InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Trust ❯ Chapter 27

Thanks for the reviews, everyone. Shirahime, I gotta say your review made my day. It's just too cool to hear the story is being recommended. To my repeat reviewers, y'all are the best. Thanks for sticking it out.

Chapter 27

Kagome woke up just as dawn's light began to filter into her room. Stretching, she winced as a sore spot on her back made its presence known. The skin there had been rubbed raw on the stone wall during her love making with Inu Yasha, and the brief pain brought back memories of the day before, with all its dizzying emotional highs and lows. She rolled over to see Inu Yasha regarding her with a closed look on his face.

He was obviously uncomfortable and unsure of how to act around her after yesterday's events. To be quite honest, she was not sure how to act, either. Their lovemaking had never had such a desperate, wild quality before, and she was a little embarrassed over how she had acted. She tried a hesitant smile, and although he did not return it, the look of relief on his face before he schooled it to his normal disinterest was enough to set her at ease.

"I think we may fight today." He said gruffly. "My brother says they started building bridges last night."

She nodded, and threw back the covers. She grabbed her battle leathers and began to get dressed. He was already clothed, in a red vest and leggings that was similar to what she had first seen his father in.

Strapping on her sandals, she grabbed her bow and arrow. She turned to let Inu Yasha know she was ready to go, when he drew her to him, kissing her soundly. When he released her, she stood with her eyes wide at the uncharacteristic show of affection.

"Ready?" he asked. At her nod, he opened the door into the outer chamber, just as Miroku and Sango opened her chamber door.

The four friends froze, staring at each other for a moment, then Sango began to stammer and Kagome clapped her hands over her mouth. After sniffing the air, Inu Yasha lost interest, there being no scent of sex coming from the room. If there had been, he would have taken his cousin aside and demanded to know his intentions. He had become fond of Sango, and felt a responsibility towards her. As Kagome's foster sister, he now considered her pack, and he would not tolerate any man taking advantage of her, even if it was his own cousin. But Miroku had spent the entire night with her without having sex, and to Inu Yasha's mind, that spoke more of his feelings for her than any stammered excuse.

Miroku broke through Sango's excuses smoothly. "You all should be the first to know. Sango has agreed to marry me."

Kagome squealed with excitement, and rushed over to embrace her friend. Chattering excitedly, she shot question after question at her friend, oblivious to the fact that she was cutting off Sango's answers. In a whirlwind reminiscent of Kouga's traveling speed, she had whisked her friend down the hall, talking non-stop.

The two men looked at each other, shrugged, and followed their women. Kagome had dragged Sango to Zi's room to share the news. They knocked on the door, and took the muffled response for permission.

"Zi! You'll never guess what-" Kagome broke off with a gasp as she opened the door to a naked Sesshomaru, who had heard the ruckus, and decided to start getting dressed.

As the two women stood in shock, he graciously congratulated Sango as regally as if he were in full formal dress. Well aware of his effect on the opposite sex, he allowed himself a slight smile as both women involuntarily looked him up and down.

As Inu Yasha and Miroku walked up, they were horrified to see their women staring at another naked man. As Inu Yasha snarled and bodily turned Kagome around, Miroku covered Sango's eyes with one hand and began to close the door with the other.

"My mate has been on watch all night. You should still find her there." Sesshomaru called out as the door closed.

As Miroku lowered his hands and Inu Yasha continued to snarl, Sango shocked them all by blurting out, low and forcefully,

"Goddamn."

***

Zi lazily opened her eyes as she heard the approaching sounds of her friends bickering. There was nothing she liked better than a nap in the sun, and her current sprawl on the turrets was perfect for it…but apparently it was not to be this morning.

Sango was apologizing profusely to a still stunned and somewhat hurt Miroku, and Inu Yasha continued to snarl at Kagome. His jealousy and her silence combined to make his words more and more careless until Kagome finally said coolly, "Son of Masaharu, you tread on thin ice. Best you not forget it."

Closing his jaws with a snap, his ears laid back on his head, he subsided into a hurt silence, as his friends looked on surprised. Kagome was not one to speak out of spite, and they knew there was more behind her words than simple irritation.

Zi lifted her head from her prone position. *Well, Pup? What brings you all out here?*

With one last look at Kagome, he answered, "We have news for you."

Sango stepped forward to end the awkward moment. "Zi, Miroku and I are getting married."

With a purr of pleasure, she leapt down from the turret. Tugging on Sango's tunic with her teeth, she nuzzled her friend's cheek when she knelt down. After Miroku knelt to receive his own congratulations, he sighed, "Why could I never convince you to do this before I was getting married?"

As Sango and Kagome sighed, Inu Yasha laughed. "She says, `How soon you forget, monk. Please don't tell me it meant nothing to you.'"

As Sango began to glare, and Zi rolled over and yowled in apparent distress, Miroku looked puzzled, then laughed. "I assure you, it is one of my most treasured memories."

She favored them all with the closest they had ever seen to a panther grin. She then looked over to see her mate approaching, and it was clear from the look on his face that his keen ears had indeed caught the last of their exchange.

Inu Yasha then guffawed. "I'm not fucking repeating that. I'm the only one who'd get punished."

"Do not be so sure of that." Sesshomaru said, with a warning look at his mate.

"What's going on?" Sango demanded.

Inu Yasha pretended to retch in the background. "This dirty bastard gave Zi her first kiss."

"I had hoped," Sesshomaru said slowly, "that that topic would never again see the light of day." His eyes flashed dangerously at Miroku, who took a step back.

"We were only children!" Miroku stammered. "Surely you cannot be angry!" He looked at Sango for assistance, but she simply hid a smile behind her mouth and shook her head.

"That's so sweet!" Kagome gushed. "How old were you?"

With one last wary look at Sesshomaru, Miroku answered as Zi groomed her fur. "I was eleven, she was twelve."

"You're only a year apart?" Sango looked surprised. At his nod she continued. "I thought you were closer to my age…from your behavior and all."

The monk looked offended as Inu Yasha snickered.

"So," Kagome figured. "Inu Yasha is a year older than I am, and Zi is five years older than he is. That means Miroku is only three years older than you, Sango. That's not so bad."

"I guess," she slanted a teasing look at the monk, who began to look sorely put upon.

"That is it. We are getting married now before anything else happens. Where would your parents be, Sango?"

She sobered immediately. "Father is out helping to build temporary housing for all those displaced. He is at least a day away." Miroku's shoulders slumped.

"But my mother is still here." She said. "She is the one we really need to convince, anyway."

"Then let us find her." He turned to their friends. "Would you honor us by being present?"

"Fuck else do you think we're hanging around for?" His cousin muttered, right before Kagome elbowed him in the stomach.

"We would be honored." Kagome answered.

Zi growled her agreement, ignoring the still heated looks she was getting from her mate. There was a cry from the watch on the tower, and they all turned to Naraku's army. A ball of fire shot towards the group, and Kagome immediately threw up a barrier. Though safe inside, the heat quickly became uncomfortable.

Heedless of her nudity, Zi shifted back to her human for a moment, and pressed a hand against the barrier, absorbing the excess heat. When the heat had been fully absorbed, she pulled her hand back. At her nod, Kagome dropped the barrier and drew her bow in readiness, but no further attacks were made.

Samarijit and Shri had run out in their dog forms. At a nod from Inu Yasha, they walked over and woofed, looking at Kagome expectantly. At Inu Yasha's reassurance, she kneeled, allowing them to sniff her and lick her chin.

"What are they doing?" Kagome asked in a low voice, not wanting to interrupt.

"You protected their pack leader and pack mother. It's a sign of respect in acknowledgement of that." Inu Yasha explained, also in a low voice. His friends nodded.

*He just did that to identify those with elemental powers…maybe even those responsible for the chasm.* Back in feline form, Zi sounded troubled.

Sesshomaru nodded to the others. "That was merely a test. He would have discovered your powers soon enough." He dismissed the event with an elegant shrug and turned to Miroku and Sango. "Others have arrived who can handle any further attacks. Let us get you married before anything else happens."

Upon receiving the blessing of Sango's mother, Sango and Miroku were joined in marriage by Inu Yasha's father. Inu Yasha looked uncomfortable in between his weepy mother and his equally weepy mate. Kohaku had a similar look on his face as he patted his sobbing mother's shoulder. Masaharu performed the ceremony in between stealing glances at Malia, as he fought instincts that demanded he soothe his mate.

But the bride and groom noticed none of this, and only had eyes for each other. As they were finally pronounced man and wife, Miroku brushed back Sango's bangs with a trembling hand, and kissed her with all the love he could pour into a simple touch. Sango's response nearly stole the breath from him, and somehow, he could not bring himself to mind at all.

Shortly after the ceremony, everyone left the new couple to themselves. They could not have a true wedding night, but for the next few hours, they planned to make up for it.

Although Kagome was truly happy for her friends, their ceremony only reminded her of the uncertainty in her own relationship. Excusing herself, she decided to go for a walk around the fort. Inu Yasha, still stung from her earlier comment, made no objection, but gruffly told her to stay out of trouble.

What was she going to do? She told Inu Yasha she would help him, and he promised he wouldn't leave her. But she didn't want his presence if his heart was elsewhere.

I will never give you up. Never. You are mine, I am yours, and it will be that way until our souls are no more.

She smiled slightly. That certainly didn't sound like she didn't have his heart…in fact, it was the closest to a declaration of love that she had received from him. She shook herself. It hadn't been that long, and he wasn't the best at expressing the deeper emotions. She could give him more time.

After watching Kagome walk away, Inu Yasha started as his sister nudged his arm. *Let's go talk.* She suggested. Firmly.

Nodding to Sesshomaru, the two left the fort at an easy run. Sensing her brother's need for release, she gradually increased their speed until the two were running at full speed around the outer edges of the Domain camp. Once she felt the tension ebb from him, she began slowing again as the two hit forest.

*Still like to climb trees?* She asked. At his nod, they leapt into the branches of an ancient oak. He settled with his back against the trunk while she sprawled along the bough above him, one limb hanging lazily.

*So what happened, Pup?*

He haltingly began to explain the previous day's events; recognizing Kikyou, stopping Kagome's arrow, his mother's anger, his father's threat. And above all his burning anguish at being made to feel torn between what he saw as his two obligations.

"Then Kagome said she would help me help her. I think she thinks I want to leave her for Kikyou. But I never could! I could never leave her!" He burst out.

Despite her nonchalant appearance, Zi was listening intently and her heart ached for him. And yet…

*Come here, Pup.*

He pushed forward from his seat, easily balancing on the wide bough.

*Closer.*

Puzzled, but unquestioning, he came within reach of her dangling forepaw.

WHAP!

"Ow! Shit!" He grabbed at a branch for balance and rubbed the back of his head with the other hand.

*Jackass.* Her mental voice said matter of factly. *Your mate is a fucking saint, you know that?*

"Yeah." He muttered. He guessed he should be grateful she didn't use her claws.

Zi resettled herself on her bough. Idiot boy.

*Does she know you'd never leave her?*

"I said we belonged to each other and I would never give her up." He stated.

*Have you told her you love her yet?*

Inu Yasha looked at her like she was crazy. "She knows." But his voice lacked conviction.

*She may well, but it's nice to hear…isn't it?* Zi asked as she sharpened her claws on the tree bark.

Inu Yasha was silent a moment. He thought of the near euphoria he felt when Kagome first said those words to him. "Yeah." He whispered.

*She needs all the reassurance she can get right now. She's insecure and it is your duty to fix it. You are her mate, and you need to take better care of her.* She sent firmly.

His ears drooped at the censure, but he did not argue. She was one of the few people who could talk to him like this. Even though they had been separated for so many years, the little boy inside him remembered that she had defended him against everyone-bullies, family, strangers, whoever. And for that he could forgive her almost anything. There was hardly even a need for forgiveness, because it rarely occurred to him to get angry.

*Inu Yasha. I may not show it, but I never forget what your brother is to me. I would kill or die for him in a heartbeat. You never let anyone come between you and your mate. Do not forget that.* Her stern words thundered through his mind.

Then more gently, *You know better, Pup.*

"Yeah. Yeah, I do know better." He smiled at her and reached up to scratch behind her ears. "I figure I owe you a few of these. Ready to head back? My brother won't want you away from him if you're going into heat."

She purred in pleasure, agreeing. *Ready…soon as you're done.*

***

Miroku, mindful of Sango's inexperience, was mindful not to pressure her as they left the wedding ceremony. They stopped to get something to eat in the dining hall, and he kept the conversation light, asking her preference in where she wanted to live, and what kind of house she wanted to live in. Since he started wandering with Inu Yasha, he had no home of his own; he stayed with his parents when they returned to Dog Clan lands. Miroku's mother had come to stay with Malia after she got married, and met Miroku's father as he traveled through one spring. They were some of the few humans living on the lands themselves, although there were human settlements nearby.

As they made their way back to Sango's room, he felt her nervousness. He took her hand, but said nothing beyond that until the door closed behind them.

"Sango." He tipped her head up to meet his gaze. "Last night you told me you were not ready to be intimate with me, and I do not expect your feelings to have changed so quickly. You can let me know when you are ready." Miroku meant every word…but they were among the most difficult to force past his lips than any he had ever uttered.

Sango looked at him with a slight smile on her face. Her priorities had taken quite a turn after last night's awful nightmare. They only had a few hours instead of a whole night, and she didn't intend to waste them discussing house design.

Miroku looked puzzled at her lack of response, and that only made her smile wider. She gently steered him over to the bed, and to his surprise knocked him on his behind.

"We don't have much time, husband," she said gently. "There is a battle going on, after all."

Miroku watched, speechless as she drew her shirt over her head. As she stood before him half-naked, she paused. "Are you joining me?"

Miroku had on many an occasion needed to dress or undress quickly but he didn't think he had ever gotten his clothes off as fast as he did that day, shedding robe and leggings in the time to took Sango to unlace her breeches.

With a slow smile, he drew a giggling Sango to him and they fell onto the bed in a tangle of limbs.

***

A/N: In case anyone is now confused as to their ages, Kagome is nineteen, Inu Yasha is twenty, Sango is twenty-one, Miroku is twenty-four, Zi is twenty-five and Sesshomaru is twenty-eight.