Author's Final Note: Notice what I did there? Yeah, that's right. You're about to read the Final Chapter! But don't fret, the sequel is just around the corner. I am hoping that I did an adequate job of tying this off. If not, I guess I will just have to go back and edit! Anyway, let's not keep you from the last chapter. And please, even if it is the first and last you ever give, please review this final chapter! Consider it your thoughts on the story as a whole, if you will.

Several days had passed since Hoshi had disappeared from the castle. A new woman, quiet and aloof, had been promoted to head of housekeeping. She seemed to content with the job and didn't care at all about the union between the hanyou and lord; better to not care than to care destructively. They didn't have much time to assess the new girl, though. Sesshomaru decided to leave the castle as a group this time around.

Rin and Mina walked side by side while the men marched in front. There did not seem to be a rush, so the girls picked flowers and played tag during the journey. Jaken strolled with Lord Sesshomaru, his nose up at their childish antics.

"What a ridiculous waste of energy," he huffed. "And time, might I add."

"Jaken. Leave them alone."

"My lord! I-I...yes, my lord."

Sesshomaru glanced back at the girls. "You were never a good playmate for Rin, anyway."

Jaken actually seemed a bit hurt and almost pouted, crossing his arms as he muttered, "I just don't see the use."

Rin ran forward and began walking by his side, holding out a yellow flower as she smiled, "Don't be sad, Lord Jaken. You and Lord Sesshomaru are too busy to play, anyway. Right, Lord Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Hm."

"See?" she smiled.

Mina watched as Jaken hesitantly accepted the flower. Her own gaze turned to a bag carried on Ah-Un's back. Inside, she knew, was an old book snagged from Sesshomaru's library where she had decided to hide the flower he had given her. There it lay protected, pressed between two pages to keep it from falling to pieces. Some day, she would like to have it hanging on a wall where she could look back and think of all the hard work it took to achieve her impossible dreams.

To achieve Sesshomaru.

After all, that single flower represented the care and adoration he had developed for her. All of the impossible chances that led to their union. The beautifully beaten path to their happy ending.

"What are you smiling at, girl?" Jaken exclaimed, "I only accepted the flower because Rin offered it, you know, it does not make me any less of a demon!"

She laughed at his outburst, "I hadn't even thought of that, Jaken-sama!"

The little imp's green face seemed to grow red and he looked ready to explode, but Sesshomaru warned, "Jaken."

His fuse went out and he laughed nervously, "Oh—yes—forgive me, m'lord."

Mina laughed with Rin, and Sesshomaru even seemed amused. Minako's stomach flipped at the moment. Was this what it meant to have a family? Even when her parents lived, what they had was unique. This felt right. Yes. This was her family. These three who cared for her and saw her through the best and worst of times. She loved them. All of them.

Her smile widened at the thought of spending the rest of her days in this odd little family.

When the sun set, Sesshomaru stopped and let the group set up for the night. He wandered off into the woods and Minako decided to follow. Something told her that she should, and she was correct in assuming that the bond had hinted it. They had wandered for a while before Sesshomaru stopped, simply staring up at the skies.

Mina hadn't a clue what he was thinking. She didn't know that he put up a small wall to make sure that his thoughts did not occasionally flood into hers. She also did not know that he had no current destination in mind, or that he simply led them blindly through the land because he needed time to think.

Had he had enough time to think? How could he explain to Mina? He had never had the need to express such a thing before. In fact, never before had he felt anything that needed an expression beyond fighting. He wanted to tell Mina how she made him feel so strange, but words failed him. How could he say this? Of course, he had gotten used to speaking quite a bit more when with Minako, but these words were foreign to him. Getting them from his mind to his mouth proved a challenge.

"Mina," Sesshomaru began. "There is something I..."

He stopped and let out a heavy sigh just as Jaken burst through the bushes screeching something long the lines of, "M'lord—there you are! We have been searching!"

Sesshomaru shot the little imp a dirty look, and said no more. Mina understood that he had caught the scent and knew they were about to be interrupted just before it happened. Why couldn't she have a sense of smell like that? She didn't seem to realize that Sesshomaru should have known that Jaken was coming long before then—he just had a little too much on his mind.

The two followed Jaken back to camp where Rin waited with Ah-Un. The fire had already been set up, and there was even meat roasting. The group ate in a comfortable silence, Mina's mind racing as she found herself too busy wondering what Sesshomaru had wanted to tell her. He could have just blurted it out quickly right when they stopped! But that would be unlike himself.

After the meal, Rin fell asleep right away and Jaken sat up for a while before following suit. Sesshomaru watched the two for a while, looking back to Mina. She seemed wide awake, and smiled back at the lord. He stood, holding his hand out. She took it, and they were off.

She followed blindly, trusting him as her body moved with his. They seemed to have been running forever, and she lost track of where they were headed (not all that difficult with her limited knowledge of the land). At last, Sesshomaru lifted her up into the air and she found herself clinging to his sleeve as they flew. When her feet touched the ground, she opened her eyes to see that they were standing atop a large rock jutting out over a waterfall.

The scenery looked rather familiar, and Mina realized that this is where they had gone long ago when she had feared that he would mate with Masami. A time of comfusion and hurt, but also the early budding of her relationship with Sesshomaru. He had begun to show his affections toward her then, even if he had denied them. Repeatedly.

She looked up to the skies and found the north star. Sesshomaru seemed to be staring up at the night sky, too. His hand still held hers. She loved the feeling of being with him, holding hands and standing close. She appreciated the simple things that she doubted he even noticed.

"Mina," he said, his voice showing that he meant business. "I brought you here for a reason."

Of course, a reason. There was always a reason. If only they could just go somewhere peaceful just for the heck of it. A little romance wouldn't kill him, would it?

But those were inappropriate thoughts. After all, Sesshomaru seemed genuinely concerned by whatever this talk was to be about.

"Mina," he began, taking in a long and drawn out breath. He let it out.

"Yes, my lord? Have I done something wrong?" She couldn't recall misbehaving. What else could this be about? It had to be serious if he felt the need to take her away from the others, to such a secluded place.

"No." He gave her a strange look, as if it confused him that she would think such a thing. What did he expect? He never really made such a big deal about anything else. The only other time he kept her alone without being angry was when her life had been in danger, and that hadn't happened recently. Near-death experiences were the triggers for his affections.

But she didn't mind that. It made the danger all the less frightening.

"Minako," he began again, this time seeming to choose his words carefully. "What do you think of me?"

What was she to make of his question? Hadn't she told him before how he meant so much to her? Perhaps he had forgotten. She didn't quite understand where he was going with this, but decided to play along.

"I think the world of you, my lord," she smiled, holding both his hands in hers as she looked up at him. She couldn't understand what he hid behind that golden stare. "You have given my life meaning. I owe all I have to you. I love you."

He seemed cold, and she noticed how firmly he held that cold mask in place. "And what of my land, my power? If I were to lose it?"

"I loved you before I knew you had land. Before I realized the extent of your power. If I care for those things, it is only because I know that they mean something to you."

"And if I lost it all? If I had nothing more than rags? If I were human?"

She held back her immediate reaction to laugh. Why was he asking such questions? This all seemed silly to her. She thought her answers were obvious.

"Were you a poor human—as unlikely as that may be—I would still love you, my lord. You misunderstand my feelings if you are to think that I actually care about these things. You are not power and riches. You are Sesshomaru. I love you, Sesshomaru."

"I love you, Mina," he said in a breathless rush, his mask slipping to reveal a swell of emotion that she had never seen (nor ever expected to see) in him before.

His sudden outburst had thrown her off guard. She hadn't even quite comprehended what he said before she felt his arms pulling her in close, pressing his face into her hair as he drew in a ragged breath. His admittance left him drained, as if having just barely won a battle. It seemed an effort to breathe, and he held her like she would slip away at any moment.

"I love you, Mina, and you cannot know how frightening that is. You make me feel things that I never wished to feel, and I do not even mind. You make me weak, but I do not care." He pulled back to see that she had begun crying. "I trust you. I trust you with my land, my power, my life."

"My Lord," she sobbed, and threw herself forward into his arms, her face hidden in his chest. They stood still for a while, Sesshomaru regaining his composure as Mina cried. He held her, closing his eyes and resting his head against hers. After a while, she pulled back.

"Forgive my tears," she smiled. "I just...I've only ever dreamed of this day."

She watched as he gave her a small smile, golden eyes lit up in the moonlight.

He had done it, let her know that she made him feel. Now he could only hope that his blind trust would not be a mistake. It wouldn't, though. She loved him, and he loved her. Any other hanyou, and he would have killed them at the chance of betrayal. But not Mina. He had let her live, and he had never been more certain in such a risk. She would not betray his trust. She was Minako, his mate, his love.

His exception to the rule.