WARNING: Not edited. My beta-reader's laptop broke and she could not beta read this chaper or Water and Fire's chapter either. I told her I was going go ahead and update now, then when she get those chapters through, I will re-upload the chapters. So, mind the english glitches. I'm not real good at catching my own errors. So, let's focus on the story, not the glitches. Thanks!!

Seven Days : Lady of the Western Land

Kagome stood in SesshoMaru's office, listening to her mate as he discussed what she should do in his absence. It had been barely a month later, and she was starting to pick up her duty as the Lady of the Western Land. Barely a month, and she had done pretty good job at it, and everyone had already viewed her as a wonderful Lady and loved her. The people of the Western Land had soon learned of their Lord's mating not few days after their mating ceremony and learned of a new heir on the way, they had celebrated.

SesshoMaru had took her out to the large village near the palace, introducing her to the people there. They were all shocked to find that he had taken a human woman as a mate, knowing his exaggerated reputation as a human hater. Their view was changed the instant they met with Kagome and learned that she was a kind sweet woman who had a big heart.

She smiled softly as she watched SesshoMaru pace about the room, pulling several scrolls from the shelves and placing them on the desk, also causing the servants following him around troubles, attempting to put the armor on him. She raised her hand and the servants stopped. She tilted her head, gesturing for them to leave. They placed the armors down and bowed to her, leaving.

SesshoMaru noticed this and stopped, turning to her. She gave him a smirk and went over to pick up his bottom half of his armor and started to tie around his waist. As she did this silently, SesshoMaru stood still, watching her, taking in her scents as it calmed him. He felt the tension leave his body as her deft hands worked the ties on his armor.

Soon, he was fully adorned, she stopped and stood in front of him and placed her hand on his cheek and said, "SesshoMaru, shh. I know what I should do, don't worry. If any problems should occurs, I have Jaken here to help me. Now, you should go and deal with the troubles in the south and come back home sooner."

He gave a small smile and leaned down, capturing her lips in kiss, drawing her closer to his body, mindful of his armor spikes. They shared deep kiss until the door opened to the office and they broke apart. InuYasha rolled his eyes at the doorway, leaning against the frame. "You guys done yet?"

SesshoMaru gave a warning growl. Kagome huffed at her brother-in-law, "InuYasha, seriously. We're almost done, he was just telling me what I need to do."

"Yeah, yeah, just let this get over with already." InuYasha grumbled as he entered the office and plopped himself down on the cushion near the desk.

Kagome shook her head, "I agree." She went over to the stand where the three swords sat and took the Tessaiga and took it. She turned and handed it to the younger Inu brother, smiling at him. He had stayed the entire time, settling down in the palace and courting Shiroginko. They were growing closer and closer every day, she could see the true love developing between the two hanyous. She was happy for them.

InuYasha stood up and brushed his clothes. He also wore armors similar to SesshoMaru, with few exceptions in designs, he had both shoulder guards and he also wore boots, required by the taiyoukai. He had grudgingly wore the boots but is starting to develop habit of wearing footwear. At least they did not pinch his toes like the future shoes did. His hair was also tied back in high pony tail, leaving the forelock to hang down in the front, he looked more like a lord than a regular hanyou that traveled with his small pack.

As he took the sword, he tied it to his belt and waited as Kagome tied the two swords to SesshoMaru's belt. He watched with longing, watching as Kagome does her duty as the wife, putting the armor on the taiyoukai, tying his swords to his hip. Finally, as the ritual goes, she stood face to face with SesshoMaru, her face devoid of concern, worries and sadness but a placid smile upon her lips. It was bad luck for the mate or wife to show such negative feeling when her husband/mate goes off to fight. She reached up and touched his cheek and finally, stepped back, her hands folded down over her front, signifying that she is ready to let him go. SesshoMaru gave a small head bow, giving her approval of her actions. He turned and walked out of the room, InuYasha followed after he bowed to Kagome, giving her a smile to assure her that everything will be all right. He knew he would get such attention from Shiroginko once they become mate and found himself anticipating their mating ceremony, which they had not set the date to yet.

Kagome gave a long sigh and went to sit down at the desk and started to go through the scrolls, the tasks were simple and she planned and worked on who would carry out those tasks. Several hours later, Shiroginko entered the room with a tray of tea and cups. She sat the tray down on the desk, breaking the Lady's concentration.

"Ginko-chan," Kagome greeted the hanyou, smiling at her. She had come to love the hanyou like sister and enjoyed her company every day when SesshoMaru was either away or busy. "How are you today?" She asked as she cleared the desk clean and accepted a cup from the hanyou.

"Good." Shiroginko replied as she poured her own cup. "I already miss InuYasha, he's so sweet..."

"Sweet?" Kagome's eyebrow rose, "That is unusual." She laughed as she saw Shiroginko's confused look. "He is usually harsh and brash to me. I don't know how really act around Kikyo back then, all i know he stumbles around her. I suppose, every girls is different for him."

"He loves you and Kikyo. I wonder if I can ever compete with both of you." Shiroginko said sadly as she looked into her tea.

Kagome sighed softly, "Ginko-chan, Kikyo is gone, I am mated to SesshoMaru and I love him. He may hold candles to both of us, but I can see he is building a bonfire for you. You are different and the way he acts around you are so different from how he acts around me or Kikyo and I can see that it will last. Don't worry... He will come around and tell you, if he does not, look it into his actions."

"Does SesshoMaru-Sama ever tell you how he feels about you?" Shiroginko asked, curious. She had seen SesshoMaru around Kagome and he showed very little or no affections toward Kagome, sometime it was rare to catch his caring actions toward her.

Kagome smiled at her hanyou sister, "I don't need him to tell me if he loves me. Little touches he does during the day lets me know. All I have to do is to look into his eyes and I see that he loves me. Only time he truly speak of his love for me is in private, whispered words..." Her eyes went glassy as she recalled little memories from the past month and smiled, looking forward to years of that to come. Not one moment of affections from the taiyoukai are ever the same, each one of them always surprised her.

Shiroginko's eyes went slightly wide, "Really, I'd have to watch two of you to catch him doing so."

Kagome shook her head, "No, focus on what InuYasha does to you, you'd be surprised."

"Mm, okay." Shiroginko smiled brilliantly, happy and contented to know that InuYasha is developing love for her. She had come to love him very much in past month. She looked over the desk and asked, "Almost done?"

Kagome nodded, "Not much to do, really, all I have to send out those letters to the daimyos and officers and they will carry out the tasks. SesshoMaru is rather picky on who he trusts, there is not very many who he trusts to do the duty. Hm..." She reached out and picked up a scroll she has not read yet, "I haven't read this one yet." She unrolled it and read it. Her eyes went wide a bit, "Oh my... this is the execution missive. It's set for tomorrow... but SesshoMaru is not here... I can't delay this, SesshoMaru won't have that."

"What are you going to do? Isn't SesshoMaru-Sama the one who does the execution?"

"Yes. Usually, if the Lord is out, the Lady is the one who is in charge, that means I have to carry it out..." Kagome quieted as she read the scroll, reading along as she noticed names and different method of executions, some were swift and some were long and torturous. Yet, each executions were defined with good reasons and she found herself not opposing to any of those methods for some crimes had disgusted her. "It's already arranged and set in the village for tomorrow.

"Are you going to see it through?" Shiroginko asked, concerned.

"Yes." Kagome's voice became cold. "I have to, I am the Lady of the Western Land. SesshoMaru left because of the unexpected events in the south and went to help. He put his trust in me to carry out his duty while he is absent." She pulled out another scroll and read it, it had list of names of daimyos that served under SesshoMaru, which types of youkai they were and their expertise of weapons and killing methods. She pulled out blank parchment and started to write couple letters.

Shiroginko watched in silence as Kagome wrote the letters. She could make out few words and noticed they were request letters for two of the daimyos to attend the execution the next day. She knew then that Kagome will be carrying out the executions but will not be the one who will execute the prisoners.

InuYasha stood behind, watching on as SesshoMaru talked quietly with Ichiro. From what he was listening, Ichiro said the trouble had risen recently after he and Tadako had dethroned her father, Kanesho and banned him from the Southern Land. Kanesho had gathered those who were still loyal to him and attacked Ichiro's clan. They had fought back as they could but lost more on their side rather causing harm to Kanesho's army.

SesshoMaru glanced over to InuYasha and the hanyou knew he was needed. He stepped up and joined in the conversation. "What are we going to do?" Ichiro asked as he finished explaining what had happened.

"We will take care of it." SesshoMaru simply said.

"How?" InuYasha asked as he kept his posture, with his arms crossed, tucked away in the sleeves of his haori.

"We will take out Kanesho." SesshoMaru replied. "And the rest of his loyal army at night." He rose his head and took a deep breath. "He is north of here, not too far. He will get his punishment for trespassing my land and attacking those under my protection." He turned to Ichiro. "Give Lady Tadako my regard and regret. Her father dies tonight." He said with icy tone toward the end, InuYasha and Ichiro could not help but shiver at his tone.

Ichiro bowed, "Thank you, Lord SesshoMaru. I shall leave for the South in the morning."

"I will give you his head." Was the last thing SesshoMaru said before retreating into the forest.

InuYasha shook his head, "Trust me, you don't want to mess with him. Kanesho is a idiot."

"Hai, I agree." Ichiro said as he watched InuYasha follow after SesshoMaru, disappearing into the forest, heading north. He sighed in relief, glad that SesshoMaru had came to aid. In the past, the Taiyuan would not give a single thought in aiding people on his land. He supposed it was Kagome who had given him a change in heart and thanked all hundred and eight Kami in heaven for Kagome.

The moon rose high in the sky as SesshoMaru stood in the shadow behind a tree, watching on several yards away where several campfires burned in the night. There were total of little over a hundred of soldiers. They lounged around the fires, eating and talking away. He spotted Kanesho toward the center with several of his generals.

"the fog will settle in couple of hours, that's when we will attack." SesshoMaru said softly in the InuYoukai language.

InuYasha gave an affirmative soft grunt above his elder brother, sitting in the tree, watching on as well. He asked softly in same fashion, "What do you plan to do?"

SesshoMaru gave a small scary smirk that InuYasha and the others knew was the smile of death. "The fog will aid us, the moisture in the air..." He said quietly and his hands started to glow green. "My poison will spread, immobilizing them when they are unguarded."

"Then we go in for the kill?" InuYasha asked. He saw SesshoMaru's head nod once and knew it was the answer. It was devious and cunning. Kanesho would not expect it, though InuYasha expected this from SesshoMaru.

The hours slipped by them and the moon hid behind heavy dense cloud and the ground started to mist, forming fogs, rising up, giving the darkness of the forest eerily look. The fire grew low as the night passed. Even though Kanesho's army were all youkai, they were drowsy and relaxed, confident in their victory against Ichiro's clan.

Kanesho sat before the low fire, musing over his plan. "After the Tora Clan, we need to attack the palace. I will have Tadako's head for betraying me."
One of his generals asked, "And after that?"

"The West's Hold. That SesshoMaru irks me. He is the one who is behind all of this. He has grown weak since he mated with that human wrench."

"She's pregnant with his pup, right?" Another general asked.

"Hai. Two pups, in fact. We will take her and kill her, then go after SesshoMaru..." Kanesho frowned as he noticed his generals freezing, softly gagging. As soon he saw the light green tings in the air, mixed with the fog, his eyes went wide as he felt his body froze and start to burn like thousands of needles. He gasped and gagged as his lungs started to slowly decompose with every breath he made.

"Sess... ssho..maru!" HE growled and saw the imposing silver figure walk toward him, slashing with his Tokuijin as he walked, killing left and right. He also saw the red blur leaping left and right, the wind whirled around him and he knew the hanyou was also wiping out his army with the Kaze No Kizu.

One by one, his generals around him fell, blood spurted everywhere, staining everything. SesshoMaru stood before Kanesho who kneeled imoblizied SesshoMaru stood before Kanesho who were on his knees immobilized."Fool." His voice was soft yet full of ice, sending chills down Kanesho's spine. "There is a flaw in your plan. My mate has not softened me, yet she gives me strength." He gave his infamous Smile of Death smile and Kanesho's eyes went wide. Green light flashed and his head became detached from his body. He glared up at SesshoMaru and growled softly as SesshoMaru picked him up by the hair.

"I shall be avenged!"

SesshoMaru gave a laugh that chilled the air, "And who shall avenge you? All of your children disowned you. There is no one loyal to you left. You've trespassed my land, attacked those under my protections. You die." He said and dug his claws into Kanesho's head, leaking poison into the youkai's brain. Kanesho's eyes rolled back and from his dismembered neck, the poison leaked out.

InuYasha came up to SesshoMaru and covered his nose with his haori. Even he had used Sango's mask, the scent of his brother's poison was strong. "Yeech." He gagged as he watched SesshoMaru carry the mutilated head of Kanesho. "So, are we done here."

"For now, yes." SesshoMaru said and walked toward where the Tora Clan is.

"So, we can go home now?" InuYasha asked.

"Stop your excessive questioning. For the last time, yes." SesshoMaru growled.

The next day in the growing prospering land of the south, the small but grand palace of the Southern Land woke to the new dawn. Tadako was awaken by her servants and was prepared for the day. Since becoming the Lady of the South, her burden had increased and she worked fruitlessly every day to improve and change everything around in the South. The villages and the people of the land were happy and anticipating for better future under her and Ichiro's rule.

Ichiro had left several days ago to the troubles in his clan in the Western Land. She worries for him having heard that her father was razing his clan down in act of revenge. She knew she should had her father killed, not banned from the land.

Tadako went into the grand hall of the palace and seated herself at the throne chair, the servants came and handed her tray of breakfast and scrolls for her to read. She worked for good hour, reading and rewriting most of the laws. Then she looked up to find the door opening to reveal her mate, Ichiro, looking rather haggard.

"Ichiro!" She cried and jumped from her chair to greet him. She stopped short before him, noticing his serious face. "What happened?" She asked.

"Your father killed nearly half of my tribe, I had to call in reinforcement." Ichiro explained. "SesshoMaru and InuYasha came to help. They took out your father's army in one night..." He lifted a sack that he was holding. "A gift from SesshoMaru-Sama." He allowed the flap of the sack fall. Tadako gasped as she stared at the beheaded head of her father. She covered her nose immediately as the odorous stench steeped from the head. "SesshoMaru-Sama left none alive. Now we can go on in peace."

Tadako nodded, still holding her nose. "Take that thing away... I should write a thank you to SesshoMaru-Sama."

"Hai, love. I am going to wash up and rest, I shall see you after lunch."

Tadako watched him leave the grand hall and sighed. She felt odd emotions, unsure if she should be happy or sad, but decided to settle for humbled contents and returned to work for the rest of the morning.

SesshoMaru leaped high in the sky, jumping from tree to tree at high speed, heading back to the West Hold. The morning light started to shine upon his land. He glanced around taking in sight of his vast land.

InuYasha kept pace, hopping not too far behind him. "Hey, what's going on in the village?" He asked as he caught sight of the large village near the palace. There were mass of people gathering in the square of the village.

SesshoMaru said without thinking, "There's an execution set today." Then he paused, landing on a tree, grabbing hold of the branch, causing it to sway. He realized he had truly forgotten he was supposed to be in the village, doing the executions to the prisoners and cursed inwardly. InuYasha paused beside him with inquiring look on his face.

SesshoMaru gave a growl and changed direction, making his way to the village. The executions were to start at dawn that morning. He realized that Kagome was the one who would be doing it if she had read the missive he had left. He had never intended for her to do this yet he got himself distracted and cursed himself once more as he reached the village.

The crowd was already gathered around the center of the village, where there were a raised platform, like it was always set every year for the execution of the criminals. Some years, there were fewer criminals, some were more, yet the crowd never changed.

Kagome was already upon the stage, with two daimyos next to her. The criminals were all lined up, shackled and bound, facing the crowd. She looked ever serious, with black kimono, tied off with silver obi that had black design of chrysanthemum, her head was covered partially with black veil, yet her face was exposed, devoid of any emotions. The daimyos stood erect and somber as they stood behind her, waiting for her order.

The crowd was large and hushed whispers carried through the air. She could hear their questioning, where the Lord was and why she is up there. Some whispered saying it wasn't a place for a woman to be. She finally tuned them out and Huro handed her the scroll. Jaken stood next to Huro, waiting patiently, watching from the corner of the stage. Several guards were placed in front of the stage, while some were on the stage, surrounding the prisoners. Couple of the head palace guards were also standing along with the daimyos, acting as Kagome's bodyguards.

When the gong rang though the air, the whispering became still silent and she stepped up, unrolling the scroll. She read the names of each prisoners, her voice rang through the air like cut glass, clear and sharp, yet with coolness tone. As she said the names, the daimyos stepped up, their weapons of choices were ready, their nails lengthened and their swords drawn. One guard followed suit, with a bottle of poison, for slow death. As she said each name, each were followed by their crimes and sentencing. She watched in silence as the daimyos killed each one of them, the guard also gave poison as well. It was bloody and gruesome. Blood splattered as they slashed, clawed, ripped and maimed each prisoners, painting the stage red. Kagome stood stock still as her face were covered with splatters. She fought internal battle to turn away and vomit, yet she knew she had to represent as the Lady of the Western Land, not to show weakness or fear, for it would pose risks in the future for her and her mate, the Lord.

As SesshoMaru reached the village, he stopped and paused on the roof of a building, he had heard her voice calling out the prisoner's names, their crimes and punishment way before he reached the village, he knew it had already begun then. He crouched where he stopped and watched. He was rather impressed at her choices who did the executions. He watched her standing beside, watching each prisoner being killed, he noticed her stoicness and sighed. He never wished to see her in such state but he felt the humble pride rise inside him, noticing Kagome was displaying true manner of a Lady.

He felt the roof creak softly as his brother landed beside him. He heard his brother gasp softly. "What the hell?" He asked as well.

"Executions of the prisoners. It is done annually at this time of the year." SesshoMaru said.

"But, why is Kagome up there?" InuYasha asked.

"She is acting her duty as the Lady, taking in my stead to execute the prisoners."

"What!?" InuYasha rounded onto SesshoMaru, "What the hell? Did you put her up to this?"

"No. In my honestly, I had forgotten." SesshoMaru admitted with a growl. "Kagome know that I expect her to do her duty in my stead, no matter what the circumstances are. If war is to happen, she will acts up on it."

"How would you know? You guys only been mated for a month! She does not like killing!" InuYasha spat.

SesshoMaru gave InuYasha a cold glare. "This is enough for me to know." He gestured to the execution. "If she has no qualms of executing my prisoners, she will not hesitate to put my army to war when it is necessary."

InuYasha grunted and turned away from his brother, watching Kagome. He could hear her cold voice ringing clear though the square, naming the prisoners and their crimes. He watched her as she does this and noticed she did not flinch or react as the prisoner were ripped apart in torturous death. Blood splattered her face and he growled deep.

SesshoMaru jumped down from the roof and walked through the crowd. The crowd split, allowing him path to the stage. Kagome did not turn to greet him but moved aside as he took his place next to her. She kept reading the prisoner's name, not even pausing in her duty. She felt relieved inwardly, taking comfort that SesshoMaru was by her side and he had not objected, knowing he had accepted her actions. She could feel humility and pride radiating from him and felt the burden release from her shoulder, at least she had made him proud but she wasn't proud that she had to put the criminals to death and watching them die. It was a gruesome world and she knew SesshoMaru strive to make Western Land a safe place, even though it came with a price. She had chosen this life and had to accept it, no matter what.

Finally, noon approached and the last prisoner was killed. The crowd started to break and the guards went about cleaning the mess. Kagome turned to SesshoMaru and bowed to him, "My Lord." She said simply and handed him the scroll.

He took the parchment and tilted his head in approval. "Thank you, Kagome." He said softly and held his hand out to her, in which she took it and he led her down the stage, bringing her to the sedan that she had arrived in earlier. He helped her in and climbed in as well, sitting next to her.

He studied her face, stained with blood. They sat like this the entire place until they reached the palace, staring at each other. As they reached, he led her to their room and closed the door, closing out the world, giving them private time.

She moved about mechanically as he watched her, taking her veil off, she stripped the kimono off her body and placed it by the door for the servants to take and burn it later. She gave a long deep sigh and turned to find SesshoMaru standing by her, with a rag in hand. He also looked bloodstained from whatever he had been doing before he came home. She saw the warmth in his eyes and finally broke down as the wet rag touched her face. She cried, falling in his arms. He held her, washing her face clean as she cried. No words were exchanged. He helped her to bath and washed both of their bodies and brought her to his bed, he knew the first time was exhausting and laid down with her, holding her as she fell into dreamless sleep.

That evening, SesshoMaru sat behind his desk, facing InuYasha across from the desk. He had several parchment open on his desk and his ink ready. "I decided to truly cut back on my patrolling." He said as he took the brush and wrote on the parchments. "I am delegating you the duty to patrol the original Western Land. I am putting several of my trusted daimyos to patrol and govern the northern, southern and the eastern part." He explained and handed a parchment to InuYasha who took it and read it.

"You want me to patrol and govern the original Western land?" InuYasha asked incredulously. "But..."

SesshoMaru gave a smirk, "No buts. You are my brother, the next in line for the throne until my son is born. This is what father wanted us to do, to share burden of the Western Land. He knew I would had expanded the Western Land, nearly compassing the entire four kingdoms. I have duty to my family now and I am naming you the second Lord of the West. Mind you, Kagome is in line of rule after me, you're after her until my heir is old enough."

InuYasha nodded, unable to say anything more. It had come to truly a shock for him that his oldest brother had practically named him the second Lord of the West. He felt honored and humbled. Finally, he found his mind and voice, "Thank you, aniki." He rolled the scroll up and placed it in his haori, it was a letter of proof that SesshoMaru had named him the second Lord.

"Tell me, when do you plan to mate with Shiroginko?" SesshoMaru asked offhandedly as he worked on several documents for the other daimyos.

InuYasha blushed and scoffed lightly. "I haven't officially asked her but I'd like to soon."

SesshoMaru paused in his work and looked up, "I'd suggest you to do so soon, for she is my ward but it's better off that she is to go under your care, your protection rather than mine. I can see you two are a good match."

InuYasha nodded and sighed, changing the subject. "How's Kagome?"

"Exhausted. She will cope with it." SesshoMaru said simply and InuYasha frowned. "Honestly, I am aware that she is rather shaken by the experience, but she cannot avoid that kind of bloodshed forever, she will come to face it eventually. I don't like it that she has to so soon, but she know she is surrounded by her family and friends for support. Like I said, she will cope with it, she's a strong willed woman."

"Yeah, she is." InuYasha mused, smirking, recalling the past. "I remember when she first came to this era. She saw some group of bandits, their heads were missing."

SesshoMaru nodded softly, "Ah, is that when Yura of the Hair?"

"Yeah, yeah... she handled it pretty good, didn't freak or scream but took it in stride and fought."

"Good thing. Yura of the Hair was rather annoying, I was about to dispose her until she started to interfere with you. It was rather amusing." SesshoMaru said, chuckling softly.

InuYasha gaped at his brother, "I don't recall you being there!"

"Oh, I watched from the distance, I've been watching over you for a long time without you realizing. It was a promise I kept to father to protect you until you were older." He placed the brushes down and rested his arms on the desk, gazing at InuYasha, "Honestly, did you really believe that I wanted to kill you all those time?"

"Uhm, poison to my arm, stuck a hole in my stomach, gouged my eye out... Let's see..." InuYasha ticked his fingers off, listing every thing he could remember. He paused as SesshoMaru laughed heartily at him, making him bewildered. "What the hell?"
"Outouto, i was merely training you, making you stronger and able to master the Tessaiga."

"That was mean." InuYasha pouted.

"How else would you've learned and gotten stronger?" SesshoMaru asked as he stood up and rapped on InuYasha's head as he passed him. "Good night, I suggest you to attend to Shiroginko before she retire for the night. We shall talk more about your duty tomorrow." He then left, searching for Kagome to bring her to bed and comfort her.

AN: Okay, this chapter was sort of out of the blue. I had no idea what to write for this chapter and came up with this on the spot. I am not quiet sure how this chapter is to you all. I'm kind of ok-ok with it.

Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews. This story is coming close to end and I'm finally getting around with Water and Fire, am also getting close to the end of that story too. Thank you all! Hugs, can't wait to hear your opinons.

Ja Ne until then.