Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha
As the adults engaged in talks of treaties and other political matters, Ryuukotsusei, future lord of the North and Nami, future lady of the west, dawdled in the south pavilion, waiting for their friend.
Touga, son of the Inu no Taisho, had the uncanny ability to entice even the most reticent and unwilling of people into open camaraderie. Nami had once been a porcelain doll, silent and unblinking but now her cheeks flushed faintly in excitement as they waited.
Eventually, the thud of bare feet in wooden floorboards heralded Touga's arrival and he skidded into the pavilion toting his bokken.
"You were training?" Ryuukotsusei asked.
"Yeah," Toga admitted freely, still panting from his rushed arrival, "sensei says I'm top of the class," he boasted.
"Oh," Ryuukotsusei murmured. His father refused to let him go to training sessions often and so he was behind most of the dragonlings of his age.
"Sensei said that I might be strong enough to protect Nami-sama," he admitted, flashing the lady a fanged grin. It started hesitantly, but she eventually beamed back at him shyly.
"Like your father does for mine?" Nami ventured bashfully.
Touga nodded earnestly. "Like that, but sensei says that children outgrow their parents. When I grow up I want to be beyond my father's power."
"You're silly," Ryuukotsusei murmured, thinking of his own great and terrible father's furious might. There was no way he'd ever surpass him...the thought was a harrowing one.
"Nuh-uh," Touga insisted, "I'm already better with a bokken than father was at my age."
"Your father must be proud," Nami decided.
Touga blushed. "Yeah," he met Nami's golden gaze, "And when Nami-sama grows up she'll be more beautiful than her mother, right?"
Nami smiled so hugely that a dimple put in an appearance. And both boys were awestruck.
A/N: This was originally written for iy_unsung_heros prompt Beyond and was first posted on January 8th 2011. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this enough to offer a review!