Sesshomaru Tashio, son of the great dog demon to the West, looked out over the crowd that came from far and wide to bear witness to a grand event. One made overly complicated by one's own mother. But it wasn't every day one agreed to mate, and she thought she would never see it happen.

He would allow her this; after all, his mother was never one to make a fuss, and he had not seen her in well over sixty years save her test with Rin a few years back.

Truthfully mating was never at the forefront of his mind. It wasn't till the death of Naraku that the subject even came up, and even then, he wasn't at all looking. But as his mother pointed out, Naraku grew in power the way he did because of the lack of rule over the four lands. North, South, East and last but not least West.

It was Kagome's fault he now stood dressed in black, moments away from vowing to another. It was her truth of the future that made his mother's words seem louder.

There were no demons?

Forget swords; what good were they if he had no lands, no title, no one to protect? God, his father's words. At one time, he would have sneered at them, he did. He was so young and, dare he say, naive. Not that he would ever admit that out loud. But he was older and wiser now. Time and Rin did that to him.

Sesshomaru walked back inside and looked at himself in a mirror.

"Your heart rate is up,"

Sesshomaru looked at his brother via the mirror, clad in red, sitting behind him.

"Was yours's not the same at your mating Inuyasha?"

"K, for a totally different reason, asshole,"

"Stop barking, Inuyasha; if you need to speak, then speak,"

"Oh no, I'm going to sit right here and watch you make the biggest mistake of your life; this is payback,"

Sesshomaru turned. "You would know all about mistakes, Inuyasha,"

Inuyasha sat forward. "This moment alone proves I didn't make a mistake at all."

"You speak in riddles,"

"Don't like it, do you,"

Sesshomaru turned. "If you have nothing useful to say, then be gone,"

Inuyasha stood, "I figured you of all people would understand mating, being a full demon and all, k, whatever, ill see you down there, I guess," Inuyasha continued to mumble words as he left, something along the lines of idiot, fool and I don't care, but Sesshomaru paid it no mind and watched him leave and took in a breath to calm his heart rate. He looked at his hands. "Could it be that I am afraid?"

Afraid of what? He had no issues committing; he chose, and she agreed. Courting was simple and short. She was a strong and powerful demoness who knew her place and when to speak. It was all very logical.

He walked back out to the balcony and scanned again. His brother was now sitting with his new mate, Kikyo, the undead though Sesshomatu still did not think she deserved it, and he still gave her no trust. The monk and his wife were next to them. The fox kit and Rin were upfront with his mother. But there was one missing. The Miko Kagome. He would have thought she would have been front row center. This was half her fault, after all.

Where was she?

He closed his eyes. It was his wedding day; everyone was waiting. So why was he stalling? Why did his feet refuse to set course? Why did his beast seem to be pacing and not with sexual desire but with anxiety? Why wasn't he taking his place as Lord of the West? His father's title, his rightful birthday, right?

"He is stalling," Miroku pointed out,

"Yeah, his beast knows something is wrong," Inuyasha said, arms crossed.

"Did you not tell him?" Sango asked,

"K, hell no, not my fault she didn't tell him, and if he was too stupid to get her little hints, well, that's his damn fault, and he called me the fool, idiot,"

"And what of Kagome?" Kikyo asked,

Inuyasha's ears went flat. "Maybe this is best," His words held no conviction.

They all looked at him; none of them believed that.

"Look, I can't make her tell him that she loves him," Inuyasha snapped. Hell, he still wasn't used to the idea.

Miroku looked away. "I don't know what's worse, her not telling him or him being completely unaware," It wasn't like Sesshomaru to not be one step ahead. But in this they found him to be completely clueless.

"He isn't completely unaware; his beast is unsettled, power calls to power, soul to soul, his breast knows something is not right, how or why he is ignoring his instincts is beyond me," Kikyo spoke,

"Because she isn't here," Inuyasha stated sadly. "Her soul isn't here; it's there,"

"Do you think it would make a difference, really?" Sango asked,

The wind blew. "I guess we will never know," Inuyasha looked up at his brother. Just because she loved him did not mean he would love her back, but Inuyasha had a feeling, an instinct that said otherwise.

"Someone really should tell him," Miroku spoke again with a sigh and a depressed slump of the shoulders. He, too, looked up at Sesshomaru.

"Do you think she will come back?" Sango asked. Then looked at Sesshomaru,

"Her soul craves to be here; she will return at some point though I doubt she will seek to go West," Kikyo added, finally coming to terms that they did not in fact share a soul, just a love for brothers of the same line. She, too, cut her eyes upwards, sad that Kagome would always hurt and cursed by time and the jewel.

Yep, Sesshomaru, dog demon of the West, was about to be mated; too bad his soulmate was in a totally different time period and most definitely not coming to his wedding.

Sesshomaru opened his eyes and glared back at the group who was staring him down like they all had something important to say. Was he missing something? They all looked as if Naraku hadn't died, and their demon cat pet had.

"Enough, it is time," His feet moved, his mind set on his task. Yet he could feel it in the back of his mind, the confusion and anxiety of his beast, pacing like it waiting on its prey. He kept telling it soon, but no matter how many times he said it, it didn't seem right.

The woman waiting on him wasn't pray; she was a prize. Any demon Lord would be lucky to have such a nice prize.

But she was his, and she would be the Lady of the West and soon bare him many sons; everything was just right.

So why did every step closer to her feel so damn wrong.