Disclaimer:  I do not own anything associated with Inuyasha and will make no profit from this story.  All recognized characters are the property of the original author.  All orignal characters as well as the story are the property of the author.

     Down the long, dark hallway, there is a room on the left. It's an ordinary room, full of ordinary things. There is a bed, a desk, a dresser full of clothing, a shelve stacked with books, a closet lined with more clothes still, and an endless supply of trinkets, stuffed animals, and general clutter.

     It is to this room that he slowly made his way. Step by ever painful step he made his way down the hall. From his pocket he withdrew a tiny key. He stopped in front of the door, stared long and hard at the key before finally slipping it inside the lock. Turning the key, he placed a firm hold on the handle and twisted it, swinging the door wide.
    

    Sesshoumaru took a deep breath and gazed into the dark room. Gathering his thoughts, he took a slow, timid step inside. The air was stale and there was a good inch of dust on everything. He would have to speak to someone about this. Looking around, everything was as it should be. He glanced around at the spacious bedroom settling finally on a particular wall. A wall is just a wall until you make it something more, this wall told a story. Hundreds, if not thousands of photographs covered every possible inch of this wall, leaving not a trace of its original color. He gazed at each one, remembering when they were taken. A smile crossed his lips when he found his favorites.
   

      He searched for the one he was looking for and pulled it from the wall. In it, a group of people were enjoying their time at the beach. He looked first to his father and step mother, smiling towards the group of young adults. His idiotic half-brother, Inuyasha and the girl he loved, Kagome. They were standing next to one another, arms linked together, smiling happily for the camera. Then came Miroku and Sango. He laughed, those two just needed to get a room. Miroku was hanging all over Sango like a lost little puppy, he saw a mountain of children in their future. His eyes drifted down the short statured Shippo, how he couldn't stand the youth, but he didn't complain too much as he spent little time around any of them. It was the last two figures in the picture that he was more interested in. He stared back at his own tall form and the one who was with him. His hands were behind him, clinging desperately to the person hanging onto his back. Her short brown hair coming just to her shoulders, her bright shining eyes, that unmistakable smile. Her arms were locked over his shoulders in a vain effort to hold on. He remember that day, it was, as his brother would say, the first and only day that anyone had seen him smile. But truth be told, he always smiled when she was around.

     He took the photo and sat back on the bed never taking his eyes away. It seemed like yesterday when the picture was taken, but it had been nearly two years ago.

     Two years, how the time does go by he thought to himself.
He thought back, to the day they met, so long ago when they were both just small children.

"Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, come out here for a moment." the strong voice of his father called.

"Who is that?" Inuyasha asked "Don't tell me you've adopted another child?"

"What do you mean adopted?" Sesshoumaru asked glaring at him.

"Well, it is obvious that you were adopted Sesshoumaru, you couldn't possibly be my brother!" Inuyasha snipped.

"Boys boys, enough. This is Ami, I am friends with her parents. They are out of town for a few weeks and asked your mother and I to take care of her while they were away."

She took a timid step forward and bowed before the two boys.

"Heh, so what, are we supposed to entertain her or something?" Inuyasha quipped.

"If she wishes, if she doesn't, just let her be." their father said patting the young girl on the back.

Sesshoumaru only glared at her and rolled his eyes. He didn't need to entertain her, he didn't even want to know she was here, he had more important things to do than be bothered with a stupid girl. He turned his back and walked away, preferring to resume his studies.

"Did...did I do something wrong?" he heard the girl as his father.

"Hah, no darling that is just how Sesshoumaru is, don't take it personally." his father said.

"Yeah, don't pay attention to him, all he cares about is books and study, so if you want you can come play with me." Inuyasha said, finally deciding she wasn't so bad.

"Ummm, okay, thank you." she said smiling running after the boy.

     Sesshoumaru didn't join them that day, nor the next, in fact he barely paid attention to her the entire time she was there. She tried several times to talk to him, but he ignored her. It wasn't until she poured an entire cup of juice on his head that he bothered with her at all.

     Of course, he yelled at her, she yelled back, he pushed her in the mud, and she tripped him as he went by. He was so angry with her that he turned to scream at her until he saw that she was crying, a large scrape on her knee. He was in for it now that's for sure, his father was going to kill him this time. It was enough to get yelled at and punished for beating on Inuyasha, but she was a guest and a girl on top of that.

"Please, don't cry, I didn't mean It." he said stiffly to her.

"Y-yes you did or you wouldn't have done it!" she yelled through tears.

"Well, you shouldn't have dumped your cup on my head!" he spit back.

"Well maybe if you weren't so mean, ignoring me, pretending that I didn't exist I wouldn't have done it!"

"If you weren't so annoying maybe I would pay attention to you!"

     And then it happened. He saw her small hand reach up and smack him. She actually smacked him. He sat dazed for a minute, not believing what had just happened. She stared at him and there was fire in her eyes. He watched her storm back into the house without so much as a glance back in his direction.
                                            That is where it began.