Disclaimer

AN: Thank you to all who reviewed! And Rhys Enigma; thank you so much for that review, you're the first person who mentioned or noticed that about the story. I was wondering when someone would notice, it has a little bit to do with the story that is actually going to be explained in this chapter! Slayergrl182- hey, welcome to the reviewing list! Thank you so much for your review and I can't wait to see your review again! Anyways, sorry I can't reply to everyone, but you all mean a lot to me and encourage me everytime. In return, here is chapter 21!


Chapter 21- A White Gold Feather

"Now Kagome, you know what this means don't you?"

"No, what does it mean Grandpa?" Kagome replied numbly. When her Grandfather got talking about something, he could ramble on for hours if you let him. She didn't want to imagine what he was going to say next.

"It means that you must get married." Her Grandfather said proudly. "You must get married right here in this shrine." He said, tapping his finger on the table as he pronounced each syllable. He then crossed his arms as if to say that there was no way out of it.

'Somehow, this doesn't surprise me.' She thought and looked at Sesshoumaru. He didn't show nay sign of disagreement, which made her a little happier. "Grandpa, Sesshoumaru hasn't even asked me to marry him." Kagome said. She grinned, knowing that would stump him.

Her Grandpa blinked and then looked at the youkai. "Well, you must ask her quickly. No wait, we need an engagement ring first! I know, while the girls are shopping tomorrow, we can go look for the perfect ring!" He said excitedly.

Kagome could swear she saw Grandpa's light go on as he conjured up his big plan. "Sesshoumaru, do you even have any money?" Kagome asked.

"Money doesn't matter. What matters is that I can't leave the shrine grounds." He said in monotone.

"What do you mean?" Kagome's Grandfather wondered.

"If any cops see me, then they'll certainly be after me." Sesshoumaru explained.

"Cops? Why would the police be after you?" He asked curiously.

"Mom, you never told Grandpa?" Kagome asked.

"Sorry, I forgot." Her mother replied innocently.

'Great, yet another long story to explain.' Kagome sighed inwardly. 'It seems all I do when I visit is explain things.' "Sesshoumaru, do you want to tell them what happened?" She asked him, hoping he would say, okay.

"No."

'Of course he would say no. He doesn't like talking much.' "Alright, I'll tell you what happened." She said and then began the story of Sesshoumaru stealing the sword. When she was finished, her Grandpa was just staring at her as if she was crazy.

"Well, we won't let that stop us from getting a ring tomorrow. We'll just have to find you a disguise." Grandpa said, not letting the small ordeal stop them. He would get his Granddaughter a ring no matter what.

"What kind of disguise?" Sesshoumaru asked, hoping it wouldn't be hideous. He didn't even feel like changing out of his normal clothing.

"Grandpa, it's a good idea and all, but don't you think his gold eyes and silver hair would easily give it away." Kagome said, trying to make him see reality. She knew Sesshoumaru wouldn't want to go shopping anyway.

"We could get some contacts and hair dye!" Her mother perked up cheerfully.

"No mom." Kagome could just imagine Sesshoumaru freaking out and scratching the contacts out of his eyes. And there was no way he would ever let anyone dye his hair. She was beginning to think that the whole thing was just a bad idea. "How bout we don't get an engagement ring, I don't need one." She said, wanting to solve the problem.

"But Kagome, don't you want to get married?" Her mother asked.

"Honestly, I already feel like I'm married. So, no, I don't really care if I get married or not." She replied truthfully.

"But, it's tradition for all Higurashi's to get married in the family shrine." Her Grandfather said, trying to reason with Kagome.

"Kagome, this is a big decision for you to make. Why don't you think it over tonight." Her mother said nicely. She knew this was a hard decision, more for Grandpa than Kagome. Kagome didn't seem very thrilled about the idea of marriage.

"Fine, I'll think it over tonight and then give you the answer." Kagome said. At this point she was ready to go to bed. It was already passed midnight.

"And Souta should be home tomorrow too, so you will be able to see him when we get back from shopping." Kagome's mother added.

"Mom, I'm getting tired. I think it's time for us to get to bed." Kagome said, looking over at Sesshoumaru.

Her mother looked at them both, wondering if they were going to sleep together. She figured they would if they were mates, but wasn't sure. "Kagome, are you two...staying in your room?" She asked.

"Um, yeah." She replied, the moment felt a little awkward.

Suddenly her mother giggled and looked at Kagome. "Don't let him turn into that big dog or else he'll smash the house down." She said jokingly.

'Very lame, mom.' Kagome thought but made a fake laugh for her mom.

"Well, we should get going to bed too. So, we'll see you bright and early in the morning to go shopping Kagome!" Her mother said excitedly and then went to her own bedroom. Her Grandfather followed and went to his own room.

"Well, that was all very interesting." Kagome said, looking at Sesshoumaru, who just sat there with a blank look on his face. "Let's go get some sleep. Come on Rin." Kagome called.

There was no answer.

"Rin?" Kagome said and began to walk towards the living room. She peered around and saw Rin sound asleep on the floor in front of the TV. "Sesshoumaru, come see this." Kagome said and motioned for Sesshoumaru to come.

"What?"

"Look at her, she fell asleep while watching TV. She looks so cute." She said and smiled as she walked towards the little girl.

"I don't know how anyone can fall asleep with an obnoxious box in their face." Sesshoumaru said.

"Kids love TV. Especially cartoons." Kagome said and lifted up Rin. Rin wasn't a small kid like she used to be, she was starting to get a little too heavy for Kagome to carry.

"Kagome?" Rin rubbed her eyes and looked up at her adopted mother.

"Let's go to bed Rin." Kagome said and held Rin's hand while they walked up the stairs to Kagome's room.

Sesshoumaru followed behind and shut the lights off.


"Sesshoumaru, what is that?" Kagome asked, pointing to something shiny that was showing from Rin's pocket.

Sesshoumaru's heart suddenly jumped and he didn't want to tell her what it is. If she knew, then she would probably get angry and upset. He had been trying to hide it from her since they had become mates, and even got Rin to lie to Kagome to keep it hidden. He didn't know if now was the time to tell her or not. "I don't know." He replied, hating that he was lying to her.

Kagome moved closer to the edge of the bed and looked down at Rin. The little girl was sleeping peacefully on a small mattress below her bed, with her kimono still on. When she looked closer, the thing looked like some kind of silver pendant. "Are you sure you don't know." Kagome asked again, and then reached out to take it from Rin's pocket.

Out of slight panic, Sesshoumaru quickly grabbed Kagome's arm and pulled her back onto the bed.

"Hey, what are you do-

Sesshoumaru cut her words off quickly by pressing his lips against hers.

"You're hiding something from me." She said, after pulling away from his lips. "What is it?" She asked, getting worried that it was something big. What could Sesshoumaru possibly have to hide from her? Seeing that he wasn't going to answer her, she went to grab for the object again. This time Sesshoumaru didn't stop her.

The youkai rolled onto his back and didn't look at Kagome's face.

"It's so pretty. Where did Rin get this?" Kagome asked. She held up a white gold chain necklace that had the most beautiful pendant hanging from it. The pendant was also white gold and was a beautifully formed feather, with every detail carved into it. In the middle of the feather there was a huge diamond that looked like it could cost millions.

Sesshoumaru still kept his eyes away from Kagome's and didn't reply.

'Rin couldn't have gotten this on her own.' "Sesshoumaru, where did Rin get this?" She asked again, this time staring him straight in the face. The shape of the feather looked oddly familiar to her. It almost reminded her of...Kagura. Whenever Kagura would go to leave, she flew off in a beautiful feather.

"She got it from me." Sesshoumaru replied hesitantly.

"From you? This doesn't seem like the type of thing that you would buy, even if it is for Rin." Kagome said, looking at him suspiciously.

"That's because I didn't buy it."

"Then how did you get it?"

"Kagome, there is something I never told you. It wasn't because I wanted to hide it from you, it just never crossed my mind until that day that the Raiders were after Rin." He said, making eye contact with her.

"Well, what is it?" Kagome asked. She didn't like the overly serious look on Sesshoumaru's face.

"That necklace is from a woman. At one time, just before the war, there was a thing between me and a woman." He explained, watching her every emotion to see if she was going to get sad or angry.

Kagome gulped. "Go on."

"Well, after the war I never found her. She was a demon."

"For some reason I think I know who this woman is." Kagome said, holding onto the necklace tightly. "It was Kagura, wasn't it?" She said, trying to hold back tears. She knew crying would be ridiculous, but she couldn't imagine him loving another woman. And suddenly the fear came that he might see her again and fall in love with her again.

Sesshoumaru barely nodded. Kagome was trying to hide her tears from him, but even if they weren't coming out of her eyes, he could still smell the salt. "Kagura gave me that pendant before the war in way of saying 'goodbye.' Nothing ever happened between us though. Just the occasional run in with each other and the looks we gave each other. Sometimes she would sit and talk to me, even if it was about Naraku and her freedom, she would still talk to me." He said.

"So, you were never...mates then?" She asked, praying to the heavens that he would say no.

"No. But I kept that pendant and then gave it to Rin after we found her that day. Kagome, it was that pendant that the Raiders were after." Sesshoumaru said. He was just waiting for the burst of anger from her, but surprisingly it never came.

"But, I thought they were after the jewel." Kagome said, feeling very confused.

"No, Rin lied when she said they were after the jewel. It was a very bad lie, seeing as I thought that you would instantly know she was lying, but you didn't." Sesshoumaru said.

"Rin, lied to me?" She asked, feeling a little betrayed.

"No, I told Rin to lie to you. I didn't want you knowing about Kagura's pendant, at least not until I thought it was right to tell you. So, I told Rin to come up with another reason why the Raiders were coming after her." He explained.

"You lied to me." Kagome couldn't believe it. Sesshoumaru had lied to her. It wasn't that big of a lie, and she could understand why he had wanted to keep the pendant a secret, but he still lied to her.

Sesshoumaru winced at the heartbroken look in Kagome's eyes. "Kagome, I'm sorry." He said, reaching his hand out to touch her reddened cheek.

"So then, they were never after the jewel?" Kagome said, trying to change the subject just a little.

"No, how could they have been, when you had the jewel with you the whole time."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I can't believe I didn't realize that before." Kagome said. She felt like a complete idiot.

"I was surprised myself, that you didn't realize it." He said, hoping that this conversation would lighten the mood a little more and she would forget that he lied to her.

"Hey, are you saying I'm slow?"

"No." He answered simply and couldn't help but smirk a little.

"I was pretty dumb wasn't I." Kagome said and smiled back at him.

"Kagome, you don't ever have to worry about me leaving you for another woman. I love you more than I've ever loved anything. Kagura means nothing to me now, she is just a thing of the past." Sesshoumaru said, hoping it would reassure her.

"But, Kagura is still alive in the feudal era." Kagome said.

"Yes, but that is the past remember. She has no idea that we ever had any feelings for each other. And don't have feelings for her anymore either." He said truthfully.

Kagome couldn't express in words how much that meant to her for him to say that. She had almost thought that this was going to be another one of those InuYasha and Kikyou relationships, where Sesshoumaru would never be able to let Kagura go. But by the tone of his voice, she could tell that Sesshoumaru was telling the truth.

"Thank you." She said, and smiled knowing it would make his confused again.

Sesshoumaru thought he knew why she was saying thank you, and didn't ask her to see what it was for. He just turned on his side and wrapped his arms around her body. "If only Rin wasn't in here." He whispered in her ear.

Kagome shivered at the warm air that hit her ear and she had to agree with Sesshoumaru. Turning around to face away from him, she cuddled her back into his body and closed her eyes at the feel of his warm skin touching her neck as he cuddled into her. Kagome fell asleep with the necklace still in her grasp, and the pendant fell to the floor as her hand let go.


"Kagome! It's time to go shopping!"

Kagome almost jumped out of Sesshoumaru's arms when her mother's loud, happy voice suddenly came from outside of her bedroom door. Somehow it hadn't waken up Sesshoumaru.

"Get ready Kagome!"

Her mother's loud voice pierced her ears again. "Okay mom." She replied back so her mother wouldn't be so loud any more. She felt so zombified, like she couldn't fully open her eyes. Her body felt like a brick, and no wonder; Sesshoumaru was holding so tight that anyone would feel like they can't move.

"Kagome. Get up Kagome, we get to go shopping in the big big village today." Rin whispered, and shook Kagome even thought she was already awake. When Rin had heard what kind of place they were going shopping in last night, she had been really excited and couldn't wait for the morning.

"I'm awake Rin." Kagome said and fluttered her eyes open once again. She tried to lift herself up, but didn't budge. "Sesshoumaru, I need you to let me go." She said, barely turning around in his hold to look at his sleeping face.

"Lord Sesshoumaru-sama, you must let Kagome go. Us girls has to go shopping today." Rin said, pulling on Sesshoumaru's sleeve. He hadn't actually taken off his clothes the night before, but he did take off his two swords. They were leaned up against the wall.

Sesshoumaru didn't wake up.

Kagome knew when Sesshoumaru was in a deep sleep that he didn't wake up easily. "Sesshoumaru!" She yelled.

Sesshoumaru came awake and opened his eyes. Rin's big brown eyes stared straight into his golden ones, and Kagome was wiggling in his arms. Out of instinct from seeing the light of day shine in the window, he let go of Kagome and sat up.

"Thank you."

"Mm, you're welcome." He said absently, and rubbed his face.

Kagome laughed along with Rin's little giggles.

"What?" Sesshoumaru, looked at them both through glossy eyes.

"That's the first time you ever said 'your welcome;' and so fast too." Kagome replied. It was funny when Sesshoumaru just woke up. "I don't know what you're going to do today, but we're going shopping very soon." Kagome said and got up off the bed to get her clothes.

"No, you're not." He said bluntly.

"What? Yes, we are." Kagome said, not wanting to deal with his stubbornness again.

"First, you have to go through a training lesson with me, remember." He said, looking at her as if to say, 'there's no getting out of this one.'

"Oh yeah. I did promise you. But, how bout we do it after we get back from shopping." She said.

"No, we're doing it as soon as you're dressed and ready." He ordered.

"But, mom wants us to go now." Kagome whined and pouted like Rin usually did.

Sesshoumaru just shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care.

"Fine! But how long will it take?" She asked, now irritated by him.

"As long as I feel it should take. And since we only have my swords, I'll start you out on learning how to use swords." He said.

Kagome didn't like his answer at all, but she knew that was the best answer she would get from him. "Alright, let's go." She said.

"You're going to train in your nightgown?" Sesshoumaru looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Well, let me get dressed first."

"Okay, you get dressed while I use the washroom, and then meet me out by that big tree." He

said and walked out of the room with his swords in hand.

"Kagome, I want to go shopping now." Rin whined and pulled on her nightgown. Rin hated

waiting, especially when she was waiting on Sesshoumaru, he took as much time as he needed to

get things done.

"I know Rin, just have patience. You know what he's like." She said and changed into some clean clothes. "You must need to use the washroom." She said, looking down at Rin.

"Hai, but I don't know where it is." Rin replied.

"I just showed you last night."

"I know, but this is a weird house, and I don't remember what the bathroom is suppose to look like." Rin said innocently.

"Alright, I'll show you." Kagome said and lead Rin towards the bathroom.


"Come at me with your sword held high like I showed you." Sesshoumaru ordered and waited for Kagome to obey.

Like Sesshoumaru had taught her, she moved towards him with her sword held high. In almost a flash, her sword was thrown to the ground. So fast, that she didn't even feel it get yanked from her hold.

"You're not listening to what I taught you. One of the key things to a sword, is to hold on to it tight." Sesshoumaru said and picked her sword back up for her. "Let's try it again."

Kagome did the same thing and went towards him, and the same thing happened. She knew she could be better at it, but her mindset wasn't in the mood for it. All her thoughts were elsewhere; more or less, shopping! She loved shopping just as much, no, almost as much as her mother did.

"I can see you're not ready for these moves yet. Why don't we just practice on the swing of your sword for now." Sesshoumaru said and then showed her a way of swinging a sword. It almost felt weird, teaching a woman to be a warrior, but he didn't care, as long as his mate knew how to defend herself if she ever needed to.

"Okay, so I am suppose to swing it like this." She said and swung the Tensaiga.

"That's pathetic." He said emotionlessly and then walked towards her to guide her swing. He held her arm and then slowly swung it around, showing her which movement she was suppose to do.

"Why do I get the feeling that nothing will ever please you." Kagome said with the tone of attitude in her voice.

"You know what pleases me." Sesshoumaru replied as he walked a distance so she could swing again.

Kagome ignored the lecherous remark and poised to swing.

"Alright, swing!" He said and watched her intently.

Kagome quickly moved her arms and swung the sword, and in mid swing what she had not expected to see was a bright purple light that shot out from the blade. At first she thought it was just her imagination, but when she looked over at Sesshoumaru she knew it wasn't. "Are you okay?" She asked, running up to him.

"I'm fine." Sesshoumaru replied and looked down at his kimono's sleeve. The bottom of the sleeve had been completely torn through, and all that was left was a few threads hanging. Luckily for Sesshoumaru, it had just missed his arm. His right arm to be exact.

"What was that?" Kagome asked him. It couldn't have been Tensaiga's power? And it couldn't have been her power, her power usually comes out as a bright pink light, not purple.

"I don't know...I get the feeling that it was some of your power." He said, inspecting his tattered sleeve.

"My power?"

"Yes. Tensaiga's power doesn't come out in a purple color." He said, taking the blade from her and looking at it. As he touched the blade, he felt an odd burning feeling and had to let go immediately.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked, seeing his reaction to the blade.

"I don't know. It burnt me, but I don't know why." He said, looking at her and the blade quizzically.

"And my power comes out pink, not purple." She said, just as confused as Sesshoumaru.

"Can you touch the blade now?" She asked.

Sesshoumaru went to try again and this time it didn't burn as bad, but the feeling was still there, just not as strong. "It's weakened, whatever it is." He said, and put the sword back in its sheath. "That's enough for today. Where's Rin?"

"In front of the TV again."

"What am I going to do while you go shopping?" Sesshoumaru asked her as they walked back to the house.

"I don't know. You can think of something." Kagome replied and let the question slide off her shoulder.

"What do you have for food?" He asked.

Kagome opened the door and they walked into the kitchen. "Well, have you ever tried Ramen before?"

"No."

"InuYasha use to be obsessed with this food, so that means you might like it too." She said, handing him a container. "Here, I'll cook it for you." She said, taking it back and filling it up with water to put in the microwave. She knew Sesshoumaru wouldn't know how to work a microwave.

"Don't put it in there." He said, watching the light in the microwave turn on.

"Why?"

"Because it can't be healthy to cook food with a fake light." He replied.

"Sesshoumaru, it's fine. Just try it, you might enjoy it." She said, smiling at him.

Sesshoumaru gave in and waited until it was finished, which was only two minutes later.

"Try it, it's good." Kagome coaxed, pushing the steaming container towards him.

Sesshoumaru looked at her and then put the fork full of noodles in his mouth.

To Kagome's surprise, the Ramen had the complete opposite affect on Sesshoumaru than it did on InuYasha. He almost spit it back out.

"InuYasha liked this stuff? You can't call this food." He said with a disgusted look on his face.

Kagome smiled at how cute he looked, that was the first emphasized facial expression that she had seen on him. "Well, that's weird. Even I like Ramen." She said and rummaged through the cupboards for something else he might like. "Here, we go, you might like these." She said and set down a box in front of him.

"Those look weird, what are they?" He said, looking at the box that had two brown rectangles on it.

"They're pop-tarts. Chocolate pop-tarts!" She said happily. They were her favorite for bedtime snacks. "Here, I'll put it in the toaster and then you can try it."

Within a minute the toaster popped and Kagome brought the tarts to him. He inspected it seriously and then slowly took a bite out of it. Then another bite, and then another bite.

Kagome giggled. "So you like it huh?" She said and noticed the crumbs over the counter.

"What is that stuff called?" Sesshoumaru wouldn't admit it to her that he really liked this thing called...choc-o-late, but his stomach wanted more.

"It's called pop-tarts."

"No, not that. You had said another word too."

"Oh, it's chocolate. Everyone loves chocolate." She said, happy that she found something he liked, even if it wasn't that healthy.

"Alright mom, I'm ready to go!" Kagome called. "If you want more, you know where to find em." She said before turning around and getting Rin.

"Alright! Let's go shopping!" Her mother said excitedly and ran to the door with a bright smile.

AN: Well, I hope you liked that chapter, it hopefully took away from the seriousness for awhile. Thank you all for reviewing! You're all awesome! And I'm at 201 reviews!