Across the Ages

Sorry that it's a short update I am running off to work. I will try to update later on. I know, Sessh can be such a prick, but he has his good points too. He's just being difficult, would really expect anything else from the great fluffers? LoL Please review, I love the reviews!

Chapter Thirty Two

Ayeka had left a scant two days later. Sesshoumaru and Ryu dispatched the troublemakers and he returned to the palace. He was quiet and withdrawn, his mind occupied with something that only he knew. Finally, he'd gone to see the one person in all the world he would ever confide in.

The magnolia tree didn't seem surprised by the demon's appearance before him. "I imagined I might be seeing you Sesshoumaru," the tree said, "Thought you might be here sooner". Sesshoumaru narrowed golden eyes at the tree. He let his youkai raised and erected a barrier between them and the outside world. The dog prince would take no chance of being overheard.

The tree waited, seeing the agitation in the younger demon's eyes. While Sesshoumaru was not known for his outbursts, he did suffer them occasionally. "Why have you come?" the tree asked at last. Sesshoumaru spun away from him, his voice when he spoke was devoid of emotion. "I find myself drawn to a human bitch" he muttered. The tree had heard of the girl from Inutaisho.

"Your father's daring lady general inspires desire in you?" the tree asked. Sesshoumaru huffed, "Bokuseno, I wish I knew what it was that she DID inspire" he said plainly. The tree chuckled earning a glare. It would be a series of questions and answers that would ultimately reveal the nature of the problem.
"She angers you?" the tree asked.

"Often"
"She fights your authority?"
"Daily"
"She makes you want to throttle her?"
"Yes"
"She is loyal? Brave?"
"Unquestionably"
"You admire her?"
"Oddly enough"
"You would keep her from harm?"
"Of course"
"She makes you smile?"
"Not in public"
"Of course not. You dislike when she is not near you?"
"Damn it, I'm here aren't I?"
"She does not submit to you?"
"She damn well will"
"Sesshoumaru, this is terrible"
"Terrible?"
"And wonderful."
"Wonderful? Make sense."
"Don't you see?"
"Explain yourself or you'll be firewood"
"You love her"

Sesshoumaru took a step back as though the distance might spare him from the tree's blasphemous words. He shook his head, "That cannot be." he stated clearly, "She is human". Bokuseno was nonplussed. "You act as though this thing has never occured before young lord"

Sesshoumaru waited. He knew that humans and demons had rarely come to together in the past. It was not smiled on by either nation. He was stronger than that wasn't he? "Your father has bedded humans has he not?" he asked. Sesshoumaru nodded, "Bedding and wedding are vastly different things" he pointed out.

Bokuseno's branches shook with mirth, "That they are. But is your father weak?" he asked. Sesshoumaru snorted, the question was idiotic. "Why then", the tree pressed, "Would you be weak to care for a human onna?" Sesshoumaru growled. That answer should have been obvious, he was the esteemed pedigree of demons. It would be like polluting the line of perfection.

"She is a wonderous fighter is she not?" the tree asked. Sesshoumaru nodded, "Very capable with weapon and hand". Bokuseno watched the dog carefully, "she is beautiful? Warm?" Sesshoumaru's head tipped back to see the sunlight filtering through the trees, "She rivals the sun to me" he admitted softly.

Bokuseno had known the pup before him since his birth, knew his noble parents. This woman, whoever she was affected him greatly. "You are strong Sesshoumaru, the taking of a human mate would not weaken you to your enemies. You are capable of keeping her safe, she would not fall into their hands to be used against you" the tree counselled.

They were all points that he had mentally argued to himself. Yet, hearing them from another they seemed so simple and clear. Not muddied as he had made them. "My heirs would be hanyou" he pointed out. Bokuseno smiled softly, "If it did not matter to you, do you suppose it would really matter to those close to you?"

No, Sesshoumaru mused inwardly, he supposed not. He wasn't certain what love was. Not sure that demons and humans felt it on the same levels or held the same meanings for it. Suddenly, his words with Ayeka that night came back to him. He understood that he had hurt her...deeply.

"I have misstepped with this woman" he admitted. Bokuseno had no doubts of that. Inutaisho had laughed heartily over the quiet war between the two. In the end though, he was a father, and father's wanted one thing....for their children to be happy.

He'd found similar happiness with Sesshoumaru's mother, though it had been brief. The thrill of the chase and winning her still caused his heart to beat faster. He wanted that for his child. He saw how close it was. Ayeka was human true, but he didn't see her as weak or lesser. She was his general, a warrior among warriors. And a sweet girl, whose life should have been better.

"Sesshoumaru, if I may advise?" Bokuseno offered. The dog prince waved impatiently. "You must woo her, win her. Your past mistakes will keep the seed of hurt and distrust in her heart. you will have to let her see my boy, see the one beneath. You can only deny it for so long and then something will happen that will MAKE you admit it.". Having his say, the tree fell silent, content to let the demon leap into his branches and think on what he'd said.

It was not the first time that Sesshoumaru had come to him with a conundrum and it would not be the last. When that time came, the tree would be here. Giving words of wisdom and care in his own way. He'd had a similar talk with the Taisho concerning Amaymei. The boy's mother.

Sesshoumaru had returned to the palace and sought his chambers. Was Bokuseno correct? His father had said nothing, knowing full well where his son had been. He smirked to himself as he heard the vastly satisfying slam of the chamber door. The old tree must have hit a nerve.

Ayeka, meanwhile was having struggles with the bat queen. The old woman knew, exactly how the game of negotiations was played and she played it well. The little human woman amused her greatly, not giving an inch without taking more of the same. She was a smart child.

What should have been a speedy trip, stretched and Ayeka realized that nearly three weeks had passed away from the inu court. The bats were not bad hosts to be sure, but they were quiet and more reserved, creepier than the dogs were.

Ayeka couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right but the more she thought about it and the more she looked the less evidence she found. It was infuriating and exhausting. She just wanted to go home. Maybe tomorrow, the old bat would break, accept the terms and she could get the hell out of here. Gods, she hoped so.

Queen Sakura stared across her bedchamber at her most recent consort. One that the court knew nothing of. She knew how to keep her secrets, just as she knew how to plot and scheme. "Duganmaru" she said softly, her black eyes shining in the dim light, "What news of your people?".

The young panther purred as he sidled behind the elder bat, mindful of her leathery wings. She was nearly as old as the Taisho though to humans in the area she looked like a middle aged woman. Bats never did age well, he supposed. Still, she was an attractive woman, with a good figure.

"They are waiting. While you parlay peace they move to intercept. When the general is found missing, the dog lord will act. This I know. When we refuse to negotiate, he'll come and he'll die" the panther said. Sakura felt his arms move round her waist, drawing her back against him, "Such actions for a mere mortal woman?" she pressed.

The panther nipped his way along her throat. "For her, he'll come. His own son saved her from death in that village" he assured her, speaking of the night his own cousin was beheaded by the tiny spitfire of the dog army. He had plans for her too. Right now, however the bat demanded his attention and he'd suffer another night of bedding her, a dozen more, if it gained him what he wanted.

In her bed within the strange palace, Ayeka thought of Sesshoumaru. She missed him, damn his pretty hide to hell. She knew that she would have to talk to him once she returned. They had to reach some manner of peace between them. She could not have him, ever, she knew that now.

Perhaps she should have accepted Ryu, or even left with Kurama. At least she knew where she stood with them, and that was far better than staying on the ever thinning and shifting ice that dictated her life with Sesshoumaru. Of course Ryu didn't hold her heart, and Kurama didn't make her burn. No problem she told herself, she didn't need those things anyway.

She thought back on the many secret fights they'd had in the solice of her rooms. When had it become common practice for him to barge into her chambers like he did? When had she began looking forward to it? She pulled the pillow over her head and muttered a long list of obscenities in the fabric.