A Tale For The Holidays

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of Might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe. Refrain

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave. Refrain

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight. Refrain

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery. Refrain

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things, far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And cause us in her ways to go. Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of peace. Refrain

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Rin, Kohaku, Miroku, and Kirara arrived at the village and hoped that they were not too late as they rushed to Sobo Kaede’s house.

Sobo Kaede was sleeping although every now and then her cough would wake her up. Sango wore her mask from the demon slaying and told everyone to stay back other than Rin since they didn’t know if this was contagious or not.

Rin felt Sobo Kaede’s body to find out if she had a fever and then started putting herbs into a pot and added some water to heat the brew up.

“She just has a cold, there is no fever and I do not believe it is contagious, but just in case you should all wait outside.”

Rin stated as Sango gave Rin her mask so that she could perform her miko duties.

Sango went outside to tell the villagers the good news and was glad that it wasn’t as bad as they all believed.

“Why didn’t Kagome come?”

Sango asked looking for the miko.

“Sesshoumaru sent Rin and Kohaku here deciding to keep Kagome and Inuyasha at his castle. I think it was probably best that Kagome is not here since their baby would not do well in this cold.”

Sango nodded to Miroku who was quite wise for such a young Houshi.

“It is good to see you Otouto.”

Sango stated to Kohaku who smiled and ran his hand over his neck as he kicked some snow aside.

“It is good to see you too Ane (elder sister). I don’t know how long we will be staying here, but I am glad to be out of the castle. It is too quiet there and there isn’t much to do yet. Sesshoumaru stated he wishes for me to train with his people so I can become a better slayer, but did not say how long it would take for this to occur.”

Sango and Miroku invited Kohaku into their house to warm up.

“So how is it living there? Are there many servants?”

Miroku asked since he didn’t get the chance to see the inside of Sesshoumaru’s monolith of a castle.

“There are very few servants and very few guards. It is protected by a rather powerful barrier. There are fairies everywhere who keep the place warm and well lit. I am just glad that I have these ear plugs to keep their songs out or I walk with Rin since she is a miko so that keeps them away.”

Sango smiled. She was glad her Otouto had trained so well when it came to demon slaying that he still knew about fairy magick.

“I stay in one of the guest rooms, but usually I walk with Rin around the gardens and she explains to me about each flower there and its purpose. There are some very unique flowers in the royal gardens I never had seen before. Rin says that Lord Sesshoumaru has people visit him from many countries so he receives gifts from them including flower seeds. With the warmth and care that the fairies provide for the flowers they are constantly in bloom and remain so year round.”

Sango and Miroku were both impressed.

“Lord Sesshoumaru stated that he wishes to train me and use the money I collected to grow so that I may become a Lord. Than we can live in the slayer’s village since I know you want to go back there Ane. I want to go back home too. This village is nice and all, but the slayer’s village is our home.”

Sango was surprised.

“I thought perhaps you did not wish to go back there because of the bad memories Kohaku. I am glad that you are willing to go back.”

Kohaku shrugged.

“I can’t change the past, but I know I can change my future and I want to do this thing with Sesshoumaru so I can take care of you too Ane. You always had taken care of me and protected me. I wish to do the same for you. I also think since you and Miroku want a large family that I can train our people in the art of demon slaying so that you may have a break for a while.”

Sango was near tears at this news. Kohaku had grown up so much since Naraku died and now he had much to live for.

“I think the best thing with this plan is we are not that far from this village and I think perhaps it will soothe the people here to know that we are here to protect them and with Rin being a miko they will not have to worry about going without their spiritual leader when Sobo Kaede goes to the netherworld.’
“Rin can teach others how to heal also and that way we can send a priest or miko to this village. Perhaps even the twins would be good at healing. Rin can teach them that while I teach them how to slay demons.”

Sango smiled.

“That is a very good plan Kohaku. I am so proud of you. You are growing up to be a responsible man and I will stand by you if this is your decision. I know your Ane wants this as much as I do.”

Sango nodded to the Houshi pleased that he was willing to support her Otouto.

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Inuyasha decided that Sesshoumaru had been gone doing his duties long enough. He was not about to wait forever to give Sesshoumaru his answer before he chickened out. It was either now or never.

Finally Inuyasha saw his Ani step out of a room stretching his arms as he yawned. Sesshoumaru was ready for a quick nap before lunch time since he had been up all night working on paperwork so that he could have the rest of today free, however there were a few urgent matters he had to take care of as his messengers seemed to fly constantly in and out his study window until he finally closed it not wanting to receive any more notices about problems in his lands. He would deal with all of that mess tomorrow, besides having wild boars run through a farmer’s field was not urgent enough to be concerned with. He would just send some of his hunters who lived outside of the castle to go take care of them later.

“Sesshoumaru, I have been looking for you everywhere you bastard. This place is like a giant maze and I don’t want to have to back track again to get your attention.”

Sesshoumaru looked impassively at Inuyasha who was stomping down the hallway toward him.

“What is it Inuyasha?”

Sesshoumaru stated as he looked down at his Otouto wondering why he was still wearing the robe he borrowed since his fire rat clothing should have been done by now.

“I want to tell you I will allow you to claim me as your mate verbally. That is all.”

Sesshoumaru looked surprised for a second, but then went back to his mask of indifference.

“I shall announce it then at Haha’s castle when we get there.”

Inuyasha nodded.

“And don’t think you are getting anywhere near my ass yet. I haven’t decided when I want to mate with you like that and I ain’t going to drink this nasty tea crap just to keep from being impregnated by you so just know it is hands off for now anyway.”

Sesshoumaru almost laughed at his Otouto who looked so damn cute with that pouty bottom lip.

“I will not touch you unless you wish it Otouto. However if it is alright with you I would like to kiss you and hold your hand on occasion.”

Inuyasha thought about it. He would eventually have to get used to Sesshoumaru being touchy feely with him.

“Ok, but no sex until I am ready.”

Sesshoumaru nodded in understanding as his lifted Inuyasha’s chin and placed a soft kiss upon his Otouto’s lips.

Inuyasha felt himself lean into the kiss and then it was over as Sesshoumaru waited for Inuyasha to open those big beautiful golden eyes.

“Well, if you wish for me to not molest you Inuyasha, you should put some clothing back on. I am certain your fire rat robes should be done by now and I wish for you to try some of my boots from when I was younger to see if any will fit you since you will not go bare foot around this castle unless you are doing more interesting things with me or your Tsuma.”

Inuyasha opened his eyes and nodded to his brother as Sesshoumaru had Inuyasha follow him into his room.

Pulling the cord, both Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru waited for the servants to come back with Inuyasha’s things. The tailor had finally arrived and was ready to measure Inuyasha so that he could adjust the armor that the new Lord was receiving this very day. The tailor also brought some fine female kimonos in different sizes for the new Lady of the Manor.

Inuyasha put on his fundoshi once again now that it was pure white and clean. Sesshoumaru turned around as Inuyasha requested for him to get dressed. Sesshoumaru didn’t understand what the big deal was, but Inuyasha tended to be a bit shy around his Ani since Inuyasha knew that Sesshoumaru wanted to have sex with him eventually.

“Do not put too much on Inuyasha; remember the tailor will probably measure you in your fundoshi.”

Inuyasha tied the bow on his hakumas and decided to go without his haori and undershirt.

Sesshoumaru ordered the servant to carry the box of boots that Inuyasha would try on while getting fitted for his new kimono and armor.

Walking back to the room with the armor, Sesshoumaru introduced Inuyasha to the tailor.

“Mana is our royal tailor and he will be here to create many kimonos for you for different occasions.”

Sesshoumaru explained as Mana finally stepped out from behind his many trunks of silk clothing and fabrics to greet his Lords.

Mana was a rather tall man with long silvery hair and violet eyes. Inuyasha assumed he must be another Inu demon since so far that was all Inuyasha saw since the guards and servants were all Inus.

“Lord Sesshoumaru, it is good seeing you again.”

Mana bowed before his Lord and then to his new Lord.

“I assume you are Lord Inuyasha. I am honored to meet you.”

Inuyasha frowned at all this bowing and shit. He felt kind of uncomfortable since he wasn’t used to this.

“Well, thanks.”

Inuyasha grumbled out while Sesshoumaru smirked at his Otouto who was acting nervous again.

Mana pulled a measuring tape out of his pocket and proceeded to have Inuyasha drop his hakumas so that he could measure Inuyasha’s body to insure that he had the right size.

“Perfect. Now you may dress in this.”

Inuyasha was handed a rather expensive looking robe which fit him perfectly this time.

“I have some kimonos already made in your size with something akin to the fire rat material you wear underneath it. The white fabric has the same mending and self cleaning skills as your robes, but it is much softer than your red robes.”

Inuyasha tried on a black and white Kimono with white dragons embroidered into the fabric. It looked very nice on him as he looked in the mirror.

“This is for special occasions and will still look appropriate with your armor Lord Inuyasha. However, there are a few kimonos here that are just to wear about the castle if you choose not to wear them with armor.”

Inuyasha tried on a blue kimono with gold threading, a green kimono that seemed rather plain except when it hit the light the silk had a shimmer to it, and then he tried on the white kimono with a blue flower pattern over it looking a lot like Sesshoumaru’s old kimono when he was younger.

Finally they got to the red kimono with the white honeycomb pattern that matched his Ani’s kimono.

“This is a bit big for you my Lord, but it will not take much to adjust it to fit properly.”

Inuyasha stood still in the billowing kimono that was not only too long, but built for someone with a wider chest.

“Do not worry about the chest area Inuyasha. You will grow into it.”

When Mana finished cutting off some of the extra fabric and magically sewing up the hems with such speed that in a blink Inuyasha was done and there was indeed enough room inside for him to wear his fire rat kimono under it.

Inuyasha put on his undershirt and pulled on his hakumas and haori before putting the new red and white kimono on over the top. Then Mana helped Inuyasha with his armor which was very similar to his Chichi’s armor at the gravesite. The black pieces were made of thick black dragon scale as well as the boots that Sesshoumaru insisted Inuyasha try on.

The boots Inuyasha tried on were fur lined and soft. Inuyasha wasn’t certain if he liked them or not. He was so used to touching the ground with bare feet that this would take some getting used to.

Looking in the mirror Inuyasha had to admit that he now looked like a Lord and he had to admit that he hated it. It was much too fancy for Inuyasha, but if he was going to be mated to his Ani than he needed to get used to the idea of wearing clothing similar to Sesshoumaru’s.

“Now where do I go to meet up with the Lady of the manor and of course the pup?”

Mana asked as Sesshoumaru ordered one of the guards to find Inuyasha’s wife and bring her and the pup to this room.