"Agreed." Sesshomaru glanced down at her. "Shall we head home, then?" He'd already shifted Katsuro to be able to carry the pup more easily.

Aura nodded.

"Home sounds nice," she replied. Katsuro had grabbed little handfuls of his father's shirt and was clinging to him, making happy little sounds every so often. Yes, he was glad Papa was home.

Sesshomaru nodded and kept his arm around her as he walked, much happier now that he was home, for the time being at least. He'd already figured he'd have to leave again sometime for business, but he didn't have to yet.

Aura was content to stay close to him for now. She'd missed having him there, and she didn't want to stray too far from him for the moment.

Sesshomaru led the way back to the house, and then he settled down with the two of them, quite content for the moment.

Aura immediately curled up next to him when they settled in. Yes, everything was right again. She cuddled into his side, one finger tracing the stripes on his wrist absently.

"We missed you," she said softly to him.

Sesshomaru rumbled a little at that, pulling her closer. "I missed you as well," he said quietly. "It was... more difficult than I anticipated."

"You're home now," Aura said, cuddling close. "And hopefully you won't have to go again for a while." Because it was harder to be away from him than she'd initially thought, too.

"Not for a while," Sesshomaru agreed. Because he wasn't willing to go away again. Not for a while. Not until they were all able to handle it better.

"Good." Aura laid her head on his shoulder, and smiled a bit when she saw Katsuro already asleep in his lap. "He's been teething while you were gone. It's been a challenge to keep him from chewing on everything."

Sesshomaru chuckled quietly. "Yes, I would imagine so." He smoothed a hand over Katsuro's head. "If he needs, we can get a few more things for him tomorrow."

"That would be a good idea," Aura replied. She sighed softly. Life was good at the moment.

Sesshomaru nodded and stayed there, just assuring himself that they were all fine and whole and nothing bad had happened while he was gone.

Aura sighed happily and settled in.

Over the next few years, it became a bit more of a challenge to look after the children. As they all got older, they all got a bit stronger, and they all began some formal training to start honing their skills, and it wasn't as easy for Aura to keep an eye on them anymore as it had been when they were little. They were snuggling less and wrestling more and that was something she couldn't participate in anymore after the first time she came away from it with a significant injury, rather than a bump or a scrape.

Kris helped in the training when she could, although since she'd taught herself everything it was harder for her to teach the kids. But she did manage to help them work off excess energy well enough.

Although she did notice that Aura was starting to be a little quieter and more distant, and wracked her brain trying to think if she'd done something wrong recently.

Aura felt a distinct separation between herself and the others as the children got old enough for training. There was nothing she could teach them in that area, and nothing she could participate in with them. All she could do was sit back and watch everyone continue without her. And she didn't like that at all.

After training one day Kris made her way over to Aura, cautious in case she was in a mood to lash out.

"Hey. What's going on? And don't try to tell me nothing, I know you better than that by now."

Aura blinked and looked at Kris.

"What do you mean?" she asked, although she had a good idea of what Kris was asking about.

"You. You've been sitting and... I dunno, almost sulking for a little while." Kris sat down next to her, still ready to bolt if necessary.

"Just... realizing some things," Aura said quietly. "It's nothing."

"Uh huh. Which is why you've been sitting here staring out at nothing looking morose." Kris raised an eyebrow at her, clearly disbelieving. "Don't even try to pull that on me."

"It's nothing you have to worry about," Aura amended. Her fingers absently brushed the bandage that still wrapped one forearm.

Kris frowned and looked from her to the bandage and back. Aura was being unusually stubborn, and Kris wasn't sure how much pushing the issue would help in this case. After a few moments she sighed.

"Alright. If you do decide you want to talk..."

"...I don't like being so fragile," Aura said softly after a moment. "I can't play with the kids the way I used to when they were little. There's nothing I can teach them, not like they're learning now." She looked down at her lap.

Kris was quiet for a few moments. "I can't say I know how you feel," she said slowly. "But just because you can't help with training doesn't mean you can't teach them things still." She looked over at Aura.