Author's Notes: Hello all! I have a huge note at the end of this chapter regarding Sesshomaru's age. You already know, by now, that there has been multiple guesses, debates, and theories as to how old Sesshomaru actually is. I provided only a theory and explanation to what might be his age. I do include what Takahashi said about Inuyasha's age to back up my assumptions, but I would encourage you to take what I say with a grain of salt. It's not confirmed information. I will also have to make some edits to accommodate for this, so bear with me, but the story doesn't change. It reads the same. It's just timeline errors on my part. I didn't take the time to sit down and think about this clearly until I dissected this particular flashback. I kind of rushed through it. Derp. :p

Mozō-me part 1

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Seisuiki jumped up from his seat on the boat to watch the development unfolding. The murkiness of the water was gurgling like a singular body was breathing. Poison breath was hovering just over the water like a putrid fog, but what made the old man stand in awe were the appearances of small spots of clear water dotting the slimy sea! The spots were the same size as the water surrounding Seisuiki's bobble. The monk's sister... was cleaning the water!

"Monk!" Seisuiki called, looking directly at Liuxian. "Who is your sister?"

"Meioshi? Why?" Liuxian questioned, tilting his head with suspicion.

The treasure ship from the other side of the island was rounding the corner towards them. It stopped just as the old man caught sight of it. From the pure spots of water came schools of pygmy angelfish. The old man scrambled around, making his tub boat rock violently, before he threw a net expertly on top of the spot. He the turned to Jaken and ordered, "Master! You and the spotted one, toss your net onto a spot of fresh water! Quickly! Monk, healer, say your sister's name three times, but throw your fishing hook near my bobble."

"What's going on? Why do we have to do this?" Jaken questioned, hustling about to get the net with Homugi.

"The monk's sister has chosen to seize the warship," Seisuiki explained, feeling his net sink into the clean water. Liuxian made quick work of tossing the fishing hook near the old man's water bobble. When his hook sunk rapidly, he yelped and braced for a dive into the water before he felt Yuko struggling to pull him back. Seisuiki hustled to pull the net towards him and yanked the rope one good time to lift up hundreds of pounds worth of colorful fish from the clean water. "Master, pull your net! Monk! Healer! Say the girl's name!"

"Meioshi! Meioshi! Meioshi!" Liuxian and Yuko chimed in unison.

Just as Homugi and Jaken tugged on the net together, a bright light blinded them while a steady rising of bubbles and foam towered over the group and sucked Yuko and Liuxian into the waters...

About 210 years ago...

Sesshomaru stood before the mirror of the Akabeko Temple, looking at the holy beads decorating the bottom of the ornate item. The dressing room was empty and quiet. The darkness of it was as thick as hide save for the candelabras with flames fluttering and waving about with their ethereal amber light. He held no excitement in his eyes, no joy in his heart, and no happiness in his soul. He didn't want to look at his reflection in the mirror. He was still living out the rest of his period of shame internally - a final testament to his own self-discipline. He had failed in protecting his people. There was nothing he could say or do to restore his family. There was nothing he could do to mend his friendships. Everyone was gone. He was a caged animal without ever realizing it, a sheltered boy without knowing it, and now a shamed child transitioning to an uncertain adulthood. He may as well become the mirror, showing the reflections of the world but never being part of it. Perhaps there is much content in showing others their own world without feeling anything for it. A mirror can stand wherever it wants, can see many things, and can be covered by whatever others want to cover it with. It won't protest. It won't move. It will only reflect. He could be this very mirror but only after he fulfills the last bit of his punishment.

He came to the temple in a black nagagi top, haori jacket, and hakama pant to grieve for his loss in private. He didn't want to be accompanied today. He embraced his grandfather one last time, listened to his mother's final piece of advice, and took in his father's scent as a final goodbye to them all. Once he left the temple to complete this punishment, he leaves the boy within him behind for good. The boy can grieve as much as he wants. His family could miss him if they wanted. The man he was choosing to be will not grieve or miss his time with his family. They could relive the memories if they wished. He will leave all of it behind. He will be their mirror. If they wanted to be part of his life after this, it would show. Taking a step before the mirror, Sesshomaru kneeled down to sit and slowly but surely dissected his fondest memories throughout childhood. What qualities could he savor from his family out of respect? The might of his grandfather... the speed of his mother... the killing strike of his father... What qualities could he spare from his friends out of respect? Pride in being an inu warrior... confident in skill... persistence in taking what was his... This day would mark the last day he would ever feel shame again. His first hunt was complete. His training was complete. He only had the recitation of the Shimabukuro law, the changing of his garb, and the acceptance of his ceremonial markings to go. His family could have their party. He had no use for it.

A door opened behind him. He smelled his father. He was nervous. His footsteps were careful. Sesshomaru didn't bother to acknowledge him. He was in mourning for the people he lost and the boy he was abandoning. Weaknesses... were the cousins of failures. He wanted no relation to them.

"That's a bit somber for you, pup," Toga said lightly, stopping jump a few paces away from Sesshomaru.

"I am grieving."

"Grieving?" Toga questioned, furrowing his brow and shifting his body. "Who is lost to you?"

"Many now," Sesshomaru strained, not hiding his annoyance with the question.

Toga sighed then said, "Pup, why won't you tell me what happened to you?"

"It doesn't matter. The gates have been closed."

"It does if you're doing all this!" Toga argued, approaching him just slightly. "I'm your father! I'm here to make sure you - !"

"Don't!" Sesshomaru snapped, sharply turning his head and growling menacingly. He took a deep breath to calm himself before softly repeating, "Don't. You believed I needed to be punished. I will obey you. Let me grieve in peace."

"My son, I can help you if you just - !" Toga tried.

"I don't want your help... I just want to say goodbye," Sesshomaru interrupted, turning back around. "You have another family to protect now. Go see them."

"You are my son! You are worth protecting just as much as - !" Toga tried again, taking more steps forward.

"Don't you touch me!" Sesshomaru barked, eyes turning red to signal his transformation. "You're no different from those wretches. You swoon and sigh for your human woman just because she fulfills your need to feel wanted again. How does it feel being a hero again, father? How does it feel having someone kiss your armor and fall into your arms like a helpless doll? Do her lips taste just like mother's when she used to wipe the floor under your ass? Do they feel just as good on you? I haven't been worth protecting since I came of age, have I? You found something more to protect. Don't run to me thinking I was ever going to believe I was part of that thing. You want to feel needed so damn bad? Go back to your human! Leave me! You have my blessing..."

"My lord!" Jaken called, hearing his voice as just a faint whisper. He was just beyond his master's reach, seeing him in pain and with tears in his eyes. He had never seen Sesshomaru in that kind of state before. Yes, he grieved for Rin, but... this grieving was not the same. What on Earth was he seeing? Lord Toga was here?

'There are poisons that blind you..., and poisons that open your eyes... Anger has poisoned the heart of our lord. He has seen a truth that took his life... he has gained an enemy that caused him strife. Through my eyes, you can take that truth, transform it into a weapon, and become his tool... of wrath and ruin. Act with wisdom, O, master... and you can become the antidote that you have chosen to be...'

"Wh-what is this?" Jaken questioned, feeling himself floating towards Sesshomaru. He looked so much younger in front of him. Abruptly, Jaken was flung into the mirror and came face to face with his crying lord. "Lord Sesshomaru. What happe - ?"

Jaken's eyes suddenly went completely black and all was dark. By the time he came to, Nintojo let out a roar of wind and water. Homugi, Yuko, and Liuxian were thrown out first. Meioshi flew out afterwards, landing on her feet, and anticipating another attack. Jaken... did something else. He floated out of Nintojo with a mask on his face between his two fingers and a staff in the shape of a harpoon in his other hand. The mask was similar to the skeleton head that Sesshomaru's other form possessed, and the eyes... were red and blue... as though Sesshomaru were transforming into his inu form. The heads of Nintojo floated about Jaken, coming to life and power through the effects of the black waters...

Author's Footnotes: Welp, my plans changed for this holiday, so I will be able to update per usual. The universe is trying to tell me something. I don't know. :/ Anyways, I doubt I'll be finished with this entire episode on Dec 27th, but I will pop a bottle of fake champagne to commemorate this story's anniversary as I said last chapter. (I haven't been working on this fic continuously for twelve years, but it's been 12 years since I posted the first chapter, so I'll celebrate that.) I'm actually happy with Jaken's little bonus chapter. It feeds into my theory that Jaken really couldn't care less about any of the women that have pined for his lord. XD He'd rather pick out a woman himself. You all would know about him more than I do, obviously, but that was how I interpreted his feelings towards the women in Sesshomaru's life with exception to Milady and Rin. (You can insert your own character or yourself in place of Meioshi, though. ;-D)

For some clarity, I have Sesshomaru being 14-15 in this flashback. There's been debates on how old Sesshomaru is in terms of human years, but I pretty much boiled it down to him being somewhere between 375 to 495 years old at the youngest. My reasoning is because of Inuyasha. I think I remember Takahashi saying that Inuyasha would have aged once every 13 years had he not been pinned to the tree, but she has since restated that he ages once every 10 years because of that event. I don't see how that makes much sense, if any, but if that's the case then I assumed that Sesshomaru's age count is double that. He's always been double Inuyasha's strength and speed, so it's a safer bet to assume he ages doubly slow. If Inuyasha ages once every 10 years, you can assume Sesshomaru ages once every 20 years which makes him 380 years old; however, if Inuyasha was meant to age every 13 years, then Sesshomaru ages every 26 years which makes him 494 years old.

I, genuinely, hate the way Takahashi explained the aging process for Inuyasha. A little bit of my lifespan gets cut every time. However, I was trying to figure out about how old Sesshomaru was when his father left. That's a better way to determine his age in human years. I assumed he had to be between the ages of 13 to 16 because Sesshomaru was wearing his white garb in the flashback of his father's death. By that point, the coming-of-age ceremony had been completed just before then, so he's considered an adult or has assumed adult responsibilities. The problem with that is if I let Sesshomaru age once every 26 years and I let Inuyasha be his full 200 years (regardless of the time he didn't age because of the pinning to the tree) then Sesshomaru would have aged nearly 8 years during Inuyasha's lifetime. If that's the case, he would've been 11 when he went up to his father for the swords. Ain't no way an 11-year-old is looking like that! Therefore, he must age ridiculously slower. If we go back to Inuyasha's full 200 years of life again and we assume that Sesshomaru only aged between 3 to 6 times in order to be 19 by the start of Inuyasha and of an adolescent age before his father died, I'd say he's somewhere between 625 to 1275 years old at the oldest. That means he would age once every 33 to 67 years and not 20 to 26 like many have believed. This makes more sense to me and shows just how much shorter a half-demon's lifespan can be compared to a purebred demon.

However, taking the average of all four numbers from 20 to 67, I believe it's more likely that he ages once every 36.5 years. That would mean he was approximately 13.5 in inu years at the time of his father's death, which is believable considering the age range of coming-of-age ceremonies during the Age of Samurai, and he potentially was born in the year 808 to 809. In theory, the Shikon Jewel would've been created somewhere around his birth year. I'm not sure when exactly, but he would have clearly been a young child by the time of its creation; meaning, he would have no interest in the Shikon Jewel because he wasn't craving power just yet. He would've been too young to understand that. In theory, he potentially is 693.5 years old in human years according to Inuyasha's storyline. Uh oh, that might be a birthday episode in the future. Hold on! *adds a quick note*

Ahem! For my story, however, I think 13.5 is too young for him to behave the way that he did around the time of his father's death, and I can see why Toga would feel that Sesshomaru wasn't ready for the swords if he was that young. He wouldn't have had enough life experiences to take on such a big role at that age and would need far more guidance in that case. It makes more sense, to me, for him to be closer to 15 instead. He still would be too young to take over as the new ruler, so he would still need guidance, but the emotional turmoil he experiences around that time makes infinitely more sense for his character. Thus, according to Hell Doctor, Sesshomaru ages once every 42 years, he is 798 years old in human years, and he was born somewhere between the years 704-705. I hope that all makes sense. Feel free to correct me on his age if the information has been released. This is all just a guess on my part.

On to the more serious topic, Jaken's role is obviously going to be different in this story since Nintojo is going to be required for Sesshomaru's final battle and there will come a point when Jaken has to decide how he'll handle what he learns about Sesshomaru and Toga's past. As you saw in this chapter, I'm just theorizing on what could've happened in their past for things to have crumbled to what's now canon. (I think I mentioned that I'm not completely sold on Sesshomaru hating Toga just because he left for a human or Milady being nonchalant about the whole thing. I'm mainly just showing you why I think it's bigger or deeper than that.) Jaken's verbal/emotional response to it will be my challenge, but what I have him do as a response might be your challenge. If, in the future, you feel that the content is offensive or OOC, you are within your right to discontinue reading or expressing your concerns via PM. I only ask that you remain civilized. As I mentioned for Season 3, it'll get rough when the original cast make their appearances because a lot is going to go on. Even though I don't have many reviewers right now, and I really don't foresee many joining the fray in the future, I want whoever has been supporting this story to brace themselves just in case another user jumps in to give his/her two cents and it upsets/disturbs you. I only ask that you don't argue with them if it happens. I'll give as many warnings as I can, but I can't guarantee other users will read or respect them.

With that out of the way, let me let Jaken have his shine. XD