I don't own Inuyasha.

Review or I'll sic Lord Fluffy on ya.

Melissa and Kimiko sat in Kimiko's favorite garden under a cherry tree overlooking a koi pond as they talked. She told her about a time Sesshomaru had wanted sweets and been told there were none made. He'd snuck out of his chambers and into the kitchen that night determined to make some, never mind he had no idea how.

When he had climbed the shelves to reach some utensils he had toppled them. A large pot had landed upside down over him and he was still to small to lift it. He'd had to spend all night there in the cooking pot, and if that wasn't punishment enough he got a spanking in the morning.

Another time he was playing with a ball in the palace and broke a vase full of flowers. When his mother asked him about it he'd blamed it on his father. He claimed his father had been practicing kendo inside. When his mother had described how his father would be punished he'd been overcome with guilt and owned up to being the culprit. He had been spared a spanking for his selflessness that time.

Melissa laughed her ass off at the stories his mother told her. Unfortunately she had none of her own, well none she could share with his mother. The woman we so convinced they were in love that anything she said would only be taken as further proof that they loved each other, which they didn't.

Sesshomaru was a gorgeous, powerful, youkai prince. She was, well, just Melissa. Just a human. He could never love her. He took care of her, but that was just because they were friends. And because she wasn't able to take care of herself, not at first anyway.

"What is wrong?" His mother asked, looking closely at Melissa. Kimiko had been working on some embroidery that kumiko had fetch for her as they talked, she now laid the pieces for cloth in her lap and focused solely on Melissa.

She couldn't lie. "I just think foolish thing. I not want talk to about thing."

"Very well, then I will not pressure you." She picked up her embroidery again.

"What you make?" She asked looking at the beautiful sky blue pattern.

"You tell me. What am I making?" She asked laying the pieces flat in her lap. When she sewed them together, a bag? No, if she stuffed it...

"You making ball?" She was making a little cloth ball, a play thing. She was making a toy. Even if she and Sesshomaru were together Melissa couldn't give her grandchildren. Was Kimiko's desire for a grandchild as strong as her own desire for a baby?

"I have made many such toys over the years. It is a way to pass the time. I give them to the staff, youkai children are hard on their toys so there is always a need. What toys do Americans make for their children?"

"Most Americans buy toys. We have stores that sell all toys"

"So how will you provide playthings to your children now that you are without your toy stores?"

'I should tell her I can't have babies,' Melissa thought, 'shut her down right now.' "I can make dolls." Well it was true. She had made dolls once or twice. They weren't exactly play things, but making a toy doll would be easy enough.

"Dolls are fine should you bare daughters. But what if you have a son? You can sew, you will finish this ball so that you know how to make one when the time comes. I will show you what to fill it with and how to make the final seam."

A few minutes later, Melissa was holding a completed ball, she thought her seams turned out pretty good. Maybe she'd make one for Shippo, or Kagome's baby. She could make balls for Sango's girls too. While she thought her eyes landed on a small patch of weeds near by, they reminded her of a field that had lain fallow.

"What planted there?" She asked, pointing to the weed patch.

"Some white flowers, from China."

"Flower early?" Melissa asked

"They did not grow at all. I was very disappointed. Perhaps the seed was bad, everything else has always flourished there. In the spring I will try again but I will get my seeds from another man."

Melissa nodded. "Yes, perhaps other man's seed grow."

"So, does my son still visit with the little girl?" She asked looking back toward Melissa

"Rin? Yes. She live with Keade in Inuyasha's village."

"I have no idea how human children age. Would she still enjoy playing with balls?"

"Yes, I think she enjoy ball. She play catch with friend."

"Will you give her that toy in your hand when you again visit the village?"

Melissa nodded and then spotted Sesshomaru approaching. He looked a composed as ever other than a bloody lip, apparently Kin could give him a run for his money.

"You mother show me make toys. She say Rin can have this."

"She will appreciate that. I have been to check on your kimono. Apparently the laundry maid was under the impression that your kimono was a low priority. I have corrected her, but it will not be ready until late tonight, we will have to stay until morning."

"Is still wet?"

"It is nearly dry, but it still must be sewn together."

"Sewn together? It get rip?"

"A kimono is a bulky garment." Kimiko explained. "To properly launder it the seams are removed and the pieces are washed separately. Once it is dry it is resewn."

She turned her attention to Sesshomaru. "So, my son, shall a futon be laid out across the hall or will she spend the night in your bed again?"

Sesshomaru glared at his mother while Melissa shook her head and hid her reddened face in her free hand. He turned and strode off. "Let's go."

After they had stormed away from his mother they wandered around the edge of the property, just within the walls of the palace. Suddenly Sesshomaru held out a hand, stopping Melissa as a tattered ball rolled out from between two buildings into their path. Less than a moment later a small youkai boy jumped on the ball, sinking his teeth and claws into the plaything, tumbling head over heels with his thin black and orange tail flicking.

Melissa giggled as she watched the boy battle his toy, oblivious to his audience. When he heard her he stopped and looked up at them. He smiled at Sesshomaru but when Melissa bent down to try and talk to him he sniffed her then hissed and backed away, his tail bristling.

"Do not be offended Melissa, he has never seen a human before." Sesshomaru told her, petting her head. "Kiyoshi, your father would not wish to hear you have been rude to this Sesshomaru's friend."

The young boy approached them, nose twitching, tail flicking. "You're a human? You don't stink at all. Mama said humans are dirty and stinky."

"Your mother knows few humans, and she is prejudiced, though that is understandable. Her name is Melissa. Melissa, this is Kin's first born, Kiyoshi."

"Is nice meet you, Kiyoshi."

The cub tilted his head to the side and looked up at her curiously. "Merissasama, why do you talk funny?

"I from America, we speak English. I not speak Japanese for long."

Sesshomaru continued to stroke her head. "You have picked up much Japanese in a very short time."

Kiyoshi watched Sesshomaru petting Melissa. "Is she really having your puppy? That's what everyone is saying."

"No, she is not."

"Why not?"

"Because she is not pregnant."

"Why not?"

"Because we have not... We have not done what makes women pregnant."

"What's that, my lord?"

Oh shit. How could he answer that honestly? "I have not kissed her."

"My pop says having cubs is the best thing that ever happened to him. You should kiss her so she can have your puppies and then you can be as happy as he is. My lord?"

Sesshomaru didn't reply, he was walking away before this got any worse. Melissa told the boy bye then turned and caught up with Sesshomaru, laughing. He looked at her, she was so beautiful. She had no idea he'd realized at that moment that is exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted to hold her, to feel her lips against his, her body against him.

How would she react if he acted on that desire? If he put his arms around her and claimed her lips. He turned to face her and she stopped and turned to him too. They stared into one another's eyes and he stepped toward her, reached for her. She gasped as he placed his hands around her waist. Then he saw his mother out of the corner of his eye and dropped his hands quickly.

Not quickly enough. She smiled as she walked toward them. "So, she's not your woman, Sesshomaru?"

He turned to glare silently at his mother. Her timing was the worst.

She continued to smile as she glided toward them. "Would the two of you be interested in joining me for a drink?"

"Mother, I believe Melissa was right earlier. You did not force us to drink, nor tell us it was sake, we assumed. However, you knew we would assume such and made no effort to correct us. You intended for us to become intoxicated. Tell me, did you place Melissa in my bed after she passed out, or did you do something to cause her to believe that my chambers were hers?"

"You're right, my son, Your mother knew you would become inebriated. I only wanted you to answer my questions honestly. I never dreamed you would cuddle her in your arms when you believed her to be injured. Nor that you would insist on carrying her to bed. Why, poor Kumiko nearly lost her hand when she attempted to take the woman to her chambers. You put her in your bed, just as you held her just now."

"And why do you feel you are entitled to the details of this Sesshomaru's life?" He asked, nearly snarling.

"I suppose my sense of entitlement come from the painful months I carried you in my womb. Or perhaps from a day and a half of labor, were you aware you came out backward?" She turned to Melissa, "Do midwives of your time have ways to deal with children becoming lodged in the birth canal?"

Melissa didn't answer because she didn't understand the question. Kimiko could tell from the genuine look of confusion on her face. "He has always had a big head, even from birth. I was quite thankful my midwife had small hands."

Kimiko turned back to her son. "Then once you were in this world, instead of handing you off to a wet nurse, I nourished you myself until you were of age to wean, despite your repeated attempts to use my breasts as chew toys. And we won't talk about all the things besides my shoes you destroyed while you were teething."

"He chew shoes?" Melissa asked, doubling over with laughter.

"Yes, and even has an infant he had discriminating taste. The very first thing he chewed up was a lovely little pair of silk shoes his father bought me on one of his trips to China. I couldn't wear them of course, no one but a chinese lady could. They work hard to deform a girl's feet from a very early age. But they were quite beautiful little works of art.

"Through it all my greatest hope was that you, my son, would be happy. I only wished to know that my efforts through the centuries have not been in vain. I don't remember when you have been as happy as you are now. When you two are ready to admit your feelings for each other you have your mother's blessings to marry your human."

Sesshomaru didn't have an answer to that. He'd very nearly kissed her just now, and his mother had seen it. The question was would Melissa have allowed it? If he had kissed her and she did not wish to be kissed it could have made things awkward between them. He had nearly risked their friendship on a whim. And his mother was encouraging it. He turned and walked away like the spoiled child Kimiko had raised.

Melissa tossed and turned on her futon later that night. The room was so quite she couldn't sleep. She was used to the night sounds of bugs and wind. She was used to Jaken's snoring and the crackling embers of their camp fire. She was used to opening her eyes and seeing the still form of her watchful guardian. She wasn't used to sleeping alone.

She decided to get up and take a walk. She turned and saw eye shine coming toward her. Sesshomaru's eyes sometimes caught the light of the moon or campfire and reflected it like a wild animal. It was eerie. A reminder that he was not a human man.

"Sesshomaru?" She asked, wondering why he was out here.

"Do I look that much like my son?" Kimiko asked, stepping from the shadows.

"Have same eyes." She kept walking, she had no desire to talk right now.

Kimiko went inside, but a few minutes later Sesshomaru called Melissa's name. She turned to watch him walk toward her, glowing in the moonlight. She stared up at him and he stared back. Then he turned and started walking, she went with him.

"You can not sleep?"

"No. Too much quiet. Not use to sleep alone."

"It feels strange to me to sleep inside also, but I am a youkai. I do not need sleep every night as you do. You should try."

"I try, not able. I try later."

They walked to the orchard, away from prying eyes and sat below a peach tree staring at the sky. She stifled a yawn and laid back, a few minutes later with her guardian youkai beside her she fell asleep.

After a while Sesshomaru picked her up and cradled her against his chest as he carried her to the palace. Sliding the shoji doors was a bit tricky with her in his arms, but he managed. He laid her down on her futon then gently brushed her overlong bangs back behind her ears.

She was asleep and no one else was around to see. He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against hers. Then he licked her cheek. "Sleep well, my Melissa."