A/N: I watched the saddest, and yet sweetest episode the other night. As my roommate left me every night to stay at her boyfriend's apartment, I stayed and turned on Adult Swim's one hour block of Inuyasha. I'd forgotten how brilliant it can be. I saw a full story of how Inuyasha and Kikyo met and fell in love. It was so sweet, so tragic…like mythology, like Shakespeare. The English major and writer in me rejoiced. It makes me remember Sango's story. I gave it no thought until my little sister got some of the early episodes on DVD and told me that I should watch Sango's story. I sat down with some doubts…and was blown away. I think I might've cried as Sango holds her brother after he's at last been shot by the arrows and realizes at the last moment that he's killed everyone. And then Sango's determination in spite of her own nearly mortal wounds, she was astounding. Astounding…ah, I am touched…and onto the story…

Disclaimer: I own no one. Just my boyfriend. Yes, and my betta fish.

Last Chapter: Shippo gave Inuyasha a warning that Tsukiyume and Rin were coming. Sesshomaru reached Sasugainu and Sasugainu told him everything he knew, terrified of Sesshomaru's rage and power. He vowed to help Sesshomaru reclaim Rin. Sesshomaru asked him if he would kill Shimofuri, and Sasugainu admitted that he couldn't. Sesshomaru then accepted his words as the truth and took up his offer of support. Rin and Tsukiyume faced off with the new priestesses in Kaede's village, but the priestesses followed them suspiciously. Rin and Tsukiyume met with Inuyasha at last, but Rin rode her horse to the gate and collapsed in pain.

Fortune or Failure

"Inuyasha," Kagome was standing in the kitchen, staring at her husband with wide eyes as he strolled in carrying a young woman in his arms. "What's going on?" she was holding a sleepy Akisame, who was slumped against her mother's chest and trying to drool.

"Kagome," the hanyou angled Rin in his arms, trying to expose her face more clearly to Kagome, "You need to deal with this."

Stunned, Kagome shook her head, taking a step back. "Inuyasha, what are you talking about?" Akisame woke up in her mother's arms, yawning wide.

"You've got all those magic cures and…pills…" he hefted Rin around uncomfortably, ears folding backward, "I need you to keep her from…uh…" his face colored and his tongue seemed to stop working.

Kagome waited patiently, stroking her daughter's black hair. Her attention was drawn to Shippo and a black-haired, dog-eared hanyou girl that spilled into her kitchen behind Inuyasha and the human girl in his arms. Rin's face was twisted with pain, her hands fisted in Inuyasha's haori.

"She's going to lose her baby!" Tsukiyume offered, saying what Inuyasha couldn't out of embarrassment. The hanyou girl shyly met Kagome's blinking, confused gaze. "Please, Lady Rin has lost so much…"

Inuyasha twisted around to glare at her. "You have some explaining to do." He warned grumblingly. "I want some answers—and just because this stupid woman is falling over sick doesn't mean I'm letting you stay in my house…"

"Inuyasha." Kagome snapped, and at once her husband cringed, ears flattening at her reprimanding tone. "This is my house too." She went on, sighing.

"Well then cure her so we can get her the hell out of here!"

"I can't cure her if she's having a miscarriage!" Kagome half-shouted. Akisame was squirming in her arms, fussily. "Shippo! Come over here and take Aki for me."

The kit hurried forward, accepting Akisame into his arms as Kagome ordered. The toddler was unhappy with this switch, and at once she started whimpering, stretching her little clawed hands out for Kagome and making an attempt to speak. "Maaaah! Maaah!" Shippo used both hands, holding her back and bouncing up and down, trying to distract her. Akisame scowled sourly at him, stubborn and cranky.

As Inuyasha and Kagome squabbled and moved further into the house, still carrying the moaning, sweating Rin, Shippo moved to stand beside Tsukiyume. "Don't look so worried!" he grinned, projecting confidence. "If anyone can save her, it's Kagome."

Tsukiyume's ears were still flattened, her lips pinched in a narrow, white line. "I don't know what else she can survive…" she noticed the toddler squirming in Shippo's arms and blinked, turning her full gaze on the child. Akisame had done the same, taking in the stranger that Shippo was no holding her captive next to, and she had decided, definitively, that it was not acceptable. She started to whimper, her face wrinkling like an old map, her little fists banged on Shippo's shoulders.

"Oh great." Shippo groaned, trying to bounce and distract her again. He peeked at Tsukiyume from the corners of his eyes and added, "This one takes after Inuyasha."

In height, Shippo was about midway to Tsukiyume's shoulder. Akisame was already a large load for the kit. Tsukiyume's nose picked out the familiar parts of Akisame's scent, revealing that the pup, though mostly human in appearance, was actually a relative. Tsukiyume stuttered, staring at the child. "C-can I hold her?"

Shippo took a step back from her, nervously. "Uh, that's probably not…"

In that moment a frazzled Inuyasha appeared, stomping out of the guest room where he and Kagome had laid Rin down to rest. He jabbed a clawed fingertip at Tsukiyume. "You—in there, get ready to answer my questions." He directed her with the same accusatory finger toward the sitting room before his attention turned to Shippo. "Runt—go get the priestesses from the village."

Shippo frowned, "What about…"

As if reading the kit's mind, Inuyasha stepped forward and snatched his squalling daughter out of Shippo's arms. "Go," he jabbed his finger at the kit again, "Now."

That left Tsukiyume, shocked, watching Inuyasha blankly. For a moment, as Shippo disappeared out the door, dropping to all fours to run faster, one could feel the oddness of two inuhanyou staring one another down. Inuyasha was the older of the two, by far. Even without his effective time-travel of fifty years pinned against a tree by Kikyo's arrow, he was still offspring of Inutaisho, renowned but long since departed. Tsukiyume was the daughter of a different inuyoukai ruler, and like Inuyasha her parents were deceased, but there were still humans that recalled her mother vividly, unlike with Inuyasha's father, who had become more legend than memory.

"Sit down." Inuyasha ordered her, gruntingly, "And when I get back we'll talk." He turned his back on her and hurried away. His daughter was in his arms, calm now and falling asleep again. Tsukiyume watched Inuyasha's form shrinking as he moved into the hall. She searched her memories, pulling out the image of Inuyasha's son…and then she caught sight of the boy, barely visible, peeking out of the door to the guest room where Rin was resting. He was no longer the infant she recalled, but a boy, clearly an almost mirror image of his father.

Inuyasha snapped at his son, "Koinu." The boy, who'd been staring curiously at Tsukiyume before, now stepped out of the room and stood at attention. Inuyasha knelt to be more on eye-level with his son and placed Akisame at Koinu's feet. "Take your sister and watch over her for me."

Koinu nodded, but his white dog ears, so like his father's, were swiveling uncertainly. "Dad," his blue eyes flicked once toward Tsukiyume, "What about…"

"Stay in our room until your mother or me comes to get you."

Koinu nodded firmly, "Yes." he bent and pulled on Akisame. His sister was about half his size, so it was a hard load, but the pup eventually had her dragged onto her feet and lead her away.

Inuyasha paused before stepping into the guest room, torn between the sight of his son guiding Akisame down the hallway so obediently, and the hard weight of Tsukiyume's eyes on his backsides. Taking a deep breath, he ventured into the guest room. Most often it was used to house Sango and Miroku and their children while they visited Inuyasha and Kagome, but currently it was empty and it was fast becoming Rin's room. It was a small place, furnished with tatami mats and a window on one side. Sango had given birth to her only daughter, Kasai in that room. Inuyasha was thankful that he hadn't been around to witness that. It was hard enough for him to deal with the births of his own children. Miroku's ability to endure the births of not just two, but four and soon to be five babies astounded him.

But this was not a time of tense excitement, like the kind that came before the birth of a new family member. This was the tight dread that an injury, or that an unexpected death gave out. It was too soon for Inuyasha to predict just who would be lost today: Rin's child, or both Rin and her child. The scent inside the room, of sweat, pain, and tears, was mildly nauseating. It occurred to him, dimly, that this child that was about to die was his niece…

The idea made his stomach clench up, for more than one reason.

Kagome was knelt at Rin's bedside. Her face was anxious, her jaw tightened. The muscles in her neck were strained as well. When she heard him enter, she asked, "Where's Koinu and Akisame? Did you tell Shippo to watch after them or go to the village?"

The hanyou felt a little warmth at that. Kagome, in spite of herself and the troubling duty of taking care of Rin, was worried for her own children continuously. It might've seemed selfish, but with semi-strangers in the house and the fact that she couldn't be with her own babies while Rin sat prostrate and helplessly losing her unborn baby, Kagome was greatly aware of what was at stake.

"I sent Shippo to the village. I left Akisame with Koinu."

This drew a swift look from Kagome, "Inuyasha," she frowned, "He's not even five yet!"

"Feh!" he grunted, "He's better at looking after her than Shippo is!"

Kagome's lips narrowed into a thin unhappy line. She might've spoken up again to fight him, but Rin's moaning drew her away. She touched the other woman's face and neck, feeling temperature and pulse. Then, tentatively, she probed Rin's robes, pulling away the outer robe and trying to lightly feel her abdomen.

Inuyasha's face began to color; he turned his back on Kagome and the sickened, sweating Rin. "Uh…" he half-grunted, "I…maybe I'll go and watch after Koinu and Akisame. Kagome?" he tried to sneak a look at her over his shoulder, but Kagome's hands were still probing, her face was still tight and grim. "You'll manage here right?"

She didn't answer. Rin made a choking sound and began fighting her, whimpering in the back of her throat. She pushed at Kagome's hands, resisting her. "Where…who…?" Rin was asking, weakly.

Kagome withdrew her hands, sighing. "You're safe."

Inuyasha said nothing and decided, in that moment, that it would be wise to leave the room.

Rin squinted up at the woman that was caring for her. Her face was covered in sweat and creased with confusion. She felt cautiously over her robes and her eyes moved, taking in the little room around her. "This isn't the castle." She grimaced with pain and rolled onto her side, curling halfway into a fetal position.

"No," Kagome started, cautiously, "This isn't the castle…"

Rin made another choked sound, this time it was not out of simple physical pain, but now a deeper, gut-wrenching emotional reaction. "No…" she moaned, covering her face with one hand. "Not again, no…" the tears leaked out from between her fingers, slipping onto the sheets on the bed below her.

"This has happened to you before?" Kagome asked, slowly. Rin wasn't looking at her, which was fortunate because Kagome's facial expression was tense and grim. She watched with growing worry as Rin's hands clutched and fisted in the covers, as the younger woman's body shuddered with pain.

There were drugs, Kagome knew, that could calm the muscles of the uterus and halt a miscarriage. They didn't always work, but in the modern era many babies were given just enough time with these drugs to survive. Kagome had the potential power to save Rin's baby, but she could never get the drugs to her on time, and unless she took Rin through the well into the modern era, the doctors were unlikely to just hand out the drugs…

And then, abruptly, Shippo burst through the door, beaming, and escorting both of the village priestesses. Hyakka and Kumo hesitated at the door, their faces stern and grim. They both wore the characteristic red hakama (A/N: Hakama right? Kikyo's pants are different from IY's but still…maybe?) and white tops that had acted like warning colors to Kagome, the first sign of coming disaster. She still caught herself, years later, staring at their priestess robes and scowling.

"Lady Hyaka, Lady Kumo." Kagome blinked, addressing them formally and bowing as she hefted herself up from Rin's bedside. "That was fast…"

Hyakka looked toward Kumo, letting the older priestess explain. "We were already following this woman and the hanyou that accompanied her when young Shippo came searching for us."

Kagome sighed, only slightly relieved at this. "I don't think there's anything that can be done." She gestured weakly at Rin's shuddering, fragile form. "She's having a miscarriage; at least that's what the girl that was with her told me…"

"She is." Shippo nodded firmly, "She rode up on horseback when she came to see us. Inuyasha thinks that's what did it."

"She is an unusual woman…" Hyakka was saying, quietly. Kumo was already kneeling at Rin's bedside, touching her new patient's forehead and neck and starting to probe her robes.

"She isn't bleeding yet." Kumo observed aloud.

Kagome's shoulders sagged. "I'd better go get something for that."

"It would be wise to be prepared, but it is possible to save the child still, Lady Kagome." Kumo murmured while her hands continued to busy themselves on Rin's body. "Hyakka—go back to the village, hurry…"

Hyakka nodded, bowing. "Hai."

As the younger priestess left the room, Kagome stepped forward, kneeling at Kumo's side. "Lady Kumo? Are you sure about this? What, if I may ask, are you going to give her to stop the miscarriage?"

"A few mixed herbs to calm her and strengthen the child." Kumo's hands had undone Rin's obi and parted her innermost robes at last. She slipped her hand inside and laid it flat along Rin's belly, feeling the gentle rise and dip between flat stomach and slowly protruding abdomen. Her expression grew more solemn now. Slowly, she withdrew her hand. "I would guess that the child was conceived in the very late fall, or early winter. It is a first pregnancy."

Kagome shook her head, "No, I think she's had miscarriages before."

Kumo fastidiously closed Rin's robes and worked the obi delicately, trying to refasten it to preserve the other woman's modesty. "If that is true and she has a history—the child will almost certainly die. She is of nobility, surely the finest priestesses were there to treat her and if her babies couldn't survive even then…" Kumo shook her head, withdrawing and folding her hands in a prayer-like motion. "It may be a hopeless endeavor, but we will try."

"I know." Kagome agreed, sighing sadly. She adjusted her own position, mirroring Kumo's, and took up the same stance familiarly.

"But…" Shippo's small voice made both Kagome and Kumo glance back at him, blinking and almost alarmed. They'd forgotten about his presence and—considering the very female topic—he was actually moderately unwelcome. (A/N: I think this is true, sort of. In most cultures, short of ours today, women keep babies and birthing and miscarriage and such strongly hidden from male eyes. Men don't want to deal with it and often it's considered "impure." Imagine a culture where for the week, roughly, you have your period you get to be closeted away from all of the men around you. Yep, what a world!) "She's Sesshomaru's mate. He's an inuyoukai. Would he bring in priestesses to treat her?"

Kumo and Kagome were silent, considering Shippo's words with renewed hope. Kagome stared at Rin's shaking, sweaty face and hands, and prayed that Shippo was right.

Tsukiyume tried to keep one eye and one ear tuned to the room where Rin was being kept, but the voices inside it were dim, even to her ears, and Inuyasha right in front of her was much, much louder. She faced his assault, ears pressed against her skull, and lips turned downward in a continuous, uncomfortable frown as he demanded answers viciously.

"What the hell are you two doing here? What is going on with that stupid bastard Sesshomaru?" his fangs glimmered beneath his lips, looking especially sharp.

Tsukiyume took a moment to examine this cousin of hers. His golden eyes, like sunrise or sunset, like honey. The fair hair like ice over a pond, or snow blowing out of the sky. He was reminiscent of a blizzard, blustering and powerful. He was a lot like Sesshomaru in appearance. Their facial features were different. Inuyasha's face was more careworn, showing its wear lines like battle scars, marks made by one who had lived in his face. Sesshomaru was statuesque. His beauty was immortal, and pristine—but also distant and cold, like an iceberg floating out to sea. The brothers looked very much alike, but they were very different. Tsukiyume found herself wondering what made the difference. Was it Inuyasha's humanity? Sesshomaru's inuyoukai mother, perhaps? What had their father contributed, or did he exhibit both personalities and all their traits…?

"I am Lady Rin's hostage." Tsukiyume began, frankly, "I am to protect her while she runs from Lord Sesshomaru…"

"What? Back up! Start over!" Inuyasha scowled, waving his arms in a sort of ceasefire motion. "You're going too fast! The last thing I knew that girl in there and my half-brother were mates. Now she's…running from him? In her current…" he stuttered a little, embarrassedly. "…condition?"

"Her condition is coincidence." Tsukiyume sighed. She explained her brother and uncle's plot, their rescuing of her from Sesshomaru, and then their move to inform Rin of Sesshomaru's deception. When she began describing Sesshomaru's involvement in the Middle Land's civil war, and Sesshomaru's resulting ownership of the Isei and of the inuyoukai bitch Ginrei, Inuyasha silenced her, interrupting the retelling.

"So you're saying that the rumor Shippo came back telling us is true? Sesshomaru married this Gin-something bitch and keeps her hidden in the Isei?" he cocked his head, indicating curiosity, but his eyes were narrowed, revealing his doubt. He was scrutinizing Tsukiyume carefully, trying to detect a lie.

Tsukiyume answered him nervously; aware that she was perhaps passing or failing some delicate test. "Yes, it's true. Sesshomaru deceived Rin and took this other woman as his wife. She…" Tsukiyume swallowed and risked a glance at the room where Rin was being kept. "Lord Sesshomaru's wife is currently pregnant with his first official heir. A daughter."

Inuyasha sat back, staring at her blankly for a moment as this news sunk in on him. At last his face transformed, quirking and wrinkling as he burst out laughing. "That old bastard! Two daughters? Ha!" he pounded one fist on the table in front of him, "Serves him right, the asshole…"

"You said your mate could save Lady Rin's baby?" Tsukiyume interrupted his glee.

Inuyasha, still chuckling, shrugged. "Kagome's got a lot of magic tricks. We'll see."

"Can…" Tsukiyume shifted uneasily, "Can we stay here…?"

The mirth in Inuyasha's face vanished at once as he scowled. "I ain't promising anything!"

Tsukiyume's ears folded backward, her face fell. "Oh."

Inuyasha caught her change in mood, sensing her potential grief, and blanched, shaking his head. "Hey—don't start crying or anything!" he scolded, stumbling a little over the words. He scooted away, as if about to leave, but paused, uncomfortable. He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest and offered her further explanation. "If I know Sesshomaru he'll be like a nest of wasps over this mess. Don't get me wrong—it's hilarious and I'd pay money to see his face right now, but…"

The hanyou stopped, his expression changed, becoming softer and somber. He heaved yet another sigh, long and deep. "It's like someone taking Kagome away from me…"

Tsukiyume frowned and leaned forward aggressively. "Lady Rin wasn't taken from him. She left with shishi-sama of her own accord."

"Yeah but me letting you stay here is…" his brow furrowed, a snarl curled his lips, "Hell no! It ain't happening!" his eyes weren't seeing Tsukiyume, they were unfocused and glazed. He was contemplating his brother's power, as well as the vulnerability of his family. His human wife, his young and innocent children…

As much as he partially delighted in Sesshomaru's misfortune and suffering, Inuyasha also sympathized with him. Though they professed to hate one another, and had attempted to kill each other on numerous occasions, they remained kin, half-brothers. Aside from that, there was also the fact that Inuyasha had felt the pain of nearly losing Kagome many, many times. He didn't want to join the mess, didn't want to antagonize Sesshomaru…

"Are you afraid of Lord Sesshomaru?" Tsukiyume asked, quietly.

Inuyasha blinked and found the hanyou girl staring at him frankly. He bristled and shifted uneasily under her scrutiny. "Hell no! Feh! That old bastard…"

"I understand that his missing arm, you are responsible for it." Tsukiyume murmured, staring meekly at the table.

"Yeah." Inuyasha grunted, eyeing her suspiciously, "What about it?"

"It is his greatest injury." Tsukiyume bowed, her dark hair hid her face from Inuyasha's scrutiny. "That is why Lady Rin choose you when she needed sanctuary. She believes you are the only threat to Sesshomaru in existence."

Inuyasha's face colored. He blustered, "Feh! Stop…" he paused, searching for Kagome's creative expression that described Tsukiyume's current tactic of flattery. Damn, what is it she always used to say about Miroku when he was flirting with girls? Even when they were ugly he called them pretty…His mind at last grabbed the expression and he spat it out hurriedly, "…buttering me up! It ain't working!"

Tsukiyume didn't rise out of her bow. "It is truth. I would have you ask Lady Rin, but she is…" the girl stopped, swallowing thickly. Her shoulders bobbed with the movement.

Inuyasha huffed. "She'll be okay. Better in no time."

Sesshomaru passed out of the Hokubo without leaving a trail of carnage in his wake. Sasugainu was left alive and in power, but sworn to Sesshomaru's allegiance and against Shimofuri. Time would only tell if Sesshomaru came to value Sasugainu as an ally and, with that value or lack of it, he would decide whether or not to spare the other lord.

In the meantime his conscience had continued terrorizing him. The latest torture picked up its pace as Sesshomaru passed into the Isei and found himself heading aimlessly for Naishougoto.

Rin will come back if you right your wrongs…

It had been wrong to use the war in the Isei to claim one of Nishiyori's bitches. It had been wrong to keep the knowledge secret from Rin. It had been wrong to marry Ginrei. It had been wrong to conceive his first heir—a daughter anyway—with Ginrei.

There was one simple way to "right" those wrongs. Since time travel wasn't possible in Sesshomaru's mind, and he could not properly amend these problems, there was only one option left to him: kill Ginrei.

The idea had occurred to him in passing before. She was hard to deal with, hard to tame, to please, and to keep as a secret. She was more trouble than she was worth. Guilt had surfaced sometimes, making him consider giving her a proper, honorable death to allow her to rejoin the family she so obviously loved and missed. There would be no shame in it, right?

He crossed the Isei, avoiding all other forms of life, aiming for Naishougoto.

Ginrei woke with a start, her heart pounding inside her ribcage. For a moment her eyes played tricks on her, spinning the shadows into smoke and running, terrified women. In the past Ginrei would've been deceived by her own living memories, replaying themselves before her eyes in the confusion of her waking. Now she closed her eyes firmly and listened with her ears.

This was the palace on the lake. Maids murmured downstairs, there was the acrid smoke of a fire with the leftovers of a meal cooking over it. Water was being heated for tea; the palace was abuzz, as if this were midday, not the middle of the night.

Ginrei opened her eyes again and this time took in the light. Her traumatic memories had faded, at last letting her see the world as it really was. The lighting on the walls told her the sun had set and the moon was low, so low that its pale, ghostly light snuck in through her shuttered window screens. It was late in the night, or rather, very early in the morning.

Footsteps raced up the stairs and down the hall, reaching Ginrei's room where they halted, collapsing into a kneeling position. The screen door slid open and Ginrei sat up, regarding the maid alertly. It was one of her many human attendants, prostrated low to the floor. "My lady—your husband has just arrived."

She wasn't surprised. Sesshomaru apparently ran by his own time schedule, not the sun's, the moon's or the human servants'. This maid was ill-prepared, her robes were messy, her hair was askew and tied up messily. No doubt the entire residence was the same way, caught off guard by its master's unexpected return.

"Is it cold this morning?" Ginrei asked, sighing.

The maid nodded, still ducked in her bow. "I will fetch my lady the warmer robes."

Ginrei moved off her futon carefully, timing her progress by the maid's so that by the time she was standing upright properly, the maid had dragged out the robes and brought them over to her. They moved silently and efficiently, as if in a somber dance on some unseen stage. Without many maids to help her, it took Ginrei longer to dress, but it was finished soon enough. She sat while the maid ran a comb through her hair hurriedly, but fortunately Ginrei's silvered hair had never put up much of a fight before a comb. It fell into place, long and straight strands neatly in order, swiftly.

She left her room with the maid trailing her, wearing robes of white and gold. They headed downstairs where Ginrei at once scented her husband's presence. But his scent had changed from the last time she'd smelled him. He carried the scent of wilderness with him, wilderness and blood, like a warrior returning from war.

Ginrei's step faltered, she had other memories of that smell, from a night in the wintertime. Beyond the stink of the fire that had consumed the castle she'd been born in…in the gardens, the army had circled, smelling similarly like blood and the wilds.

The maid came up behind Ginrei, frowning concernedly. "My lady?"

Ginrei shook her head, swallowing thickly. "It's nothing." She gestured down the hallway feebly, "Lead the way."

The maid nodded and stepped forward until she reached the door of the small audience room where Sesshomaru would be waiting for his wife to greet him. She dropped to her knees and slid the door open, bowing as she waited for Ginrei to slip past her and enter the small room.

Sesshomaru sat at the little table with the tray of tea in front of him, untouched. That wasn't unusual of the demon lord, but what did alarm Ginrei was the way he didn't lift his gaze to her as she entered the room, the way he stared unseeingly ahead. There were no other hints of emotion on his face, nothing to give him away, but as Ginrei entered the room, she felt her skin crawling with a growing sense of apprehension that bordered on fear…

"Lord Sesshomaru." She bowed to him, touching her forehead to the matting, and waited to be acknowledged.

"Sit up." He ordered, curtly. His voice had a hoarse quality to it, as though he hadn't used it in a long time. As Ginrei sat up her eyes flew not to his face, but to his single hand in his lap, perilously close to the blades he had tied around his waist. She waited patiently, arguing within herself what might be disturbing him, and whether or not he would harm her while she was carrying his child. Unconsciously, her hands clasped over her abdomen, feeling the tiny bit of roundness, the first sign of his pup within her, still invisible to the outside world, unless one possessed the sense of smell of a youkai.

When Sesshomaru didn't speak to her again, and the minutes continued to drag by, Ginrei at last asked, "Something troubles Lord Sesshomaru?"

His golden eyed gaze flicked to her briefly, his lips curled downwards. As was characteristic, however, he made no other response, and in another second, turned his gaze away, as if bored and loosing interest.

A maid opened the screen door and entered, stepping forward timidly and reaching for the tea kettle and the teacups to serve the couple. Sesshomaru ordered her to leave, his voice cold and distant, almost reptilian. The maid bowed, muttering apologies, and vanished out the door, shutting it as she went.

"You are well, I presume." Sesshomaru said, abruptly, breaking the silence when the maid had vanished.

Ginrei ducked her head, half bowing, half nodding. "I am." she paused, staring at the table and frowning slightly. "I do wonder what has become of Lord Sesshomaru. The last moment I saw him he spoke of his human mate, he was going to see her. I am left to wonder now why he returns so soon and…" she noticed that his eyes had landed on her, pinning her like knives. She didn't dare continue speaking, and didn't dare meet that look. There was fire in it; she knew this without seeing it.

"Ginrei." Sesshomaru called her name with a rough, and deeper voice than was normal. "What do you want?"

The question startled Ginrei into meeting his eyes. She stared at him, caught, understanding somehow that she stood on the edge of a sword, one false step and she could fail. Something huge had happened outside of Naishougoto, something had changed Sesshomaru in the week or so he had been away. Now he posed questions asking her what she wanted—was he feeling his conscience? Had his mate learned of her? Had she died because of it…?

The idea made too much sense. The darkness she saw in Sesshomaru's eye matched the idea a little to well. Her hands moved a little over her belly, touching on her abdomen over the fabric of her robes. She drew comfort, thinking Sesshomaru would not kill his heir…

At one point she might've wanted death, to join her kin in the next world, because it was the honorable thing to do and because she was lonely. But the child within her had changed her. From an early point her own noise had told her this was a female, therefore useless to Sesshomaru. Maternal instincts she'd never known she possessed made Ginrei cherish it. Pregnancy had, oddly enough, stabilized her grief, strengthening her from the inside out. Her wants were now tied in with the idea of her daughter, growing within her, but was it the right answer to give to Sesshomaru? Would he believe it?

Her instinct was to bow, to defer to him and offer respect, but she decided against that. She would keep her face held high, to allow him to see her expression, to look into her eyes and understand the truth and conviction of her words.

"I want to have my daughter, Lord Sesshomaru."

His face rippled briefly and eventually settled with one eyebrow slightly raised. "Your daughter?" he asked, in a surprisingly soft voice.

Ginrei quailed slightly. Yes, it was his child too, wasn't it? Had she made a grave mistake? She searched herself, trying to find the words to correct it, but Sesshomaru lost interest in gazing at her and looked away.

"She may be your daughter, if you wish." He responded, gently. There was a tiny change in his posture, a loosening in his frame. His shoulders lowered, his single hand in his lap relaxed. "I must go." He announced, quietly, and then turned his gaze on her carefully, examining her.

Ginrei pretended not to notice or feel the weight of his eyes on her. What did he see? What was he thinking? Her fingers stroked in tiny movements over her abdomen, as if it were her unborn daughter that needed comfort.

"You will send for me when the child is near." Sesshomaru said, not in question or in request, but as an order.

Ginrei bowed. "Yes, husband." While her face was lowered and hidden from him, she blinked at the matting on the floor, as the folds and ruffles in her robes. Why does he want to be here for it?

Before she'd sat upright again, Sesshomaru had risen to his feet and slipped soundlessly past her and to the door. Ginrei was startled as she rose into her sitting position by the gentle grating of the screen door on its track. She listened as her husband left the room, not bothering to close the door behind him. Alone Ginrei could smell the tea and her husband's lingering fragrance. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself more tightly.

The tea on the little table had not yet cooled; it stayed in Sesshomaru's cup, steaming faintly. Ginrei slowly extended her hand and scooped the teacup closer to hold it against her chest, drawing what little warmth she could from it.

Sesshomaru had come to Naishougoto to kill Ginrei, and then had found himself unable to do it. Her scent, rich with their daughter, had haunted him, as had Ginrei's beauty, fear, and courage. She'd been afraid, sensing instinctively his change, but she had conducted herself well. Sesshomaru could find no fault in her. She had strengthened, solidifying into a worthy wife, a worthy mother of his heirs.

Aside from that there was also the disturbing memories playing through his mind. Ginrei had spoken to him in a way Rin might've, she was carrying his daughter, as Rin was when he'd last seen her. Sesshomaru was tense as he moved through Naishougoto, like a wraith, deep and buried inside his thoughts, inside his past. He had always been a creature of silence, always dwelling in solitude. Rin's arrival when she'd been nothing more than a little girl had been the biggest change to his life since his father's death. To Rin he was able to unload a little, to unwind and speak a tiny portion of what was on his mind.

Sitting with Ginrei he'd wanted to do the same thing, to ask her what she would've done if she were in Rin's place. He needed to understand a female mind, but revealing his weakness to his wife was impossible. How could he speak of his troubles to anyone but Rin? And this trouble was Rin…

Seeking counsel had never been something Sesshomaru enjoyed. He didn't talk, he didn't expose himself or his thoughts, but this situation left him stripped of his dignity and without any other way to relieve the pressures building within him.

He summoned Daken, making the old, grizzled youkai walk with him alongside the half-frozen lake in the middle of the night. It was still chilly; their breathing was visible against the breeze as a thick fog around their faces. Dawn was starting in the east, so faintly that the sky showed no light, just a change in the darkness from the deepest black to a lighter tint. Dark haze marked where clouds would eventually be illuminated by the rising sun. The inuyoukai feet, booted in their bipedal, human-like forms, crunched on old ice and a fresh frost.

There were heavy bags underneath Daken's eyes. He knew of Rin's disappearance through rumor and the trading of messages through Sesshomaru's network of spies. Also he'd learned a little of Sesshomaru's enraged rampage through the Middle Lands: the death of Arasoizuki, the attack on Shimofuri's province…there was nothing that he knew of yet about the Hokubo and Sasugainu.

In most circumstances Daken would've initiated the conversation playfully, with the ease his long acquaintance to the dog lord afforded him over time. But in this case he was tense, believing that Sesshomaru had gone slightly mad. Provoking Sesshomaru, no matter how playfully or skillfully it was done, might cost Daken his life. It was a price he didn't want to pay.

Yet, if he didn't start the conversation they'd just travel slowly around the lake in silence, suffering the early chill of the morning for nothing. At last he drew up the courage and cleared his throat. "Your wife has been doing wonderfully, Lord Sesshomaru." He kept a tight rein on his voice, making sure not to mock Sesshomaru. He was successful, sounding genuine, as if making a simple report on Ginrei's health, as if this were any other visit.

The younger inuyoukai made no answer. His light hair, white even in the blackness, was bright, standing out sharply against the blackness of trees, even the dull of dead grass on the rolling hills around the lakeshore.

"I estimate your first heir will be with us before the snow returns." He paused, struggling to force his old feet to move at the same steady, seemingly confident pace that Sesshomaru was setting. "You should be proud, my lord." Now the mocking entered his voice, before he could stop it…

Sesshomaru stopped, stiffening. He lifted his head and sniffed once, as if finding something interesting on the breeze. Daken stopped just behind him, feeling his heart thump wildly inside his chest. He stared at Sesshomaru's backsides, waiting tensely.

"Daken." Sesshomaru called in a voice that was uncharacteristically soft. "I have a new assignment for you."

"Yes, my lord?" Daken frowned at the way his words were strained and high pitched with fear. Sesshomaru would see right through him.

"You will leave Naishougoto and take as much time as you can to search out the one responsible for poisoning Rin."

Daken blinked and shook his head once, as if dizzy. "Of course my lord, but…"

"And when you have found the one responsible," Sesshomaru interrupted him with growing strength, "You will publicize your findings. I will take action and punish those responsible. In the meantime you will search for Rin's whereabouts." He stopped, lifting his nose again, "You will not return until you have located her unless otherwise summoned. Do you understand your assignment, Daken?"

"You want Lady Rin to hear about what you're doing." Daken inferred, smirking humorlessly. "You are apologizing with your actions."

Sesshomaru glanced at the older inuyoukai with what was very clearly a glare. "I am exacting justice."

"For Lady Rin."

Sesshomaru ignored him. "Do you understand your assignment?" he asked again.

"What do I do when I find her, Lord Sesshomaru?" Daken asked, beginning to grow comfortable once more. Sesshomaru was not about to kill him, but instead had given him a very important task. He would be indispensable, it was a major relief.

"You will report her whereabouts to me and keep watch on her."

Daken stepped forward, trying to see Sesshomaru's face. "And you'll take her back?"

Sesshomaru didn't answer; instead he began walking, leaving Daken behind. The old, grizzled inuyoukai watched the young dog lord moving away, serene in the blackness, passing through the weak stripes of light and dark made by the slowly appearing shadows of the trees. The dawn light was growing, making the east glow blue-gray now. Clouds obscured the sunlight, but the temperature was rising swiftly.

He is a stubborn one. Daken mused, grinning tightly with nervousness. Will stubbornness bring fortune to him, or failure?

A/n: Next time…

"I know that." Kagome pushed her face right back into his, stepping onto her tip toes to do it. "We can't just let her go, something could happen to her! We have to let her and her friend stay here and tell Sesshomaru that she—"

Inuyasha interrupted her, blustering wildly. "Are you fucking insane?"