A Tale For The Holidays

White Christmas

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.

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Kagome watched outside the window of the carriage as the village got smaller and smaller. It was a beautiful sight seeing all the houses decorated from a distance with the silvery white snow making the village a now Christmas dream. It also made the new Mother sad since their pup would not have the village children to play with anymore except when they would visit which would be something that was up to Sesshoumaru now.

The carriage was beautiful. It was pure white with seats of pure ivory with gold thread laced through them. It was also warm which had to be a spell since there was no real solid form of warmth.

Rin and Kohaku sat across from her glancing at each other on occasion and just allowing the tips of their fingers to touch. Neither one of them knew what to say about all of this, but they were indeed smiling and blushing a bit since Sesshoumaru did approve of the courtship.

Inuyasha was outside of the carriage sitting on the back of Aun since his brother wished him to be within eyesight not trusting that his Otouto might decide to claw up the nice seats inside the royal carriage. Inuyasha did not wish to come home and Sesshoumaru was very displeased at his Otouto’s lack of gratitude since for anyone else this would have been a rare honor, but for Inuyasha it seemed to be the boy’s worst nightmare come to pass.

It was indeed a cold flight for Inuyasha who silently shivered on the dragon. The fire rat material kept his body fairly warm and his bare feet were used to the cold. It was his face and ears that were chilled. Especially his ears wishing he had worn the red and white knit cap and matching scarf Kagome had knit for him last year for Christmas.

Kagome had learned about knitting from her Mother and had a scarf and hat set she made for herself. She had brought her knitting tools with her and some red and white yarn that sat in the bottom of her backpack.

At that time it had been impossible for Kagome to knit without Inuyasha looking over her shoulder every few seconds since he was curious about what she was doing. Instead of yelling at him to let her be, she taught him how to knit a little bit only to find that his claws made it damn near impossible for him to accomplish the task so Inuyasha left it up to her to do this knitting thing while he watched the clouds go by enjoying the silence.

Kagome had taught Sango and Rin how to knit and they had used some of the money to buy some silk, cotton, and wool materials to create some nice warm things for themselves as well as the men. In fact Miroku was quite skilled at knitting and had enjoyed it as a pastime.

Still, Inuyasha had wished he had not left them in the small bag that he and his wife had sitting inside the carriage.

“Inuyasha we are here.”

Inuyasha watched as Sesshoumaru descended to the ground at what looked to be just another part of the forest, but as he got closer he could see that it was a barrier which opened for him and then for Aun, Inuyasha, and the carriage.

The ground was perfectly clear of snow. It was almost like walking into spring itself except of course the chilly presence of his Ani who practically glided as he walked toward where Inuyasha and the carriage landed.

Inuyasha jumped off of Aun and went to open the door only to have the door open itself. At that Kohaku and Rin came out.

Kagome went to reach for the bag, but Inuyasha grabbed it before she could and opened his hand to help his wife get out of the thing without falling.

Two servants rushed forward to take Aun to the stables after unhooking him from the carriage.

Sesshoumaru didn’t bother to watch the stable master magically levitate the carriage to take it back where other servants were waiting to clean it and store it with the others.

Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kohaku were fascinated by this, but Rin having been here before did not really think too much on it as she caught up with her Lord Sesshoumaru who was walking away from the group.

“Kohaku catch up or you will be left behind.”

Rin called as it pulled the three out of their stupor.

Kagome and Inuyasha slowly caught up to Sesshoumaru with Inuyasha keeping an arm around his wife to insure that she was doing ok.

“I am fine Inuyasha.”

Kagome told her over protective husband.

“I just want to make sure that you don’t fall and we don’t have to keep up with Sesshoumaru. Your and our son’s safety is more important than he is.”

Sesshoumaru frowned at the barb thrown at him by his Otouto. Inuyasha’s priorities were right, but he didn’t have to be so rude about it. Still, what did he expect from Inuyasha? The boy was completely uncouth and crass. There were no manners about him and that would have to change very quickly if they were going to live together.

Making a mental note to send Inuyasha to the etiquette trainer, Sesshoumaru walked up the large stairway to his castle.

Rin and Kohaku easily followed, but Kagome was having a bit of a hard time going up so many stairs so Inuyasha lifted her into his arms while she carried their pup and was able to follow along better.

Sesshoumaru was not impressed with the young priestess at all, but knew that she was human and most likely was weakened by birthing the pup in her arms that he had yet to meet. Females were such fragile creatures even amongst demon kind. That was one reason he did not wish to mate.

If in order to gain an heir to his throne was to put up with some whimpering female Sesshoumaru at least wanted one that wasn’t completely helpless and he didn’t want some manly type of female who would try to boss him around. So far he had yet to find a female that wasn’t after his lands or wealth which was another issue to Sesshoumaru. At this rate his Mother was never going to get a grandchild of her blood and although Sesshoumaru was fine with that he knew his Mother would never let him find peace until he had a mate at home who could bare him a child.

Looking back at Inuyasha the boy seemed happy with his little human, but that was not going to last. Humans died too quickly and Inuyasha would eventually find himself alone again except this time he would have an heir, but to what fortune did this poor child have to carry him through the long years of loneliness when his Father died?

Inuyasha would die eventually by his hand. It was just a matter of time before Inuyasha pissed him off enough to kill the brat. So far Inuyasha had lived with insulting him, his pride, and had the nerve to feel sorry for him. Sesshoumaru was ready to beat the hell out of Inuyasha for feeling one ounce of pity for him. Sesshoumaru was not stupid enough to fall for the enemy’s banter even if it was true. He got the shitty sword. It was just a fact. Sesshoumaru was not destined to save people’s lives; he was born to take life. Sesshoumaru’s own name meant ‘killing perfection’. Didn’t his Father think about that before he left him with tensaiga?

Well the past was in the past now and Sesshoumaru vowed he would finish doing everything his Father asked of him even protecting the stupid hanyou. It wasn’t what Sesshoumaru wanted, but it was indeed a vow since Father scoffed at everything else Sesshoumaru tried to accomplish. What was the point of having someone to protect anyway? It didn’t make Sesshoumaru feel stronger to protect anyone; it just pissed him off since his Otouto was supposed to be a full youkai not a hanyou pain in his ass.

The only good thing that came out of bringing Inuyasha into this world was the pup was beautiful and entertaining. Sesshoumaru had to admit that watching his Otouto’s stubborn face freeze during the flight had been somewhat amusing. It was like those crazy ears on his head couldn’t have flattened down anymore lest they shrink right into his skull while listening to the pups mind as he cursed Sesshoumaru to the seven hells in such creative ways. No one except Inuyasha could get away with such defiance and live.

In some ways Sesshoumaru hoped that Inuyasha was miserable living in the castle with him. It wouldn’t have been any fun to force him to live in such luxury if he enjoyed himself. Instead Inuyasha wanted to live in a drafty house in a human village with his human wife and protect humans who could care less that he lived unless they were in danger.

The whole world was against Inuyasha, yet he survived and became this amusing individual that most people would never have noticed had it not been for his wild actions to save it. Why bother saving a world that hates you for something you cannot control? Yet here was his Otouto doing heroic deeds for humans who probably won’t recall him after he dies. It was sad really.

Sesshoumaru reached the top of the stairs and ordered that Kohaku was to be taken to one of the many guest rooms during his stay. Rin of course had her own room and knew where it was as she disappeared down the hallway to get changed out of her winter robes into something more formal since Sesshoumaru had wardrobes set up for his ward when she stayed here with him.

Unlike most castles Sesshoumaru did not have maids, very many guards, or a lot of servants bustling about. It was a large enough castle to have several servants and guards, but Sesshoumaru trusted no one. His armies lived outside of the castle if he needed them he would just call for them. The majority of his subjects had no clue of who their Lord was unless they were demons. All demons knew of Lord Sesshoumaru and those that did not were usually not worth the life they had being weak pathetic beings as they were.

There was no nursery for the pup and Sesshoumaru knew he had to arrange that through his Mother. Sesshoumaru’s hope being that Inuyasha’s pup would make Mother happy enough to get off his back about having to produce an heir for his throne. Of course he didn’t really know his Mother that well so it was indeed just a hope he had that most likely was in vain.

“Inuyasha you and your child will remain with me. My guard will take your wife to your room to rest. I will be sending for a tailor for you both and tomorrow we will travel to my Mother’s home. I wish for her to see this child.”

Inuyasha took his son in his arms and Kagome in much need of rest followed the guard to what would be her new home until Sesshoumaru chose to throw them out which she hoped would be soon since although this place was warm in her heart it felt as cold as Lord Sesshoumaru himself.