Chapter 2

With Jovan

Jovan was playing with Rin in the garden when Takeo found her and told her that Lord Sesshomaru wished to see her. It had taken her a couple of moons to learn her way around the Western Palace and get settled in, but she no longer had any difficulty getting around. After taking Rin back to her room to play; Jovan made her way to Sesshomaru's office. She knocked on the door, after a couple of seconds Sesshomaru answered and she entered the room and took a seat across the desk from her aniki.

"You wished to see me, Aniki," Jovan said as she looked over at Sesshomaru. She could tell by the expression in his eyes that he was worried, so she gave him a bright smile to make him feel more at ease.

"I wish to talk to you about Inuyasha," Sesshomaru began. "I appreciate how patiently you have been waiting. As Lord Kouga informed you, Inuyasha is my half-brother, your younger twin brother."

"Why didn't you or Lady Mother ever tell me about him?" Jovan asked.

"The day you were born there was a fire started in the manor your mother, Izayoi, lived in. One of her guards, Takemaru, had fallen in love with your mother and was furious that she was about to give birth to the child of a youkai. Shortly after you were born you were taken by your mother's personal maid to be cleaned. While you were out of the room, Takemaru entered your mother's chambers and stabbed her through the stomach, killing her and your unborn twin. As fate would have it Father was nearby, returning for the birth from a terrible battle with Ryūkotsusei in which he was gravely injured. He fought with Takemaru, killed him, and then used the Tensaiga to bring your mother and Inuyasha back to life. During the battle with Takemaru some candles were overturned and the manor caught fire. The maid who had taken you to be cleaned managed to escape the fire, but could not find your mother anywhere, and assumed that she had died in the fire. Shortly after that Inuyasha was born and Father died from his wounds. After Father's funeral I approached Izayoi and offered to have her and Inuyasha move into the palace with me so that I could help raise my half-brother. At the time I was still disgusted with Father for mating with a ningen, but as I believed Inuyasha was the only sibling I had I wanted to make sure he was properly trained. Her refusal was adamant; she would not let me have anything to do with her son. So I honored her request that I not contact our otōto. It took Izayoi's maid a few moons, but she was able to find Mother and asked her to raise you as she was unable to do so herself. Mother agreed but neglected to inform me of your existence for about two summers. When I found out about you I decided to approach Izayoi once again. Unfortunately it took me a few summers to find her; she had apparently feared that I would come back and take Inuyasha away from her. By the time I located her, it was too late, she had already passed away and our otōto had been driven out of the village by the ningens. When I found him in the forest that later became the Forest of Inuyasha and I offered to take him in. He was quiet angry and refused. It seems he was under the impression that I had abandoned him and his mother and wanted nothing to do with me. Being a young Lord, I had too much pride to try explaining things to him, not that he would have listened anyway. Our otōto is quiet stubborn. So I let him think that I had left him. What he still to this day does not know is that I provided for and protected him until he was old enough to protect himself. I doubt he even questioned were the food he found before he learned to hunt came from, or why he was always safe on his ningen nights. He thought I hated him, and for a while I thought I did too; but I never truly hated him. I hope that he realizes this by now. Inuyasha thought for a long time that I wanted to kill him to get Father's other sword, the Tetsaiga, and while for a time I did want the sword, I would never have really killed him for it. After I found out that he needed the sword to control his youkai blood I continued to fight with him. He thought I still wanted the sword, but the miko he travels with, Kagome, had long since figured out that I was actually training him on how to use the Tetsaiga. Until you had met Lord Kouga, Mother and I had thought it best to keep Inuyasha's existence a secret. At first it was because he had no wish to have contact with us, but after we found out about Naraku the secret was to keep you safe from Naraku. I had intended to tell you about our otōto after Naraku was defeated and find out if you had wanted to meet him. However after spending a month in the company of Inuyasha and his pack I decided to invite him to the harvest fair next month and tell him of you. Kagome has managed to convince him to accept my invitation and they will arrive the day before the fair opens," Sesshomaru said. Jovan was shocked; this was the most she had ever heard her brother say at one time. She sat there in silence for a few minutes taking in all the new information she had received.

"If it hadn't been for Naraku, would you have ever told me about our otōto?" She asked.

"I had planned to tell you once you had moved into the palace. Mother is still a little sore about Father refusing to take her as a mate," he replied. Jovan knew that what he said was the truth, since Sesshomaru didn't lie.

"When will you tell him about me?" She asked.

"I plan on telling him as soon as he and his pack have settled into the family wing of the palace. I'll ask him and Kagome to come see me when they are ready. As soon as they arrive I will ask Takeo to come get you so that you can meet him in private," he replied. "Now, imōto, it is time to get ready for dinner, I will see you in the dining hall in a half an hour."

"Thank you for telling me about Inuyasha, Aniki. I look forward to meeting him. I'll see you at dinner," Jovan said as she left the room.

With Sesshomaru: Two Days Before the Fair

Sesshomaru stood in the western garden watching Rin as she practiced using the staff of two heads with Jaken serving as a moving target. The eleven year old girl had become rather good at using the staff and rarely missed her target. The brown eyed girl had tied her black hair up with the orange ribbon Kagome had sent for her.

'Perhaps it is time to have Totosai craft a staff for the girl. She is at an age that she should learn how to protect herself,' Sesshomaru's inner beast commented.

'She might enjoy having her own staff. I will have to see Totosai about this soon,' Sesshomaru replied. As he watched in amusement as Rin set Jaken's pants on fire a maid informed Sesshomaru that Lord Kouga had arrived. Sesshomaru sent her to guide Kouga to the gardens and to inform Lady Jovan that he had arrived. Sesshomaru could tell Kouga was interested in his imōto and it seemed as though she might be interested in him as well.

"Welcome Lord Kouga," Sesshomaru greeted as Kouga entered the garden. Instead of wearing his usual armor and furs, Kouga was dressed similar to Sesshomaru, but his shirt and pants were blue with white flowers across the left shoulder. He was also wearing black boots and had his sword at his hip.

"Lord Sesshomaru, it's good to see you again. I see Rin has been learning a few new tricks since I've last seen her," Kouga said with a smirk as Jaken dove into a small pond. "Thank you for inviting me."

"The West and the East have been allies since both our fathers were young. Now that Naraku has been defeated it would be in our best interest to renew the agreement and solidify our alliance," Sesshomaru replied. "Besides, Jovan has been looking forward to seeing you again. She should be here soon."

"I've been looking forward to seeing Lady Jovan as well. I would like to formal ask your permission, as head of the family, to court Lady Jovan," Kouga said.

"It is fine with me, but that is something you will have to ask her for yourself," Sesshomaru informed him. "I have promised my imōto that she will be able to make those decisions for herself. I will not condemn her to an arranged mating as my mother and father were."

"Thank you, I'll ask her when she gets here," Kouga replied. They stood there watching Rin practice and chatting about the pressures of being a Lord for a few minutes before they were interrupted by a new arrival. All of a sudden the scent of lavender and snow hit Sesshomaru and before he had the chance to turn he felt something wrap around his waist in a teasing caress.

"Otōto, I didn't know you would be here. It's been a while hasn't it," said the short, silver haired woman in a sultry voice as she walked between the two taiyoukai. As she started walking away from them her tail slid sensually across Sesshomaru's tight abs.

"We will have to catch up when you are not busy, Kouga," she said then she looked over her should at Sesshomaru. "Lord Sesshomaru, I look forward to getting reacquainted with you as well."

Sesshomaru's mouth went dry as he stared at Lady Yoake as she walked away. Her long silver tail slowly swished back and forth in a seductive way that sent a wave of heat through Sesshomaru. He had forgotten just how attractive his childhood friend had become over the years.

"So did you invite her or did she invite herself?" Kouga asked in surprise.

"I was informed that Lady Yoake would be attending the same day I received an answer from both you and Kagome," Sesshomaru replied.

"I always wondered what had changed between the two of you. You two were inseparable when you were younger. I remember the time Yoake dragged you, Ginta, Hakkaku and I out in the middle of the night to go swimming. I still laugh every time I think about the look on your face when she stripped out of her kimono and dived into the river naked as the day she was born," Kouga said with a laugh.

"Hn," Sesshomaru replied with a small smirk on his face. "If I remember correctly that was when she hit Ginta and Hakkaku with rocks for staring at her instead of swimming like they were supposed to."

"Yeah, those were some good times. So I take it that since Kagome is coming that you've decided to clue Inuyasha in about Lady Jovan," Kouga inquired.

"Indeed. Jovan has expressed an interest in knowing our otōto," Sesshomaru replied, "and I have decided that it is time for Inuyasha and I to put the past behind us once and for all."

"I sincerely hope that will be the case, Aniki. I would like to be able to spend time with both of my brothers without bloodshed," Jovan said as she exited the palace. "Lord Kouga, it's a pleasure to see you again."

Both Taiyoukai turned at the sound of her voice. Instead of wearing the same type of outfit she had on during their last meeting, Jovan was wearing a white kimono with the same pattern as Sesshomaru's outfit except the instead of red the accents were a purple-blue color and on the back was a large crescent moon; the symbol of the Western Lands. Her obi was swirls of silver and the same purple-blue color as the designs on her kimono and her slippers were silver.

"It's wonderful to see you as well, Lady Jovan. Please, just call me Kouga. I'm not as formal as some of the other lords," Kouga replied with a gentle smile.

"Thank you and you may simply call me Jovan," she said as she returned his smile.

"I believe Rin has had enough staff practice for the day. I will see the two of you at dinner. There is still some work that I need to take care of," Sesshomaru said as he walked away to collect Rin. "Jovan, perhaps you would care to show Kouga the gardens."

Jovan blushed slightly but motioned for Kouga to walk with her. They walked in silence for a few minutes. The gardens were lovely with flowers of almost every color imaginable and tall trees with leaves just starting to change color for the fall. This was the first time that Kouga had ever had trouble expressing himself to any woman. Finally, he got up enough courage to ask her what he had been dying to since he had first seen her.

"Jovan, I would like to get to know you better. Will you do me the honor of allowing me to court you?" Kouga asked slightly nervous.

"Kouga," she gasped as her eyes grew wide and a blush spread across her face. "I would like that. I want to get to know you better as well."

"Oh, just to warn you. Inuyasha doesn't really like me all that much, so he may object to my courting his imōto," Kouga said with a chagrin look on his face.

"Why doesn't Inuyasha like you, Kouga?" she asked. As Jovan and Kouga walked around the gardens, he told her all about how he had at one time thought to take Kagome as a mate and how he had later realized that what he felt for the miko was more of a sibling love than anything else. Jovan found herself laughing as Kouga told her how he had kept up the act until the day that he had meet her and all the funny things that happened whenever he would show up claiming Kagome as his woman.

"Truthfully, I felt a little bad for not letting Kagome know what I was up to, but I could never catch her alone to tell her. Inuyasha would always get really possessive and competitive. I know that she was afraid of hurting my feelings so she never told me to get lost," Kouga said.

The rest of the afternoon passed in pleasant conversation as they walked around the gardens. Kouga's stories about Inuyasha and his friends kept Jovan laughing and through them Jovan started getting to know a little bit about her otōto. When they had to go get ready for dinner they both felt as though they had known each other for years. Kouga offered to escort Jovan to the banquet at the end of the first day of the fair which she accepted with a smile. He knew that she would probably like to spend a couple of days getting to know her otōto.

While he didn't want to interfere with the family reunion, he couldn't help but wish that he could be a fly on the wall when Sesshomaru tells Inuyasha about Jovan. He just hoped the hanyou didn't do anything stupid and hurt Jovan. He would hate to have to kick his future brother-in-law's butt for hurting his woman after all.