Chapter Thirteen: Realizations

Three weeks passed the group by like nothing. After the swamp village was successfully dealt with, they spent a day to rest and were on their way. Because of Kagome's inability to sense the jewel shards, they were forced to stop by every village they came across. While many people heard nothing about Naraku or any one that matched the description of his underlings, there were a few leads here and there. When rumors began sending them in different directions, it was becoming more and more frustrating to keep following these leads. A couple of false leads left Inuyasha more annoyed than the rest. He was not used to having to work this hard and often sounded like he was blaming Kagome by asking whether her powers had begun returning yet. Of course, these questions were met with glares and powerful "sits."

Sadly, Kagome's powers had not returned. She didn't know how to return her spirit from the distress that it was apparently in. She thought she was doing better. She could smile and laugh with her friends every day. Her nightmares were gone and she even felt safe under the same roof as Sesshomaru. In her eyes, things were looking up, so why her powers hadn't returned was just a mystery. It made the search for Kikyo even more important. Hopefully she'd understand what Kagome was going through, or at least have some idea about it. If not, there had to be another way to go about both of their missions.

The newest member of the party was having his own issues. While he was not displeased with the company, he felt off for the last few weeks. He watched Kagome with Shippo and his mind could not help but think back to Rin, who was probably very worried that he'd never return. The deeper the group went into the Western Lands, the more he thought about passing by his home to pick Rin up. Other things also ended up bothering him. He admitted it to no one, but there was about three days where Kagome was a little more enticing than he liked. He wondered whether Inuyasha could pick up that piece of her scent, but didn't have the courage to ask. He found himself digging through powerfully smelling herbs to help hide her scent. They helped a little, but Sesshomaru was grateful when that time of prime mating for Kagome was over. He only had so much self-control toward his wife.

After a quick battle with a horde of miscellaneous demons that weren't really a threat, the group decided to find a place to sleep for the night. Sesshomaru guided them to a nice hot spring that he was aware of when he heard the women talking about needing a bath. He commented that in comparison to the other humans, their scents were pleasant. It was meant to be a compliment, but everyone that wasn't Kagome couldn't help but laugh at it. He was still learning which social interactions were appropriate and what wasn't. Luckily, Kagome understood that and thanked him.

They built a campfire and set everything up to sleep before they went to bathe. The men were instructed to bathe first since the women couldn't be trusted with not taking too long. Miroku and Inuyasha agreed wholeheartedly and went to bathe on their own. When Kagome and Sango looked to Sesshomaru, he raised an eyebrow. The women glared and he lifted his shirt to sniff it.

"Am I offensive?" Sesshomaru asked, not smelling it himself.

"What, no." Kagome giggled, "Do it to relax! Talk to the other guys, bond."

"Yeah, it's what we do when we finally get the chance to." Sango added.

"I'd rather do this 'bonding' with you two and the boy." Sesshomaru admitted honestly.

Sango looked to Kagome angrily, mentally asking if she could punch him. Kagome took the hint and smiled at her, shaking her head no, so Sango quickly calmed down, crossing her arms along her chest.

"He didn't mean it like that, Sango." Kagome giggled and turned to Sesshomaru, "Please, Sesshomaru. It's just how we do it. Go bathe with the men so we can comfortably bathe after."

"Is this a requirement?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Uh, what?" Kagome tilted her head.

"Can I not bathe?" Sesshomaru reworded the question.

Kagome and Sango began giggling, which turned into full on laughter. It was like a child saying "I dun wanna take a bath!" In reality, Sesshomaru did not want to be exposed around his brother and the monk. If the point of bathing together was to bond with each other, he had more interest bonding with the mature individuals in their group. That was not Inuyasha or Miroku. Sesshomaru could tolerate the monk when Inuyasha wasn't around because conversations with Inuyasha were always childish.

"If you really don't want to, then you don't have to." Kagome waved it off.

Kagome sat down next to Sango and stared at the campfire, waiting for their turn. Sesshomaru noticed that Shippo was not bathing with the other two and wondered why.

"Why do you not bathe with the men, Shippo?" Sesshomaru asked.

"I take my bath with Momma all the time." Shippo asked.

"You don't think you're too old to take baths with your mother?" Sesshomaru questioned.

"He's just a child. Leave him be." Sango told Sesshomaru.

"I mean no offense by my comment, but in the demon world, boys of Shippo's age are way too old to be bathing with their mother." Sesshomaru explained, "Many of them are already being trained to lead their clans or even thinking about taking a mate." Sesshomaru looked to Shippo, "I just assumed you weren't wanting to still be seen as a toddler. I apologize for my mistake." Sesshomaru turned from the three and made his way over to the hot springs to join the other men. He wasn't originally going to bathe, but Shippo needed a lesson in adulthood. Shippo hopped to his feet and followed. Sango and Kagome said nothing to Shippo as he left. Instead, they wondered if in the demon world his bathing with them would be seen as awkward or even revolting. He was so little, but if Kagome really thought about it, he was about Sota's age. Sota could not bathe with their mother. Ew.

"You know, Sesshomaru being around isn't that bad." Sango said to Kagome once Sesshomaru and Shippo had gone, "I thought it would be, but he's very helpful."

"He's trying really hard to get along with everyone." Kagome added.

"I mean for Shippo." Sango said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Shippo needs to be taught how to fit in with the demon world, not just ours." Sango explained and looked up from the campfire and to the stars, "Inuyasha was raised by humans, so he can't teach him those things. Sesshomaru just taught us something that we may have never known. To us he's a young boy, but demons mature differently than we do. Sesshomaru can help with that."

"I agree, but it weirds me out." Kagome added.

"How come?" Sango asked.

"Well, Sesshomaru and I are technically, you know, married…" Kagome explained a little awkwardly, "And Shippo claimed to understand that, so if he does, does he think Sesshomaru is his Dad?"

"I doubt that. We've only talked about removing the mark." Sango shook her head.

"I know that, but Shippo is impressionable. He followed Sesshomaru's advice without hesitating. I know it's good; if he's too old to bathe with us, I'd really rather know that, but what else can Sesshomaru tell him that may lead Shippo to think or feel differently?" Kagome sighed and closed her eyes, "He's growing up and I don't know how to raise him right. To be honest, whether the mark is removed or not, I may ask Sesshomaru to stick around for some of the important demonic parts of Shippo's life."

"It's not a bad idea." Sango smiled in support of what Kagome said.

"You think so?" Kagome lightened up when Sango nodded, "I think it'll be good for Shippo."

The women shared in a few more conversations. About twenty minutes passed and they suddenly heard yelling. Out of worry, the women stood up and ran toward the men, but were met with an awkward sight. Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sesshomaru were standing opposite each other on rocks protruding from the water. Shippo was on Sesshomaru's shoulder and glaring at Inuyasha.

"Sesshomaru, beat him up!" Shippo demanded, "He's always picking on me!"

"Stop picking on the boy, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru said in defense of Shippo.

"I'm not picking on him." Inuyasha retorted. "He's being a little jerk."

Kagome was about to make an involuntary noise in surprise and embarrassment, but Sango covered her mouth and the two lowered into the bushes very quickly. The men looked over, but saw nothing and the scent of the hot springs was in the way of really telling where the women were. They knew they were near, but not that they were right there watching the scene. Sango and Kagome crawled along the ground to get away. Their faces were redder than Inuyasha's clothing. Once they got back to the campsite, they sat there blushing.

"Did you see them?" Sango asked.

"Uh'huh." Kagome nodded.

"All of them. All three. So, um…" Sango stuttered.

"Unexpected." Kagome said.

The two looked to each other and then smiled, suddenly laughing loudly. They fell back into a fallen log and leaned against it, relaxing as their laughing faded. The image of all three of those men were plastered in their minds now. It was a sight to never forget.

"What a view." Kagome said naughtily and the laughing continued.

Soon, the men showed up fully dressed and the girls forced themselves to stop laughing. It was their turn. They grabbed their things and made their way to the hot springs. They undressed and sat their things close together on a nearby rock. They decided to keep their hair down to wash it and slipped into the hot water. They concentrated on bathing first and got themselves cleaned up. Once their hair and bodies were washed, they moved to a different part of the spring and leaned against the warm rocks.

"Kagome, how are you doing?" Sango asked and Kagome knew exactly what she was talking about.

"I'm okay. I feel a lot better and am sleeping well." Kagome explained, "I've heard of cases where this happened to people, but never thought it would happen to me. It's just that since Sesshomaru was a victim in it as well, I don't really feel as badly as I thought I would. Instead, I'm getting over it a lot quicker than I've heard of other people being able to. Having him around helps, I think. I get to see his side of it and realize every day that I am not the only one recovering from it."

"I can tell you're at least some better. I'm glad." Sango said in relief, "Once we find Kikyo…"

"I've been meaning to ask you something about that." Kagome interrupted, "If we find Kikyo, I'm thinking about asking her to join the group."

"What? Why?" Sango asked.

"Even if she does know what's wrong with me, I doubt the fix is quick and easy." Kagome explained, "And if she doesn't know, she could sense the jewel like I used to be able to, so maybe she can help?"

"I get it, but what about Inuyasha?" Sango asked.

"The mission to destroy Naraku needs to come first. Besides, he's been getting really annoyed with me because of this lately." Kagome sad sadly and then let silence follow for a few moments, "Can I tell you a secret, Sango?"

"You're falling for Sesshomaru, aren't you?" Sango leaned in and whispered.

At first it was a joke, but when Sango saw the confirming look on Kagome's face, her eyes widened.

"You are, aren't you?" Sango asked more seriously.

"I don't know." Kagome shrugged and sighed, "I recognize that the mark forces him to protect me and it's why he's around, but… It doesn't force him to be interested in what I say. He has listened to me talk for hours upon hours by now. I've never gotten to tell someone what I've gone through here."

"I listen, don't I?" Sango asked, honestly wondering whether she was messing up as a friend.

"Of course!" Kagome chuckled and put a hand on Sango's shoulder, "But you watch me every day. You see it too. With Sesshomaru asking me about myself, it's different. He seems interested. When we went to my time, he listened to me go on and on about the differences between here and there. He asked questions and when I try doing that with Inuyasha, he's just not interested. He's so focused on the jewel that…"

"That he doesn't have time to focus on you?" Sango said and Kagome nodded sadly, "I understand that. I felt like that with Miroku. I always thought he never noticed how I felt. If what he said was true, he gave you the credit for opening his eyes to how he was hurting me. He never realized it before."

"I'm glad he finally did." Kagome lowered herself into the water more, looking up through the thick leaves and at the night sky, "Otherwise I never would have gotten to hear that adorable proposal."

"Inuyasha hasn't really done anything like that for you, has he?" Sango asked and Kagome shook her head no, "Have you talked to him about it?"

"No, but I can predict his reply," Kagome sat up straight again and crossed her arms, turning her head away to mimic Inuyasha when he pouts, "Why would I do any of that mushy stuff?"

"Okay, you're right. Perfect imitation." Sango giggled, but soon sighed, "Kagome, be careful. I know that Sesshomaru may seem nicer now, but we don't know if he's going to revert once the mark is gone."

"Trust me, I know. I just… I don't want to say I'm falling for him." Kagome took a deep breath, "I think that he's refreshing. He's the opposite to Inuyasha in many ways, though there are some that they're alike. He listens to me and he doesn't yell at me when he's mad. He isn't so impulsive either."

"You've cared for Inuyasha a long time." Sango said almost like a warning, "Do not let something new come along and destroy your relationship with him because it's a little nice. Inuyasha is an idiot at times, but he does care for you. He fights for you all the time and even accepted Sesshomaru for you."

"I know, I know. I have thought about this a lot lately." Kagome waved her hands in front of her, "Inuyasha has been there for me too long to just betray him like that."

"And if you bring Kikyo into the mix, you will make it harder on you both." Sango added.

"Yeah… That's true." Kagome's tone calmed and she sighed, "I guess we'll have to see."

"Yeah. We will." Sango nodded and both of them looked up to the stars.

"When everything happened, I did tell Inuyasha to just be with her." Kagome remembered back to that speech she gave. "I meant it, and in a way, I still do. I don't want to keep dealing with the back and forth between Kikyo and myself. It hurts too much and I don't think it is fair for any of us."

"It's not, Kagome." Sango nodded in agreement. "As you said, we'll just have to see how things go."

The two enjoyed the rest of their bath and got dressed about thirty minutes later. When they returned to the campsite, they found that everyone seemed to be asleep. Sango laid down next to Miroku and Kagome went over to cover Shippo up when she noticed Sesshomaru sitting against a tree with wet hair. She grabbed a dry towel and walked over to him. She tapped his arm lightly and he opened his eyes.

"Here." She offered him the towel.

Sesshomaru sat up and looked at the towel, unsure of what it was for. Kagome smiled and spread the towel over his head and down his back. Sesshomaru's head lowered like a dog when it didn't want to be pet and just watched her.

"It'll dry your hair off quicker." Kagome said and squeezed his hair within it. Since Sesshomaru seemed more particular about his hair than Inuyasha, she didn't just rub the towel on it. "Do it like this so it doesn't damage your hair. Rubbing can damage."

"Thank you." Sesshomaru said and did the rest himself.

Kagome nodded and returned to her sleeping bag to see Inuyasha's eyes open. He saw what happened between her and his brother. Inuyasha stared at her and looked away a few seconds later. Kagome said nothing and chose to get into her sleeping bag and go to sleep.

Inuyasha didn't know what to do in this situation. He'd fight Koga and yell at Kagome for getting that close to him, but this was different. He didn't really feel that threatened by the wolf; Kagome chose to be with Inuyasha after all. For the first time, Inuyasha realized that his relationship with Kagome was threatened. The jealousy he felt in his heart was eye-opening.

"Is this… how she feels every time I run off to Kikyo?" Inuyasha thought, bringing his hand to his chest and clutching tightly at the fabric over his heart, "No wonder she gets so mad at me… I've been doing this to her for years."

.

.

Over the next week, what had been getting better was becoming awkward again. Inuyasha was really quiet and deep in thought all the time. He barely talked to Kagome or anyone else, which pushed Kagome to talking to Sesshomaru more. Seeing her talk to Sesshomaru more pushed Inuyasha further away, creating a cycle that no one realized existed in order to break it.

Fortunately, the group had recently come across a rumor about Naraku's castle recently and they were able to cheer up. The details given to the group about Naraku's new castle was different than the group normally got. The castle was described to be immaculate. Hearing this and the direction they were pointed in left Sesshomaru uneasy. Instead of making a fuss, he ignored the feeling.

The group began in the direction that they were pointed; however, as they traveled, Sesshomaru became more and more anxious. Every now and then, he would stop and look at something specifically, causing the group to stop as well. They asked him what was wrong, but didn't get a straight answer from him. As they came closer to their destination, Sesshomaru stopped and stared at the mountain ahead.

"Sesshomaru, are you okay?" Kagome looked back and asked, "You seem on edge."

"This latest rumor. Where is the castle located?" Sesshomaru asked.

"It stands in a valley at the bottom of that mountain." Miroku explained and pointed ahead.

"Yes, apparently it's a beautiful palace, which is odd for Naraku." Sango explained and only added to Sesshomaru's nervousness, "The places he creates aren't normally beautiful, just big and boring."

"It's possible he did not create this one, but took it over. He's done that before." Miroku said.

"Why did they say it's beautiful though? That really isn't Naraku's thing." Kagome asked.

"There's supposedly a beautiful stone courtyard and ornate carvings along the gates." Miroku explained to the group, "But no one ever goes there because demons that inhabit it."

"Why do you ask, Sesshomaru?" Sango asked him.

When she got no answer, she looked back to see he had stopped walking. Sango tapped Miroku's shoulder and he stopped too. Noticing this, Kagome and Inuyasha stopped to look back. He looked furious, so furious that the group saw his eyes flash red. When he realized they were looking at him, a few thoughts of previous conversations about teamwork and friendship went through his mind. He needed help this time, didn't he? He looked through them all and then to his brother.

"Inuyasha…" Sesshomaru spoke up, but he sounded pained, "I… need your help."

"Uh, why?" Inuyasha asked tentatively and got elbowed by Kagome, "WHAT? THAT'S WEIRD, OKAY?"

"It's home." Sesshomaru said before Kagome could scold Inuyasha.

"Huh?" Inuyasha looked to his brother confused.

"It's our family's castle, Inuyasha. And if that despicable bastard has taken it over, that means he's captured my servants, Jaken, and he has the child, Rin." Sesshomaru told the group, his well-deserved anger taking over his voice, "I cannot do this alone. I need your help."