Chapter 5 – Memories

They all rushed inside that room and they set Chikara down on the bed that was situated in the middle of the bedroom.

Jaken came by and started to ask many questions as well as trying to find out what happened to Sesshoumaru's mate. He looked at the damages; she was really in bad shape, even looked like she would die. In an instant, he dreamed that she would leave them for the other world and that finally he would be alone with his master again. Rubbing his hands together; he even thought that he could comfort his lord, after her departure. The idea of touching his secret crush made him drool. He quickly realised what he was doing so he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

As Inuyasha approached to enter, they blocked his way, saying that the Lady and the Lord needed to be left alone for them to work efficiently. Inuyasha tried to protest, but the healers were all talking at the same time about different things.

Jaken, surprised to see Inuyasha in the castle, frowned and told some healers to get the 'bastard' out. He didn't want him to ruin the moment.

So two of the tallest healers pushed the hanyou out and shut the door in an unkind manner. Inuyasha was pissed, but at least, he wasn't alone; nobody came to take Takato away from him. He held the pup possessively, as if it was his last hope.

Having a lot of time in front of him, he decided to visit the castle, by starting with the gardens: "Well, Takato, it looks like we have been left alone. Do you mind taking a tour of this place, by going to the gardens first?" The baby squealed in his arms, showing his answer.

"Okay, I'll take this as a yes then."

Inuyasha passed through long corridors; some made of plain wood, but must of them carved with a giant dog demon pattern. Where the eyes were, rubies were decorating. It was well decorated, in Inuyasha's opinion, even though if he never had a taste for luxury. The floor was made of fine wood, and when you walked on it, it felt like the wood was alive. Inuyasha really liked this place, it was really pleasing. He looked down at Takato and smiled. It was nice to be inside, instead of out in the wild. It was giving Inuyasha a sense of protection; for once he wasn't the strongest in this place and it wasn't his duty to protect the others. At the thought of others, he worried a bit about his friends, who didn't knew if where he was and about Chikara's wounds. He tossed this away from his mind, convincing himself that they were going to be fine.

°°°

Arriving at destination, he took a glance at the gardens. It was horrible; the plants were all dead and the surviving trees were so small that they looked like bushes. The small paths that ornamented once those beautiful gardens were now no where to be found with all the years of no caring: "But why didn't Sesshoumaru hire any gardeners to take care of those gardens, which were the pride of my father?" He remembered the small strolls he took with his mother when he was just a small pup. But then persons would make fun of him and he would hide in his mother's arms. Those memories were so painful to remember; he suffered all his life so much because of his lineage…

Inuyasha started to walk through miles of weeds and abandoned plants. He noticed that near a pond, there were small flowers that were newly placed in the ground and that the path near the water source was cleared. He was approaching it when he heard something rustling in the bushes. He hid, tightened his grip around Takato and put a hand on Tetsusaiga.

After a few seconds, a small child erupted from her hiding; it was only a human girl. Inuyasha sighed. No danger in sight.

'But what a human girl is doing on the castle territory of a demon lord?' Inuyasha thought. Sesshoumaru wouldn't let a little girl wander near his home if she isn't a servant or a slave.

The child was playing around the area and seemed to be negligent about what her environment held. Inuyasha took the opportunity to go forward; he came out of his hiding place.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

The little girl froze dropping her armful of delicate flowers. Then she turned to face the half-demon. "AH! Please go away! Lord Sesshoumaru! Help!" She tried to run away, but Inuyasha caught a grip on her kimono.

"No! Shut up! It's okay, I don't wanna hurt you."

The little girl stopped yelling, but she was still in shock. At least, now his dog ears ceased hurting. Now, it was to know who she was. Inuyasha was about to ask her in his nicest tone who she was, but she was faster than him: "Who are you? Are you new here?" she asked, a bit afraid.

Inuyasha took time to understand as she had spoken really fast, then answered: "Huh, well… I'm Sesshoumaru's brother; my name is Inuyasha… and what do you mean by new?"

As soon as she heard Sesshoumaru's name and that he was Inuyasha, her mood changed quickly. "My name is Rin. Nice to meet you. Are you here to play with me?

Inuyasha was a bit confused, but still answered the best he could. "Huh, no. I was just passing by. But wh-"

"But then why are you here? Do you have some business with my Lord?" The young girl was getting a bit annoying with her questions, in Inuyasha's opinion. But then again, if Sesshoumaru had anything to do with her, he shouldn't upset her again.

Inuyasha tried to explain her with an easy language. "Well, huh, my friend Chikara, Sesshoumaru's mate, has been badly wounded in a battle. So we came here to see the healers."

Inuyasha saw her eyes' expression shifting and knew what was coming next. "WHAT? Mama is hurt! Where? I want to see her!" Rin said, as she started to cry loudly, very loudly. Takato was starting to get agitated with all that noise.

Inuyasha was at loss; firstly, she called Chikara 'mama'. Secondly, she was crying and Inuyasha didn't know what to do when little kids were crying. Thirdly, he didn't want Takato to start wailing too. Rin was clutching his clothes and burying her face in his sleeve. Wet spots were forming where she was crying. Inuyasha stiffened. Normally in those situations, he would run away, but now he couldn't as Rin was sticking to him. Conclusion: running wouldn't be a good idea. So he did what Kagome always did to comfort someone crying.

He slowly put a hand on her shoulder, which made her look at him.

"Now now, don't cry, she's… gonna be okay in no time...Yeah, in no time" he repeated, more to convince himself than Rin.

Rin wiped her tears with Inuyasha's other sleeve and sniffed.

"You think so?" she looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Inuyasha hesitated. "Yeah I do. Now why don't you come with us; Takato and I are visiting the castle and you could be our guide.

To say Rin was happy, it wasn't quite the right expression. Let's say she was more ecstatic. "Really? Great! Come, there are a lot of fun places to visit!"

She grabbed Inuyasha's wet sleeve and pulled him toward the castle.

Unfortunately, they met a slightly grouchy Jaken quite a few times.

°°°

As they were walking to another destination with Rin as a guide, they met with an old woman, which looked somehow familiar to Inuyasha.

Rin stopped dead and hid behind Inuyasha: "That's Ayashii. She's very mean with Rin" she whispered. Inuyasha looked up and took a quick glance at the old human; she did look a bit stern.

"Ah, Rin, there you are!" the old woman said, with a faked smile. "I've been searching for you, dear. Now come, it's time for your daily lessons."

Rin shook her head hard. "No! I won't come. Tell her, uncle Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha didn't know what to say; if Rin had lessons, that must meant that Sesshoumaru was seeing forward to her education. The solution was clear: do not contradict the lord's authority, and you will live.

But then it flashed to him: "What did you call me?

"Don't worry about it, she does the same tantrum every day" said the old servant.

Inuyasha looked at the young girl and said: "Listen Rin, if she says so, you must follow the schedule." Rin looked up at Inuyasha with pleading eyes. "PLEASE uncle Inuyasha, I don't want to go!" She grabbed his leg and said: "I won't move from here!"

Inuyasha was getting irritated by her behaviour, but she remembered him of when he was about her age; he didn't want to go too. He chuckled and removed her from his leg. He deposited her on the floor and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Now, Rin, if you go now and your teacher tells me that you've been a nice girl, we'll play to whatever game you like after your lessons, okay?" Rin's eyes widened. "Really? During a whole afternoon?"

Inuyasha looked reluctant to answer yes, but approved anyways, she was too cute to tell her no. He smiled at her and congratulated himself: 'Good, that was easy…'

The old women looked happy that somebody was on her side: "And I must take also the young prince too."

Inuyasha's smile fell off his face. "What! No way! I'm the one that takes care of him, since Chikara can't."

"I insist to take him. It's my job to take care of kids. You're a male and a prince also; you are not fit for this task."

Inuyasha was mad. "What, you mean I'm incompetent?"

"Yes- NO! I mean no, just that when it's about kids, women are better to do this" she smiled at her quick and well thought answer.

Sesshoumaru entered as the half-demon was about to protest.

"Enough. Inuyasha, hand to her the children and let her be."

The hanyou couldn't protest, since her was his in brother's castle, but he didn't want to be alone, and he didn't want to stay with his brother.

Sesshoumaru and the old servant, with the children, went on their own side and Inuyasha was left with himself. He looked down at the floor and went in a random direction. He was walking slowly for a few minutes. He looked around and decided to get back to the gardens to think, after all that's the only choice he had left.

He passed in the same corridors he first took to go there. But nothing was as beautiful as that morning with Takato.

°°°

He spotted a tree and sat at its roots. He looked at the shadows the sun was creating, it was near noon now. He sighed. Alone. Feh, why did he absolutely wanted to come in the first place? 'Because if I hadn't come, Chikara wouldn't be here, being treated by the best healers of the west, that's why.' Also because he didn't want to let Takato alone with his father; Inuyasha knew that Sesshoumaru didn't care if his son was raised by maids. Inuyasha was angry; Takato doesn't deserve a father like Sesshoumaru. Poor Chikara, she's being left out as well; she's Sesshoumaru's wife, but not his mate. The bond isn't complete and the lord doesn't do a thing about it; he almost ignores her, but she loves him with all her heart. 'If only she had met someone other than my brother, I'm sure that person would have loved her the way she deserves it.'

Inuyasha started to wonder what it would be to have a family of his own. He never thought that someday someone would love him; being a hanyou, nobody wants him. But his friends had taught him that no matter what, they would stick with him. But he let them down a few times, the most recently with that whole body-exchanging accident.

'Feh! That damned accident…' Sure, he liked it being treated like a child, after the body exchanging, and loved like he never has been loved by anyone before, except by his deceased mother. Chikara loved him, he could feel by the way she held him and protected him during the battle. That love, it wasn't one made of want for another person though, it was… more like the love of a mother. He promised himself that his own children would feel loved and not abandoned like he's been in his childhood.

Inuyasha looked around to be sure nobody was watching, he wiped a single tear and decided that he was going to go back, to see what were the news about Chikara's state. He moved toward the castle following his nose to find the healers, who were probably still taking care of her.


Okay, here's chap 5 after a month without updating. I had a lot of school work to do and I was too lazy to update, even though the chapter was written ; Well anyways,reviews/comments are always welcomed!