Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations I put them in. Everything else belongs to somebody else and that's just the way it's gotta be, at least for the time being. Thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy this latest chapter!

Dedicated to Ishasuki Mitochi, for the most interesting review I've ever gotten!

Thank You

"You make that sound like a threat." Sango purred, digging her nails in as he nipped her earlobe, not about to let him distract her so easily. "But you know, I'll get it out of you eventually."

Rather than comment Sesshoumaru moved his hand from her waist to her head, turning it so that he could capture her lips with his own. After all, she couldn't demand answers if she couldn't speak. Not that it was any hardship of course, to feel her slender, soft body pressed against his after two weeks of nothing but face-offs against those who sought his death and died in his place instead. There was no smell of blood and human waste here, only the forest and the scents of her, the shampoo of her hair, the lotion she put on her skin, the faintest scent of the children, from cuddling them close to her as she mothered them so tenderly. No taste of death was on his tongue, nor of his own blood, instead the rich, spicy taste that only the depths of her mouth held for him alone filled his senses. He was safe here, in her arms. Like they did their sons, they would shelter him and protect him from those who would do him harm. They were strong arms, their grip gentle but sure, as able to pull him into a lover's embrace as they were to swing her weapon at an opposing force. Even though it went against everything he'd learned through centuries of walking alone, he still kept coming back to these arms, sinking into them like a parched man into a pool of water. If that made him weak, he'd stopped caring. Just so long as he knew this oasis of water waited for him at the end of every journey, he could bear whatever else stood in his way. Pulling back his head when air was a necessity Sesshoumaru stared into the eyes of his mate with a need that would never be sated. "You were saying, slayer?"

Eyes slightly glazed over his mate was still made of sterner stuff than that. "I was saying that you can try your best, but I'll never let up." Wrapping her legs around his waist Sango curled her arms more firmly around his neck, so that there was no need for him to support her body anymore, as they looked into each others eyes with nothing separating them from chest to thigh. "Even if we have to stay here all night."

Staring into those all seeing brown eyes, so fierce and warm as they watched him so closely, Sesshoumaru felt his resolve cracking piece by piece. She really would be after him until he told her; after all these years she'd made it abundantly clear that secrets were not to be kept under penalty of ending up in the dog house. Or at least that's what Kagome called it when she kicked his brother out of his own bedroom. But he didn't want to tell her, didn't want those images in her head. She had seen enough horrors, would see even more, now that her fate was tied to his own.

Leaning forward Sango placed light, butterfly kisses along his jaw, then a slow, warm kiss upon his lips that was as soothing as a hug. "Whatever it is, I'll bear it on my shoulders, Sesshoumaru. Just as you bear my pain, I will bear yours. If you wanted someone who only takes from you, you should have mated with Satsuki."

Talk about your incentives to remain single the rest of your life, Sesshoumaru thought with a small smile, thinking of his former fiancee. Yes, she and Sango were as night and day, thank the gods. "When I got there Lord Yoshimori had already sent a warning to Tokine, telling him that if he didn't send him his first born son in pieces to him, the castle would be destroyed. Tokine didn't even wait to see if I'd get there in time, he followed Yoshimori's instructions."

Watching Sango's eyes widening Sesshoumaru had no doubt that his mate was thinking the same thing he'd been thinking when he'd confronted Tokine four days ago. Their own sons. Those three pups who were even now safe within their home, likely waiting for their parents to return or being tucked into bed by Jakken and Kirara, much to their vehement and imaginative complaints. They had his face and figure, they called him father and looked at him with respect, admiration and love in their eyes. They idolized him, copied him in his mannerisms and habits to the point of amusement. To him they were the most priceless of treasures, yet another boy, not much older than them, had been hacked to pieces at his father's orders, to save something that could be rebuilt, if it was lost in the first place.

"There wasn't enough left for you to resurrect."

"When I cornered Yoshimori and demanded the boy's remains, he just shook his head. He said he never thought Tokine would do it, so when the remains arrived, he simply had them thrown into the fire. The bastard thought it funny."

"I bet he didn't think it was so funny when you sent him to hell." Was her fierce response, the pain she felt for the dead boy visible in her eyes. A mother's pain, for the thought of the death of any child. Leaning forward to nuzzle her cheek against his Sango's hold took on that of an embrace rather than a way to hold him immobile. "I'm sure Tokine's son is grateful, that you cared and avenged him."

Holding her close Sesshoumaru thought about her words, wondering if it was indeed so. His oldest, Kohaku, had played with Tokine's son the last time they'd been there. Would Kohaku remember the boy, mourn for him when he had to tell him later that the boy was dead? Yes, he thought his son would, though not obviously. Kohaku was too much like him in that retrospect. But Kohaku would have his mother's arms to hold him tight, to soothe his grief and help him get through it without the scars that could be left after such things.

"So how long are we staying in here?"

Looking at his mate questioningly Sesshoumaru quickly caught on to what she was getting at. While he himself barely notice the temperature of the water, she was obviously feeling the effects. "We need to get you warmed up." Wrapping his arm around her waist once more, his other still resting under her rear, Sesshoumaru carried her out of the water while she clung to him all the way to shore. Heading straight up the beach he didn't pause until they were standing on the grass. Setting her down on her feet he motioned towards the clothes she'd left laying there.

With a questioning look in his direction she began to dress. "There's a better way to warm me up you know."

"Not when our sons are on the way here."

And sure enough, just moments later their sons came bursting into the clearing, heading straight for their father who'd been in the process of helping his mate fix her collar. Bending down so that they were on eye level he looked into their happy faces, patting each one on the head in greeting before informing them that they were all heading back to the house now and that they were in big trouble for leaving in the first place. Ignoring Ronin's complaining over this the two parents herded their children back up the path to the house, seeing them all to bed with their father promising to tell them a very abbreviated version of his travels when they woke the next morning. Once they were sure the boys intended to stay put the two parents closed the door, leaving it just a little ajar, just in case.

Walking back to their bedroom they turned to each other with fluid grace as soon as the door had slid shut behind them, there arms reaching out to the other as they slid into each other's embrace. Picking his mate up into his arms Sesshoumaru carried her over to their bed, laying her down on before shedding his garments while she did the same with hers. Once they both undressed Sesshoumaru followed her down onto the bed, settling himself over his wife as she welcomed him with her body and words as she sighed his name, meeting him caress for caress, kiss for kiss, thrust for thrust. They were as one, as it should be. Would always be.

Fading out on that Sesshoumaru's eyes slowly opened to stare upward, Sango leaning over him with his head nestled in her lap, a mixture of relief and embarrassment. Her cheeks were stained a bright pink and she didn't seem to know what to say to him as they just stared at each other dumbly. He didn't know what to stay either, as he stared up at the slayer who he had to now accept, would be his mate for life.

"Are you okay?" Sango asked hesitantly, not sure she wanted to know the answer. He'd said her name several times in the last two minutes and the way he'd said it had her cheeks blushing like mad and the pit of her stomach doing flip flops. And she might not know a lot about sex, but some of those low groans he'd made...oh boy.

"Where's Ayame?" Sesshoumaru asked huskily, never taking his golden eyes off her for a moment.

"He left as soon as you passed out. He left instructions by the tea set as to where we should go looking for Ferio. I noticed them when I put the cups back on the tray so that you didn't risk knocking them over if you started struggling in your sleep. I didn't know what to expect."

"He did that last time too." Closing his eyes for a moment Sesshoumaru acknowledged what his heart and mind was trying to tell him this time around. He had been spending so much time wondering how the hell he'd ended up mated to the demon slayer that he'd let it consume him to the point where little else had had room to be considered. The vision he'd been shown was to tell him that without exception, he should accept the fact that they were fated and get down to the business of hunting down the son of a bitch who was causing so many problems for them in the future. There was just one thing he had to do first. Bracing his arms for support Sesshoumaru moved himself to a sitting position, allowing Sango to hold onto his arm for support while he got his bearings.

"Are you sure you should be getting up already? Do you feel sick, dizzy?"

By way of answer Sesshoumaru reached out and yanked her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her as he held her close. Turning his head to the side he so that his lips were pressed against the shell of her ear he whispered simply. "Thank you...for choosing me."

"Do you suppose that if I challenged him to a fight and actually let him get a few blows in he'd snap back to normal?" Mika asked her cousin with a considering look on her face, as she and Hermione observed Ren's silent training in the courtyard. "I mean he pouts more than my nieces and nephews do. And they're champion pouters."

"You're worried about him."

Since she'd sooner have her eyes gorged out than admit to such a thing Mika was quick with a much more Mika like response. "More like annoyed as hell. I'm going stir crazy here, wondering what's happening with my aunt and uncle, and there's my favorite punching bag right in front of me, and I can't even use him. The selfish bastard. Why else does he think I let him live?"

"You could try talking to him. He might listen to you." Hermione persisted, not about to let Mika side track her from the point she was trying to make. "You know we need him in top form if we're going to take Ferio down."

"And what makes you think he'll listen to me when he never has before?" Of course if he had, he'd be dead, given how many times she'd told him to die, Mika thought with a small smile. "Look, you talk to him, He actually likes you. I'll go find Aiden or Dare, leave you two alone."

"Do you know why Aiden's mad at me?" Hermione asked, this being one of the very few things that could sidetrack her at the moment from her worries about Ren. Surely Mika would know, she and Aiden were really close.

"He's not telling me, but then I am your cousin. Ask Dare, if anyone knows it would be him. Well and Sonya, but she can't talk so that sort of defeats the purpose."

"He talks more to that stupid tiger than he does to me lately." How much that pissed her off was plain in Hermione's voice too. She was sick and tired of Aiden avoiding her and refusing to let her mend fences with him. It was like he wasn't willing to be friends again until she figured out what she'd done that was so horrible in the first place. Or maybe this was all some elaborate plot to drive her completely insane since she still couldn't come up with a single crime she'd committed that was so horrible he'd throw away years of friends over it. She'd already asked Dare and she knew he knew but he wasn't telling, the jerk. Some second cousin he was.

"Don't let her hear you calling her that. I swear, that tiger understands everything we say."

"What tiger? My tiger?" Dare asked from behind them, having gotten sick and tired of wandering the halls while he waited for his parents to reappear, hopefully without any bloodshed or corpses to deal with. He didn't feel like digging graves at the moment. Too soon after brunch. Taking a seat beside Mika he stretched out his legs and looked at Ren too. "And why, on a beautiful day like this, would you chose to be staring at him of all people? I mean come on, they didn't drop us on our heads that many times as pups."

Thumbing a finger in Hermione's direction Mika laid the blame solely on her shoulder. "Hermione wants me to talk to him."

"Oh yeah, like that would go over well." Rolling his eyes Dare could see that ending in bloodshed so quick the pleasantries wouldn't even be over. "Kyou said he tried last night and he bombed out, and his people skills are better than hers will ever be."

"Hey, I have people skills!"

"Yeah, you're real good at scaring them and traumatizing them for life."

"You're not nearly as funny as you think you are."

"And that's calling the kettle black."

From his position Ren had a clear view of the three bickering cousins and though he couldn't hear what they were saying, their bond was clear as they sat watching him. Feh, how annoying, Ren thought as he gave them his back and concentrated on his exercises to no avail. He knew they were watching him and now that Dare had joined the audience he just couldn't take it anymore. Stalking away instead Ren had only gone a short distance when he spotted Aiden sitting under a large wisteria tree, staring back at him as Ren returned the gaze. Annoyed Ren stomped over and glaring down at the human demanded to know what he was staring at.

"Well you obviously, since you're talking to me." Was Aiden's calm reply, tilting his head back so that he could maintain eye contact with the obviously pissed off wolf. The fact that Ren might intend to take his frustration out on him did cross his mind, but Aiden could only hope that for the wolf's sake Ren didn't try anything. Not that he stood a chance against Ren, but once Mika scented his spilt blood she'd be over here in a heart beat and that really would be the end of Ren. And for a demon, Ren really was too young to die.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you to watch your mouth around your betters?"

"Yup, but since that isn't the case here I don't see any reason why I should be any more careful about what I say than I normally am. And just in case you're thinking of applying that fist to my face, I wouldn't recommend it. The consequences would be quite dire for you."

Giving a rather nasty laugh Ren's eyes had gone distinctively predator. "Think I'm afraid of you, human?"

"No, but if you have any sense in your head you'd be afraid of what my family will do to you if you were to beat the hell out of me. Even if you killed me, Dare's father would bring me back. He wouldn't bring you back. And while Hermione and Kouga might try to stop them, I'd lay serious money that the others would be able to get by them in order to avenge me. I'm pretty well loved that way and nobody kicks Kohaku's ass."

"You think Hermione wouldn't care if I killed you?" Ren asked, surprised enough by that to forget why his hands were in fists in the first place. He knew that Aiden and Hermione were close, or at least had been in the past. He also knew Hermione was upset because Aiden and she weren't getting along, and why would she be getting that upset about it if Aiden didn't matter to her? Of course women were strange things indeed, especially when it came to their emotions.

"Well I'd hope she'd care but she wouldn't be as choked up about it as say Mika or Aunt Kagome and Aunt Sango."

"Why would Mika care so much? She discarded you as a possible mate."

Looking at the wolf's scolding face Aiden couldn't shake the image of being faced with Ranma from Ranma 1/2. Now wouldn't that just be a match made in hell, Aiden thought, stifling the grin that threatened to cross his face. Now wasn't the time. "Actually, we sorta discarded each other. And just because we don't see each other as possible mates doesn't mean we aren't still close."

"How close." Eyes narrowed now to almost mere slits it was obvious that this conversation was going downhill. Fast.

Uh oh, Danger Aiden Robinson, Danger. "I mean as friends." Aiden explained quickly, wondering if Ren realized just what the implications were that he was this possessive about Mika. Probably not, since he had yet to see anything that would indicate Ren was that bright. "Like you and Hermione. You've always been just friends...right?"

Raising an eyebrow at the look on the human's face Ren wondered if the stupid human realized that he appeared to have more than friendly feelings towards Hermione. Probably not, being a stupid human and all. "That's right." Turning his head as two familiar scents reached his nose Ren jerked his head towards the buildings. "Lord Sesshoumaru and the slayer are returning."