riridreaheart: Isn't? *grin* I was aiming for fluffy… not Sesshomaru-fuffy, but normal fluffy.

Halley Vanaria: Yay! Yes, Shippo's coming! *whispering* If so, Shippo will be the first to know. Thank you for being my most faithful reviewer!

Professor of Gallifrey: I love you too! Except for, you know, when I hate you and want to kill you, but you are wrong. There is no 'Titanic' without the 'iceberg', so deal with it.

Shippo had been in the youkai village that was nearest to the castle, when he saw Sesshomaru running across the sky. He froze in his dealings with the blacksmith when a vaguely familiar faint aura caressed his almost automatically, even with this distance.

"Shiro!"

Yelling out for one of his men, a new recruit he was training, he appeared in an instant his tail curling around his waist.

"What-"

Before he could ask, his commander had laid heavy hands on his shoulder.

"I have to go to the palace, get back to the others, tell them my mother's returned and they're invited to come see her."

Hiding his disbelief, he didn't quite put together the 'going to the palace' and 'my mother's returned', though this was probably due to the fact as he was new, he didn't know of Shippo's past.

"Just a minute, Commander, I'm sure you can wait-"

He snapped his mouth shut at the shift in personality, the normally smiling kitsune leveling a look that with his eyes alone promised a painful death.
"Did you not hear what I said, Shiro?"

He didn't bother to answer him, as the next second he was gone.

Willing his knees not to shake, he slowly turned and began walking back to the band of soldiers that awaited him.

Although Shippo was fast, he was no where near as fast as Sesshomaru in his true form fast. A smile came to his face when he remembered his okaa-san had always called the beast part of him, 'Maru-chan'. A feel of excitement and desperation slowly crept into him.

Over the last century, Shippo had been made the Commander of a group of soldiers for hire. They were hired to kill demons plaguing villages, participate in wars, sometimes even a rescue squad.

Due to Shippo's upbringing, he was well versed in courts affairs, demon and human etiquette, and could read and write. Kagome had even taught him how to read and speak the language called 'English'.

Word of the group comprised of mostly of kitsune, spread throughout the Four Lands. Soon, their notoriety grew, and flourished under Shippo's leadership. Only the original members knew of his past, as the others simply assumed he held an alliance with the West as he refused any work that would harm those who lived under that flag.

As he ran, he cursed under his breath that it would be at least an hour more before he could reach the palace. Though he felt the signatures of several border watchers, he knew Sesshomaru would be shortly informed to his coming.

"Oi! Commander-san-yo!"

Slowing his pace slightly, his second quickly appeared at his side. Black hair, tied in a high ponytail, green eyes and an ever scowling face, coupled with his knack for quickly getting from one place to another, this was Ren.

"What's all this than? Poor Shiro was looking rather pale," he drawled in a low tone, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm heading to the palace. Shiro told me I should 'wait'."

"Ara? The palace? What, you think they're actually gonna let someone like you in?"

Shippo sniggered.

Not only were they going to let 'someone like him in' but they were going to bow and proceed to call him 'Lord Shippo' and 'Shippo-sama' and inform him his Honorable Mother, the Great Lady has returned.

Ren had replaced his former second who, surprisingly, settled down with a woman they had rescued about twenty years prior. Not only was Ren trained in the use of most weapons, but he could also pry the most information out of the village folk with the way he spoke. While Shippo's third had been furious over his 'demotion' he quickly grew to respect the kitsune.

"Well? Are we breaking in, Commander-san-yo?"

"Knowing how much you enjoy such things, sorry, but I'm going to walk right in and have everyone bow to me."

At Ren's laughter, Shippo suppressed a grin because he had just told him exactly how things were going to go.

When they arrived at the gates, they were already opening, much to the surprise of Ren. Shippo ignored him and strolled past the guards (who were indeed bowing to him) and stopped in front of a high ranking kitsune wearing the colors of the West.

"Well, what have you to say for yourself, Shippo, Commander of the Band of Seven?"

The fox demanded, a threat underlying his voice.

"The only thing I have to say for myself, Masaru, General of the West is," Ren held his breath, at the what he thought was going to be some serious bloodshed, "I'm back to see my okaa-san."

He blinked, he mouth gaping open.

General Masaru turned and shouted to those gathered behind him.

"You hear that men?! This snobby little twerp is back to see his mommy!"

Masaru turned back, a smirk on his face, only to receive a hard wack on his head.

"That's not what you're supposed to say! It's not 'snobby little twerp' it's Lord Shippo, and it's not 'mommy', it's 'His Honorable Mother, the Great Lady' you old man!"

Laughter broke out as the kitsune clutched his head, almost pouting at being called an 'old man'.

But he quickly straightened up and slapped Shippo on the shoulder.

"Ah, I never could get the words 'Lord Shippo' out of my mouth without laughing. The thought of that scrawny kid who attacked Lord Sesshomaru with fire-fox because he didn't speak to his okaa-san nicely, being a Lord is something I'll never get used to."

Rolling his eyes, he huffed.

"How about the fact that this scrawny kid can spar with Sesshomaru and hold his own?"

Masaru snorted.

"Mou, you're just rubbing in the fact that you couldn't beat me all those years ago."

Green eyes narrowed and glared.

"You wanna go?"

Before Masaru could answer, a feminine cry sounded from behind the crowd.

"Shippo!"

To Ren's utter shock, the whole of the courtyard filled with nobles, high ranking military, and the soldiers took a knee at the sight of a petite human woman who couldn't be even twenty years. However, he was floored at his Commander running to met the girl calling her 'okaa-san'.

A/N Yay! I updated! And the writing went very smoothly! Sooo happy! *jumps up and down in joy* (also tomorrow is Saturday! The day Daddy makes breakfast, our family goes on a walk and Fairy Tail comes out! The episode, at least) And OMG IT'S THE 30TH CHAPTER! I'm so proud of myself!

EVERYONE THERE IS A POLL CONCERNING THIS FICTION ON MY PROFILE, GO VOTE

^.^ Yup! That's gonna be there in every author's note. Anyways, THANK YOU for reading REVIEWs are the 'Captain' to my 'Jack', whether he be 'Sparrow' or 'Harkness'.