A/N: I know its been over a week since my last update, I have been working really hard and trying to adjust to working 6 days a week again. It's not easy, let me tell you… Anyways, I hope everyone has been enjoying the story so far, and remember, I love hearing from my readers. Give me opinions and ideas please. I am writing this for you and your input is always welcome! Now, on with the story!

The Night before we mate:

Kagome's POV:

It's the day before the mating ceremony and I still can't believe this is happening. Even as guests begin arriving. I am standing at the entry way with Inuhime and Sesshomaru, greeting all the guests as they come in one by one. First to arrive was the prince and future lord of the east and his mate. A wolf youki named Koga and his mate's name is Ayame. They bowed respectively and handed the invitation to Inuhime. She looked it over and then gave a courteous bow to them as well. Ayame then looked to me and smiled. "I never thought the day would come that Lord Sesshomaru would take a mate. You must be someone special." She said while winking at me. Koga laughed and tugged him mate along to where Inuhime told them their personal servant was. Next to show was the lord of the south and his mat. They were Kitsunes named Akihito and Akira. They also gave their well wishes and Inuhime made sure to let them know I have a kitsune ward. This made their eyes go wide for a second before they bowed extremely low and thanked me for taking in one of their kind. Not many people, especially humans, would do that for the tricksters. I smiled and assured them that Shippo was well loved and looked after. Almost all the rooms were filled when he showed up. Onigumo, Baring his invitation to Inuhime, he looked at Sesshomaru and I with barely distinguishable disgust in his eyes. He fiend happiness and looked me dead in the eyes. "I'm grateful that you thought to invite me. Your mother would be proud that you still include me in important events, since she can't be here for you and all." The wicked smile that started to cross his face made me have to send feelings of comfort to Sesshomaru to keep him from ripping Onigumo's head off his shoulders. I knew this would be uncomfortable for us both, but it needed to be done. He would figure out after the ceremony why he was really brought here. We sent him to his room with a warning, "You will remain in your room until your servant comes for you. You will stay away from the family wing or forfeit your life." That was all Sesshomaru had to say to the man who has tormented me for way too long.

The rest of the day was much like the last few weeks, I had a dress fitting, and had to sit down with Inuhime for last minute arrangements. Then Sesshomaru went for our nightly walk. Only this time I thought we could blow off some steam. I gave him my mischievous look and he knew exactly what I wanted. We both got into our battle stances and began the spar. I lunged at him and he easily dodged. He then retaliated by sweeping his leg under mine. I quickly jumped and he then threw his fist towards my mid-section. I was anticipating this and quickly twirled my body mid-air and effectively dodged his attack. "You have gotten better. I see I will have a real challenge here." Sesshomaru stated with a smirk at the corner of his mouth. He then lunged at me and I did a graceful back-flip to move away from his attack and moved in with my fist swinging and connecting with his jaw. He was shocked that I landed such a good hit on him, as his head moved to the side slightly from the impact. I then decided to infuse my Reiki to my feet so that I could move faster. With my increased speed I was able to get behind him before he could react. When he turned around I stopped him momentarily with a passion filled kiss. While he was distracted, I took a page from his book and swept his legs out from under him. Laughing I looked at him and stated, "Be ready for anything. If you can't even take that, how can you expect to fight an enemy?" The look on his face almost made me burst out laughing as I knew I had stolen words he had said to me in the past. The moment didn't last long as he quickly got up and the spar resumed. We were moving so fast that if we weren't around demons, no one would be able to keep up with our movements. Blow after blow exchanged and dodged. It was a deadly dance and showed all onlookers that we were nothing to be messed with.

The spar ended with me finally wearing out and submitting to him. He nuzzled my neck to let me know he excepted my submission. He then held out his hand for me and helped me to my feet. Both of us feeling a little more relaxed decided to walk to our rooms so we could bathe before the evening meal. Natasha came to my room, like she usually does and helped me into my formal attire. I guess, as much as I hate these things, it is required for me to wear them for the next couple nights until the guests leave. I only hope that I don't make a fool of myself wearing it. Natasha put my hair up in an elaborate bun, pinned up with sapphire pins, befitting of my station and making my eye color pop. I looked over to her and smiled. "Natasha, I am glad that threw all of this, I have had you by my side. I hope you will continue to be my handmaiden after I have mated Sesshomaru." She looked at me, blush on her face and a smile graced her lips. "It would be my honor Kagome. I feel like my time would be wasted if I wasn't attending to you." I looked her dead in her eyes, not liking what I heard. "Natasha, listen to me. In my time here, you have been here through it all. You saw to my bruises during training and aided in speedy recoveries for me. You are no longer my servant. I have chosen you to be my handmaiden, not because you live to serve, but because you are my friend. I want my friends around me while I go through yet another transition in my life." Her eyes widened and sparkled at that.

Natasha and I walked to the dining room where she left me by the door. The guards opened the doors for me and all eyes turned towards my entrance. I held my head high and found my open seat next to Sesshomaru. "I see you have made your handmaiden happy." Sesshomaru stated in a low voice while we waited for the meal to be served.

"We can discuss that later, after the kids go to bed. Now isn't the time." I stated just as low, noticing that all eyes were on us. Sesshomaru nodded his head and grabbed my hand under the table to lend me some of his strength. We faced the evening meal together and then excused ourselves so that we could spend some time with Rin and Shippo, as per the usual. That night, after the kids went to sleep, Sesshomaru and I went to my rooms and while we would have normally kissed, he just helped me into bed after Natasha helped me change. He gave me a kiss on the head and said, "Rest. Tomorrow is a big day for us." then he promptly left the room. I found it rather easy to get to sleep, as I had worn myself out with all our activities. It was a dreamless sleep, but I knew deep down inside, that something big was going to happen soon. I felt a little uneasy and knew Sesshomaru felt the same.

A/N: So, important events in the next chapter. One is mating, two is the outcome of what is going to happen to Onigumo. Just a little teaser to give you something to look forward to! As always, Please R&R. Until next time!