Lessons Learned

Author Shortey 83

Chapter 12 Home away from home

Disclaimer: I do NOT own InuYasha or Skyrim! I only borrow ideas because trying to drill them out of my head with power tools doesn't work! ^.^

Story Start:

Life in the village really hadn't changed too much since she had left, most things remaining the same even though Takara had thought that a few of them would… at least she had hoped. However as she sat with Rin, catching up on the things that she had missed while she had been training, the single village men were bringing her presents again. Rin thought it was funny, but Takara wanted to kick every one of them in the shins until they got the picture. Even after three months, they couldn't take a hint. She didn't even bother to look at them when they placed their gifts near her, but still they continued to come; some even twice.

Her saving grace came from Rin's excited gasp and she knew then she was saved. Looking over her shoulder she could see Sesshomaru walking up the hill to where they were. She watched Rin stand and run up to him to hug his leg before he presented her with a thick looking winter kimono. Thanking him, Rin bowed down before she quickly ran to show Kaede what he had brought her. She laughed to herself as she stood My turn! Then she also ran to him and straight into the mass of fluff at his shoulder. "Fluffy! It's been too long!" She almost laughed when Sesshomaru growled at her like he usually did when she greeted his fur instead of him, but she didn't instead she hugged his fur tighter. A moment later she pulled back, and looked up to him "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Hello Sesshomaru." He narrowed his eyes at her and all the while she could feel the men behind her glaring daggers at Sesshomaru.

Even as she cuddled his fur, Sesshomaru could sense the jealousy seeping off of the men whose attention Takara had quickly abandoned once he had approached. When he glanced up, about five human men were glancing angrily to each other and then to him, their eyes ending on Takara. It seemed that they didn't notice or care that Takara had blatantly been ignoring them and continued to fawn over her. If he was going to court her, he needed these males to also know that she was his and that they needed to give up their hopeless mission to win her affection. He would be the only male to do that.

Takara noticed Sesshomaru looking at the men behind her and sure enough when she released him to look over her shoulder the men were in fact giving Sesshomaru death glares. She thought about mouthing off to him so the villagers didn't suspect anything but before she could speak, The tall demon before her had wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her body flush against his. When she braced her hands on his chest to assure that she didn't press uncomfortably into his armor, she could feel the vibrations in his strong chest before the sound rumbled out as a long, deep, deadly sounding growl.

That did the trick.

It only took a few seconds for the men to scatter from their little group and make their way back down the hill and into the village.

Takara swallowed nervously before she looked back to Sesshomaru who was watching the men retreat into the village. Once he was satisfied that the men weren't coming back, he returned his attention to Takara. A scarlet flush was creeping into her cheeks and she couldn't seem to make it go away. "You do know that the entire village will know about this before nightfall right?" she asked, her body still held against his and her hands pressed against his chest. He didn't respond for a moment, but as usual, what he had to say threw her for a loop.

"I have heard that your living arrangements have been compromised. I am extending to you and Rin an invitation to stay with me for the winter." That took Takara a moment to wrap her head around. He had just asked her to live with him, even if it was for the winter. Even now she could feel the cold breeze of the autumn air brushing against her skin. Takara dropped her head back against his fur. "You need help with your conversation skills" she told him with a sigh. "Next time try something along the lines of "Takara I missed you too. Where have you been?", before throwing something like that out there."

"I knew where you were. That is why I did not ask." He told her simply.

"Can't you pretend to act surprised or like you were curious or concerned about my whereabouts?"

"Had I been concerned or curious I would have sought you out."

"Do you have an answer for everything?"

"Do you have a question for everything?"

"Argh!" Takara finally gave up pulling out of his embrace. "You are such a pain!"

"I do cause pain." Sesshomaru told her and Takara got the feeling that was a small attempt at humor on his part.

Throwing up her arms in defeat, Takara started to walk away only to be grabbed up again by Sesshomaru, her back now pressing into his chest. "I have been curious about your time away Takara. If you accept my invitation, you could tell me all that transpired during that time." He told her, his warm breath fanning her neck before a low growl rumbled deep in his chest.

"I don't think it would be very becoming of me to spend the winter in a strange demon's home." She teased as she leaned her head away from him, exposing her neck to him. He didn't miss her invitation and placed a sharp nip on her delicate flesh causing a tingling sensation to run down her spine. "If you would cooperate woman, by then end of winter you would be very well acquainted with me and I with you."

A flush crept onto her cheeks at his bold declaration and he looked over her shoulder at him. "Has anyone ever told you that you are positively prime evil?"

"Flattery is an effective way to gain my attention."

Takara hadn't exactly meant it as a compliment, but he took it as one so she let it go. Pulling away from him, her mind buzzing with questions as to what could and would happen between them if she chose to accept his invitation. "Give me tonight to think about it. I'll give you an answer in the morning." She told him before heading down into the village, bumping into InuYasha halfway.

"What was that all about?" the half demon asked with a smug look on his face. It seemed that he had come to investigate once the villagers had run into the village and had witnessed the entire scene. Takara shrugged with a grin on her face and headed into Kaede's hut where her belongings were still located, her decision already made. She was just going to let Sesshomaru wonder about it overnight.

Sesshomaru spoke to Rin a little later and though she was thrilled with his offer, she had declined. That had shocked him. He was more than certain that the little girl would agree to stay with him and that Takara would be the one he would have to convince, but now things had changed and he was uncertain if she would accept his invitation. Rin had chosen to decline to help Kaede with the girls that would be married off in the spring. She told him that she wanted to help her friends prepare for their new lives.

Now as he waited for morning to come, he wondered if Takara would truly decline his offer, making the effort he had expended with the humans building his home pointless. However, he would not waste this effort. If he needed to spend the winter convincing her to stay with him through spring and summer the following year he would do so. Regardless, Sesshomaru was determined to keep this woman with him.

The following morning when he entered the village, he couldn't find any trace of her. Thinking she had run from him stirred up a little pain deep within him, but he continued to search, not knowing that she watched him searching for her from a distance.

"Do you plan to accept his offer?" Sahloknir asked as he hovered behind the cover of a cloud. She felt him disconnect his mind from hers, making her lose sight of Sesshomaru, her vision not nearly as strong as the dragon's. "I want to, but I'm not sure." She told her friend. "While I was packing my things it just felt like accepting his invitation was forgetting my world, and I'm scarred to do that. I miss my family and I wonder if they worry about me, but at the same time I want to be with him. Who knows? He may grow tired of me in a little while and then where will I be? He is a demon after all."

Sahloknir thought on that for a moment. "You wonder if you can be happy with him?" Takara admitted that was a big part of her problem. Could she love him? "I have found that in my many years of meditation that love is not about finding the right person, so to speak, but it is more about loving the person you have found." He told her and Takara thought on that while he continued. "It seems to me that love is not entirely a feeling, but it is also a decision. You have to choose to be with him and to stay with him."

"I had no idea you were so wise." She joked with the dragon before asking him to land away from the village where he had picked her up earlier that morning. She thanked him for his time and he told her that all she needed to do was call him should she ever need him.

Takara made her way back to the outskirts of the forest surrounding the village and moved to where she was upwind of Sesshomaru and waited. She knew it wouldn't take long for him to catch her scent so she sat in the shade of the tree and waited.

It was only a few minutes before Kaos came trotting up to her, settling his upper body on her lap and lying down for her to pet him. She envied her dog. No matter where he was, he was happy as long as he was with her and she wished she could do that.

As she pet him though, the other dog that held her thoughts appeared before her looking a bit angry. "Where were you?" he calmly demanded eyeing the dog on her lap. "Thinking about your offer." She answered looking away from him and back to her oversized lapdog as she smoothed down his dark fur. Sesshomaru didn't say anything as he waited for her to speak. "Let's be clear on a few things before I make my decision." She finally told him and he nodded. "I want to be clear that I am free to come and go as I please?" she asked and he nodded. "If I want to visit Kagome and InuYasha I can?" again he nodded. "I guess there is only one other thing." She told him before leaning down to hug Kaos around his neck while glancing up to Sesshomaru with a sweet smile.

His eyes narrowed as he eyed Takara and then the dog before a low growl rumbled in his throat, but Takara never swayed. Either she got to bring Kaos or she stayed, it was that simple and she let him know that. Shock quickly passed through his eyes before they returned to their typical emotionless state. "Very well, you may bring him with you." He finally agreed and Takara stood. "Just let me grab my bag and say bye to everyone." With that she turned and walked into the village.

The goodbyes were short and sweet, Rin being the only one who was upset she was leaving, but at least there were no tears because she promised to visit every time Sesshomaru did. Well Rin was the only sad one but there were a few men who were angry she was leaving. However, Takara did notice the glare Sesshomaru sent their way and after they paled a bit, none of them felt the need to voice their disappointment. It wasn't much later that Takara was following Sesshomaru out of the village.

If someone had said a few months ago that she would be leaving with Sesshomaru she would have laughed in their faces, but now she was leaving with him despite her earlier thoughts. She had wanted to ask him why he wanted her to stay with him, but she was afraid of what his answer might have been. Somewhere deep down she was terrified that he was just using her to substitute for the woman he had lost, and she wondered if it was the other woman he saw when he looked at her or if he truly saw her, Takara. At some point in the near future she knew this was going to pop up between them, she just hoped she had the strength to deal with his answer, no matter what it was, when the time came.

They hadn't been walking long when they met Jaken along with the creature named Ah-Un waiting for them. It took a few minutes for Takara to get used to Ah-Un and a few more minutes to get her dog acquainted with the creature but once they were it was no problem getting Kaos onto the dragon like creature's back. The thing's back was broad enough for Kaos to lay down flat on his belly with his head resting between both of theirs with Takara sitting behind him, her legs on either side of his.

Once they were in the air, Kaos couldn't have been more relaxed if he was dead seeing how he fell asleep making Takara envy him yet again for being so carefree and being able to sleep. She had been up most of the night tossing and turning while she wondered if she should or shouldn't go with Sesshomaru.

The trip was a quiet one and thankfully only half a day's flight because by noon, Kaos had woken up and was anxious to get off the dragon and find a tree. While she had enjoyed the flight on the demon's back while watching the many different sights of the land below her pass by, she too was thankful when she finally got to get down and stretch her legs. No sooner had they set down did Kaos hop from the creatures back and immediately began to look for a place to relieve himself, lifting his leg after a moment or two on a nearby bush.

Off in the distance, Takara could see the roof of a few homes in between the breaks in the trees and after a quick stretch of her limbs, she jogged to close the distance between Sesshomaru and herself.

She didn't say anything as she walked beside him, but she was glad he had invited her to stay with him. As a slight breeze swept by them, Takara could feel the chill in the air and guessed that winter would come early this year. There would still be plenty of time before the first snows fell, but the cold was already beginning to tighten its grasp on the land.

The leaves on the trees still held their green colors, but a vast array of browns, yellows and reds were starting to invade the branches. The soft carpet of grass was beginning to disappear in the wake of the fallen leaves and branches to crunch beneath their feet.

"It seems very peaceful here." Takara took note of as she listened to the soft singing of birds and other forest creatures. Sesshomaru didn't say anything or even make a move to acknowledge that she had spoken, and Takara didn't bother to try and get him to. She knew that if she did the little imp creature would start yelling and she really wasn't in the mood to deal with him. She was tired and that made her a little cranky with the thought of dealing with the toad's irritating voice. Only moments later did they step out of the clearing of the trees to find a pleasant sight. Behind the high walls that stood before them was a quaint little human village nestled at the base of the mountain before them. It looked to be a newer set of structures, but the little homes sat safe and sound behind the high wall.

What probably surprised her more than the little village were the amount of humans bustling around it, all of them in good spirits working their trades and building a few different buildings here and there. Upon seeing them, a group of men called out to other villagers and began announcing Sesshomaru's return before everyone they passed and offered him a low bow before they continued their work.

Sesshomaru for the most part seemed to be oblivious to their attention.

Finally they reached the inner part of the village and the dividing wall between the large home there and the rest of the small town. It was probably the grandest home Takara had seen since arriving in this time and she couldn't help but to gape at its beauty. She could see the large waterfall behind the home from where it poured out of the mountain and flowed to several different streams throughout the town and the home itself.

"Jaken" Sesshomaru finally spoke "Take Ah-Un" Nothing more was said, so Takara took it upon herself to follow her demon host into his home.

Following suit, Takara removed her shoes at the entry and followed Sesshomaru into the home. He showed her only to what he told her would be her rooms before he instructed a servant to show her about the home after she had rested. He left her with the instructions to rest, and should she need anything to speak with the servants or to find him on the other side of the mansion.

While she was curious as to the layout of the home, Takara was ready for a nap. She only took a brief look around her rooms and found them very lavish. There were several different large rooms that were connected to her own, the main room with a low table and pillows surrounding it and various tables and pots neatly arranged along the walls, a room for her to sleep in with a very large and soft looking futon built into a raised portion of the floor. This room also contained storage space for her weapons as well as a separate space for her clothes in which many new and beautiful kimonos filled. She didn't even want to think about how expensive they must have been. In this area there were also a wide selection of combs, hair pins, sandals and anything else she could have wanted.

Finally she opened the door on the far side of this room and followed the small path that lead to another, but separate little building. She was going to jump Sesshomaru the next time she saw him. This building housed a large natural hot spring and she couldn't wait to bathe in it after she took her nap.

She entered the bedroom again, stripping out of her clothes and pulled on a light sleeping yukata before adding a few logs to the small fire burning at the center of the room. With that she climbed onto her large and soft bed and watched Kaos for a few moments as he continued to sniff and inspect their new quarters before her eyelids became too heavy for her and she drifted off to sleep.