Two on Two by KittenLove

And They Jumped

Chapter 1: And they jumped

Kagome smiled down at the kit who was, at the moment, eating the smoked oysters she had brought for him to try. She had to keep his hands out of the grease and give him a pair of chopsticks just a second ago. He was too old for that kind of thing now. He had grown taller, now standing about to her waist. It's been four years since she had started that journey, and two weeks since it had ended. InuYasha, unfortunately, had been wounded pretty badly and had nearly died. If it weren't for her healing powers he would now be dead.

Her thoughts drifted elsewhere, as she turned her head to see Sango and Miroku sitting alone under a tree right outside the village. Miroku seemed disturbed, at first, that his kazzana was missing. Sango had given him great comfort at that time, and the too became closer than they already were, to the point they spent most of their time solely together. It was obvious they had become a couple, with Miroku no longer groping random women and Sango becoming less violent with him. Oh there was a slap here and there, but nothing more. He seemed to like the pain anyway. Kagome chuckled at that thought.

Again she drifted as InuYasha talked to one of the village girls. He liked that girl alot, had been spending alot of time with her for the past two years. Even Kikyo couldn't come between them, so Kagome figured it was no use at all trying to deny it. InuYasha was in love. He some times stumbled due to some of his injuries, he had been stabbed through both feet by Naraku's tentacles, but they were getting better now. The girl, Saya, always fussed over his wounds and had him sitting or laying down most of the day, not that he minded listening to her while she fed him bits of meat or sometimes even fruit. InuYasha didn't really like fruits, but he told her he loved them because she got them just for him. It made her happy.

Kagome and Shippo walked at a lazy speed, away from the village. Kagome had her backpack slung over her shoulder, and Shippo had his own. Kagome was happy he picked up the habbit of carrying around things like she did. His powers had grown as he had. Not just his fox fire, but his shape shifting and illusions. He had become a good spy, often going out to spy on who ever they were fighting against at the time before they had a battle. His tail wasn't quite as fluffy anymore, and his hair was longer and let loose, like a waterfall of lava down his back. He still liked his sweets, and still looked to Kagome for support, though. He now called her 'kaa-san' more often than not. It made her happy.

He finished up his oysters as they reached the well. Kagome grinned down at the kit.

"Ready to try?" She asked and he nodded his head vigorously. He was finally going to see his kaa-san's time! His grandmother! His great-grandfather! His uncle Souta too! He hopped up into her arms and smiled.

"Let's go Kaa-san!" He said rather loudly. She stepped up onto the rim of the well. They both held their breath.

And they jumped.

~~~

Sesshoumaru watched silently as Rin, the young woman he had raised from a girl, sat on the side saddle, imported directly from England just for her, on Ah-Un. She was taller than the kit, Shippo, was now, but by only a few inches. She had started to wear her hair like Kagome's and sometimes wore outfits like Kagome as well. He remembered having to ask Kagome for something to calm Rin down and make her stop crying, and those clothes did the trick. Rin had just turned 11 now, and the outfits were, thankfully, big on her so that the skirt reached her knees, but she loved them. She had her new dress makers sew some of the same types of outfits, only making the shirts smaller so the sleeves dont go past her hands. She got tired of rolling them up.

Annoyingly her kimonos had all been cut to the same length of the skirts, and some even had the sleeves torn off. Sesshoumaru didn't approve, but she liked them so he said nothing. She now wore shoes, another thing he had to retrieve from the miko, Kagome. He seemed to have to turn to Kagome for alot of things concerning Rin, now. Kagome's little friend, the kit, Shippo, had become a dear friend of Rin's as well. He was always around Kagome, keeping her safe or throwing insults at InuYasha, whom was now a bit more violent towards the girl than he last remembered.

~*~ Flashback~*~

Sesshoumaru nears the camp of the small group, once again needing the girl's advice for Rin. She no doubt had her own questions about Shippo, since he was still a youkai. The tajia to, since they were the two mostly raising the kit. He wondered, breifly, when he'd leave them and start his own life. He would be able to, now that he could fend for himself.

"Shut up Inu-Koro!!!" Shippo's voice echoed through the trees of the forest. "Kagome has been faithful to you every step, EVERY STEP, of this stupid journey! She loved you and you just went to that-that stupid clay pot you call your lover!! She refused to take the last part of her soul back, so you could keep Kikyo! And here you are, thinking you're all that because you can curse at her and she wont do much about it!"

"Shut your fuckin' mouth, you little brat!! She deserves to be yelled at for missing that youkai!! She coulda hit him with her arrow, but no~~~~~~! She misses the fuckin' thing!! I think she did it on PURPOSE just so I could DIE! The way she's been talking to Sesshoumaru lately I wouldn't be surprised!!!!" InuYasha's voice snapped back. Sesshoumaru scowled and sniffed the air. Kagome was a little ways away from camp. Sesshoumaru followed her scent, being sure to stay out of InuYasha's scent range but within Shippo's.

He found Kagome sitting at the edge of a stream, sitting on a boulder swinging her legs. She looked much like Rin when she was like this. She was hurting on the inside, her eyes were glazed over with tears she wouldn't shed. She was always stubbern. She winced with every yell she heard and looked down at her reflection in the water. He stood there a few minutes before she noticed him. Her head turned slowly, and her hair blew slightly in the wind. It had gotten longer, almost to her waist now. Her eyes were a dark grey-blue with sadness.

When she saw him Sesshoumaru wondered if she'd run or stay. She stayed, obviously trusting him whenever InuYasha wasn't around for him to fight. She smiled lightly, a fake smile he noticed. He was the master of them, he could spot one a mile away.

"What are you doing here, Lord Sesshoumaru?" She asked and slipped off the boulder, walking slightly unsteadily toward him.

He reached out and grasped her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes instead of the ground. "Why do you stay by his side if he makes you so unhappy?" He asked and almost panicked when her face crumpled into a contorted bundle of pain layered with tortured sadness and only a hint of the beauty she held when happy.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, why do you think I do this?" Kagome asked as he released her chin. She leaned forward and her forehead lay on his chest plate, between two spikes that could have easily killed her. Foolish girl.

"Loyalty?" He asked and Kagome shook her head.

"Without him...I'm lonely...I have no one back home...no one I can love like I love him. I loved him with my entire heart and soul." She murmured and sniffled and he ran his claws through her hair.

"I do not see why you can't just move on." He answered, having moved on after his mother's death and still living life.

She surprisingly laughed. "No one likes to be lonely, Sesshoumaru. Not even you, if you did Rin wouldn't be with you." She said and smiled up at him, a gentle smile that was contagious. He smiled, just slightly.

"No one likes to cry either, miko." He answered and she nodded.

"Its just one price to pay. I fell in love with the wrong guy I guess." She murmured and pulled away. "Did you need something for Rin?"

~*~End Flashback~*~

Sesshoumaru caught Kagome's scent on the wind and turned to that direction. He needed someone to explain the more...feminin things of life to Rin. Such as the monthly cycle. He thought, long ago, that this day would never come. That she would be dead before this day came about. However, the longer Rin was with him the more attatched he became. He was now fearing the day her cycle started. He wondered how his youkai would react to the scent of a female in heat, even if it was his daughter. Would it want to bed her? He feared his beast would take over and force her, like it had some youkai females in his younger years.

He stopped as he saw them. Kagome and Shippo. Shippo was up in her arms and she was smiling at him.

"Ready to try?" He heard her say. Try what? He was not old enough to mate. He knew more than her with tricks. They couldn't possibly be making a new attack, the way she was holding him. For once, Sesshoumaru was completely and utterly confused.

"Let's go Kaa-san!" Shippo yelled, his voice breaking ever so slightly showing that he was reaching puberty. Kaa-san? Was Kagome a kitsune in disguise? He doubted it. So the miko had adopted the kit? Did she not know the youkai ways of adoption?

He watched as Kagome stepped onto the rim of the well. She sucked in a breath of air, as did her kit, and they jumped. Sesshoumaru raced over, his claws barely missing the back of Kagome's shirt as they fell. A blue light engulfed them and they were gone. What the hell?!

Now that was more than enough to cause a million questions to jump up and make themselves known. Rin ran over with Ah-Un and looked down the well.

"Otou-san? Where did they go?" Rin asked, tears in her eyes.

"Rin, come." Sesshoumaru said simply, holding out his hand, she grasped it and he picked her up gently. He narrowed his eyes. She gulped.

They jumped.

~~~~

Kagome smiled as she and Shippo made it through. They smiled at each other with an affection that could only be shared by mother and son. "Go on up, Shippo, and wait for me at the top of the stairs. If someone is at the top of the stairs, hide." Kagome said and kissed his forehead, tossing him up into the air. He easily landed on the edge of the well and did as she asked.

Kagome immediately started climbing the ladder, cursing herself for packing her pack so full. It was so heavy! She struggled up the ladder slowly, step by step. She was surprised to feel the rush of magic behind her, and she looked down to see a blushing Sesshoumaru.

~~~~~

Sesshoumaru and Rin landed easily, but it was somewhere entirely different. The smells differed greatly here. He looked up to see...oh my...what was that she wore under that skirt? He blushed brightly and covered Rin's eyes. Kagome had already seen him by now. He blushed brighter and looked away, not wanting to anger her. She fell.

Sesshoumaru caught her awkwardly with his tail.

~~~~

Kagome landed on a surprisingly soft object. She looked up and blushed bright. "Um-uh...what the...omigosh!!! Sesshoumaru!!!" She screeched and Shippo was immediatly at the edge of the well, looking in.

"Uh...Sesshoumaru-sama? Could you just carry her up or go up first? Kaa-san doesn't like people to see under her skirt...." Shippo said and both adults blushed a brighter red. Shippo could just guess what happened.