2 days soon turns into 4, then eventually a week. I try to help out Sango with anything that I'm capable of. Inuyasha and I still quarrel but there are times that we just let things fly over our heads, which I think is a big step. Although Inuyasha still acts arrogant and irritating but I have grown use to it, at times I find it fun to be honest. The snow has started to fall, Winter is officially here. Since I can't see, I could only feel, light cold touches on my hands and skin tells me that the beautiful part of winter has arrived. The cool air grazing against my skin sends goosebumps through my body, Although it's cold, but it feels heavenly. The world around me seem so quiet and serene, the crunches of the snow beneath my feet feels so different than the dirt road. Although beautiful, but it does cause some barricades for me, the snow doesn't allow my walking stick to touch the ground and tell me where I'm going, but I have Inuyasha to guide me like how he has been doing in the past week. Winter is about 3 to 4 months, but I know how fast time flies, the months will go by soon and I'll be leaving this place.

"Can you walk a bit slower?" I say panting.

"Walk faster, I ain't slowing down." Inuyasha replies flatly.

I wanted to buy some new charcoal sticks because I've been making small landscape drawings and selling them to the villagers, I only have one charcoal stick left. Since I can't really go out by myself in the winter, I need Inuyasha to guide me to the art shop. I'm happy to see that Inuyasha isn't complaining like he was the first two days of him becoming my "unofficial eyes." I feel thankful and I appreciate the company. Although appreciative, but I just wish he can slow down and stop tugging at my walking stick. I also find it mind boggling that he always tugs on my walking stick, I wonder why he's not holding my arm and guiding me like a normal person. Oh well, I guess it's better not to let him touch me, I might have to wash my body in case I get fleas since he's a dog demon...do demons have fleas? Who knows.

"I'm trying to catch on to your big strides but as you can see I have snow in my sandals and my feet are sunk in the ankle high snow. Pulling my feet out takes a while." I reply back to him with irritation.

"Then pull your feet out faster." He replies with a tone that makes you feel like, why didn't you think of that.

"Oh gee why didn't I think of that, I'm trying Inuyasha. Unlike you, I'm a human, my feet are going numb as well too. I'm just asking you to slow down just a little bit." I say to him with a sigh.

"I wonder what happens if I actually yank the walking stick?" Inuyasha says with a curious tone.

I stop walking and I tug on my end of the stick, I feel him stop too. I furrow my brows.

"No... you will not Inuyasha, don't do that, don't even go there." I say to him with a serious tone.

There's a brief silence, but then I feel the walking stick getting yanked, my body jerks forward and I let out a gasp of surprise. The walking stick slips through my hands and I fall onto the snow, the coldness covers my hand and the front side of my body through my kimono. I let out a "oof" as I sink into the cold softness. I hear Inuyasha letting out a light snicker and the whoosh of my walking stick as he twirls it.

"That turned out well." Inuyasha says with amusement in his voice.

I let out a low grumble in my throat in annoyance, I prop myself up. I dust the snow off of my face, I then let out a grin. Two can play this game, I get onto my knees and sneakily grab a handful of snow and turn the handful of snow into a ball in my palm and I stand up.

"You don't get to laugh without getting away with it, I want a laugh too." I say to him.

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha says.

I get a grasp of his voice and the direction and the distance he is from me, he is slight to the left of me, perfect. I fling the hand with the ball of snow towards his direction with medium strength, I didn't want to make the ball too stiff I want a little laugh that's all. The ball leaves my hand and I hear it hit something and the sound of the snow dispersing with a "ugh". It's Inuyasha alright and it hit him. I smile.

"What was that for?" Inuyasha grumbles.

"Like I said, you want to laugh, sure, but you don't get to be the only person that gets to laugh. Now can we go to the art shop? My feet and face are going numb." I say to him trying to calm down from laughing.

I hear him grumble but then pokes me on the arm with the walking stick, I take hold of it and we head to our destination. Inuyasha seem to have slowed down a bit which I'm happy. A few minutes goes by and we finally arrive at the art shop.

"Go nuts." Inuyasha says with a depleted sigh.

"Thanks for leading me here Inuyasha, good boy." I say to him with a chuckle.

"Watch it." Inuyasha grumbles.

"Hi miss, how can I help you?" I hear the shop owner says.

"Hello, I was wondering if you sell charcoal sticks in this shop." I tell him.

"Yes we do, this way." The owner says.

I follow his steps and use my walking stick to guide me, I can hear Inuyasha's light footsteps behind me not far away.

"You are an artist I see, a young one as well." The shop owner says with curiosity in his voice.

"Yes I am, I know, my blindness doesn't make me seem like an artist, but believe me I can draw." I say with a chuckle.

"I'm sure you are Miss, as a fellow artist we are not to judge others capability to create something beautiful. Knowing the you have confidence in your voice is more than enough for me to believe that you are an artist. Here we are, in front of you are the charcoal sticks. There are the hard compressed charcoals, soft charcoal sticks, thin charcoal sticks and thick charcoal sticks. Which one would you like?" The owner asks.

"I'll take the soft thick charcoals, 6 sticks please." I say to him.

'Of course, I'll go pack it up for you right now." The owner says.

"Thank you." I reply with a smile.

I hear the owner walk away and then I hear Inuyasha picking something up.

"So what is the difference between the charcoal sticks?" Inuyasha asks with a flat voice.

"Well the size difference allows you to cover big and small areas on the paper, the hard and softness of the charcoal sticks allows you to do details in different ways." I explain to him.

"I still don't get it." Inuyasha replies.

"Ugh, then test it out." I say to him.

There's a second of silence, something tells me...something is about to happen.

"Alright." Inuyasha replies with some kind of evilness in his voice.

The next thing I know, something touches my nose. I gasp and touch it. Inuyasha then laughs.

"Now I see the difference." He says.

"You did not, you just draw on my face with the charcoal stick?" I say to him with disbelief.

"I sure did, I only made a dot but you just smudged it. Guess the soft charcoal stick is really soft, it smudge so easily." Inuyasha says with a chuckle.

I want to strangle him, but for some reason, hearing him laugh somehow lightened up my anger. I don't know why, I suppose it's a side that I don't come upon a lot when I'm with Inuyasha. When he laughs, he sounds like everything else doesn't exist to him, he sounds actually happy. I let it slide.

"Here you are miss." I hear the owner say behind me.

I turn around.

"Oh... you have charcoal on your face miss." The owner says with slight surprise.

"Ya, this guy behind me wanted to see what the differences were between the charcoals." I say rolling my eyes.

"Is he your lover?" The owner asks me with a chuckle.

I feel my mind going blank, what? What?!

"No!" We both say in unison.

"Oh, sorry." The owner says with a light chuckle.

"We're just... I don't even know if you can call it that but, but we're friends... friends yes." I reply back.

"Ah, I see. Well, remember to wash off the charcoal when you return home." The owner says.

"Thank you. I say with a laugh.

I pay the owner and Inuyasha guides me home, one hand holding the package of charcoal sticks and the other onto the walking stick.

"Here we are." Inuyasha says back to his flat tone.

As we draw near the big hut, I hear laughter and another voice. I know one is Sango's, but who's the other? It's a woman's voice. She sounds like she's in her late 50's early 60's, there is a lot of joy in her voice, like the spring flowers. Warm and happy, looks like she is close with Sango.

"Ugh...don't tell me he's here too." I hear Inuyasha groan.

"He?" I ask confused.

I hear the curtains lift and Inuyasha guides me inside by the walking stick.

"Inuyasha,____________, you're back." Sango says with joy.

"Inuyasha, it's been a long time." The lady says.

"Rin." Inuyasha answers back.

Rin? That name sounds so familiar, that's right. I remember Sango mentioning the family members, her name was one of them.

"And may I ask who this is?" The lady named Rin asks with kindness in her voice.

"Rin, this is a guest and an artist, _____________. She is staying with us until Winter is over, she has become a ball of sunshine here in these few days." Sango says with happiness in her voice as she introduces me.

"Nice to meet you Lady Rin." I say with a bow as I greet her.

"Nice to meet you as well___________, you are a beautiful young woman, we were all young weren't we big sister Sango? Rin says with a chuckle.

"Yes, how nice it is to be young again, but this is life." Sango sighs.

"Dear, you have something on your nose." Rin says.

Oh ya.... Darn it Inuyasha. I quickly try to wipe off the charcoal on my nose with the back of my hand.

"So where's Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha asks.

"He will be here soon, he's in the fields with A-Un and Jaken. It's been 4 years since we were last here, how have you been Inuyasha?" Rin asks with a quiet voice.

"I'm alright." Inuyasha replies with a lifeless tone.

The mood sure changed quick.

"It seems as if you are all really close, family members. Lady Sango here mentioned how close you all were." I say to Rin.

"Yes we are close, sister Sango here is like a real sister to me. We all grew up together till I left here when I reached age 24. Even after I left, I never forgot this place, this place is like my first home." Rin replies with nostalgia in her voice.

I smile at her reply. I then hear someone getting up.

"It's almost dinner time, I'll go make dinner, Miroku should be back soon as well. Let's all have dinner together, it's been a while since you came back Rin." Sango says.

Of course, do you need help?" Rin asks.

"Sure thing." Sango replies with happiness in her voice.

Although I don't know what she looks like, but her voice is enough to tell me that she is a joyful person and being around her will make the atmosphere feel like Spring. I offered to help out but Sango told me that my nose is red as a tomato. She told me to go back to my hut, change into a warm kimono and warm up. At the same time, she asks Inuyasha to go get Shippo at wherever he is. Inuyasha accompanies me back to my hut.

"It seems like this Sesshomaru is here as well, if I remember, he is your brother right?" I say to him trying to start a conversation.

"Half brother." He replies with a grumble.

"Right, how much older is he?" I ask him.

"He's a good 300 years older." He replies back with a matter of factly.

I nearly choked on my saliva, wow. I know that Inuyasha is over 100 maybe even 200 years old, so if his half brother is 300 years older, he could be 500 years over. I clear my throat to find my composure, I thought the age difference wouldn't be too much.

"Is there something between Rin and your half brother, because you asked her about your brother." I ask him again.

"They are married, Rin married Sesshomaru when she became 26. Sesshomaru saved Rin when she was a child and watched over her as her guardian. That was years before, she is nearing her 70's soon. In her youth, Kaede thought that by staying in a world of demons wouldn't be too good for her, she wouldn't have any human communications. So Sesshomaru left her here with us for a few years, she has grown to be in human companies and when she became of age she will be able to choose which world she would live in. In those years, she and Sesshomaru's begin to grow out of there protector and protected phase and romance developed. She married my brother and lived with him." Inuyasha says telling me the history.

"I see, do they have any children?" I ask him.

"No, they think it's enough just the two of them. Besides Sesshomaru is a Great Daiyokai, he has responsibilities and travels across the land a lot, Rin accompanies him. So having children wouldn't be the best idea for them. They won't have time to take care of the children." Inuyasha adds.

"Ah... How about you Inuyasha? Do you want children?" I ask him.

There's a brief silence, I waited for his answer.

"We're here, it's not an important question, you can let it go. I'll see you in a bit." Inuyasha replies.

He changed the subject, was it a question that he's uncomfortable with? But we're here and he has to go look for Shippo, so I'll let it slide. After he says that, he pointed me to the front of my hut and I hear him walk away. He seemed...evasive, he usually is so head strong but why is he avoiding a question like that? It's a harmless question, but I guess it's something he doesn't want to answer so I won't push. I go inside and change into another pair of kimono and warmed myself up before heading back to the big hut, I can hear Shippo's voice and laughter along with Rin's kind voice. I enter inside and I smile, a second after entering, I feel a strong aura inside, and it's not Inuyasha's.

"_________,you're back." I hear Miroku's voice as he greets me.

"Hello Miroku, Lady Rin, Shippo." I say greeting them.

"You're here___________, oh, Inuyasha's brother, Sesshomaru is here beside me. Sesshomaru, this is a guest of Miroku and Sango's,___________." Rin says introducing me to Sesshomaru.

"Oh, nice to meet you." I say with a bow.

"Likewise." An unfamiliar voice replies.

I listened to his voice, it is so different than Inuyasha's. It's like the Winter ice, it freezes you in your place. His voice sounds controlled and elegant. It captures you, but at the same time it's cold, distance sounding. I don't know what to make of him because I don't know what Sesshomaru looks like but I assume he looks like Inuyasha, maybe slightly different, more mature looking since he's older. We then all sit down and have dinner together, it's quite lively, with Shippo, Rin, Miroku, and Sango's lively personality. I'm more on the quiet side but occasionally the conversation will include me in it so I won't be left out. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, well the two brother are quiet, very quiet.

"That was a lively and good dinner." Rin says.

"It has, it's been a long time since you and Sesshomaru has been here." Miroku responds.

"4 years... guess our own lives took over, but we wanted to come back here and see you all, remind us that there's still a bond between us." Run adds.

"Yes, the bond will never fade." Sango says.

"When a bond is formed, it will take a lot for it to break." I add.

"Indeed, just wish that we were all together...all of us." Miroku sighs.

Suddenly I hear someone get up, the atmosphere changed.

"Inuyasha..." I hear Rin say.

Inuyasha? He's the one that got up and left? No reply, I hear him walk out and his footsteps fading.

"Oh Inuyasha..." I hear Sango sigh as well.

"Excuse me." Sesshomaru suddenly says.

I then hear someone else get up and quietly leave the hut. I'm confused, I mean yes the mood became a bit sad when they mentioned how they wished everyone were here, didn't expect that Inuyasha would walk out, didn't take him as that type of person.

"Is everything alright?" I ask.

"Oh, everything's fine, don't worry dear." Sango answers gently rubbing my arm.

I didn't ask anything more, the 5 of us finish dinner and clean up. I bid all of them goodnight, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru still haven't come back yet I wonder if they're alright. I decide to see if I can find them, going to be pretty hard. I decide to walk around town, I know that I won't be exiting the village but I might get lost. I don't know how long time has passed but I think I'm lost, it's pretty late now, the streets pretty empty and quiet. I don't know where I am, but I continue walking. A few more minutes passes and I seem to hear something in the distance, two people conversing. I walk a little bit more and I put my hands out as I feel a big presence, it seems to be a hut. I hide behind it and I listen in.

"People leave Inuyasha, especially humans. Their lifespans are shorter than ours and you know that. It's been years since then, learn to let go." I hear one of them say.

It's Sesshomaru's voice, and he's talking to Inuyasha. Let go? Letting go of what? I listen and wait for Inuyasha's reply.

"I appreciate the effort, but I don't think you should be the one to tell me these things. You don't understand, you didn't go through what I have gone through." Inuyasha replies with slight hostility in his voice.

"I may not have, but I have to come to understand emotions. What happened must have been difficult but you have to learn to let go. Kagome is gone, you have to wake up and see reality." Sesshomaru responds.

Kagome? Who is Kagome? This person sounds really close to Inuyasha if he sounds so distraught, I haven't hear him sound like this since I've been here. Sesshomaru is trying to help Inuyasha, but his voice sounds like ice, it freezes you.

"I don't think you should comfort anyone, telling someone to move on when they still haven't come to terms with things just makes things more complicated. Like I said, I appreciate the effort, but you don't need to try. It makes things worse." Inuyasha says trying to brush Sesshomaru off with slight anger.

"If you think so, then so be it. Looks like you have company, I won't say anymore, but Inuyasha... it has gone on long enough, if you want to be happy, learn to let go." Sesshomaru says.

I feel my breath hitch, he knows I'm here? Oh well then again, he is a demon, superior senses.

"__________?" I hear Inuyasha say a second after.

Should I make a break for it? I just eavesdropped on their heated conversation, but I can't see so where will I be running to? I'm in trouble, Inuyasha's going to go nuts on me.