Chapter 16- A Not So Faded Memory

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story expect Tristis, Astoria, Maaya, Masako, Ikue, Mitsuki, and Tamiko. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi, I just borrowed them.

No matter what, Sesshoumaru was never allowed near Andromeda. It wasn't that the fairies bared any ill will towards the demon family, or any other demons, in fact the fairies were very honored that the most powerful demon family allowed their kingdom to be in their lands. It was Ikue that would never allow her son to go near the kingdom, his father agreed to enforce the rule because it was one of the few things his mate insisted on.

No one in the household was quite sure why Ikue was adment on keeping her son away from Andromeda but it was done. Had his father made that rule, Sesshoumaru would have ignored it when he grew to hate his father. However, it was his mother that warned him away from the fairy kingdom, it was enough to keep him away and everyone in his household; this was a rule that he even enforced on his younger brother.

The said younger brother seemed to remember this after a couple of silent hours walking. The half-breed jogged up to his brother who had a slumbering Rin in his arms. "Wasn't it you that made me stay away from there? I remember trying to explore that part of Father's lands and you would drag me back."

The tall demon said nothing and didn't even bother to give his brother a glance. Instead, he granted his gaze to his mate who had her face buried in his chest. The light that had came from Rin seemed to have taken a lot out of her, leaving her in a deep sleep. It puzzled him, and while he was certain he knew what the light was, he refused to believe it.

"Would you stop giving me the fucking silent treatment and answer me for once!"

"Sess..."

Rin's weak voice broke through Sesshoumaru's thoughts. He stopped walking and lowered his perfect face toward her. "Go back to sleep."

"T-T-The p-pu-..."

"They are doing well, they seem even healthier than before, they both keep kicking at me through your womb."

A soft smile left her, "They're just making you aware of their presence. One feels like a son..."

"Do you hear that? It sounds like there's voices all around us."

Maaya stood tall, as tall as her tiny body could, on Ah's head and looked around. Her small face scrunched up in worry. "We're entering Andromeda, they want to attack us."

"Let them try," said Inuyasha, who had his sword ready.

"Put your sword away Inuyasha," the demon lord said it in the tone that always made the younger male feel like a child. "Their instincts call out to them to attack but they won't dare."

"The queen must have ordered them not to, she must have known of your visit."

The group continued to walk deeper into the forest. All the voices were getting to Kagome but she tried to ignore it, however, this became nearly impossible when thousands of tiny lights rushed passed them. She yelped and looked around, it seemed all these little beings were running, or rather flying, to one spot not far from them.

Inuyasha put his sword away and linked his arm with his mate's. The only one in their group that didn't seem fazed by the whole thing was Sesshoumaru, no surprise there. He continued his trek into Andromeda until he came face to face with the queen of the fairies, Queen Tamiko.

The blue haired beauty smiled and bowed to the party, when she showed respect the thousands of faries residing in the kingdom bowed as well. She still wore an outfit that would be considered indecent for the times but it wasn't as if Tamiko cared, nor did the group that came to see her.

"We are very honored that you have come to our kingdom Lord Sesshoumaru. I am also pleased to see the Lady Rin in fine health."

Sesshoumaru nodded, "You know why I am here."

The fairy smiled, "Yes I do, please follow me, I believe I can help you."

Rin was set down on her feet and allowed to walk by her mate's side. She looked behind her and softly called out for Maaya to join her by her side. When the small fairy joined her she whispered quietly, "Why is she big if she's a fairy? I thought all fairies were small like you."

"She is the queen of us all, she is our protector. Queen Tamiko was chosen because she's so powerful and because of that she is given a 'normal' size compared to the rest of us."

Rin studied the figure in front of her, "She's quite beautiful."

The fairy next to her nodded, "Yes, one reason why the males of our kind voted for her."

Tamiko turned around and grinned at her fellow fairy. "Maaya, I hear that your mistress died a few hours ago, I see that you are not sadden by this at all. Your loyalty is very touching."

Maaya blushed and looked away, "I was mislead my queen."

"Yes I know, I'm hoping my visions are correct when they say that you will return to us and stay here in Andromeda."

"Yes my lady," she knew it was an order.

The queen stopped a few feet from the lake that had showed her visions of what would be. She gave a nod toward a cluster of her subjects and tall wooden chairs were produced for the group to sit down. Kagome marvled at the details carved into the wood, displaying what seemed to be the history of the faries. The arm rests seemed to tell of a battle and her pale fingers traced the carvings.

"The chairs are very old Lady Kagome."

The silky voice caused the female half-breed to jerk her fingers away, almost as if it had burned her. She blushed and gave an apologtic smile, "I'm sorry, I was just admiring the work done on these chairs. Whoever did these must be extremly talented."

"Thank you, I made them nearly two lifetimes ago. I only warned you because my spirit energy went into the making of them and I fear your own powers might undo the work I put into it."

Inuyasha sighed, "Can we get on with this."

After a glare, promising a "sit" later on, Kagome straightened and looked at her sister in-law. Rin seemed ok, she was a little pale, and her breathing was a bit slow, but the small smile on her face lead everyone to believe she was fine. Her mate knew better.

Tamiko stood in front of Rin but looked directly at the lord of the Western Lands. "You wish to change your mate so that she can carry your pups to full term." She was given a nod. "I only know of one way to do this and I know you will object to it."

The young human woman looked down at the forest floor, feeling her heart jump into her throat and the pups move in her belly. "What has to be done?"

"If you wanted to be a demon, you could do what the creature Naraku did. He offered himself to thousands of demons so that he could be reborn, but as you all know, he lost who he was. If you were to do this, you would no longer be the woman you are and would most likely despise the man that is your mate. The only other way that I can change you is to have innocent blood be shed and it can't just be anyone." A sad sigh left her and she mentally prepared for an attack. "You have more than one pup inside you, I would have to scarifice one of them to ensure your and the remain pup's life."

Rin's horrified gasp was drowned out by Sesshoumaru's growling and snarling, who had moved to stand in front of her. He switched to his insitincts the moment one of his pup's had been threatened, and found himself ready to attack the fairy queen if she made a move to his now crying mate. She made none of the pitiful noises she used to make as a child when a bad dream would consume her thoughts, but the fat tears that he associated with her childhood nightmares were present, making the demon desperate to stop them.

Inuyasha was pissed as well. "What kind of fucking witch are you? We came to you so you could help Rin, not kill her kids!"

"Inuyasha please," Kagome tugged on one of her mate's clawed hands. "Please there must be another way. I mean you can't just kill one of her pups to save the other?"

One blue eye from the corner focused on Kagome, the other stayed on Sesshoumaru, not putting it past him to attack her. "Little girl, I am the most powerful creature you will ever meet. And for your information Inuyasha, I am not a witch, I am a fairy; there is a big difference. I have told you all what I can do, the only ritual known to me is through scarifice. Because she is carrying two I can leave them with one pup, if she only carried one then I would have to shed that pup's blood to save her's so that she can carry others in the future. I can do nothing else, this is the only way."

"How can I decide which one will live?"

They all turned to Rin, her gaze never leaving the ground. Sesshoumaru forced his demon blood to submit to rational thoughts as Rin's question hung in the air. The group on Ah-Un watched their mistress with sorrow in their eyes, the beast making a whining noise.

"What gives me the right to decide which one of my pups deserves to live, while I allow the other to die. Will my dead pup look down on me and scorn me for my decision? If the soul was reincarnated, will I meet him or her later in my life? How do I explain that their life was not as imporant as their siblings? And the one that lives, will it hate me for killing its twin? I was born a simple peasant girl." She raised her head, tears still running down her face but the blury eyes managed to look straight into Tamiko's eyes. "Who am I to decide who gets to live and who doesn't? As a mother, I am bound to protect my pups, even if my life is in danger. You insult me more than Astoria ever did."

Tamiko bowed her head to the woman. "I am very honored to have met you Lady Rin. It rare to ever see such strength in the soul. I have only met one other person that has impressed me like this, but she died a long time ago. Her death actually sadden me, and I feared I would never see such beauty ever again. I hope you find what you need, good-bye."

The queen began to walk away, leaving the others to stare at her. Kagome felt her heart break for her sister in-law, she looked up saddly to her own mate who seemed to be battling his emotions. Sesshoumaru had no time to react, a weak cry of "Sess..." caught his attention. When he looked back, he saw Rin falling from her chair.

The demon lord looked at his mate, she struggled to keep her brown eyes open. His face was as always expressionless, but she knew how to read him. His eyes demanded an answer. She forced her suddenly sore limbs to respond to her and somehow was able to sit up back on the chair, with a little help from Sesshoumaru. Rin took a deep breath and opened to assure her mate that she was fine, but the widing of her eyes caused him to look back.

"Really Tamiko, when I was alive you would have never walked away from something like this after the first rejection."

A smirk formed on Tamiko's face. "I was merely waiting for you to make your appearance. My visions were not clear when it came to this moment, I was not certain if you would come or not, Lady Ikue."

The former lady of the Western Lands smiled, "You knew all along I would return."

"I excepted nothing less."

The two women smiled and embraced each other, not letting go for a very long time. Tamiko grinned at the dead demoness, who seemed very much alive. The usual teasing, distant look in her eyes faded away and only a sad smile remained on the queen. "I have missed you."

Ikue gave that understanding smile that she had once given her mate, the one that made him feel more guilty than her tears and Sesshoumaru's resentment. She gave the fairy a nod and then turned to the group that simply stared at her. There was no denying that she was Sesshoumaru's mother.

The understanding smile was replaced of one that could only be described as one of pure joy. She walked to the silent, now standing demon lord. His height had increased slighty since she had last stood in front of him, and if possible he became more beautiful. One slender, gentle clawed hand touched the left side of his face, and Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and allowed the hand to caress his face.

He felt himself lower his defenses and just take in his mother's scent. It had been a lifetime since he had that wonderful scent of all things that were pure and beautiful, fill his nostrils and just in case this was some type of hallicunation that his mind had created, he wanted to remember this moment. He was sure it was a cruel trick that the sadistic fairy queen had some part in, his mother was dead, and no magic would make that false.

"Open your eyes. I've longed for this moment, I've wanted to be able to look into those eyes with my own."

His mother had playfully complained that his height hurt her neck. When she talked to him, she insisted that she look straight into his eyes because he had his father's eyes. When he had grown taller than her, he often knelt in front of her if she stood, so that they could be eye level.

A gasp was brought from everyone but Tamiko and Jaken, when Lord Sesshoumaru, the strongest demon known, knelt in front of his woman. Ikue could see that he wanted to cry but wouldn't. He hadn't cried since the day she died, she knew he cried several lifetimes' worth then.

She moved to hug him before he could move away, she wanted to hug him the way she had when he was a small pup, her small pup. However, she was met with Sesshoumaru's arms dragging her into a suffocating embrace. Surprise didn't quite summarize her feelings, but it didn't matter. Ikue wrapped her arms around her slightly trembling son. She moved the curtain of silver hair to whisper in his ear, "My son... I have missed you more than my own life."

A soft kissed was placed on his forehead, while the others stood silent, but not silent enough to hear Sesshoumaru's whimper's of, "Mother..." over and over again.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ok I lied. I said the story was going to be over in the next two chapters but as I got to the part where Ikue finally makes her appearance... I realized that I wanted some kind of mother/son bonding. I know some people might think that Sess is OOC in the final scene but my reasoning is that: he hasn't seen his mother in years, she died in his arms protecting the woman that her mate left her for, and I kind of peg him as a momma's boy. It's clear Inuyasha is one so, why wouldn't Sesshoumaru be one? Anyway, the next chapter will have an explantion about Ikue and a solution to Rin's problem. Until then...

Dragon Man 180: You're the only one who actually guessed who the purple light was and was right. I thought it was kind of obvious but no one but you even guessed. Lol, Jaken was merely told to shut up because the toad knew what the light was but Sesshoumaru didn't want to say anything because he didn't think it was possible. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Darci Malfoy: Thank you so much. I believe I stress family in just about all my writing because I myself come from a big family, immediate and extended. I am one of five kids and our ages range from 32-14, I am only 19 and I'm the middle child. I have many fond memories of my siblings and all the crazy things we have done and I suppose this reflects in my writing. I am the type that stresses family life and I do believe that without it, you are nothing. Sess and Inuyasha need to realize this and I hope in the manga/anime they do.

Veema: Well Shippo doesn't play a big part in the story, he was only used in th first chapter because I wanted to open the story to show that not everything has changed. I haven't had a chance to read your story, but when I do get free time (probably before I begin my next story) I will read and review. I don't have much free time, I work and when I don't work I help my mom take care of my 2 month old niece while her parents work.

Tsume Yamagata: I feel so ashamed to say this but I haven't read your story in ages, I had forgotten about my favorites list. When I read your review, I was a bit puzzled but I went back and just fell in love with the story all over again. I'm actually re-reading it now and trying to catch up. I must say that I'm honored that you reviewed this story. This actually my first Inuyasha fanfic and there are things that I have done that won't be done in my later stories. No More Words is wonderful and I was captivated in the first couple of paragraphs, I would suggest this story to any Sess/Rin fan, fluffyshipping is a good thing.

Also thank you so much to my other reviewers, your reviews mean a lot to me too: scigirlmm, Loki-TheGrimScreamer, Arafel2, Kerei Kitsune, and Airen2