully arrange coif was down and her hair was in total disarray. Tomiko had a sudden vision of what had gone on the night before, and quickly blocked it since she wanted to respect her friend's privacy.

"What is it, Makoto-chan?"

The hanyou broke into a grin, unable to keep the secret any longer.

"Inutaisho is here. You were wrong. He survived the battle."

Tomiko felt as though a great weight were lifted from her heart. She ran past Makoto without another word, and didn't stop until she barreled full speed into Inutaisho.

"Oh, my lord, you're alive," she cried into his arms.

Inutaisho hugged her right back in a bone-crushing embrace. "I don't plan on dying just yet, love," he said, and then pushed her away so he could look at her. "Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm so happy!" she said, smiling through her tears.

"So this is the cause of the battle," a tinny voice broke through. "One so fair was more than worthy of a fight of that scale." A speck leapt off Inutaisho's shoulder and landed on Tomiko's. "I am Myouga, your humble servant from this day forth, my lady."

"Myouga saved my life," Inutaisho explained. "Without him I wouldn't have even realized I was still alive."

"You have my eternal gratitude," she told the flea. "But what do you mean, I caused the fight?" She frowned at Inutaisho, who looked away in sadness.

"The dragons attacked me because I met you."

"But Inuaoiryu did so before --"

"He was possessed by Yumemaru. It wasn't his will. I need to talk to Makoto about that, actually."

The hanyou stepped into the room then, followed by Sesshoumaru, who looked as equally rumpled as she did.

"It's all my fault. She was living in my mind all that time, and because a Seer's sight cannot see their own future -- or present -- I never even noticed her. She's been with me my entire life and I never even noticed. When I grew angry at Sesshoumaru . . . she picked up that agitation and fled." Makoto shook her head. "She wasn't even a real mononoke; she was really just a bad memory. A powerful memory, but just a memory nonetheless."

The four in the room digested that a bit -- one human, one hanyou, and two youkai, bound by fate and blood. Inutaisho squeezed Tomiko reassuringly.

Tomiko's usual tears began, and then she remembered the sword she even now clutched in one hand.

"I'm sorry," she told Inutaisho, and handed him the sword. "I . . . I killed Yumemaru. With this sword."

"No," Sesshoumaru interrupted. "She had been killed before. That was not my mother. Like Makoto said, she was only a bad memory."

Tomiko looked deep in Inutaisho's eyes, looking for any sign of condemnation from him. She saw only concern for herself.

"I am glad you were not hurt," he said, and Tomiko nearly wilted in relief. He looked at the sword thoughtfully.

"You can have it," she said to him. "I have no use for a sword."

"I have a very good use for it. Thank you." The two looked at each other tenderly, but somewhat awkwardly. Too much had happened over the past week. Makoto and Sesshoumaru noticed their anxiety.

"Please excuse us," Makoto said, and she and Sesshoumaru left them alone again.

"I felt you die," Tomiko whispered, burrowing her head into Inutaisho's heart as if to reassure herself that he was real.

"I think I did die, a little. But I . . . I still want to live. I can't die completely yet."

"Neither can I. There's still so much left for me to do now. I want to explore this gift of Sight I have . . . I want to learn all about the world. I still don't know how I learned to read."

Inutaisho smiled teasingly. "What, you don't want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

Tomiko blinked at him owlishly for a moment, the smiled back at him. "Of course I do, you silly. I love you."

There. She had said it.

"And I love you."

She could feel the truth in his words, and she kissed him spontaneously. Myouga the flea took that as his cue to leave.

"I'm sorry, I lost my lands at Kyushu," Inutaisho said between kisses.

"That's all right. I had too many bad memories of my own there."

"We'll make ourselves a new home. Would you like to live near Edo?"

"I'd love it. Although I want to be able to visit Makoto sometimes."

"That's fine. In the meantime . . . we need to see about getting married."

"Do demons even bother with wedding ceremonies?"

"It's exactly the same as a human wedding. I'll give the matter to Natsumi. She loves planning social events."

"She had better not invite the dragons."

Inutaisho laughed and kissed her again, and the two decided to meet up with Sesshoumaru and Makoto.

Tomiko was happier than she'd ever been before. She had given up a lot over the last week, but she'd gained so much more.

She'd gained the love of a youkai who would cherish her and love her forever. She'd discovered a part of herself that she'd never known existed; what had once been the uncanny ability to sense the truth was now the ability to see the past and the future. And most importantly she had discovered herself. She was not a weak-willed serving girl. She was not ugly or hated by everyone. She was simply herself, a woman, and she felt as though she could take on the whole world now.

* * *

fic finished Dec 25th 2001

final revision Sep 4th 2002