Disclaimer: I do not own the Inu-Yasha characters.

Note: sorry this took so long, but it's kind long, so you'll forgive me right? please?

The next morning you wake up exactly where you had fallen asleep the night before; in Shessomarus strong embrace. You shuffle a bit and Shessomaru opens his shining golden eyes. "Good morning." He says groggily and yawns. You also yawn and resound his greeting back at him.

He gets up and stretches as he looks around the room. You continue to lie in bed as he leave and goes to his own room. You roll over and stretch before you get up. You glance around the room and spot a basket of folded laundry by the dresser, with a clean uniform in it. You change and tie back your hair.

Shessomaru comes back to your room in only a pair of beige khakis. He smiles at you from the door way, and you look back at him with a few bobby pins between your lips as you gather the stray hairs. He walks up behind you and puts his arms over your shoulders, leaning on you.

He kisses your cheek and you bring up your free hand to hold his. "Don't go to school today." He orders, although it did not sound like an order. You snag up the loose pieces and turn around to look at him saying, "I can't just not go to school, they'd call or something, and I know that student council is going to call a meeting soon, we haven't had one in about a month. I'd get in trouble; I'm sorry Shessomaru."

Shessomaru thinks for a minute then says, "They should not question you, you know that. You're much to powerful for those mortals to dare to oppose you." You roll your eyes and duck under his arms, heading for the kitchen to make a "lunch" for yourself. "Shessomaru, you know that's not how it works here."

He shrugs and follows you into the kitchen, answering snidely, "You know very well you could do whatever you wanted and they could do absolutely nothing against it." You know he speaks the truth, you could do anything, kill any one steal any object and even if they discovered it was you they could do absolutely nothing about it.

The difference is, though, that unlike the demons of old, you had managed to grow a conscience. (Which your grandmother really didn't understand, she always claimed humans were worthless, even if she did treat them well when interacting with them.) You nod and answer, "Yeah, but." He interrupts, "But nothing, you know it's true! I don't understand why you bend to these humans."

You don't answer for a while; thinking and weighing the options. You answer slowly, "Shessomaru, I do want to spend the day with you, but I have exams in about a week, we may go over something very important in review today. I'm very sorry, but I can't think of any ways around this." You stop for a second and a solution presents itself. He's about to counter your answer when you put your finger over his lip as you walk by him towards the phone. Your fingers travel the well rehearsed numbers quickly and you hear the phone ringing.

A groggy girls voice answers the phone, "Hello?" You knew she wouldn't be out of bed yet, "Hello, Kagome, it's Tabitha." You hear some shuffling, your guess is she just realized what time it is and is trying to get ready from school. She answers, "Oh, hey, what can I do for you."

You hear a loud bang from her end, she picks up the phone and apologizes for dropping it and so you explain to her, "Hey, um, I can't go to school today, could you tell the teachers I'm sick or something, and give me your notes later? Oh and you have to go to a council meeting for me. Please? You owe me Kagome."

She yells something very rude at her little brother then answers, "Yeah I could do that… wait, what do you want me to tell them?" You roll your eyes and say, "Just tell them I came to visit you on Thursday night and I caught w/e you had." You wait a second then she answers, "Oh, yeah, that's a great idea, ok then I'll see you on Monday or something."

You smile and say, "thanks, bye." You hang up and turn to Shessomaru, a big smile on your face. "I realized kagome was home today and she could tell a very believable lie. None of my other friends could pull it off, they lie to much as it is and get caught lying way to often. Plus I've lied for kagome way to often for her to say no."

He smiles at you, "Thank you Tabitha." You shrug and grin back, "It's not like I didn't want this to you know. I'm not really happy about having to lie though. I know you would never have stopped badgering me if I didn't do something."

You sit down on the couch and say, "So what do you want to do?" he sits down next to you and stares at the wall while he thinks. He looks at you after a second saying, "I don't know, what would you like?" You look at him incredulously and say, "You didn't have a reason to keep me at home!" He shrugs and leans back on the couch saying, "I just wanted to spend more time with you." Your heart skips a beat, and as frustrated as you were just a second ago that he didn't have a reason for such an aggressive order for you to stay home, his motives were very sweet.

You smile at him but he wasn't paying attention. "There's someone unfamiliar trespassing." You sniff the air and realize he is right, but you know you've smelt it somewhere before. Shessomaru stands up and heads towards the door, telling you, "Stay here."

You obey although you know it's probably just an animal or something. It wouldn't matter if he killed a racoon. The smell gets stronger and you realize what it is. At this time in the morning is when the mailman dropped of his packages all along your street. Oh crap, Shessomaru will do something rash like open the door and just let w/e's (or whoever's) standing there have it.

You rush to the front hall and Shessomarus just about to open the door as you jump on him, the door swings open to reveal the portly old mail man bending down to put a letter in the mail slot of your door. He looks a tad bit startled, which is understand able, since you are holding onto Shessomarus raised arm, which had a yellow ball of light glowing at the end of his middle and index finger a minute ago.

You quickly let go of Shessomaru and step away. Shessomaru lowers his arm, walking backwards into the house. The mail man regains his composure and stands up straight saying, "Good morning, I have a few letters for you today." He pulled the remainder of your mail from the bag at his side and hands it to you.

You nod and look at his name tag, saying, "Thanks you Kallen." He smiles and starts to walk away. You close the door and turn back to Shessomaru and laugh. Shessomaru, who had not been sure how you'd take it, smiled and hugged you, "Sorry about that." He said light heartedly.

You shrug and put your arms around him, "It's no big deal, I'm just not sure that the mail man is used to seeing two demons, one without a shirt, all over each other as the door bursts open in his face." You let go of him and peak out the window. "Kallen" is gone.

You look at the envelopes in yours. You realize that there is a rather large letter there. You look at the address and exclaim, "I haven't heard from them in a while." Shessomaru peers over your shoulder, but doesn't say anything.

You walk over to the couch and open it. Shessomaru sits down next to you and says, "Who is it from?" You glance at him and answer, "It's my grandmother. She raised me. She mails me letters every so often, she doesn't "believe" in phones or computers." You find a couple of pages of the familiar small neat writing you had grown to love, since it was your only contact with your grandmother any more.

You read the letter, and Shessomaru reads it over your shoulder. It's just like most of the letters you get from her; she asks how you're doing and talks about what she's been up to. There's always a healthy reminder that humans should not be to close to me, and she even mentioned Seyuki this time.

Shessomaru shuffled a bit beside you and you'd guessed he had read the name. She always encouraged your o keep up with your training and asked if you needed any help with anything. She also sent a large cheque with the letter, saying if you needed any more to just write to her and she'd send it. Some times the cheque came with a letter and some times not.

You began to think, as you read it, that Shessomaru had never met your great, great, great, great, great grandmother and that perhaps he should. You finish reading the letter and put it back in the envelope, along with the cheque, which you definitely did not want to lose. You turn to Shessomaru and say, "I think you should meet my grandmother."

He shrugs and says, "If that's what you want to do today then I'm fine with that." You shake your head, "Oh no, we couldn't go today. I'll have to send her a letter telling her when we're coming, and it takes at least a day for it to get to her. I could tell her we're coming on Sunday, is that ok?"

He shrugs again and you take that as a yes answering, "Good! We can go back to the feudal era today and leave for her house on Sunday morning." He Smiles and says, "Wonderful." At that you go to your room and change out of your uniform, putting on a light blue summer dress. You pack your 5 kimonos in a large hanging bag, so they wont get wrinkled and leave them on your bed so you can pick them up Sunday morning.

Shessomaru meets you in the hallway, with his armour and fluffy thing back on, and his kimono. You grab some instant noodles and stuff them in your bag before you head out the door. You stop at a mail box before you head towards kagomes estate and write a quick letter to your grand mother, saying you'll be up on Sunday, and to expect you there for lunch.

Kagome's at school so it was easy to get to the well unnoticed. You dash across the yard faster than the wind and enter the shrine. You can smell the musky air and you lift the lid off the well. Shessomaru is preparing to jump down. You put your hand on his chest to stop him and say, "Let me go first. Inu-Yasha and the Kagomes other friends might be near by." He looks at you with an almost angry expression, saying harshly, "I could destroy him you know."

You nod and say, "Exactly. I'll come back to get you, just wait a minute." You jump down the well and hit the cool water, floating through to the other side. You jump out and look around. A red cloud forms under your feet and you float high into the air. You scan the surrounding area. In the west you spot them on a high point many miles away, far out of range. You let the cloud disappear from under your feet and you fall the many feet back to the mouth of the well and fall straight to the other side.

You fly out of the other side and Shessomaru catches you instead of you landing. He holds you up and you giggle, "Nice catch." He doesn't smile as he puts you back down. He leaps into the well saying, "Let's go." You follow obediently. His hair flutters out behind him as you pass through to the other realm. You land next to him and set off at a leisurely pace towards the house.

As your walking through the woods you realize, It's been such a long time since I've been here. I hope Rins ok, you never know with Jaken doing the cooking. You start to run through the woods, wanting to see how Rins doing. Shessomaru's soon easily keeping pace beside you. You float through the woods at an extremely high speed, not saying a word.

You don't deter your speed at all when you emerge from the bushes that surround the house. You run into Rins room and find nothing there, not even her bed. You turn around and begin to dash out of the room when you bump into Shessomaru, who had slowed down upon nearing the house. He looks around the room, just as you had. His face is stony and cold.

You sniff the air while he looks about and realize that at least Jakens sent was quite fresh here. You know that's a good sign, but panic is still biting at your heals. You step around him and run outside. You look from side to side, searching the grassy expanse for some signs of them. You lift your head and smell the air. Shessomaru steps out of the house behind you and you look to the side and say, "To the right."

At that you dash away in that direction and look over the lawn around the corner of the house. The sent gets stronger and you follow it, turning right again. Shessomaru soon takes the lead, his face carved into an angry menace. Soon you can smell Rin as well, bringing a small smile to your face. You look over at Shessomaru expecting the same reaction but are shocked to find the same characteristics etched on his face as before.

You turn back to the task that is at hand and see Jaken and Rin sitting on the grass ahead of you. You slow to a stop and look at them just as Rin turns to see you. She shouts, "Tabitha!" you blink and don't answer then start laughing hysterically. Rin walks up to you and tugs at your skirt, "What's so funny, Tabitha?" You kneel down and manage to say, "Nothing Rin, nothing."

She gives you a weird look as you continue to laugh at yourself, then glances at Shessomaru. He's just as perplexed as she is and doesn't say anything. You get a hold of your self and look at Rin, "So what are you doing out here? Why aren't you and Jaken back at the house?" Rin smiles and extends her hand towards the blanket on the ground, "I wanted to have a picnic, so Jaken made me one." There was actually a decent spread of food and you commented, "Jaken, I'm actually impressed."

He scowled and said, "Thank you… Lady Tabitha." Ignoring how it obviously pained him to say that you sit down next to Rin, relieved that everything was alright. Shessomaru sits down next to you and Rin climbs on his lap, and asks excitedly, "So what did you do while you were away, "Lord Shessomaru? I bet it wasn't like usual when we walk all over the place."

Shessomaru gave her a very bland answer, "It wasn't anything exciting." You're a little disappointed with how he answered, but you weren't about to tell her about a lot of the things you did either.

Rin pouts (she's SO CUTE) and says, "I can see you're not going to give me a straight answer Lord Shessomaru." She huffed a sigh then turned to you and asked, "So what did you guys really do, Lady Tabitha?" It sounded really weird to hear her call you that.

You carefully pick through the different stories and tell her about almost everything you had done… almost. Every once in a while you could hear Jaken mutter something about, "Disgusting." Or "fraternising with humans!" or "What disreputable actions!" but you didn't care, it's just Jaken.

Rin giggled and laughed a lot, obviously enjoying herself. You liked seeing her smile so much, she deserved to be happy. Rin looked a lot healthier to you, she obviously felt that way. She even climbed a tree, the larges one she could find in fact.

She said she felt perfect, so well in fact that she asked Shessomaru, " We're not going to start walking all the time again now that I'm better, are we?" You looked at her and asked, "Walking?" She nodded and climbed to your lap from Shessomarus, "Yeah, Shessomaru made us walk all over the place! We always had somewhere to go and some thing to do."

You look at Shessomaru and ask incredulously, "You live a Nomadic life style? Shessomaru how are you going to leave and return?" He shrugs, "We'll find them, we did this time." He did have a good point. You hadn't expected him to be a ruroni. (wanderer) He probably had things to do, people to kill, all that good stuff.

"He asked me where I'd like to live, but does that really leave me an option? When he would have to search for Rin and Jaken every time he returned is there really any point in leaving at all?"

Rins smiles brightly and says, "it's ok, Jaken and I can stay at that old house every time you guys are gone, that way you wont have to look for us. I think that would be wonderful, don't you Lady Tabitha?"

You nod at her and smile as well, "That's a wonderful solution Rin." Shessomaru stands up and looks at the horizon. He sniffs the air, and you do as well. A foul smell caresses your nostrils.

"It's Inu-Yasha." Shessomaru says, answering the question you hadn't yet asked. You stand up and sniff a bit, adding, "And Kagome." You wanted to go see Kagome, but you knew that Shessomaru did not want to see Inu-Yasha, unless it was time to kill him.

You sniff again, even though the smell offends you, and discover that it has gotten stronger. "He's coming." You whisper. Shessomaru nods, and replies, "But what the hell does he want?"

Suddenly the familiar red clothed figure bursts out of the surrounding bush, Tetsusaiga.drawn.

You're caught off guard as he streaks past Rin and Jaken and attacks you instead of Shessomaru. He swings the large sword back and screams "Wind scar." But before he can manage to swing a white body flashes in front of him, stopping his blade with a clang.

Shessomaru stands, bracing the Tetsusaiga with his Tenseiga. The two great swords together were evenly matched, they could not destroy each other, but they could cancel each others attacks.

A voice rings out loud and clear over the sparks which fly between the two brothers, "SIT BOY!" Inu-Yasha crashes to the ground, leaving a hefty imprint as Kagome scrambles out of the bushes with Shippo, Miroku, Sango and Kilala in tow.

"What's going on, Kagome?" you splutter. She huffs and looks down at Inu-Yasha then turns to you and smiles awkwardly, "Well I kinda just told Inu-Yasha and the rest of the gang about you and Shessomaru. As you can see this idiot thought he should do something about you… it… him... you know what I mean."

Nodding, you smile, knowing that Kagome hadn't meant any harm. Fire still burns in Shessomarus eyes, but he stands silently while the two of you converse.

Inu-Yasha stands up and shouts at Kagome, "What the hell did you do that for, stupid! He could have killed me!" You scowl at him and say, "But obviously he didn't since that fowl moth of yours is still spewing refuse."

He glares at you and Grips the Tetsusaiga . Noticing this, Shessomaru raises the Tenseiga in front of him; both warning Inu-Yasha to stop hi foolishness and challenging him at the same time.

Kagome realizes what's going on and bellows the half demon, "Inu-Yasha, if you attack again, so help me, I'll…" but she was cut of as Inu-Yasha charged forward, brandishing his hefty blade in front of him.

You grab Rin under one arm and dash to about 100 yards away, where she should be safe. You set her down and she lets out a terrified shriek. You whip around, both hands illuminating an oozing green light. Inu-Yasha is above you, the Tetsusaiga raised above his head. Meeting him in the air you grasp his hands on the hilt with your left hand and his left wrist with your right.

The two of you land with the sword above both of you. You are now stuck in that state for neither will surrender. It can fall of him, or slice through you. Anger burns within you at the injustice that had been cast upon you; even the right to love was not free for you.

Inu-Yasha bellowed a retched scream as the flesh you were holding was melting away from his wrist, but he still held fast, never even wriggling his fingers on the hilt. You thought perhaps, he would bite you.

Your mind raced with indecision on what could be done. You hadn't been there for more then but a second or two, but time seemed to be going so slow, and the pressure of holding up the Tetsusaiga against Inu-yashas strength was growing steadily harder to hold. Or maybe it was the tension of protecting someone who was depending on you that was weighing heavy on you.

"Run Rin!" you ordered; if you gave out at least only you would be harmed. You turned your face to her, "Run now."

You heard the sickening sound of mettle slicing through flesh and bone, and you turned your attention back to the circumstance in front of you. A blade was protruding through Inu-yashas left shoulder from behind, and blood had not yet started to flow.

The blade was drawn our and Inu-Yashas hands slipped away from the Tetsusaiga, leaving it in yours. A searing pain screamed through your flesh as you took hold of it. You held it only long enough to cast it aside, out of anyone's reach for now.

Shessomaru stepped around the half demon, bloody sword in hand and the Tenseiga in its sheath. Inu-Yasha clutched his chest and fell to his knees. Shessomaru looked down on him in disgust.

This had all taken place in less than a minute and Rin was only now running towards Jaken, which is where you wanted her, away from any fighting.

Shessomaru sheathes his sword and takes hold of your hand. He doesn't say anything as he leads you away from his blood soaked victim and his companions, who had just arrived.

"Shessomaru!" The half demon hollered and tried to stand up, only to be held back by Kagome. You could hear her behind you, "Inu-Yasha, Stop it! You're bleeding like crazy, and they're leaving anyways."

Rin and Jaken join the two of you. You're not heading back toward the old house, but that would have been a foolish decision.

"Where are we going, Lord Shessomaru?" Rin asked, in an almost excited tone, obviously ready for a journey.

"We're finding you and Jaken a new shelter to abide in." Shessomaru said without looking at her. He walked with a strong stride, directing you with such authority as not to be questioned.

You glance up at him, but he just looks straight forward. "um, tha-thank you, Shessomaru." You stammer, knowing what was reaction will be. He was being so icy, so cold, and while you had almost forgotten when he used to be like that, it made you feel secure in the fact that he could protect you and save you in any situation if need be.

When your words reached his ears he looked down at you, and let some of his malice melt away as he answered, "I should have been faster. That repulsive half demon got the better of me; it's disgusting."

His golden eyes struck you as they shone a genuine apology. "No you saved me, Shessomaru! It was so fast I barely remember." You exclaim. He looked up at the horizon and shook his head, discrediting himself to any claimed success.

His Hand was still holding onto yours with the same tension as when he had grabbed it. Even so you squeezed his hand in a pathetic attempt to convey the words you knew he'd never listen to.

Rin and Jaken walked silently through out this whole conversation, but you could see Jaken squirming under his skin. Keeping his lips closed was obviously difficult for him.

You walk until nightfall. Shessomaru hadn't spoken or looked at any of you again. Every once in a while you'd try to remind him that you loved him and he'd return your gesture by rubbing your hand with his thumb or squeezing it gently, for he still held it tight in his.

You all arrive at a rundown little house, not as big or grand as the old one, but much more hidden. Shessomaru stops and takes a quick look over it, stating dryly, "This will do."

Rin runs ahead of everyone and announces excitedly, "I call dibs on the first room." Which didn't really make sense but you knew what she meant.

You settle into a small room, big enough to be a bed room, but not much else. Shessomaru sits on the floor next to you. Trying to lift the tension a bit you sigh and look around, "Well it's not much but I think It'll be cosy." Shessomaru nods, "I'll send Jaken to get beds tomorrow."

"Are we sleeping on the floor tonight then?" You ask, even though the answer's pretty obvious. He responds blandly, "Yes."

His acting so uptight was starting to get to you and you decide that you wont get anywhere being so cautious. "Shessomaru, you saved me, I don't know why you're so angry at yourself." His eyes whisked towards you for a moment and then away again, as if he were surprised that you knew so much. Geez, it's not rocket science.

He lifts the hand that he was still holding up to the other one and holds it in both. He turns his whole body towards you, so he's sitting in front of you, and his eyes portray such strength that you're almost scared. "Tabitha, I am always failing you, how can you continue to have any faith in me? I'll kill that disgusting half breed, I've always willed it, but today when he struck out at you I was frozen, paralyzed. I was WEAK!" He yelled the last line and anger burned in him. You gasped and jerked back out of surprise.

Something you hadn't seen before danced across his face, was it pain. Pain because you had backed away from him, or pain because he had made you afraid?

He dropped your hand and you thought he was going to leave. In a panic you reach out and grab his face. "Shessomaru, don't leave me." You squeaked, revealing your rash concern.

He looked at you for a moment, not sure of what to do. You knew that he was angry with himself, he thought he was growing weak, but you thought that he was godly. "Why can't you just see your own power? Can't you see how wonderful you are?" You thought in the silence, wishing you could say something like that without, without him dashing it aside.

After a moment a small smile slipped over his lips and he said, "Yes, I will stay." You also smiled.

Jaken came running into the room, "Lord Shessomaru, it seems there is but 2 bedrooms! Where shall all or us stay." Shessomaru lifts his head out of your fingers and glares at Jaken angrily.

"Find a room Jaken, we already have one." Jakens incredibly bulgy eyes seemed to have doubled in size upon hearing this simple statement. Before he turned into a blubbering mass of green… thing… you added, "I think a closet would do nicely, Jaken."

That turned his attention from the shock he had just received to his hatred of you. He glared maliciously at you, wishing only for your death. But he can't do anything without incurring Lord Shessomaru wrath, so he just scuttles off to find a room.

Upon Jakens disappearance Shessomaru starts to untie his breaths plate. Taking this as a queue you start on the other shoulder. He lays the heavy mettle plates on the ground beside him then turns back to you, "do you want to sleep, or would you prefer to stay awake for a while?"

You look in his eyes and you know that he is pushing everything aside in an attempt to make you happy, but you can't do anything about it, so w/e. A small grin plays at your lips as you lean forward and plant a slow soft kiss on his lips. "I'm kind of tired, so I think sleeping is a good idea."

He shrugs and places his hand on your cheek, pulling you towards him, with a short pause to say, " You're actions state other wise." Upon making his point he pulled you right against his body, pressing his lips roughly against yours.

You can feel his every move against you, and an authority surged through him as he controlled every bit of the embrace. Then he just let you go.

You let out a short gasp, then close your mouth quickly. You wanted more, but you knew you couldn't, not with the possibility of Rin being in the next room, or coming in. A mischievous smile graced Shessomarus countenance. "He's teasing me on purpose!" you thought, exasperated.

He lay down on the ground, taking you down with him. You were obviously going to be sleeping there, but the way he did it was speaking to you in another way. "well two can play at that game." You think and place your hand on the back of his head.

You pull his into a wet kiss then move your way along his jaw bone till you nibble on his ear. Your other hand is busy pressing his lower body against yours. You run your fingers around and down his leg towards the front of his inner thy. Before you get to close you lick his neck then let him go. You slip out of his grip, due to the fact that he was very surprised.

Taking this opportunity you stood up. He sits up hurriedly, demanding, "What are you doing?" you glance down at him and smile, "Oh I'm going to sleep with Rin tonight, she must be frightened after today's events."

And at that you walk out of the room.

well that's the end of that chapter, i hope you liked it, cause you certainly waited a long time for it. sorry, school started and all that jazz, i'll try to be faster next time. Message me!