Oh, I'm so close to having a thousand reviews!  Anyway, I tried my best to keep Sesshoumaru in character on the last chapter.  On another note I still don't know if I'll just have 42 chapters, I'll probably come up with something more, but you never know, anyway onward with the story!

Winter Wonderland

Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Shippo stared out Sota's bedroom window, watching the snow falling gracefully from the darkened sky.  Sota slept soundly, giving off the odd snort as he dreamed.  The fox glanced towards the door, and noticed that it was slightly open.  Smiling, Shippo jumped down from the window and walked out into the darken hall.  A small light was on downstairs so Shippo wasn't completely blind in the dark.  Shippo slowly crept to Kagome's room and peered through the slightly open door and peeked his head inside.  Squinting his eyes he could make out Kagome lying on her side with her back leaned against Inu-Yasha's chest.  The half demons arms were wrapped around her and his head was resting in the crook of her neck.  Sighing, Shippo crept into the room and silently jumped on Kaogme's bed.  He could see Inu-Yasha's ears twitch and silently slipped in beside Kagome, snuggling near her stomach.  Shippo froze as he felt Inu-Yasha shift in his sleep and prayed that the half demon wouldn't wake up, or he would have a headache that would last a week.  The fox demon almost screamed when he felt a clawed hand grab him by the shirt and move him up so he was closer to Kagome's neck.  Shippo stared into Inu-Yasha's half closed eyes, wondering what the hell he was doing, but the answer soon came when he felt the warm blankets being pulled over his body so he was under the covers.  Inu-Yasha's arm then wrapped back around Kagome's middle.

  "If you wanted to sleep with us tonight, you could have asked," sighed Inu-Yasha, closing his eyes and snuggling his face closer to Kagome's hair.

  Shippo was still shocked by Inu-Yasha's action, but sighed and snuggled more closely into the blankets, "Hey . . . Inu-Yasha?"

  "Hmm?"

  "When are we going back?"

  "Tomorrow, now go to sleep before you wake Kagome,"

  Shippo closed his eyes and slowly started to fall asleep, however Inu-Yasha didn't close his eyes just yet.  Tomorrow they would return to his home, and would finally be able to start their future.  Kagome was done all her tests, and had passed with flying colors.  Mrs. Higurashi was sad to hear they would leave tomorrow, however they promised to return at the beginning of March so they could finish planning their wedding.  They had decided to make it a private wedding with just Kagome's mother, grandfather, brother and Ayumi.  And if they could Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kaede could come to it too.  Mrs. Higurashi had suggested a double wedding with Miroku and Sango, but that all depended if they could make it through the well, however since Shippo was able to come, it wouldn't be a problem with the monk and exterminator.  Inu-Yasha smiled, he would be married to Kagome at the end of March, and then she would be his mate as proof to demons and humans in his time, and as his wife for people in Kagome's era.  It was a bit of a hassle, but Inu-Yasha would bite his tongue and wait for them to be married.  Kagome's mother didn't want them to leave, but Inu-Yasha was starting feel homesick and wanted to return back to the past.

  Sighing, Inu-Yasha closed his eyes, and just let sleep over come him.

**********************************

  Sango slowly opened her eyes as the morning light peeked into the hut window.  She could feel Miroku's arms still wrapped around her waist as she turned her head slightly to stare into the monk's sleeping face.  Sighing, Sango looked around the abandoned hut to see Kohaku still asleep, and Kirara sitting on the windowsill.

  "You should get some more sleep . . ."

  Sango almost jumped, she hadn't realized that Miroku was awake.

  "I'm not tired, besides we should get going and return to Kaede's village," whispered Sango, turning on her other side so she could face the monk.

  Miroku groaned, "Do we have to?  I've quite enjoyed our time alone,"

  "I know . . . but we'll get to see our friends again . . . it's almost been a whole month,"

  Miroku nodded and held Sango tighter, "Your right, well I guess I should wake Kohaku up then,"

  Sango nodded as gently brushed her lips against the monks before sitting up, but was pulled back down beside Miroku, and brought into a full passionate kiss.  The exterminator didn't hold back as she wrapped her arms around Miroku's neck.

  Kohaku peeked one eye open and smiled before closing his eyes again pretending that he was asleep so he wouldn't ruin their moment.  Miroku pulled his lips back, "Once we reach the village, we'll be able to start building our home,"

  "Yes, we will won't we?"

  Miroku smiled and kissed Sango one last time before sitting up and getting to his feet to awaken Kohaku.  Sango got to her feet and held out an arm for Kirara to jump on to.

  They all stepped outside and gazed at the completely white landscape that sparkled in the morning sun.  Making sure they had everything, Kirara transformed and waited as Sango climbed on first, then Kohaku, followed by the monk before taking off into the air, heading towards Kaede's village.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Shippo sat on the edge of the well as he watched Kagome give her mom one last hug before walking down the stairs, followed by Inu-Yasha who had promised Sota he would return to play video games with him again in a few weeks.  Inu-Yasha picked up Kagome's yellow bag and slung it over his shoulder. Shippo jumped on the half demons shoulder and waved good-bye to Kagome's family before they disappeared into the well, heading back to the past.  Before the fox knew it they landed at the bottom of the well.  Inu-Yasha took in a deep breath, "Ah, it's good to be home,"

  Kagome smiled and wrapped her arms around Inu-Yasha so the half demon could get them out of the well, and landed in the soft white snow.

  "It sure has snowed a lot here," sighed Kagome.

  Inu-Yasha nodded and started to head towards the village with his mate by his side.  Shippo jumped off Inu-Yasha's shoulder and started to play in the snow, making snow angels like Kagome had taught him in her time.  Kagome looked towards the village, seeing that it was the same as it was when they left it.  Inu-Yasha wrapped his one arm around Kagome's waist and held her tightly, kissing the top of her head.  It felt good to be home again in the past.  The half demon did like Kagome's time to a certain extent with the warm water for bath's and their instant heating devices, but he found the air much cleaner here, and it was more peaceful here too. 

  Kaede could hear voices outside her hut, villagers talking about two people approaching the village.  Getting up from the fire, the old woman looked outside her door to see Inu-Yasha and Kagome heading towards the village with Shippo at there heals.  The half demon waved to her and the villagers, "Hey!  Were back!"

  Kaede waved back and started to approach them, but a shadow from above flew by her, causing the old woman to look up.  Kirara landed softly on the ground by Inu-Yasha with Kohaku, Sango, and Miroku on her back.

  "Kagome!" cried Sango, jumping off the cat's back, and running to hug her friend.

  Miroku jumped off of Kirara and petted her head before walking forward and giving Inu-Yasha a strong handshake, "How are you my friend?"

  "Had some trouble in the future that we need to discuss, but other than that, never better," smirked Inu-Yasha, returning the handshake.

  "We'll talk about it tonight then,"

  Inu-Yasha nodded.

*********************************

(Okay, so there's a lot of jumping around, but hang on tight people)

  Sango added another log to the fire, and gave the Ramen a quick stir before taking her seat back beside Miroku.  Kaede had offered her and the others the extra hut for them to stay in until their own huts were built.  Inu-Yasha and Kagome sat across from them, but Shippo and Kohaku had stayed with Kaede so the couples could have the night to talk.

  "So Lord Kuranosuke didn't try to break you and Miroku apart?  He just let you stay at his castle?" asked Kagome in disbelief.

  "Yes, that's what he did.  I know he's a lord and they're usually ruthless and cruel, but he actually really nice," sighed Sango resting her head against Miroku's shoulder.

  Kagome nodded.

  "So, Eri was the one controlling Hojo.  Did she say where her ancestor had been killed?"

  "Somewhere near Sesshoumaru's domain,"

  Miroku nodded, "I think I know this place where you speak of, they had fine woman there the last time I was . . ." 

  Miroku was unable to finish his sentence since Sango had whacked him over the head with her big boomerang.  Inu-Yasha sighed, "He'll always be a pervert,"

  Kagome nodded in agreement, "So what are we going to do about this?"

  "There's nothing we can do . . . at the moment that is.  I'll send Hachi over to there and see if there are any mysterious demons attacking civilians,"

  "Can't we just go there in the morning and take care of them now?" asked Sango.

  "Not a very smart idea, there is a huge forest surrounding the area, so unless we have a general idea where this demon is, we won't have much luck finding it,"

  Inu-Yasha nodded, "Then we might as well forget the problem for now, and get on with our lives,"

  "I agree, once Hachi finds out which village is being attacked, we'll head over there and deal with this demon.  So Eri claimed it was a dog demon that attacked her ancestor?" asked Miroku.

  "Well according to the scrolls, the witnesses couldn't tell if it was a dog or cat demon,"

  Miroku nodded.

  "Hey the Ramen should be ready by now shouldn't it?" asked Inu-Yasha.

  Kagome got up from her seat and took a look at the noodles, "Yes, they're ready,"

***********

(Okay this is the last jumping around scene I swear!)

  Kagome held onto Inu-Yasha tighter as he jumped from tree to tree in his forest.  The morning sun shined brightly above their heads with the light snowfall from the sky.  Miroku and Sango were at Kaede's village trying to find a spot to build their home with Shippo and Kohaku's help.  Shippo had wanted to go with Inu-Yasha and Kagome, but the half demon had screamed a hundred times no, but Kagome managed to convince the little fox that her and Inu-Yasha wanted some alone time.  Shippo agreed, but mumbled something about them having enough alone time when they went to Kagome's time.

  Inu-Yasha landed softly on the ground, taking a few fast steps before leaping into the air again.

  "Just how far are we going into your forest?" asked Kagome, turning her head back, just barely making out Kaede's village.

  "I know it's far, but trust me, you'll like this place!"

  Kagome sighed, and rested her head on Inu-Yasha's shoulder.  When the half demon landed, he didn't take off into the air again, but just ran on the ground, although Kagome noticed that he was slowing down a bit.  Kagome lifted her head up and noticed that she did not recognize this part of the forest.

  "Where are we?" asked Kagome.

  Inu-Yasha finally stopped, and bent his knees so Kagome could get off his back, "I want to show you where I want to build our home.  I used to come here a lot when I first came to Kaede's village, it was a place I could go when I was human so no one could find me,"

  Kagome nodded and followed Inu-Yasha as he led her down a small path.  The trees were so close together it was getting a little harder to move.  Inu-Yasha reached back and grabbed his mates hand, "Don't worry, we're almost there,"

  Kagome followed Inu-Yasha and was soon led into a large clearing that took her breath away.  A small waterfall was near by that was the source of the small river that ran past Kaede's village.  Inu-Yasha nodded his head to the hot spring they were near by, "So . . . what do you think?"

  "I . . . I think it's beautiful," whispered Kagome, taking a step into the clearing.

  Inu-Yasha smiled and turned around grabbing a few sticks off the ground.

  "What are you doing?" asked Kagome.

  "Outlining our house,"

  Kagome smiled and grabbed some sticks as well, following her mate into the middle of the clearing, "So how big do we want the house?"

  Inu-Yasha thought for a moment, "Hmm, you know . . . I like the size of your house,"

  Kagome nodded and tried to envision her house standing where they were right now.  She began to out line the base of the house, it was impressive how Kagome knew the length and width of her house.  Inu-Yasha grabbed some more sticks as they began to outline more of their house.  Kagome suggested where the kitchen and dinning room could be.  Inu-Yasha and Kagome decided they could have a basement to store food and herbs, plus another floor for bedrooms.  They even started to outline a garden and flowerbeds around the house.  Inu-Yasha and Kagome talked about where they would put stuff, when they could start building, even discussing names of their first girl or boy.  A few hours later, they were staring at the small outline of their new home.  Kagome sighed and rested her head against Inu-Yasha's shoulder.

  "I'll start building tomorrow," whispered Inu-Yasha kissing Kagome's forehead.

  Kagome smiled and hugged her mate tighter, "Should we head back?"

  Inu-Yasha just glanced at Kagome before leaning his head down and kissed her gently on the lips, wrapping his arms tighter around her.  Kagome leaned into her mates embrace and kissed back just as gently.

  "I don't think we need to head back just now, after all we are near a hot spring," whispered Inu-Yasha.

  Kagome gave Inu-Yasha a small glare.

  "I'm not thinking that!  You've had a stressful week with the tests, just relax in the spring and I'll give you . . . a . . . um . . . what do you call it?" asked the half demon, rubbing Kagome's shoulders as a demonstration.

  "A massage?"

  "Yeah that's it!"

  Kagome smiled and kissed her mate on the cheek, "Alright, but no funny business,"

  Inu-Yasha nodded and led Kagome over to the spring that was near by.  The half demon began to strip off his clothing while Kagome did the same.  Inu-Yasha slipped into the spring, and waited patiently for Kagome who was tying her hair back in a bun.  Sighing, Inu-Yasha leaned his head back and closed his eyes, enjoying the water that was hotter than a summer day surrounding his body.  Hearing a small splash, Inu-Yasha peeked one eye open to see Kagome slip into the spring beside him.

  "Mmmm, this feels nice," sighed Kagome, sitting closer to Inu-Yasha and resting her head on his shoulder.

  Inu-Yasha nodded and turned so he was facing Kagome.  Gently he turned her so his mates back was to him, then bringing his clawed hands on her shoulders, he slowly began to rub them.  Kagome sighed with contentment and closed her eyes.  Inu-Yasha was very careful not to scratch her with his claws as he rubbed her shoulders first, moving up to her neck . . . back to her shoulders . . . then down to her arms . . . and then starting on her lower back and moving up to her shoulder blades . . . and then back to her shoulders, repeating this movement over and over again.

  "That feels really nice Inu-Yasha," sighed Kagome, "Where did you learn this?"

  Inu-Yasha's hands froze for a moment, "Um . . . Kikyo actually taught me,"

  Kagome opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder at the half demon, "Kikyo did?"

  "Yeah, it was back when I first met her.  I was human at the time and I had some aching muscles from a battle I had fought, so she did this to me, saying it would relax my muscles," sighed Inu-Yasha, his eyes looking into the water.

  "I bet you learned a lot of stuff from Kikyo," sighed Kagome, closing her eyes again as Inu-Yasha's hands began to move again.

  "Not really, I know how to tell some herbs and plants apart,"

  Kagome nodded, "That's good,"

  Trying to push Kikyo and his past behind Inu-Yasha moved forward and kissed Kagome on the temple, "I love you . . ."

  "I love you too . . . do you want me to give you a massage now?"

  Inu-Yasha shook his head, "No . . . I'm fine,"

  Kagome smiled and leaned into Inu-Yasha's hands, her eyes opened when she hear Inu-Yasha chuckle lightly, "What's so funny?"

  "I was just thinking,"

  "About what?"

  "About one thing you had in common with Kikyo,"

  "Which is?"

  "How you both first saw me in my human form,"

  "Oh, how did she first see you?"

  "Well after I met her, I always hid here every month, even in the freezing cold.  One moonless night, Kikyo went looking for me.  I was being attacked by a bird demon, and Kikyo shot it down.  I tried to run away from her so she wouldn't see me in my human form and so she wouldn't learn my secret, but she followed me.  I fell into a river and she dragged me out and saw that I was human.  Although unlike you, she didn't give me crap about not trusting her or calling me a dough head,"

  Kagome giggled as she remembered that night, "So then what happened?"

  "Nothing really, we headed back to the village and Kaede were sure surprised to see me the way I was, but the two vowed that they wouldn't tell anyone in the village my secret.  Since then, every moonless night I slept in Kikyo's hut, like I do at your house,"

  Kagome nodded, remembering the first time she brought Inu-Yasha home in his human form, and tried to explain the details to her mom, "What else did you two do?"

  "Not much, we didn't really talk to each other, just liked walking together, although I did play with Kaede and the other children a lot.  I remember Kaede telling me I could stay in the village forever, which made me kind of sad since I wouldn't age and they would die, but she told me I could stay with their children, and then their children's children,"

  Kagome turned around and looked Inu-Yasha in the eyes, "You must have been so lonely,"

  "No . . . well before I met Kikyo yes I was quite lonely, but when I met her I wasn't anymore.  I figured I finally found a home,"

  Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off.

  "But then when Naraku happened.  Even though I though Kikyo was trying to kill me I didn't attack her, just went to the shrine to grab the jewel.  I remember running into Kaede and knocking her aside into a barn . . . which is when she blinded her eye.  I took the jewel and then I was shot with an arrow,"

  Kagome wrapped her arms around Inu-Yasha and hugged him.

  "I thought I was dead, but I wasn't, just in an enchanted sleep.  Then the next thing I know, I heard someone calling for help and my eyes opened,"

  "That's when you met me right?"

  Inu-Yasha nodded and kissed Kagome on the cheek, "Then I met you . . . and you changed my life forever,"

  Kagome cuddled closer to Inu-Yasha, "And you changed mine too,"

  The half demon wrapped his arms around his mate, his hands running up and down her back.

  "So did Miroku send Hachi?" asked Kagome.

  "This morning he did," whispered Inu-Yasha.

  Kagome closed her eyes, "Maybe we should head back now before someone comes looking for us,"

  Inu-Yasha sighed, "Yeah I guess your right,"

  Kagome kissed Inu-Yasha and crawled out of the spring, shivering when her feet touched the cold snow, and quickly began to get dressed.  Inu-Yasha didn't seem to mind the cold as he put his clothes back on.  When they were fully dressed Kagome climbed on Inu-Yasha's back.  Smiling, Inu-Yasha took off into the air, leaping from tree to tree back to the village.

  "Tomorrow I'll start building our house, I'm sure Miroku will give me a hand,"

  Kagome nodded, "My mom offered us to give us a few tools to make the building of our house more easier,"

  "Like what?"

  "Like hammers, nails, and tools like that,"

  Inu-Yasha just nodded his head, not really know what she was talking about.  In a few more jumps Inu-Yasha landed by Kaede's hut and walked inside.  Miroku and Sango were seated on the floor with Kohaku, Shippo, and Kaede.

  "Welcome back you two, did you find a spot for your home?" asked Kaede.

  "Yes . . . we did, and I'll start building it tomorrow," said Kagome, and then started to explain how they wanted their house to look like.

  "Do you think you'll be able to dig in the ground, its frozen solid right now," said Miroku.

  "I'll handle it with the Tetsusaiga, it should be able to create a crater in the ground, then I can start my digging from there,"

  Miroku nodded, and mumbled something about misusing a sword.

  "What about you two?  Did you find a spot for your home?"

  Sango smiled and blushed, "We found a place near the outskirts of the village, and Miroku wants to build a rather large hut,"

  "Whys that?" asked Inu-Yasha.

  Kagome sighed as Miroku chuckled and whispered in Inu-Yasha's ear why.

  "You want to have how many kids?" cried the half demon.

  Sango giggled and cuddled closer to the monk.

  Inu-Yasha shook his head, not noticing the blush creeping up in his cheeks.

  "It's starting to get dark," sighed Kagome, staring out the window.

  "I suggest he go to bed early, it's going to be a busy day tomorrow," yawned Miroku.

  Inu-Yasha nodded and stood up but stopped, his ears twitching.

  "Inu-Yasha . . . what is it?" asked the monk.

  "I smell Hachi,"

  Miroku looked out the window to see Hachi running towards their hut, "Hachi what is it?"

  The raccoon stopped in front of the monk and stopped to catch his breath, "We . . . have trouble . . ."

  "Trouble?  What kind of trouble?" asked Sango.

  "A . . . demon . . . attacked . . . a village . . . and killed everyone . . ."

  "Hachi what did he or she look like?" demanded Miroku.

  "I didn't get a good . . . look but I saw red clothing . . . silver hair . . . and white dog or cat ears,"

  Miroku looked at Inu-Yasha.

  "You were right Miroku, we do have a busy day tomorrow,"

TBC . . .

Well there you have it people, they finally get to go find out what the hell is going on.  Anyway, thank you guys for all the reviews, I can't believe I have over a thousand.  And oh about the brotherly thing between Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha, are you guys mind readers or something?  Because that is something I was planning, so much for the surprise.  Anyway, here's what I plan for the next chapter, which are two options.  One it can be the same length as the rest but has a cliffy at the end, or a really super long chapter, but still another cliffy at the end.  The difference is option one, the chapter will be up sooner, and then the other option, the chapter will be up in quite a while.  It's up to you reviewers, doesn't matter to me, so please review!!!!

Lynns