A/N: Hey guys! For all of you who checked out the story, thanks! And someone decided to review!! Hey, G2fan, thank you so much for reviewing!! But I know more than one person would've looked at my story!So, next time, could you guys review! I would like some advice from other people so that my story can get better and better with every chapter being reposted! Okay, enough talking, let's get to the story.
Chapter 2: Arrival
Today Sesshomaru found himself repeatedly getting up from his large wooden chair and shuffling back and forth around the room. He knew if Sol had actually found the grave, she should have been at the castle any day now. How could Kagura have been so foolish to have givenher the directions to the grave?He stared at his large stack of papers. His stack of papers was still at least a foot high, with the bottom papers probably from about a week or so. Some people were probably irratated that Sesshomaru hadn't responded yet, but he didn't really give a damn. He always concentrated on his work, but it seemed as if he couldn't concentrate on anything ever since he found out Sol was going to come back with someone who he loved over a hundred years ago. Ever since she died, he would lock himself in his study and not leave until everything was done. Doing that every day for a hundred years should've kept her from his mind.
Yes, forgetting about that should've definitely been the easiest thing in the world.
He sat down and looked around the study. The blood red walls were embroidered with gold, the pictures depicting large battle scenes that the previous Taiyoukais had fought in order to keep the Western Lands at peace. As his sun kissed eyes glided over the pictures on the wall, his mind began to wonder. I wonder where she is now? Has she settled down in a village?Has she even thought of me? He shook his head. Enough with these thoughts. I have a mate, my power, my enemies out of the way...Sesshomaru smirked as he thought of the day years ago when he recieved the news of Naraku dying. He didn't know how it happened, and he was slightly dissapointed that he didn't get to see Naraku take his last breath, but he was out of the way.
"My lord? Permission to enter your study?" A voice came through the door.
"Enter." he said. A man entered the room and bowed. He was about seven feet tall, with piercing blue green eyes, and navy blue and black hair fell down to the bottom of his back. He had three green stripes on each side of his face, and his sharp canine teeth that gleamed as he spoke hinted that he was a tiger demon.
"Hello, what is it Shinto?"
"My lord, your daughter and another woman have entered the palace and are at the main room."
--0--0--0--
"It's been so long..." Soledad said as she walked over to the main entrance of the castle. Ever since she died, she couldn't have ever imagined that she would be back here after a hundred years. Many memories were here, and she couldn't wait to see what was new and what was frozen in time while she was gone. Two guards in front of the gate looked down to see the two girls. Even though Soledad was 5'9, it seemed that every single male demon was at least 6'3 at the castle. Maybe it was just a regulation or something that Sesshomaru had set up. She instantly recognized one of the guards. She caught his eye and smiled, and she didn't think he recognized her at all, until his eyes opened up slightly in surprise.
"Hello, Hideyoshi. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Soledad said to him. Sol stood next to her, perplexed and leaned over to her ear.
"Do you know him or something?" Sol asked her.
"Yes, he was a new guard when I first came here. And I think he recognized me." Hideyoshi smiled slightly.
"Lady Soledad, I thought you died! We all saw your corpse! How...?!" he said quickly. Soledad smiled.
"Well, let's just say I didn't do it myself and I'm not a zombie or anything. Sol brought me back to life." Soledad replied.
"Well, Sesshomaru would be hap...well, I guess he'd be surprised." Hideyoshi said. He opened up the gate. "Welcome back." Soledad thanked him as Sol led her into the main room. Soledad was stunned, and could only place her hand on her cheek. The main hall had white coloumns with purple silk flowing down them as they supporting the high walls Sol looked at her expression and smiled.
"Well, here we are, at the main room….Do you still remember this place?" Sol asked her softly as Soledad looked around the room. It seemed so surreal to Sol, she had finally found the person she had wondered about ever since she was a little girl. Soledad gazed around the room for a few more moments before looking back at Sol and smiling.
"It's exactly how I remembered it." The large, white walls with beautiful ivory ingravings weresimply decorated in the same plain purple silk drapes the coloumns had, hanging about fifteen feet above ground. There were a few small chairs placed sporadically around the room with an open view so anyone could stare up at the clouds floating by slowly. A small garden was at the left, with a few rose bushes in a variety of colors just beginning to bloom. Soledad instantly remembered all of those days when she lazily stared and took care of the beautiful flowers. I wonder if he had kept those roses for me… she thought. She knew he would've probably never expected her to come back, but still…..
"Sol, you better avoid your father today." The familiar voice rang in Soledad's ears. She smiled at the person from where the voice came from, but unfortunately all she recieved was a deadly glare back.
I guess someone isn't happy about my presence here... Soledad thought as they stared at each other. But I guess I wouldn't be either if I was in her situation.
"Kagura…" she whispered softly to herself as the wind demoness stepped towards Soledad and into the bright daylight from the dark west hallway. Kagura flicked her fan in front her face, glancing at Soledad for a split second, and looked back at her daughter.
"You're father has been pacing around the study all day today, and that means he was waiting for you. Hurry before-"
"Before what?" Soledad's head turned to see the Lord of the West. She looked at him and inwardly smiled, he didn't look a day older. But all she did was stand there, frozen.
Her former mate. Kami, she didn't know how much she'd miss him until she looked at him. "Sol, hand me my Tenseiga, and head to my study. NOW." He said sternly when he saw she didn't move from her place. Sol glanced back and mouthed 'help me' while she walked over to her father's study. When Sesshomaru finally looked over to Soledad, he just stared at her, not saying a word. And just as quickly as he started, he glanced at Kagura, as if to warn her there was no way her mother could get her out of a punishment, and then walked toward the direction that his daughter went to.
--0--0--0--
Sesshomaru's POV
As soon as Shinto had told me of the news, I quickly headed over to the main room. I wasn't too sure of why I was walking so fast: am I walking quickly to see my daughter, or was it actually for Soledad? After zig zagging through countless hallways, I made it to the room. I first saw my daughter, then Kagura, and my eyes slowly advanced to where Kagura's gaze led. It was her. Then I looked over to Sol, regaining my composure. "Sol, hand me my Tenseiga, and head to my study. NOW." I quickly looked my former mate up and down to make sure it was truly her and not an imposter, and it slowly began to sink in that she was alive again. I stared into her hazel-green eyes, her dark green eyes and my golden ones clashed quickly before I shifted my gaze towards Kagura, silently telling her there was no way she could make me keep from punishing Sol. She needed to learn.
--0--0--0--
Normal POV
As soon as her father shut the door, Sol instantly tensed up. She knew what was coming for her, and there was probably a very slim chance of her just getting a slap on the wrist. She was thinking maybe more of something like 3 extra grueling hours of workouts every day for a month. As she saw him sit down, she could see a flash of anger through the steely and cold expression in his eyes.
"What is wrong with you?! You take my sword without permission, then sneak out of the castle, revive someone that shouldn't be here, and bring her back to the castle? Do you understand what could go wrong?!" He barked. Sol winced, and heard the faint sound of a dish break, probably a new slave surprised from the tumultuous noise.
"I just wanted to know about her, that's all…"
"Well trying to know two months before your wedding isn't the best thing to be doing now when you should be getting ready for your wedding! I would think you'd be more focused on your fiancee and the wedding plans other than trying to find a dead woman!" he hissed
"Well, I wouldn't need to do this if you would have told me more about here when I asked about her my whole life! Every time I asked, you would change the subject or just mumble something, and I was sick of the bull! After hearing about this woman no one would ever speak about you would think I'd want to know at least something about her!"
"You didn't need to know anything other than the fact that she was important to your mother and I!"
"You mean YOU!" she almost shrieked. She couldn't believe he still wouldn't admit that he was the one involved with her and not her mother. She was tired of having the truth about Soledad just thrown under a rug. She was tired of her father trying to control everything, especially on how she should act and how much she should know. "After all those years, you would think I wouldn't want to know about someone you and mother fought about? Obviously you didn't realize that things being thrown on the wall would be heard by everyone, even your child. About how mother was one moment was overjoyed about having another child and the next minute on the floor after having the kami knows what time miscarriage?! About how you wouldn't let anyone even step into that room, not even mother?"
"Do not raise your voice towards me..." he warned.
"Dad, I needed to know, and just because you can't handle the fact that your first mate is here, doesn't mean she can't stay." She saw a flicker of disbelief in his eyes, something she had never seen from him. She opened the door to leave.
"How did…"
"She told me Dad. She told me everything about what had happened with you, and who stood in your way, including Naraku. And I'm going to make sure that she is going to stay." Sol said, slamming the door behind her.
--0--0--0--
Soledad cringed as she heard the screaming in the study. She sighed as she slumped down in a chair in the main room. She knew it was probably about her.Maybe I was right, maybe I should've just went to a village and just stayed out of there. She was slightly startled when a man touched her shoulder.
"Miss, the Lord and his daughter have given you a room in the left hall. Follow me this way please." A guard said. Soledad gotup from the rose bushes in the small garden and smiled at him. The demon looked to be about twenty-five in human years, seven feet tall, towering her by about a foot, with three large streaks across each of his high cheekbones. His black and dark blue hair was down about to his waist, and he was dressed in formal Japanese war armor. But the thing that seemed to stand out about him the most was his eyes. They seemed to flicker between shades of light green and blue, as if they had a hard time choosing a color. "I am Shinto, and I am the main general here at the castle. If you need any help, I'm usually at the dojo or walking around the castle, checking if everything is in order." He said, while Soledad was having a little difficulty catching up to him. She looked him up and down, and realized she was very attracted to him. She blushed as an innapropriate image flashed through her mind.
"Oh, that's alright, I've been here before, so I'll probably be able to find my way around here no problem." She told him. She saw him nod sligtly in reply, not turning to look at her. Suddenly, they heard two voices getting even louder than before as they passed by the study. He looked down at her and smirked.
"Yeah, I was just thinking it was probably about me staying here." she said sheepishly.
"Why would they argue about you."
"Well, how long have you been a general?"
"Seventy five years." Soledad was surprised. It usually took hundreds and hundreds of years to get to such a high position.
"Well, then, I guess its too long of a story to ever tell you." he turned to her and smirked.
"You know, I have a way of finding out things around the castle."
"I bet you do." He stopped abruptly and she bumped into him, not paying attention to where she was going, thinking it would be a little while longer. She blushed.
"Sorry." He turned to her and smiled.
"It's fine. I hope to see you in the future." He said, grabbing her hand a lightly kissing it. She blushed even more, while he walked away. She ran into the room, hoping no one else saw her face, since it was probably getting redder by the second.
She gasped slightly at the room. It was a light blue, with a large bed with white and black sheets on top of it and looked like it could fit three of her with no problem. At the corner of the room, there was a large oak dresser, with a large mirror and a box probably filled with a few jewels and beauty products. On the other side of the room, there was a large bookcase filled with different kinds of books, from history to magic and spells. Next to it was another dresser, and when she looked inside it was filled with all different kinds of expensive kimonos made of only the best kind of silk. Figures, she thought to herself. He would only expect the best not only for himself, but for the people of his castle. She looked around the room again, and smiled as she fell onto the bed. I guess this is officially the beginning of my new start. She thought, as she dozed off to sleep.
--0--0--0--
"Excuse me miss? Miss?" Soledad's eyes opened as she heard a small voice through the other side of the door. She rubbed her dazed eyes and opened the door.
A young human girl, about the age of sixteen or seventeen, bent her head down. She was wearing a very cheap looking outfit that had probably been a hand me down, and her hair looked a little dirty. Soledad allowed her to enter.
"I am sorry if I bothered you, but Lord Sesshomaru requested for me to help you get ready for dinner today." Soledad smiled.
"How nice of him." Seeing that he didn't even speak to me. "What is your name?"
"Oni, miss."
"Well, Oni, I would like for you to look at me," the girl's head rose, her big brown eyes staring at her in surprise, "and for you to just call me Soledad from now on. I assume that you will be my maid during my stay here?" The girl nodded in reply. "Well then, I will thank you for helping me and we should start. I believe we'll have a lot of work in a short amount of time."
--0--0--0--
"Oh miss, I just adore your hair, I have never seen anyone with your kind of hair that is natural." Oni told Soledad, gliding a pearl brush through her hair. It had been about an hour, and Soledad had taken a bath, washed her hair, and put on a blue kimono with a white obi on for dinner, which would start in about a half an hour. She had also allowed Oni togo and take a bath herself, and she gave her one of her kimonos. Oni said that Sesshomaru might get mad if he saw her in such fine clothes, but Soledad reassured her that she would take the blame if anything would happen.
"Well, thank you Oni, and you can call me Soledad, remember?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, mi-, Soledad, I am not used to people I work for letting me call them by nothing other than miss or sir. If you do not mind me asking, do many people from your country have the same kind of hair you have?"
"There are quite of few women that have the hair that I have, so I usually don't get many compliments about it that often unless I go to a different country." Soledad didn't really want to explain to much to her, she had been explaining herself since she was brought back to life. Oni placed a white hair clip into Soledad's hair and asked her turn around so she could apply makeup. "Only some light blush please, I was never really that fond of makeup." Oni nodded. Soon after she smiled.
"Soledad, you may be one of the prettiest women I have seen. Most try to cover their flaws with layers and layers of makeup, and would die if they could only put on blush." Soledad laughed.
"Well, I should be heading down the dining room. Thank you for your help." Soledad smiled at the young girl. Of course, Soledad knew she definitely wasn't like most people.
--0--0--0--
Soledad walked into the dining room, finding Sol and Sesshomaru already sitting there. Sol had on a simple lime green kimono with a black obi, and Sesshomaru in his usual outfit and armor. It wasn't like there was anything else he would actually wear around the castle. As soon as Sol saw her she looked at her and smiled, while Sesshomaru glanced at her and looked away like he had done this afternoon she arrived. Soledad smiled, fighting the urge to say something to him. Ever since she got here, he hadn't even said a word to her. She understood that he had taken Kagura as his mate since she left, but she wouldn't expect him to ignore her completely. She was hoping maybe they would be able to talk as friends. She knew nothing could ever happen between the two, so why couldn't he understand that? She sighed inwardly and sat down right next to Sol.
"So, did he do anything bad?" Soledad whispered softly enough so she was sure Sesshomaru wouldn't hear her from the other side of the room. She obviously knew they had a huge arguement, and she knew everyone else in the castle knew too.
"No, I mean, you must've heard a loud yell from the study, but that was it." Sol said just as softly. Of course, she wasn't telling the whole truth, but she didn't need to know much else. Kagura glided into the room wearing a plum colored kimono, and Sesshomaru stood up and guided her to the seat next to him. Soledad saw Kagura shoot a glance at her, as if inspecting her, and turned to look at Sesshomaru. She said something to Sesshomaru, but she said it softly so only Sesshomaru could hear.
"I thought you said she wasn't going to be here?" Kagura whispered to Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru noticed Kagura was glaring at Soledad as she spoke. Sesshomaru glanced at Soledad and sighed before answering.
"I tried to convince Sol, but she insisted for her to be here and stay for the wedding." He saw her crimson eyes pop slightly. Kagura placed her fan up so no one could tell what they were talking about.
"Why would she have done something like that? Especially if Soledad probably told her--"
"She did tell. She told her everything on the way to the castle. And besides, you were the one that actually told her where to go."
"Well, I'm sorry! I didn't think our daughter would go as far as taking your former mate to her wedding as a surprise to you."
"Well, we can't do anything now. But after, she will not stay and try to find her own place to live for the remainder of her life." Sesshomaru whispered coldly. Kagurawasnot upset over the fact that she was alive again, she was just afraid of something happening between Sesshomaru and Soledad again. She had seen how in love they were when she let them go free with each other, and she was afraid their romance would be rekindled. Besides, it wasn't like there was any romance between them. He hadn't touched her in years.
Soledad began to shift uncomfortably after seeing Kagura and Sesshomaru whispering behind Kagura's fan, and how the two kept glancing at her. It was one of her pet peeves. She didn't like it when people tried to act like they were talking about someone when the person of their subject was right there in front of them. She didn't know why she was brought back to life, and how long she would be here, but she knew their little conversation was probably about her in some way.
--0--0--0--
After a large and delicious meal was served, Soledad walked back to her room. She was hoping to speak with Sesshomaru after dinner, but he left before everyone, barely eating anything, and walking after to the corridor, probably back to the study. He had been in there all day except for dinner, of course, but it seemed as if he was desperately trying to avoid her. She got to her room, and immediately began changing for bed. Maybe tomorrow, she could visit him in the study, and if he wasn't that busy, he could tell her about what has happened since she was dead. She missed talking to him, and maybe they could become friends again. Obviously she knew they could never have what they had before she died, but she could always be friends with him. She plopped herself on the bed after taking off the hair clip and shaking her head a few times to let her curls fall loosely around her.
Yes, she could definitely keep their relationship strictly and friendship one, and nothing else.
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Okay guys, that's the end of the second chapter of the sequel, Second Chances. Wow, I wrote alot, it was over 4,000 words. I can't say that most will be this long, so I hoped you enjoyed this one! Many questions are still looming. Will Sesshomaru actually speak to Soledad during her stay? And he does, can they keep their relationship just on a friendship level? Or will destiny change their plans? And most of all, how will Kagura take this is she knows that she and Sesshomaru's relationship isn't nearly the most ideal in the world? Find out by reading and of course, reviewing!