You wake up the next morning with Rins foot in your face. You shove her over and she yelps, "Hey! What was that for?" you laugh at her and stand up, dusting yourself off.

Sleeping on the floor left your back a little wore, but it was better than sleeping on the grass and being all wet and cold in the morning, right?

"How was your sleep Rin?" you ask cheerfully.

She sits cross legged on the ground and smiles up at you as she answers, "It was great, I wasn't even cold or anything, even though we didn't have blankets." You smile at her lovingly. She's so cute!

As you walk towards the door you ask, "Would you like something for breakfast, Rin?" she stands up and nods, saying, "Yes, I would, but I don't think there will be any food in the kitchen."

You stop mid-step and think before responding, "Oh, you're right! I forgot that we're in a new house. The kitchen will be empty."

Rin shrugs, "It's ok, Jaken can go find something today." You nod and step out the door, leaving it up to Rin as to whether she'll follow you or not.

Walking down the hall you go to the room where you had left Shessomaru last night. Peering through the door, you are surprised to find that he is not there, but the stuff that you had left at the house and the beds are piled in the room.

"Move!" a shrieky voice erupts from behind you. Turning around quickly you see a pile of sheets sitting in the door way. The voice shouts again, "Move, ona!" you jump out of the way and the bedding shuffles past you to reveal the little green cretin who was under them.

"Jaken, I don't believe that "one" is the proper way to address me." You say politely, hoping that he'll just apologize and that this will blow over. He sets down the pile and wisps around, apparently very angry.

"I am not afraid of you, ona. Lord Shessomaru is my only master, you are nothing to me."

"Jaken…" A deep cold voice demands from the door, sending surprisingly pleasant chills down your spine. You whip around to face Shessomaru as he steps into the room. Jaken squeaks and stands shaking, frozen in one spot.

"L-Lord Shessomaru! I-I-I…" Jaken spluttered pathetically.

"One is not the proper term in which you address Lady Tabitha." Shessomaru states harshly, burning through Jaken.

The green youkai stops shaking long enough to blabber, "I-I was possessed; I did not have my senses about me, L-Lord Shessomaru!" You scoff at him and catch a glance from Shessomaru, who apparently doesn't believe him either.

"Do not claim to be of my company while you blatantly disobey me, Jaken; Your life will be very short." Shessomaru warns, with a steely glare. Jaken just nods as sweat drops form on his forehead.

Shessomaru then takes your hand and strolls out of the door. He pulls you along with him, and you follow willingly. The grass is wet with dew under your bare feet and you giggle as it tickles you.

You smile happily up at Shessomaru, but he doesn't look at you. You frown at this and stop walking. Shessomaru tugs on your hand, but upon your refusing to continue he stops as well, turning to look at you. "What's wrong, Tabitha?"

You stare into his eyes and say, "You're being so cold, Shessomaru."

He blinks for a moment then regains his fierce countenance, "Jaken does not obey me with all fear and reverence as he should. I can't show affection as I have before or other youkai will become bothersome. I'm not concerned with my own well being, but there could be an attack while we are away, leaving Rin and Jaken defenceless."

You scowl at the ground, "I'm sorry, this is my fault, Shessomaru." You apologize.

Shessomaru shakes his head, his silver locks waving gracefully down his back, "That is not necessary. I could have ignored any feeling you and none of this would be happening, but I'd also be incomplete." You blush at this comment as he stares deep into your eyes, like he's embracing your soul.

Your heart was speeding up, beating faster; It hadn't done that in a while. You didn't know whether you should compliment him, say thank you or just keep quiet. Either way you were completely entranced by his gaze.

Deciding that standing there like an idiot would give a bad impression, you ask, "So where were we going?"

Shessomaru starts walking again as he answers, "Nowhere in particular, just a walk about sop we can be alone for a while." The burning sensation returns to your cheeks and a small smile lights your face.

"Oh…" you exclaim sheepishly, presuming he was trying to keep you happy, "Thank you for accommodating to me, Shessomaru."

Shessomaru pulls your arm so you are standing in front of him, face to face. "Who says I'm accommodating to you?" He states slyly, a wicked smile creasing his lips.

He grabs you and wrenches you towards him, his lips crushing yours. It takes you a moment to catch on and by then he had let go of you.

"I want what you didn't give me last night." His warm breath on your neck sent electricity coursing through your veins as he whispered in your ear.

He licked your neck, leaving a trail that continued to tingle afterwards. You gasp and your knees begin to buckle. He caught you up as he kissed along your collar bone.

Your breath rushes out of your lungs and you grasp the back of his head. His hands slip inside your Kimono, opening it (not all the way, just so you know). Your heart is pounding in your chest and you can feel the blood rushing around your body.

His lips trace their way up to yours and embrace them intensely. One of his hands presses against the flesh of your back, leaving little space between your abdomen and his, while his other hand cups your breast. (remember, you're supposed to wear a kimono with nothing underneath.)

Letting his hands slip lower down your body he moves down to suck at your flesh hungrily.

You open your eyes for a moment and the sight of the open area you are in shakes you. Taking hold of his hands and removing them from inside your clothes you shift away from him. He doesn't stop; he steps forward and nibbles at your earlobe.

You bring one of your hands up and cover his frantic lips. He looks up at you from by your chest and quirks an eye brow. Shessomaru stands up straight and you explain while adjusting your kimono, "We shouldn't be doing this out in the open, any one could stumble upon us, including your brother." You knew that would strike a nerve, "And with Jaken running back and forth between the houses Rin is all alone."

He looks at you for a moment, knowing that you're correct , and that he was being fully driven by his demon instinct. Letting reason take over him, rather than the lust for another, he stills himself, regaining his lordly composure.

He looks like his old self again, but you're not intimidated. Reaching up and laying a hand on his face, you kiss him softly, telling him that you're not upset.

You release him and a small smile greets you. Taking that as a statement of understanding, you take his hand and begin to make your way back towards the house.

Having not been in this area you were quickly confused. Shessomaru didn't say anything, he just took the lead and guided you back to the new house. He glances at you and you smile gleefully at him.

Upon nearing the house Shessomaru stops and turns around, "I have to go take care of something. I'll be back this evening. Please watch after Rin. If Jaken gives you an trouble, kill him."

"Where are you going?" You ask, "You're not going to find Inu-Yasha are you?"

Shessomaru shakes his head, "No, I am going to see an associate of me father."

You nod and say, "Oh, ok… Will I ever get to meet your father, Shessomaru?"

Shessomaru looks at you for a moment then states very bluntly, with out remorse, "My father is dead. I had assumed you already knew that, being a dog demon your self."

You felt ashamed when you heard this. Your some-odd-great grandmother had probably taught you about the great Inu-no-Taishos death, but you were probably ignoring her or you just don't remember.

Shessomaru continues, "I have to go. I'll see you tonight." He leans down and kisses you gently, then steps back onto a red cloud that appears under his feet. You let go of his hand and he floats up into the sky and away.

It would be easy enough to follow him, but if he had wanted you to accompany him he would have invited you. He must have had his reasons for making you stay. You return to Rins room where a panting and wheezing Jaken had just arrived with Rins bed. "Yay!" She proclaims as she wraps her arms around Jakens neck.

Jaken squirms out of her grip and dashes out of the room, apparently not done with the days work yet. You sit down on the newly made bed and Rin lies down next to you. "Mmmm; a nice soft bed." She murmurs in contentment.

"Yes, we'll be very comfortable tonight." You say in agreement with her. Rin wraps the covers on the bed up around her and smiles very cutely. She then rolls over and looks up at you, asking very bluntly, "You're gonna sleep with Lord Shessomaru tonight, right?"

You blush and smile, knowing that you really couldn't keep anything hidden from her. She might look innocent but she knows a lot about life, and is also very cunning. You nod and answer, "Yes I am, but I think Jaken will have abed in here, if you need anything, he'll be nearby."

She nods and says, "well that's good." She pauses for a minute and plays with your hair. "You know, I think… you make Lord Shessomaru very happy."

You're a little surprised by this statement, but it would take a child to say something so obviously and bluntly. You ask politely, "What makes you say that Rin?"

She sits up and smiles very happily, "I can just tell! He's not nearly as grave as before for one thing. I also think that I see a little bit of a grin on his face when he looks at you, I've NEVER seen that before."

You smile a little and say, "Oh, I see. I didn't think you'd notice all that. You're very observant, but isn't Shessomaru still very cold?"

Rin shrugs and says, "Well sure, but that's just how he is, its part of him, but he's a lot less contemptuous when he's around you. Maybe because you didn't see the way he was before he really attached himself to you for very long, you don't see what a big difference there is, but I can."

More than how child like some of the sentence was, the eloquence of the statement surprised you. Rin continued to surprise you all the time.

You stare at her for a moment and she exclaims, "Well its' true, he is different!" You smile, feeling very happy around her. 'I know Rin, I have no doubt that what you say is true."

Rin climbs over and into your lap and says, "Speaking of Lord Shessomaru, where did he go?" you shrug and answer, "Actually he didn't tell me much, but he is off for the day to talk to an acquaintance of his fathers."

She nods and says sombrely, "It must be something important then; it usually is when he visits someone that old."

You laugh and hug her when she makes that comment, "Oh Rin; you're so funny and adorable" She wraps her arms around you laughs along, then squirms away from you, standing up and saying, "Come one, lets go for a walk around!"

You stand up and she drags you out of the room by your hand. You keep up with her quick steps and soon you are quite far away form the house. You make sure to remember land marks so you can find your way back and try to keep the sent of the house fresh in your mind so you can find your way back easily.

Soon you're in a completely unfamiliar area, but you're confident that you'll be able to get back; no worries. You come to a spot where there's a break in the trees, leaving an area that was bathed in sun light. Rin sat down in the middle of this light and you sat next to her.

"I think I like this new area, and the new house." She said while looking around at the trees. You smile at her and say, "Well that's good to hear, because I don't think that we'd be moving again, even if you wanted to." Rin laughs and agrees with you.

After chatting for a while you look up at the sky and comment, "It's noon, do you want to go back and see if Jaken has anything for lunch?" Rin stands up and stretches, saying ,"Yeah, that's a good idea."

Standing up with your face towards the sky you sniff the air then start out towards the house. Now that you had a direction you wouldn't have to be so dramatic about finding your way. Walking in silence you guide Rin through the bushes back towards your residence.

You find the house no problem and discover that, indeed, Jaken has prepared a lunch for Rin. She must have been hungry because it didn't stay on the plate for very long. She tried to carry on a conversation, but you scolded her for trying to talk with food in her mouth.

After Jaken clears away everything Rin shuffles over beside you and says cheerily, "Ok, in the morning we did what I wanted, so this afternoon we'll do what you want!" You got the feeling she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Looking around her room at all the stuff that had been brought over and just dropped on the floor, you answer, "I'd like to get this stuff sorted our and either set up or put away."

Rin glanced at what you had just surveyed and smiled brightly, agreeing, "Ok! Let's do that!" And it really did take all afternoon; when you thought you were almost done Jaken started bringing more stuff.

By the time that Jaken served Rin supper almost everything from the old house was at the new one, including the food.

This time Rin helped you do the dishes so that Jaken could go back to the old house and get the rest of what was left.

Rin talked a lot while you did the dishes, and although you didn't mean to, you started to block her out and wonder about when Shessomaru would be coming back.

You wanted to know where he was and what exactly he was doing, but you knew that he wouldn't tell you if you asked, it probably didn't matter anyways.

"Lady Tabitha?" You heard your name and turned to Rin, asking politely, "Pardon?" She smiled at you, obviously unaware that you had been lost in thought, and explained, "Are you and Lord Shessomaru going to have kids, Lady Tabitha? I'd really like to have a little sibling."

For a few moments you just stare at her,; just blinking and breathing, then you manage to utter, "What ever gave you that idea Rin?" You could feel your face getting more and more scarlet by the second and were embarrassed by the fact that you were still acting so childish when topics such as these arose.

Rin apparently doesn't feel the least bit awkward; she just smiles and answers, "Well I did tell you how happy you make Lard Shessomaru, and he did endow you with his title, so it only seems natural that children would be the nest thing to come."

You were getting flustered, "Oh, well… we want to get married eventually, but… but we haven't really talked about it much yet and, ch-children are a big change and big, big re-responsibility, Rin, s-so I doubt we'll... that the-there'll be any around for a while…"

Inside you scold yourself for handling the situation like an idiot.

Rin shrugged and said, "Well, Lord Shessomaru claiming you as his Lord Lady is the same as making you his wife so if you haven't talked about it then you're a little late."

At this time you were finished washing, but Rin was still drying the dishes, so you walk out of the kitchen, leaving her there to finish.

"It's not the same as marriage! I love him, but I'm not his wife yet. I couldn't get married yet anyways or have children at this age! That's unacceptable!" you thought furiously as you walked back to the room you shared with Shessomaru.

You sat down on the bed and sighed, alone with your thoughts. "But why is it unacceptable, is that not a human custom. Have I become indoctrinated through my long experience with humans? Only humans think that it's strange, or even wrong to be married at this age…"

You remembered the conversation you once had with Shessomaru about Marriage. "perhaps that's why he was so enraged about my answer and explanation; because it was conjured from a human standard… but I'm not human, I'm a daiyoukai!"

These thoughts were getting way to deep and no matter what reason was, the fact remained that children were a definite NO for now.

You push those worries aside and lie down on the bed. It was so comfortable compared to the floor, and waking up with a foot in your face.

Upon glancing out he window you notice that the sun is setting. "Where is he? I know he's fine… but… I really miss him…" in all the time you'd been together he'd never left you alone for a whole day. You've gone to school but then you weren't alone and it was only 6 hours or so.

You close your eyes and hear shuffling on the hall floor. "Rin must be done the dishes." Just as you thought she would, you feel her sit lie down on the bed next to you.

A powerful arm wraps itself around you and pulls you tight against a cold plate of mettle. You open your eyes to discover that you are being held against an armour breast plate by it's silver haired owner.

You shiver and smile, commenting, "That's really cold you know." A small grin plays on Shessomarus face and you feel warmer just looking at him.

He sits up and says, "I'll remove it." (A man of many words.) You help him untie the bindings and set aside not only the top, but the bottom plates as well.

You just finish placing the last plate nest to the others when he wraps his arm around you from behind and lays you down next to him. He wasn't all smiling and jolly when you looked at him, but Rin was right, he seemed happy.

He doesn't say anything for a while, he just stares in your eyes and stroked your hair. "I missed you." He finally said. You smile at him and are pleased in knowing that he'll never say those words to anyone else. "I missed you to, Shessomaru."

He leans forward and places a delicate kiss on your lips. In some ways you preferred a sign of affection that lets you know that you're loved to no end, rather then being aroused.

Trying not to kill the moment that had been created you ask quietly, "So how was your day?"

He shrugs as best he can while lying on his side and answers, "It was productive, but very lonely." He pulled you tight against him and kissed your forehead. If it had been anyone else you would have dismissed his response as a lame line. But knowing that he only spoke what is true made the gesture very meaningful.

You cuddle up to him and sigh, happy that he's home. Even though the conversation was so short you were content just lying in his arms; what could be more fulfilling than being with the one you truly love?