InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ JOURNEY ❯ Chapter 22 ( Chapter 22 )

Disclaimer: All characters pertaining to the show InuYasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. I am not making any money from this...the only thing that I am getting out of this story is the satisfaction of knowing that other people enjoy my writing. All original characters are my creation and belong to me...as does the plot and storyline.

 

 

Chapter 22

 

Well, Sesshomaru did show up at the ranch, several weeks later on the first Monday of June, and Nathan was none too pleased about it. Kagome was out working in the garden when she heard him pull onto the driveway. Kirei was playing with Lakota a few feet away. Kagome didn't look up or signal to him. If he wanted to see them, he could walk out there to them. She continued planting seeds as he parked his bike next to her truck. Everyone else was already out in the pasture and had been since around seven that morning. Kirei waded through the watermelon vines chasing after a butterfly. Kagome laughed and scooped her up, kissing her rosy cheeks.

 

“I'll bet she takes a lot of patience,” Sesshomaru said as he walked up to them.

 

“Yes, she does,” Kagome replied as she returned to planting her okra seeds, never looking at him.

 

“She sure is beautiful. I think she takes after her mother.”

 

Kagome shook her head, “She has your eyes.”

 

“Can we go somewhere to talk?”

 

Kagome shook her head again saying “I have to finish planting the garden this morning. The earth doesn't stop turning for anyone. After I get finished with this, I need to ride out to the lake to pick dewberries for some medicine. I guess you can come along. Can you ride a horse?”

 

“Yeah, it's been a while though.”

 

“Well, then help me finish planting,” she said as she began hoeing the next row. “Oh and watch where you step,” Kagome said as she brought the hoe down just behind Sesshomaru's foot. Sesshomaru jumped aside and looked at her like she was crazy. Kagome bent over and picked up the headless body of a baby rattlesnake. “The snakes like the melon patch.” She tossed it into her basket and continued hoeing as if nothing had happened.

 

“Is it safe to let Kirei play out here?”

 

“Oh I keep an eye on her, but there isn't a better babysitter than Lakota there.”

 

Sesshomaru watched as Lakota growled lowly. Kirei stopped in her tracks. Then suddenly the wolf/dog pounced and came back up with a snake in its mouth. It trotted over to Kagome and dropped it at her feet before returning to Kirei to play. Kirei didn't move until Lakota licked her cheek, telling her that it was ok. “What are you going to do with that?” Sesshomaru asked as he pointed to the dead snake.

 

“I'll use the skin to make a bracelet or something,” she said, seemingly disinterested.

 

“Oh,” Sesshomaru said as he bent to retrieve a hoe.

 

 

A couple of hours later, after they had finished planting, Kagome handed a basket of tomatoes to Sesshomaru. She picked up her tools and headed back to the house, followed by Sesshomaru and Lakota. Kirei waddled as fast as her little legs could carry her, and she didn't drop a single one of the tomatoes that she carried bundled in her pudgy little arms. Kagome invited Sesshomaru into the main house and instructed him to sit while she made a platter of sandwiches for lunch.

 

She looked at the clock on the wall. “They should be getting in for lunch any minute now,” she told Sesshomaru. Sure enough, Sesshomaru saw two trucks pull up beside Kagome's. Nathan and Souta and six other Indian men came filing in the back door. Sesshomaru realized that he was taking up a needed chair, so he got up and went outside. The men all sat down at the table and quickly devoured everything in front of them. It was not long before they all began loading back into the trucks. As Nathan walked out the door, he looked at Sesshomaru and then turned around and went back inside. Through the open window, Sesshomaru could hear Kagome arguing with him.

 

“I don't want you going out alone with him,” he heard Nathan say. “I don't trust him.”

 

“Nathan. Sesshomaru isn't going to hurt either one of us, and besides, regardless of what anyone else wants, he has every right to spend time with his daughter.”

 

“Why are you defending that son of a bitch after what he did to you?”

 

“Nathan,” Kagome said flatly, “Drop it. I can handle it.”

 

Nathan stalked out the door, scowling at Sesshomaru the entire way to the truck. As they disappeared behind the barn, Kagome walked outside, drying her hands with a towel. She draped it over a rail to dry. She looked at Sesshomaru and said, “He's very protective. He means well though.”

 

 

 

She took Kirei's hand and Sesshomaru followed her to the other house. “This is our house,” she said as she opened the door for him. “Have a seat. I need to change shirts before we go riding. I'll be right back down.”

 

Kagome retreated up the stairs as Sesshomaru looked around. Kagome looked on from above as Kirei took his hand and led him around the house pointing at things. Kagome smiled to herself as she changed into her pigskin halter. She tugged on her knee-high moccasins and laced them up before heading back down stairs.

 

“It looks like Souta takes good care of you,” Sesshomaru said as she came back downstairs.

 

“We get by. I don't have to worry about food. The garden provides plenty of vegetables and we have plenty of cattle. I make most of our clothes, so there isn't a lot to buy. We may live a simple life, but it's worth it. She's happy, and that's all that matters.”

 

“Are you happy?”

 

“I have been happier,” Kagome answered his question as she walked out the door and headed for the barn. She went inside followed closely by Sesshomaru, who was carrying Kirei. He watched as she easily lifted saddles from their places and threw them onto the backs of the horses. He could see by the muscles she had developed that she had been working hard in the past year and a half. When they had met, she was nothing more than a young girl - fresh out of high school; but now, she was a strong, fully-grown woman, and that made her even more attractive. She led the horses from their stalls and took them outside, closing the barn doors behind her.

 

Kagome tied two baskets together with a short rope, filled them with rocks and then draped them over the backside of her horse. She placed her rifle in its sheath on the side of the saddle. Then she strapped her bow and a quiver of arrows to her back. She took Kirei from Sesshomaru's arms and placed her on her horse. “Sit still, baby girl,” she instructed her daughter softly as Kagome climbed up behind her. She turned and waited for Sesshomaru to mount up.

 

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They rode out near the garden and headed west toward the forest. Sesshomaru looked at Kagome as the mid-day sun shone down on her. She was still as beautiful as the first day he had seen her. Her breasts had filled out some and she had developed well-toned muscles, but other than that, she not changed physically. Then he looked at Kirei. She looked just like her mother, except for her eyes and the silver strands that were working their way into her hair. She had gotten those from him. There was no doubt in that. Sesshomaru thought back to the night they had spent together back South Dakota. It was hard for him to believe that Kirei was the result of his lack of patience and control.

 

“Wait,” Kagome commanded as they entered the woods. Sesshomaru watched as Lakota growled at something on the ground, but he couldn't see what. Kagome took a rock from one of her baskets and tossed it. It landed on a buried spring trap, sending it snapping into the air. Kagome climbed down from her horse and carefully walked toward it. She grabbed the chain and pulled it from the ground. She tossed the trap into one of the baskets and then grabbed the reins of her horse, leading it slowly through the trees. Sesshomaru followed suit and dismounted. They led the horses carefully along the path; stopping each time Lakota discovered a trap.

 

 

 

Finally they reached the lake. Kagome took Kirei from the horse and put her down. She tethered the horses to a fallen tree near the water.

 

“Where did those traps come from?” he asked as she emptied one of the baskets of its contents and removed the rope.

 

“I don't know who keeps setting them. The damned things are everywhere. You have to be careful when you're out riding. We've had to put down several cows since February because of them.”

 

“How long had this been going on?”

 

“Since right after I got here, I guess. It didn't used to be this bad. It used be only finding shot animals every now and then, but now it has gotten worse. Whoever it is that is doing this is really sick. I think maybe it's one of those two guys who raped and killed Sango.”

 

“No, they are both in prison. I know that for a fact.”

 

“That's a relief, but I don't know who else it could be.”

 

“Is that why you carry a gun?”

 

“No. I carry a gun because we have a problem with mountain lions and wild pigs. I carry the bow because I like to hunt with it.” Kagome picked up the basket and the rope and walked over to a group of vines with little purple berries on them. She returned for her rifle. She tied one end of the rope to a tree and the other around Kirei's waist. Then she sat down and began picking berries. Sesshomaru sat down beside her and immediately pricked his fingers on the thorns.

 

“Thorny little bastards, but they're worth the hassle,” she laughed. “Have you ever tasted dewberries?”

 

Sesshomaru shook his head.

 

Kagome plucked a big, fat, juicy berry from the bush and placed it against his lips. He gently bit into it, filling his mouth with its juice. “Mmm,” he said, “it's sweet. I see what you mean.”

 

“I'll be back later in the week to pick the rest of them. I'll make jam out of some. I'll use the juices to make dyes with. And of course I'll freeze some to use during the winter. Kirei really likes them, too. That's one of the reasons she is over there. The last time I brought her here, she ate them as fast as I could pick them.” Kagome turned her head to look at Kirei and laughed. She had managed to reach one of the berry bushes and her face was covered with purple stains. Kagome scooted over to her daughter and hugged her, kissing her face and tickling her. “You are just so delicious,” she said as she held her to the ground tickling her. Kirei giggled loudly and it was a sound that melted Sesshomaru's heart. Right then he knew that he had to do whatever it would take to win them back. `But what about Souta? Is she happy? Is there any room left for me?'

 

 

TBC...

 

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