It was about two hours into the journey to find Naraku. Everyone walked in stony silence. Since it was around 11p.m., the youngsters were asleep in the more capable's arms. Sesshoumaru carried Rin tucked close to his heart. They had left Raene with Kaede back at the shrine. iShe'll be safer there,/i thought Sesshoumaru. Kagome carried a sleeping Shippou on her shoulders.br
"Perhaps we should stop for the night," suggested Miroku. His eyes travelled greedily to Kagome. "I would be honored if Lady Kagome slept by my side."br
"Not a chance, Romeo."br
"That's not a bad idea," agreed Inuyasha. "But Kagome's sleeping as far away from that lecherous priest as she can possibly get!"br
Sesshoumaru settled down with the rest of the group. After a few moments, everyone else was asleep...except him. Rin opened her eyes to see what was wrong.br
"Sessie?" She said, using her pet name for him.br
"Yes."br
"We're gonna save my mother, right?"br
He sighed. "I don't know, Rin. I just don't know."p
Sesshoumaru woke early the next morning, eager to start his quest again. It came as no surprise to him that Kagome had "accidentally" rolled into Inuyasha's embrace during the night. Now their hair mingled together, and their lips grazed lightly. iI wonder if I'll ever get to enjoy that feeling.../i thought Sesshoumaru. He watched as Kagome rolled over so her back was to Inuyasha. His brother just buried his head in her hair and went back to sleep. Sesshoumaru smiled a little, then turned back to where Rin slept. Perhaps a few more hours of sleep wouldn't hurt. He saw Rin shiver and curl up into a ball. He considered for a moment, then slowly sat down and pulled Rin into his lap.br
iHumans are so fragile.../i he thought, as he stroked the girl's soft skin. iRaene.../i "Huh?" The front of his kimono was soaking wet. He looked down. Rin was...leaking. "Rin? Rin! Wake up! You're leaking!" Was it bad? Was she sick? "What's going on?!"br
"Don't worry, Sesshoumaru," said Kagome's groggy voice. "The girl is sad. She misses her mother. HUH?!" Her eyes went wide. Her hands travelled to her waist, where Inuyasha's were lightly resting. He murmered in his sleep and nuzzled the back of her head. "Ahh...ahh! SIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"br
"Wha...? OW!" Bamf! Kagome's cheeks were flaming red. "What do you think you're doing?! You're worse than Miroku!" She frantically straightened out her shirt.br
"What's going on?" Shippou had woken up also.br
"Inu..Inu...!" Kagome was so furious she couldn't speak straight.br
"Nothing, Shippou," Sesshoumaru said calmly. "Kagome was spooked by a demon she saw. But it's all right now."br
"Oh. Ok." Shippou closed his eyes again.br
"What the heck did you do that for?!" Inuyasha screamed. "What did I do?!"br
"YOU WERE SLEEPING WITH YOUR ARMS AROUND ME!" Screamed Kagome. "I know you can't help it, but iplease/i. Try to control youself!"br
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I HATE YOU, STUPID GIRL!"br
"WELL AT LEAST WE AGREE ON iSOMETHING/i!!!!!!!!!!!" Kagome smacked his face. They got into a huge catfight.br
"Inuyasha! Kagome! Cut it out!" Miroku yelled. He threw his shoe at the squabbling duo. "Save it for Naraku," he mumbled.br
"MAKE US!" They dragged the priest into the mess. Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes and decided not to get involved. Surprisingly, Shippou slept on. Rin, however, was not as accustomed to extremely loud noises.br
"What's wrong?" She cried. "Is Naraku here? Ahh!" A rock flew through the air toward her. Sesshoumaru turned his back to the fight, shielding Rin from the blow. That did it. He turned around, eyes practically shooting sparks.br
"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" He commanded. He kicked the rock back into the fray. When nobody listened, he dove into the middle of the fight. He emerged holding Inuyasha by the hair, Kagome by the arms, and his foot on Miroku's head. "Now is not the time for us to be squabbling with each other. Can we PLEASE focus on the task at hand?"br
Miroku and Kagome mumbled their apologies, and Inuyasha just growled. When Sesshoumaru put them down, they all sat with their backs to each other, silently fuming. "Inuyasha," said Sesshoumaru, "where can we find Naraku?"br
"Just follow the scent of decaying demons and there ya go," he said sarcastically.br
"ANSWER HIM STRAIGHT, YOU FOOL!" Kagome smacked Inuyasha. "As far as I'm concerned, it's easy to see who the better of the brothers is."br
"Thank you for the compliment," said Sesshoumaru impatiently, "but we NEED to find Naraku."br
"BETTER?! I'll show you better!" Inuyasha got up. "Come on Fluffy, you and me. RIGHT NOW!"br
"FLUFFY?!" Screamed Sesshoumaru. "Why you little...Let's do it!" They sprang at each other's throats.br
They tore into each other. Sesshoumaru growled and slashed Inuyasha with his poison claws. Inuyasha yelped in pain, then retaliated with his own claws. It was a claw to claw fight. Sesshoumaru lept into the air, then drew his electric whip. He brandished it gracefully, then wrapped his younger brother in it. He was about to issue the killing blow, when he saw Rin's face. She had tears streaming down her cheeks. "Sessie! Don't kill him! He's your brother!" Sesshoumaru dropped Inuyasha. "Look at yourselves!" Rin sobbed. "I'd do anything to have my family with me again! But you...you don't care what happens to anyone, let alone your own brother!" She ran over to Inuyasha and threw herself in front of him. "Please don't hurt him!"p
iBrother My Brotherbr
Tell me what are we fighting forbr
We've got to end this warbr
We should love one anotherbr
Oh can't we just pretendbr
This war never began?br
We can try, brother my brotherbr
We face each other from different sidesbr
The anger burns can't remember whybr
It's kind of crazy to cause such painbr
Our foolish pride makes us hate this waybr
We watch our world fall apartbr
Tell me what good is winningbr
When we loose our heart?br
Brother My Brotherbr
Tell me what are we fighting forbr
Isn't life worth so much more?br
We should love one anotherbr
Oh can't we just pretendbr
This war never began?br
Tell me why, brother my brotherbr
We can try, brother my brotherbr
Let's take a moment and look deep insidebr
And say we're willing to give love a try!br
Where not as different as we seem to bebr
It's so much more to me then what you seebr
Don't have to be this way!br
Think about the consequencesbr
Turn around and walk away!p/i
Sesshoumaru walked over. "Inuyasha...I am...sorry. Why do we hate each other so much? What happened along the line? I know...Youkais don't usually stay with their families...but what caused us to grow so far apart? Even you with Kagome. You've learned a lesson that I should have learned a long time ago. One can't always fight alone. In order to bring out your full potential, you must learn to care about someone." He sat down next to Inuyasha. He held out his hand over his fallen brother. Inuyasha's eyes fluttered open. "Sesshoumaru! But...I thought you were going to kill me!"br
"I was," he said. "But isn't it a bit stupid to fight like that? I mean, we have to get something much more important done. There are lives depending on us. Besides, we iare/i brothers." He held out a clawed hand. "Can we not fight as one? Even for a little while?"br
Inuyasha stared at Sesshoumaru's outstretched hand. Slowly, he put his own hand into his brother's. "I guess I can put up with you for a little while," he said with a laugh. But in his eyes you could see that he was happy as any.br
Sesshoumaru smiled, but on the inside a debate was raging. This went against all of his well learned training. No one to depend on, no weaknesses. Depend only on yourself. He knew that it was just a matter of time before he became too attached to Inuyasha and the others. Especially Raene. With her, he was in way over his head. Every time he thought of her, there was a tightening in his chest he couldn't explain.br
As if Inuyasha saw exactly what was going through Sesshoumaru's head, he said, "Sesshoumaru, you're doing the right thing. You remind me of myself a while ago. I didn't want anyone to help me. I thought caring would only slow me down. But if it weren't for these guys, I still would have been stuck to that tree." His expression hardened. "But if you ever tell ANYONE I said that, you're dead!"br
Sesshoumaru laughed. He had finally decided what his path was going to be. He was going to stay with his little brother from then on. It was like he had a great weight lifted off his chest. He had a home. Somewhere to belong. People that...well...cared. "Don't worry Inuyasha," he laughed. "I won't tell a soul."br
The brothers smiled at eachother.p