A/N: Same age rate for demons as used in "Perfect Destruction"; about one demon year for every fifty human years. This fic is based on a common security issue I'm sure we all share. My first stab at horror (sort of horror), please review.

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When Nightmares Come True

Pulse racing, salty sweat and tears blurring his vision, Sesshomaru wailed for his father's protection. Staring into the other demon's gaping jaws, he was almost certain it wouldn't come.

Suddenly, an air rift of claw marks proved the young inu-yokai wrong. The offending dragon before him staggered back, bleeding at the belly.

"Get away from my son!" Inu no Taisho barked, brandishing his claws. He abruptly turned to Sesshomaru. "Hiya, kid, how's it going?" The Dog General grinned lopsidedly.

Sesshomaru was still processing how his father could try and make light of the dire situation – there was a juvenile tatsu to be dealt with!

"You know," Inu no Taisho continued as he caught the dragon's jaws in his bare hands, "when I told you to go out and practice your training I didn't expect you to get tangled up with something like this!"

The dragon kept thrashing and Sesshomaru backed away.

"I mean, you're only four hundred and fifty years old! I'd think you'd pick a kappa or a kitten nekomata at best, but an adolescent ryu-yokai?!" He switched to throttling the beast. "Well, guess you are my son!" Inu no Taisho's chuckles were cut short when a claw suddenly spurred his side.

"Aw, you damned piece of," the Dog General remembered who was watching, "filth!"

In a single mighty twist of strength the daiyokai snapped his opponent's neck. He dusted his hands, but Sesshomaru was already running up to him.

"Papa! You're hurt!"

"It's just a scratch." Inu no Taisho tried not to wince. "Come, you know I'll heal fast."

Sesshomaru's brow furrowed. He remembered a time when his father didn't have to worry about healing at all.

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Inu no Taisho was snoring peacefully, occasionally mumbling on how fine the cattle in his dreams tasted when a furred bundle of weight woke him. "Uh, Sesshomaru, what's wrong?" The Great Dog blinked sleep from his eyes, his voice like lazy thunder.

"I had a nightmare!"

"Talk to your mother about it."

The lump next to Inu no Taisho grumbled, "In the morning."

"But I need to tell it to you right now, Papa!" Sesshomaru dove next to his father, clinging to his mane.

Inu no Taisho heard the panicky quaver in his child's words. Scooping him up and carrying him back to his own room, he mumbled, "What was the nightmare?"

"I saw it again," he sobbed, burying his nose into his father's chest. "Only the dragon was bigger this time an' you couldn't stop it!" Sesshomaru paused to hiccup. "Y-you…I mean, I didn't see it…but you…you died in my dream, chichi-ue!"

Inu no Taisho encompassed his little son tighter, with warming reassurance. "Sesshomaru," he growled gently over the wails, "listen to me, Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru indulged a sniffle, but ceased his crying. Amber gazes locked.

"I am not going anywhere. Not right now, at least. I've you in my arms, little one, and you're not going anywhere either. We're still together for the moment, no?"

Wiping his nose, Sesshomaru slowly nodded. "So you promise not to die?"

The Dog General sighed, "All things must pass, little one." Then the rays of his crooked grin broke through. "But I promise I won't be dying any time soon."

"Any time soon? Like even in the next thousand years?"

"Heh, not even in the next thousand years. Now go to sleep."

Pacified, Sesshomaru drifted off in his father's arms, dreaming of laughing dogs and broken dragons.

The young daiyokai didn't know that a millennium of time would be abbreviated into a couple short centuries.

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A/N: Yeah, I know, poor Sesshomaru... I have another story completed, but I think I'll save it for Halloween.