The Path of Forgiveness by Kryssala

Sesshomaru's Offer

The late summer sun sat high in the sky as the Lord of the Western Lands tilted his face up in a greeting to the warmth; a peaceful, almost content look crossing his stoic features. In the distance he could hear his ward, Rin, and his retainer playing in a field of yellow flowers. Jaken was more complaining than playing, but that was nothing unusual for the pair.

Everything had been quiet since his return from his father's grave, a little over three years ago. An almost inaudible growl escaped his lips at the thought of Naraku's escape. He hated that half demon as much- no more than his own half- brother, Inuyasha. That pieced together mesh of demon scum had crossed the line desecrating his father's grave. Loathe as he was to admit it, Inuyasha had made the right decision to follow the other hanyuo into the spirit realm.

Sesshomaru banished the brooding thoughts as Rin bounced up to him, her crooked pony tail almost falling out. He suppressed a grin as Jaken tried in vain to catch up to the longer limbed human girl.

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

"Rin! Can't you see Lord Sesshomaru is deep in thought?" Jaken huffed after her.

"It is alright, Jaken." Sesshomaru replied smoothly. "What is it Rin?"

"I saw a bunch of wild berries just past the hill. It's not too far. Can I go pick some?" She grinned up at the demon she had come to regard as more of a father figure than a guardian.

The Demon Lord nodded in approval. "Jaken, accompany her."

"Thank you!" Rin said breathlessly with a quick bow before she ran off.

"Yes my lord," Jaken replied taking off after the energetic girl, grumbling.

Sesshomaru found a nearby tree to sit in the shade under, still within easy reach of the duo incase trouble was to find them.

Trouble. It brought thoughts to the surface that had been nagging at him for some time now. Had Rin become a liability? Naraku had used her to get to him, and she had landed in the middle of the fight with Sounga trying to return his discarded Tensaiga. It was with good reason he had ordered her to stay behind when he went to face Naraku. It was also the first time they had ever argued. Rin had insisted that the strange Miko his half-brother traveled with would protect her when he couldn't. He had already been in a foul mood finding out that Naraku and Inuyasha's pack had violated the sanctity of the grave, and he snapped more harshly at the young girl than he had intended. The thought of someone else protecting what he could not had pushed him that much further. He knew Rin didn't understand, and the scent of her quiet tears clung to him after he had left her safely tucked in a cave with Ah-Un. Inuyasha claimed that protecting someone made him stronger. Sesshomaru saw this as a weakness; yet the hanyuo had been rewarded for it with yet another ability for Tetsusaiga.

He lifted his nose slightly to smell the air. The two were fine and no other demons were near enough to cause problems. Feeling the wind shift, he inhaled again just to be sure. A scent on the air caught his attention. It reminded him of his childhood, and not a good way.

Gracefully, he got to his feet and hurried over to the rest of his pack. "Rin, Jaken, come. We need to go into a village."

Jaken's eyes widened in surprise. He knew how much his lord hated human villages. "Lord Sesshomaru, why?"

"I will explain on the way. We have little time." With his good arm he lifted Rin onto Ah-Un's back. She had grown some and her kimono was a bit short. 'We will need to get a new one while we are there.' He thought distractedly as they headed to the nearest village.

******************************************************

Kagome heaved the yellow backpack over the edge of the well. It was full of food and goodies for the group and a few comforts the Miko found hard to leave in her own time, like soap and toothpaste.

A clawed hand reached down and grasped her wrist gently to help her out of the well.

"Thank you," she replied smiling brightly at her friend. "You look like you are in a better mood."

"Feh," he replied in true Inuyasha fashion. "You're back early. Did you bring any ramen?" The way he was eyeing the bag reminded her of the way the stray lab mix had eyed the garbage she took out to the curb before she left her own time.

"Geez, not even a how was your trip or is your family doing well. Sometimes I think the only reason that you are glad to see me is for noodles." She glared at him half-heartedly.

"Right. Did you fail another test?" He asked innocently.

Kagome sighed as she picked up the over stuffed back pack and adjusted it on her back. She knew he was trying, but the hanyuo didn't know a thing about tact. "No, I passed it."

Inuyasha cast her a sideways glance as they headed to the village. "Something is bothering you, I can tell."

"How?"

"You didn't 'sit' me back there for one, and you have this distracted look on your face."

"Oh, sorry Inuyasha. If it will make you feel better I can do it now," a mischievous grin graced her pretty face as his amber eyes widened."

"No really, I'll live"

Kagome giggled. Her delicate features took on a somber look. "It's something about today. Something keeps nagging at the back of my mind. I can't put my finger on it."

Inuyasha looked up as he caught Kirara's familiar scent.

"Kagome!" Shippo squealed happily as he jumped from the fire cat's back into her waiting arms.

She hugged the fox kit tightly. He was almost too big to jump at her any more, but she didn't mind. At least someone was glad to see her.

"Did you bring me any candy?" The little fox kit asked excitedly.

'What am I? Chopped liver?' Kagome wondered silently. "Of course," she replied, her smile not wavering. She now understood how her mother felt all those times Sota and herself had mobbed her walking in the door with the groceries.

Kirara landed silently letting Sango and Miroku off to greet their friend.

"We have some good news. A female demon with a young child was spotted around an abandoned hut near the coast. It might be Kagura," Sango explained as she hugged Kagome.

"It shouldn't take us long to get there," Miroku added. "And we should be back here by evening."

"What are we waiting for then?" Inuyasha asked impatiently. He crouched down a bit for Kagome to climb onto his back.

The group seemed to be lacking in the enthusiasm that it had when the search had begun. Three years of cold trails and dead ends was a long time to look. It had been so quiet that the only reason they believed Naraku was even still alive was that Miroku's wind tunnel hadn't vanished. They had no reason to believe that this rumor was any more valid than the hundreds of others they had investigated.

Kagome tried not to sigh again. She was on the verge of graduating from high school. Despite her poor attendance record she had managed to keep a 3.5 average. She wasn't sure what was going to happen with her life in the future after that. She had decided that college would wait until after the mess with Naraku was taken care of. In all honesty, she wasn't sure if she even wanted to go back or if she would even have a choice in the matter.

"Hey, you sure are sighing a lot today," Inuyasha commented as they ran through the forest.

"I have a lot of tough choices to make eventually," she replied thoughtfully.

Inuyasha chuckled softly. "I keep telling you that you think too much."

Kagome stuck her tongue out at her hanyuo friend even though he couldn't see it. "Better than not thinking enough."

Inuyasha skidded to a stop as a very familiar and unwanted scent caught his attention.

"What is it?" Kagome asked right before she felt the aura. "Oh." She hopped down off his back.

"Trouble," Inuyasha growled his hand on Tetsusaiga's hilt.

******************************************

With the shopping finished, Sesshomaru and Ah-Un had taken to the air to get to the safety of a cave quickly. It wasn't long till he spotted Inuyasha's pack heading in the direction of the coast.

"Fools," he mumbled to himself.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked hesitantly. "Can we warn them? Maybe Kagome can stay with us?"

The Taiyoukai closed his eyes. He had hoped that she wouldn't see them, but Inuyasha jumping around in the woods in his bright red clothing was a little hard to miss from here. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea. Rin and the fox kit got along well. They could keep each other entertained. The Miko, slayer and monk were tolerable. It was the idea of being stuck in a small area with his half-brother for an unknown amount of time that was unappealing.

Sesshomaru looked into the girl's pleading brown eyes and found no good reason to say no. "Ah-Un, take them to the cave, I will meet you there soon."

The demon lord had also come to the conclusion that it would take Tetsusaiga, the Miko and himself to defeat Naraku. And unfortunately, Inuyasha was the only one who could wield the great fang. It wouldn't do to have them die just yet.

Sesshomaru landed effortlessly about ten feet away from the group. Closing the gap a bit, he approached the group calmly.

Inuyasha growled warningly at his older brother. "What do you want?"

"Tell me, Inuyasha, what do you smell on the wind?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Besides your stink, the ocean," Inuyasha retorted.

Kagome looked at him warningly. "Be nice."

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Any thing else or is your hanyuo nose that inferior?"

Inuyasha glared harder. "A storm is approaching, so what?"

Sesshomaru regarded the younger sibling harder, as if waiting for more.

"Well, the ocean smell is a lot stronger than normal," he added, uncomfortable under Sesshomaru's gaze.

Kagome's eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth. "That's what has been nagging at me all day. It's a typhoon!" She turned to face Inuyasha. "We have to find shelter, fast!"

"Feh. It's no big deal. We get those all the time."

"No, no, you don't understand. This is a big one," Kagome insisted.

Sesshomaru raised a gracefully arced eyebrow in mild surprise. "Do your miko abilities now extend to weather?"

"You could say that," she laughed nervously.

Sesshomaru frowned mentally. She had just lied to him. "No matter. Your Miko is right, the storm is dangerous. I sent Rin and Jaken ahead to a cave. You may follow, if you wish.

It took all of the Taiyoukai's self control not to smirk outwardly at the dumbfounded look on the group's faces. He turned on his heel and took to the air.

Miroku was the first to recover enough to speak. "We should follow; the lowlands will not be safe."

Sango nodded in agreement, still too stunned by the offer to speak. She remembered the damage a small one had caused to her village as an older child.

"Come on, Inuyasha," Kagome urged as she joined Sango and Miroku on Kirara's back.

Inuyasha could move faster not having to worry about branches slapping her in the face. As she glanced in the direction of the ocean, she realized just how little time they did have. The dark mass of clouds was closing in on the island country. A gust of wind kicked up as if to urge them to move faster.