Taste

By: The Hatter Theory

Chapter 6: Piquant

Disclaimer: As always, a groveling bow in the direction of whatever powers that be own Inu Yasha, because as of the moment, all of my funds are sunk into piercing supplies. So don't sue me unless you want pokey things and an autoclave (please god, don't take the autoclave, it wasn't cheap).

Though centuries had passed, they had only seemed to age a few years. In all of that time, he had used her knowledge and advice to create an empire for himself, starting first in Japan and then moving on to a worldwide empire that few could rival. Despite her supposed status as slave he heeded her advice, and let her come and go as she pleased, and as a result she kept her own home, not so far from his.

It was with a heavy heart that he stepped into that home. Her warnings were coming true, although he had not wanted to believe them. A war in which all the world would become entangled. A thousand stories served to warn him of the future, each one more frightening than the last. A teenaged hanyou with bright red hair came barreling down the stairs and almost knocked into him as she skidded to a stop.

"Mama's in the garden," Lin murmured. He smiled at her. The human cat hybrid took his hand and tugged him through the house and out to the back, where Kagome was planting several flowers she had started in her hothouse. It pained him to think he would be telling her to leave it all behind for a move to a home where her children could not be themselves, as they could in this secluded place. Her flowers would be destroyed, perhaps her home even. He had chosen a safe place in a neutral country to escape to until after the second war she warned of was over. Who knew what they would come back to after decades away.

"Is it that time already?" She asked, not even looking up at him. Over the centuries she had become an expert at reading his aura, had even professed once that she could taste and smell his emotions. It had been a strange effect of their bond, one that he had been annoyed with in the beginning, but had, as with everything else concerning her, grown used to, even accepted, in time.

"I have secured us a home in Switzerland, and my assets have been moved to their banks."

"I'll miss it here," She sighed as she stood and pulled off her gardening gloves. Lin, seeming to understand the gravity of the situation, called for the other children to follow her back into the house. The three that had been playing followed their older sister inside, earning a small sigh from Kagome.

"Even in Switzerland things will be difficult," She told him. "But it is perhaps our safest bet."

"I will not risk the lives of the pack," He informed her, surprised when she embraced him. Her fear needled at his senses, and he wished he could make it go away. In the centuries they had endured, rarely had she been afraid, trusting in him completely, but this oncoming war terrified her, and it worried him that it did.

"You will always keep us safe," She told him.

"Inu Yasha will not come, he insists on staying."

"It is his decision."

He knew she didn't fight it not because she still hurt from the hanyou's dismissal of her, but because his half brother had separated from the pack, intent on forming his own and never quite achieving that goal. Had a mate and children been involved, he had no doubt she would fight the half breed with as much spirit as she had fought him over the years.

"What is our new home like?" She finally asked, moving away from him and over to where her gardening tools lay. One by one she put them back in the bamboo basket that held them, dropping her gloves in last.

"It is secluded, with good farmland. There are several hands that were willing to stay on after I bought out their former employer. The forest bordering it is almost three miles across, and several miles long. It separates the farm from the local village."

"Is it beautiful?"

He had hunted for over three years to find such a place in the small country, and despite the former owner being reluctant, he had -knowing it would be ideal- fought for it, paying more than twice the farm's worth.

"It is. The trees are different, the scents, the animals. But it is beautiful, and peaceful. When the hands go back to their families at night, the children will have no cause to worry about their disguises."

"And the house?"

"It is almost complete, and the smaller homes are already finished. There is enough room for all of them, even a few more should you find anyone."

'Them' meant the pack, over which he presided. The need for an heir had long ago died, and he had never felt the urge to take a mate. Instead, his family had become the miko and her children, and their mates and children. All in all there were almost two dozen of them, but the land itself could easily fit the entirety of the pack and the homes they required. He and Kagome, for the first time in almost a century, would be sharing a home, the main house, along with her four newest foundlings while the older or mated 'loved ones' as she called them, would share the smaller homes with their families.

"Sesshoumaru?"

"Hnn?"

A lengthy pause passed in utter silence, and it was perhaps the first time she had held back from him since admitting she wished for a child. Even more than that time, her reticence bothered him.

"What is it?" He demanded in a gentle tone, knowing it would provoke an answer.

"It's nothing."

"Miko-" He began.

"It's not the time."

Considering time was all they seemed to have, he wondered at her choice of words. When she began walking for her small hothouse, he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and forced her to face him. When she refused to look up, he nudged her under her chin and was surprised by the sight of bright blue eyes shimmering with the first signs of tears.

"Tell me," He commanded again gently.

"I worry about you," She admitted in a small voice. At first he didn't understand her meaning, but then he remembered their bond, something that often eluded him despite it's constant presence in both of their lives.

"I will be safe. I will not risk your life," He intoned. When his statement was met with a wave of frustration and anger, he stepped back, wildly confused by her reaction. The miko he had lived with, spoken with, even fought with on occasion, threw the basket down to the ground and stamped her foot angrily, tears creating wet paths down her cheeks.

"I don't care about myself you blind idiot. I wouldn't want to live if anything happened to you!" She shouted, the words echoing angrily in his ears, disabling any ability to think on them until the ringing stopped. It was then that he was able to actually understand what she had said, but not the implications, not fully. Not until she determinedly pulled him down by his western suit lapels and kissed him solidly on the mouth.

She was tangy and spicy and sweet, reminding him of the curry she made especially for him. Too stunned to even react to the kiss, he watched her pull back, struck by her determination.

"I have wanted to do that for almost two hundred years," She announced. He could hear cheers being shouted from their home, and assumed the children had been watching from one of the windows.

"Two hundred years?" He choked, eyes widening in amazement when she nodded.

"I learned patience from you," She quipped.

He had, at varying times throughout their relationship, considered the notion of trying the very thing she had just done, always to eschew the idea. Not because she was human, because at some point she had become more than 'just human'; but because his own honor prevented such an action, as he never wanted her to feel as if her bond to him hinged on such a thing. But he had considered it, and it was those musings that came to the forefront.

"Perhaps it will be easier to travel as husband and wife," He told her, the idea holding more appeal than he would have thought. The image of her as his wife was stunningly easily to picture, now that he allowed his mind to travel that road.

"No," She answered firmly, shocking him.

"But-" He began, his own stunned surprise making the word sound dumb falling even from his lips.

"I won't settle for just husband and wife."

"Taking you as my mate should have gone without saying," He growled, immediately understanding her intent and approving. That she wished to be his mate, not just his wife, pleased him beyond measure, although her tone left something to be desired.

"And a baby."

"This one will try to the best of his ability." Of course. That also should have gone without saying. Not having a need for an heir was one thing, but wanting a son or a daughter of his own was an entirely different matter.

"And lots of practice."

He had forgotten how forward she could be when she wished to be, and he hoped that by now the children had moved on to an activity that wasn't eavesdropping, although he wouldn't bet on it.

"Perhaps now?" He asked.

"I have a curry waiting," She informed him smartly, moving to pick up her gardening tools. Reaching the end of his patience, with strong arms he lifted her over his shoulders and carried her inside, ignoring her pithy remarks. When he saw the children, wide eyed in the kitchen and watching him and their mother with smiles, he inclined his head in the direction of the door.

"Go outside and play," He commanded in a rumbling voice.

The ensuing crash of noise could have qualified as a stampede.

"A little eager aren't we?" She remarked. Reflecting over their past centuries as companions, he should have known she wouldn't fall into his arms like any other woman.

"I think we have both waited long enough."

A/N: Okay, I'm sorry. I know I said a few days. But...My future in laws are like vampires, I go visit them and I just want to die afterward. I literally have no motivation to do anything but dig my own grave and just get it over with. So I'm sorry. Leave a review to make me feel more than subhuman.

This could have an epilogue, although I have no idea what it would be. If anyone wants one, lemme know and I'll do my best to deliver. As it stands, this is complete. I hope you enjoyed.