Today was the day of the New Moon, and Inuyasha would be human from sunset until sunrise. It was nearly dinner time, and I began setting the table when Inuyasha walked in. He wrapped his arms around my waist. We've been married for a year now, but sometimes I still feel surprised when he shows affection. He's changed so much since the battle with Naraku…

"What's for dinner?"

"Well, it's been a while since you went hunting; there was no meat to cook. So, I made potatoes and cabbage." He rested his head on my shoulder and sighed.

"How 'bout I go hunting after dinner, then you can make something really good tomorrow night, 'kay?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea? What if you get hurt, or lost? You won't be able to do anything until morning when you change back-

"Kagome, I'll be fine." He was facing me, and looked into my eyes so I'd calm down.

He pulled my chair out for me, (something I taught him to do) and we both sat and enjoyed our dinner. After the food was gone, and the dishes were washed and put away, the sun went down. I watched, as I did every month, as Inuyasha changed from a half demon to a human before my eyes. His silver hair was now black, his claws smoothed out into finger nails, his fangs disappeared, and finally his golden eyes turned brown. He was still my Inuyasha, and I loved him both ways. But now as a human, I feared for his life more than usual.

"You don't have to go out hunting tonight, it looks like rain is coming… and I'll miss you. You could stay here and keep me warm-

He placed his hands on my face and gave me a kiss. It helped, but I still had a bad feeling.

"Don't worry; I'll be back before you know it." He grabbed his bow and quiver, (something I had to get used to), and left without another word.

I'm sure it's because I love him so much, but I couldn't help feeling sad every time he left. I did little chores round the house to keep my mind of it. After that, I sulked. Come on Kagome, you need to get it together! I know, I could go see Sango and Miroku! I put on my sandals, grabbed a shawl, and left the hut. I wrapped the shawl around my shoulders; it was a bit cold tonight. It was dark, except for the light cast from fires in the homes I passed. I hope Inuyasha is having some luck out there…

As I neared my best friends' hut, I tripped over a straw doll. Her children's' toys would often be strewn about the yard. I picked the doll up and knocked on the door. I could hear laughter, and little feet running around. The door opened, I was met with Sango's smile.

"Kagome, come in!"

I stepped into the warm hut, but kept my shawl on for fear of it being lost under a mountain of toys. I had made that mistake more than once. Immediately, the twins hugged my legs and would not let go. Miroku walked over with their year old son on his shoulders.

"Ah, Kagome! How nice of you to join us! You can take over being the horse while I go relieve myself!"

Sango laughed, but I gladly took their son into my arms. The twins raced after their father, claiming that they now had to go as well. The room was now very quiet with their absence. Sango and I sat by the fire in the middle of the room.

"So, what brings you by on this cold and noisy night?" asked Sango.

"Inuyasha left to go hunting. I asked him not to go, because of the New Moon… but you know how he is. I can't help but worry for him. I thought I'd come visit you, see the kids, take my mind off my fears."

"Oh Kagome, he will be fine. He will. Even as a human he always makes it back to you in one piece. Yes he should've waited, it's darker tonight than any other, and the cold is coming. But you needn't worry. He is capable."

The child squirmed in my arms. I consigned the baby back to his mother, and she began feeding him.

"So, when are you two going to start a family? You know you are the only couple left without children."

"Well, I do want to have kids, but any time I bring it up, Inuyasha becomes nervous and changes the subject. He doesn't think he's ready to be a father."

"With some encouragement from you, I'm sure he will soon change his mind. I got lucky; Miroku doesn't need to be asked twice about having kids… Inuyasha just needs to come out of his shell."

"As always, you have great answers for me. Thank you for the advice."

"Anytime."

Miroku and the twins came back in, and so did the noise. But it wasn't all that bad; the children are the life of the home. We talked, played, and even sang songs for the next few hours. Finally, the children began yawning and it was time for them to sleep. I hugged Sango and Miroku, said goodnight to the children, put my sandals on and left.

Surely Inuyasha will be back by now.

It seemed colder now than it was before, and I hurried down the trail through the village until I reached the hut. Ours was at the edge of the village, closer to the forest. I saw a shadow of a person walking in my home, cast by the fire light. He's back!

Running into the hut, I did not know what was to unfold this long, cold night.

Everything was a mess. The table was knocked over, clothes were thrown about, bowls smashed to pieces on the floor. There was a figure hunched by the fire. It heard me enter, and it slowly stood up. It was not Inuyasha. This was a large beast of a man, with weapons tied to his belt and large hands that only smash and kill. This was a bandit. He took a large step forward, closing the distance between us. It was then that I heard the screams of fellow villagers, as bandits stormed upon our small village.

"Where is it, Priestess?" The brute was much taller than I, but I knew I could be quicker. If I could just get to my bow… I slowly inched towards the corner where my bow sat.

"I'm not a Priestess. I don't know what-

"Don't try to fool me!" A massive hand swung out and grasped my neck. I was in real trouble.

"Please… I-I don't understand…" I struggled to breathe, but he was just getting angrier.

"The jewel! Where is it?" He shook me as he yelled, then finally let go.

He doesn't know that it was destroyed with Naraku…

He yanked me back up and nearly ripped my arm off doing so.

"Show me!"

"The jewel is gone! It was destroyed four years ago!"

"Liar!" The bandit threw me against the wall.

"Please… leave the village…the jewel no longer exists-

"Shut up! If you won't give it to me, then you will watch as your village is torn apart and burned!"

He dragged me outside by my wrists, and what I saw would haunt me in my sleep: Huts were ablaze; children and women ran and screamed as they were caught. Some were beaten; others were slaughtered on the spot. The village men tried to fight back, but they were either beheaded, or set on fire. The screams, the blood; it was every where. The bandit held me there, forced to me to look. Then, I saw Kaede on her horse, with her bow, trying to fight back. She managed to kill a few bandits, but one knocked her down. The horse ran off, and Kaede couldn't reach her bow. A bandit walked up to her, with his sword held back and ready to swing.

"No! Kaede! Kaede!" But she did not run, instead she stood up where she was, and looked him straight in the eye. She would show no fear, no weakness in front of him. He laughed, and swung his arm out. I screamed. I should've closed my eyes, but I couldn't. I was terrified. I would never be able to un-see it. Kaede's head hit the ground and rolled away. Her body stood for a second, then crumbled to the ground as well. Her blood seeped all around her. It was then that all the screams became louder to me, the fires became brighter; the stench of blood stronger.

"No… NOOO!" All I could do was scream and cry. The bandit holding me laughed the whole time.

"Ready to give it up now?"

"I already told you, it no longer exists! Even if it did, I'd never let some one like you get your dirty hands on it!" I bit his hand as hard as I could, and he shoved me down.

I've really done it now…

Flat on my back in the dirt, I looked up at the bandit. He looked like a demon, silhouetted by the fire.

"Let's play a game. You try to run away from me, and I'll catch you. Go ahead, run. Go."

What the hell is wrong with this guy? Should I run?

"RUN!"

I leapt up and ran as fast as I could; I had to see if Sango and her family were alright. I weaved in between burning huts and dead bodies, trying to keep the brute off my trail. I finally reached their hut, it was on fire too. No. no, no, no.

I heard crying from a baby, but it wasn't from inside the hut, it was from behind…

Behind the hut, I saw Sango yelling at Miroku to take the kids to safety. Miroku, the twins, and the baby were all on Kirara. He kept yelling, saying he couldn't leave her. So she told Kirara to get away, far away where it was safe. Kirara obeyed. I ran up to Sango and she was crying. I hugged her and told her we had to run. She never said anything, she grabbed my hand and we ran. We ran past all the fire, trying to ignore the bodies of the people we knew, of the children we often saw playing outside. It wasn't long before some of the bandits saw us. They chased us, and though they were giants, they were just as quick. One bandit grabbed me, and another grabbed Sango. They pulled us away from each other, and I was forced to let go of her hand.

"Sango I'm so sorry… I'm sorry..." I couldn't stop crying now.

"It's okay, we tried-

Sango was slapped by the one holding her. He told her to shut up or he'd kill her. Two horses pulling a large cart pulled up by us. The cart had a large cage on it, full of women from the village. Oh god no…

They opened the cage and threw Sango in. A few more women were thrown in, and then it was my turn. But before they could do it, an arrow whizzed past me and hit the man holding me in the heart. I got out of his hold and looked around. The few bandits around me were shot one after the other; their massive bodies thudding as they hit the ground. I looked past the fire, and into the darkness from which the arrows came. The women in the cage were wailing, begging to be let go; or still despairing from the deaths of those around them. Only Sango was calm enough to notice the arrows coming through.

I heard loud footsteps behind me, and I knew the main bandit had come for me. I turned to face him. I could either run into the fire, or run into the hands of the bandits. There was no where to escape.

"Found you."

Just as the brute reached out to grab me, a figure in red clothing ran in between my captor and I. Brandishing nothing but the rusty, dormant version of Tetsusaiga, there stood Inuyasha. He shoved the bandit away from me.

"Stay behind me!"

"Inuyasha, our hut is not yet on fire, my bow is there, if I could get it-

"We go together. You start running, I'll cover you."

There wasn't much time, and I had no idea what would happen, but I kissed Inuyasha quickly anyway, and began running towards our home. A few bandits popped out here and there, but Inuyasha managed to push, trip, or punch them. He couldn't do much against them in his human form, but he sure as hell tried his best. As soon as we reached home, I didn't hesitate to grab my bow and arrows out of the corner. I already had and arrow notched and ready to shoot when I ran back out to Inuyasha. In the few seconds I was in the house, the leader of the bandits had Inuyasha in a choke hold. Tetsusaiga was laying a few feet away.

"Let him go, now!" I aimed my arrow at the man's face.

"Or what, you'll shoot? I'm quicker than you think, wench. The second your arrow is released, I will change my position and instead of killing me you'll kill your precious husband."

"You're lying!"

"Am I? Just try me."

I didn't know what to do. I couldn't shoot; there was a 50/50% chance of me hitting either of them. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I accidentally hit Inuyasha instead…

"Kagome, run! Now's your cha-

The bandits' free hand covered Inuyasha's mouth. But I can't run. He'll kill Inuyasha…

"I know what you're thinking, and you're right; I'll snap his neck the second you run. But, if you set the bow down and come with me, I'll let him go."

"You promise you won't kill him?"

"I swear it."

I knew it was foolish to trust the word of a bandit, of a murderer, of a thief; but I had no choice. I dropped the bow and the quiver full of my arrows. Inuyasha was released, and he ran over to me.

"You idiot, what do ya' think you're doin'?!"

"Saving your life!"

"I'm your husband, I'm supposed to be looking out for you; not the other way around! Why'd you make that stupid deal?!"

"Because I love you!" I hugged him tight, and he held me back. Then he leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"Just make it through the night, okay? I'll be coming to get you at sunrise. I'm gonna rip every one of these bastards to shreds. Oh, and I love you too."

We were pulled apart from each other. There was a loud whistle, and two bandits shoved Inuyasha down, right in front of our home, and started beating him.

"What are you doing?! Stop! Please, stop!" I was picked up and thrown over the shoulder of the main bandit, and as he carried me to the cart with the other women, I watched as they beat my husband nonstop. I screamed as loud as I could for them to stop but they never so much as hesitated. I was thrown into the cage and it was locked behind me. Sango held me close. As the cart pulled away, and the bandits mounted their horses, I looked through the cage at the bloodied figure lying on the ground.

After everything that happened tonight, I already should've done this; but I guess I was too shocked to do it before. I leaned over and threw up my dinner. Sango pat my back and held my hair up. When I was done, I looked around at the other frightened women. No one was screaming any more, but many were still sobbing. Thankfully, I noticed, I was not the only one that threw up…

We rode for hours through a mountain trail before we stopped. A while back, there was a fork in the road. I took off my shawl and managed to drop it on the path we took without being seen by the bandits. Even if Inuyasha can't pick up our smell for any reason, at least he will see the shawl…

The cart was stopped in front of a cave entrance in the side of the mountain.