Chapter 16:

Colors of Home

"Home is people. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there any more."
― Robin Hobb, Fool's Fate

Ryura's bare foot tapped impatiently against the wooden floor of Kaede's hut. Today was the day Inuyasha's pack would head out again, and Ryura fully intended on going with them, taking Tsuyoshi along as well. Inuyasha had pitched a fit when Ryura first stated his intentions. He ranted and raved up and down, back and forth, and was firmly against Ryura and Tsuyoshi tagging along. To him, it was bad enough when Sesshoumaru or Kouga would show up and stick around for a day or so. Like hell he was going to let Ryura travel with them until Naraku was defeated.

That was until Miroku pointed out that Naraku had nearly the entire Shikon no Tama at his disposal. He was going to be far stronger than they had ever seen before. When the final fight came to a head, they were going to need all the help they could get. Sesshoumaru, Kouga, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Kagome would have to give it their all. But, as Miroku pointed out, it would be a boon to have two more Daiyoukai with them, both with control over certain elements.

Should Naraku tempt to trap them, they would have no fear of running out of clean water. Tsuyoshi could produce fresh and safe water to drink from his very youki. A lack of air wouldn't be a problem, either. No matter where Ryura was, he could always call upon a fresh wind to rejuvenate them. It also couldn't hurt to have two extra pairs of eyes watching out for the women and children of the packs once they were combined. Rin and no doubt Shippou would be somewhere close by, and they absolutely could not afford to allow Naraku to get his hands on them.

In the end, Inuyasha reluctantly agreed, saying at least the two Dragons smelt better than Kouga. He'd take having to be around them all the time rather than Kouga.

Now all they had to do was wait for Kagome to return from her era. Ryura planned on letting Kagome have a few hours with Kaede to begin her lessons, so Miroku could pick up where the elder Miko left off once they set out. If Inuyasha decided to bitch and moan, he'd just tell the hanyou that he could go on by himself with the others, and he would meet up with them and bring Kagome with them when she was finished.

"Lord Ryura?"

Ryura's red eyes glanced to the side, looking briefly at Miroku as the monk entered the hut.

"Hn?" he hummed.

"I was wanting to speak with you about Lady Kagome," Miroku said with a tight smile.

The Dragon Daiyoukai pushed off the wall and clenched his fists. "What is it? Is she all right?"

"Ah, she is perfectly healthy as far as I am aware. Inuyasha has gone to retrieve her, however. It will give us some time to talk, knowing how long they can argue for." Miroku chuckled. "Sango and I held him off as long as we could, but I believe two days is his limit."

He walked past Ryura and took a seat in front of the fireplace with his legs folded under him. Ryura joined him on the opposite side, then looked at Miroku expectantly. "Well?" he asked.

"You seem very close with Lady Kagome." Miroku poked idly at the fire as he spoke. It sounded like he was talking about the weather, to be honest.

Ryura's face scrunched up with a frown. "I suppose I am," he admitted.

He didn't know if he was going to like where this was going.

Miroku smiled brightly, but the smile seemed fake to Ryura. He held his tongue, however, and decided to wait and see what Miroku would say next.

"Forgive me if this seems rude, suddenly questioning you like this. You must realize that I look to Kagome as a very dear friend - just as you may. My beloved Sango loves her like a sister, and I will do whatever it takes to make Sango happy. At the same time I will do whatever it takes to keep Lady Kagome safe," his voice turned dark towards the end of his speech and he absently touched the beads around his right hand where his Wind Tunnel rested.

The silent threat was very clear to Ryura. "I have no intentions of harming Kagome - ever. Also, you have never stared into the eyes of one of, if not the, most power Daiyoukai to exist, who is now a Kami, and have him threaten you. I apologize, Miroku-sama, but your wind tunnel is no where near as frightening as Touga-kamisama himself is."

Miroku blinked once, then twice. He then stared at Ryura for a long moment, then let out a loud laugh. Who did Miroku think he was talking to, again?

"I am terribly sorry. I am more used to dealing with Inuyasha," he said with a bubbling chuckle. "Speaking to one who is not as blind to the world, when I am concerned for Lady Kagome, is very different."

Ryura gave Miroku a small grin. "It's all right. I can understand your concerns, considering..." he trailed off, leaving the suggestion of how they met on Horai Island as a faint reminder.

"How are they?" Ryura asked suddenly.

Miroku tilted his head, "Who?"

"The children." Ryura was looking at the fire now. He missed Miroku's soft smile.

"They are doing just fine. After Horai Island, they came with us and stayed within this very hut for half a moon cycle. They are now traveling around Nippon, experiencing life for themselves," he paused and considered what he was about to say. "However, I do keep my eyes on them. Monks travel far and wide, and I have asked a few who are not so hateful of hanyou and youkai to keep an eye out for them. Currently they are in the southern islands."

Ryura breathed out a sigh of relief, "Good. Tsuyoshi was mentioning Naraku's influence hasn't spread that far."

"No, not yet." Miroku said with a slow nod. He understood were Ryura was coming from, being worried about the hanyou children being killed, or worse captured, but the spider-hanyou.

A moment of silence fell between then before Miroku asked, "Lord Ryura, may I know what your intentions are for Lady Kagome? I am only curious."

"My intentions? I..." he trailed off, brows furrowing. What were his intentions, anyway? "Kagome is a dear friend to me. She has helped me begin to come to...terms with my past. I still have a long, long road to travel, but Kagome has shown me there is, in fact, a light at the end of the tunnel. I will never be able to thank her enough for it."

"So you wish to see to her safety?" Miroku asked. "Is that why you accepted her into your House?"

"In a way, yes. My House, even with as few members as it has now, and even with my lands in the hands of Naraku, is still one to be feared. When she begins to wear my crest, no youkai with a brain will dare lay a single finger on her, minus Naraku of course. After all, it is well known that the House of Storms and the House of the Moon are closely linked together. Not only is she a part of my House, Kagome is an adopted member of Sesshoumaru's pack due to Inuyasha at the same time. It is why he may show more care for her than he would another human, aside from Rin. Mix that with how close our Houses are..."

"If Lady Kagome was harmed, then whoever hurt her would have you and Sesshoumaru after them." Miroku stated. Now he understood.

"Indeed. It will also give her a bit of pull in human villages and politics. While most of my kind despise humans, even more-so the majority of their cowardly Lords, we try and keep at least some resemblance of peace between ourselves. Just as they are familiar with other noble houses, they are familiar with the noble houses of youkai," Ryura said as he looked from the fire to Miroku.

"And that will mean for Lady Kagome... what, exactly?" He couldn't hide his curiosity.

"Quite a few things. If she remains in this era after Naraku's death and the Shikon no Tama's completion, she will be able to do as she pleases. While most Miko are free to do as they wish, most are forced to marry by a village elder or a land's lord. At least, once their main duty is complete," Ryura informed him. "It depends on where the Miko resides, to be honest."

"Lady Kagome will be exempt from this, I take it?" When Ryura nodded Miroku smiled. "That is good. Lady Kagome is far different than nearly all the women of this era – aside from my Sango, of course. A reason they get along so well is because they were both raised outside of this era's norm for women. Sango was treated as equally as her brother and other men of her village, just as other women were. She was free to speak when she wanted, free to fight when times called for it. She was never held back due to her gender."

"Kagome's era is different?"

Miroku nodded once, "Extremely. You see, every woman from Kagome's era is quite able to take care of themselves. She has expressed to me that while there are still some women who do not mind acting as those here do with their husbands, most go on to make a life for themselves, have careers, far before they marry. Some do not marry at all, and it is never held against them. Women are free, where she comes from. Here, she has said, they are treated almost like slaves."

Ryura snorted. "Human women, perhaps. Youkai tend to do things differently. I am pretty sure I can say with confidence that the reason your Sango was raised as she was, was so she could understand youkai society as she learned to hunt mindless, lower level youkai. To slay something you must understand it, ne? I am sure she has fought one of minor intelligence before." Miroku nodded slowly and Ryura continued, "To give you an example, while Sesshoumaru may be Lord of the Western Territories, his mother runs it in his stead, and trust me to look down on that person because she is female will be the last mistake you ever make."

"Women and men are treated equally among youkai..." Miroku said with wonder. "And humans say youkai are the animals," he finished with a chuckle.

"Hn, indeed. It makes you wonder, huh?" Ryura said with a grin.

As they continued to talk, just outside of the hut, Tsuyoshi eavesdropped on their conversation with a small smile. He hated to interrupt them, but he had the items his Lord requested. If he planned on getting things sorted before Lady Kagome returned, he would have to start now.

He pushed his way past the screen covering the hut's entrance and gently cleared his throat. "Lord Ryura, I apologize for the intrusion."

Ryura looked up and over Miroku, who had turned to look back at the water Dragon. "Tsuyoshi! You're back faster than I was expecting! How did it go?"

"Very well, my Lord. If you will step outside, I will show you?" His voice held a questioning tone to it.

Ryura nodded quickly and rose to his feet. He walked barefoot out the hut, not bothering to slide his boots on. Miroku was soon following after him, then coughed with surprise at the large box covered in a brown paper that was setting just outside.

"What in the world is in there?" He asked once the cough died down.

In the process of slashing away the paper, Ryura looked over his shoulder and let out a undignified, "Huh?"

He followed Miroku's gaze. "Oh, this! You'll see."

Tsuyoshi came to stand beside Miroku and together they watched Ryura rip away the paper like a child on Christmas morning, yank off the box's lid, and lean up and over until the upper half of his body disappeared. When he pulled out, his arms were full of armor pieces and other minor articles of clothing. He spread the pieces out on the ground carefully.

Then, without a word, Ryura began stripping himself of his armor, letting it fall to the ground with loud clanks of metal meeting metal. He took off the shirt he was wearing, tossing it over to Tsuyoshi who caught it with a chuckle.

Bare chested and barefooted, the Dragon Daiyoukai leaned over and quickly snatched up a shirt that looked exactly like the other, except on the left shoulder it bore a crest made up of Itajime Shibori, a type of storm cloud pattern, dyed with colors ranging from black, to navy blue, sky blue, and silver-white. Streaking across the pattern was a jagged silver lightning bolt that traveled all the way down Ryura's left arm.

The pieces of armor, random in patterns along the ground, soon began to make sense to Miroku as he watched Ryura. The more time that past, the more Ryura was dressed in the exact same armor as before, except where his old was various shades of blue, this new armor was shades of black and grey. Even his boots mimicked the old, and ending just below his knees, with the style the same in all but color. Blue replaced with black and gold replaced with silver.

Much like the old, his arm and shoulder guards were made from the same material; dragonhide and scales. The scales were a deep blue, resembling the color of the stripes on Ryura's face. Aside from the colorings, Miroku noticed the Dragon claws were situated much lower on Ryura's arms, near mid-bicep instead of closer to his shoulders. This allowed the crest running along his shoulder to be easily seen should anyone take a gander.

After Ryura re-sheathed Fujinga and Raijinga on his back, he began to stretch, as if trying to adjust to a new armor after so many decades. He twisted back and forth then squatted close to the ground; he even jumped high into the air a few times. It fit extremely well, and Totosai couldn't have done a better job, but Ryura figured he was still going to have to break it in.

"Do I wanna know what he's doin'?" Inuyasha asked, apparently just returning from his trip through time to fetch Kagome.

Tsuyoshi and Miroku offered Inuyasha their own forms of greetings, before Miroku explained what was going on. While he spoke, Inuyasha took a closer look at Ryura's armor and clothing, then began to grumble loudly.

"What is it?" Miroku asked, confused.

The grumbling only stopped long enough for Inuyasha to respond. "You'll see, monk. You'll see."

Miroku looked even more confused and was about to just strangle the answer out of Inuyasha, and he would've, if he didn't see Kagome walking down the path next to Sango. The Miko was dressed as a Miko for the first time Miroku could remember. Her billowing hakama flowed around her legs as she moved, and her white haori stood out in start contrast with her dark hair that was held bound in a high tail with a white ribbon.

Now Miroku could see what Inuyasha was griping so hard about.

Kagome wore the exact same colors as Ryura did. Her hakama were black as the cords that wove through the sleeves of her haori. The same crest was embroidered on the right shoulder, where Ryura wore his on his left. The lightning bolt of Kagome's crest also traveled down her arm, only skipping over the slit in her haori's sleeve. Her feet were clad in smaller versions of Ryura's boots. They possibly went up to her knee, but Miroku couldn't tell. Her hakama prevented that.

Miroku turned to ask Tsuyoshi what was going on, exactly, but found the water Dragon missing. He sighed haggardly and readied himself for Inuyasha's no doubt poor mood for the rest of the day. The hanyou would probably be upset until he got over what Kagome was wearing.

"Oi, Kagome!" Ryura said as he quickly passed by Inuyasha and Miroku, heading for the women.

He gave Sango a polite nod of his head and a smile in greeting once he reached them, but Kagome's greeting was far different than Sango's. Ryura's hands were at her waist and suddenly, before she could truly register what was going on, he had her lifted into the air and spinning her in a circle. Kagome's hands went to Ryura's bare shoulders out of surprise.

The smile Ryura wore was contagious and Kagome found herself returning it with fervor.

"Good to see you too, Ryura!" Kagome said with a laugh. "I'm home, everyone!" she called out as she spotted the rest of her friends next to Kaede's hut.

The Dragon Daiyoukai set her on her feet and stepped back to take a good look at her. He nodded appreciatively while humming

"It looks good on you," he said with a grin.

It had been so long since he had seen someone wear his House's colors and crest, and it had been just as long since he wore it himself. To see one as strong, albeit untrained, and kind as Kagome was only made Ryura happier. His House would do well with her in it, even if she wasn't around all the time. He watched as Kagome ducked her head to hide her blush, causing the tail her hair was in to spill over her shoulder.

She mumbled, "T-thank you."

When she looked up again, it was only then she noticed Ryura's new manner of dress. Wearing the same colors as she, Kagome couldn't help it when her blush spread even further against her will. She was happy, however, that he had began to wear the colors. It showed her that he took her words to heart. He was trying to let the past be the past, while looking forward to his future.

"Feh, can we go already? We're burning daylight!" Inuyasha said from the back of the group.

Ryura hummed softly. "Actually, I would like to remain here for a few hours." He ignored Inuyasha's snort of outrage. "Only so Kaede-sama can begin Kagome's lessons, and Miroku-sama can pick up said lessons as we travel."

"It would not be a bad idea, Inuyasha. I cannot truly help Lady Kagome until she understands how to take hold of her reiki on her own, without the aid of a bow. Once she is able to do that, however, then I can take over," Miroku murmured as an aside to Inuyasha.

"If you would like, Inuyasha, you and the rest of your pack could begin to travel and when Kagome's lessons are finished, we will meet up with you," Ryura suggested.

Inuyasha grumbled and stuffed his hands into the sleeves of his haori. He actually looked like he was considering it. No one was as surprised as Kagome when he nodded his head and said, "Fine. Just don't take too long, eh? Kagome is the only one who can sense the jewel, even if Naraku's trying to hide himself when we're close enough to him."

After the shock wore off, those who were leaving prepared for their journey. Kirara was set out to find Shippou, and when she did and brought him back, Kagome said her goodbyes.

"I'll see you guys soon! Don't kill Naraku without me!" She yelled with a hand cupped around her mouth and her other arm waving in the air.

Sango, Miroku, and Shippou from atop Kirara's back waved, and Inuyasha held up his left hand without looking back. Kagome smiled as she watched them leave until they were nothing but dots in the distance.

Lowering her arms back to her side, Kagome looked up to Ryura and asked, "Hey, where's Tsuyoshi? He randomly disappeared earlier..."

"Ah, he is getting his armor," Ryura said with a small grin. "If we are to go into battle, he wants to be properly dressed, and a kimono just doesn't cut it, ne?"

Kagome giggled and nodded, "Yeah, that makes sense."

Ryura cast his eyes out over what part of the village he could see. Kaede was no where in sight, unfortunately. Remembering what Kaede had said before she left earlier this morning, she was out helping some woman give birth to a child – humans were odd like that, fertile not once, but twelve times a year.

That thought had him mentally freaking out and he quickly cast a look down at Kagome. How long had it been since he met her? Almost half a moon cycle? Ryura paled and ran a hand slowly over his face. This was going to be hell. Pure and utter hell.

"Ryura? Is something wrong?" Kagome asked. Her face was one of textbook worry, and he had to force himself to smile.

"No, everything's fine. It seems Kaede-sama is busy. Let me see how you fire a bow until she returns," he said.

Kagome gave him a bright smile while patting the longbow that rested over her shoulder. Together they made their way to the same clearing Inuyasha and Ryura fought in not so long ago. Evidence of their battle still remained; Ryura could still smell lingering traces of his own blood on the air and marks from Tessaiga littered the ground beneath their feet.

Watching where she was going, Kagome toed carefully over the deep gouges left behind by the Wind Scar until she and Ryura reached the opposite end of the clearing. There was a tree where they had just come from that would work as a fine target for Kagome.

He watched as she made sure her bow was properly strung, and once that was finished Kagome slowly slid her hand back, slender fingers landing on the fletching of an arrow. With one swift movement she had the arrow pulled, notched and was pulling back the bow's string. The fletching tickled her cheek and Kagome drew a bead on one of the trees.

And then, she fired.

The clearing lit up with her reiki as the arrow cut through the air. Ryura was forced to take a step back when he felt the stinging of her powers against his face, and he shielded his eyes to watch the arrow fly until it hit dead center and buried a few inches deep in the trunk.

That was... not as bad as he thought it was going to be. Kagome made it sound as if she was a horrible archer.

"Again," he said.

Kagome nodded once and repeated the motions. This time the arrow actually split the other one in half.

"Kagome..." he said lowly. "From what I am seeing, you're a highly skilled archer. Just what were you talking about?"

The Miko laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head with her right hand. "You see, I can shoot and hit almost anything when I'm not in a battle. But as soon as one starts, I get so nervous I can barely keep the arrow from shaking before its fully out of my quiver."

"Odd. If I remember correctly, your arrow hit my sword without much resistance on Horai," he murmured.

Kagome nodded slightly, "I remember. I was more afraid for Inuyasha's life than I was for my own, so I just... you know."

"Hm..." The Dragon Daiyoukai looked from Kagome, then to the tree, and back. When she became nervous, she was a horrid archer, but when her friends were in danger she was just as skilled as she just showed him? He supposed that made sense. But how was he going to make her nervous without putting her life in danger by just finding a stray, mindless youkai and tossing her at it?

His arms folded and his head bowed as he thought. After seeing Kagome nervous quite a few times by this point, it didn't take him long to come up with a way to aid her. Ryura smirked and moved to stand behind her, close enough the chest plate of his armor was resting against her back. His hands rested on his hips with his head tilted to one side.

"Shoot again," he said.

Kagome, wide eyed, stared back at him while giving a nod. A blush crept into her cheeks.

Let the fumbling mess that was Kagome begin!

Her stance was off, the arrow trembled in her fingers, and when she fired, the arrow actually managed to be shot into the sky rather than across the field. When it started to fall, it shot straight down into the forest. She could feel Ryura shaking behind her with a quiet laugh.

"W-well, I... I do hope no one was... out there..." he managed to get out between keeping himself from snorting and laughing at the same time.

Kagome groaned and buried her face in the left sleeve of her haori. This was going to be another long day.