Hey everybody! Okay, I'm not getting reviews... you may think this isn't a problem but I would really like to know how you feel about the story. I have 15 of you out there watching this story so I've decided that I must have at least 15 review (that includes the four I already have) before chapter 4 goes up. Chapter four, by the way, is the longest chapter out of all the chapters I have written. It's way awsome. Wish you luck and enjoy this installment.

Sif

Song listened to while editing this chapter: You (initial D remix) by Ayumi Hamasake

Recomended listening material: One Voice by Billy Gilman (I thought it fit okay!)

Sesshoumaru noticed that since the battle, Rin had been acting strange. She insisted, instead of sleeping with Ah-Uhn at night that she sleep with him. She seemed even more uneasy when he left her with Jaken. She refused to leave his side and he was having space issues with the child. He understood her concerns to an extent, but she needed to back off before he resorted to something being torn to shreds

They stopped to make camp and Rin wound up following him closely throughout the day. He needed a break. "Rin."

"Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Maybe you should play with Jaken for a while."

"Rin does not feel like playing, Sesshoumaru-sama"

"What do you feel like doing, Rin?"

"Being with Sesshoumaru-sama!" She attached herself to his leg.

"Rin, this has to stop. This Sesshoumaru needs some space." He tried letting his words sink in for a few minutes but became disturbed when he smelled the salty scent of tears and felt them begin to soak through his pants. Something inside of him twisted when she sobbed, gripping the fabric of his hakama in her tiny fists.

"Rin wh—"

"You died!" She sobbed into his leg. Sesshoumaru knelt down, prying her from his leg and leading her into a hug. "Sesshoumaru-sama... Sess... d-died l-like Rin's o-okaa-san soshite o-otou-san. Rin's new otou almost... huc... al-almost..."

"It's okay Rin."

"P-promise me!"

"What?"

"P-promise Rin... promise Rin Sesshoumaru-sama won't leave her again." Sesshoumaru paused.

"I promise..."

After the little episode in the clearing Rin became very quiet but she returned to riding and sleeping with Ah-Uhn. She wouldn't play with Jaken. As they journeyed through the forest it was peaceful. Nature seemed at ease now that the main threat was gone. Spring was blossoming and it was amazing that just a week previous such evil had still walked the earth. This same land that, for the past five years, housed the hanyou was healing and returning to its former glory.

It all reminded him of a time when even he could say that he was happy. Sighing in his head they continued on. He thought back on his father and a time when he was young and still looked up to the powerful demon. He remembered the courtyards well, bonsai trees and rock gardens. His favorite garden was his mother's. His mother's garden had enchanted sakura trees that bloomed all year long. There was a pond, a large pond, with an island in the middle. On the island stood a weeping willow of surpassing age and beauty. A small bridge led over to the island from one of the closer shores. He'd often find her under that willow, reading a book or painting.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin's voice tore him from his memories.

"Yes, Rin?"

"Where are we going?"

"To the Western palace, the Palace of the Ever-rising Moon"

"Why are we going there, my lord?" The Gami squeaked.

"We are going to reclaim it and I am taking my rightful position as the proper Lord of the West." Jaken got a gleam in his eye, one of pride and excitement at seeing the Western domain again. Rin seemed confused but drew into herself like she had been doing. Sesshoumaru continued on his course, unfazed. It will have been approaching 300 years since he set foot in his father's home. There would be much work that would be required in order to restore it... much work indeed.

They had been traveling in the direction of the palace for almost a week now, having left just after the battle. As they came upon the grounds, passing by the remains of a great military wall that was crumbling now in decay, the smell of mold became prominent in the area. Even Rin with her inferior senses was having trouble breathing in the humid and musty air. They came upon the palace and it was not in much better shape than the walls surrounding it.

Moss and vines found a home where others had not, growing onto the fallen stones and all in the wood workings of the main house. The main courtyard was covered in green, trees having grown up and taken over the place. It was abandoned and many of the fine metal ornaments that had adorned the outside of the house– door handles, hanging decorations, lamps– had been stolen, leaving the once proud fortress where Sesshoumaru had grown up a hiding place for the homeless and the foliage. It was a blow to the pride, seeing your family's house for generations in tatters.

"Jaken..." Sesshoumaru's voice echoed off of the fallen walls and blocks in the abandoned courtyard.

"Hai, my lord?"

"I want you to go to the surrounding villages and gather together those who were faithful to my father, if there are any left. Call them here and tell them this house will stand proud again, the lord has returned."

"H-hai, milord." And the gami scampered off to do his master's bidding. Sesshoumaru ascended the stairs to the main entrance, followed by Ah and Uhn along with Rin on their back. There seemed to be an air of ancient pride in the area. It was filled with dust stirred from the floor that hadn't been walked on in 200 years. The old wood, once polished, shone through in their footprints, almost like walking through snow. There was a swelling of pride in Sesshoumaru. Just as the winter snows were melting off of the mountain peaks and Naraku's evil winter had released it's grip on the world, so would the frozen state of his house be lifted and in will be ushered a prosperous spring that even his father's reign hadn't seen, this he swore silently to himself and the walls around him.

As he made his way through the crumbling halls and passed the old forgotten rooms and stairwells, Sesshoumaru was making mental notes, left and right. He would need servants brought in, poor people with nowhere else to go, to begin cleaning out the moss, mold and other things that were growing in the house. Once things were cleaned they could be repaired. New walls would be needed but they would have to be replaced one by one. Once the first floor was done he could begin work on the second floor. It may take him years to fully restore it, time he didn't have.

All of the rice paper doors were gone and broken, their tracks missing or completely unusable. Those would need to be replaced. All of the unruly trees in the courtyard would have to be chopped down and the stumps pulled from the ground. They could begin with using these trees before resorting to the forest and importing it. The wooden walkways would need to be completely torn out and rebuilt. After the house was rebuilt and cleaned he would go in search of his father's fortune. It wasn't in the house any longer. He would gather it, killing all who dared steal it in the first place. There were no paintings left. There had been so many that he remembered.

As he left the back door and jumped to the ground, the steps had crumbled, the others buildings were brought to his attention. Unlike most palaces built during that time period, the small town-like area, instead of being in front, was in the back. After you left the main house, the bathing quarters were first, then to the left was the royal bathhouse. To the Western side of the house were the gardens. After the bathing area was the soldiers quarters. They too were falling apart. And just to the southwest of those were the servants quarters, nothing more than foundation left in the ground, the houses were no more. To the east of the soldier's barracks was the dojo, also falling apart, and the storehouses to the south of that. If he was careful, Sesshoumaru could make out the fallen form of the surrounding wall off to the south and west.

First things first, he needed to get some servants to begin cleaning up what was left of this once royal and wondrous place. Determination gleamed in his eyes. This place would be more beautiful than when his father ruled. With that thought, he climbed the decaying stairs until he reached the third and final floor. A hallway ran along it until it ended in a door. Sesshoumaru never truly understood why the whole palace was done traditionally except for the third floor. The third floor had solid wood doors instead of the shoji screens common to this area. He walked the length of the hall until he reached the last door on the right. He stopped and looked at it. Carved into the door was a waning crescent moon and a snowflake, barely touching the back of the moon. He touched the carving as if it would disappear. The moon for his father... the snowflake stood for... his mother. This was his room. Dropping his hand he moved to the much larger door that led into the grand chambers.

The grand chamber door had carvings of sakura branches in bloom, framing it. Inside it there was a crescent moon in the upper lefthand corner. A large star stood in the upper right-hand corner and three others near it. There were two large snowflakes that fell near the bottom of the door.

Lightly he touched the door and pushed. The doors swung open with ease. Light filtered into the room from the open balcony, the doors were missing. There was some scattered debris and dust covered the floor. He walked to the middle of the room. Taking a deep breath Sesshoumaru imaginged he could smell his mother again. Light and mossy. He knelt down and picked up a stray piece of fabric, fingering it in his hands. Sighing, he dropped the fabric and left the room.

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