Inu Yasha felt his eyes burn with tears, but these tears were those of happiness. He resisted his urge to run after Kagome and turned away, heading back to the camp where he had left Sango and Miroku. Finally, his smile broke across his face, as though it would never leave his lips. Out of delight, he leapt into the air and began performing a set of handsprings and jumps in order to release all of the energy that had flooded into him after he had found Kagome.

When he eventually stopped, he saw Miroku standing a mere few inches in front of him, arms crossed and a stern expression upon his face. "And just what are you so overjoyed about?"

Though it had not seemed as though it would have been possible, Inu Yasha’s smile widened even more as he drew Miroku closer to whisper into his ear. "I found her! She’s okay!"

Miroku’s face registered in shock as he moved to sit down on the ground. "Is she going to continue journeying with us?"

Inu Yasha sighed as he slowly shook his head. "She’s staying with someone else for now. I trust that person to protect her… We’ll see her again, though… in the final battle."

"You mean against Naraku?"

Inu Yasha nodded as he stretched his arms over his head. "Don’t worry about trying to see her, though. You wouldn’t recognize her—hell, I wouldn’t have known who she was if she hadn’t said something that a complete stranger wouldn’t know."

Miroku rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So she’s hiding so that Naraku thinks that she’s dead? Who with?"

"I don’t think I’m supposed to tell who she’s with… but yes, I believe that’s why she’s staying with that person."

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Sesshoumaru’s eyes flared with anger as he saw Kagome emerging from the depths of the forest. "What do you think you were doing? You cold have ruined everything that we’ve been doing this for! Are you really that stupid?"

The smile on Kagome’s face broke as she began to speak. "Sesshoumaru… I had to tell him something… he looked so—"

"No. The point is that no one knows that you are alive, understand? If Naraku discovers your true identity, then all of this will have been in vain. All the careful planning, teaching you to shoot that arrow better, teaching you to fight better—all of it will be for nothing! Stupid human woman, can you even fathom what you may have done?"

Kagome reached out to slap Sesshoumaru for having insulted her so, but he caught her hand before it got anywhere near his face. His eyes flared with anger as he pulled her closer to himself and forced her to look into his eyes. "Now you listen woman. You may not like this particular arrangement, but do remember that I revived you and gave another chance at life, and I won’t hesitate to undo what I have done."

[He’s willing to kill me? I… I don’t understand… he had seemed so much kinder…] Kagome’s jaw dropped in horror as she wriggled out of Sesshoumaru’s grasp, tears gathering in her eyes. "Y-You monster!"

"Call me whatever you like—it isn’t as if I haven’t hear those type of words before." Sesshoumaru shot an angry look at Kagome and then turned away from her frightened expression, walking back to where he had left Rin and Jaken. [Who am I kidding? I could do that to no woman… and now I’m sure that this woman is just as afraid of me as everyone else… That time that I had taken to make sure that she wouldn’t fear me so that I would be able to work with her and have her trust… all of it destroyed in a moment of anger… I should have kept quiet. I shouldn’t have insulted her, I should have just allowed her to do as she pleased… Now I’m sure that she hates me…]

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Kagome shook her head wildly, causing tears to fly out of her eyes as she thought of what Sesshoumaru had told her. [I trusted him, but I’ve also known that he was not without homicidal tendencies… He must really despise me to have said that… I thought that he didn’t mind me, maybe was even willing to tolerate that I was human, now hiding in a hanyou form… I thought that we could at least get along while preparing to fight Naraku…]

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

A woman stood on a hill, staring over a grassy plain below, fierce determination burning in her navy blue eyes. The sleeves of her lavender kimono with forget-me-not flowers embroidered on the shoulders flapped in the wind. She ran a clawed hand through her waist-length silvery-blue hair as a contemptuous smile spread over her face. [After all of this time, I’m finally ready. I’m ready to avenge that which has been taken away from me. I am now powerful enough to destroy that man that killed my mother…]