Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the plot and my original characters. Thanks to all those who have been reviewing and have a great day.

What's In a Name?

Sango woke up feeling a lot warmer on her front then on her back. Opening her almond eyes Sango stared at the young girl cuddled against her and couldn't prevent the small smile that came to her face. The child had curled up against her during the night, obviously dragging Sesshoumaru's tail along with her as it was wrapped around her like a blanket. As they'd slept facing the opposite ways Sango got up on an elbow and looked behind her to see the demon lord watching her with his golden eyes, unblinking and cold as usual. They'd always unnerved her, those eyes of his. If you looked at him objectively he actually had a very beautiful face, stunning actually until you got to the eyes. The eyes were what made all that other beauty void because in those golden eyes of his you could see the darkness within him. They held gazes for a while then the demon lord simply arched a brow and turned his head to look to their left. Moving slightly, careful not to jar Rin Sango looked over as well and saw Kyou and Sora talking away. Actually Kyou was doing all the talking; Sora appeared to simply be listening with a half ear. What a pair those two were Sango thought with a grin. Kyou reminded her of a squirrel, always moving and chattering, yet not a stupid creature all in all. True he acted like he didn't have a brain in his head a few times since she'd met him there was something in the way he walked and looked at his surroundings that suggested he was quite capable of living up to his family's reputation. Then there was Sora, a female version of Sesshoumaru except for the eyes. There was no darkness in the girl's eyes and she seemed kinder, gentler somehow.

"Hard to believe she is of my blood. Isn't it demon slayer?"

Sango turned her head to see Sesshoumaru looking at her expectedly. "In some ways it is and in others it's obvious. I don't just mean the physical either, it's more the way she holds herself and the slight superiority complex." Sango replied in answer to his question. 'She's a credit to you." She added then could have kicked herself. Of all the stupid things to say, even if she meant it. She'd seen how hard it was to raise a child properly and whatever his faults Sesshoumaru seemed to be doing a good job with Rin and Sora appeared to have turned out all right.

"I suppose so." Sesshoumaru replied, surprised at the offhanded compliment. Since he'd been forced to stay where he was all during the night due to Rin he'd had time to think and had wondered about the demon slayer. He didn't know much about her as every time they'd met it had begun and ended with a battle. He knew that Nataku had killed her entire family and village, her brother living long enough to be Nataku's puppet before the boy had finally been allowed to die. What must that do to a person? Especially a weak human female. Of course his Rin's past was no better and she was happy enough. On that note he looked down at Rin who was still fast asleep, dreaming the dreams of the innocent. Part way through the night he'd felt her pull on his tail and had looked over to see her dragging his tail closer to Sango. He'd noticed then that the slayer was shivering slightly and as he'd watched Rin had cuddled against the slayer, using her body heat to warm Sango, using his tail to blanket them both. She did things like that all the time, a human characteristic he didn't understand. Had it been him he would have ignored her discomfort, had they not been stuck together would have slaughtered her in her sleep for all the problems she'd caused him in the past and more importantly to make his brother suffer. Looking over at the slayer again Sesshoumaru wondered what was going through her head then his eyes widened as he watched her getting to her knees and taking off the thin blanket she'd used during the night put it over Rin for added warmth. She must have sensed his eyes looking at her because she met his gaze then smiled slightly as though she knew her actions had perplexed him. She sat back down because of course she could go nowhere without him, rummaging through her satchel for something.

Sango smiled as she finally found the brush and reaching up quickly undid the hair elastic that held her hair in its usual ponytail. Shaking her hair out Sango went to work brushing it out, wincing as she hit tangles. Her mother always said that she just needed to be patient and not tear her hair out but Sango hated taking the time and tended to just yank it through despite how much that tended to hurt.

"Is there a reason you're trying to rip your hair out?" Sesshoumaru asked in an amused tone and Sango looked over to see him watching her as before, an unnerving habit he seemed to have developed overnight.

"I'm not trying to rip it out, I just have really thick hair that knots easily. Therefore I have to brush it." Sango said as she continued to send the bristles of the brush through her hair. "I would imagine you have to do the same with yours, it's longer then mine."

"Rin does it." Sesshoumaru said with a smirk. "And she doesn't yank like you're doing."

"Yeah well that's probably because she's got to worry about you eating her if she does." Sango said as she gave him a dark look. "And you might have noticed that I don't have any servants to pamper me."

"I don't eat humans, I simply kill them." Sesshoumaru corrected with a wolfish grin. "I doubt very much that there's such thing as a tasty human, even if one did require to eat which I do not. Besides, neither of you would be any sort of a meal if I did."

"Well there's a relief." Sango said tartly as she came upon a really bad tangle. "Son of a boar." Sango growled as the bristles caught in her hair. Trying to get her hair from catching only made it worse and Sango was about to call over to Miroku to give her a hand when she became aware that someone was standing behind her. Looking up she saw Sora looking down at her calmly.

"Would you like some help?" Sora asked calmly as she looked at Sango and then at the brush that was wrapped in Sango's dark tresses.

"Yes, thank you." Sango said as she let go of the brush. Turning her head to give the other girl better access Sango prepared to wince and was surprised when instead Sora began to patiently untangle the strands of hair, being as gentle as can be; her claws moved through the hair as though the task was being given the demon's entire attention. "You're really good at this."

"My mom's always getting her hair in tangles, I sometimes helped her when Dare isn't around to do it." Sora said with a smile as she carefully worked out a large piece of the overall problem. Her hair tended to tangle like this too only she had more patience.

"Dare?" Sango asked as she shifted slightly.

"The youngest of my brothers. You see one time father took out the other three hunting, a demon that had been giving us some problems. Father wouldn't let Dare go with them because he was too young and Father said that he'd be a distraction because he and my other brothers would be worried that he'd get hurt, he was around eight. So anyway he stayed home and my mother asked him one day to help her because she'd gotten her brush stuck in her hair. So Dare helped untangle it and then offered to finish brushing it for her. So he did and he still does it sometimes, mom and Dare are really close, he's more of the non-violent type. My other brothers and I are more like dad so it was only fair that one of us take after her." Sora said with a smile. "Not that we're not all close to Dare, just that Mom understands him best."

"Sounds like he's a nice guy." Sango agreed with a smile. Well at least the kids would have a good mother to balance the stone block of a father.

"Oh he is, he lives in my Mom's old world with Mika and Wufei's family." Kyou chimed in as he walked over, his eyes bright with merriment, which was out of place given the fact that it was very early in the morning. "The poor guy though, the girls and art critics are always mobbing him."

"My son gets mobbed by girls?" Sesshoumaru demanded, not liking the sound of this son at all. And what was this about his youngest son living in Inu yasha's bitch's world? And what the hell were art critics?

"Well yeah, Dare and Ronin are really popular with the ladies, especially Dare." Kyou said as he moved his eyebrows up and down suggestively. "Kohaku and Kiyoshi would be popular with the ladies if they weren't so much like you Uncle Sesshoumaru, all the girls are afraid of them. Well not the female water demons but everyone else is. Mom says that she doesn't blame them either."

"Did you say Kohaku?" Sango asked in a strangled voice as she whipped her head around to look at Sesshoumaru. "One of your sons is named Kohaku?"

"Apparently, your point would be?" Sesshoumaru asked dryly, slightly curious at the fact that the demon slayer looked agitated over the name. What was wrong with it? Ronin meant samurai without a master, Sorano meant of the sky and Kiyoshi meant quiet one. The other two he had no idea but were likely just as good names. Why was she so upset over that name? Wait a minute, he was pretty sure Kohaku meant amber as in the stone but that shouldn't have upset her, so what was she getting upset about?

"That was her brother's name." Inu yasha said as he came up with Kagome close behind, a still dozing Shippou in her arms.

"Oh." Sesshoumaru said not knowing what else to say. Since he didn't even know his son he couldn't explain why he'd chosen that particular name for his son. There would have had to be a good reason though, a name was important. Perhaps because amber was a strong stone that was rare and highly valued?

"Well it's a good name, at least he didn't name Kohaku Sesshoumaru Junior, one destruction of the circle of life is enough in one family." Kyou said cheekily, thinking fast. He was probably going to be in serious trouble for what he'd said but he'd had to cover up his blunder.

"Your name means the destruction of the circle of life?" Kagome said in amazement as she stared at Sesshoumaru, thinking that the meaning definitely suited its bearer. "But it sounds like such a nice name."

"I didn't chose it." Sesshoumaru said roughly as he glared at Kagome who backed up slightly so that she was slightly behind Inu yasha. "Should we not be going since everyone but the monk is awake?"

"I'll wake him up, Kyou why don't you go get Andrea?" Kagome said brightly.

"I'll go with you, Kyou. It's not safe for any of us to go anywhere alone, especially since you're unarmed." Sora said as she got the last tangle out, handing the brush back to Sango. "Are there any villages nearby? Andrea, Kyou and I could all use some weaponry."

"There's a village about two hours from here, it's on the way." Miroku said as he joined them, their voices having woken him up.

"Sounds good to me." Kyou said with a thumbs up and a pleased look on his face. "Now Andrea won't have our lack of weapons against me. She's really good at holding a grudge. I should know, she's still yelling at me for things I did years ago."

"Well then off we go." Miroku said with a smile.

After collecting Andrea who hadn't been pleased to leave the water but had done so none the less the strange group once again set off for the village. "You said that Dare, Mika and Wufei live in my world, Kyou. What do they do?" Kagome asked as she moved to walk beside her son. There was something almost calming about his presence, almost as though he was already her son even though she'd just met him.

"Well I guess there's no harm in telling you that." Kyou decided after taking a moment to think about it. "Dare's an artist, Mika's a cop and Wufei's the priest for the family temple."

"My son's an artist!"

"My son's a priest!"

"Ahhhhhhhhh yeah." Kyou said weakly as he looked at the two brothers who looked as if they'd suddenly been informed that the world was really flat. "Dare works with wood, sculptures and carpentry. Wufei took over taking care of the shrine once grandfather retired, first demon to ever be able to become a priest."

"And Mika's a cop, I can see that if she's as much like Inu yasha as you say she is." Kagome said quickly before anything was said that would result in a fight breaking out. "I would imagine her demon blood more then comes in handy."

"Yeah, especially with her habit of getting herself shot." Kou said with a grin then seeing the stricken look on his mom's face patted her shoulder comfortingly. "But don't worry Mom, no ones ever gotten close to taken her down. Plus Dare or Wufei are always there to supervise when she gets hurt and that doctor of hers is almost as good as Hotaru."

"I don't know which is worse, having a priest or an artist for a son." Inu yasha mumbled under his breath.

"Actually you have both, Uncle Inu yasha." Sora said having been listening to the conversation with a half ear. "Kyou is an artist only with drawing and paints. But don't worry about it, Mika's a warrior in a uniform and Hotaru was a famous surgeon before she moved back to the Feudal Era permanently."

"My daughter's going to be a doctor!" Kagome said with a huge smile. Being a doctor had always been a dream when she was younger but she'd never got the grades one would need for it plus she really didn't enjoy cutting things open and seeing their insides. How great that her daughter had been smart and dedicated enough to have managed to become one. "Sounds to me like I have five great children."

"I thought we only had four?" Inu yasha said with a slightly stricken look. "I have another one?"

"Shippou of course." Kagome said as she rolled her eyes at him then smiled down at the young fox that was walking beside her. Having been listening in on the conversation Shippou looked up at her in adoration then scowled at Inu yasha who did the same.

"Feh." Inu yasha replied as he rolled his eyes.

"And what are my other children involved with or dare I ask?" Sesshoumaru inquired as he walked beside the demon slayer who had been quiet since Kyou had told them what the name of one of his sons was.

"Well your firstborn is being trained to take your place when you step down, he looks over your lower lands and helps keep the peace. Ronin has had an extreme case of wanderlust lately so he's going all over the place but when he's home he usually helps you and Kohaku with taking care of the lands, keeping other demons off them and so on and so forth. Well I already told you about Dare and then there's Kiyoshi, Yoshi for short, who is more of the scholar of the family. He does a lot of work for the demon clans recording their histories, recording their achievements and also acts as a liaison when there are conflicts in the clans. Actually the last parts ironic because he hates talking but when he does people listen because he only says more then one or two sentences when he has something really important to say. Obviously his name fits him really well." Kyou said with smile. "Oh plus Rin, she takes care of the gardens in the palaces and is advisor to the King and Queen."

"I work for a King and a Queen?" Rin asked, her eyes going wide at the thought.

"Well not officially, it's just that your husband works closely with them so you come into contact with them a lot. Plus you live in the palace." Kyou said with a shrug.

"Oh." Rin said with a smile, thrilled that her life seemed to be such a good one and that she was classified as one of her Master's children. She'd always thought of her master as a father figure but had never said so; it might make her master angry.

"Well the village is close by, I can smell it." Inu yasha said as he motioned ahead of them with a jerk of his head. "I suppose it would be best if only those of us who can pass for humans go, I can sense quite a lot of bodies who will likely not be thrilled to see several demons in their midst."

"Well then why don't the three of us, Rin, Aunt Kagome and Uncle Miroku head in and you guys can relax and take a break." Sora suggested as her highly elevated sense of smell detected the smells of freshly baked bread that made her mouth water slightly. She didn't actually require food to survive but that didn't change the fact that she wanted some of the wonderful smells coming from the village ahead.

"Sounds like a plan, Kyou, guard your mother or your dead meat." Inu yasha said as he showed his teeth at the youngest of his children.

"Actually if she dies under my watch I'm dead in the sense that I'll never be born so don't worry about it." Kyou said with a wink. "But I'll still guard her with my life."

"Rin will stay with me." Sesshoumaru said in a voice that broke no argument; knowing better no one commented on it.

"Well then lets get moving, I'm not getting any younger." Kyou said then cracked up at the irony of his words. "Oh that was a good one." He gasped out once he was able to think about it without breaking out in laughter.

"Moron." Sora and Andrea replied.

Well that's it for know, hope you like it and will review. Stay tuned for the next chap which will feature a trip to the village, Miroku getting pounded on by the ladies of the town and what Kyou's like when he's serious!