So, finals are upon me and yet I am more worried about what to update then studying. Well, that's a writer for ya. Well, I hope you are liking the story so far. Its been so much fun writing this. I would have to say that this is the most fun I have had writing a story ever. It is by far, my favorite. I love it so much. Thank you all for the reviews! They are much appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do NOT OWN Inuyasha!
Train, My Son
Before the sun awoke, Sesshoumaru was already rising from his slumber. Today was the day where he would train Tama. A war was about to start, and he needed everyone, including his son. His golden eyes looked to his mate who was still sleeping soundly by his side. She was curled up against his white pelt. For a brief moment, his eyes warmed up to see that she was by his side once again. The years that had gone by were horrible. His old nature had come back, and he wasn't at peace. In many ways, he was thankful when Kija had offered to retrieve her. He had planed to do so; since some of his other servants had told him of a war that was going to happen. But, there was this nagging feeling in the back of the Lord Of The West's mind that Kija would go into a rage again and not remember who Nara was. Thankfully, he hadn't, and now his mate was by his side once more.
As he slid away from her, Nara held onto the soft pelt that her head was near. She mumbled something incoherent before turning over and sighing. He looked at her one last time before standing up and putting on his kimono. His golden eyes looked to the door where he was heading. Although, he didn't want to leave her, he knew that he must train his son, or else he might not be able to survive this war. His footsteps were light enough to not wake her as he walked to the door. Carefully, he opened it and went through. He liked walking through the castle at this time, for everyone was still asleep save for a few guards. All was quiet; just the way he liked it.
He came to Tama's door and opened it to find the young demon holding his blanket close to him. An odd feeling came over Sesshoumaru as he watched the young boy. It was like when he was taking care of Rin, only this was stronger. He didn't want to wake his son, but he knew that he must. He walked over to the bed and just watched him for a few more minutes, admiring how much he looked like his mother when he slept. The Lord Of The West already was proud of his son, for he had taken care of Nara while he couldn't. He knew that this young demon was probably a handful, but with the proper training, Tama would be a worthy opponent for anyone other then himself, of course. He let his arm reach out and touch his shoulder.
Tama's eyes snapped opened as he felt someone touch him. He sat up straight and looked at the imposter that had interrupted his sleep. "Wha?" he said, sleepily but fully awake. His eyes widened, and he cleared his throat. "Father." he said, sitting up straight. The young one hadn't expected to see his father this early.
"Follow me." he said, moving to the door.
"Should I get changed?" Tama asked, looking at him. He was still sitting there, his black and white hair in a mess.
"Not for training. Come." Sesshoumaru said, his voice almost holding no patience with the boy.
"Yes, Father." he said, slipping out of bed, barefoot and all. His tan shirt was slightly wrinkled; he straightened it as he walked to stand by his father's side. He let his hands rest on his brown pants. He looked up at his father with question, but his eyes held some fear. His father's presence always made him on edge, like he didn't like him here or something. Tama knew very little of the Lord that his mother seemed to love and care for greatly, but it was enough to keep his mouth shut. As long as his mother was fine with him, then he would just have to except this. But then again, his father had a great deal of power and if Tama was going to protect his mother, he would need to learn what he could from his father. A smile came to his face as he follow his father out of the room. "So, what kind of training is this?"
Sesshoumaru said nothing as he led Tama to the training grounds. His son would soon learn that he did not like to many questions asked. Once they were both there, the sun was just peaking over the horizon. The demon lord stopped, pulled out Tokijin, and stuck in the ground. With that he turned around and looked at Tama. "Pull this sword from the ground." he commanded, not thinking that anyone but him could wield this weapon.
"What? But it has so much demon energy? How am I suppose to?" he asked, looking at his father in shock.
"Just do it."
Tama's eyes looked at it, and he walked closer to it. He did a full circle around it and thought about how he was going to do this. Finally, he got fed up with trying to think of a plan and just grabbed the sword. He felt its power surging through him. It was difficult for him to keep his grip on the sword, but somehow he managed. He took a deep breath and pulled with all his might. Sure enough, he pulled it out just as all of the sun made its way over the castle walls. "Ah ha!" he said, proudly as he pulled it up with both hands and had it in the air behind him some before falling over backwards. "Wh-whoa!" he said, falling over with it. With a sigh, the young one stood up once again to see that his father had moved. He picked up the sword slowly, but left the tip of the blade resting on the ground.
"Well done, now learn to block." Sesshoumaru said from behind him, his poison whip out.
The young demon looked just in time to see his father summon a whip. "Ah!" he said, moving around and picking up the sword to block. He was having difficulty keeping up with his father's moves. The sword was to heavy for him. He had hardly fought in his life, but he pushed himself to learn the blocks. After a few lucky ones, things got interesting. Sesshoumaru began to come up from behind and hit him. The sting caused Tama to cry out in pain, but after a moment it left, and the wound had healed. It then clicked that his father wasn't trying to injure him; he was using his whip so that he wouldn't be harmed. With that in mind, Tama let the sting of the whip hit him. When the light of sun was becoming bright, Sesshoumaru stopped. "You have done well." he said, looking at Tama.
It was then that the boy let down his guard, and Sesshoumaru took advantage of that by coming at him. Tama scrambled for the sword once again and picked it up. Sure it was heavy, but it was time for round two. The boy trained hard all morning and when noon was approaching, he was getting rather hungry. But Tama wouldn't stop training until he father said so. As he was hungry, he moves were becoming reckless. Sesshoumaru took advantage of this and went in for a lunge.
"Don't!" A voice came from one of the corridors.
Tama's reaction was one that Sesshoumaru had expected and still pulled through with his move, hurting the boy with his poison claws. As Tama fell over, he lay there for a few moments with his eyes closed. The next thing he saw was a woman in white running toward him, and then she stopped. He coughed some, and sat up. Shaking his head, he looked up his father whose face had seemed unchanged. He blinked and didn't break his gaze from the demon lord.
"Never become distracted. It causes serious injury. Never let your guard down in battle." he said, before walking away, leaving his son sitting there looking shocked. Tama's eyes followed his father to see his mother standing there looking shocked at the both of them.
Sesshoumaru stopped right beside her and didn't looked at her. He could sense her fear, and that she was upset. "You have nothing to fear, Nara." he said, still looking ahead, not wanting to see the look on her face.
"I thought you were going to kill him." she said, her frustration was starting to show. "I can't lose him." she said, clenching her fists as she looked up at him.
"You won't lose him because I am training him." he said, before looking down at her. "Don't forget. He is my son as well." he said, staring at her with those cold eyes.
She had stopped thinking of all the things that could have gone wrong when she looked into his eyes. Nara could see that there was some care hidden well in the depths of his heart, but it was there for her and their son. With that she nodded and apologized for acting the way she did. Sesshoumaru gave her a small nod and began to walk away with her following closely. Ever since she had been back, she hadn't left his side for more then a few minutes. As far as she knew he didn't mind, for he to had missed her. Although, he would never say anything of the sort to her or anyone.
Tama coughed once again and shook his head. "Man that was rough. I don't like training with him." he said, falling back against the grass. He closed his eyes and sighed. Slowly he was falling asleep, but that didn't last as he heard a voice that he didn't want to hear.
"Oh, Tama! Tama, where are you?" A girl came running into the field. "Oh there you are. When you weren't at breakfast or lunch, I had the cooks make you something." she said, holding out a basket.
Tama sniffed the air and smiled brightly. It smelled great. He opened his eyes and looked to see Rin. The boy didn't care that she was there, he was happy that she had brought him food. "Thank you so much. I was dying out here." he said, going for the basket.
She pulled it back, just out of his reach. "I thought we could have lunch together."
He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Why would you think that?" he asked, going for the basket, but missing once more. This caused him to fall flat on his face. His groan could be heard from the ground as his face was planted in the dirt.
Her light laughter came as she sat down next to him and set the basket down. "Because you are tired, and someone has to take care of you when your mommy isn't around." she said, opening up the basket to get the food out. The aroma filled the air once she opened it.
He shot his head up. "My mother doesn't take care of me. I take care of her." he said, glaring at her. It was difficult to really be angry at her as his stomach made a strange noise. Tama rubbed the back of his head. "I guess just this once I can eat with you, but only this once." he said, pointing at her with one finger. Tama only ate with the human girl when it was a must. He hated humans and didn't understand why his father of all people would have one here. He watched her set food out on a plate for him and her. He blinked several times as he watched her. She wasn't afraid to live among all of these demons. She had bravery that was certain. He wondered why she didn't shake with fear when he reached for his plate forcefully.
"Now now, Lord Tama. You should have more manners. Didn't you mother teach you anything?" she said, with a smile on her face. Her brown hair was pulled back on a loose ponytail as that was how she had kept it as of late. The young girl was definitely growing up and in many ways it was seen. She acted more like an older sister to Tama then anything.
His eyes widened as he looked at his lap. "Mother, taught me some, but I hardly got to see her when I lived back at ho-" he stopped and looked up at her. For the first time, his outer shell was breaking. This had been the first time that he was allowed to roam and be free. He could see his mother whenever he pleased.
"Well, Lord Tama...this is your home now." she said, before eating politely.
Tama nodded slowly and then smiled some. "You don't have to call me Lord, Rin." he said, taking some meat and eating it.
This caught Rin off guard. Tama had never said something that nice to her before. In fact, she was sure that he never had actually called her by name. She smiled brightly at him. She could see how much he cared for his mother and she was happy that the care that his mother had for everything had carried over to him. He may not realize it, but he had a soft side. She nodded and then looked at her plate. She could see both parents in him and she liked that. 'He will make a good Lord one day.'
After he had eaten to his fill, he looked at her and nodded. "Well, I have to get back to training." he said, grumbling a little bit. It seemed as though he didn't really want to train, but he had to.
She smiled and began to gather the plates. "Yes, well I hope that you don't injure yourself to much." Rin said, placing everything back in the basket and then rising to her feet. "See you later, Lord Tama." she said, before leaving him by himself.
"Finally." he said, getting up and standing for the first time in about two hours. "Now, I can get back to training." he said, wanting nothing more then to get stronger so that he father would approve of him. He picked up the sword with difficulty and began to swing it around for a little bit. He could barely raise it, so he decided that a wooden one would be better for practice. He sliced and turned, pretending to be dodging attacks. A smile came to his face as he could see the demon who kept his mother and him locked up in the castle far to the East. "Take that, Genroku!" he said, stabbing the air.
Kija was walking be the training grounds where he say little Tama stabbing and yelling. An amused look came over his face as he stopped to watch him. He looked rather funny running around and dodging things that only he was imagining. The older demon stepped into the grounds and came closer to him. "Tama." he said, with a small smile on his face. He watched as the boy whipped around and looked at him, breathing heavily. "Tama, rest some." he said, looking down at the young demon as he saw the determination in the young one's eyes.
"Not until Father says so." he said, lowering his blade to relax a bit.
"Your father is preoccupied at the moment." he said, with a smirk.
"Well, then I shall train until he comes back."
"Tama, get some rest. He will wake you early tomorrow to begin with all new training." he said, his blue eyes warming up to the little one.
"I guess you are right. But don't tell father...he might get mad." he said, lowering his head.
"I don't think that will happen. You already look stronger, and I am sure that he is proud of you."
"But, I don't think that he-"
"Before you came here, did you make sure your mother was happy?"
Tama nodded. "Yes, I didn't want her to have that sad look and I hated it when Genroku threatened her or even hurt her. But you know one thing?"
"Hmm?" he said, kneeling in front of him.
"She never cried or whimpered in terror. Her eyes held such strength. I have never seen that from my mother after we left there. She looked as if she wanted to survive, that something was giving her hope." he said, looking at Kija with a sad face.
"You know why?" The blue eyed demon said, watching Tama's head shake no. "Because she didn't lose faith that she would be back here. Your father, where he admits it or not, loves her and that love kept her alive. When you were born that only raised her determination to take you here. Your mother cares for you and your father more than anything." he said, nodding. Although, his eyes held sadness as he had lost Nara's deep caring the moment she had lost her memories.
Tama nodded. "I care for my mother too, and that is why I am going to become a strong demon that can protect her."
"And that is why your father is training you. He knows how you feel." he said, standing up and stretching.
"Thanks, Kija." Tama said, smiling for a moment at his uncle and then he walked away.
Kija looked up at the window to Nara's room. A smile came to his face as he knew that she was safe and probably quite happy. He knew that she was where she belonged. Peace of mind came over the demon as he looked at that window. Maybe, he didn't have to tell her and forget about wanting to someday have her remember her own brother. He smiled and then nodded. "No need to burden myself with this. You are happy and so I shall be content." he said, looking away and heading to where his own love was waiting for him.
Meanwhile, Nara was standing at the window with Sesshoumaru standing by her side. Her grey eyes looked at him with happiness as everything had been settled. "How did he do?" she asked, wanting to know about Tama. It seemed that the demon lord had been quite content with his son's improvement. That pleased Nara to see this satisfied look on her love's face.
"Well, he truly is my son." he said, looking down at her. Sometimes he hated when she looked at him like that, but it made his heart seem to warm up. He hated feeling these emotions, but no one saw them but her. He watched as she moved closer to him and rested her head on his soft white pelt. His body tensed up some as he still didn't know exactly how to act. But feeling her warmth made him feel something that he usually hated to feel. Contentment He felt her delicate hand rest upon chest to feel his heart beating. Slowly, he wrapped an arm around her. He looked out the window and let a deep breath out. The calm before the storm was happening right now.
End Chapter...
So, I hope that you all are enjoying this. Drama is about to happen and I can't till you read it. Thank you so much for the reviews. I am so happy that everyone is loving this story. It's almost over soon. But don't worry, I am working on a few other stories. I am not disappearing. See ya soon!