Epilogue

And so it came to pass the small group of friends had their fair share of ups and downs, but Sesshoumaru and Rin's relationship was by far the strongest and lasted the longest. Kagome and Inuyasha argued often and after several breakups, realised that they couldn't live without each other while Miroku soon learned to control his wandering hands after Sango threatened to leave him. Kouga and Ayame went their separate ways shortly after graduating from the university only to be reunited several years later.

While all their friends were working through their various problems, Sesshoumaru and Rin's relationship went from strength to strength. Despite their rocky start, they managed to overcome Sesshoumaru's sometimes arrogant nature and Rin soon came out of her shell, happy in the knowledge that Sesshoumaru was always there watching over her.

The pair had been a couple for little over two years by the time they graduated from the university and Sesshoumaru was overjoyed when Rin suggested they start redecorating the spare bedroom of their shared apartment to accommodate the child that would soon be joining their life. The addition to the family was not planned, but was definitely welcome and led to the pair beginning to plan their future together. The child would be born out of wedlock, but neither of the parents saw any problem with that – they had the rest of their lives to get married.

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The front door of the house slammed open and Rin looked up in surprise as she heard muttering before she heard the refrigerator door being opened. The child who sat beside her looked up at her with a questioning gaze to which she responded with a smile and a kiss on the forehead as Sesshoumaru walked through the living room door with a look of mild confusion on his face as he dropped down into the chair beside his wife. The little boy got to his feet and left his mother's side, choosing to sit with his father instead, telling him excitedly about his day at school.

"What was that about?" Rin asked, eyeing the kitchen door with concern before focusing her gaze on her husband who was struggling to get his son to quieten down.

"I don't know."

Rin frowned slightly as she watched her husband be dragged away to the other side of the living room to be shown his son's work from school. Her daughter, Miki, had just turned sixteen and had been coming home from school lately in frightfully bad moods that even deterred her stoic father from questioning her. Rin had thought it very endearing when she realised just how much her husband cared for his daughter and had initially thought he was making a mountain out of a mole hill when Miki's bad moods had first started, but now she was beginning to wonder if perhaps she should look into the matter more seriously.

Sesshoumaru looked over at his wife briefly and smiled slightly when their eyes met, but he soon grimaced when he heard a slam from upstairs. Deciding that perhaps this was something he should let Rin handle, he got comfortable in his seat beside his son and listened patiently while the boy continued to explain what had happened at school. Rin shook her head at him, smiling slightly and started to rise from her seat when the very cause of the slamming came through the living room doorway, several books clutched in her arms. The adults watched her warily as she made her way across to the desk where her brother and father sat and deposited her books with a sigh. Much to Rin's surprise, Miki turned and sat down heavily beside her mother and rested her head against Rin's shoulder.

"What's the matter?" Rin asked cautiously, fearful of a sudden burst of anger. The girl said nothing and Rin sighed softly, wrapping her arms around her and stroking her hair gently as she waited for a response.

"Nothing."

"Then what was all the crashing and banging about?" Rin questioned with a vague smile. "I don't know anyone who makes that much noise over nothing."

Miki sighed again and sat up, pushing away her mother's comforting hands to tie her hair up. A frown creased her brow as she looked over to where her father sat, watching her curiously. She knew very well that her father would not be pleased by the cause of her problem and having to put up with her father in one of his bad moods would definitely not help the situation any, but Miki knew that her mother could help. Somehow, her mother always seemed to be able to manage to fix her problems even when it seemed impossible. Perhaps it was just a gift that mothers had. Either way, although she wanted to tell her mother, she didn't want her father to know, but there was little choice now.

"It's just a problem at school," Miki muttered quietly with a slight blush, hoping her mother would take the hint and carry on the conversation later.

Rin smiled knowingly as she watched the blush spread across her daughter's pale features. "That's easily remedied, dear. Your father can probably sort it out if you tell him what's wrong."

"Ah, that's okay. I can sort it out myself."

"Really, dear?" Rin said casually, knowing that she was close to getting the girl to reveal the problem. "You don't seem to be having much luck with that if your moods of late are anything to go by."

Sesshoumaru watched the pair silently and listened to their conversation in fascination. Even their son had stopped talking and was watching his sister and mother intently, almost as though he too could sense that this was something important. Sesshoumaru could only marvel at how Rin was managing to get their quiet daughter to give her all the information she needed to work out the source of the ill temper without directly asking. The girl was almost as quiet as her father, but after being married to Sesshoumaru for so many years, Rin had become a master at getting information out of the quiet pair.

"Are you going to tell me what the problem is or do I have to tell you what I think it is, dear?" Rin asked eventually, growing tired of beating around the bush.

"I… uh…" Miki blushed and floundered for a moment before sighing in defeat. She should know better than to try and hide anything from her mother.

"Well?"

"There's a boy at school who keeps asking me to be his girlfriend," Miki muttered quietly, praying her father hadn't heard.

"I was half right," Rin murmured with a smile.

Miki glanced at her mother and blushed bright red, lowering her gaze quickly as Rin chuckled to herself. Sesshoumaru on the other hand was not impressed. He didn't like the idea of anyone causing his daughter distress and liked it even less when the cause was male. Before he could speak, Rin had jumped in and clearly had her own questions.

"Who is he?" she asked the girl who shifted uncomfortably.

"He's on the track team with me," Miki said with a sigh. "He's in the year above me at school."

"You must know him then," Rin reasoned.

"Of course I know him."

"Then what's the problem?"

"He just won't leave me alone."

"Is that all?"

Miki paused and blushed again causing Rin to raise an eyebrow in curiosity. "He kissed me."

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and tried very hard to control his growing ire, but was surprised when Rin's laughter echoed through the room. He opened his eyes to see Miki staring at her mother in confusion before turning to look at him, hoping to find the reason for her mother's laughter. Sesshoumaru could only shrug at the girl, not knowing what was so amusing when his daughter had plainly said that someone had kissed her. He was now torn between wanting to find the boy and teach him the consequences of toying with his daughter and wanting to know what Rin found so amusing.

"I fail to see what is amusing here," he said quietly, eyes narrowing slightly as Rin wiped tears from her eyes.

"Of course you wouldn't," Rin said with a smile before turning back to her daughter. "I'm sorry, dear, but that sounded so familiar that it brings back memories."

Miki glanced at her father who seemed as baffled as she did. She turned in her seat so she could look at her mother and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sesshoumaru lean forward in his seat slightly, as though he too were eager to hear this story.

"Memories of what?" Miki probed, now curious.

"Your father."

"Really?" The girl looked at her father again and he looked completely at a loss. "I don't think he knows what you're talking about."

Rin ignored that and cast her memory back to when she had first met Sesshoumaru. "I remember saying that very thing when I was a bit older than you."

"To your mother?"

"No, dear. To Bankotsu and Suikotsu."

"My uncles?" Miki asked in confusion, but then shook it off, eager to hear more. "Who kissed you? Was he nice?"

"He was very nice, dear, but it took me a long time to realise just how nice he was."

Sesshoumaru sat back in his chair and smirked slightly as he realised what his wife was talking about. His son slipped onto his lap and listened to the two females eagerly, although not entirely understanding the situation.

"But what does that have to do with my problem with Hideki?" Miki questioned, not understanding where the connection lay.

"It was the same problem I had." Rin said with a smile at her husband. "There was a certain man who couldn't seem to leave me be."

"You must've gotten rid of him if you married Papa. What did you do to get him to leave you alone?"
"I didn't do anything, dear. He didn't leave me alone and I'm quite glad he didn't."

"Why?" Miki frowned.

"Because if he did, then you wouldn't be here," Rin said with a smile and tucked a strand of silver hair behind Miki's ear.

"But that means that man was Papa?" Miki exclaimed, turning to look at her father so quickly that he inwardly flinched, wondering how her neck didn't snap because of the hasty movement.

"It does," Sesshoumaru replied with a smirk. "I got her to see things my way eventually."

Rin smiled affectionately at her husband and decided not to show her amusement at her daughter's bewilderment. Instead, she cleared her throat and took Miki's hand in hers.

"You should give him a chance, dear. He may not be as bad as you think."

"I certainly approve of his direct approach," Sesshoumaru added with a thoughtful look.

"You… approve?" Miki stammered, struggling to take in all the information. Stunned, she turned to Sesshoumaru with an incredulous look. "But you always said you'd kill any boy that came near me!"

Sesshoumaru shrugged. "I approve of his methods and if he lives up to his name; he's more than welcome to join the family."

Miki could only stare at her parents in astonishment. Her uncles and aunts had always said that her parents had had a rocky beginning to their relationship, but she would never have thought that the beginning of her first proper relationship would be the same way theirs started.

AN: I'm not completely happy with the way the story ended, so I may come back and edit it at a later date, but please let me know what you think. Thank you to everyone for the reviews :)