Hoshiko held on gently to her pup's hand as they walked down the quiet hallway back to her quarters. The bright sun was shining through the clouds filtering through the windows to fill the dark castle with light. The silence was filled with Rin's eager chattering about her first day of schooling. Hoshi was only partly listening, however, to her pup's words. She had never been more proud of her pup; she felt like crowing like a rooster at dawn. Her pup had taken to writing so naturally it was almost surprising how well she had written for her first time. The strokes had been slender and long although here and there she dripped some ink onto the scroll. She had definitely proven she was going to be a gifted writer and a quick learner. Hoshiko brushed her hair back from her eyes.

"Momma, do you think I can write new words tomorrow," Rin asked eagerly pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Of course, Rin."

Rin giggled happily before letting out a squeak as the demoness swept her up into her arms for a tight hug. Sakura smiled as she watched the interaction from behind. It was obvious; the two simply loved and adored each other, like a real mother and child. Rin returned the hug immediately. The two were silent but Sakura could feel the emotions surrounding them. Words weren't enough. She pretended she was invisible; this was a tender moment between mother and child. It was a bit surprising when Rin finally spoke up breaking the silence.

"Momma?"

"Hai?"

To Sakura's surprise, Rin playfully licked the demonesses cheek before jumping out of her arms taking off down the hallway giggling like crazy as though she had done something wrong and she knew it. Hoshiko laughed before following her in pursuit. Sakura shook her head at the playful demoness and pup. She silently walked behind them as she watched the demoness chase the girl down the hall chuckling quietly to herself. Hoshiko was one of the greatest mother's she'd seen in a long while. The two disappeared from her sight but she could hear them clearly racing through the halls. The chase ended outside Hoshi's quarters where she found them laughing and hugging each other. She smiled.

"Sakura! I won," Rins stated proudly.

Hoshiko rolled her eyes as she opened her door to her quarters. Sakura laughed. If only Rin knew how fast Hoshi truly was! She followed them in to watch them sit on the floor by the window. The demoness pulled out a brush and gently brushed her pup's hair slowly, gently untangling the knots in her hair. All was silent for a long while. At least, until Rin's stomach rumbled loudly making everyone smile except the girl, who blushed in embarrassment. With a small chuckle Hoshiko turned toward her servant.

"Sakura," Hoshi asked. "Can you go get Rin some lunch?"

"Of course."

The demoness immediately left to fulfill Hoshi's request. For a moment there was a long silence as Rin looked around quietly. Hoshi finally completed her task and put away the brush, but not before slipping a gem butterfly clip into her hair. Rin glanced back.

"I'm bored," the child said.

Hoshiko thought about that before looking outside. Suddenly she got a mischievous idea. But would it be safe for Rin? She looked toward her pup who quickly returned her gaze.

"Momma?"

"Would you like to do something completely daring," Hoshiko asked, grinning wickedly.

Rin grinned brightly in response. To her shock, the demoness got up and went out onto the small balcony without another word. Rin followed, curious. What was the demoness doing now? Hoshiko peered down at the ground below for a moment before climbing onto the railing. Rin gaped. She wasn't liking the way this was going.

"What are you doing," she cried.

Hoshiko just smirked before backflipping off the balcony disappearing from little Rin's sight. Rin cried out in horror for a moment as she raced to the edge of the balcony to look down. The sight that met her eyes wasn't the one she had been expecting. The demoness disappeared in a swirling ball of blue and green before shooting into the sky like a bullet from a gun. Rin got confused as it disappeared from her sight into the clouds. But she didn't have much time to ponder that. A dragon like creature flew down from the sky slowly, her long graceful body gliding like a slender snake on ground, to hover in front of the balcony. Her dark red eyes glowed with joy. The little girl stared at the beautiful creature. Hoshiko placed her large paw carefully around the railing. Rin inched away a bit. One of Hoshiko's talons were as big as she was!

Hoshiko noticed. She rumbled softly in comfort. She wouldn't harm her pup, never would use these talons on her. She lowered her head until it was level with Rin before gently brushing her cheek with her muzzle. The girl laughed and hugged the muzzle tightly. Hoshiko hummed softly. Rin knew what that meant; affection. Rin watched as the demonesses eyes rolled back a bit and looked at her expectantly. The little girl got it. She grinned. Oh, this was going to be fun! Hoshiko smiled wickedly back.

Sesshomaru rubbed his left temple in frustration. Lord Nurato had only needed to discuss territory boundaries with him and had hoped to bargain with him for a piece of his land. Like he was giving up that piece of land for what the young lord had offered for it. It had one of the best hunting grounds for rabbit and rat demon around. Plus, it had one of the greatest views he had seen. He sighed as he entered his office.

"Milord, do you need anything," Jaken asked as he wandered in behind.

"No. Dismissed."

Jaken sighed and left. His master was still angry with him for interrupting his "talk" with Hoshiko earlier. He should probably lie low for a while until Sesshomaru forgave him, if he ever did. Sesshomaru heard the door slide closed and sighed again before moving toward his desk where a pile of scrolls sat. The scrolls containing all the things he had missed or hadn't attended to yet for the western lands. This was one of the drawbacks of being a lord. Sitting down, he picked up the top one and opened it, snorting at its contents. An invitation for a party at Lord Vinci's, lord of the east, palace. He shook his head.

"I'd honestly prefer to be in Hoshiko's and pup's company," his inner demon said in irritation.

"Agreed."

Just as he reached for another scroll he heard a loud roar followed by a joyful scream. His curiosity peaked, he went to the window and stared out at the scene with a surprised expression. Hoshiko was in her true form flying around the castle grounds but he could clearly see a small figure sitting between her horns squealing with joy. He found the corner of his mouth twitching in an attempt toward a small smile. But he couldn't help but notice her beauty of her true form. The last time he'd hardly been paying attention; now, he was clearly alert to her appearance, her true form. Her silver scales gleamed in the bright gray sky and her light green fur running down her back swayed with the breeze. Her black horns gleamed like obsidian stone. Her belly was the same light green as her fur that gave a bright contrast to her silver scales. Her end of her tail was like a fish swaying in the breeze like a fish gliding in the water. But her eyes were most captivating to him. They were perfectly oval with long lashes and perfect slant at the edges. They were a bright red with a beautiful sky blue sliver. As if feeling his gaze, her head swung toward the window and she gazed at him with those eyes. He saw them cringle in the corners as she bared her teeth in what he assumed was a friendly smile. He glanced up to see his pup sitting between her horns holding on to them like reins. She waved to him.

He watched as the demoness gazed at him for another moment before moving away, flying away toward the sky. He couldn't help but feel a faint smile pull his cheeks. He looked back at his work; it would have to wait for now. He opened the window.

"Momma, higher!"

Hoshiko flew higher into the air loving to hear her pups delighted shouts. She was having fun. That was all that mattered as she flew with the clouds. Rin reached out to feel the cloud but to her surprise it felt like nothing. She thought it would feel like cotton. But delighted anyway, she held out her hand to feel the cloud slip between her fingers like smoke and she felt the dampness of water. She wiped her hand on her kimino when she heard a loud roar behind them. She whipped around as Hoshiko looked behind her, careful not to jolt the child off. A large white dog was flying toward them. Rin grinned.

"Daddy!"

Hoshiko turned to face the dog demon as he slowed. He was bigger than her by not a few feet but still, his mass was far bigger than her. Hoshi had never seen his true form before; she couldn't help but think he was handsome in this form. He wasn't the first dog demon she had seen and was not the biggest, but still big and different. His white silver fur blew in the wind. She was surprised though. Sesshomaru had come to join them in their flight? To even more of her surprise, he nuzzled her cheek lightly with his nose before allowing Rin to pet his muzzle lightly. Rin giggled cheekily. Hoshiko turned her head around more and nuzzled his muzzle softly in return. To everyone's surprise, Sesshomaru pressed his muzzle against hers for a moment as they gazed at each other with the softest expressions on their faces, despite one of them was a dog demon and the other a dragon.

"Mate," their demons purred together.

Both demons felt acceptance to those words. Rin began to giggle when she noticed the nuzzling of muzzles and the gazes. Sesshomaru noticed and with a growl that could only be counted as playful he leapt away from them and raced away. Rin squealed as the demoness took off in hot pursuit and clung tightly to her horns. She knew what was going on; the race was on. Together, the two demons filled the sky with their roars.

Awww another moment as a family, but between Hoshiko and Sesshomaru! Adorables! LOL enjoy and review please! Short chapter though, XD