Chapter 1

With Kagome

It had been three months since the epic final battle with Naraku had taken place. The battle had been fierce, but with Inuyasha, Sesshomaru wielding Bakusaiga, and Kagome combining their attacks they were able to destroy Naraku. Sango, Miroku, and Kouga, with the help of Kirara and Shippo, took care of the army of lesser youkai and Naraku's incarnations. Kouga had finally avenged his fallen pack mates and Sango was able to save Kohaku.

In a last ditch effort to avoid defeat, Naraku had attacked Inuyasha from behind just as Inuyasha had released the final blow that help defeat Naraku. If it hadn't been for Kikyo sacrificing herself, Inuyasha would have died from the attack. Inuyasha was able to make his peace with Kikyo, the instant she had seen the attack, her true personality had shone through the hatred and bitterness that had kept her alive. Her dying wish was for Inuyasha to have a long and happy life. The only thing she wished for herself was peace; she knew that her time in the world of the living was over. Inuyasha reburied her ashes beneath the Sacred Tree.

Sango and Miroku had decided not to marry right away. Sango still had some doubts about her relationship with Miroku, seeing how he still had a wandering hand and constantly flirted with other women. Miroku was also having some second thoughts, since Sango didn't seem to trust him and was sometimes a little too violent when his hand would wander. Kohaku decided to rebuild the Youkai Slayer village, and found plenty of people who were willing to help him and train. Though there were going to be some changes, such as the slayers would no longer be taught that all youkai were evil, and would only slay the ones who were out of control or dangerous to ningens.

Kagome had offered Inuyasha the Shikon Jewel to make a wish, but he was finally happy with who he was and told her to keep it. Inuyasha and Kagome had finally realized that though they loved each other, they were not in love with each other. The love they felt was that of best friends or siblings instead of romantic. Kagome had been able to finally finish high school, and had decided to remain in the Feudal Era until she figured out what to do about the Shikon Jewel. Kagome had no idea what to wish for to purify the Jewel, thus the Jewel was once again worn on a necklace and carried with her at all times. It was with the question of what to wish for on Kagome's mind as she sat by the Bone Eater's Well that Jaken found her.

"Wench, Lord Sesshomaru sent this message for you. I was instructed to wait here for you to discuss things with the hanyou and bring your answer back to Lord Sesshomaru. So be quick about it," Jaken demanded as he tossed the scroll to her.

"Jaken, you know you would make fewer enemies if you were a little more polite to others. It wouldn't kill you to be nice you know," Kagome said, though she knew that the imp would never take the advice. Ignoring Jaken's mutters about uppity ningens that didn't know their place, Kagome picked up the scroll and read it.

Miko,

I, Lord Sesshomaru, invite you and your pack, including my half-brother, to the harvest fair to be held in the Western Lands in one month. Should you and your pack decide to attend, accommodations here at my palace will be provided. I write to you because there is something I wish to tell Inuyasha in person, unfortunately we both know how stubborn he can be. It is my hope that you will be able to convince him to attend. Send your reply with Jaken as soon as possible.

Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands

Kagome was puzzled about this sudden turn of events, but decided that she had to know what it was that Sesshomaru wanted to tell Inuyasha. Plus she had hopes that this would help the two brothers bury the hatchet, though hopefully not in each other. They seemed to be on better terms since Sesshomaru had agreed to work with them to defeat Naraku and they no longer fought whenever they saw each other. With this decide she tucked the scroll in her backpack and headed back to Kaede's village to talk with her friends. When she arrived she found all her friends were enjoying a meal with Kaede in her house.

"Hey guys. You'll never guess what happened," she said as she sat down next to Inuyasha, who was slurping up his instant ramen.

"What is it, Kagome?" Sango asked. She was seated between Kaede and Inuyasha while Miroku was seated between Kaede and Shippo.

"Jaken brought me a message from Sesshomaru, seems he is inviting us to stay at his palace and attend the harvest fair he is hosting. He specifically asked that you attend Inuyasha. He said he has something he wants to talk to you about in person. What do you guys think, feel like going?" Kagome replied as she accepted a bowl of ramen from Kaede. For a second the whole room was silent, everyone had shocked looks on their faces.

"NO WAY IN HELL; I'M NOT GOING!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he started to get up, but one look from Kagome made him reconsider storming off and he sank back down.

"Inuyasha, this is an opportunity to learn more about your father. It seems like Sesshomaru is willing to put the past behind him and you would be an idiot to let your pride get in the way," Kagome said.

"Yes Inuyasha. After all Sesshomaru is still your aniki. You should give this a chance," Sango encouraged. "He's the only family you have left; don't you want to know more about your family?"

"It would also be a nice break from fighting all the youkai that come looking for the Shikon Jewel. It will only be for a week or two, I'm sure that you and Sesshomaru will be able to get along that long. After all you did manage to get along with him for a month before we defeated Naraku. Besides, this will be Kagome's first chance to attend a fair in this era. We were always too busy to make time for the harvest fair while hunting for the Jewel shards," Miroku added.

"Inuyasha, ye should go. This be the first time ye aniki has summoned ye, there may be an important reason for the invitation. Ye owe it to ye self to find out what that reason is," Kaede stated as she calmly sipped her tea.

"Please Inuyasha. Just see what Sesshomaru wants to talk to you about. I promise that we will leave if you can't handle being around your aniki. I'm sure your father would have liked to see his children getting along," Kagome said as she gave Inuyasha the puppy dog look.

"Fine," Inuyasha growled as he crossed his arms, "we'll go, but the minute he insults me in any way we are leaving, whether he's had his say or not. Kagome, you are going to be with me during this talk. I'm not positive that I'll be able to keep my temper if he is his usual stuck up self."

"Thank you, Inuyasha. I'm sure everything will be fine," Kagome said. Then she rummaged in her backpack for her notebook and a pen to write a reply to Sesshomaru. After jotting down a reply she rolled the paper up, tied an orange ribbon around it to keep it closed, grabbed her bow and arrows, and headed back to the Well to give it to Jaken. Jaken was pacing around the clearing when Kagome got there, but stopped as soon as she entered.

"Here you are, Jaken. Please make sure that Lord Sesshomaru receives our reply and say hi to Rin for me," Kagome said.

"Hmmph, it's about time woman. I have better things to do than wait around for ningens all day," Jaken replied as he started walking away. When he had almost reached the tree line he gave a whistle. In seconds Ah-Un emerged from the woods to carry Jaken back to the palace and then they were gone.

With Sesshomaru

Sesshomaru was sitting at his desk in his study going through the responses to the invitations while waiting for his messengers, Jaken and Hideki, to return with replies from Inuyasha's pack and Lord Kouga. He had been very busy in the months since Naraku's defeat. The paperwork had piled up, a few land disputes had to be settled between a few of his minor nobles, getting preparations for the harvest fair done, and helping Jovan move into the palace had taken up a lot of time. Sesshomaru knew that as soon as he received the reply from Kagome he would have to sit down with Jovan and finally tell her about Inuyasha. She had been incredibly patient while waiting for him to have time to discuss the matter.

With an inaudible sigh Sesshomaru picked up the next scroll that waited for his attention. There was a faint scent of lavender and snow still clinging to the scroll that seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quiet place the scent. As he read the scroll, he raised an eyebrow in surprise; it read:

Lord Sesshomaru,

It has come to my attention that this year you will be holding a harvest fair. I'm sure that my invitation must have been eaten by another youkai along with the messenger, so I am writing to let you know that I would be delighted to attend and thank you for the accommodations that you no doubt offered to provide. I look forward to seeing you again, as we have not seen one another since your father's funeral. Thank you for the invitation that I know you sent and I will be arriving two days before the start of the fair so that we have time to become reacquainted.

Affectionately,

Lady Yoake, of the Eastern Lands

Lady Yoake, he had almost forgotten Lord Kouga's older half-sister. The two of them had been the best of friends as pups, but they had drifted apart when the Inu No Taisho, Touga, had started seeing Izayoi. Sesshomaru had seen his father's relationship with the ningen hime as a betrayal, even though his father and mother had not been mates. They had argued about the worthiness of ningens and for some reason that Sesshomaru didn't know Yoake was adamant that there was nothing wrong with a youkai and a ningen falling in love. They had barely spoken to each other at his father's funeral, so it surprised him that she had decided to reconnect after all these years. Sesshomaru's musing was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Enter," Sesshomaru called. Jaken entered the study and bowed before walking over to the desk.

"Milord, your faithful servant has returned with the reply from the filthy half-breed and his pack. That ungrateful miko made me wait almost an hour before bringing their answer," Jaken said as he handed Sesshomaru the rolled up paper.

"Jaken, have the maids prepare a room for Lady Yoake, it seems she will be attending the fair as well; when the room is ready report back here for further instructions. That will be all," Sesshomaru said before glaring down at the imp. "Another thing, Jaken, you are to refrain from insulting any of my guests. Do I make myself clear?"

"Absolutely clear, milord," Jaken replied in a shaking voice as he slowly bowed out of the room. Jaken, of course, was clueless as to why Lord Sesshomaru would now object to the way he talked.

Sesshomaru had come to several realizations in the month he had spent with Inuyasha and his pack. Seeing how loyal and accepting the ningens had been made him reevaluate his views on ningens. He was now willing to admit that while most ningens were a waste of time, there were a few exceptions. He had also realized that he didn't really hate his otōto and had learned to accept the fact that Inuyasha had found his own path in life. Sesshomaru had let go of the anger he had felt when Izayoi had refused to allow him access to Inuyasha when he was a pup. Now he just had to get Inuyasha to see why he had been angry when he had refused to come live in the palace when Izayoi had died. Sesshomaru knew that Inuyasha thought he and his mother had been abandoned by him, and Sesshomaru's pride would not let him explain things to Inuyasha when he was younger. But the past was gone, and now that he had really been able to get to know his otōto, he hoped that they could at least be civil to each other; for Jovan if for no other reason. With a slight smirk at the thought of how Inuyasha would react to finding out that he had another older sibling Sesshomaru shook his head and opened the message from Kagome.

Lord Sesshomaru,

My friends and I would like to thank you for your invitation. We were able to convince Inuyasha to attend and gratefully accept your offer for accommodations. Inuyasha has agreed to talk with you, but requests that I be present during the discussion. At least this way he will be somewhat civil. We are looking forward to the break this will provide us from youkai attacks due to the Shikon Jewel. I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to attack us while we are your guests. You may expect us the day before the start of the fair. We look forward to seeing you and Rin at the fair and if you would be so kind, please give Rin the ribbon I tied this reply with. I thought it would look good with her usual kimono.

Sincerely,

Kagome Higurashi

It amused Sesshomaru to know that his otōto felt the need to have the little miko act as a mediator for their talk. While Kagome had annoyed him when they first met, he had grown fond of the little miko during their travels together. She never ceased to amuse and amaze him. She, more than any other ningen, had been the one who had changed his mind about ningens. The fact that she was so open minded and willing to accept other being for who they are instead of what they are impressed him. Sesshomaru held the highest respect for Kagome, especially since she had adopted the little kitsune and had befriended Rin without expecting any favor from him. Through getting to know her, he was able to finally see why his father had fallen for a ningen, though he only thought of Kagome as a friend. After working for another hour Hideki arrived with confirmation that Lord Kouga would be attending and arriving two days before the fair started. Sesshomaru instructed Jaken to have the five spare rooms in the family wing prepared for Inuyasha and his pack as well as airing out Lord Kouga's usual room. As soon as Jaken left he had Takeo, one of the guards stationed outside his study, take a request for Jovan to come to his study. It was time to let his imōto know about Inuyasha.