Kagura grimaced as she sped through the air, nearly upon her third day of searching. She had looked over the entire area around where Naraku’s mansion had been, yet was unable to detect either Kohaku or Sesshoumaru. She was running out of time and she knew it. If they couldn’t find Sesshoumaru soon, it could very well be too late for him. She knew that Kohaku was well versed in the taijiya’s ways, but he was taught ways to destroy yokai, not to keep them alive.

Frustrated, Kagura turned around and headed back to the ruins of her former home. She continued staring down at the ground, expecting a clue of some sort to appear, however unlikely that would be. Still, she felt that she owed Kagome this much—to reunite the girl with the man she loved—because the girl practically handed her freedom. [She sacrificed so much to destroy Naraku… even if she did not do so for me, I still owe her a debt… Not only that… but Sesshoumaru offered me a place in his territory, I’ll still be serving someone, but at least he does not hold my heart. I’ve discovered that when one lives without a purpose that one purposely causes irreversible damage… I won’t do that again… I’ll be free to do as I choose and live my life on my own terms…]

Then, she noticed a slight flicker of light in the forest. As she concentrated better on the landscape beneath of herself, she noticed that the trees in one area seemed a little blurred, as though there was a glass orb that held over the area… or perhaps a barrier. As Kagura circled around the area, now at a lower altitude, she saw Kikyo, a miko that she had known to deal with Naraku at times. The miko was kneeling on the ground, chanting words to an ancient mantra known only to those of her profession.

Kagura landed at what seemed a safe distance from the miko and withdrew her fan, prepared to defend herself if at all necessary. She cautiously moved toward the undead miko, wary of the woman’s every motion.

Kikyo saw and had heard Kagura’s approach, but continued unflinchingly. She concentrated as she finished the spell, assuring that the barrier would stay even if she were not standing at the edge of it, feeding it her pure aura. "You do know that your master is dead, do you not?"

Kagura rolled her eyes as she tapped her closed fan against her crossed arm. "I was there to ensure that such happened."

Kikyo snickered as she realized that the wind sorceress had not come to attack her. "Then why is it that you continue to search for something, as though a dog without an owner?"

Kagura pointed to the barrier that Kikyo stood within. "Who is in there?"

Kikyo glanced back, realizing that Kagura was unable to see further within the barrier that she had erected. "Why should it matter to you?"

Kagura cleared her throat as she stared into Kikyo’s sardonic gaze. "I owe a debt to a friend and so I need to find a man and assure his safety."

Kikyo dropped her disbelieving stare as she glanced back at the old hut where she had sealed the ailing taiyokai in. "I suppose that you are searching for Sesshoumaru, then?"

Kagura nodded slowly. Finally, the miko had decided to stop playing games with her and showed that she knew where Sesshoumaru was. She had been hiding him in the barrier.

[That girl… Kagome is trying to find him… Well, if anyone is to save that man’s soul, it is to be her.] Kikyo grimaced as she stepped to the edge of the barrier. "I’m afraid to tell you that you are unable to enter this barrier. However, your friend, if she is who I am guessing she is, she may be able to save him yet… Hurry and bring her here, as this is her trouble and responsibility, not mine. Quickly, as time is of the essence."

Kagura nodded and swiftly took to the skies. As she had guessed, Sesshoumaru was in grave danger and it was up to Kagome to save him. Now all she had to do was to find Kagome. Rather than taking to the higher altitudes, Kagura clung close to the land, barely above to treetops as she flew.

From seemingly out of nowhere, she felt something, someone, hit her back, just enough to knock her off of her airborne vessel. As she fell to the ground, she commanded the winds around herself to concentrate on the ground below her, thus softening her fall. She rubbed her back as she finally landed on the ground, wondering what had caused her fall.

"You think that you can just roam free now, Kagura? I still haven’t exacted my revenge upon you…"

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ -^_^- ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Kohaku watched Sesshoumaru quietly. He knew not why it had been that this man chose to save his life, but he did know that the man deserved not to die. Kohaku reached into a bucket of cool water and pulled out a rag, wringing water from it. He carefully wiped Sesshoumaru’s forehead, hoping that if he quelled the man’s fever that the rest of his mysterious ailment would leave as well.

Sesshoumaru drew in several quick, labored breaths as he felt the cool rag on his forehead. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t open his eyes nor could he manage to speak. Right now, that was too much for him. The pain that he had felt in his side before, now it was nearly spread over the rest of his body. It was a fight now just to maintain his own thoughts. He had heard the boy talking to a woman, telling her that Naraku was dead, but he still couldn’t feel too sure.

This pain had already taken most of his body and now it threatened to devour his soul as well. Only his constant thoughts, concentrating on why he needed to recover—only that kept him alive. In his mind’s eye, he was still writhing in pain, though he knew that he was not moving. How any pain could overtake him, Taiyokai of the Western Lands, was beyond his knowledge. His thoughts began to visit words that Naraku had spoken to him, wondering what they had meant. ‘It hurts, doesn’t it? Of course, you probably don’t recognize true pain, do you?’ Those words, obviously, they did have meaning, but Sesshoumaru couldn’t decipher it, not now. He hurt all over too much to think clearly. All he knew was that Naraku had planned this. Naraku would not have died without causing some sort of pain and suffering to someone. Sesshoumaru just happened to be the unsuspecting target.

It could not have been an ordinary type of poison that Naraku had pushed into Sesshoumaru… No, it was something far more devious.

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ -^_^- ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Kagome hummed happily as she could, doing her best to keep her mind from more troubling thoughts. Her mother had always taught her that if one became melancholy and worrisome that one would trouble everyone else as well. Kagome wasn’t about to bring anyone else down with her worries. She was responsible for keeping everyone in a good mood. Thinking, worrying about Sesshoumaru wasn’t going to make anything better for anyone, no matter how much she wanted to do so.

She reached into her pocket and withdrew the picture that they had taken before going to fight Naraku. Had she known then what would have happened, she would have never let him go. She would have held onto him tight and not let him walk away from her. She wouldn’t have allowed any harm come to the man that she had come to love so dearly. [That’s wrong… not letting someone go somewhere doesn’t necessarily protect them… He could have gotten hurt just as easily by my side… But… No, Kagome, don’t let yourself think like that.]

Sayaka proudly held the two blades that Inu Yasha had brought to her. She had no idea from where they had come, though she suspected that they were from the village blacksmith. Either way, he had given them to her after she told him what had happened to her original blades. These two blades were of much better quality than the ones that she had owned previously. She skillfully swung the blades through the air, fighting an imaginary opponent. Finally, she mis-stepped and while trying to catch herself from a fall, brought the two swords together with a resilient metallic clang.

Sayaka blushed as she noticed all eyes were on her and then she began laughing at her own mistake. She looked back at Inu Yasha with a playful grin, causing him to blush as well. She had not realized that the others were watching her, but she did know that Inu Yasha had been paying close attention to her motions with the two swords. He knew that she would likely be a little clumsy with them because they were nearly a foot longer than the ones that she had owned previously, as known by her description.

[She’s really cute when she smiles like that… It’s almost as if there is something magical to the way she laughs and grins… Even Kagome never was able to make me melt with just a little grin like Sayaka can…] Inu Yasha smiled to himself as he moved closer to Sayaka and surprised her as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Sayaka-chan, are those too long? I mean… you told me that the swords that you used previously were three-quarters length of regular swords, but there weren’t any of those type available…"

Sayaka smiled as she sheathed the swords on either of her hips. "Inu-chan, these are perfect! They are such better quality than the ones that I had before… I just… I don’t know how to thank you."

Inu Yasha leaned over and whispered into the girl’s ear, causing a sly smile to make its way across her face, not to mention quizzical looks from the other three travelers. Though the couple tried to do so inconspicuously, everyone else noticed as Inu Yasha’s hand slid down and was held in Sayaka’s hand.

Miroku grinned and reached his hand down as well, trying to grab hold of Sango’s hand without looking. However, his hand discovered the wrong part of Sango and he was promptly rewarded with a slap on the face. "Sango-chan… I wasn’t trying to reach for that…"

"You always say that houshi-sama…" Sango grinned and with a swiftness that only she could achieve, she reached behind Miroku’s back, conveniently brushing past his rear, and grabbed his hand on the opposite side. As her lover looked down at her with a feinted glare, she could only laugh.

"Sango-chan, to me, you are only too cruel." Miroku laughed as the girl stole a kiss from his cheek. He grinned as he bent down and pressed his own lips to hers. This had not been their first kiss, but it did seem, by far, to be the most enjoyable since the first.

Kagome watched quietly. She was happy that her friends were all so happy, but she couldn’t help but to long for Sesshoumaru to be at her side. She looked back down at her photograph, thought it was hard to see in the dim moonlight, and wondered how much longer it would be until she saw Sesshoumaru again.

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ -^_^- ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Kagura stared at Kouga, flabbergasted. "Why is it that you are trying to do this now?"

Kouga ignored Kagura’s question as he leapt into the air and brought a swift kick against her chest. He grinned as he prepared to execute the next attack against the woman. He had spent a long night drowning his problems away with saké and no longer cared that he had already helped in Naraku’s destruction. It was still a set fact in his liquor-fogged mind that Kagura was the one to murder his comrades and for that sin, she needed to pay with her life.

Kagura clutched her chest as it flared in pain from the point where Kouga had kicked her. She winced as she reached into her kimono and withdrew her fan, just in time to send Kouga flying backwards before he managed to attack her again. "Damn it… baka…"

Kouga stood, though he teetered from side-to-side a little. He concentrated and was able to focus on Kagura. He rushed to attack her once more. "You bitch! You stole from me my entire clan!"

Kagura was able to dodge the ill-aimed attack and moved to make her own. As Kouga spun around to attempt another attack, Kagura balled her hand into a fist and punched into Kouga’s abdomen as he came towards her. Unconscious, the drunken wolf leader collapsed on the forest floor. Kagura sighed as she picked Kouga up before she returned to the sky. She knew quite well that he had fairly well given up his grudge against her, but judging by his lack of coordination and the stench on his breath, he had some alcohol to aide his ignorant actions.

Though she knew that carrying him with her would likely only bring trouble to her the moment that he awoke, she also knew she couldn’t simply leave him lying on the forest floor. Kagura noticed that she felt a certain camaraderie for all of the others that were there when the man who had enslaved her was finally killed. The fact that, with the exception of Kouga, they had all seemed to accept her as an ally certainly moved to endear them more to Kagura. All of those whom had once been her enemies now seemed to be her allies.

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ -^_^- ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

Kagome stared up into the night sky, wondering if perhaps Sesshoumaru was staring up at the stars as well. She sighed sadly as she looked around the campfire, seeing that her friends all seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

"We’ll find him, Kagome. I swear by it."

Kagome, startled, looked over to Inu Yasha, who apparently was not sleeping. He smiled as he glanced down at Sayaka, sleeping on his shoulder. Kagome shifted uneasily as she leaned back against the base of a tree. "How can you be so sure? It’s almost been three days, Inu Yasha."

"Yes, but you do have to remember that he’s made out of much tougher stuff than either of us, Kagome. There’s a reason that Sesshoumaru is referred to as ‘Taiyokai of the West’. His position over his territory has been challenged before and he didn’t keep it just because he talked someone out of wanting his land, Kagome. His yokai body can take a lot more strain and abuse than a human or hanyou body…" Inu Yasha quieted as he felt Sayaka move, as though she might be waking. He sighed with relief when she pressed closer and whispered his name in her slumber.

Hours passed and Kagome finally found sleep, though only in brief, light doses. She jumped awake as she felt the winds begin to whip around her body and saw the campfire suddenly blow out. With musical grace, Kagura landed just in front of where Kagome was sleeping. She knelt down and placed the unconscious wolf leader in front of Kagome. She looked up, expecting her new friends to be smiling at her in welcome. Rather, she was met with a shaking arrow drawn back on Kagome’s bow.

Kagome’s words were icy as she kept the arrow aimed at Kagura’s chest. "What did you do to Kouga-kun?"

Kagura bowed her head submissively and held her hands in the air to show that she was not planning to attack. "Gomen ne… He attacked me… but that’s not why I’m here."

By now, everyone had awakened and was watching Kagura in the dim morning light. "Sesshoumaru is still alive… I found him."

Kagome gasped, shocked that Kagura had been searching for him as well. Kagura cleared her throat nervously and continued, "Kikyo is holding a barrier over him to protect him. She said that you, Kagome, may be able to save him. She said that I was to take you there as this is your trouble and responsibility, not hers. His life may still be at stake, so I suggest we go quickly."

Kagome was already standing, the arrow that she had once aimed at the wind sorceress returned to her quiver and her bow slung over her shoulder. She did not even bother to look to her other companions as she moved towards Kagura. "I’m ready. Please, take me to him…"

Sango stood, holding Hiraikotsu over her shoulder. "We’ll follow. If Kagura’s previous theory is correct, then Kohaku will be there, too."

Inu Yasha stood as well, holding tightly to Sayaka’s hand. "We’ll go too. From what it sounds like, there’s going to be a lot more trouble than there would be normally. You might need help."

Sayaka nodded in agreement. "We’ll be there for you, Kagome-chan. That’s why we came, right?"

Kagome couldn’t help to feel tears gather in her eyes. Her friends were here, all around her, and more than ready to help her. She paused as she looked down at Kouga. "Ano… what are we going to do with him?"

Inu Yasha snickered as he moved towards Kouga. "Oi, baka okami!"

Kouga awoke with a start and then began looking around himself, confused. He only became more confused as all of the others began laughing. Kagome leaned over him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Kouga-kun… we’re going to help Sesshoumaru… Do you want to come too?"

Kouga nodded slowly and then quickly brought his hand to his aching head. "Itai…"

Kagura glared at him through slitted eyes. "That’s what you get for drinking like a fish."

Kagome grinned but then turned back to Kagura. "We have to get going, now."

Kagura pulled a feather from her hair and grabbed Kagome’s hand as she moved up into the air. Shortly thereafter, Kirara rose into the air, carrying Sango and Miroku. Sayaka, Inu Yasha, and Kouga could then be heard running through the forest below, although it was without argument that Kouga was the one most often heard.

~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ -^_^- ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~

A.N. Well, I guess I’ll have to stop this chapter here. ^_^ If I don’t, you probably won’t get an update for several more weeks…

Anyhow, read and review as always, and be otherwise happy with life, for you only get from life what you put into your life. ^_^ (Don’t ask where that came from… it just happened…)