Home Sweet Home

I do not own InuYasha

The rain had never felt this cold. The world never seemed so wide. While the others were enjoying their new found freedom; Kagome could only dread what was to come next.

Naraku's remains laid not to far from Kagome and even though there was absolutely no way in hell that he could have survived; something still itched.

Maybe…it was just that you had to believe that he was dead this time. Thanks to her at least. Kagome's gaze wondered over the mountain area.

Sango was running a quick check over Kirara, Miroku looked too stunned for words; all he did was stare at his right hand.

InuYasha however was the furthest from them.

The jewel was complete. All there was left to do was fulfill her promise towards InuYasha.

A warm heat radiated through her skin; the source being the sacred jewel in her right hand. It wasn't like she wanted to die; InuYasha just made it fairly clear how desperately he wanted Kikyou to stay by his side once more. She could have run but where would she had gone?The future could never be an option with him, he even said he would haunt own her family if she hid.

This InuYasha wasn't the boy she met when she first came through the well. Throughout the year he had changed, matured even. Even now the hanyu's eyes weren't filled with sadness or regret, they were filled with determination and an understanding of what had to be done.

The miko did her best not to show her tears, she knew this day was going to come. She'd even warned her friends about it but Miroku laughed it off and Sango couldn't seem to believe her.

Nonetheless she refused to go down cowering in fear, when the hanyu took her life she wanted him to look her in the eye and if she had any say on controlling the doll's body, best believe she would give him hell the devil himself couldn't even imagine.

This was going to be harder than he thought. Here Kagome was, staring him down like he was the one doing wrong. If she had stayed in the future in the first place, had left him to die then none of them would have been in this situation.

He could have gone on hating Kikyou, gone on thinking that she had betrayed him and Kagome could have stayed safe in her bed, in her own time.

The damn girl just never learned when to run! She always had to meddle! Her meddling caused him to learn the truth, made him want her again.

If he could have wished for anything at that very second, it would have been that the shikon no tama had never existed.

Even now when she looked up at him with those big blue eyes, he could smell that she still held on to hope, to a fantasy that would lead to him changing his mind. He would have both of them. Kagome's spirit in Kikyou's body.

Happiness.

InuYasha stopped in front of Kagome, worry pouring out of her like sweat on a pig. It would have been impossible to go through with anything while looking into those eyes. He found himself holding her, embracing her and running his hand gently through her dark hair. Slowly he sensed her fear edging away; although hesitant she wrapped her arms around his waist as well.

Kagome buried her head into his chest, swelling with joy and a new respect for life. InuYasha couldn't do it; he could take away her life. Even though he loved Kikyou for now she was sure that with time he would be able to move on and acknowledge her feelings for him. All this waiting and trust would not be in vain.

That is, those were her thoughts until something else took over entirely.

Pain.

Blinding, hot, red pain. Kagome's body began to quiver from the sudden shock after InuYasha ripped his claw from her abdomen. With wide blue eyes she look up towards the Hanyu; tears spilling from her eyes.

"W-Why…" Kagome coughed into an upraised hand.

"No!" she pushed away and tried to press her hands against the large wound. The blood wouldn't stop, it just kept gushing through her fingers.

Everything happened so fast, Sango actually had to sit back and register what just happened. By the time Kagome separated herself from the Hanyu the exterminator had already mounted Kirara and searched the mountain path for Miroku but to her great surprise he had been sitting with the Lady Kikyou, supporting her in her weakened state and obviously trying not to look at the scene before him.

He condones it!

What was the world coming to when men fought over dead brides?

"I can't believe this!" she growled and signaled Kirara to charge toward Kagome. She managed to scoop her up in time; InuYasha was heading towards her once more and for some reason looked as if he didn't expect her to interfere.

Kirara gained range as she mounted the air. Gaining height and speed was the up most importance if they wanted to heal Kagome before she died from blood loss. She saw to many good warriors die in such a dishonorable way. Growling she reached into her shoulder pad and took out a piece of cloth. Normally it was used for a quick fix of wounds but she would have to settle with stuffing it through the hole to stop up the bleeding.

It probably didn't matter at this point if pain was inflicted, Kagome was knocked out anyway. All she could do was hope that Bankotsu was on duty at Sesshomaru's castle. It was the only place she knew to go, where she would be welcomed.

How long had it been since he last saw Sango?

Bankotsu didn't even want to think about it. Here it is a week had passed since he last held her and already he felt like he would go insane. It was normal of course; he had made plans to mate her when they first met.

His life was filled with nothing but amusement when Sesshomaru had revived him and adopted him into his family. First he was appointed commanding officer, given riches and wealth beyond his imagination, and then he was turned into a demon due to their blood bond. If that wasn't enough, he found his mate a month later.

There always was a catch of course, she just so happened to be the demon slayer of that half demon's group. They had managed to get along when he attended Shippo's birthday, but there was no liking someone who sliced you in half.

Bankotsu mentally shuddered at the memory and the smell of blood in the air.

The smell of blood in the air?

He wasn't the only one who noticed, many of his own vassals looked in the direction from where it was coming. The scent he recognized, it was just boggling. He smelled Kagome and Sango but the males were not with them.

Well he wasn't the type to look a gifted horse in the mouth.

"Kiri…" he called the nearest demoness and sent her to inform Sesshomaru while he went to the court yard to meet his long awaited visitors.

He was ashamed by his own thoughts, happy that it was Kagome who was injured and not Sango, but also upset that Sango didn't express any joy in seeing him.

"What's going on?" he asked and walked over to the two, miffed when he was handed a bloody body rather than the one of his love. "InuYasha decided to go a little crazy after we defeated Naraku."

That was actually good news to him. Naraku was dead. Now was the time to get serious.

Holding the miko in his arms he performed a quick visual examination, because of the blood it was hard to tell the cloth covering her wound from the rest of the blood covered shirt. He really couldn't believe someone stuffed that in there.

So distasteful.

"Follow me." The demon sighed and Sango did as she was told, Kirara transformed into a kitten and ran after the two. "How long did it take you to get here?"

He could hear Sango's agitation in her voice, "I don't know, an hour maybe more. I'm amazed she's still breathing."

That was true; a wound made by a demon could kill any mortal in a matter of minutes. Either her will was strong or she had amazing power. Of course when dealing with a half breed like InuYasha one would have to have a strong will.

They walked into a large room, in the middle of the floor was a stone deep top, it looked like a hot spring bit Sango couldn't tell if it was real or artificial. Why would she be thinking about that in a time like this anyway?

Gently Bankotsu set Kagome on a white mat by the water and gestured for Sango to follow him outside the door, when he left a group of female cat demons rushed in each one carrying a white bundle.

When the door closed nothing could be heard from within. It was then that Sango realized where she was…a demon huntress in the middle of demon territory. The fact did nothing but make her edgy, until Bankotsu placed his hand on her shoulder.

With a silent look, Sango followed Bankotsu into the main hallway. The whole time, he was silent and all he would give her to look at was his back.

This allowed Sango to think about all that had happened, the times she suffered, the time he came to rescue her from herself. How Miroku betrayed her, and how much she grew.

Already she was doing things that she never would have thought she would do, falling in love with a demon was one of them, and strangely she had no idea what kind he was.

Although that didn't matter, she loved him no matter what.

He led the way to a garden, the breeze blowing softly and sending multicolored petals throughout the air. It was filled with the soft scent of honey and a fresh morning.

Bankotsu wrapped his arms around her shoulders, kissing her hair and gazing into the beautiful breeze. Even with the smell of blood, he could make out the sweet scent of lilies and rain.

His mouth moved to her temple, her cheek, but growled when his hands found that her armor covered her neck. Sango blushed slightly but leaned into him, her head tilted back and eyes closed, "Bankotsu…"

His attention was drawn to her mouth; already he could imagine her calling his name softly. The thought alone made him eager. "What is it?"

Sango smiled softly and opened her eyes. "I love you."

The demon chuckled softly, "I'll settle for that."

Nothing seemed real. Kagome felt as if she were floating in a sea of foam. Her skin tingled and her back felt very stiff. Of course opening her eyes didn't help, the first thing that met her was wave upon wave of dizziness. Colors meshed together and swirled until it formed a dark wood ceiling.

"That's not my ceiling…." She mumbled drearily.

Slowly she sat up, swearing that her back was no better than a rusty hinge on a door. Catching full view of the room, she was introduced to a futon, all white save for the soft purple kimono resting on top of her.

"This isn't my room…" she checked under the blanket to see she had been clothed in an all white yukata, of course she wasn't wearing anything under that either save for the bandages supporting her breasts. "My cloths are gone…"

Kagome spent the next five minutes staring at the salmon walls, slowly her memory come back to her head.

Slowly.

She was hungry.

Ding!

Kagome flew from the bed, grabbing the kimono and flinging it over her shoulders, not even bothering to tie it. Her hands found the handle to the screen door and flung it open, breaking it in the process.

She must have looked half crazed, because any servant in the hall stopped and gave her a rather amusing look. But the thing was, the servants weren't human. They were demons that reminded her of Sesshomaru for some reason.

Pink haired, white haired, blondes, brunettes, red heads…this couldn't be Japan right?

She wasn't home!

That's when she remembered the battle with Naraku, the embrace from InuYasha and then-

She ran down the hall, tripping only once but landing on her toes and adding more momentum.

A small sting kept flaring in her stomach, but she ignored it, until another dizzy spell hit her. Kagome fell like a rock, one eye open and panting from the lack of oxygen that she just couldn't seem to get.

The hem of a soft pink kimono came into her line of vision. "Kagome?"A familiar voice called, immediately Sango came into view, her hair flowing over her left shoulder, her lips were glossy, and she wore light eye shadow. "S-Sango?"Kagome jumped immediately.

The former huntress giggled softly and knelled to help her friend, "You were out for days, I was just coming to see you…" she explained

At least something made sense, "H-how long?" the miko asked.

"A little over six days…"

"Six days!"

Sango laughed nervously when Kagome asked where they were. When she received her answer, she immediately lost consciousness. Of course they would be inside Sesshomaru's castle.

When Kagome woke up for the second time, she was surrounded with a pair of familiar faces, Shippo and Rin on her left and to her right was Sango and Bankotsu.

Looking at Bankotsu helped her to remember why Sango would choose to come here, and from how she was dressed… "I missed the wedding?" she asked weakly.

Sango turned a bright red and Bankotsu laughed, "She wouldn't let anything official happen until you were well…no matter how hard I tried to convince her." He added a bit darkly. A deeper shade of red appeared in the hunter's cheeks.

Shippo joined Bankotsu when he laughed again leaving both Rin and Kagome confused. They looked at one another and smiled.

After pushing the boys out the room, Sango helped Kagome get dressed. She donned the pale purple kimono and Rin helped by tying the yellow obi around her waist securely. There was no talking, Kagome respected that and admired the room while Sango did her hair, putting it up in a pun and adding dark hair pins with yellow flowers at the tips.

The whole thing was relaxing, and it gave her a chance to think and let things settle in.

Sango didn't bring up InuYasha, and Rin didn't ask about it. If Kagome wanted to know anything she would have to ask Sango about it, and that definitely wasn't going to happen. The one thing about being in Sesshomaru's castle meant that she wouldn't have to see InuYasha for a while.

All she wanted to do was go home.

She would find a way to seal off the well when she got there. Grandpa's scrolls and books weren't all useless.

When she brought it up to Sango, the young girl agreed and took Kagome out in to meet Sesshomaru. Kirara was still recovering from her wounds and needed rest.

The meeting wasn't anything spectacular. Sango simply showed Kagome the way to his study and she went there. They exchanged a few pleasantries and she made her request. After analyzing all that she had been through why would he want to hold her back?

Besides, the less time she had to spend with her friends, the easier it would be to leave.

She couldn't be selfish.

Her things were lost somewhere and according to Sango the jewel disappeared when she picked up Kagome. So for now, she rested on the cloud beneath Sesshomaru's feet as they flew towards the well.

It was awkward really, traveling in silence like this. Kagome had hoped they would have been friends by now, but judging from his expression, well he never really had one, he seemed irritated.

"Sesshomaru?"

If the great demon didn't have any composure he would have sighed, his eyes moved to meet her gaze and his heart almost melted from her 'puppy' face.

The wench was leaving, why couldn't she leave him alone and just take the damn ride? It was bad enough that she was leaving everyone behind, she no longer needed his protection.

What was this aching in his chest? This insufferable beating that had to make itself known?

When he didn't answer Kagome just looked ahead, maybe he felt betrayed or was upset because he thought that she was willing to give up her life for InuYasha. Only Sango knew about the threat that was made in exchange for her soul. There wasn't a need to tell him, in a few moments she would be home and would never see them again.

When the well came into view, Kagome couldn't help but feel anxious. This tension surrounding her heart. Soon she would be home, and all of this would be over. She just hoped there was a way to seal off the well on the other side.

Did her time really lose all of its magic?

She shook her head, there was no time to be thinking about that. When Kagome turned to say her goodbyes to Sesshomaru, she found that his only gaze was on the well. She giggled softly, of course his curiosity would be piqued, "Maybe…" she began, "Leaving forever would be a bad idea…"

By the time she began speaking, she was already walking towards the well.

"When I come back from time to time, can I stay with you?" she asked suddenly. When she turned to look at Sesshomaru and was surprised to see him actually crack a smile. "You will always have a place in my home."

"Yea." Kagome giggled and threw a leg over the well, "I'll be back in three weeks then!" she shouted. She had already said goodbye once, she was happy that she didn't have to do it again.

Kagome threw her other leg over the mouth of the well and hopped in, but instead of being surrounded by a warm light, she hit the bottom.

She scrapped her knee.

"Ow…" she looked up to see a bright sky. Not her well house.

Her eyes widened and she rushed to climb up the vines, and jumped back down the well.

Nothing happened.

She tried it again, not noticing that Sesshomaru was now looking down the well.

After the 5th attempt, she just sat there, her eyes watering and looking up towards Sesshomaru. When she spoke tears fell, "I want to go home."

So here's the first chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it :3

I would like to to thanks XxMrsXDeanXWinchesterxX, my beta, for all her hard work. :3

Read and Review.

God Bless! :D