Moving Forward by twiknham

Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to: Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Media, Shogakukan, Sunrise, Yumiuri TV and the other foreign manga rights companies that I have not dealt with. Twiknham owns intellectual rights only to the original characters including: Michael, Lucy, Logan, Armaund, Jin, Sesshoumaru's household staff (minus Jaken) and any characters in this story who reside in Texas. Twiknham makes NO monetary gain from this story, it is a completely free fanfic and Twiknham will not accept any payment. Reviews would be great, but are not required for updates. Also, as with any Twiknham fic, criticisms are welcome but please keep the language clean. Reviews do not come with ratings and are open to all viewers. Thx! –TK

---------

"Humph...Some things were not meant to be seen in public."

The man sitting behind a folder of papers briefly looked up at his retainer. "Jacque, I have told you a million times, we had gay couples in the Sengoku Jidai. They are just a little less shy now." He started to turn back to his work when his assistant grabbed his arm suddenly.

"NO! That!" He pointed a crooked finger tipped with a sharp nail at something outside the window.

Sesshoumaru looked in that direction and froze. Standing on the corner of the street was a woman so large with child that she had to be in labor, holding a bag of groceries in one arm and the hand of a small boy with silver hair with the other hand. 'How long has it been since I have seen another person with hair that color?' He blinked and took a closer look. The boy looked exactly like his brother, minus the dog-ears. However, the woman was not Kagome. Making an impromptu decision, Sesshoumaru had his driver pull over in front of the woman.

Tinka was not paying any attention when a black limo pulled up in front of where she was standing. In fact, she didn't even realize the door had opened until Taimo pulled on her hand and asked her if they could get in. "Huh?" She blinked and focused on the event happening in front of her. There was a short scrabbly man holding open the backdoor of a limo while a tall god-like creature stepped out. She froze as he walked up to her and bent down to carefully rub his hand on the head of her small son. She pulled Taimo behind her. "Leave him alone! He's not for sale!"

Sesshoumaru was shocked. 'For sale?!?' "I am not interested in buying your child. I was checking his lineage."

"What?" Immediately she realized the man still kneeling at her feet had the same type of hair as her son. "Do I know you?"

He chuckled, but it was not a happy sound. "No, and I do not know you either." The only way she knew he was human and not a figment of her imagination was that his right knee popped as he stood. Since he did not acknowledge his body's betrayal of his imperfection, she didn't either. He started to hold out his hand to shake hers, but realized that she did not have a free one. "My name is Seth." He bowed his head slightly in greeting. "If you do not mind my nosiness, who is that child's father?"

"My husband, and I do mind."

Sesshoumaru had to forcibly stop himself from rolling his eyes. "I was not implying anything else. Your husband's name please. I have many cousins and am curious as to which one is your husband." 'One little lie will not hurt.'

"Yasha Inutai." Her bag was getting heavy and Taimo was pulling on her arm; but she was afraid if she moved, the man in front of her would do something hurtful.

'InuYasha. I am surprised.' He thought for a moment. "Can I give you and your son a lift home? You cannot possibly live far from here, especially considering..."

"Considering what? What are you implying?" Tinka was beginning to get very upset with this strange man.

"You are very pregnant, and you are walking. You would not have walked far today." He noticed she was offended by his statement. "I mean no disrespect, it is the truth."

"I'm sure you're as honest as the day is long, but I do not trust you." Noticing the cross sign was lit, she pulled on Taimo's arm and quickly walked around the limo and across the street. Although she was in discomfort walking this quickly, she wanted to be away from the stranger called Seth.

He chuckled quietly behind her. "Your husband never trusted me either. If he had, his life would have been easier."

"Or shorter" Jacque replied, earning him a smart bop on the head. "Ow, aren't we past the abusive phase of our relationship?"

Sesshoumaru was back in the car with the door shut before he looked at the crooked little man. "Jaken, you will NEVER get past the abuse phase if you cannot learn to keep your thoughts to yourself." He picked up his phone and in less than five minutes knew where his brother now lived.

ssssssss

Tinka was fixing dinner when the phone rang. Taimo ran over to get it, but a strong male hand picked it up first. "Inutai Residence."

"Hello InuYasha."

Tinka happened to glace up at her husband and dropped the knife at the look in his eyes. Usually they were a soft golden brown, but right now they were bright yellow. "Are you okay?"

He nodded and took the phone outside to talk. As he closed the door on his wife's fragrant cooking, he turned his attention back to the problem at hand. "This is an unexpected, and unpleasant, phone call. How long has it been since the last time we exchanged words?"

"Over five hundred years, as you well know." Sesshoumaru uncharacteristically put his feet on his desk, turning in his chair to look out of his window at his view of Tokyo.

"To what do I owe this displeasure?"

"Still as painfully uncouth as ever. What happened to the love of your life?"

"She's in the kitchen fixing dinner."

Sesshoumaru suddenly sat up straight, his voice dropping in key. "No, the other one."

"Kagome? Feh, she went off to college and left me. I fell out of love with her years ago." He had very fond memories of a teenager in a green and white school uniform. His brother would never be able to understand the complexity of distance on a relationship.

"So you threw her away like yesterday's fish?"

"No. We both learned that our affections were based on drama and danger. When we were finally rid of Naraku and the Shikon no Tama had been completed, we found there was no common ground. Kagome decided to leave Tokyo and go overseas to attend college as a test to herself to determine if her feelings would change. She wrote me several months later and said that she now saw what I'd said months earlier, we'd grown apart and she suspected that we could not fix the rift." He made a face at his son, who was peering through the window at him, pointing to the table. "My son has just informed me that it's dinner time, I need to go. Is there anything else you need?"

"I need to know if your son is human or not."

"I'm full human, that was part of the condition of my wish; so he has no secret powers. Nor will my newest child when she is born." He winked at his wife who was still looking at him with concern. "I need to go, I don't ever see us being close, please do not bother me again."

"The world is bigger, Horatio."

"What?"

"I would like to get to know the family of my only remaining relative, but if you would rather I did not, I will forever break this tie."

InuYasha thought for a moment. "Do not bother me again. I'll search you out if I decide to reacquaint myself with you."

"Just remember that time is fleeting for a human, you only have a couple of decades left." Sesshoumaru hung up the phone and stared off into the distance. 'And I am left with centuries.'

A/N: sorry, I didn't realize the italics didn't show up on SS.com