Sesshoumaru stared at the oddly coloured wax sticks that the miko had called 'crayons'. Strange name, really. If it were up to him, they would be called coloured wax sticks. Quick, easy, and to the point. He really thought that they were a useless thing, those crayons, but the joy that the sticks brought Rin were enough for him to overlook their uselessness. His young ward had been sitting with the kitsune for most of the day, each rubbing the wax sticks over a thick paper, also provided by the miko, making colourful scenes and designs.

His reverie was broken when one of the wax sticks rolled off of the makeshift table and clattered to the floor, then rolled in his direction. With a light hand, he picked it up. Red. He took the crayon back to the table and gave it to Rin. Her smile filled him with warmth, though he didn't let it show on his face. He made a quick retreat to where he had been sitting.

"I think that color suits you quite well."

He looked up at the miko. "How so?" he asked.

Apparently taking this as an invitation, Kagome sat down next to him. "It symbolizes confidence, which you have in abundance, and courage."

"Really, now?" he replied, his eyes still locked on his ward and the kit.

Kagome nodded. "It can also represent life, which you can give."

"Could," he corrected. "You know the tale of Tensaiga as well as I."

"Could," she agreed. "She is the proof." She gestured to Rin, who was happily smiling and laughing with Shippou.

"Continue."

"It's a colour of danger."

"Do you think this Sesshoumaru is a danger to you?" He raised a silver eyebrow.

Kagome blushed furiously. "All the time."

"Rin, Shippou," he barked. "Go play outside."

The two children quickly packed their art supplies and gave them to Kagome on their way out the door.

"Red is also the colour of passion, my little miko." He didn't give her time to answer in favor of claiming her lips with his own. He ran a clawed hand through her black hair, lightly scratching her scalp.

Finally he pulled away, amused when she tried to follow his path to continue the kiss. "Any more observations, miko?"

"Will I get any more reactions like that?"

"Quite possibly."

Kagome popped open the top of the crayon box, then pulled out a crayon. "I'm nowhere near finished," she said, shooting him a naughty grin.

Sesshoumaru had just finished his fifth bowl of rice and fish when one of the wax sticks was dangled in front of his face by a delicate hand.

"More observations?"

The crayon was then gone, and Kagome firmly planted herself beside him. "A few," she replied, putting the orange crayon back into the box.

"Do tell." He put his bowl and chopsticks down.

"Well," she began, "it stimulates the appetite. That was what? Your tenth bowl of rice?"

"Fifth," he corrected. "This Sesshoumaru's appetite is appropriate for his size."

"It's also the colour of attraction, you know." She put down the crayon and took his bowl.

"Maybe that is why you have an inane fascination with my person." He stuck his nose up in the air in a holier than thou fashion.

Kagome looked at him from over her shoulder, from where she stood at their makeshift sink. "You were the one with an 'inane fascination with my person' last night, so I'd watch my mouth if I were you."

"Inane fascination? I will show you inane fascination."

"Bring it on, dog boy!"

Before Kagome knew what hit her, she had been tossed over Sesshoumaru's shoulder and they were fast approaching the forest. "What are you doing?" she squealed, pulling on his silver hair.

"This Sesshoumaru plans on demonstrating his 'inane fascination with your person' until you beg for him to stop."

"Hit me with your best shot."

"And what does this one remind you of, miko?" Sesshoumaru asked, twirling a yellow crayon in his fingers.

"Yellow?" She thought for a moment. "It would be obvious."

"Obvious?"

"Your eyes." She fondly reached up and brushed his bangs out of his eyes, putting his sparkling yellow eyes on display. "They are such a warm colour, yet you manage to use them to freeze your enemies with fear."

"What else do you see?"

Kagome studied him. "Intelligence. Yellow is a colour of intelligence, another thing that you have."

He nodded. "My father taught me well."

"It also is the colour of charm."

"Which this Sesshoumaru has an abundance of," he said, smugly. Many times he had charmed his way in and out of situations. Another piece of valuable information his father had drilled into his head as a pup. He reserved violence for when charm didn't cut it. "This Sesshoumaru feels that he is exceptionally charming; much more so than other males."

Kagome matched his smug look with a skeptical one of her own. Sometimes, this man was too full of himself. "Is that right, Mr. Fancypants?"

He nodded. "It has helped avoid wars. It has assisted in the swift closure of business agreements." His eyes took on a different sparkle and he grinned at her in a lascivious manner. "I charmed my way into your bed, didn't I?"

Kagome threw the box of crayons at him, nailing him in the chest, before stomping away.

He would really need his charm to get himself out of the doghouse this time.

Kagome reached down and picked a stray crayon up off of the hut floor. She would have to have a talk with Shippou about that. It could have been stepped on and smashed. Green was one of the kit's favorite colours, and whoever stepped on it would never hear the end.

"That is a colour of luck." Sesshoumaru, as had been the norm lately, was right on her heels like he had nothing else better to do. "How do you relate that one to this Sesshoumaru?"

She thought for a moment while she returned the crayon to the box. "You're damn lucky to have me?"

He looked at her, clearly not amused. "Funny, miko. Maybe it is you who is 'damn lucky' to have me."

"It is also a colour of fertility," she said offhandedly, ignoring him.

He walked over and roughly pulled her to his body. "That has yet to be investigated; we have this hut all to ourselves."

She smacked at his shoulders. "Sesshoumaru!"

"Experimentation needs to be conducted to conclude the correctness of your theory; this Sesshoumaru is 'damn lucky' to have a fertile woman, who will bear him many sons."

She pushed even harder. "Is that all I am to you?"

"You are the fertile female that this Sesshoumaru is 'damn lucky' to have, the female who has stolen this Sesshoumaru's heart." This admission made Kagome glow. "Who will someday bear him many sons," he finished, under his breath. It was apparent that she didn't catch the statement, or she was ignoring it, as she greedily accepted the kisses that he offered.

Kagome sighed when the final kiss ended. "I know of another way green relates to you."

"Dokkas??"

She shook her head. "You're sexy when you're jealous."

"This Sesshoumaru will make a note to be jealous more often."

"Also make note to stop referring to yourself in the third person. I love you dearly, but it's creepy."

"Noted."

Kagome pulled away from him. "I"m going to talk to Miroku. Put your jealous face on!" She winked at him and left the hut.

"I can tell you the meaning of this colour." Sesshoumaru held the crayon with a light hand, gentle so he didn't break it, and wrote his name followed by Kagome's on a piece of the thick paper she brought for the children.

Kagome peeked over his shoulder and admired their names, silently wondering how he managed to have such neat penmanship while writing in blue crayon on white construction paper. "What?"

"Devotion." He put the blue crayon back into the box. Kagome walked around him and pulled the pink crayon from the box and drew a slightly messy heart around their names.

"And loyalty," she added, putting the crayon away.

"Don't forget honor," he said. He embraced her fondly.

"You aren't anything if you aren't honorable." She snuggled into his chest and took in his scent, one she had come to associate with another quality of the colour blue: tranquility. It was fresh and clean, almost like the smell that filled the air right before a thunderstorm. It was a scent she didn't expect to come from the powerful male.

"I challenge that statement, miko," he said as he nuzzled his nose into her hair.

"What are you if you aren't honorable?"

"Yours. Always yours."

It was time for him to make his move. He and the miko had been in a relationship for many months, and it was time. It just felt right, almost as if he didn't do it now he wouldn't do it at all. Marriage was such a human thing, but if it is what made her happy he was willing to walk down that road. She had taught him so much about himself, about human beings, and women in general. When it came right down to it, he couldn't imagine himself without her at his side.

"Crayon for your thoughts?"

He looked up at his miko, who stood above him, and took the crayon from her fingers. "Indigo?"

Kagome sat next to him. "For what you were doing."

"Thinking?"

"Deep contemplation."

"Hn."

They sat in silence until Kagome spoke again. "What are you thinking about?"

He smirked. "Asking a certain miko to be my wife."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that right?"

He nodded and dug into his kimono, pulling out a velvet bag. She watched as his nimble fingers untied the strings, then turned the bag upside down, producing a simple gold band. "Do you think she will like it?" he asked, holding out the ring for her to examine. Seemingly imbedded into the gold were seven stones; ruby, orange sapphire, citrine, emerald, blue sapphire, iolite, and amethyst. "Each stone has a meaning, a meaning only she will understand."

Kagome's eyes filled with tears. "I think she will love it."

"Inuyasha had to bring it back from your time. Some of these stones aren't available here. At least he's good for something," he snorted. He stared at her while she looked at the ring. "Crayon for your thoughts?" He handed the crayon back to her.

"I'm thinking that she will say yes."

He slid the ring onto her finger, then brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it lightly. "Good."

Sesshoumaru watched his son colouring with some of the odd wax sticks his wife brought back from her time. His hanyou son who looked just like him, but had his mother's eyes and personality. The boy looked up from his drawing and smiled. "Look, papa!" he said, holding up the drawing for him to examine.

Sesshoumaru studied the picture that his son drew of he, his wife, and himself, plus a little pink blob standing in front of their sensible yet cozy home. "What is that, son?"

"My new sister!" the youngster said happily, the little ears perched on top of his head pointing straight up in the air announcing his joy.

Sesshoumaru eyed the boy in confusion. "You know you don't have a little sister, pup."

"I will," he replied confidently. "She will be beautiful just like mama!"

The older youkai smiled a rare smile that he reserved only for his family. "Time for bed. It is getting late."

The boy put away his art supplies without complaint and darted off to his bedroom.

Having full confidence that the boy's nanny would see him to bed, Sesshoumaru began to formulate a plan. He retrieved the crayon box and pulled a crayon out before retiring to his own quarters. His wife was already in bed, reading. "Are you well, my heart?"

Kagome smiled at him. "Just tired, that's all." She sat up and looked at the object in his hand. "Violet? The colour of power."

"And sentimentality," he added.

"Sentimentality?"

He smiled at her. "I watched our son draw a picture today," he said. "He drew you, me, himself, and something else." He sat on the be next to her and took her book, carefully marking her place, before setting it and the crayon on the bedside table.

"Something else?" Kagome asked, confused. There was no telling what the boy drew this time. He had an incredibly vivid imagination for someone so young.

"Something else," he confirmed. "A little sister."

"But he is an only child."

Sesshoumaru pounced. "I'm feeling a little sentimental, wife," he purred. "Let's give our son a sister."

Kagome had no complaints.