AN: Hello! I'm new at writing Fan Fiction, so be gentle with me please. Flames will be deleted, because I don't have time to deal with people who can't take the time to phrase things nicely or give constructive criticism. If you get confused or just want to discuss the story, then I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have or talk with you. If you need to know what some of the Japanese words I will be using mean, then just send me a message or ask in a review. I also have no real idea where I'm going to take this so hang in there. Any other ANs will be at the end of chapters to come. I do hope that you like it, and now here is the first chapter of Apart No Longer.

'Lalala'- thoughts

"Ladida"- talking

Tralala- Kagome's inner beast's voice

Dadadadum- Sesshomaru's inner beast's voice

DISCLAIMER: InuYasha and Co. do not belong to me. They do, however, belong to the amazing Rumiko Takahashi.

AN: This has been edited slightly. Mostly just general clean up because I saw some things that bothered me. Nothing major has changed.

Chapter 1: Discoveries

Footfalls on the path. Harsh breathing. The lightning from the storm lit the forest path in front of her as she ran. She was being chased— no, hunted, and she could hear the heavy tread of their steps as they ran after her. As injured as she was, her training was useless; it was hard enough just to keep running.

'Come on! Don't think about the pain. Just keep running, Kagome, and don't stop— They're still following! Why won't they turn back already?' During her inner monologue she didn't notice that she had effectively trapped herself between a rock and a hard place…literally. She quickly took in her surroundings and realized that she could not get away. She was backed up against a cliff face that wrapped around on both sides of her. The height of it wasn't anything extraordinary, but with the wounds inflicted upon her by a narrowly escaped night-gone-bad with a group of other youkai, she still wouldn't be able to make it up the cliff.

After she made a quick survey of her situation, she knew that she had about a snowflake's chance in hell of beating the group of bandits that were after her. As that thought surfaced in her mind, a scalding hot tear rolled down the side of her face resulting in a stinging sensation that she barely realized, as the salty water touched a shallow scratch. She quickly brushed it away, paying no mind to the blood that lingered on her hand, as she steeled her nerves. 'So this is where it all ends,' she thought.

Somewhere in the dense forest that sat atop the cliff was a youkai in the midst of a hunt. His bright amber eyes glinted in the light provided by the changing colors of the lightning from the storm. As he took a breath, an irresistible scent tickled his senses. It was an unmistakable scent; one he'd not smelled in years, but it was also different. Something had changed, something that had been sheer speculation from he and the others. Instead of what should have been the scent of a human, he was picking up on the fragrance of another youkai.

It bothered the mysterious youkai that such a familiar smell could make its way to him, and in the violent spring storm, no less. Though he had a rather large amount of pride in his abilities, he knew it should not be possible for him to be picking up a scent trail this strong from where he was. It meant that other forces were making it stronger— the Kami had a hand in all of this, and for some reason they sought to involve him. Even though he may not bend to the will of those below him, even this powerful youkai knew better than to go against the Kami.

He took a moment to catch the scent and determine where it was coming from, and then he set off to confront the female whose scent was so similar to the human female he once knew. As he drew closer to the edge of the cliff, he heard the sounds of heavy footsteps and loud cursing. As he released a bit of his youki he felt something strange. It was no ordinary youkai that he had been tasked to rescue…she was a kitsune-miko; something rare and only ever heard of in recently made up stories that many parents tell their children. He then knew that the rumors were true, and his and his half-brother's suspicions were correct. Instead of dwelling on that line of thought, however, he expanded his senses to pinpoint her location. When he felt her, he could tell by her aura that she her reiki and youki were balanced, but they were muted…like she had used too much. And now, she was only a moment away from being attacked.

He knew she wouldn't last long, not with the way her aura felt and certainly not with those the bandits approaching. He now knew what the Kami wanted him to do, and that was to save the mysterious miko-demoness. He shot down to the bottom of the cliff in his energy form and landed in front of the woman. He sensed her stiffen and smelled shock and exhaustion rolling off of her in waves, but did not turn around because just as he landed the bandits broke into the clearing.

For the first time that night, the demon was appreciative of the storm, for it helped tone down the overwhelming stench of the men. Even in the pouring rain he could still smell the repugnant odor of poorly-made sake and sweat that seemed to hover around the males. There were eight of them, and had they not been severely intoxicated they would've fled the scene at the sight of the imposing male.

He did not waste time toying with them, for the effort would've been pointless, and he could tell that the woman behind him was weakening. So with a swift flick of his wrist a glowing, green, poisonous whip ended the lives of the eight men who stood there. As the bodies fell to the cold, wet ground, the tall and slender man turned around to take his first look at the woman whose scent so closely resembled that which haunted his dreams. As he looked at her, his tawny eyes widened in shock. It was her.

Mere minutes before the man had appeared in the clearing, Kagome had stabilized only the worst of her numerous injuries. She knew that if she were to try to heal herself entirely, she would use up too much of her life energy and she wouldn't be able to control her beast. The rest of her concentration went towards keeping her inner youkai under control. The pain radiating from the rest of her wounds felt like nothing she'd ever known. It was all she could do to not give in to the cool darkness of unconsciousness, and just let her beast out to roam, but she couldn't do that…she couldn't handle it if the deaths of the innocent people from the surrounding villages were killed by her if she went into a blood-rage. Just as those thoughts crossed her mind, her inner youkai decided to make her demands.

Let me out!

'No!'

We will die if you don't!

'Then so be it, but I will not allow you to harm innocents! The blood-rage is too near the surface to let you roam free!'

:snarls: Let. ME. OUT!

'No, dammit! I'm not going to lose control! I'm not going to place innocents in danger just for self-preservation.'

Those human males that are chasing after us aren't innocent!

'But the villages around here are! Now shut up already! I'm not letting you gain control!'

The silence that followed told her that her beast was now under control once more, but that peace was to be short-lived.

As soon as she regained focus, she caught a scent that had caused her to lose many a night's sleep as well as spurred her on to become stronger. In a startling flash of light, a beautiful yet intimidating man stood in front of her. Her heart skipped a beat when the lightning struck again, momentarily illuminating the glinting sheen of the man's long, silky hair.

In a movement that she barely registered, the heads of the bandits were on the ground next to the sprawled out bodies. A few years ago, that sight would've made her ill, but that all changed during the years following her first descent through the Bone Eater's Well on her fifteenth birthday. Now as she saw the action that ended the threat against her person, all she could feel was relief.

Kagome looked up and saw her savior turn around. When she saw his face through the pouring rain she froze in shock. She hadn't been imagining the marvelous scent of fresh cut pine and sandalwood on a snowy night…the scent of the man who managed to capture her heart. The scent of… "Sesshoumaru," she whispered, breathless, as she finally gave into the peaceful coolness of unconsciousness, knowing full well that she was safe, wrapped in the scent she had longed to breath in for seven long years.

"Sesshoumaru," he heard the whisper clear as day. He was finally getting to hear her musical voice again. 'What happened to her?' Sesshoumaru wondered as he saw Kagome for the first time since the day she wished on the jewel. As he started to remember the day, his musings were cut short when the mortally injured young woman blacked out. He rushed over and caught her just before she would've hit the ground. When he gently lifted her into his arms, his nose was assaulted by the aroma of her blood; it worried him. She was losing far too much. He looked down at the unconscious beauty in his arms and nearly gasped at the sight.

She looked like a tattered doll. Her left arm was bent at an odd angle, as she kept it held close to her chest. She had multiple cuts and bruises upon her creamy skin. Blood matted her hair into dark clumps, and it seemed to have drenched her in a coating of red. Not all of the blood was hers, he knew. The scents she carried on her from some of the blood belonged to four others, all of them male, judging by how musky the scent of the blood was.

Upon closer inspection of her body, he saw that there was a jagged, round-ish scar on her abdomen, only visible because her kimono was torn. She also had a fairly deep cut on her collarbone and three deep gouges on her face, tearing through the Shikon and Fox-Fire colored stripes on her right cheek. Most of her cuts were still leaking blood, so he rapidly flashed to the castle in his energy form.

He landed right in front of the Castle Gates and two of his guards that were on duty promptly opened them for the majestic Lord who carried the strange woman. They bowed as he walked past them without a word, and even though they were curious as only Inus can be, they said nothing. Sesshoumaru went straight to the Infirmary and summoned forth his top Healer, an Inu-Demoness by the name of Umeko. When she rushed into the room, she saw the precious cargo that he carried, and she could see the tenderness with which he held the young woman, and instantly knew this was the one. This was Sesshoumaru's mate-to-be. Even though neither of them knew that they were destined to be together Umeko did.

She was not only the top Healer but she was also Sesshomaru's nurse-maid when he was growing up.

She was like a second mother to him, seeing as his own mother was cold and unfeeling towards him when he was younger. She knew the boy better then she knew herself, and it was this insight that helped her understand the man's tendencies now. She loved him like a son, and would do everything in her power to make sure he was taken care of. That included making sure that the woman in his arms survived what she knew would be a long, hard battle to recovery. Though whether that recovery was physical or emotional, would be left for time to tell.

"Milord, if ye would lay the young lady upon the cot, I could begin to assess her injuries." Umeko said as she had one of her assistants gather plenty of bandages, a bowl of hot water, and some herbs for a poultice. After Sesshoumaru had lain her down on the cot, Umeko sent him out of the room, explaining that she had to undress and cleanse the woman, so that she could see all of the wounds that were inflicted upon her. When her assistant, a younger Inu-Youkai by the name of Ami, returned she brought with her the bandages, herbs, a soft cloth to wash Kagome with, a large basin of hot water, and a clean clothes for the young maiden, consisting of a yukata, nagajuban, and a pair of tabi.

Umeko set Ami to work on mixing herbs into the water while she tended to removing the young woman's tattered clothing. After Umeko had removed all of Kagome's clothes, she proceeded to take the finished liquid mixture from Ami, told her to crush some more herbs for a poultice. She then began tenderly wiping off the unconscious woman's body. Along the way, she discovered all of the injuries that the woman had suffered through, and so far, had survived through. There were bruises on her right leg, like something had wrapped around it and squeezed too tightly. Her stomach had a circular scar that only showed on the front, which was good, because it meant that whatever had harmed her didn't make it all the way through. On her chest, she discovered bruising on her right side, marking a broken rib. Her collarbone had a deep gash, as did her arms. Her right arm also housed a fractured bone.

She rinsed out the cloth for probably the twentieth time that night, and started gently cleaning the blood from her face. As she did she cleaned out the three harsh cuts on her cheek, she noticed for the first time that the markings on her face were the exact same as what were said to be on the fabled Kitsune-Miko who supposedly roamed the lands. Rumor had it that she had two markings on each cheek. The one directly under her eyes was to be the color of the Shikon Jewel, a pretty purplish-pink, and another under it was the bright blue color of Fox-Fire. Also, the Maiden was rumored to have strangely colored hair. Instead of the usual soft black that others had, hers was said to be mainly a dark, inky black, that shone dark blue in the blazing sun, with roots the luminescent color of the Shikon and streaked through with bright blue like the flames she could summon at will.

At the moment, you couldn't see anything but the deep blackness of the young woman's hair, matted and discolored with blood. Umeko called Ami over to prop the lady's head as she washed out the blood and checked for injuries. As the blood was washed out, the first thing that was noticed was that she did indeed carry all of the traits of the fabled Kitsune-Miko Maiden. After an extensive check through the woman's thick, soft hair, they found no injuries, and safely assumed that she had managed to heal the worst of them before losing consciousness. They then proceeded to set the broken bones, and spread the poultice on all of her cuts and bruises. After bandaging and dressing her, they covered her with a blanket cleaned up the resulting mess.

Once Umeko exited the infirmary that now housed the young lady who seemed to have captured the great Youkai's attention, she noticed that he had posted two of his best guards outside the woman's room. She hastily walked towards his office, and just as she reached to knock on the door she heard his voice call out "Enter." She opened the door and walked in, bowing to him quickly, before giving her report.

"She is doing fine, Milord. The young woman had succeeded in healing her worst injuries, and now that she is resting the others will heal much faster. The only thing that concerns me is that we do not know how she obtained those injuries…" Umeko let her sentence drop there.

"You will alert me as soon as she wakes. I assume you already know that she is the Maiden that has been talked about for the past seven years?" He asked her.

"Hai, Milord. She shows all the signs, including the rapid rate of her healing. Am I correct in thinking that you wish for no one but us to know until she awakes?"

"That is correct. Do not forget to inform me the instant she wakes up."

"Hai, Milord. I will send Ami to you the very moment she opens her eyes."

"That is all, Umeko."

Umeko bowed to him before exiting the office and walking back to the infirmary to watch over her patient. As soon as she left, Sesshoumaru took a deep breath and with one final thought, left to his chambers. 'I cannot lose her again…these emotions are harder to contain, but this enigma is worth every second.'

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~End of Chapter 1! I hope you enjoyed! R&R~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~