Learning to Love

Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine, they are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Hey everyone, thanks for the wonderful reviews, you can unload the catapult of rotten fruit and vegetables now…lol…well I’m taking a break from the island paradise, because I think I was moving too fast with their relationship, so I’m going to move to how their families are reacting to their disappearances…I’ll probably move back to the island in about one or two chapters, but for now…On with the show!!!...AKK!!(thump)@@



Muse: Ah ha I got you again, revenge will be mine (crazed laughter), you will never live to see the dawn of a new day…AAKK!!(thump) @@



Little muse: I’m sorry everyone, Muse is just a little crazy from being locked up for so long, but don’t worry; that boulder being smashed over her head should make her normal again (innocent smile)… well since the author lady and Muse are out cold, I guess it is up to me to post the chapter, lucky the author lady already wrote it. Well here it is!

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A white blur zipped through the forest. She jumped from branch to branch so fast that anybody who was nearby only saw leaves falling to the ground. The person was on a mission, she was looking for someone. She had gotten a bad feeling, and she always followed her instincts, it was one of the most important lessons that her father had left with her before his passing. Now her instincts were telling her something was wrong with someone very important to her, and she was going to find him and help him if she could.



“Aniki…where are you? Why can’t I sense you anymore?” she thought, then she came upon the spot where a battle had obviously taken place, but that is not what bothered her about the scene, she could smell her brothers blood in the clearing, plus the blood of another. Sniffing around the clearing, she could tell that her brother had lost more blood than his opponent, not a dangerous amount, but still his opponent must have been a very skilled warrior in order to shed so much of her aniki’s blood. Finally she found the spot where the opponents’ blood was, but there were only a few drops on the ground. From this little bit though, she could tell that the opponent was female, that disturbed her even more than the amount of her brothers blood spilt. She had heard of a demon slayer that never let her quarry escape, her skills were unrivaled in the world of mortals, and she had slain many powerful demons. Armed with this knowledge she set about returning home, he brother was not there, the scene was about a day old, so there was no use staying there.



She swiftly turned and began running back to the Western Palace; she just had to tell Papa about what she had found. He had told her not to go and she had disobeyed him in order to discover what had caused her uneasy feeling.



The journey back was slower than the journey there. She was depressed about not finding her brother, and distressed about the blood of the woman, thinking on it she was sure it was the blood of the slayer she had heard of from some of the older demons, because there was nobody else whom she could think of who could cross swords with her brother and live.



Before nightfall she arrived back at the Western Palace. Immediately upon arriving at the gates of the palace, the guard on duty informed her that the lord wished to speak with her.

“Oh boy, Papa’s gonna let me have it.” She thought



The guard who relayed the message was a secret admirer of the woman who had just stopped in front of the large stone gates, but because she was the adoptive daughter of the Lord of the Western Lands, and Lady of the Eastern Lands; though she normally left the watching of the East to the Elders of the wolf tribe, when large matters arouse she personally made an appearance and established her authority over even the Elders of the tribe; he knew he didn’t stand a chance of getting her, so he contented himself with watching her from afar. And what a view; she had knee length silver hair that had a blue hue in the sunlight, she was very tall for a woman also, about 6 foot if he had to guess, anyway she was only about two inches shorter than the lords’ eldest son. Her eyes were a cool amber like the lords’, but unlike his, hers had some blue and green flecks scattered thru the irises, but they were only really visible when the sunlight shown in her eyes…(hey he really like the girl so he noticed these things tee-hee)…She had two crescents on her forehead; one golden one that faced the east and next to it was the western facing midnight blue one that was shared by the royalty of the western family, she also had two magenta stripes on each cheek like the eldest son of their lord. She looked quite a bit like the oldest son when he thought about it, it was almost like she was really born to the former lady of the west, may her soul rest in peace. Her facial features were very similar to those of the eldest, high cheek bones; magenta stripes above her eyes…the eldest son had blood red…sharp chin and a smooth jaw line, and pointed elfin-like ears. She wore a black pant style kimono that contrasted nicely with her pale complexion and hair, it had silver crescents stitched around the collar and right sleeve cuff, with blood red cherry blossom petals stitched around the moons, it gave the illusion of them falling down the sleeve, she also wore armor of a similar fashion to the lord and his eldest, except it has two rows of spikes on each side, it was very becoming on her in his opinion.

He had been inspection her just a little too long, and was knocked from his daydream, when she politely cleared her throat, realizing his folly he quickly went to apologize, but was stopped by her raised hand.



“It’s alright Heero, could you just open the gates for me, Papa will be rather angry with me as it is, so I really don’t want to keep him waiting much longer, plus it is not proper for a LADY to open the front gates now is it.” She said with a certain amount of humor in her voice, plus she had emphasized the word “lady”, when everyone in the palace knew she was as far from a true lady as a person could get. True she was innocent to a man’s touch, but she was raised like a man, so she lacked certain ladylike charms, like modesty and delicate eating habits, and so on. She really didn’t care; people at court could just get over themselves, what she lacked in proper ladylike training she made up for by being one of the strongest and most intelligent warriors in the land, third to her adoptive father and aniki. Those last two reasons were the reason why the soldier in front of her was so quick to apologize to her, she had kicked his ass before and he knew that she wasn’t afraid to do it again; she did have a nasty temper when provoked.



“Y..y..yes m’lady” he stuttered before quickly pushing the heavy stone gates open allowing her entrance to the courtyard.



She quickly moved from the courtyard to the main house, she could smell the lord in there and new that he was waiting on her. After a few deep breaths, she slid open the door that led to the lords study. He was sitting in front of his desk with his usual stack of papers in front of him, and when she entered he stopped what he was doing and looked up at her with an expressionless stare, but she could see the anger beneath the emotionless facade.



“Please Papa, let me explain…”she began but was quickly cut off.



“You deliberately disobeyed me and left the castle, I have no interest in your excuses, you know it is not safe for you to leave the castle at the moment, and yet you still defied my order and left the protection of the castle.” His voice was cold, and it cut through her like a knife, he wasn’t really mad at her, he was scared for her safety, she could also detect a hint of disappointment in his voice. She hated to disappoint him, he had taken her in when her parents had been killed, given her a home and a family to call her own, so she did all she could to make him proud or her. To disappoint him was something that hurt her more than anything, but she felt justified by her motives, and decided to voice her reason for leaving, and she hoped that he would understand.

“Papa, I know it is not safe for me to leave the castle, but I believe my reasons were just. I thought that it was strange that Sesshoumaru took more than a day with his patrol of the lands, even if he did take time out to hunt, so in my meditation I tried to sense him, but it was no use it was like he had totally disappeared, there wasn’t even a trace of his presence any were.” She began her argument, and waited for his response to all that she had told him already.



Lord Inutaishio was no fool, for some reason his daughter was gifted with the ability to sense his eldest son even if he was masking his presence, so this information was a bit unnerving. He had noticed that his son was taking longer than usual on his patrol of the territory. He figured that he had stopped to hunt, but even with that considered it was still taking him too long to return home.



“So there was no trace of him what so ever?” he asked with a serious gaze locked upon his daughter



“No, there was a place I found, the place was covered with aniki’s scent, and his blood. There wasn’t enough around to be fatal by any means. It looked like it came from many small wounds rather than anything major. He was definitely in a fight with a worthy opponent. The clearing was littered with aniki’s blood, but there was only a small spot where his opponents’ blood was spilt. From it I was able to tell that it was a female, I fear it is the warrior that the elders often talk about, for I couldn’t think of any other who could go head to head with aniki and live to tell the tale. I left the clearing soon afterward because the scents were all well over a day old.” She finished with a grim expression on her face



“How do you know that his opponent still lives?” Inutaishio questioned further, now he was really uncertain about his eldest sons predicament. He too had heard the tales of the warrior princess that was extremely gifted at killing demons, her skills in battle were said to be extraordinary for a human, and she was also supposed to possess super human strength. He had also heard though, that she didn’t go hunting demons for pleasure or gain, she only went when her subjects were in danger, or actively being attacked by demons. She was no ruthless killer, and she was no thrill seeker, she only did what she had to in order to survive and protect those under her rule, so it made no sense her attacking his son.



“I know she lives because there was no scent of death and the severe lack of blood in the area leads me to believe neither was seriously injured, their scents also didn’t lead away from the area so I believe that something or someone has taken them away somewhere beyond our reach.” Just as she finished telling her father all she knew, she sensed something behind her. She instantly pulled a hidden dagger from her sash, and in the blink of an eye she had the blade pressed against the throat of a woman that had appeared out of nowhere.



“Put your blade down girl, I mean you no harm, and you can’t hurt me with a blade anyway. I merely came here to inform you of the whereabouts of your son, Lord Inutaishio.” The woman with long wavy blond hair said as she vanished from the girls clutches, and reappeared before the lord of the castle sitting Indian style in front of his desk.



“My name is Ericka, now before you go jumping to conclusions, your son is safe and sound but it will be a while before he is able to return home, all I am permitted to tell you is that he is beyond your reach at the moment, but the gods are watching over him and all that is happening is according to their divine will and guidance, and when the time is right he will be returned to you completely unharmed. And with that I am afraid I must take my leave.” Ericka said beginning to shimmer into nothingness, but the girl had a question that this creature would answer for her.



“Wait, my brother was fighting someone before the gods took him away, please tell me who it was, and do they have anything to do with what the gods are planning?” She quickly questioned the quickly fading image of Erika. The image turned and smiled at the girl.



“Why do you ask questions that you already know the answers to Ikaru, daughter to the late Lord Ookamitaishio, you have enough answers for now, be content that your brother is alive and safe, soon enough your part in the plan of the kami’s will come to pass…” Ericka said as she disappeared into nothingness before their very eyes.

“What was she, and how did she know what we were talking about before she appeared?” Ikaru said



“I believe daughter, that we just saw a tennyo. They are unable to tell lies, but rarely tell the whole truth about a situation. I believe Sesshoumaru is safe, but his role that the tennyo spoke of, that is what worries me, for now we will let fate take its course. You however, are forbidden to leave the castle grounds, and if you disobey me this time you will face punishment, this time you are forgiven. You had a good reason for leaving, but I wish you had come to me with your concerns rather than rashly go out and try to find your brother yourself…” Inutaishio said, but was interrupted when the door to his study was slid open and a small boy with silver hair and a bright red kimono walked in rubbing his eyes sleepily. The thing that stood out on the boy most were a set of adorable puppy ears on top of his head, he looked around at the serious adults in the room then flashed them a sleepy smile.



“Where is aniki?”The little boy asked innocently.



Ikaru quickly went over and picked up the little boy and cradled him in her arms. She knew how much he loved and admired his brother, and it was going to kill her to have to lie to him, but it was better that having him constantly waiting for him.



“Aniki has gone on a long journey, Inuyasha, he’ll be back in a few months.” She said to the little boy. She hoped like hell he would accept that answer; it wasn’t a complete lie, and it was common for Sesshoumaru to disappear for several months at a time on business.



“But he didn’t even say good-by, or pat me on the head as he left, or even tell me that he was going…or…or…sniff, sniff.” Inuyasha began to sniffle and tear up at this point, so Ikaru rocked him and whispered soothingly in his ear.



“Shoosh…shoosh…it’s gonna be ok, Sesshoumaru had to leave suddenly Inuyasha, why Papa and I just found out about it also. Come now, stop those tears. Aniki will be back, and I bet he’ll have a surprise with him too.” She said as she wiped the tears from the little boys face with the corner of her sleeve. The last statement got the boys attention and he looked at her quizzically



“What will aniki bring home with him, nee-san?” he questioned



“I don’t know. Maybe a new move to teach you, or a present, or maybe he’ll bring home a mate to introduce to everyone…though I doubt that the last one will be the case” she said laughing, “But have you ever known him to leave and not bring something back with him. Now go back to bed Inuyasha, you have a long day tomorrow, and your mother will be angry with you if you sleep through your lessons again.” She said as she kissed his forehead and set him down on the ground. He hugged her leg tightly, and she ruffled his already messy hair. He said good night to his father and sister then left, returned to his chambers, and quickly fell asleep again.



“I knew it wouldn’t be long before Inuyasha noticed his brothers’ absence, but I never expected it to be this quickly, you handled it well daughter.” Inutaishio smiled at his daughter



“I hate to lie to him, but it is better that he thinks that he is on another trip, rather than him know he is missing and that no one knows where he has disappeared to. I also have this strange feeling that he is going to bring a surprise home with him, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it would be…oh and before you go asking Papa, I didn’t run into anybody, and I masked my scent. No one followed me.” She finished.



“You know I worry about you; that rouge will stop at nothing to take you as his mate. It was your late father’s desire, and mine as well, that you get to choose your own mate. His family has no honor, they are as close to the mindless beasts that terrorize the humans as demons can get. That is why we both turned down his offer to be your mate when you were younger, and why the pact was made between us that should something happen to your biological father, that I would take you into my pack and raise you as my own. We hoped that it would never come to pass, but unfortunately it did, with your fathers passing, I became your guardian. Did you ever wonder why you spent so much time in my castle when you were little?” he continued when she shook her head indicating that she did not, “Well it was in preparation for the unlikely event of your fathers passing, but something happened that neither of us expected. You took so well to my family that you were calling me Papa before too long, and you saw Sesshoumaru as your older brother. Bloodlines and lineage meant nothing to your young mind; you thought you had two families, and your father and I didn’t have the heart to tell you. My mate at that time treated you with as much affection as she did Sesshoumaru, she saw you as the daughter that she could not have. Your mother and my mate were very close friends, so it was natural to them to share you. Your mother was not able to be active and play with you when you were younger, so my mate took over where she was not physically able to. She took you and Sesshoumaru on picnics, explorations of the forests, and other things that fit both of your young fancies. Too be honest, I was surprised that Sesshoumaru took to you so well. He was a very solitary boy then, only becoming truly open and carefree when he was with his mother, he was such a momma’s boy. Then you came along, at first he was a little put off that his mother was putting so much of her attention into your visits with us, but it was actually you that warmed him up to the idea of sharing my mate. Ahhh…I remember that day like it was yesterday, my mate was going to take you out to play in the gardens; you stopped suddenly, turned around and ran back to the front door where Sesshoumaru was moping, he had been masking his presence hiding behind the door, so needless to say you about scared the life out of him when you immediately found him and asked if you would like to join them. I thought at first he was going to say no, but then his mother came up and saw the state that he was in, and it was like she had been slapped in the forehead, she started to cry and held him saying how sorry she was that she had been ignoring him, and she promised him that from that point on that he would be included in all of their activities, he turned several shades of red from being embraced, then I thought he was going to pass out from how white he became. Do you remember what you said then?” He said trying to hold back his laughter.



“Yes I said, ‘Don’t worry I don’t like to play girly games, I like to play hide-n-seek, catch, sparing, and things like that…’ I was relieved to see him regain his color, he became my favorite playmate after that and he became so protective of me, I think he actually thought of me as his sister before I thought of him as my brother. I remember one time I was being bullied by some kids in my class, they had thrown me on the ground, they had been calling me names and pulling my hair, I was crying by that point, then all of a sudden I saw a white blur and heard a vicious snarl, the other kids ran away screaming, I think one or two even wet themselves. Then I was being held by Sesshoumaru, he just held me until I stopped crying, then he helped me to stand up and brush myself off. For the rest of the day he was like my shadow. After that day no one ever bullied me again, but they never wanted to make friends with me either, aniki was my only friend for the longest time…what are we doing? Reminiscing about the past is only going to make us feel his absence even more. We need to go on like nothing has changed.” She said. She was already starting to feel his absence; she had to remain strong for Inuyasha if no one else, she knew now that he was safe, and that is all that mattered.



“I suppose you are right daughter, why not go and spar with that young guard, what was his name, oh yes Heero. Why not go and spar with him, it will relieve some of your stress and make you feel better, plus you will be guarded from running off again.” He said it all with a large grin on his face, he knew of the young guard attraction to his daughter, but she remained oblivious, but she looked a little miffed at his last statement.



“I do not need a watch dog Papa I can practice on my own…”she snarled at him, but perhaps he was right, a good spar may be just the ticket to a good night’s sleep, but Heero was nowhere near her level, oh well she could teach him if nothing else, he needed to work on his hand to hand combat, yeah that is what she would do, work with Heero on his hand to hand combat, and beat him to a bloody pulp in the process, yep that seems to be just what the doctor ordered.



“Hehehehe, yes I am aware that you can practice on your own, but I still want the guard to be with you, I will send someone to relieve him at the front gate and he will meet you in the field next to the court yard, now go and change he will be there in twenty minutes, and I don’t want you to keep him waiting, do you understand me young lady?” He really left no room for an argument, so she just nodded her head and left the study, now maybe he could get some work done.



30 minutes later



“Hump…Papa tells me not to be late and then Heero is late, wonderful…well that was a waste of time, guess I’ll just go to bed…” she started to walk back to the house when she heard someone rush into the opposite side of the clearing. When she turned around to look she saw it was the person she had been waiting for.



“You’re late.” Was all she said, and she said it with as much ice in her voice as she could muster, she added her signature death stare for good measure as well. It had the desired effect on its victim; he started to shake like a leaf about to fall off of a tree in the wind.



“Please forgive me milady, some unforeseen happenings prolonged my arrival, you have my deepest apologies.” Heero bowed low, god he hated that glare, it was the thing that all of the men in the army feared, none were immune to its effects. It was like looking into your own, very painful, demise. He shook it off on this occasion, he did deserve it, he had been late, he was lucky he wasn’t missing a very important piece of his anatomy at the moment, he had heard that the last person that had kept her waiting had pissed her off enough that she had taken his punishment into her own hands, the man was never the same after that. He cringed on the inside, god he would have to tread carefully for a while, hopefully that would be enough to placate her temper.



“Whatever, I do not care for your excuses, let us begin. Your hand to hand combat needs improvement, and I intend to remedy the situation before the moon is at its peak, come at me with the intent to kill, your natural strength will be the only thing you will use tonight.” Her gaze remained serious as she examined the solider in front of her. He was from a noble family, his knee length golden brown hair had silver strands woven through it and was tied into a low pony tail at the middle of his back; he wore a pair of training hakamas, and a leather vest covered his well defined chest, his markings consisted of two dark blue strips on each cheek and a blue cross on his forehead, they went nicely with his deep cobalt blue eyes. His family wasn’t a powerful one but an honorable one none the less, that is the only reason she put up with his lack of battle training, she often pulled him aside and trained him personally, she trusted few others with the task of training the soldiers, that was another reason that the armies of the west were the best in the lands. They took a personal interest in the training of their recruits, and as a result the soldiers were more loyal and better prepared for battle.

“Yes, milady.” He said and assumed a defensive stance, he noticed that she was wearing a completely different outfit than before; it was the one that she always wore when training, the other one she mostly wore when she had to venture outside the castle. She now wore a yukata that had had the sleeves ripped off at the shoulders, giving it a ragged appearance. You could clearly see the beginnings of her ample cleavage…very little but you would have to be blind to miss it…beneath the front fold of her outfit. The bottom came to about half way up her thighs, showing the majority of her pale long legs. She wore leather slippers that had two thin straps each that she wove around her caves in a criss-cross fashion that stopped at her knees. The yukata was midnight blue, she was always wearing darker colors, he never could figure out why, but it still suited her…his thoughts were brought to an end when she suddenly disappeared.



He felt a breeze behind him, and immediately turned to counter her attack. He blocked her chop with his forearm then went to punch her in the stomach, because she was still in midair he thought it would make contact, boy was he wrong. She flipped sideways while in the air then landed on the ground and swung her leg under his causing him to fall on his back, she placed her claws at his neck, with a stern look on her face, she had won the round. The rest of the time they sparred it was much the same, he lost every round with her claws at his throat. Finally the moon was at its peak meaning that it was time to depart and return to their duties, or to go to bed in Ikaru’s case.



“Your hand to hand has improved from the last time we sparred; you are still far from being at the level that you need to be though, meet me at noon on the training grounds, and we will work on it some more.” She said as she walked away, she had relieved some of her stress, well enough to sleep anyway. He still had a ways to go, but he had the potential, many of the newer soldiers showed little promise, and were quickly dismissed. Well she would ponder more on him tomorrow; now it was time to sleep. Tomorrow was a new day, her brother would be home safe and sound soon enough, and the best thing she could do for him would be to keep up with his work as well as her own. His responsibilities were now hers until his return, and she would do everything in her power to not let him down.

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Well that’s it with Sessho’s family…they seem to be taking it well, I decided I didn’t want to bash Inuyasha in this fic, so I made him and adorable little boy, before you ask he is a full demon in the fic, the reason he has his puppy ears is because he is still a puppy, when he grows older they will change into the traditional elfin ears.



I really do apologize for taking so long to update, I had so many responsibilities piled up on me at once that I just didn’t have time to get to this story…plus my muse disappeared and gave me a terrible case of writers block, I seem to have broken through the block, and I should have another chapter out in a week or two, it is close to Christmas after all, I will focus on Kags family, will they take it as well as Shesso’s…well you’ll just have to read and find out…tee hee



Hey what did ya’ll think of Ikaru??? She is a character of my own creation, so nobody steal her!!! I pride myself on her creation…any questions about her, or the story in general are welcome, I’ll answer those that I can that won’t give away anything in the story.

Ps: I am posting this from A-Single-Spark, so if some of the note i leave don't make sense it is because they were from the other site, hope that clears any confusion



Just something funny from me to all of you



Muse: see you can’t do anything without me woman…maybe I’ll just go away again(evil laughter) AKKK..(covered in a pile of rotten fruit) @@



Little Muse: EEEWWWWW IT STINKS!!!! Muse you better not leave again, oh It’ll take forever to get that smell out… (quickly runs away as the pile starts to shift and fall) EEEEKKKKKK!!!!



Author: Guys what’s going on? AAAAAHHHHHHH (gets covered in a tidal wave of rotten fruit) @@



Little Muse: (runs bravely back in at the scream of the Author) Author Lady…Author Lady…WHERE ARE YOOOUUUU!!!...(sees hand twitching at the edge of the mess) Don’t worry I’m commin’ Author Lady!!!(Grabs the twitching hand and pulls the Author loose) Don’t worry folks, she’ll be ok, nothing a nice hot bath won’t fix. I’ll come back for Muse later, she deserves to stay there awhile for the way she’s acted…(Drags the unconscious lady out of the room) (pokes her head back in and smiles) Please review to the story, it really means a lot to Author Lady to know that someone enjoys her work, Muse likes it too but she’d die before admitting it…Bye Bye now..lol