Second Sight, Second Chance by Rose Songweaver

Trip

Nothing showed on his face, but Sesshomaru was annoyed.

Currently, he was walking to someone else's home on an island half the world away from his own.

Of course, he had to be here. But he didn't have to like it.

He had recently merged his buisness with the second largest in Japan, his own being the largest. However, his partner had had one request- that Sesshomaru buy a small island off the coast of Columbia so that he could turn it into a tourist's attraction.

It had seemed like an easy, though strange, request. The island was small, the inhabitants poor- it would not be too costly, or difficult.

At least, that waswhat he thought.

As it turned out- after the contract was signed- his partner had already bought most of the island. There was only one last piece of property left to purchase.

He had sent a letter to this mystery person, requesting to buy their land, and offering a good amount of money. The sum would purchase another home inland easily.

However, he had never received an answer.

So, he had sent his 'errand boy'- none other than his dear half brother. However, he quickly came to regret that decision...

Sesshomaru looked around the art gallery he was attending. All and all, he was content. Buisness was good, soon the small task would be over.

So, he was enjoying the night so far. This art gallery was actually new- this was their opening night. Everyone who mattered was attending.

He had actually been impressed at the art. Not being someone who usually would pay much attention to the fine arts, one set of pictures had caught his attention.

The building divided its art by wall- one artist per wall, unless there was too much, in which they were given another.

The rest of the work was rather mundane. Undoubtable skilled, but rather boring. Nothing eyecatching.

When he had turned a corner, he had found a rather large amount of people in the room. Curious, he had looked around.

With his first glance, he was entranced. The picture was amazing- mesmerizing, it pulled the viewer in and kept them there. Just when they thought they had seen everything the picture had to offer, they noticed something else.

It was rather simply in design, at first glance. It was a willow tree, with long cascading branches.

However, it was exquisetly done. The trunk and wood of the tree were gold, the precise shade of the metal. The leaves adorning the branches were done in rainbow hues, starting with deep violet, working their way to red.

The willow stood on a hill. However, when one reached that part of the picture, they were just as quickly roped in. The roots extended out from the curtain of branches, and the earth around the golden roots were cold, dead. Frost dusted the ground, but the tree was unaffected. Even the sky was dark.

Looking at it, Sesshomaru forgot the beautiful, if annoying, woman hanging on his arm, the company, the problem. For a minute, his troubles dropped away.

However, there was a rather annoying intruder to his peace. His younger brother had returned, and had sought him out.

Sesshomaru seethed as he listened. Mized in with the curses and wining coming from Inuyasha's mouth was the fact that he failed.

It wasn't his fault, he claimed. He had gone on a plane to the house as ordered. But he never met the owner.

It turned out that the owner had a female roommate. She had downright refused to introduce him, and had gone so far as to call the police. They, not understanding Japanese and Inuyasha not speaking Spanish, had ushered him none to gently back to the plane.

So, Sesshomaru had been forced to go on this trip himself. As punishment for failure, he had also forced Inuyasha to come.

It had been a long trip. They had arrived when it was daylight here, and purposefully left when it was evening in Japan. They were tired- they were used to sleeping now- but Sesshomaru insisted that they get this over with.

They had walked from the small airport to the house- this island had very little conveniences, including no rent a car or places to buy a car- but luckily it was not far.

Not that it wasn't aggravating. They were not dressed for the weather, wearing buisness suits in close to ninety degree heat and humidity. Though they were youkai, or hanyou- disguised, but at least half demon nonetheless- the heat wasn't as unbearable. Mearly irritating.

Not only that, the citizens of this place had apparently done nothing to build in this place. There were wooden, open huts near rivers or heavily shaded areas, there were dirt roads and half naked staring people everywhere. No cars, but planty of bikes.

Inuyasha had already taken off his coat, tie, and unbuttones half his shirt. He was very annoyed with his brother dragging him here.

They finally reached the house, and Sesshomaru was impressed, deep where he would never tell anyone. Whoever had made their home in this god forsaken place had taken advantage of low costs and made a good home.

It was one story, and relatively far away from other houses. Not surprising, since the piece of property was a few miles large. It made up about a third of the small place.

The house itself was large- nothing like the castle-like home Sesshomaru lived in, but definitely large. It was modest with large, open and unscreened windows and open doors. The land was flat, with healthy grass. Behind it, a large waterfall from the local river pounded ceasely.

Sesshomaru glanced disapporvingly at the open doors. They obviously were simpletons, with no regards for security. Anyone could come and go. Even as they approached several people walked out with large plates covered in foil.

They knocked, but no one seemed to care. Inuyasha did not bother, simply barging in. Sesshomaru resisted rolling his eyes- if this was what he had done last time, no wonder he had been removed. It was better to be courteous when you wanted something.

They stared when they got a glance inside. Even Inuyasha, who had been complaining since they touched down, was silent.

Inside, there were many cushions and couches, as well as a large table with a mixture of chairs and cushions. The decorating was neat and clean, with no unnnecessary nicknacks. There were some shelves on the walls, but nothing distastefully cluttered.

Actually, it looked similar to Sesshomaru's private wing. Crisp and clean lines, simple patterns, and nothing unnecessary.

But most surprising were the amount of people.

Humans were everywhere they looked. Men in open shirts and loose pants- low quality- and women in flowing skirts and blouses. People were eatting, talking, laughing. That definitely was something you would not find in Sesshomaru's house.

But the last straw was the smell. One would think that it would be horendous, stinking of humans- but it did not. There was a fresh quality in the air that seemed to cover anything else. Even the food smells were dampened.

The people were all tanned, with long black hair and hispanic features. All except one woman.

Instead of the local tan, she had an olive complexion. Her eyes were almosd shaped, hair sleek black rather than the intensely curled or waved hair of the others. She was Japanese.

She was smiling, talking in Spanish with the people, but it was obvious that she was not.

She looked up, caught a glance of them, and did a double take.

Her eyes clouded with fury. She marched over to Inuyasha, who was glaring avidly but strangely silent, and slapped him.

"You! I told you not to come back! My roommate will not sell, now leave! Or must I take drastic measures?!"

Sesshomaru raised his eyesbrows a fraction. She was screaming in Japanese, and her words were flawless. Even her accent carried no trace of anything else, which was confusing. She had spoken Spanish perfectly also- Sesshomaru should know, he also spoke the language perfectly. He had picked it up in his long years.

"You bitch! What was that for?! We didn't even do anything yet!!"

The woman pulled back her hand to slap him again, when a door opened and closed softly in the background.

"Sango," a voice called.

The woman- Sango- froze in midswing. She lowered her hand and spun around.

The room had gone strangely silent. It would be cliche, if it weren't so surprising.

A woman was walking forward, with a cat perched on her shoulders. She was dressed in a cotton white halter top and a swishy white skirt. Her hair was pulled back in a neat french braid, but tendrils had escaped and curled becomingly around her face. She wore sunlarge glasses that blocked her eyes, but Sesshomaru did not doubt that they would be brown. She, too, was Japanese.

She turned slightly and smiled at the others. "Please, resume your activities. This will not take long," she told the others in completely flawless Spanish, then walked to the three.

Sango protectively placed a hand on her shoulders, glaring up at the two. The other woman, however, was staring up curiously.

"Kagome, these are the people who want your house. You didn't have to come in, I could have handled it..."

Kagome smiled. "I know, Sango-chan. But since I am here, we can settle this once and for all."

She gestured at them to follow, then turned and led them to the door she had entered from. Sesshomaru walked silently, but Inuyasha still glared at the other woman, who glared back.

Sesshomaru watched her walk curiously. The cat on her shoulders perched, completely at ease, occasionally touching one side of her face with its nose of flicking its tail to touch the other. It was lucky it was a small cat, because her shoulders would undoubtably not be large enough to support a larger animal.

Finally, they reached a table with chairs. She sat, back facing the waterfall, and motioned for them to sit. After they did, she said, "Well, what can I help you with?"