Lessons Learned

Author: Shortey 83

Chapter: 41 – Changes

Disclaimer: I do NOT own InuYasha or Skyrim!

Story Start:

The following week, Takara spent her time speaking with and conducting her own little interviews with the women who were eager to replace Ayako. After her display, she worried that she wouldn't be able to find anyone, but it seemed that nearly every woman in the village was interested in the position.

Of course, there were a few who showed up out of concern it was some sort of test, but after speaking with them and assuring them it was by no means a test, Takara sent them on their way, thanking them for making time to speak with her. She was torn on who she should choose for her main criteria, making a few considerations for the times. On the one hand, it would be easier for a younger woman to handle the duties of the house if they were performed as intended, not just flaunting about like Ayako had done. However, the other hand stated that younger women mostly wanted to marry and have children and Takara couldn't see interfering with those dreams.

How could she, especially as she watched how quickly her own son grew? He was getting bigger by the day, and it wouldn't be long before he opened his eyes. She couldn't wait to see if they resembled her own or if he shared his father's gorgeous topaz eyes.

She wanted whoever took the job to be someone who didn't look at it as such but found the role to be fulfilling in some way; as something that she could look forward to. She had considered Mai, but with her being so young, Takara was afraid to take her life from her in that way. When in doubt, ask. She thought, having sent for the girl.

Takara didn't think she would ever get used to the rank that was given to her as Sesshomaru's wife, feeling bad at how nervous everyone was when she asked to speak with them. Even Mai, who she had known for over two years seemed to always worry she would do something to offend the Lady of the House. However, after a few minutes of conversation, she relaxed and that allowed Takara to move into the more difficult parts of the conversation. She inquired about Mai's desires for her life, urging the girl not to worry about offending her and to be honest.

"I know you're convinced that if you say what you perceive as the wrong thing, I'll be upset," Takara soothed her "But the only way I would be upset is if you were dishonest with me. I don't want to keep you trapped here if you want something else for yourself." She shot her a devious grin and looked to the closed screen door where Sesshomaru sat with their son. "I know how difficult it can be. I spend my days navigating the complexities of dealing with the most difficult individual I have ever met, but I love him just the same."

A growl came from behind the screen, and both women fought to suppress their laughter.

"However, some people want more than mere self-preservation-"

"Takara…" He growled from the porch, but of course that only sent her into a fit of giggles until she was able to compose herself.

She cleared her throat as she got her laughter under control. "Anyways, back to the matter at hand. What do you want?" As she watched the wheels turn behind Mai's eyes, she added "And don't tell me what you think I want to hear."

Finally, she sighed, "My husband and I were considering having children too, but I don't know how I would manage that with more responsibilities than what I am currently handling."

Takara nodded, "That is understandable, so if that's the case, who would you recommend and why?"

Mai thought on that, trying to carefully arrive at her own answer. "I think Shinju would be best. She isn't too old to handle the work, she's well respected in the village, and she holds you and Lord Sesshomaru with high regard."

Takara thought about the woman who was roughly the same age as Ayako who usually spent her days sewing and teaching other women how to sew, but to the best of her knowledge lived alone. "What about her family? Does she have any other obligations?"

Mai shook her head. "No, her husband and child died from illness many years ago and she never remarried. She just spends her day helping those who need her, sewing, watching children and such."

Takara had been considering the woman before, but she felt given her familiarity with Mai she should at least offer her the position first. "Very well, I'll speak with her first thing tomorrow, but I think we need to come up with a solution should she be removed from the community."

Ideas began to swirl in Takara's head then. While she didn't want to change society completely, she did want to get those in her village every opportunity to succeed, and that meant building on the foundation of that community. She was already dealing with the issue of trying to defend the village while Sesshomaru was away, but now she had to figure out the best way of bettering the lives of her people. However, in order to do that, she would have to find a way to organize them or find a way to have them organize themselves.

"My Lady?" Mai's voice snapped her out of her pondering and back to the present.

"Oh, sorry. Just lost in thought."

"Scheming," the voice from beyond the screen corrected.

"Lies!" She laughed, "Don't listen to the voice beyond the screen. It likes to imply that I cause trouble."

"It also likes to punish you when you cause the trouble."

The indignant frown that slid across her face wasn't exactly ladylike…then again, sticking her tongue out at the screen didn't help her cause either.

"Put it back before I find a better use for it."

Mai's laughter didn't help her cause as she quickly pulled her tongue back into her mouth, looking around the room to see how he could've known. "How did you…?" Her voice thick with awe. He may have been able to read her emotions, but she doubted he was able to read her mind.

"Lucky guess."

Well played, Sesshomaru. Well played.

"Anyways," she continued. "If you could, would you be able to speak with some of the elders in the village? I would like to arrange a meeting with them in a couple of weeks for some plans-"

"Schemes" He corrected again.

"PLANS… I have."

"Of course, My Lady" Mai smiled, excusing herself to go and do as she had been asked. Once she left, it was only a few minutes before Sesshomaru entered, their son bundled up in his arms.

A smile danced across her face as he passed the bundle to her, sitting with her as she placed him down on her fur pile and unwrapped him. Sound asleep, his little hind legs stretched as he made himself more comfortable, his little pawlike hands following suit until a yawn escaped him, his little pink tongue remained peeking out of his mouth. "He should be opening his eyes soon, don't you think?" She questioned, unable to keep herself from reaching out to stroke him, running her hand down the length of his back just before he rolled onto it, presenting her with his rounded belly which she gladly rubbed.

"I believe so," he answered, watching as she stroked Kuromaru until he grumbled his displeasure from being woken up. He let out a low growl that Takara felt more than heard until the fussy pup quieted but started to wriggle where he lay.

Try as he might, Takara gently laughed as he struggled to roll back onto his belly, his little fingers and toes stretching with the effort as his little legs waved in the air. "Awww, poor little turtle. Are you stuck?" She asked in a soft, singsong voice, trying not to laugh as Sesshomaru whipped his head in her direction. "What?" she giggled, as she rubbed his belly. "He's stuck, just like a turtle… or me when I was pregnant."

"Strange female," he sighed.

It took him a little more struggling, but eventually, he righted himself and lifted his nose as he wriggled around the fur until he was able to squirm his way over to her. She picked him up, pressing her nose to his before he yawned as wide as his little muzzle would let him. It was then she noticed a little bit of shimmer near his eyes and softly gasped as his eyes barely squinted open.

"Well, hello little one," she laughed as his eyes shut again, another huge yawn slipping out. Over the next hour or so, his little eyelids kept lifting ever so slightly, slowly revealing more and more of his eyes, but just as they began to open more, he decided he'd had enough of that nonsense and demanded his meal instead with a series of tiny howling groans. Not one to deny him, Takara arranged him where he could feed and hummed to him softly as he nursed. As he did, he would open his eyes just a fraction more until she was able to see the most beautiful silvery blue eyes she'd ever seen.

"Oh, wow," she sighed, as those tiny, unfocused eyes starred up in her direction. "Look how blue they are. They're almost…"

Sesshomaru was silent for a moment before he prompted her to continue. "Almost what?"

The tiny, sad laugh that escaped her told him all he needed to know once she muttered the words. "They're so blue, they're almost silver. Sahloknir's eyes were silver." She detected no anger from him, not even a hint of upset as he stroked her head. "I guess what they say is true. A person's eyes really are windows into their soul."

Of course, his stunning eyes made him even more devastating to Takara, but they also brought a bit of worry too. Part of her felt selfish for being so happy with her child because, while she loved him and saw how fantastic he was, she worried about him as he grew and what others would think of him as well. Well, not the world, because there was no making everyone happy, but she wondered if there would ever be another person who could love him as much as she loved his father. He would be different, and while she knew that from the start, she hadn't expected him to be so different.

She wondered if he would be able to talk like a person, or if he would be confined to canine behaviors with humanlike intelligence. She wondered if he would be able to interact with the people around him or if they would have to shelter him from the storm of society, his only reprieve being the nights where he lost his demon powers. Thus far, that had yet to happen, so she didn't even know what he would look like then.

"Everything will be fine, My Treasure" Sesshomaru soothed her, stroking her hair as he pulled her against his strong body.

"I hope so. I don't think I could handle it if he hated us for the way he was born."

Her mate was silent for a moment as he stroked her, "If you love him as I feel you do, he could never hate you, My Treasure."

She sniffled, trying to hold back a few tears. "I don't want him to hate you either, Sesshomaru." She held up her hand before he could argue with her. "I don't mean that you shouldn't push him to be better or make him angry if you correct him when he's wrong, but for him to truly hate you, blame you for your part in making him what he is. I couldn't handle that."

"Then the answer is simple, My Treasure," gently he grabbed her chin and pulled her face to look up to his. "So long as you never pity him or feel regret for what he is, he may question himself, but it will pass. We will not allow him to feel pity for himself either. There is no need for it." He leaned down until his lips could brush across hers. "He is my son, after all."

She let out a sigh as she turned from him, back to her nursing son. "There's that ego… I was wondered where it had wandered off too. Good to know it didn't go far."

Not too long after, Rin came in to visit for a while, excited to see that Kuromaru had begun to open his eyes, letting him know she would be the best sister and make sure he listened to what she had to say. She asked if she could take him outside with her for a while. Takara looked to Sesshomaru who nodded and left the room with them, giving her that time to work on her 'book' for when she was healed.

She tried not to be too pleased with herself as she drew these different pictures and wrote descriptions underneath them. To her own amusement, she'd forgotten what most of the positions were called, so she tried to be creative with the names. Of course, she spent most of her time giggling to herself like a schoolgirl.

Another drawing completed, she waited for it to dry to put it with the others and leaned back, trying to adjust herself in a more comfortable position. Part of her couldn't wait for when Kuromaru started eating more because it left one of her breasts in a state of engorgement. For the most part, Sesshomaru was rather quick to alleviate that discomfort, but when the screen opened, and his father walked in she couldn't say she was surprised.

"Sesshomaru says you are in need of relief?" He asked, waiting for her response.

She hadn't been with him since Sesshomaru first offered her up, but she at least felt comfortable enough to indulge him since her mate wasn't too far away. Her discomfort was also a big factor in making her decision. "If you wouldn't mind," she answered, scooting back to find a comfortable position.

Invitation accepted he strode forward and waited for her to indicate the side of her discomfort. This time it was her right. He seated himself while she opened her yukata, barring her right breast for him and he went to work. She was so full of milk, it made her breast firm, and had it been Kuromaru, he probably wouldn't have been able to latch on. The sigh of relief as Tōga tended to her seemed to come from her soul. Hell, if she had been in her time, she probably could've been a help to other mothers who were maybe having a difficult time producing.

The dull, heavy ache only just faded when he lifted his head. "No head pats today?"

She rolled her eyes and shoved his head back down. "All three of you are spoiled," she sighed, but stroked his head.

"You have only yourself to blame," he told her around a mouthful of breast.

"I know. Believe me, I know."

When he finished with one breast, he moved her yukata to the side to make sure the other was also well drained since Kuromaru was eating more but taking more time between feedings. Feeling ten times better, Takara rewrapped her yukata thanking him for his assistance as he reached to the table and grabbed her now dry paper.

"Well, well. What is this?" he asked, holding the page out of her reach.

"If you don't know, am I to assume Sesshomaru was conceived by you bumping into his mother in a hallway?" She finally snatched the paper back as he laughed.

"What I mean is, what are you doing making such crude drawings?" His rich chuckle echoing behind her as she added her most recent drawing to the rather large stack she had already completed.

She shrugged as she handed him the stack to inspect. "I told Sesshomaru I was feeling adventurous and wanted to try something new." He gave her an appreciative nod as he looked through a couple of pages. "I guess the few positions we've been in are the most adventurous human women from here are and he assumed that I would be uncomfortable with anything else."

His brows raised at a particularly tricky position. "I see, but what I want to know is where such an innocent thing like you got such deliciously wicked ideas?" He looked her over as he showed her the drawing. "You think you could pull this off?"

"I believe the saying goes 'practice makes perfect'?" She gave him a confident smile. "And it's not a very interesting story. Just me and a few of my girlfriends snooping through our parents' rooms to see what they had that we weren't supposed to see. One friend found a book of 300 different positions, and we spent the night trying to recreate them."

"And you remember this many?"

"I was the one being put into those positions" She laughed as he held up another drawing with a raised brow.

"Were you the man or the woman?"

"Mostly the woman. The friend who we were staying with, her brother was the man in the earlier part of the evening." It seemed she now had his full attention. "All clothes were left on and there was absolutely zero attraction on either side, if that's what you're wondering."

The look on his face said he didn't believe her. "I doubt that."

She shrugged. "Think what you will, but he… likes boys not girls." He considered that for a moment, but his look turned suspicious. "I never felt any indication to make me think otherwise, so it was either he really had no interest in me (which I wholeheartedly believe) or he was really good at tucking." His bellowed laughter didn't bother her one way or the other. She knew her friend's brother, and while she knew teenage girls could be gullible, unless he had taken acting classes, the feelings he poured into that deep and soulful expression of trust were not something she would ever discount. She would go to her grave knowing he had showed her that expression of his heart.

"Well, after you try some out, find which you enjoy best and should you decide to include me in your activities, I will see what I can do about entertaining those requests." He went back to looking into the remaining drawings. "A few of these look rather interesting."

"Well, don't tell me," She stopped him. "I want to be completely unbiased when Sesshomaru and I try them."

He nodded as he neatly stacked the papers and handed them back over to her. "That sounds reasonable. Just start easy. You won't want to be too rough until you're sure you won't be injured."

"That's the plan," she told him, tucking away her drawings in a place she hoped Rin wouldn't find by mistake. She extended a hand to him, needing a little help up and he obliged, following her out of the house to sit with Sesshomaru to watch over Rin holding Kuromaru, twisting the early spring flowers into tiny crowns to put on his head. Sighing in contentment, she rested her head on Sesshomaru's shoulder, watching the two of them well into the evening.

A little more than a week later, Takara finally managed to round up most of the village elders to discuss furthering the village as well as seeing what their opinions were on the subject. To ensure they weren't swayed by intimidation, Takara asked Sesshomaru to take Kuromaru to the other side of the mansion so he wouldn't be growling through the screen.

"You plan to make these changes without my knowledge?" He said the line without emotion, but Takara knew it was a ruse. He was not happy with the thought.

"Absolutely not," She made sure to be clear on that point. "The only thing I plan on doing is get an honest assessment from the villagers on what their opinions are on how things are and what their plans for the future are. I will throw out potential suggestions on things that I could help them improve if it was something they would be interested in." She took a long look at Sesshomaru, and even holding their son, whose eyes were now wide open and stunningly blue, he was a formidable looking individual. "The only reason I'm asking you to stay over there is because they may hold back on their thoughts for fear of offending you."

A little bit of the coolness left his gaze, and he seemed to relax a bit at her reassurance. She leaned up for a kiss which he returned, slowly dominating her mouth until she broke away from him. "Just think of this as a human to demon translation, because I would never intentionally disrespect you by making such huge decisions without you."

"Intentionally?"

She shrugged. "I will probably make mistakes in the future. I may make a decision that seems to be nothing major to me but may be very important to you. So, if I do, I want you to understand that if those mistakes do happen, it will not be from a place of malice or disrespect."

Sesshomaru seemed to consider her words and eventually the last bit ice left his eyes and he headed to the other side of the mansion to await whatever it was she learned.

Mai had suggested she dress in her best kimono, but Takara wasn't out to intimidate either. However, she still wanted to communicate she did have some authority within the village, so she dressed nice enough to convey that. Squaring her shoulders, she entered the room the elders were waiting in, men and women alike. They all gave her a deep bow that she returned before sitting while they followed suit.

"I apologize for bringing you all here and taking you away from your busy days, but there were some things I needed to get your thoughts on." The members in the group looked a little surprised before looking to each other and back to her. "As some of you may know, I am… not from here, so to speak and where I come from, things work differently. However, I am not aiming to come in and completely change your lives or way of living, but if there is a chance that Lord Sesshomaru and I can improve things for you, we would like your input.

"I want to be clear; this is not a test or anything negative. I am truly trying to get your honest opinions on the happenings in the village and if you even want change. Please don't worry about offending us, that is not the goal of this meeting." She made sure to make eye contact with each of them. "So would anyone like to start?"

She felt bad that they felt so nervous about speaking up, but one of the eldest members eventually gathered the nerve to speak up. "Well, My Lady, there are somethings that I am not happy about." He hesitated, but at her nod continued. "Perhaps this isn't my place, but I was very upset that there is nothing in place to protect the village that does not directly endanger you or Lord Sesshomaru. During the last attack, I felt as if we were helpless, just like we were before we came into the service of Lord Sesshomaru, so I feel that we are still without options in the event of an attack."

Takara nodded and jotted down notes on what he had said. That he looked nervous, made her heart ache a little, but she reassured him that these were things she planned to take up with Sesshomaru to get his opinions. He gave her a nod and an older woman spoke up next.

"I would like to see about getting more ways to trade. I can't do much in my age, but I am very proficient in sewing, but I have only those in the village to sell with. People only need so many clothes." She paused while Takara nodded and took notes, continuing after she returned her attention to her. "Then there is also the issue of marriage for our young people. We understand many people will not understand our loyalty to Lord Sesshomaru or even approve of it, but we need to find a way to ensure our young people have availability to marry. Both issues go hand in hand. More new people, more trade opportunity."

Takara nodded and added onto her notes before she turned to the next few people. Some brought up farming space and better storehouses for food. There was also a bit of a rat problem, that if not gotten under control could become a huge problem. For that, Takara had a temporary solution that she didn't think Sesshomaru would mind her making. "I will have to take most of these to Lord Sesshomaru, but I may have some help for the rats… with his permission, of course." They nodded their agreement, but Takara had one more question to pose to them. "I have one other question, to pose to you. What are your thoughts on the children learning to read and write and perhaps even more?"

"What would 'more' be?" One of the elders spoke up.

"Maybe some basic math and sciences?" To her surprise, the group began to murmur amongst each other.

"You know these subjects, My Lady?" One of them asked.

"I have a basic understanding them and I am working on teaching Rin reading and writing. Once she has a better grasp on that, I will be teaching her math and science as well." That sent more excited murmurers through the group.

They seemed to reach an agreement, "You would teach them?"

Takara thought how to best word her reply. "I do not want to make you any promises either way because I can't make such a big decision without Lord Sesshomaru." Not wanting them to think it could simply be a 'no' from Sesshomaru, she added "Even if that is an option, it is something that would require some planning and structure, so it isn't something to be rushed."

That seemed to satisfy them, and they agreed to go out and meet with the rest of the village and gather any more concerns as well as their opinions for teaching the children. Takara promised to find at least a solution for the rats with Sesshomaru before the problem grew out of hand. They would have a follow up meeting a month later to see what could be done to address the larger issues and that seemed to please the group.

They all bowed to her and excused themselves and she also left to meet with Sesshomaru, but before she made it to her rooms, she couldn't help but smile as Kuromaru whined and called for her, much more vocal than he had been. She heard Sesshomaru correct him with a growl, and he quieted for a minute before he started whining again. The thought occurred to wait for Sesshomaru to settle him, but she couldn't help but to come when her pup called her.

She slid the door open to find him putting on quite the act, laying on his back in his father's lap and alternating between his calling whines and little howls. "Awww, my poor little turtle. He's wasting away."

"Indeed," Sesshomaru spoke after giving his noisy son another, sterner growl. The whining stopped, but the tiny howls didn't.

She understood he was trying to correct their son as he saw fit, so she waited patiently for his instruction on how to proceed. However, she didn't expect him to tell her to change into her yukata, but she did as he commanded, trying to resist the urge to go to her howling son while simultaneously trying not to laugh at his antics.

Once changed, she followed his instruction to lie down on her furs beside him, but not to acknowledge Kuromaru until Sesshomaru said it was alright. That did not please her son, who again started whining as he saw his mother and struggled to right himself until he was able to scramble out of his father's fur and wobble his way over to her. He whined and howled to get her attention, but she fought not to cave to his cries, staring at her husband as she waited for his cue.

He didn't give it right away, and his opening her yukata only made Kuromaru howl louder and tried to clamber into her lap at the sight of his meal. Sesshomaru repeated his firm growl, on the verge of a snarl and waited until his son sat and waited silently. As soon as he was silent, Sesshomaru gave Takara permission to pick him up and nurse him on the breast opposite of where he sat.

An indignant grunt escaped her little one as he eagerly latched on, his sharp little teeth making Takara wince as he nursed rather roughly. Another growl rumbled from Sesshomaru, deeper and more menacing as he put his face right beside his pup, making Kuromaru release her nipple and whimper. Sesshomaru turned his head to her other breast and latched on, sucking gently a few times before giving his pup a gentler growl. The next time Kuromaru started to suckle, he wasn't using his teeth and Takara sighed not to have those tiny needlelike daggers chomping into her.

In a strange turn of events, father and son both nursed from her until the pup finally stopped suckling, but his mouth didn't leave his hold on her. Now that he had secured his meal, he didn't seem willing to let it go, but Takara carefully maneuvered him off her and into her lap. That was when Sesshomaru released the breast he was on and gently went to lick the other until the residual hurt subsided.

"What was that all about?" she finally asked as he moved to lay beside her.

"I had to show him that you may be his mother, but you belong to me. He needs to understand that I am the one who allows him access to you because he will be stronger as he grows, so he must know that if he is too rough, he will answer to me."

Takara couldn't argue with that logic, but she was concerned she would do something to accidentally undermine him. "Does this mean I can't snuggle him as much?"

Sesshomaru gave her a slight laugh. "No, My Treasure. You may indulge him as much as possible so long as it is not when I am correcting him."

"Good, because I want to snuggle him as much as I can before he gets too big or too reluctant to let me do so." She emphasized the point but rubbing his round belly. "Oh, and I did make one decision at the meeting, a small one that I didn't think you'd mind me making."

"And that was?" He inquired, brushing her hair to the side to kiss and lick her neck where he could reach.

"There is just a small rat problem in the village storage shed. I didn't tell them I would be out there, but Kaos is a pretty good rat killer. I could take him down there and try to get them out if you don't mind?"

He didn't answer right away, moving down her throat until his lips landed just above her mating mark. "That I can permit. I will join you to make sure you don't over strain yourself."

"Well, I didn't plan to be the one chasing rats, but if Kaos wants to point them out to me, who am I to argue?" she chuckled, laughing harder when he bit down on her neck. "But is there any particular reason I shouldn't overdo it?"

Finally, his mouth closed over her mating mark, snatching the breath from her lungs while her sex tightened in anticipation, relieved to find that it didn't hurt. A moan was ripped from her as he assaulted the mark, his hot, wicked mouth sending white hot desire rushing from the mark straight to her sex. "Because I plan to see if you've recovered from the birth tomorrow since it has been a full moon cycle since you delivered." His tongue sent shivers down her spine as he made his way back up her throat. "I don't want you to risk being too sore when I get ready to bed you."

"Sounds like a plan I can get behind" Takara moaned, already wishing tomorrow would come sooner than it was.