Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

A/N--Okay, boys and girls, I'm going to come at my writers block from a different angle. Instead of trying to force it out, I'm just going to rewrite. You'll like it better, trust me. Maybe I'll be able to continue on because of it. And I am VERY sorry for flying off the face of the earth. I'm not even going to bother trying to think up an excuse. You guys don't deserve those kinds of lies.

Here's a second try at a good thing. Hopefully I don't kill it.

Part One

For once in his life, he was thankful for Naraku and his disgusting 'children'. His little brother was distracted by the chaos that always followed the age old evils minions, giving him time to escape certain...unpleasantness. Yes, unpleasantness. He had to return to Kagome and his other misfits. That woman could heal almost anything and he had seriously considered keeping her. But if it meant nearly getting slaughtered by a half demon on a whim, he would send the wench back.

Sesshomaru didn't want to die that badly.

-:-:-:-:-

Kagome paced before the fire. Rin slept and Jakken watched her warily. Both were fed and Rin was happy. Kagome was a completely different story.

Where is Sesshomaru?

He had been gone almost all day. Kagome now understood why he was such a loner. He couldn't have anyone hold him back, it wasn't his style. Yet, unconsciously, he had let that kind of weight trail along with him. Kagome sighed. Why was she thinking like she knew him? It can't have been their past week together. She'd spent more time with his sick human charge than him.

A rustling in the bushes caught her attention. Kagome snatched up her bow and put an arrow to the string. A bleeding Sesshomaru emerged. Someone had almost taken off his other arm by the looks of it. He was a torn up mess, and that was hardly a comfort to the young miko-in-training. What kind of creature could take on the Killing Perfection and do life threatening damage like this?

Kagome dropped her weapons and rushed to the pale mans side. She caught him before he fell to the ground. A tear ran down her face, but went unnoticed as Kagome's mind went straight into how to best heal him. Even a full-blooded demon like Sesshomaru couldn't walk away from this unchanged, whether in a physical sense, or mental. Kagome silently prayed that all the remaining scars would be only on the outside. For all his coldness, she couldn't bear the thought of him becoming like...like...

Inuyasha.

-:-:-:-:-

Inuyasha glared after Naraku's fleeing minions. He hoped they got a good long lecture or beating or…whatever it is Naraku did to them for failing. Then he scanned the area for his older brother, the current and most threatening bane of his otherwise happy existence. He had stolen his Kagome in the dead of night almost a week ago, leaving nothing but his and her own lingering scents. Hers was almost lost in the bitter taste his brother's presence left in the air. The very thought of the covering of her sweet cherry blossom and sage scent made him snarl and his eyes redden a second time.

"Damn!"

The coward of a demon was no where in sight.

-:-:-:-:-

Jakken was awed into a stunned silence. His tiny mind couldn't even wrap itself around the idea of Sesshomaru almost being beaten, let alone find the words to suite such an occasion. He made his way to the fallen lords side slowly, and dropped to his knees next to the human miko his lord had insisted on abducting.

"Jakken, get me my bag!" Kagome ordered quietly, carefully helping the demon to the ground. Sesshomaru groped for her hand, catching her completely off guard. Surprise stained her face as she gave him the limb to hold onto. Jakken scurried off to fetch the large lump of yellow fabric.

"Go to…Inu-"

She shook her head furiously. "I'm not leaving you like this."

"He'll be…looking…for you."

She knew what he meant. Jakken had just dropped her bag beside her. Jakken looked like a ghost, a green one, but a ghost all the same. Kagome supposed it would be terrifying to see such a powerful man is this state, especially one you've followed for ages. It was scary. Jakken was scared to the point of not being capable of being himself.

But, more importantly, Kagome wanted to know who Sesshomaru was talking about.

"Who'll be looking for me?" She asked while removing the cloth hiding his wounds from proper view.

"Inuyasha." the silver-haired man choked, spewing a little blood.

"Turn your head to one side." she instructed quietly while retrieving some disinfectant from her bag. This required freeing her hand from the demon lords grasp. "I don't want you choking yourself."

Sesshomaru did as he was told, thankfully, and groped for her hand again. She gave him her calve to grip instead, needing both hands to start cleaning him up. "You need to go." he managed without sounding too handicapped.

"I'm not going anywhere, Sesshomaru." she said. "The thought won't even be welcome in my mind until you can walk on your own and you're not bleeding from almost everywhere."

-:-:-:-:-

Sesshomaru was stunned. She wasn't going back? The human must have lost her mind! She had to leave. He couldn't risk Inuyasha finding Jakken and Rin while he was in this state! He wouldn't be able to defend them against the crazed half-demon.

His remaining arm suddenly sung more than it already was and he would have yowled if his own self control were second to someone else's. But he did hiss and clench his eyes shut. What in hell was the little vixen rubbing into his wounds?! He felt Jakken gently touch the hand he had clenched around the little females leg. Undoubtedly he'd have drawn blood by now with his claws, which he was careless enough to forget in his own pain.

How did this stuff fix Rin?

Another wave of pain made him see stars. "Stop!" he choked out. Her hands froze. "We can't stay here."

"You can't keep bleeding like this." she countered. She could handle Inuyasha. The Beads of Subjugation helped with that. "Inuyasha isn't all that threatening when I'm around."

Sesshomaru growled and forced himself to sit up. Kagome didn't bother trying to stop him. "We need to leave for Rin."

This was the only way he could think of to get his worry across for the tiny child. Kagome got it this time, but wasn't all that happy about it. "Fine, get on Ah-Uh, I'll get Rin. But after we're in the sky, I call the shots, deal?"

He nodded and she helped him onto Ah-Uh's back. Once he was settled, she made quick work of clearing up camp and placing Rin in his arms. Fortunately, he was good at the whole stiff-sleeping thing, so he could shut his eyes while being sure of Rin's safety.

His last conscious thought was that Kagome's neck smelled good…