Chapter 13

Kuisotenboru was in awe. He watched as the Southern sisters fired at the targets in front of them. They had magnificent form and without even trying, they moved in unison. He had never seen the like. Shippo was perched on a railing behind him, grinning as his friends showed off.

"Have they always been able to do this?" The dragon youkai asked.

Shippo nodded. "Yep. Kikyo taught Kagome how to shoot and they've been equally matched for years."

Inuyasha stepped in and glared at the redhead. He was rude to all the Southern guards because of Koga. The sound of a broken bow string brought his attention to the women. Kikyo put down her bow and glanced at her little sister. "What happened?" she asked.

The string wasn't the only broken thing. The wood of the practice bow was splintered. "I'm not sure." Kagome said. "It just...snapped."

Kuisotenboru was really staring now. "Lady Kagome...are...are you? Lady Kikyo, could you lend your bow to your sister please?" Kikyo shrugged and handed it over. "Now, Lady Kagome, do what you were doing just before your bow broke."

Kagome was confused. "Well I was concentrating on trying to land on the center of the target where Kikyo's arrow is." she said. Her arms came up, and she drew back for the shot. Her eyes narrowed in concentration and suddenly a pink glow filled the room. Seemingly oblivious to it, Kagome released. The arrow hummed through the air, searing straight through the target and embedding itself into the opposite wall.

When she looked up, she was alone in the room with her sister. "What happened?"

Kikyo was beaming. "Kagome, I always knew it was you."

"That what was me?"

"Mother told us of the miko blood in her line, and I always knew that you would be the one to inherit it. That's why I taught you archery as a child. To help you find and channel your power."

"But...I can't be a miko!" Kagome wailed.

"You are. And there is nothing greater to be, little sister. Now you can-"

Kagome cut her off. "Kikyo, I cannot be a miko. I'm engaged to a youkai. Youkai and miko do not mix." She dropped her bow and fled.

Inuyasha poked his head around the corner. "Is it safe?" he asked.

"Of course it is." Kikyo snapped. "Kagome is already in control of her powers, she just doesn't know it yet. There was no reason for you all to run out like that."

"The hell there wasn't." Inuyasha retorted. "She could have purified us to hell."

"No she couldn't." Kikyo said coldly. "Tell him." she ordered Kuisotenboru who had also reentered.

"Lady Kikyo is right." the dragon replied. "Dragon youkai know miko powers well and Kagome is in complete control. She wanted to get close to her sister's arrow, and she did. She was just concentrating so hard that it went overboard. I realized after we had fled that all her powers were concentrated in the arrow, so we were never in any danger."

Inuyasha shook his head. "I wonder what my illustrious brother is going to think of this development."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kagome was curled up in the fetal position. She should have known. Every time she allowed herself to be with a man something happened to ruin it. With her luck, Sesshomaru would hear about her new powers, dump her, and take up with her sister. To make matters worse, she didn't even know where she was. Her running had taken her past the practice courts and farther from the palace than she had ever been. Now she was under a tree trying to quiet her sobs.

"You know," a familiar voice called from above her. "These woods aren't exactly the best place to be alone."

Kagome looked up. "Hi, Tsubame." she said miserably.

The king's niece sighed and jumped down to sit beside her friend. "What did he do?"

"No one did anything." the human girl moaned. "This is all my fault." She told Tsubame what had occurred in the practice area. "What am I going to do now?"

Tsubame cocked her head in confusion. "What do you mean? Why do you have to do anything? I'm sure Uncle will arrange for a miko teacher for you and everything will be fine."

"Sesshomaru cannot mate a miko."

The youkai laughed. "The good thing about being prince is that there are very few things you cannot do. I do not understand what you are so worried about, Kagome. He will not cast you aside because of this."

Kagome was silent. She just curled into a tighter ball and began crying again. Tsubame rolled her eyes and leapt back into the trees, headed to the palace. If she couldn't talk sense into the girl, then Sesshomaru would have to.

Along the way, Tsubame met up with her younger cousin. Inuyasha was running drills with the Guard and she walked up to him. "You seen Sess?" she asked.

The hanyou shook his head. "Not today. You seen Kagome?"

"Yep and it wasn't pretty. She's off in the woods crying because she thinks Sess is going to get rid of her."

"The miko thing?" Inuyasha replied, watching his men.

"Mmhmm. Was it really that bad?"

"Apparently not. Me and Kui just overreacted is all. Kagome has more control than she knows, says Lady Kikyo."

Tsubame nodded. "Alright, well I'm going to go find Sesshomaru so he can talk some sense into her." she turned to walked away. "Oh and you might want to consider running those drills faster. No real opponent would attack that slow." She laughed to herself as she heard Inuyasha swear under his breath and order a 'double time.'

She allowed her youki to guide her to Sesshomaru's study where she could sense the prince. Without even bothering to knock, Tsubame pushed the door open and walked in.

"Tsubame, you wear out your welcome here." the prince snapped without looking up from his papers.

"Nothing I haven't heard before." the female replied with a shrug. "Now, what are you going to do about your Kagome?"

That caught Sesshomaru's attention. "What do you mean?"

Tsubame took her time sitting in the chair across from her cousin's desk and arranging her skirt. She was secretly enjoying the vein that pulsed in Sesshomaru's forehead when he was irritated. Finally she looked up and gave him a grin. "Kagome is a miko."

"It's been confirmed then?" Sesshomaru wanted to know.

"Wait, you knew?"

"I could smell some sort of power within her from the moment we met, and she told me that her mother's side had miko blood."

Tsubame smiled. "Then yes, it has been confirmed. She apparently had a concentrated power explosion this morning. Scared the crap out of Inuyasha and Kuisotenboru. But Lady Kikyo assured them that Kagome was in control and Kui backed her up. Now Kagome is in the woods crying because she thinks you're going to stop loving her since traditionally miko and youkai are not friends."

"I would never." Sesshomaru replied indignantly.

"Apparently she doesn't know that." Tsubame returned.

"She's in the woods, you said?" Sesshomaru queried. His cousin nodded. "Tsubame, I am going to request a favor from you."

The demoness smirked. "What?"

"Go and tell my father what has happened. Ask if he knows of any miko in the area who could be called in to help. If my future mate is to be a miko, she shall be the strongest one in the West."

"Always with the ambition." Tsubame sighed. She stood and headed out the door. "You so owe me for this." She was gone before Sesshomaru could reply.

The prince put aside his paperwork and dug through one of his desk drawers. It was organized, but cluttered. He found what he wanted quickly and went to find his fiance."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It didn't take long to locate her. The smell of saline and the sound of sobbing reached him as soon as he entered the woods. Sesshomaru walked slowly to where Kagome was crumpled on the ground crying her eyes out out. He stood and observed for a moment before clearing his throat.

The girl glanced up and groaned. "Oh wonderful, you're here. And I was so happy."

"You are no longer happy with me?" the youkai asked, allowing a measure of hurt to creep into his voice.

"Please don't do this." Kagome begged.

"Do what?" Sesshomaru demanded. "If you have suddenly become unhappy with me, I deserve to know why."

Kagome didn't respond, so the prince pulled her into his lap and stroked her dark hair. "I am a little hurt that you would think me such a fiend as to cast aside the woman I love for something so trivial."

"It isn't trivial!" Kagome burst out trying to get off the demon. "I'm a miko! Do you know what that means?"

"That we will be the most powerful mated pair in Western history." Sesshomaru replied simply. "Kagome, you being a miko is not a problem. You told me yourself that you had miko blood. My father will find an elder miko to make sure you have control over your powers."

The girl gave a watery chuckle. "That's what Tsubame said."

"Well, she's not always an idiot." Sesshomaru said. "I love you, Kagome. Please stop doubting that." He slid a clawed finger under her chin and tipped her head up. "Am I understood, my little miko?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I'm so much trouble."

"Nonsense." Sesshomaru kissed her deeply. "I have something for you."

"You don't have to give me anything, Sess." Kagome protested.

"But I do. I saw that moronic wolf trying to assert a claim on you."

"He was just kidding around."

"All the same, this will rectify that." the youkai pulled a box from his pocket. "My mother was the last owner of these. When she died, Father entrusted them to me." He opened the box and Kagome gasped.

Inside was a silver chain hung with a crescent moon pendant carved out of dark sapphire and edged in gold. Next to it was a ring with the same image.

"Beautiful." the girl breathed.

"Yes, my grandfather had these crafted a thousand years ago for his queen. They have gone to the Queen of the West for centuries. The ring is for later, at the wedding. But the necklace is a sign of betrothal."

Kagome heaved a shaky breath as the prince lifted the necklace from the silk lining. The girl lifted her hair from the back of her neck and Sesshomaru fastened the chain. The pendant fell right above her ample bosom and drew the youkai's eye.

"It's quiet out here." Kagome remarked, a heated look in her eyes.

The youkai ran a claw gently over her lips. "Well it is now. You were making quite a bit of noise earlier."

Kagome rolled her eyes and snuggled into her prince's chest. "Sesshomaru, I get the feeling that this behavior is outside the norm for you. If love and forgiveness are foreign to you, how are you so good at them?"

"The feelings are not foreign, just long unused. When my mother died, so did my willingness to to forgive and love. It is because of you, dear Kagome, that I am open to them once again. So much of who I am has changed because of you."

"Is that a good thing?" Kagome wanted to know.

"I am inclined to think so." Sesshomaru replied. "Father is undoubtedly giddy about it."

"Oi, Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha's voice pierced through the quiet. "The old man wants ya!"

The prince sighed. "The only downside is that the hanyou has become entirely too familiar with me. I will have to do something to change that. Perhaps a quick beheading?"

"Stop that. He's your brother." the girl reminded him. She allowed the youkai to help her to her feet and lead her from the woods. Kagome remained with Inuyasha while Sesshomaru went to see the king.

"Way to make freak us all out for no reason, wench." The hanyou quipped at her. "We thought we had a situation on our hands." His voice was softer than his words and Kagome knew that he was relieved everything had worked out.

"Inuyasha, can I ask you something?" she blurted suddenly.

"Depends on what it is."

"Will you tell me about your mother? I've heard about Sesshomaru's mom, and I just...I want all the information I can get, going into this."

The hanyou considered it a moment and then nodded. "Come on." He led her around the other side of the palace to where there was a moderately sized koi pond. "This was my mother's." Inuyasha explained. "Since the prick's mom, Queen Inyanatzuru, got a garden, my mother asked for this."

"Why didn't your father mate her?"

Inuyasha sighed. "Inuyoukai tend to mate once for life. When they choose a mate, it's the one they are going to be with until they die. With royalty it is the same. Even if the match is not made for love, it is permanent until death parts them. Dad chose Queen Inyanatzuru as his life mate out a commitment that grew to be love. When she was killed, he was messed up for a long time, or so I hear. My mother was a minor noble of an estate not far from here. They met and loved each other, but Dad couldn't find it in him to mate her. So she died of old age."

Kagome lowered her eyes. "Will that happen to me?"

The hanyou shook his head. "I doubt it. Sesshomaru will definitely take you as his life mate and share his lifespan with you. The way he looks at you, he'd be cracked not to. Huh, you being a miko might just convinced the council to approve it. They'll probably be afraid that you'll purify their asses if they don't."

The girl giggled. "Well we'll worry about that when the time comes. For now, walk your future sister back to her rooms."

Inuyasha froze. "I never said I wanted a sister."

"Well you've got one now." Kagome replied. She could hear the longing in the hanyou's voice. He'd never had a sibling who treated him with like an equal or with respect. Kagome grabbed his arm and intertwined hers with it. Inuyasha stiffened, then relaxed into the contact. Choosing this girl was quite possibly the only thing Sesshomaru had ever done that benefited more than just him.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: And another chapter down. I'm not exactly sure where these next few chapters are going yet, but hopefully somewhere good. We're approaching 200 reviews for this story and I am blown away. You guys are the best. It's because of you that this story practically writes itself. Along that vein I have a question. I was originally going to have Kikyo and Inuyasha get together in this, but what do you guys think? Is that too cliché? I want Inuyasha to end up with someone. He deserves it. Let me know what you think. As always thanks for the reviews and keep it up. You guys keep me afloat.