The first thing that Kagura felt as she began to return to consciousness was pain. It seemed amazing that she managed to escape the battle with her life, but she would have rathered not to have awakened with the pain. (Where am I?)

"Look, she’s waking up!"

As quiet murmurs from familiar voices seemed to fill the room, Kagura reached the conclusion that she was at least among friends. Perhaps it was that they had arrived just as she had been beaten and then defeated Michiko? It was possible, but if so, why did she not hear Kagome and Sesshoumaru’s voices as well?

After a few more moments, Kagura willed her eyes to open. It was true, everybody but Kagome and Sesshoumaru was there, and they were in Sesshoumaru’s castle as well. "Wh-what happened?"

Sayaka smiled gently as she leaned over her injured friend. "Apparently you decided to take Michiko on by yourself and lost, Kagura-san. It seems that Enryomaru-sama brought you back to us."

Kouga leaned over Kagura, annoyance apparent in his expression. "What were you thinking, going out alone like that? Were you trying to get yourself killed?"

Rather than answer Kouga, Kagura simply turned her head and ignored him. Several minutes of silence passed before she finally spoke. "Do any of you know what she has asked Sesshoumaru to bring to her?"

Though he was thoroughly irritated by Kagura’s subject change, Kouga shrugged and replied, "Wasn’t it just some sword or something? I mean, I don’t know what its purpose is, but I think I remember her telling him that he needed to bring a sword to her."

Kagura nodded. "This woman intends to have Sesshoumaru bring to her a legendary blade that has the power to cause your greatest weakness to be your greatest strength. She intends to use that blade to overthrow the ruling power in these lands."

Sango bit her lip for a moment as she considered what Kagura had said. "So she intends to destroy Sesshoumaru with this very sword that he is supposed to bring to her? Is that why he was so hesitant to cooperate with her?"

"That isn’t all. She’s tried before to come to power in these lands. She has grudges against more than a few of the yokai clans here and intends to enslave and even destroy some of the populations. With those kinds of plans, the entire country would be in conflict." Kagura sighed as she paused, collecting her thoughts. "I know that I’m not really the type to worry about other people’s problems, but I’d like to be able to relax now that Naraku is gone. I’m tired of worrying about whether my next battle is going to be my last."

A silence fell over the room as it seemed that all of the others felt the same way. They had all fought so long to destroy Naraku and to allow the lands they lived some repose, yet there was another force trying to bring the lands into conflict.

Inu Yasha stepped forward, absent-mindedly holding the hilt of the Tetsusaiga as he did so. "So what now? Do we stop Sesshoumaru from giving it to her? I mean, that is what we are assuming he has left to do, right? My only problem with that is, knowing how headstrong my brother is, it isn’t likely we’ll be able to simply talk him out of something once he’s made his mind up."

"And if we try to stop him through physical means, that would only weaken us and him. As it is, we should be saving our strength and considering ways to defeat Michiko. Turning against a comrade would be no way to save Kagome-chan." Miroku reached into his kimono and withdrew several fuda. "I may be able to hold him for a short while, but I’d hate to see how angry he’d be with me afterwards."

As though on cue, the doors flew open. The entire group turned to see the Taiyokai standing in the doorway, looking unkempt and ragged. His normally clean kimono was covered in dirt, his perfectly groomed hair was tangled, and he appeared not to have slept for several days. They all took quick note of a third sword now at his hip. Ignoring the stares that he had just received, Sesshoumaru continued inside, closing his doors behind himself.

He paused for a few moments, noting Kagura’s state of injury. For a few moments, he did nothing other than look over his comrades who all seemed to be in an equal state of shock at his appearance. Finally, he gestured to Kagura. "What happened?"

Sayaka stood, her eyes flickering an emotion that Sesshoumaru could not quite read. "She went to fight Michiko alone. She found out quite a bit of interesting information, Sesshoumaru-sama."

Sesshoumaru began to speak, but was interrupted when Rin ran into the room and hugged her surrogate father. "Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin was scared!"

"We’ll continue this conversation later, Sayaka-san." Sesshoumaru’s eyes softened as he knelt down to listen to Rin.

(And why didn’t Kagura say anything about Sesshoumaru? Isn’t he coming for me?) Kagome shrugged the bothersome thought from her mind; worrying wasn’t helping her at all. (Perhaps Kagura didn’t mention Sesshoumaru because they intended to catch Michiko off-guard somehow. After all, Sesshoumaru would never abandon me… right? And, of course, he isn’t even daring to think of giving in to Michiko’s ridiculous demands, whatever they are, right?)

Kagome sighed as she leaned back against the cold wall, relaxing her tense muscles. No matter the situation, she knew that there would be a way out. (Somehow… it will surely be alright.)

No sooner than he had begun to walk to the end of the hallway, Sesshoumaru heard Sayaka run to catch up with him. Her determination and disregard of authority truly was beginning to remind him of Kagome. "Sesshoumaru-sama! You aren’t really thinking of giving in to Michiko’s demands, are you?"

Sesshoumaru’s eyes dilated slightly as he avoided Sayaka’s question. "Leave me be."

Sayaka stepped a few feet in front of Sesshoumaru, thus blocking his way. "Don’t just ignore me! I know that you know what I’m talking about! You know that we all know what’s going on! Don’t pretend that we don’t see what this is doing to you!"

Sesshoumaru continued walking, pushing Sayaka gently to a side. He wanted to save Kagome now and worry about the details later.

"She’s going to kill you right in front of Kagome! What good will that do?" Sayaka gasped as she realized that she had yelled so loudly that her words echoed in the corridor. When she noticed that Sesshoumaru had stopped and even turned to face her, she continued more quietly, "Don’t you understand how much it would hurt Kagome? To see the one you love being hurt for your own sake… it is a pain that Kagome wouldn’t be able to handle. Please, Sesshoumaru-sama, understand that you have to find another way to save Kagome."

Sesshoumaru stared at the floor for several moments, considering Sayaka’s words. Finally, he began to explain, "Sayaka-chan, when I was young, I argued with my father just before he passed away. He was going into a battle that he knew he could not win, but continued anyway so that the woman he loved could live on. He knew that she would feel pain because of his loss, but she would also respect his sacrifice and continue on with her life. I used to think that my father wasted his life, protecting that mortal woman, when he could have had another just like her as soon as she died.

"But that would have been the most dishonorable thing to do, Sayaka-chan. If he would have abandoned her, whom was depending on him to save her life, he would have been not only living a lie, but selfishly enjoying a life that he had no right to have. If you cannot stake your life for your loved ones, than you do not truly love them. If you are afraid to commit your very life to them, what’s the point?"

Tears began to well in Sayaka’s eyes as she fell to her knees in desperation. "But there has to be another way…"

Sesshoumaru shook his head and turned around, continuing down the hall as he had been previously. "This is just how it has to be, Sayaka-chan."

Sesshoumaru stopped upon hearing his younger brother speak to him. He still did not feel like speaking with any of these people in his home, but he knew that either they wouldn’t let him be or they might actually be of help. "Yes, brother?"

Inu Yasha focused on the floor for a moment, but then looked up with a smile on his face. "So, what’s the plan? Storm the castle, kick Michiko’s ass, and bring Kagome home?"

Sesshoumaru couldn’t help but to grin a little as he gestured his hanyou brother to follow him. He had expected a lecture similar to Sayaka’s from Inu Yasha, but was pleasantly surprised. "I wish it were only that easy…"

Inu Yasha paused, his eyes downcast. "Heh, if it were… We’d have Kagome with us right now."

Sesshoumaru felt his heart sink as he thought of Kagome’s plight. How he wanted to hold her in his arms… yet he realized that ever being able to simply hold her would be nearly impossible. "I want you to send her to her own time, Inu Yasha. I want you to make sure that she will be safe."

(He wants me to send her home? That means…) Inu Yasha increased the speed at which he was walking and stepped in front of Sesshoumaru. "You mean that you aren’t planning on somehow beating Michiko?"

"I trust that you and your friends will help to defend our lands if they are attacked, Inu Yasha. But I want for Kagome to return to her home. I would never be able to rest if something were to happen to her. I want her to live a long, happy life." Sesshoumaru turned into another corridor and turned back to study his younger brother’s expression. "You do understand what I’m saying, correct, Inu Yasha?"

Inu Yasha stood staring at his elder brother. It could be stated that his expression was much similar to the expression he bore when he saw Kikyo fire the arrow that bound him to Goshinboku. Though he did not share a close bond with his elder sibling, the realization of his intentions still shocked Inu Yasha to no end. "You really are going to go through with this, then? Well, fine… I’ll help you out as much as I can. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Kagome and get her to safety."

Miroku held his hands out to her, trying to calm her nerves. "Sango, even though she would definitely be shook up about it… okay, very upset, Kagome has the strength to deal with—"

"Not just Kagome! Miroku, do you understand that Sesshoumaru is Taiyokai! Do you know just what that means? If the guiding political force is taken from this area, everything will be chaos!" Sango stopped pacing for a moment to gauge Miroku’s understanding of her words.

Sango sighed as Miroku still seemed slightly confused. Obviously, it would take a patient explanation for him to comprehend. Obviously, it would take a patient explanation for him to comprehend. "The only reason that this area is not always in a level of total chaos is because the lesser yokai fear the Taiyokai. It is well known that with each generation, the strength of the clan of the Taiyokai increases. Needless to say, yokai understand that Sesshoumaru has a great deal of power and do what they can to make sure that they do not cross his path or otherwise offend him. A skirmish that the Taiyokai deems impractical or one that simply annoys him could lead to a harsh punishment. There aren’t many yokai that are stupid enough to misstep in the Western Lands. However, there are many that would gladly begin massacres if the Taiyokai happened to be absent. Do you at least have a brief idea?"

"Well, I’m sure that Sesshoumaru has put thought to what would happen in his absence. I still think that we should do whatever it takes to help him save Kagome. He has already made the decisions of what sacrifices will have to be made. I’ve never seen Sesshoumaru as being an ill judge. "Miroku leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, showing Sango that he would not change his mind.

Sango stared at Miroku, her jaw dropped. "Fine! Do whatever you want, I’ll just—"

Miroku stopped her by placing his index finger on her lips. "Please, for Kagome’s saftey, Sango. Before you told me that no matter what, you wanted to save Kagome. It wasn’t simply that you wanted to help her because she is your friend, but also because you feel personally indebted to Kagome. This is your chance, Sango. Help Sesshoumaru to save the woman he loves."

Language note: I’ve seen written in fairly reputable references the spirit wards like those Miroku uses referred to as ‘fuda’ or ‘ofuda’. Which is correct? I don’t personally know, but as with many Japanese to English terms, either spelling could be correct. As I said, I don’t know, so please do not take offense if I have made a mistake.

In other news, I’ve broken up with my boyfriend… you know, the one I was all excited about and all—just left me feeling stupid, because apparently he wasn’t as enthusiastic as I was. So now, I’m just keeping things slow and cool with one of the guys I work with. Due to my previous difficulties, though, I’m going to take my time and whether or not I want to, I do feel that I am distancing myself already. But, we’ll see how things go and maybe I’ll tell you in the next fan fic!

Ja ne,

Ryoko Yuy / V Shape Otaku