Ch.8
Kagome walked outside and was immediately stopped by Kimi, "How did training go?"
She smiled at her friend. They already spent time catching up while Inu was training with Sesshomaru, "It went great actually. Inu is still inside but I don't think he should take too much longer."
"It's ok I don't mind waiting. It's an honor to serve the royal household." Kimi replied.
"And you have always done it so well. That is why I will always consider you one of my most loyal companions." Kagome told her wanting her to know how much she was appreciated.
The girl blushed holding her hands to her cheeks. "You flatter me too much."
"It is well deserved, now I must go speak with Sesshomaru. But I would like to talk again later if you can spare the time."
"I will always have time for you Lady Kagome." She replied with a bow. Kagome waved to her as she walked off. When she entered the castle she used her miko abilities to locate Sesshomaru. He was in his study. She gave a slight knock as she slipped in the door.
He smirked as he looked up from his paperwork, "You know it is quite pointless to knock after you enter a room."
She rolled her eyes as she walked around the large desk, "Oh hush!" She said as she slid into his lap. Which earned a growl of approval from Sesshomaru, his arms immediately snaking around her waist. "So I have some incredible news."
"And what is that, my little miko?" He asked nuzzling her neck.
He distracted her enough that she almost forgot her news until she pulled away slightly. "Inutaisho has holy energy as well as demonic." Sesshomaru eyes widened ever so slightly in shock, but Kagome understood. "I know I was shocked too it was like it was being suppressed by his demonic energy. But as soon as he brought it out it was out. He may be stronger than me one day. I only worked on his holy energy though I thought it would be best to work with that first."
Kagome noticed the gleam of pride in his eyes, "Yes, he needs practice but he did very well in training with me. He was able to block pretty well before falling. At least a lot better than you did." He said with a smirk.
"Hey!" She exclaimed smacking his chest playfully. "I got better!"
"You know he said the funniest thing to me..."
"The whole not attacking you because he didn't know he could." She said with a laugh. "Yeah, he is definitely my child."
Sesshomaru chuckled, "That he is." He started nuzzling and kissing her neck again. He loved the way he could make her squirm. She still reacted like no other he had been with. He loved how she always begged for more. He thought as he pushed her up on the desk.
To his surprise she pushed him away, "Sessh, wait." She said panting slightly. "Not that I don't want to continue, but someone could walk in on us or hear us... Especially a certain teenaged son of ours."
He sighed she knew she was right. He gave her a quick kiss and then pulled her off the desk. "You are right and I have a meeting to attend anyways."
"Should I be going with you to this meeting?" Kagome asked.
Sesshomaru raised his eyebrow at her a smirk on his lips, "As lady of the western lands and a major contribution to my army I would very much hope you'd attend."
She leaned in almost meeting his lips but pulling short. "I'll see if I can move a few things around." He chuckled and pulled her in for a kiss, happy to finally have her by his side again.
-/-
Inutaisho was still laying on the ground finally having caught his breath. He had felt a little better after training with his mom, but the soreness had come back with a vengeance. His training had been successful, though it wasn't as if the dummy could fight back. He at least felt confident enough to attack Sesshomaru in future training lessons. If he could ever get off of the floor. That's when he thought back to how he felt better after training with his mom. Maybe it had to do with his holy energy. He started to meditate like his mom had taught him. He soon found his power and focused on easing the soreness and pain. When he felt comfortable enough to walk he stopped them and got up only thinking of his bed.
As soon as he walked out the door Kimi was in front of him about to burst with excitement. "This is so exciting! I was so worried when I only felt holy energy during Lady Kagome's training session. She said everything went great which confused me even more. But it wasn't until she left and I felt the holy energy again that I understand! This is amazing! We need to celebarate!" She finished bouncing up and down slightly.
Inutaisho rubbed the back of his head, "Honestly all I want to do right now is crawl back in bed and sleep. I'm exhausted."
She reigned in her excitement still smiling brightly. "As you wish master Inutaisho. I can wake you before the seamstress gets here."
"Thank you... how about we celebrate later?" He asked feeling slightly guilty for dampening her happiness.
She grabbed his hand, "We must this is very big, very good news." He blushed slightly at her praise. He didn't feel like he had done anything great. She giggled and walked ahead. "Come on let's get you to bed." He quickly followed wanting nothing more.
Inutaisho's feet slid across the ground slightly as he finally walked in the room. Kyo stretched and looked down at his watch. "You're just getting back?" Kyo asked him.
Inu yawned, "Yeah, I got knocked down to the ground a bunch of times by Sesshomaru. And then I meditated with my mom for awhile. Oh and it turns out I have holy energy, which is apparently a big deal." He finished crawling into bed. "I'm gonna get some sleep before the seamstress gets here."
Kyo shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever I could sleep some more." He said curling back under the blankets.
-/-
Inuyasha had chosen to spend the night outside in a tree. Honestly that's where he felt most comfortable, he spent years sleeping like that and it was a hard habit to break. Now he was wandering around the castle trying to remember where the food was. He was horrible at navigating this god forsaken place. He wandered down another wrong hallway and turned around frustratedly. He continued to stomp his way around the castle. Finally a servant stopped him, "Are you looking for something Master Inuyasha?" She asked.
"Keh, I'm looking for the damn food! I don't know how you find anything in this stupid castle." He replied aggressively.
She giggled. "This way Master Inuyasha. And don't worry it took me a long time to learn how to navigate this place. My name is Kimi. If you need any more directions you can always ask me. It is my job to serve the royal family and that does include you, Master Inuyasha." She said stopping in front of the dining room door.
"Keh." He said opening the door and Kimi started to walk away. "Thanks." He said quietly before closing the door. He turned around to see Shippo and the twins sitting at the table.
"I wondered if you were ever going to show up. Did you get lost again?" Shippo snickered.
"Shut up, ya brat!" Inuyasha yelled.
The twins snickered at him knowing that meant he did. "Really uncle Inuyasha how can you find your way anywhere in the wilderness of Japan." Emiko began.
"But get lost inside a building so easily?" Fumiko finished.
"Keh all the smells are close together and jumbled it makes it harder to distinguish! Besides it's a lot more like a maze with all these hallways!"
"Or maybe it's because you're happier in a tree than in a bed!" Shippo said. "You'd be happier running naked in the wild than acting like a civilized person!"
"Hey! Ain't nobody running around naked!" Inuyasha yelled his face red. The girls were laughing hysterically at him. They became used to their parents group long ago. They were like family to them. "Shut up you bunch of rowdy wenches." He growled grabbing some food and storming outside. He sat outside underneath a tree and began to eat.
Sango and Miroku wandered through the trees there were soldiers around but they were in the distance. Miroku stopped to kiss her when she suddenly pulled away and softly said, "Inuyasha?"
"Um... Sango, darling... Is there something you need to tell me?"
Sango rolled her eyes at him. "No. Inuyasha." She said pointing him out.
"You know there is a perfectly good table inside, my friend." Miroku joked, calling to Inuyasha as he walked over.
"Keh! Whatever. I like it better out here." Inuyasha replied grumpily.
Miroku stayed silent for a few seconds and then smiled. "You're right it reminds me of the good old days. Back when we were collecting the jewel shards. Yeah it was hard but we were always together... Sango let's eat our breakfast out here today."
"I think that's a great idea." Sango replied.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes but was happy. "Do whatever you want."
"Sit, I'll go grab us some food." He told Sango as he hurried off.
Sango plopped down next to Inuyasha, "So you haven't been around more recently... Well before this whole war. I know the kids are all growing up but they still miss their uncle Inuyasha."
"Keh, I'm not those damn brats uncle." He said with a smile.
She laughed, "We may not be related by blood, Inuyasha. But after everything we've been through together you are definitely my brother."
His eyes brightened at that, "I'm sorry I'm just been I don't know wandering around. I did run into the twins not too long ago. They were exterminating some weak demon in a village."
"Yes, they told me you helped them find their way back home after they got lost. Thank you."
"You know they wouldn't be so easily lost if you let them travel around more often." Inuyasha told her taking a bite of some bread.
"You and I both know how dangerous it is out there. We all almost lost our lives many times." Sango replied.
"Keh, well Naraku was after us most of the time. And you trained them really well. All of them. Now all they need is real experience to get better. Besides you're in the process of rebuilding your village, training new receuits, running said village and people, exterminating demons, and raising a family. You gotta trust someone with somethin. You can't do it all on your own." She sighed looking over at the twins and Kazumi walking amongst the soldiers. She had no clue where Hiro was. "I know it's hard with everything that happened with your brother, but Kohaku's fine now and so are we. They are older than he was. And you could always see if Shippo could go with them, you know as back up."
"You're right. I guess I needed you too. Miroku has said it before but honestly I just ignored him." She said with a laugh. "After the war is over maybe I can start trusting them with more exterminations." Sango said.
"Yeah this damn bloody war we got dragged into. Why did I ever agree to fight in his army?"
"Because it's the right thing to do. Plus Kagome would've wanted you to. She would've forced you if she came back and found out you refused to help!" Sango laughed.
"Keh!" Was Inuyasha's only reply.
"Hey! Look who I found!" Miroku yelled coming back with some food. Kagome was at his side carrying a plate of food as well.
"Hey! I was finally able to escape from the meeting and ran into Miroku in the dining room. Thought I'd join you out here." Kagome said sitting down. Sango and Miroku quickly started eating, while Kagome twiddled her thumbs. "I'm uh glad we're all together like this. I really wanted to apologize to all of you."
They looked at her confused, "For what?" Sango asked.
"For leaving! If I thought even for a second the well would close, I would have never left. I am so sorry. I never forgot about you for a second!" Kagome said anxiously.
"Keh! We figured the well closed on ya years ago." Inuyasha replied.
"What? How?" Kagome questioned.
"Well when I couldn't get through to see what the hell was up we figured the well closed on ya." Inuyasha growled out. "It's not like we ever thought you would leave us by choice. No matter how much Sesshomaru could've pissed you off."
"We just didn't expect you to come back with a kid!" Miroku said with a laugh.
Kagome laughed, "Well you know things happen when your mated. And I wasn't sure I was pregnant. I was actually trying to go home to take a test that lets you know. I didn't want to tell anyone until I was sure. Instead I got trapped there on the other side."
"It must've been so hard raising him on your own." Sango said grabbing her hand.
"I had my mom's help and Souta's. Grandpa died before he was born." She said with a frown. "But I always wished he could be back here. It was hard you know, Inu is different than everyone else around him. I tried telling him stories to keep him connected, hoping the well would reopen. But as the years passed by and the well... I just didn't want to confuse him or him to maybe think I was going crazy. But most of all I felt horrible about Sesshomaru. I wanted them to be a family. I wanted to be a family..." she said with a heavy sigh.
"Well now we can all be a family." Sango said giving her an encouraging smile.
"I know. I can't tell you how much I missed you guys." She said hugging Sango and Inuyasha each with one arm.
"Hey what about me?" Miroku asked with a chuckle.
"Though I missed you, I don't know if I could trust you with a hug." Kagome laughed back.
"Hey!" He yelled. "I am a grown man now, I have some self control!"
"Oh and that is why you caressed my butt when we were back at camp?" She asked.
"Right, I never got my hit in for that." Sango threatened sending daggers at her husband.
"Ladies, ladies calm down. It's just that it had been so long. And I was just so excited to see our dear friend again I couldn't possibly have control of myself, or these hands that have always had a mind of their own."
The girls looked at each other skeptically. "Miroku, I have been married to you for much too long to fall for that charm." Sango said.
"Sango my darling don't tell me I am unable to woo you as I once was." Miroku said dramatically.
"After four kids I made sure you didn't!" Sango exclaimed.
"God! You had to go through it four times! It was bad enough doing it once!" Kagome quickly added.
"Keh, don't be dramatic." Inuyasha said.
"Inuyasha, you have no clue what you're talking about." Kagome replied.
"Oh come on it can't be that bad!" He said throwing his hands in the air.
Kagome picked up a dumpling. "Imagine passing this through your man parts." Both the men went wide eyed and gulped. "That is what giving birth is like." Inuyasha and Miroku were both stone cold silent.
Finally Inuyasha burst out, "Why the hell would any woman go through that!?"
Sango and Kagome busted into giggles. Sango finally said, "Because Inuyasha, you wouldn't be here if a woman hadn't!"
"Yeah respect the tremendous amount of pain every woman goes through. For sometimes up 22 hours, not including the 9 months of discomfort beforehand, to bring you life." Kagome said.
The men looked at each other again. "Can I just say, thank god I am a man." Miroku said.
"You're damn right I am!" Inuyasha replied.
"Do you have anything to say to me, Miroku?" Sango asked. He just looked at her clueless. "Like maybe thank you for the great sacrifice you made to bring our children into this world." Her eye twitching.
"But of course my dearest, Sango. No words could express my deepest gratitude to you, my one true love." He said laying it on thick grabbing her hand. She rolled her eyes but still had a smile on her face.
The group continued to joke and laugh unbeknownst to them they were being watched by the army. Watching them now they could almost imagine what it was like all those years ago when they were fighting Naraku and collecting jewel shards. The job of an army put only on a few souls. A certain female fox demon was watching extra carefully. She noticed one was missing the young fox demon taken in by the shikon miko. Though she supposed he wouldn't be a child now. During the dark times of Naraku their victories spread far and wide. Her father used to tell her and her siblings their stories before they went to bed. When he finished he would say 'don't worry close your eyes. The shikon miko and her gang are protecting us tonight.' Ultimately to see the lively group was a sign of hope for her and many others.
-/-
So when I was rereading this chapter I realized I made a small error where it says, "His arms immediately snaking around her waist." I accidentally but waste! lol I was like noooo no one wants that mental image! Thought other writers would laugh at that small grammatical error I thankfully corrected! Lol!