Man, I have been working like crazy in that god damned hot kitchen, and boy
was I cooking, and I'm not joking. I thought I almost got heat stroke
today. Anyways, let's get on with the next chapter.
Winter Wonderland
Chapter Forty-Nine
The two brothers glared at each other, sparks flying in between them as the competion started to get more complex.
"TAKE THIS!" screamed Inu-Yasha, letting the the ping pong ball go and hitting it with his mallet as hard as he could.
Sesshoumaru sighed as the ball went flying passed his head, "Out again . . ."
"What!"
"How many times did Kagome tell you, the ball has to hit the table first,"
"But that's just stupid! Who would want to throw that slow?"
"Because those are the rules," sighed Sesshoumaru, picking up the ball and hitting it on the table as he served.
"You can do it Inu-Yasha," cheered Miroku and Shippo from the side lines.
Inu-Yasha hit the ball and this time it miraculously hit the table but shot right into Sesshoumaru's left eye. Sesshoumaru remained still with his pallet in his only hand, and his one eye still open. In fact everyone in the room was frozen as Inu-Yasha, who was trying to hold his laughter dropped his pallet and made a run for the stairs to escape, but was tackled by his brother.
"You think that's funny do you?" growled Sesshoumaru.
Inu-Yasha just kept laughing as the two brothers wrestled on the ground. Miroku sighed and managed to make it past the two before heading back upstairs.
"Come on Sesshoumaru you got to admit it was funny,"
"I'll hit a ball into your eye and you tell me if it's funny!"
Miroku closed the basement door shut and walked over to the living room where Sango and Kagome were watching Souta, Rin, and Kohaku playing video games. The monk glanced outside and noticed that the storm outside was starting to come to an end.
"Are those two fighting again?" asked Kagome.
Miroku chuckled, "How'd you guess?"
Kagome smiled, "What did Inu-Yasha do this time?"
"Well Sesshoumaru was irritated that he wasn't following the rules to the game of ping pong, but add the ball getting pounded into your eye,"
Kagome could just see her mate laughing his head off and Sesshoumaru trying to beat the crap out of Inu-Yasha, "I have a feeling those two are going to be fighting the whole trip,"
Miroku nodded and sat on the arm of the chair where Sango was sitting, "How are you feeling?" asked the monk.
"Fine, just a little tired," sighed Sango, leaning her head against the monks shoulder.
Kagome giggled, she could still hear the two demon brothers downstairs still going at it, "I wish they would stop,"
"I know how to!" said Sota, pushing pause on the video game before running up the stairs.
Everyone watched the boy run up to his room and come running back down carrying something in his hands. Running into the kitchen, he told Rin to cover her ears, and then opened the basement door, taking a few steps down. Kagome was about to ask what her brother was up to, but a loud peircing sound of a horn echoed through out the cabin. Everyone covered their ears, and when the horn stopped there was a loud scream from Kagome's little brother. There was the pounding of feet comming up the stairs as Sota came running into the living room with an air horn in his hand, with Inu- Yasha and Sesshoumaru at his heels.
"What the hell did you do that for!" snarled Inu-Yasha reaching his clawed hand out to grab Souta.
"Sit!" cried Kagome.
Inu-Yasha hit the floor and with Sesshoumaru so close behind the half demon tripped over his brothers fallen body. Souta ran behind Kagome, quivering slightly.
Sesshoumaru got to his feet and approached Kagome, kneeling down on one knee so he was eye level with Souta, "Don't ever do that again . . . dog demon ears are very sensitive,"
Souta nodded, but his gaze was mainly on Inu-Yasha who was still face down and cursing under his breath. Kagome giggled, "Inu-Yasha darling, are you alright?"
"Why the hell did you send him down to do that?"
"Well it could have been worse, he could have had his super soaker as well,"
Inu-Yasha stood up and walked over to beside his mate, glaring at the small boy behind Kagome, "I think my ears are still ringing,"
Souta gave a gentle laugh before running to his room to put the air horn away.
"Well . . . it did work, he did manage to make you two stop fighting,"smiled Kagome.
"Keh, he didn't need to stop our fighting, I was winning anyway," snorted Inu-Yasha.
"You call winning as you beg for me to let you go out of a head lock?" whispered Sesshoumaru.
"You want to go again?" growled Inu-Yasah.
"Will you two stop it?" asked Miroku.
Inu-Yasha snorted and sat down where Kagome had been sitting. Kagome giggled and sat down on her mates lap.
"I suppose it's too snowy to go skating?" asked Miroku, glancing out the window.
"The ice is ready, but the snow is covering it, so it will be hard to skate in it," sighed Kagome.
"Can we still go outside?" asked Souta as he came down the stairs.
"Yeah, can we still go out?" asked Kohaku.
Kagome glanced at Inu-Yasha and smiled, "I don't mind if you guys go play outside, do you mind Sango?"
The exterminator shook her head, "Not at all, as long as you guys are careful,"
Souta and Kohaku nodded their heads, "Come on Rin and Shippo, you guys can come too!"
The two demons nodded and followed the two boys to the door to get their winter gear on.
"You can stay out as long as you want, but come in before it gets dark," said Kagome.
Souta nodded as he pulled his scarf and mitts on, "We will sis, don't worry about us,"
Kagome nodded as the four of them headed out the door, "Well with the children gone, what shall we do?"
No one said anything at first until Inu-Yasha yelled, "I know!"
"We are not playing another game of Clue," sighed Sango.
Inu-Yasha growled.
"Why not play a simple card game?" asked Sesshoumaru.
"Well, we could play dominos, that's a fun game," suggested Kagome.
"We haven't played that yet, so sure," said Miroku.
"I'll get it set up then, Miroku why don't you grab some snacks?"
The monk nodded and headed into the kitchen. Kagome went to the cupboard to grab the game while Sesshoumaru gave Sango a hand to the table as Inu- Yasha cleared it off. Sparks were already flying between the two brothers and the game hadn't even began yet.
Souta ran over the snow covered ground with the others right behind him.
"So where are we going?" asked Kohaku, catching up with Kagome's brother.
"Hmm, I was thinking we could go play hide and go seek in the trees," suggested Souta.
"I don't know, Rin will always win since she can hide in trees," said Shippo from Kohaku's shoulder.
"Well, there is a hill on the other side of the trees. We could grab the sleds and saucers from the shed and go down that," said Souta.
"Sounds fun," said Rin.
Souta lead them to the shed around the back where the ski doos were, and in the back corner were the sleds and saucers,"Here, Rin you can take a saucer, and Kohaku and I can each take a sled,"
Rin grabbed the round red saucer, and Souta and Kohaku each got a long wooden sled.
"How exactly do you ride this?" asked Rin, examining the strange round plastic object.
"I'll show you once we reach the hill," said Souta, shutting the shed door and locking it behind him.
Rin and Kohaku followed the young boy while Shippo remained on the exterminators shoulder.
"Do you think the adults won't try to kill each other while were gone?" asked Shippo.
"Probably not, after all since sis can take care of Inu-Yasha," snickered Souta.
The others laughed as they continued to trudge through the snow. With the blizzard the snow had risen quite high on the ground, and even though it was still very cloudy, no snow fell from the dark sky. The spruce trees where completely white, and all the green had been covered by the sparkling snow. Souta lead them through the small forest to the other side where a gigantice hill was. It was taller than the trees and allowed them to see the cabin in the distance. Rin made it to the top in one leap and took a look at the veiw while the rest of them climbed. You could clearly see the cabin, the small shack, and what Kagome had called an ice rink in the distance. You could also the mini van, and the driveway that led to the main road.
"Nice veiw huh?" asked Souta, standing beside Rin when he made it to the top, panitng slightly.
"Very nice, but I don't remember Kagome telling me about this hill. I take it she and Inu-Yasha never went sledding or whatever you called it here,"
"No, they didn't, but me and mom did a lot," said Souta.
Rin nodded and turned to look at the other side of the hill, "I take it were sledding down this side so we don't hit the trees?"
"Yessum!" smiled Souta.
"So how do I reid this thing?" asked Rin.
"You just sit in the middle of it, push yourself , and hang onto the straps as you slide down," Souta explaind simply.
Rin nodded and climbed onto the saucer, glanced at Souta, and pushed her self off. The boy watched as Rin went shooting down the hill, and he could hear her cry of joy was she zigged and zagged down the hill. Souta laughed and motioned for Kohaku that they should join Rin at the bottom. Kagome's brother showed Koahaku how to get on the sled, how to turn, and how to hold on. Souta went first and was soon followed by Kohaku as they sledded down the hill.
The remainder of the afternoon was filled with many activites with sledding. They would race down the hill plenty of times until Rin ended up being the winner of every race. They would all put their sleds aside and share one of the wooden ones and go down the hill over and over again, trying to beat a certain time record. They even tried to see if thall of them could stand up on the sled while going down the hill, which turned out to be a bad idea since they all whiped out. Even after taking that hard of hit, they would only laugh and climb back up the hill and try again.
Inu-Yasha growled softly as he stared at the dominos in front of him, "I must have the crappiest dominos,"
"Speak for yourself, I'm suffering too," sighed Miroku, who seemed to have more than Inu-Yasha.
Sesshoumaru grinned widely just for Inu-Yasha to see that he only had two domino's left.
"Put that smug look away, you haven't won yet," growled Inu-Yasha.
"Not yet anyway," hissed Sesshoumaru.
"Will you two stop bickering for two seconds?" asked Sango.
Inu-Yasha growled and glanced at Kagome who was staring at her domino's carefully since it was her turn.
"I can't decide which one I should put down," sighed Kagome.
"Take your time," sighed Inu-Yasha, wrapping an arm around his mates shoulder.
Kagome nodded and finally chose one of her dominos, setting it down with her train. Inu-Yasha smirked and right away set one of his dominos down, but Sesshoumaru remained smiling as he placed one of his last two dominos down and knocked on the table to let everyone know he had one domino left.
"One more round," sneered Sesshoumaru.
Inu-Yasha growled.
"Say Inu-Yasha . . . I was thinking . . ." sighed Miroku, who was on his turn now.
"What monk?" asked the half demon.
"Will the well be staying open forever?"
Inu-Yasha's eyes widened, "Of course it will! That was my wish on the Shikon No Tama,"
"Perhaps . . . but . . . what if it did stop working . . . what would happen?"
Kagome glanced at her mate and then back at the monk.
"I . . .I don't know . . . I never thought that it was possible that it would," whispered Inu-Yasha.
"Why do you think the well would stop working?" asked Kagome.
Miroku set a domino down before speaking, "I just have a feeling that it will someday . . . I know that the power of the jewel is supposed to last forever . . . but . . . the wish you made on the jewel was kind of selfish one . . ."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Inu-Yasha.
"Midoriko did say that the well would be closed when the jewel disappeared, but you made the wish for it to stay open. Whish is kind of selfish since only you and Kagome can pass through it, and we can only come if we are with one of you,"
"I . . . I guess,"
"I'm just saying that, there is a possiblity that the well could close . . ."
Inu-Yasha nodded, "I just . . . never thought that it could,"
"I'm not saying that it will . . . but it might . . . from what I've heard about the jewel . . . it's just a rumor . . . but if a selfish wish is made upon it, even if it is a pure wish . . . that the power of the jewel will wear off," sighed the monk.
"So your saying my wish will wear off?" asked Kagome, looking back and forth between everyone at the table.
"Most likely not Kagome, to wish for the lives of your friends back . . . that's sounds pretty pure to me," said Sango, setting a domino on her train.
"So you think the well will close eventually?" asked Kagome.
"Perhaps, and I wanted to ask something of you two," said Miroku.
"Which is what?" asked Kagome.
"I like coming to this era and spending time with you, but if the well were ever to close . . . I would rather be stuck in my era instead of this one,"
"So you are asking that this be your last trip through the well?" asked Kagome.
Miroku and Sango nodded.
"That's understandable . . ." said Inu-Yasha.
"Sesshoumaru? What about you?"asked Kagome.
"I think it would be best if this was mine and Rin's last trip too," sighed the demon, his smug smirk leaving his lips breifly.
"I would also suggest that you and Kagome travel through the well together . . . if it were to stop working and one of you was trapped on the other side . . . well . . ."
"You don't have to say it monk . . . I understand," sighed Inu-Yasha.
Kaogme set her domino on the mexican train, "So . . . what will we do if the well stops working . . .I don't want to leave my family behind . . ."
"Kagome . . ." whispered Inu-Yasha.
"Although . . ." Kagome grasped her mates hand, "As long as I'm with you . . . it won't matter . . . just as long as I don't lose you,"
Inu-Yasha smiled and kissed his mate, "Thank you,"
"Inu-Yasha . . .how long do half demons usually live?" asked Miroku.
Inu-Yasha set another domino down on his train, "I'm not sure really . . . a good thousan years or so . . . I think . . ."
"Around that age, after all pure demons live for thousands of years . . . I think Totousai is almost two thousand now . . ." sighed Sesshoumaru, his smirk leaving his lips again as he dug his hand into the bag to grab another domino.
"I see what your saying monk . . . your saying that Kagome and I will live to see her family in this era right?"
"Basically . . . I mean the well might not ever close . . . but I think you might have done more harm then good when you made that wish,"
"How so?" asked Kagome.
"If you and Inu-Yasha are still alive in this era, then you can't really go and see Kagome's family can you, because your past selves are already there . . .unless my theory is correct and the well closes, and you live on to meet them again. It may seem like hundreds of years to you, but only a few weeks to Mrs. Higurashi,"
Inu-Yasha and Kagome nodded, "You may be right," sighed Kagome.
The half demon looked around and could see that everyone was kind of in a down mood, "Hey Sesshoumaru! Looks like you got another domino to your collection!"
"Kagome took my spot on the mexican train," sighed Sesshoumaru.
The others smiled at the two brothers bickering and pushed the conversation of the well closing aside and continued on with their game.
Souta sighed heavily as he stared up at the darkened sky before glancing at his watch, and realized that is was after nine, "Hey guys, we'd better head back to the cabin, or Inu-Yasha and the others will wonder where we'e gone off too,"
Rin and Kohaku nodded and grabbed their sleds. The exterminator picked up an exhausted Shippo and placed the fox on his shoulder. They all walked back through the trees until they reached the open field which had the cabin in view.
"If we cut across the field we'll get back to the cabin quicker," said Souta.
"Then why did we walk along the trees to here?" asked Kohaku.
Souta thought for a minute, "Well I wasn't sure where the hill was . . .and . . .that's it,"
Kohaku nodded and followed after Souta. I know there's another reason . . . but I can't think of it right now . . . maybe there's too many holes that we could step in to twist our ankle . . . but oh well . . . thought Sota.
The three of them walked across the open field chattering lightly to one another about learning to skate tomorrow. As they were half way across the field, and Souta was telling them how much fun they had skating last year, a loud crack made them all freeze.
"What was that?" asked Kohaku.
Souta said nothing, his face turning slightly pale. Rin's ears twitched as another crack was heard, "Are we . . .are we on a frozen pond or something ?"
Memories suddenly flood back into Souta's mind . . . him as a young boy . . . ball rolling on the frozen lake where they used to skate . . .his father skating to get the ball . . .his father falling though the ice. It was just then that Souta remembered that they weren't walking on a field, but the frozen lake by the cabin . . .that's why his mother had taken him through the trees to get through the hill . . . why Inu-Yasha and Kagome had always gone the long way to go to the open fields to go ski dooing last year so they could be alone.
"Were on a frozen lake . . ." whispered Souta.
Kohaku gasped and didn't even move a muscle, "I knew we should have brought Kirara with us,"
"What do we do?" asked Souta who was also scared to move as another crack hit his ears.
"Call for help . . . Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha will hear us . . . I bet even Kirara will," said Rin.
"I'm to scared to scream . . ." whimpered Souta, fearing to fall through the ice.
"All right, I'll do it," whispered Rin.
"Okay," said Souta.
"Wait . . . I'll go for help . . .if you scream you might crack the ice . . ." said Shippo.
Rin nodded and watched as Shippo transformed into his pink bubble and headed towards the cabin.
"Just don't move you guys," hissed Rin.
A particular loud crack caused them all to freeze at once.
"Rin . . ." whimpered Souta.
Rin had to admit that she was scared as well . . . even though she was a demon . . .if she went under the water, there was a small chance you could not find the hole where she fell through,"It's okay Souta . . . just don't . . ." Rin was cut off as the ice cracked underneath her and she fell through. Souta and Kohaku screamed as they saw Rin go under.
"Rin!" screamed the two boys.
Another crack was heard as Kohaku and Souta went through the ice as well. An eerie moment passed with the splashing of the water . . . and none of them came up.
Back at the cabin, the scream from Souta and Kohaku had caught Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru attention as they both stood up.
"Did you hear that?" asked Sesshoumaru.
"Do you think something happened?" asked Inu-Yasha.
Their questions were answered as Shippo came running in through the back door, "SOUTA AND THE OTHERS ARE ON A FROZEN POND AND THE ICE IS CRACKING!"
Sesshoumaru Inu-Yasha were out the door in a heart beat with Kirara at their heels. Seeing the large hole in the ice told them everything as they took one leap from where they were and dived into the freezing cold water. Miroku came running out of the house with rope over his shoulder and jumped onto Kirara who was waiting for him outside of the cabin. The fire cat flew over the huge hole and waited.
Miroku's eyes scanned the entire area of the small lake, seeing if Inu- Yasha and Sesshoumaru had come up yet.
A large crack caught the monk's attention as a large chuck of ice went flying into the air and Inu-Yasha came bursting through the water, holding Souta in one arm and Kohakue over his shoulder. Miroku was immediately there and dropped the rope to pull Inu-Yasha and the others back to the cabin. Kaogme and Sango were waiting at the door as Inu-Yasha, cold and shivered brought the two boys into the house. Miroku then turned Kirara around to go get Sesshoumaru and Rin. A minute passed . . .then two . . .and yet the two demons weren't coming up . . .
Inu-Yasha mouth to mouth so he could Souta to breathe. Kohaku seemed to be find yet he was starting to suffer from hypothermeia. Finally Inu-Yasha got Kagome's younger to breathe which caused Kagome to stop her crying and grab the wool blankets from the couch. Sango and Inu-Yasha started to strip off the boys clothes, and the half demon started to strip off his since they were cold as well.
Miroku started to panic since Rin and Sesshoumaru weren't coming up . . .and when all hope seemed to have run out, Sesshoumaru burst through the ice with a slightly blue Rin in his arms. Instead of heading over to Miroku, Sesshoumaru immediately headed into the cabin with the monk and firecat following. When they entered the cabin Inu-Yasha, Souta, and Kohaku were completely naked under the wool covers, using their body heat to stay warm. Sesshoumaru laid Rin down and pressed his ear to her chest before doing mouth to mouth like Inu-Yasha had been doing. Kagome, Sango, and Miroku watched as the lord tried to revive Rin. Kagome started to cry, but here tears stopped as Rin spit out the water and started to cough. Sango went to the fireplace and threw more logs into it while Sesshoumaru started to strip as well while Kagome worked on Rin's clothes. Miroku stripped his clothes as well, wanting to provide heat to the others who were shivereing under the cold blankets. The panic started to fade and everyone was seated around the fireplace. Inu-Yasha and Souta shared a blanket, while Miroku and Kohaku shared another, and Sesshoumaru and Rin shared one as well. No questions were asked to the three children as Sango and Kaogme prepared steaming cups of hot chocolate, tea, and coffee.
Once everyone was safe and sound, did Kagome finally speak, "What the heck were you guys doing?"
Souta frowned and averted his eyes from his sisters, "It's my fault . . . I . . . I forgot about the lake being there . . . I'm so sorry,"
Strong arms wrapped around the boy as Inu-Yasha pulled Souta into a strong embrace, "It's alright kid . . . it's alright,"
Kagome sighed and took a seat, "Its okay Souta . . . just as long as everyone is alright,"
Kohaku gave off a loud sneeze and so did Souta as well.
"Looks like you two caught a cold," said Sango, sitting beside her broher and resting her hand on his forehead.
"Looks like you two won't be skating tomorrow," said Kagome, also feeling Souta's forehead and then Inu-Yasha's.
"I don't catch colds Kagome," hissed Inu-Yasha.
Kagome giggled and took a seat by her mate.
The remainder of the evening passed by slowly with a hot supper and then everyone heading off to bed. Everyone was given extra blankets so they could keep warm, and the fireplace was also left on a littel hotter than usual.
Kagome stared at the ceiling of hers and Inu-Yasha's room as she was lost in thought.
"You okay?" asked Inu-Yasha.
"I'm alright . . . I was just . . . really scared . . ."
"We all were . . . I think Sesshoumaru looked scared more then everone . . . the way Rin looked so blue . . .how she wasn't breathing . . . I know he won't admite it . . .but he was scared.
Kagome nodded and snuggled closer to her mate. She was about to say more, but instead a great big yawn escaped her lips. Inu-Yasha smiled and kissed his mate passionately, "Get some sleep . . . you must be tired,"
Kagome nodded and closed her eyes almost falling asleep instantly.
Everyone through out the house was sleeping peacefully . . . that is all except for Sesshoumaru who seemed wide awake. His arms were wrapped tightly around a sleeping Rin, his eyes never leaving her form. Thoughts roamed through his mind . . . how he had foun her almost at the bottom of th lake .. . . how pale and blue she had looked . . . how he couldn't hear her breathe . . . how he had almost lost her . . .
Sesshoumaru watched her all night, and it wasn't until the middle of the night did the demon lord finally close his eyes, and get some sleep.
TBC . . .
It's my birthday reviewers! Today is my birthday and I decided I would finally update! I am now 18! Hope you liked the chapter! Until next time!
Lynns
Winter Wonderland
Chapter Forty-Nine
The two brothers glared at each other, sparks flying in between them as the competion started to get more complex.
"TAKE THIS!" screamed Inu-Yasha, letting the the ping pong ball go and hitting it with his mallet as hard as he could.
Sesshoumaru sighed as the ball went flying passed his head, "Out again . . ."
"What!"
"How many times did Kagome tell you, the ball has to hit the table first,"
"But that's just stupid! Who would want to throw that slow?"
"Because those are the rules," sighed Sesshoumaru, picking up the ball and hitting it on the table as he served.
"You can do it Inu-Yasha," cheered Miroku and Shippo from the side lines.
Inu-Yasha hit the ball and this time it miraculously hit the table but shot right into Sesshoumaru's left eye. Sesshoumaru remained still with his pallet in his only hand, and his one eye still open. In fact everyone in the room was frozen as Inu-Yasha, who was trying to hold his laughter dropped his pallet and made a run for the stairs to escape, but was tackled by his brother.
"You think that's funny do you?" growled Sesshoumaru.
Inu-Yasha just kept laughing as the two brothers wrestled on the ground. Miroku sighed and managed to make it past the two before heading back upstairs.
"Come on Sesshoumaru you got to admit it was funny,"
"I'll hit a ball into your eye and you tell me if it's funny!"
Miroku closed the basement door shut and walked over to the living room where Sango and Kagome were watching Souta, Rin, and Kohaku playing video games. The monk glanced outside and noticed that the storm outside was starting to come to an end.
"Are those two fighting again?" asked Kagome.
Miroku chuckled, "How'd you guess?"
Kagome smiled, "What did Inu-Yasha do this time?"
"Well Sesshoumaru was irritated that he wasn't following the rules to the game of ping pong, but add the ball getting pounded into your eye,"
Kagome could just see her mate laughing his head off and Sesshoumaru trying to beat the crap out of Inu-Yasha, "I have a feeling those two are going to be fighting the whole trip,"
Miroku nodded and sat on the arm of the chair where Sango was sitting, "How are you feeling?" asked the monk.
"Fine, just a little tired," sighed Sango, leaning her head against the monks shoulder.
Kagome giggled, she could still hear the two demon brothers downstairs still going at it, "I wish they would stop,"
"I know how to!" said Sota, pushing pause on the video game before running up the stairs.
Everyone watched the boy run up to his room and come running back down carrying something in his hands. Running into the kitchen, he told Rin to cover her ears, and then opened the basement door, taking a few steps down. Kagome was about to ask what her brother was up to, but a loud peircing sound of a horn echoed through out the cabin. Everyone covered their ears, and when the horn stopped there was a loud scream from Kagome's little brother. There was the pounding of feet comming up the stairs as Sota came running into the living room with an air horn in his hand, with Inu- Yasha and Sesshoumaru at his heels.
"What the hell did you do that for!" snarled Inu-Yasha reaching his clawed hand out to grab Souta.
"Sit!" cried Kagome.
Inu-Yasha hit the floor and with Sesshoumaru so close behind the half demon tripped over his brothers fallen body. Souta ran behind Kagome, quivering slightly.
Sesshoumaru got to his feet and approached Kagome, kneeling down on one knee so he was eye level with Souta, "Don't ever do that again . . . dog demon ears are very sensitive,"
Souta nodded, but his gaze was mainly on Inu-Yasha who was still face down and cursing under his breath. Kagome giggled, "Inu-Yasha darling, are you alright?"
"Why the hell did you send him down to do that?"
"Well it could have been worse, he could have had his super soaker as well,"
Inu-Yasha stood up and walked over to beside his mate, glaring at the small boy behind Kagome, "I think my ears are still ringing,"
Souta gave a gentle laugh before running to his room to put the air horn away.
"Well . . . it did work, he did manage to make you two stop fighting,"smiled Kagome.
"Keh, he didn't need to stop our fighting, I was winning anyway," snorted Inu-Yasha.
"You call winning as you beg for me to let you go out of a head lock?" whispered Sesshoumaru.
"You want to go again?" growled Inu-Yasah.
"Will you two stop it?" asked Miroku.
Inu-Yasha snorted and sat down where Kagome had been sitting. Kagome giggled and sat down on her mates lap.
"I suppose it's too snowy to go skating?" asked Miroku, glancing out the window.
"The ice is ready, but the snow is covering it, so it will be hard to skate in it," sighed Kagome.
"Can we still go outside?" asked Souta as he came down the stairs.
"Yeah, can we still go out?" asked Kohaku.
Kagome glanced at Inu-Yasha and smiled, "I don't mind if you guys go play outside, do you mind Sango?"
The exterminator shook her head, "Not at all, as long as you guys are careful,"
Souta and Kohaku nodded their heads, "Come on Rin and Shippo, you guys can come too!"
The two demons nodded and followed the two boys to the door to get their winter gear on.
"You can stay out as long as you want, but come in before it gets dark," said Kagome.
Souta nodded as he pulled his scarf and mitts on, "We will sis, don't worry about us,"
Kagome nodded as the four of them headed out the door, "Well with the children gone, what shall we do?"
No one said anything at first until Inu-Yasha yelled, "I know!"
"We are not playing another game of Clue," sighed Sango.
Inu-Yasha growled.
"Why not play a simple card game?" asked Sesshoumaru.
"Well, we could play dominos, that's a fun game," suggested Kagome.
"We haven't played that yet, so sure," said Miroku.
"I'll get it set up then, Miroku why don't you grab some snacks?"
The monk nodded and headed into the kitchen. Kagome went to the cupboard to grab the game while Sesshoumaru gave Sango a hand to the table as Inu- Yasha cleared it off. Sparks were already flying between the two brothers and the game hadn't even began yet.
Souta ran over the snow covered ground with the others right behind him.
"So where are we going?" asked Kohaku, catching up with Kagome's brother.
"Hmm, I was thinking we could go play hide and go seek in the trees," suggested Souta.
"I don't know, Rin will always win since she can hide in trees," said Shippo from Kohaku's shoulder.
"Well, there is a hill on the other side of the trees. We could grab the sleds and saucers from the shed and go down that," said Souta.
"Sounds fun," said Rin.
Souta lead them to the shed around the back where the ski doos were, and in the back corner were the sleds and saucers,"Here, Rin you can take a saucer, and Kohaku and I can each take a sled,"
Rin grabbed the round red saucer, and Souta and Kohaku each got a long wooden sled.
"How exactly do you ride this?" asked Rin, examining the strange round plastic object.
"I'll show you once we reach the hill," said Souta, shutting the shed door and locking it behind him.
Rin and Kohaku followed the young boy while Shippo remained on the exterminators shoulder.
"Do you think the adults won't try to kill each other while were gone?" asked Shippo.
"Probably not, after all since sis can take care of Inu-Yasha," snickered Souta.
The others laughed as they continued to trudge through the snow. With the blizzard the snow had risen quite high on the ground, and even though it was still very cloudy, no snow fell from the dark sky. The spruce trees where completely white, and all the green had been covered by the sparkling snow. Souta lead them through the small forest to the other side where a gigantice hill was. It was taller than the trees and allowed them to see the cabin in the distance. Rin made it to the top in one leap and took a look at the veiw while the rest of them climbed. You could clearly see the cabin, the small shack, and what Kagome had called an ice rink in the distance. You could also the mini van, and the driveway that led to the main road.
"Nice veiw huh?" asked Souta, standing beside Rin when he made it to the top, panitng slightly.
"Very nice, but I don't remember Kagome telling me about this hill. I take it she and Inu-Yasha never went sledding or whatever you called it here,"
"No, they didn't, but me and mom did a lot," said Souta.
Rin nodded and turned to look at the other side of the hill, "I take it were sledding down this side so we don't hit the trees?"
"Yessum!" smiled Souta.
"So how do I reid this thing?" asked Rin.
"You just sit in the middle of it, push yourself , and hang onto the straps as you slide down," Souta explaind simply.
Rin nodded and climbed onto the saucer, glanced at Souta, and pushed her self off. The boy watched as Rin went shooting down the hill, and he could hear her cry of joy was she zigged and zagged down the hill. Souta laughed and motioned for Kohaku that they should join Rin at the bottom. Kagome's brother showed Koahaku how to get on the sled, how to turn, and how to hold on. Souta went first and was soon followed by Kohaku as they sledded down the hill.
The remainder of the afternoon was filled with many activites with sledding. They would race down the hill plenty of times until Rin ended up being the winner of every race. They would all put their sleds aside and share one of the wooden ones and go down the hill over and over again, trying to beat a certain time record. They even tried to see if thall of them could stand up on the sled while going down the hill, which turned out to be a bad idea since they all whiped out. Even after taking that hard of hit, they would only laugh and climb back up the hill and try again.
Inu-Yasha growled softly as he stared at the dominos in front of him, "I must have the crappiest dominos,"
"Speak for yourself, I'm suffering too," sighed Miroku, who seemed to have more than Inu-Yasha.
Sesshoumaru grinned widely just for Inu-Yasha to see that he only had two domino's left.
"Put that smug look away, you haven't won yet," growled Inu-Yasha.
"Not yet anyway," hissed Sesshoumaru.
"Will you two stop bickering for two seconds?" asked Sango.
Inu-Yasha growled and glanced at Kagome who was staring at her domino's carefully since it was her turn.
"I can't decide which one I should put down," sighed Kagome.
"Take your time," sighed Inu-Yasha, wrapping an arm around his mates shoulder.
Kagome nodded and finally chose one of her dominos, setting it down with her train. Inu-Yasha smirked and right away set one of his dominos down, but Sesshoumaru remained smiling as he placed one of his last two dominos down and knocked on the table to let everyone know he had one domino left.
"One more round," sneered Sesshoumaru.
Inu-Yasha growled.
"Say Inu-Yasha . . . I was thinking . . ." sighed Miroku, who was on his turn now.
"What monk?" asked the half demon.
"Will the well be staying open forever?"
Inu-Yasha's eyes widened, "Of course it will! That was my wish on the Shikon No Tama,"
"Perhaps . . . but . . . what if it did stop working . . . what would happen?"
Kagome glanced at her mate and then back at the monk.
"I . . .I don't know . . . I never thought that it was possible that it would," whispered Inu-Yasha.
"Why do you think the well would stop working?" asked Kagome.
Miroku set a domino down before speaking, "I just have a feeling that it will someday . . . I know that the power of the jewel is supposed to last forever . . . but . . . the wish you made on the jewel was kind of selfish one . . ."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Inu-Yasha.
"Midoriko did say that the well would be closed when the jewel disappeared, but you made the wish for it to stay open. Whish is kind of selfish since only you and Kagome can pass through it, and we can only come if we are with one of you,"
"I . . . I guess,"
"I'm just saying that, there is a possiblity that the well could close . . ."
Inu-Yasha nodded, "I just . . . never thought that it could,"
"I'm not saying that it will . . . but it might . . . from what I've heard about the jewel . . . it's just a rumor . . . but if a selfish wish is made upon it, even if it is a pure wish . . . that the power of the jewel will wear off," sighed the monk.
"So your saying my wish will wear off?" asked Kagome, looking back and forth between everyone at the table.
"Most likely not Kagome, to wish for the lives of your friends back . . . that's sounds pretty pure to me," said Sango, setting a domino on her train.
"So you think the well will close eventually?" asked Kagome.
"Perhaps, and I wanted to ask something of you two," said Miroku.
"Which is what?" asked Kagome.
"I like coming to this era and spending time with you, but if the well were ever to close . . . I would rather be stuck in my era instead of this one,"
"So you are asking that this be your last trip through the well?" asked Kagome.
Miroku and Sango nodded.
"That's understandable . . ." said Inu-Yasha.
"Sesshoumaru? What about you?"asked Kagome.
"I think it would be best if this was mine and Rin's last trip too," sighed the demon, his smug smirk leaving his lips breifly.
"I would also suggest that you and Kagome travel through the well together . . . if it were to stop working and one of you was trapped on the other side . . . well . . ."
"You don't have to say it monk . . . I understand," sighed Inu-Yasha.
Kaogme set her domino on the mexican train, "So . . . what will we do if the well stops working . . .I don't want to leave my family behind . . ."
"Kagome . . ." whispered Inu-Yasha.
"Although . . ." Kagome grasped her mates hand, "As long as I'm with you . . . it won't matter . . . just as long as I don't lose you,"
Inu-Yasha smiled and kissed his mate, "Thank you,"
"Inu-Yasha . . .how long do half demons usually live?" asked Miroku.
Inu-Yasha set another domino down on his train, "I'm not sure really . . . a good thousan years or so . . . I think . . ."
"Around that age, after all pure demons live for thousands of years . . . I think Totousai is almost two thousand now . . ." sighed Sesshoumaru, his smirk leaving his lips again as he dug his hand into the bag to grab another domino.
"I see what your saying monk . . . your saying that Kagome and I will live to see her family in this era right?"
"Basically . . . I mean the well might not ever close . . . but I think you might have done more harm then good when you made that wish,"
"How so?" asked Kagome.
"If you and Inu-Yasha are still alive in this era, then you can't really go and see Kagome's family can you, because your past selves are already there . . .unless my theory is correct and the well closes, and you live on to meet them again. It may seem like hundreds of years to you, but only a few weeks to Mrs. Higurashi,"
Inu-Yasha and Kagome nodded, "You may be right," sighed Kagome.
The half demon looked around and could see that everyone was kind of in a down mood, "Hey Sesshoumaru! Looks like you got another domino to your collection!"
"Kagome took my spot on the mexican train," sighed Sesshoumaru.
The others smiled at the two brothers bickering and pushed the conversation of the well closing aside and continued on with their game.
Souta sighed heavily as he stared up at the darkened sky before glancing at his watch, and realized that is was after nine, "Hey guys, we'd better head back to the cabin, or Inu-Yasha and the others will wonder where we'e gone off too,"
Rin and Kohaku nodded and grabbed their sleds. The exterminator picked up an exhausted Shippo and placed the fox on his shoulder. They all walked back through the trees until they reached the open field which had the cabin in view.
"If we cut across the field we'll get back to the cabin quicker," said Souta.
"Then why did we walk along the trees to here?" asked Kohaku.
Souta thought for a minute, "Well I wasn't sure where the hill was . . .and . . .that's it,"
Kohaku nodded and followed after Souta. I know there's another reason . . . but I can't think of it right now . . . maybe there's too many holes that we could step in to twist our ankle . . . but oh well . . . thought Sota.
The three of them walked across the open field chattering lightly to one another about learning to skate tomorrow. As they were half way across the field, and Souta was telling them how much fun they had skating last year, a loud crack made them all freeze.
"What was that?" asked Kohaku.
Souta said nothing, his face turning slightly pale. Rin's ears twitched as another crack was heard, "Are we . . .are we on a frozen pond or something ?"
Memories suddenly flood back into Souta's mind . . . him as a young boy . . . ball rolling on the frozen lake where they used to skate . . .his father skating to get the ball . . .his father falling though the ice. It was just then that Souta remembered that they weren't walking on a field, but the frozen lake by the cabin . . .that's why his mother had taken him through the trees to get through the hill . . . why Inu-Yasha and Kagome had always gone the long way to go to the open fields to go ski dooing last year so they could be alone.
"Were on a frozen lake . . ." whispered Souta.
Kohaku gasped and didn't even move a muscle, "I knew we should have brought Kirara with us,"
"What do we do?" asked Souta who was also scared to move as another crack hit his ears.
"Call for help . . . Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha will hear us . . . I bet even Kirara will," said Rin.
"I'm to scared to scream . . ." whimpered Souta, fearing to fall through the ice.
"All right, I'll do it," whispered Rin.
"Okay," said Souta.
"Wait . . . I'll go for help . . .if you scream you might crack the ice . . ." said Shippo.
Rin nodded and watched as Shippo transformed into his pink bubble and headed towards the cabin.
"Just don't move you guys," hissed Rin.
A particular loud crack caused them all to freeze at once.
"Rin . . ." whimpered Souta.
Rin had to admit that she was scared as well . . . even though she was a demon . . .if she went under the water, there was a small chance you could not find the hole where she fell through,"It's okay Souta . . . just don't . . ." Rin was cut off as the ice cracked underneath her and she fell through. Souta and Kohaku screamed as they saw Rin go under.
"Rin!" screamed the two boys.
Another crack was heard as Kohaku and Souta went through the ice as well. An eerie moment passed with the splashing of the water . . . and none of them came up.
Back at the cabin, the scream from Souta and Kohaku had caught Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru attention as they both stood up.
"Did you hear that?" asked Sesshoumaru.
"Do you think something happened?" asked Inu-Yasha.
Their questions were answered as Shippo came running in through the back door, "SOUTA AND THE OTHERS ARE ON A FROZEN POND AND THE ICE IS CRACKING!"
Sesshoumaru Inu-Yasha were out the door in a heart beat with Kirara at their heels. Seeing the large hole in the ice told them everything as they took one leap from where they were and dived into the freezing cold water. Miroku came running out of the house with rope over his shoulder and jumped onto Kirara who was waiting for him outside of the cabin. The fire cat flew over the huge hole and waited.
Miroku's eyes scanned the entire area of the small lake, seeing if Inu- Yasha and Sesshoumaru had come up yet.
A large crack caught the monk's attention as a large chuck of ice went flying into the air and Inu-Yasha came bursting through the water, holding Souta in one arm and Kohakue over his shoulder. Miroku was immediately there and dropped the rope to pull Inu-Yasha and the others back to the cabin. Kaogme and Sango were waiting at the door as Inu-Yasha, cold and shivered brought the two boys into the house. Miroku then turned Kirara around to go get Sesshoumaru and Rin. A minute passed . . .then two . . .and yet the two demons weren't coming up . . .
Inu-Yasha mouth to mouth so he could Souta to breathe. Kohaku seemed to be find yet he was starting to suffer from hypothermeia. Finally Inu-Yasha got Kagome's younger to breathe which caused Kagome to stop her crying and grab the wool blankets from the couch. Sango and Inu-Yasha started to strip off the boys clothes, and the half demon started to strip off his since they were cold as well.
Miroku started to panic since Rin and Sesshoumaru weren't coming up . . .and when all hope seemed to have run out, Sesshoumaru burst through the ice with a slightly blue Rin in his arms. Instead of heading over to Miroku, Sesshoumaru immediately headed into the cabin with the monk and firecat following. When they entered the cabin Inu-Yasha, Souta, and Kohaku were completely naked under the wool covers, using their body heat to stay warm. Sesshoumaru laid Rin down and pressed his ear to her chest before doing mouth to mouth like Inu-Yasha had been doing. Kagome, Sango, and Miroku watched as the lord tried to revive Rin. Kagome started to cry, but here tears stopped as Rin spit out the water and started to cough. Sango went to the fireplace and threw more logs into it while Sesshoumaru started to strip as well while Kagome worked on Rin's clothes. Miroku stripped his clothes as well, wanting to provide heat to the others who were shivereing under the cold blankets. The panic started to fade and everyone was seated around the fireplace. Inu-Yasha and Souta shared a blanket, while Miroku and Kohaku shared another, and Sesshoumaru and Rin shared one as well. No questions were asked to the three children as Sango and Kaogme prepared steaming cups of hot chocolate, tea, and coffee.
Once everyone was safe and sound, did Kagome finally speak, "What the heck were you guys doing?"
Souta frowned and averted his eyes from his sisters, "It's my fault . . . I . . . I forgot about the lake being there . . . I'm so sorry,"
Strong arms wrapped around the boy as Inu-Yasha pulled Souta into a strong embrace, "It's alright kid . . . it's alright,"
Kagome sighed and took a seat, "Its okay Souta . . . just as long as everyone is alright,"
Kohaku gave off a loud sneeze and so did Souta as well.
"Looks like you two caught a cold," said Sango, sitting beside her broher and resting her hand on his forehead.
"Looks like you two won't be skating tomorrow," said Kagome, also feeling Souta's forehead and then Inu-Yasha's.
"I don't catch colds Kagome," hissed Inu-Yasha.
Kagome giggled and took a seat by her mate.
The remainder of the evening passed by slowly with a hot supper and then everyone heading off to bed. Everyone was given extra blankets so they could keep warm, and the fireplace was also left on a littel hotter than usual.
Kagome stared at the ceiling of hers and Inu-Yasha's room as she was lost in thought.
"You okay?" asked Inu-Yasha.
"I'm alright . . . I was just . . . really scared . . ."
"We all were . . . I think Sesshoumaru looked scared more then everone . . . the way Rin looked so blue . . .how she wasn't breathing . . . I know he won't admite it . . .but he was scared.
Kagome nodded and snuggled closer to her mate. She was about to say more, but instead a great big yawn escaped her lips. Inu-Yasha smiled and kissed his mate passionately, "Get some sleep . . . you must be tired,"
Kagome nodded and closed her eyes almost falling asleep instantly.
Everyone through out the house was sleeping peacefully . . . that is all except for Sesshoumaru who seemed wide awake. His arms were wrapped tightly around a sleeping Rin, his eyes never leaving her form. Thoughts roamed through his mind . . . how he had foun her almost at the bottom of th lake .. . . how pale and blue she had looked . . . how he couldn't hear her breathe . . . how he had almost lost her . . .
Sesshoumaru watched her all night, and it wasn't until the middle of the night did the demon lord finally close his eyes, and get some sleep.
TBC . . .
It's my birthday reviewers! Today is my birthday and I decided I would finally update! I am now 18! Hope you liked the chapter! Until next time!
Lynns