Author Notes: Yes, the hiatus is over, but that doesn't mean quick updates. It's also not very motivating to write this fic when there are so few readers. I get increasingly distracted by 'System Compatibility.' Anyways, I think the next thing I want to do with this fic is fix the dialogue in the previous chapters. It's so stiff -I cringe everytime I read it.

Disclaimer: The Inuyasha world and all characters depicted are a creation of mangaka, Rumiko Takahashi.

Secrets of the Bloom

By Hoshi-ni-Onegai

A groan escaped him. The slow and steady rocking sensation was lulling, but with each tilt he could feel the wounds on his abdomen pulling. He could barely remember how he had ended up in this condition, but all he knew was that at the moment he was laying stomach up on top of Kirara. He could hear the muffled conversations of people around him.

He scrunched his eyes and tried blinking them open. Everything was a blur, he needed his hands to rub the sleep out of his eyes but they were currently incapacitated from the gouging wounds in both arms.

"Inuaysha? You're awake."

For all he knew this was a disembodied voice from the netherworld. He couldn't even tell if it was near or far, familiar or new, friend or foe. He was putting his bet on friend, being as Kirara was with him.

"Thank god. I didn't know if you were going to wake up." He could barely keep his eyes open.

A figure leaned near his form. "We're taking you somewhere safe, don't worry." It was the owner of the voice.

He was losing the battle against unconsciousness. The corners of his mind were getting clouded. Before he let the darkness take over, his eyes caught sight of a pair of worried brown eyes.

He whispered out the name of a woman he had tried to forget years ago. "Kikyo."

The parade of injured and weakened soldiers reached the safe confines of the Western Lands by nightfall. As a kingdom that was on friendly terms with the North, Kagome's men and her new travel companions were welcomed.

When she had inquired about the presence of the king, Kagome found out that he was on diplomatic trade negotiations with the autonomous villages along the Western Lands' southern border. He was to return within five days, so Kagome took advantage of the time and had everyone rest.

Kagome sighed as she sat in the reading room in the royal library. She gazed out the window into the clouds that threatened to pour rain. It had been four long days since she had come to the Western Lands and there weren't any signs that they would be leaving any time soon.

After Naraku had thrown the medallion and Inuyasha had lost his demonic side, it was a do or die situation for her. With Inuyasha incapacitated from excruciating pain, it was up to her to protect him from Naraku and his minions. It also did not help that the demon blood within her had been suppressed -but since it was smaller portion for her than Inuyasha- she was able to attack Naraku and distract his attention. She saw her life flash before her eyes when he parried her attack and she went flying into Inuaysha form. She had felt the bone in her leg snap. Barely conscious, Inuyasha attempted to use the untransformed tettsusaiga and block attacks. What resulted were two large gashes on both of his arms and an eventual stab to his gut by one of Naraku's minions.

What happened next was by what Kagome could only conclude was the pure grace of God. Sango's telltale boomerang swept through the offensive line. It was Sango, Miroku and Kazuma who burst through the trees first. The rest of the men soon followed short minutes later.

Kagome had witnessed the rest of the battle from the sidelines, a place where she didn't care to be. In the end, her men were able to fend off the other side without losing anyone on theirs. Although she fortunately lost no men, there were a good many injured. It was then decided that they would make their way toward the Western Lands' central palace in Waken.

Kazuma had carried her all the way to Waken, while Inuyasha laid on Kirara's back. He had been unconscious most of the time. Except for the one moment when he woke up and called her Kikyo. Kagome let out another sigh. Kikyo? There had only been one woman she had heard of with that name, and she had died sixty ago. Was it possible that Inuyasha was referring to the same woman?

She was pulled out of her contemplative mood when a lady in waiting peeked into the library. "My lady?"

Kagome smiled at the young girl who was probably somewhere in her mid teens. She was a jumpy little thing that had tended to her every time she came to the Waken. "Yes Rin?"

"Did I disturb you?"

"Just doing some reading," Kagome raised a scroll on old legends. "Can I help you with something?"

Rin furrowed her brows in confusion at the literature choice, but grinned soon after. "His highness has returned a day early. He is in the throne room waiting for you."

Kagome could feel the butterflies start fluttering about in her stomach. Setting down the scroll on the small table next to her, she gathered up the voluminous silk kimono and steadied herself on her good leg. Rin came rushing forward, but Kagome raised a hand stopping her. "I'm fine Rin. I just need a few more minutes than usual."

Kagome took the crutch the royal physician had provided her with and teetered her way to the throne room. Each step that she took made her more anxious. After long and languid steps she finally made it to the intricately decorated paper sliding door that led her to the throne room. She reached her hand forward to open the door, but her fingers curled back in hesitation. She cringed at that he would say. She looked a mess and she should have been in a better state to greet someone of equal social stature. Would he take this as a sign of disrespect?

"Don't just stand there Kagome." His voice was exactly as she had remembered it. Strong, stoic, and the coldness that it usually held for other people was absent. The way he spoke to her always made her feel protected and special.

As she slid the door open a smile spread across her face at seeing his tall figure standing regally at the center of the room. "Sesshomaru."

A rare spark of emotion showed in his eyes at seeing her. He took her form in then frowned, "You look worse than they told me."

Kagome laughed and rolled her eyes. "Missed you too."

She clumsily fumbled into the room until he came to her side and took her in his arms and set her on his throne across the room.

She raised a brow at him, "Should I be sitting on the King's throne? Doesn't this warrant a beheading or something?"

"I'm sure it can be forgiven for the injured future queen of the lands." His clawed hands traced her bruise cheek and the cut across her brow. "I've never seen you this badly hurt before."

She nuzzled into his hand and sighed, "Onigumo... he says he's Naraku now. How is it possible?"

"I had heard some rumors about it, but I decided not to believe it until I heard directly." He stared are her for a long moment which made Kagome a bit uncomfortable. "Your eyes."

Kagome blinked quickly in response then nodded into his hand that was still resting on her cheek, "Naraku had some kind of spell. It stripped Inuyasha and me of our demon blood. I don't know when it's going to return."

"I thought I smelled him."

Surprise crossed her features, "You know Inuyasha?"

"Unfortunately."

At the same time, on the other side of the palace, a certain half demon was finally waking from his four-day slumber.

"Ugh…" Inuyasha groaned as he opened his eyes. He felt outrageously sore and barely rested.

Looking up at the ceiling he frowned. The ceiling looked all too familiar. His eyes darted around the room and he knew where he was. How the hell had he ended up here? This was the last place he wanted to be.

The last thing he could remember was Naraku and the medallion. He could feel his anger bubbling. What he needed were answers, and laying here recovering was not going to help any.

He hoisted himself up to a sitting position. Each slight move of a muscle felt like pins and needles. Every large movement felt like a stab. Inuyasha bit through the pain and swung his legs over the bed. With no one to stop him, he stumbled toward the door. He was going to get answers, and he knew exactly who was going to provide them.

As he made his way down the hall he groped against the wall. He was seething with anger and he could feel his strength returning. But that was the least of his worries. As his strength returned he could smell the occupants of the castle. His team was safe. All of the Northern Lands' men were accounted for. But the smells that stood out more than anything else were the two that were coming from the throne room.

Finally upon the ornate sliding door, he slammed it open. Kagome looked like a deer caught in headlights and jumped at the noise, but the man with her just turned his attention to the door. Inuyasha growled at the man's hand on Kagome's cheek. Inuyasha's attention, however, was completely compromised by Kagome's hair. Her raven locks were swept half up and a fully bloomed white hydrangea settled at the base of her neck.

"Inuyasha! You're awake." The shock had left her face and an elated smiled took its place. "And you're back to your youkai self."

"Hanyou." Sesshomaru corrected.

Kagome glared at Sesshomaru. And to Inuyasha's surprise, the king did nothing. He couldn't take his eyes off the two of them and the way they acted toward each other. He finally caught Kagome's eyes and what came out of his mouth next sounded more like an accusation than a statement. "You're betrothed to my brother?"

Her eyes widened and she looked between the two silver haired men, "Brothers?" She looked straight at Sesshomaru with a stare that Inuyasha was certain no one could have gotten away with. "Your brother is alive?"

The small edge of remorse that would be easily missed by someone that didn't know him well was present in Sesshomaru's voice. "Half brother. And he abandoned his family decades ago -so he's dead."

Then it was Inuyasha to be on the receiving end of Kagome's glare, "You never said anything! You hid this from me."

"You didn't tell me you were the queen when I first met you."

"And what? You didn't have the decency to tell me you're the crowned prince of the Western Lands after you knew who I was?"

Inuyasha frowned, "I'm not a prince."

"He's not." Hearing the king's words Kagome stared at him. "I am the only surviving member of the royal family." Seeing the expression on his face she took his hand into hers.

Inuyasha glared at their hands. "I'm leaving."

As Inuyasha turned around to leave, Kagome let go of Sesshomaru's and stood up suddenly. Pain shot through her leg and she collapsed into Sesshomaru's arms. Inuyasha turned back to see the rare display of compassion in Sesshomaru.

Everything about his brother irked him at the moment. Sesshomaru was someone that cared only for himself and everything in his life was a means to an end. What he had witnessed in the past five minutes went completely against everything knew about the brother that had snubbed him from birth. There had never been a polite word directed at him. Inuyasha could not explain the man in front of him, nor the supposed relationship that was displayed before him.

He watched on for a short moment longer, but turned away and left the couple alone. He couldn't help but feel like he was witnessing something he wasn't supposed to; something that he hadn't ever wanted to see.

Inuyasha needed to blow off some steam. It wasn't enough that he found himself in the Western Lands; no, he had found himself in Waken. He hadn't expected to make his way back to his birth city. He also hadn't expected and had hoped to ever run into his brother. He furrowed his brows. The biggest shock was that Kagome wasn't just friendly with his brother, but that she was his future sister-in-law.

He shook his head. Strike that, she wasn't his future sister-in-law -that would require him to recognize Sesshomaru as his brother. Inuyasha had left this life years ago. His father had told him that if he left, there would be nothing left for him if he returned. He would be abandoning his family, his people, his title, and everything that came with it. At the time, it wasn't even a question of what he would do. Looking back on the decision he made in youth, he couldn't say if it had been the right one.

He turned the corner and spotted a familiar door. He sighed. This was exactly what he needed.

While all the adults in the war campaign were preoccupied with their own issues, Shippou was left alone with Kirara and was bored out of his mind.

Sure, the cat demon had entertained him a bit as they investigated the palace, but the duo had familiarized themselves with the entire place by the second day. It was day four and they were bored.

He had asked to leave Waken and visit his place of birth, but Miroku voted it was safer all around if everyone stayed put within the castle walls. Shippou sighed. It didn't really matter much, being that no one he knew was left in his village. If you could call a ghost town a real village. His family and friends had all been massacred during his time away training. He would have sought vengeance, but Inuyasha beat him to the punch. It didn't bother him anymore. Contrary to his visual appearance, Shippou had a good many decades under his belt. And the death of his parents and sibling had occurred when he first met Inuyasha, which was nearing its thirtieth anniversary mark.

But since he looked like a kid, everyone treated him like one; as a result, he acted like one. So he was currently looking for a distraction. Strolling through the halls he caught the scent of certain hanyou.

Ginning, he looked at Kirara, "Inuyasha's awake!"

Sprinting down the hall with the small cat demon right on his heels, he came upon an ornate sliding door. Carved into the wood of the door were weapons of various types and effectiveness. The only connecting theme was that they were all distinctively of the Western Lands -such as the katana.

Creeping forward he cracked the door. Peering in, Shippou saw a frustrated, sweating, and fully recovered hanyou swinging a regular katana.

Inuyasha paused in his movements, then without sparing a glance toward the door, he continued his kata. "What do you want?"

Figuring that it was safe to enter, the fox demon slid the door open and plopped down in the corner with Kirara. "You're awake."

"Keh."

The boy considered the weapon Inuyasha was flinging around. "Where's tettsusaiga?"

"You tell me."

Shippou sighed, it was like pulling teeth with him sometimes. "Have you gone to see Kagome yet?"

An irritated growl echoed through the practice hall and a heavy swipe rung through the air.

The boy nodded. "Oh, yeah. She might be too busy with her boyfriend."

Inuyasha shot him a brief but threatening glare. "He's not her boyfriend."

Shippou shrugged. "They're getting married aren't they?"

The older demon continued to ignore him. He really didn't have an answer to his question, and he really didn't want to think about the answer.

In response, Shippou rattled on going a mile a minute. "Where do you think they'll live after they get married? Here or Felidae? Will it be known as the North-Western Lands? Or the West-Northern Lands? Will the new capital be Waken or Felidae? Or will there be a new capital that straddles the boarders?"

Inuyasha stopped his movements with his back facing the boy. Gripping his sword, his knuckles turned white.

"How many kids do you they'll have? Hey! They might end up looking like you!"

That comment made him snap and he barked at the small fox. "Shut up you runt!"

That's when he caught sight of her. He had been too distracted to notice earlier, but Kagome was wearing a traditional kimono that was reserved solely for royalty. This particular one was very familiar to him.

Raising a brow, she leaned against the door frame. "What? You're picking on kids now?"

This should have infuriated him. She shouldn't be wearing that. But what bothered him more was the carefully bloomed hydrangea nestled within her silky black hair. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, he was going to bring the kimono up anyways. "Those were my mother's clothes."

Kagome widened her eyes and looked down at the apparel in question as if it were the first time she had seen it. She glanced back with remorse in her eyes, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It'll eventually be yours anyways." He turned away and walked across the room to pick up the sheath for the sword. "It's tradition here. The king and queen inherit all the possessions of past dead kings and queens."

She shook her head, "Still, it was your mothers."

He snapped back at her, "I don't care. Take it. Take everything."

Shippou ran up and smack Inuyasha on the head. "Don't yell at her!"

Patience wearing thin, he grabbed the small demon by the collar and threw him out the door. The boy yelled back, but disappeared along with Kirara.

Kagome frowned, "This bothers you."

Tugging on the outer obi, it slacked and along with it her kimono. Gathering the abundance of silk fabric she carefully began to fold it. Inuyasha blushed at the scene. Sure, she had three more layers on underneath and her travel clothes had revealed much more; but this was the clothing he had grown up with. Kagome was currently very indecently dressed for a royal, and he couldn't help but feel like he was seeing something he wasn't supposed to -especially since she was his brother's betrothed.

"Put your clothes back on."

She didn't miss his blush, nor did she miss the annoyed look on his face a moment later. Delicately placing the kimono in question on the floor, she sat down next to it. "You ran out of the throne room pretty quickly."

Putting the sword back up along with the rows of other armory, he ignored her comment.

She let out an exasperated sigh, "You can't blame it all on me. It's also your fault for not telling me who you are."

"Who I was. Past tense." He shot her a glare, "Also, I didn't lie."

She rolled her eyes, "This conversation is somewhat familiar. You were mad at me for the same reasons. You omitted facts."

Stomping toward her he loomed above her, "What does it matter to you?"

Her response stuck in her throat. Really, what did it matter to her? Aside from their war campaign, there was nothing else tying them together. Changing the subject she looked away as if distracted by something on the armory wall. "So how did you know I was Sesshoumaru's intended?"

Inuyasha pulled away. She was skirting away from the question. "Your hair."

Kagome tilted her head. "My hair?"

"On a woman, half up means engaged. All up means married. All down means you're single." He stole a glimpse of the flower and growled slightly, "And the flower tells people who the guy is."

She unconsciously reached for the flower in her hair, "Sesshoumaru is the hydrangea?"

"Males get names and flowers when we're born."

She nodded. This was not a custom that anyone told her about. She had assumed it was just the decorative hair choice of the land, since she had been combed into the same style every time she came to the Western Lands. It was a strange notion knowing what it meant now. And she had the inexplicable feeling to pull the flower out.

Her words slipped forward before she knew what she was asking, "What flower are you?"

Another blush crossed his face and he turned away to leave. "I abandoned my flower along with my title when I left."

She raised a brow, "Where are you going?"

He marched forward. "Finding my clothes and tettsusaiga."

Limping after him she tugged on his arm. "You don't need those here."

He jerked his arm away from her grasp and kept walking. "I'm leaving."

Her voice was tentative, "Why?"

Her question stopped him in his tracks, but he didn't bother turning around. "You have your king now. You don't need me to fight for you anymore."

At his words Kagome's anger boiled. She limped toward the stubborn hanyou, "You were the one who said you were going to stick around. Are you going back on your word?"

Inuyasha glanced back at her. Not because of the words that she was spewing at him, but because something was flaring inside of Kagome. The thing he couldn't quite put this finger on was making itself known. He could hit himself for not realizing it earlier.

Not getting a response from him she kept going, "Is your word not worth anything?"

Inuyasha ignored her baiting words. He walked up to her and locked gazes with her. Right before his eyes, her stare was morphing from a calm brown to the familiar stormy blue. "You're part demon."

She was taken aback by his comment. After a pregnant pause, Kagome searched Inuyasha's expression for a long moment. "You didn't know? How could you not have known? Can't you smell the demon in me?"

Concentrating, he caught a faint edge of youkai blood; something that would have been easily missed with Shippou and Kirara around to overpower it with their youkai scent. "You're less than half."

"A quarter." She nodded, "I thought you figured it out when you found out I was the Northern queen. Mostly everyone knew of my father."

At Kagome's statement Inuyasha frowned. During his time at the castle, the last thing he wanted to do was learn about the royal bloodlines. He barely cared about his own. Another Lands' spoiled family was something he didn't see necessary in life, so he had ducked out of those classes. A quick threat to his teacher prevented his father and mother from finding out. Now, he wished he had at least sat in on the day he learned about the Northerners.

Seeing the look on Inuyasha's face Kagome smiled. She reached up to stroke Inuyasha's ear, an action that he had never expected her to try. "My father was a half tiger demon." She paused as she looked him over, "You remind me of him."

His eyes slipped shut by their own accord. The last time anyone had gently touched his dog ears was his mother seventy years ago. It was lulling and he leaned into it. His reaction to her ginger hands escaped reason for him.

However, the moment was broken by a simple question. "Who's Kikyo?"

As if burnt from her fingers, he jumped away. He narrowed his eyes and glared, "Where did you hear that name?"

His reaction startled her, "That's what you called me when you were half gone."

Inuyasha blood boiled. Not at Kagome, but to his mind's path. He had tried to forget and thought he had. He glared at the queen standing before him. She was to blame, he reasoned. There was a seed of similarity between the two faces -particularly when her eyes were brown. He gritted out through clenched fangs, "What does it matter to you?"

Not one to take venomous tones without reason lightly, Kagome snapped back. "I'm not the one that confused me for someone else!"

The scent of her youkai blood pumping below the surface of her skin was all too evident to him now. He couldn't believe he hadn't realized it before. Her youkai side seemed to flare with her temper -something he had pushed more often than not since meeting her.

Huffing he turned away and headed for the door.

Her limp drastically better now that her youkai blood was pumping again, she chased after him. As he reached the door she called out, "Are you still leaving?"

His words were tossed back without a pause in his step. "One night. Then we're leaving here, or I'm going on my own."

Hearing his words, Kagome stopped and smiled. Inuyasha was rough around the edges -jagged even- but his moral fiber never disappointed her.