A/N: Sorry it's taken so long for this chapter to come up, but I've had a very busy October and beginning of November. I GOT MARRIED! So I've had to do all the legal stuff and it's eaten away at my time like you wouldn't believe. SO I really hope you enjoy this chapter and please read the note at the end for what's going to be coming in the future! Thanks!

Chapter 20:
Bound

When he heard her whimper softly, their fate was sealed together as he sank his fangs deep letting his poison flow into her and start to destroy the other one in her body. Just as quickly he nicked his tongue and allowed his blood to flow into her giving her the immunity needed to survive his poison, it bound them closer than anything could. He only retracted his canines once he heard her breathing start to even out and her body relax in his hold; looking to Amata she was astounded to see fear in his normally cold, and distant eyes.

"I don't want her to hate me."

She was almost rendered speechless at his honesty before she laid a comforting hand on the arm of the boy, now man; she had watched grow through the years.

"She won't hate you Sesshomaru; she will be more understanding than you think." Giving him one last comforting look she gathered a few things she needed and slipped from the room, knowing Sesshomaru was going to want privacy.

Now that there was no one there he sealed the door with a barrier of his own and allowed himself to show his exhaustion and worry over the demon-miko he held. Sinking down on the futon, he held his precious cargo close as he let his body relax. Burying his nose in her hair he took in her clean bright scent relieved that he couldn't smell poison on her anymore.

"You didn't have to protect me from his attack little miko. I would have been fine and you wouldn't have been poisoned."

"You're mine; no one will ever be able to think that they can take you away from me."

Pausing for a moment he looked down, eyes slightly widened at the statement, to see foggy sleepy pink eyes looking at him. Words were lost to him as she smiled at him, everything about her belying her own exhaustion.

"Go to sleep little miko, we will talk more when you are rested."

"Kay Sesshy," snuggling deeper into his arms she let loose a contented sigh, "you smell like a dark forest...*mumble*… mmm love you"

He froze still at those softly whispered words before a beautiful smile broke out across his lips as he gazed at the top of her head. He buried his nose once more into her hair and took a deep breath letting her scent calm his racing heart.

"And I you Kagome."

Groggily she could feel something around her waist and could only assume that Shinji was laying on her as he was prone to do sometimes. It was only when she made to get up could she feel that the weight wasn't Shinji, but an arm wrapped around her waist. She felt it tighten with her movement and could feel deep breathing against her neck. Twisting slowly, she froze when she saw Sesshomaru lying next to her sleeping peacefully. As she gazed at his face she remembered bits of what happened and the pain that she had felt; cringing at the phantom pain she pushed it away as she continued to look at him.

His face was smooth and untroubled in his sleep, relaxed like she had never seen before; his stripes were slightly raised and she bet if she were to touch them they would feel like velvet. Her eyes traveled to where his golden eyes were closed and the magenta color his lids held before moving up and resting on the crescent moon that told everyone of his station. She wanted to touch it, to see if it would be as soft as she thought his stripes to be, but she held herself back not wanting to wake him from his slumber.

She tried once more to get out of his grasp, knowing that she had been in bed too long, but it failed as his tightened his hold on her and buried his nose into her hair. She could feel her cheeks heat up but didn't move letting herself enjoy the attention no matter how brief it might be.

She wondered to herself why Sesshomaru was snuggling with her and could only come up with the reason that he had helped heal her. It still baffled her why he had stuck around, but she acknowledged to herself that it was nice to be held so tightly to someone she cared so deeply for. She didn't regret taking the blow meant for him, nor being poisoned, if it meant that she had protected him from harm.

Shaking those thoughts from her head she turned back to gazing at his slumbering face before holding back a giggle at the thought of him sleeping as a huge overgrown puppy. That picture then grew to him being in his demon form on his back, his legs kicking and twitching from his dreams. This time she did giggle and felt him stir at the sound of her laughter.

"Kagome?" he whispered sleepily in a voice she thought she'd never hear from him; it was almost too much for her to handle; she just wanted to hug him at how cute he sounded.

"Yeah sleepy head, who else would it be?"

He just smiled at her, happy that to see her awake and making jokes before tucking her head under his chin and pulling her close.

"You scared me Kagome, don't ever hide something like that from me again." Shocked at his admission, she buried her face into his neck as she took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Sesshomaru, but I didn't know anything was wrong at the time, I just thought that I was tired and overworked; I really didn't know." He could hear the truth behind her words and knew that she wasn't trying to lie to him.

"Hmm," was all he said to her statement.

"You mad at me?" her voice was soft and full of worry as it puffed across his skin leaving goose bumps in its wake. Lifting her face so he could meet her eyes, he could see the worry in them before taking a breath and speaking.

"No, I'm not mad at you, but I do have a feeling that your protectiveness is going to be the death of me." He laughed a bit and hugged her closer when she hugged him.

"Kagome," she pulled back at the seriousness of his voice and searched his face for any clues as to why he would sound like that. Not finding anything she just stared at him, hoping it wasn't something horrible he was about to tell her.

"The poison you were injected with couldn't be healed by normal means," he paused not sure how to say the rest very aware of her eyes watching his every move.

"Amata told me the only way to save you was to share my own poison so it could destroy the one in your system as well as my blood so that it would give you the immunity needed to survive mine."

"So I have immunity to your poison now?"

Nodding, he kept calm as he saw that she didn't quite get what he was saying and reminded himself that she hadn't been born demon.

"It also means I had to mark you in order to give you that immunity."

He watched as her eyes widened before her hand moved up to her neck where she could feel a mark resting there.

"You mean…" wide eyes locked onto his as she waited for an answer, unable to finish her sentence.

"Yes, we are considered mates." He held his breath, waiting for her reaction. He was disheartened to see tears in her eyes before she buried her face in his neck.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she clutched him tighter; astounded he could only hold her while rubbing circles on her back. "I'm sorry you're stuck with me, you must hate it, hate me."

He abruptly pulled her face up so he could see her eyes before he spoke next, his whole heart in his voice.

"I could never hate you. I could have let you die; I made the choice to save you and I don't regret it," pausing he closed his eyes to say what he wanted to next. "I only hope that you don't hate me for taking your chance to be with someone else away."

His eyes snapped open when he felt a soft hand on either side of his face before his eyes locked onto hers; his widened as he saw the fire burning brightly in them.

"I want you to know this and understand it completely: I don't and will never hate you. Thank you for saving me; it's nice to know you care." Her smile was filled with such warmth as he had never seen before and before he could wonder why his caring for her would bring that out, her lips were resting on his softly. Almost too surprised to react, he kissed her back gently when she started to pull away; it was short and sweet and when it was over they both smiled shyly at the other before moving to get out of the bed.

He dreaded the state his castle could be in with his absence, but when her small hand slipped into his, he thought to himself that if she were by his side then all would be well. Shaking that thought from his mind he almost laughed to himself at how soft he was getting before picking her up and spiriting them to their rooms so they could change.

He was pleased to see how well Amata had done in his absence and that nothing seemed to be in disarray; it soothed his mind a bit to know that it wasn't only Jaken that could handle things while he was otherwise indisposed. The troops had all been taken care of and given the next few days off, while the children had continued on with their lessons with Amata being the one to teach them. It wasn't a well-known fact, but besides being a healer she was a great warrior and had even fought with the great general all those years ago; even for a demon, she aged really slowly.

So when they came to stand outside, it was no surprise when the children abandoned their stances to come over and hug their teacher swarming her with questions about her health. Sesshomaru let her ease their worries as he stood back before nodding his head to Amata when she came to stand next to him and watched the sight before them.

"I am glad she is well."

"Did you doubt otherwise?"

Amata glanced out of the corner of her eye to see the smug look on Sesshomaru's face as he watched the demon-miko before him and she knew then that having Kagome come into his life was a blessing.

"You know that the council will need to be informed of the new lady of the west." She knew he heard her when his eyes glanced at her before moving back to the woman before him. She was sitting on a bench not too far from them with the children crowded around her as she told them what happened to her and why she had been injured.

"Have rooms prepared for their arrival, they will be here within the week." She saw his very slight slump of posture and the look that Kagome threw him at the same time; she wondered to herself if they knew how strong the bond was already between them.

Nodding at him they turned back to watching the girl in front of them both in wonder at her resilience to survive whatever was thrown at her no matter what it was.

It was over dinner that night that he explained to her who the council was and what they would do when they arrived at the castle.

"The five members of the council have been in power since my father reigned and are set in their ways; I however do not agree with most of their views. They will test you to see if you are worthy to be my mate, but know that no matter what they decide I will not change my mind. You are my mate and that will not change."

Smiling at his soft spoken statement she worried her bottom lip between her teeth before she spoke.

"What if they don't like me? Is there anything they can do to get rid of me?"

"Short of going against my decision, no, they know how stubborn my father was with Inuyasha's mother and they know better than to try to go against me."

Breathing a sigh of relief she smiled tiredly at him, everything she had learned that day replaying through her mind trying to find the right place to be stored until it was needed. She looked over to the two kids that still didn't know about the change in her and Sesshomaru's relationship as they had been too ecstatic over the fact that she was back and had been able to play with them most of the day. She giggled into her hand at the thought that they would probably lose their minds over the fact that they were technically a couple now; she knew Shippou would be happy because she was happy and Rin would be happy to have a mother now and a father.

Gathering up said yawning kids they took them to bed before they headed to their own, she knew that she would be sleeping with Sesshomaru now since they were technically mated and nervousness crept into her body. She wondered if he would try anything or if he would wait until she was ready, that is if she was ever ready; shaking her head of these thoughts she smiled shyly at Sesshomaru when he opened the door for her and let her through.

"Don't worry Kagome; I don't expect anything from you." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he made his way over to his wardrobe and pulled out a sleeping yukata that he handed to her before he pulled out some silk hakama for him to sleep in.

"Thank you Sesshomaru." She smiled brightly at him as she slipped behind the changing panel to quickly change into the yukata; she left her clothes from the day on a chair before she approached the bed. She blushed slightly to see that all he wore was the hakama as he held up the sheets for her to slip in next to him. She climbed into the huge bed quickly before laying on her side, her back to him as she tried to relax, knowing that she could turn if she wanted to touch him.

She squeaked as she felt an arm wrap around her middle and pull her against a hard, warm chest, before a deep booming laugh filled her ears.

"Relax Kagome, I don't bite," she could hear the 'much' without him saying it with the expression that he wore.

"Jerk, you surprised me is all." She could feel the chuckle he emitted deep within his chest and felt herself flush at how close they were. She almost froze at the sensation of his nose buried in the crook of her neck before the weirdest feeling of safety swept through her and she relaxed completely in his hold. It hit her before she slipped into slumber that he was grumbling softly in his chest and the vibrations were what was soothing her, but before she could think more on it she was asleep.

When he noticed she had fallen asleep he chuckled slightly at the way her scent had fluctuated between nervousness, embarrassment, and the slightest hint of arousal. The last he wanted to conquer her normally bright, clean scent as he hovered over her, but he knew it would take some time for her to adjust to the new situation. Calming his mind he smiled as her words echoed through his mind as sleep claimed him:

'love you'

She woke to the feeling of an arm around her and froze only a moment before she relaxed and turned her head to see the sleeping demon behind her; she twisted her body so that she faced him, surprised that he didn't stir as she did. Gathering her courage to her she lifted her hand slowly before letting her fingertips gently trace the stripes on his cheeks, she almost moaned at how soft they were before pausing in what she was doing as a sound reached her ears. Not hearing it she started again and again heard that noise but instead of stopping she listened closely and almost giggled at the thought that Sesshomaru was purring at her petting of his markings.

Letting her other hand come to his face the gently traced his moon and smiled at the thought that she was right with how soft it was, different from his markings, and slightly warm beneath her fingertips.

"How do you wake before me?" Startled at the voice she froze as he eyes traveled down to find sleepy gold ones looking at her. Smirking at him she ignored his question as she raised her lips to kiss his crescent moon before somehow maneuvering herself out of his grasp and across the room. Lifting her nose to the air she scented it and looking, her eyes landed on a door that she now knew led to her old room. Making her way to it she stopped with her hand on the door before she turned her head to look at him over her shoulder her head slightly cocked to the side.

"Maybe you're just getting fat and lazy." Laughing at his shocked expression she hurried through the door so she could change into her training outfit for the morning sparring with her class. Afterwards she set off to find Rin and Shippou; she needed them to gather the other kids as she knew that today was technically their day off, but she was in a rather good mood and wanted to teach them something new.

Slowly Sesshomaru's brain started to work again after his vixen sauntered out of his room and couldn't help but chuckle at her teasing before he himself started to get ready for the day.

She had the kid's pair up like she normally did, this time though she told them that if she saw how hard they were working she would tell them a secret. It made her laugh to see how they straightened out under her gaze before they began on the new stance she had just showed them. Walking around them she turned serious for a moment and assessed who needed some extra help and who was a little ahead of the others. She also told herself that she needed to bring in some other teachers so they could break the kids up into groups depending on their skill and if they had any unique powers that should be developed. She had to tell herself that these were demon children and could progress at a much faster rate than if she was teaching human children; she giggled to herself at that thought and how she had been human once not too long ago.

It was a feeling that she was slowly coming to forget and she wasn't sure if she wanted to forget what it was like to be human; sure she was stronger now, but she didn't want her nature to change if she couldn't remember anymore. It was something she told herself she would think on later, right now she had her pupils to look after and they deserved all her attention.

It wasn't long before she figured out who needed the extra attention and who would need to be taught by another teacher for an ability that they had that she didn't know how to improve upon. It made her heart swell with pride at how far they had come and she had even allowed them to start sparring against one another, knowing that while she had wanted them to learn defensively, they would also need to learn a little offense in order to be successful in surviving. She told herself that she would make sure they understood that what she was teaching them was not to be used to bully others, but to protect themselves and the ones they loved should the need arise.

Shaking her head clear of such thoughts she called Rin and Shippou over to her for a moment wanting to tell them her secret while the others were busy.

"Mama, why do you smell like Sesshomaru?"

Kagome could have kissed her kit for asking her that question since she was at a loss as to how to actually tell them that she was mated to Sesshomaru.

"Well that's what I wanted to talk to you guys about; Shippou, do you know what this is?" She asked pulling her collar to the side so he could see the crescent moon that now resided there. She saw the widening of his eyes and knew then that he knew what it was, but from the look Rin was giving her she did not.

"Rin, it's a mating mark, mama is mated to Sesshomaru."

Rin's eyes got wide as a beaming smile crossed her face when she stared at the demon miko before her; however her smile faded and she looked to the ground seemingly uncomfortable.

"What's wrong Rin?" Shippou knew what was wrong so when Rin didn't answer Kagome, he decided he would speak up for her.

"Rin has wanted to call you mama for a while now, but has been too afraid to ask you. Would it be okay if she did mama?"

"Rin? Do you want me as your mother?"

Nodding her head the little girl didn't look up not wanting to let her hope grow in case it was shot down.

"Well Rin, I would be honored to be your mother."

Her little head shot up and a smile brighter than the sun broke across her face as she launched herself into the arms of the miko she loved with all her heart.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now I have a mama and a daddy!" Her mouth clamped shut as her hands flew to cover her mouth while her eyes grew impossibly wide as she let slip her secret that she saw Sesshomaru as a father, but Kagome only smiled and hugged the dear girl closer to herself.

"Yes Rin, yes you do."

Shippou came over and joined in on the hug telling her without words that he was happy because she was happy and that's all that mattered to him. She felt her heart swell as she held her children to her promising herself that no matter what she would love them with all her heart and never let anything happen to them.

She let them go back to training after hugging them one last time and almost sighed in exasperation when Shippou and Rin told everyone they passed that she and Sesshomaru were mated; shrugging her shoulders she smiled when they abandoned their training to swarm her with questions. Laughing at the delight she could see on their faces and feel in their auras, she sat down with them and explained as much as she could to them while she felt Sesshomaru watching from afar.

Lifting her head to where he stood she smiled brightly at him and almost gasped when she saw the smile reflected in his eyes as well as feel his happiness through their mark. It was still odd for her to feel his emotions every now and again, but Amata had explained it to her that it was normal and could get stronger depending on how strongly they felt about each other. Giving him one last smile she returned to the children and ended the training for the day, but didn't dismiss them, instead they played the biggest game of tag she had ever initiated.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, little bit of cuteness at the end... It won't be like this for too long, there will be moments yes, but after this chapter its going to get much darker, and I mean much darker. This is a warning for you guys. I'm going to try to keep some of it lighthearted, but Naraku will return and the council will prove to be interesting. As always REVIEW please! Thanks!