Author's note: I am extremely sorry for the two month wait, I have done the best I could, but my charger for my computer got lost and I had to do some moving around, which proved to be rather complicating. So I am sorry, I hope your all still with me. As a third apology, I have edited the previous chapters and posted two chapters for you guys, I hope you like them.

Disclaimer: I do own Satoru, Itachirou, Naiera, Ichirou, Noboru, Atoru, Matasumi, Sayuri, Kinjo and Kasumi. I do not own Sesshomaru, Jaken, InuYasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango or Kaede. They are all the brilliant workings of Rumiko Takahashi.

An Unexpected Call

The sun was slowly sinking beneath the horizon, after I finished convincing the kids to untie their father and pull him out of the floor, as somehow they managed to pull out enough floorboards to stick him in there. I had Kasumi dress them, as it seemed that Sesshomaru called on us immediately for dinner.

"I cannot believe that I was beneath the floorboards."

I chuckled as I removed my coat, placing it over the mountain of boxes within the wardrobe.

"You bring these things upon yourself."

He opened his mouth in protest, but closed it quickly. Smiling, and somewhat laughing to himself he said lowly, "They are good memories."

I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Will you not tell me what's bothering you?" I placed my hand over his cheek, turning his head towards me.

He placed his hand over mine, closing his eyes, breathing as if taking in my scent, and everything else about me. Almost as if it was the last time that we would ever be together again.

"You're not selling me to Sesshomaru are you?"

"No." He laughed. "I don't think he could handle you."

"You're probably right…"

"Rin, if I haven't said it already. I love you, with all my heart."

I smiled cautiously. He had said it more frequently than ever in this psat few days. Something was happening. Whatever it was was, did it have something to do Sesshomaru calling us here? Or he letter that Satoru had recieved? What of the letter Satoru sent to Sesshomaru? Satoru left early in the night last night. Did he go to meet Sesshomaru?

"You have. You say it every day."

"Then I'm doing my job."

He stepped back, taking my hand in his, he pulled us close and moved us around the room. We were dancing. I closed my eyes, resting my head on his shoulder, listening to the soothing sound of a beautiful heartbeat.

"If I haven't told you Satoru, I love you."

His hands released mine. Our hands held each other's waists, in a tight and warm embrace, and I could not help feeling that this was a last. Last what? It was not something I knew, but it felt as if he was saying goodbye, and he would not tell me why. His cheek pressed against mine, as he dropped his head to my shoulder.

"Do you remember when we first met?" He asked.

I laughed. "Sometimes I wish I didn't, quite a compromising time."

"I didn't care… You changed me, the very first moment I could smell your scent…"He sighed, with tears in his eyes. "I used to hate humans." He admitted.

He was just like Sesshomaru.

He squeezed me slightly as he felt my slight pull.

"I am so ashamed to think of what I was. To believe that a whole race should be removed from this earth, just for being less than I was… Then a woman needed aide in the depth of the trees. She was in pain, and I could help. More than that, something about her pulled me to her. But she was human, the very thing that I could not stand. I came from the trees, saw her on the ground, and before I knew it, I was talking to her. There was no voice in the world that I ever needed more. I was holding her. There was no part of me that wished to let her go. I left her. It was a feeling far worse than any battle wound, and I knew I never wanted to know that feeling again. Before I knew it, I came to see her almost every day, only leaving when it was necessary. I hated the demon that had done this to her, as I realized, I might have done that same thing. I began to hate myself. I listened to her talk of the father, hating that the places could not have been switched. My mentor, had done this to her, and I had grown up believing it was one of the right choices to make. But, they were mine now, all three of them. And I could only hope that she felt the same way. But would she really feel that way someone who hated innocents just for the simple reason that they existed? No. She deserved more, and yet I needed her, even if I wasn't what she deserved. It was a past I decided to hide. She would never love me. But she accepted my hand. And the night of our wedding was the happiest of my life. It was not long after that, that she bore me another beautiful child. A half breed, once a disgrace in my eyes, now the best thing I had ever done. Nine years, seven children later, I am the happiest demon in the world. She would leave me, and they would too, if they knew the truth."

I pulled back, taking his face in my hands. His eyes were filled with tears that streamed down his cheek. My heart was breaking, I had never seen him like this, and my heart could not bear it. It was the most painful sight in the world.

"It was the happiest choice she ever made… I would never leave you for your past. I am with you, until the end. I love you."

He smiled.

I pulled his lips against mine, in a brief kiss, before pulling him back into my arms.

"We would never leave you." I promised.

Sesshomaru's POV….

I stood within the trees, masking my presence, I watched them intently. What was it that had me drawn to this sight? Perhaps it was misunderstanding.

Satoru was truly pleased with her presence. His heart was frantic every time she touched him; it was not the cause of her extreme beauty, but the woman itself. Satoru, more extreme than myself at times, had taken a human mate, wed her, and bred half breeds with her not one half breed, but five, and adopted those of another. He had given her a title belonging to that of a demon female, from which he could have any pick. He had dared to allow the half breeds to succeed him. And Rin, she had married a demon of similar standing. Why? Humans and demons cannot last, a lesson I had learned by my great father, brought down by such worthless creatures who served no purpose in this life.

Rin was clever. Not enough to know what it was that truly troubled him, but enough to sense a change in his countenance. How she would react to truth behind this visit was truly interesting. Even more so, was that I had agreed. Now it caused her to believe that she was being sold, was it a weak attempt at humor? And Satoru believed that I could not handle her, when I was certain the case was the he would not let her go. He had brought them here for a reason that may have involved doing just that, which he also fought himself for.

He had changed. He allowed himself to be defeated by his children. He told his wife every day that he loved her. He spun her, and a smile appeared on her face. She was happy. They were both happy together. When had they met, what was so compromising for her position? She had promised to stay with him, learning of a past with more evil than my own. Was that love? I was left with nothing but questions, especially regarding the off meeting of the two oldest. Itachirou and Naiera.

How could he adopt them as his own, they were not my blood, but they were obviously not of his blood. And from what I had seen, Itachirou did not value him very highly, but the girl. Naiera, she truly believed Satoru to be her father. He had given her his name, nothing less than a daughter's introduction, the same for Itachirou. They were somewhat similar to me, at least the boy was, the girl looked at me with hesitation, and I could feel the break in her heart. She had realized the truth, and it hurt Rin, and Satoru. He would go to her side, break the countenance one should have when in the presence of another lord. A demon lord of particularly of higher status, for a child not his own. Why?

I jumped from the tree as Rin kissed him. Making way to my study, I sought to speak with someone who I was certain would not refuse. There were things that needed to be cleared, and things I could not stand to see or hear any longer.

Rin's POV….

A tapping from the floor signaled that someone wished to enter.

"Come in." Satoru said.

The door opened to reveal Jaken.

"Milord, Lord Sesshomaru wishes to have a word with Lady Fujian."

We both looked to each other. He nodded and released me.

"I will return to call on you for dinner."

Satoru nodded as I followed Jaken from the room. It had been so long since I had roamed these halls as a teenager. The entire palace was decorated as elegantly as home was, perhaps even more so. There were beautiful paintings, idols that told anyone of Sesshomaru's wealth. I was led down a bright corridor into what I knew to be Sesshomaru's study. Jaken tapped the mats, and soon left me to enter a room with shelves of books, beautiful paintings on the walls and doors on all four walls of the room. The door with a beautifully painted tiger sat behind Sesshomaru, where he was seated at his desk covered in parchment. I bowed slightly, as his eyes met mine.

"You may go, Jaken. Tell Satoru that dinner is ready, and I will have his wife brought to the dining hall." He voice was soft, but firm.

Without a word of protest, but with a look of confusion Jaken slid the door shut. The sound of little feet came quickly and left in the very same manner.

"You wished to see me?" I asked trying to control myself. It was not the first time that I had ever been left alone with Sesshomaru; it was however, the first time that I had been here with him in his study. It was in the farthest corner of the house, the corner to which I had never been permitted and Satoru was not with me. Something had happened this afternoon, I was not sure what, but I knew it was the cause of the tears that came to Naiera's eyes, and with luck I would find out what.

"Yes."

"What topic shall we begin and end our future conversations with?" It was no use, my voice held an undertone of hatred, which I hoped he could hear.

He dropped the quill he held and looked at me, an emotion in his eyes that, like all things about Sesshomaru was a mystery

"You prefer to stand."

"Yes. In my home, when a question is unspoken, it is a question ignored. I must remain here with my husband." He moved his head slightly. "But, I do not have to deal with you. I know enough of your nature to interpret that you asked for me to take a seat, but I assure you that I will ignore it. I am a human being and we like being spoken to, the wife of a tiger demon I may be, but a dog I am not. Unlike some, I believe I am worthy of your respect, and your words. As are Itachirou and Naiera, who I am assuming you called me here to talk about."

He returned to his writing.

"You have changed since we last met."

"I was a young girl of fourteen. Now I am a woman with a husband, children, a home, my own family. For me to maintain myself forever at that time would be impossible."

He dropped his quill back in the ink, salted the parchment before rolling it and placing it to the far left of his desk as he pushed himself up.

"Itachirou and Naiera."

"What of them?" I asked in a dark voice, I knew at some point they would come up. That was what this was all about.

"You did not tell them."

"Sesshomaru, you will not openly declare them as your children, and for that, now I am thankful, they are not yours. They belong to Satoru. What cause did I have to tell them?" I snapped. "What concern are they of yours?"

"I wish to know where you decided upon such names."

"I named Itachirou. Satoru named Naiera."

His eyes sparked briefly. It was something that he had not known. Assuming that they were as close as one would guess or Sesshomaru's ability to get information without others knowing. I thought it was something that he would already have known.

"Satoru was there on the day of their birth." His voice grew gentler, almost…almost as if he was hurt.

"Yes. He met me weeks, if not months before." I looked towards him with interest, and something, pulled my heart towards him. For without my knowledge or permission, my voice grew softer.

He turned his back to me.

"And he married you regardless." He said to himself, returning to the careless tone that matched him so well. He turned to me, determination in his eyes. "Rin, given a past which I will no longer disgrace myself with thoughts of, I feel that I must tell you what is to come. The true reason for your return…" He continued to watch me, searching for something as if to gauge my reaction, and I felt in my heart, that it was news that would change lives. "A war is to be waged, enemies from the four lands, demons and humans alike, have begun to attack the Northern Lands."

I felt an echo of pain within my heart. That must have been what Satoru was hiding. Why he was so eager to take us from the palace, the people in our palace were not packing to protect from the hard winter, either they were preparing to leave the palace, or, preparing for war. Satoru, how could you not tell me this? I dropped my head briefly, to hide the tears that I could feel coming. The four lands, it was ours as well. I snapped to Sesshomaru.

"The Northern Lands as well… Why?" I pleaded.

"It seems that your union has gone beyond tolerable limits. Your death was expected within the second year of your marriage. Satoru is altered."

"But nothing has changed! He is the same demon he has always been… Why would he bring us here?"

"To protect you, and your children, there has been evidence of an attack upon your palace the moment you arrived here. Had you stayed any longer, you all would have been dead. Half breeds and humans alike. There has been an enormous amount of acceptance in your palace, and that cannot be tolerated. Satoru, once a firm believer in the separation of species is now a father to five children mixed with the blood of a human and a demon."

I felt my cheeks go red with anger.

"How can you speak so calm?! How can you dare say such a thing?! You are the father of two children with the exact same blood! For what reason is there a difference?! Why does it matter how we live?! To anyone, human or demon alike! Why didn't Satoru tell me this?"

"He did not have the heart."

"That which you lack." I snapped furiously.

"It is a weakness I do not possess."

"Of course not! The great and mighty Lord Sesshomaru responsible for the death of his father as much as the man that charged the castle when InuYasha was born! You speak without conviction. As if it is not the life of your children, or your friend that will be risked."

"I will not bear my father's shame."

I felt my blood boil, my skin heating.

"Shame? That is all they are to you. I do not know why I expected anything different from something like you. I don't know why I even sought in any small way to acknowledge them as being of your unworthy blood. Take me to the shame! Or better, you will find it yourself. Because what I have is seven beautiful children, a husband, and one giant regret."

"Do they combine?"

"The regret is you! I wish that I had never met you. Never mind, I cannot wish that. It would cost me the children I love without condition, for being who, not what, they are. Now may I go? You have insulted me in every possible way, and not only that, my family."

"I have pointed out the truth."

"The insulting aspects of the truth."

"Rin, I have accepted your Satoru's request to shelter you and your children here."

"I would rather take my chances at my home. I don't know what prompted this 'generosity', but I don't accept it."

"Your husband has requested it of me."

"Oh yes, because you are the honorable Lord Sesshomaru who would never turn away someone foolish enough to call you friend." I turned to leave.

"Rin." I listened as he stepped close behind me. "Itachioru, Naiera, Ichirou, Noboru, Atoru, Matasumi, Sayuri, Kinjo and Kasumi, would you risk their lives. If anything should happen to them, you will not survive. Itachioru, Naiera and Ichirou at most are the only ones able to protect not only them but you as well. And the others, they cannot."

I turned, his face inches from mine. He stood there, he almost as if he refused to leave, taking in the proximity and refusing to move. I turned away from him knowing that should anyone come in, it would not be beneficial to either of us, which surprised me, especially since the mighty Lord Sesshomaru was as well aware of that as I.

"Is that all you want Sesshomaru?" I asked refusing to look at him.

"No. Satoru, he married you. Why? Out of pity, sympathy, or any of those multiple human emotions?"

"That is a question better directed at him, for I can give you no answer. Satoru is the better one to answer that question, more so than I. I cannot tell you what led him to do what he did. But when I first met him, he held the same look in his eyes as you once did, and I know now that your teachings had something to do with it." I looked back, curious to see Sesshomaru's response to what I would say. "In my eyes, I did not expect such a proposal from such a demon. I soon found out who he was, and would have perhaps been more inclined to refuse had I but known the truth of his tutor earlier."

"You refused?"

"It is not something we talk about, but yes. Upon his initially asking, I refused, assuming that it was a joke, to overcome the truth that he meant to ask, and wanted nothing more than a favorable answer."

"And yet, the little girl who once followed me like a puppy. She stands before me as Lady of the Northern Lands."

I knew that tone; it was one of mockery, and resentment.

"And the demon who found no home anywhere, has now settled into the footsteps of his father, as Lord of the Western Lands." I snapped. "I know that I do not deserve to be in the Northern Palace, nor have I the right to mate with a demon. The same was said with you, and if not for the children that I love dearly I would regret it as I have said earlier. But I love Satoru," His eyes sparked. "and I am happy. We are happy. The children, all of them, we love them as they are. Satoru loves them. And you see it as a weakness, and I am here to tell you that you are wrong. He is a strong demon, a great father, and a great lord. All the while being married to me, a human, in the cold of winter we are in the warmest of moments. While you here linger on in your empty palace."

"I have my honor and my pride as a demon still intact."

"You too mated with a human to Lord Sesshomaru, and that human bore two children, children who you have dismissed. That simple truth, takes away all that you account for in yourself."

With that, the look of truth in his eyes, I left. I made way to my husband for dinner, and wished I hadn't. He stood by the door to the dining hall, looking as if he had years of worry on his face, and I could feel that every second that I was with Sesshomaru killed him, but he would not say it. He would not ask. In some ways, Satoru could be a child, a person whose heart you think could not be broken. But in the empty silence of that room, I heard the breaking of porcelain, a beautiful design that was Satoru's heart. And with every ounce of my being, I wished I could pick up the pieces, of both our hearts. When his eyes met mine, with the stare of an empty soul, the world darkened around me. He was hurt, but he would not run and throw his arms around me to assure himself that I was still here. I was a ghost. Here in this palace, where a girl that bore my name once lived, and a demon, that bore the heart of that girl. Satoru knew it wasn't him, it was Sesshomaru, and he was afraid. The great demon of the North was afraid.

I brought myself to him, pulling his hands, cold as ice into mine. I looked to him, deep into his broken soul.

"I have endured countless battles Lady Rin. I have survived many things, shown no fear… And all of that means nothing; I could have lost them all. To gain the strength I need to win this one battle, even if our time is brief together. I cannot lose."

Me. I finished. He could not lose me. I pulled myself up to place a gentle kiss on his lips. Tears began to well slowly in his eyes. Resting my head against his, I held him tight in my arms before making him look at me.

"You won't. I won't leave you Satoru. I married you, I am happy with you, I have children with you. I have a life with you, where without you, I don't want one. So for that, more importantly, I love you."

"I'm afraid."

"Don't be. For better or for worse, your mine."

He smiled, holding me tightly for a brief moment. He placed my arm on his, and led me into the dining hall.

"We'll be okay." He said, more to assure himself.