****************~ Thirty years later ~****************

Sesshomaru quietly gazed down upon the village. It was a quiet human village, and yet for some reason Sesshomaru was compelled to visit it. His mother had desired him to check ever place looking for the bandits. He began his way. The small village surprisingly had a pleasant scent. Small children were running through the village, the echoes of the merriment ringing within the daiyoukai's sensitive ears. The men watched him warily, yet made no move to stop him. They knew who he was, and he was pleased by that. True they were lowly humans, but they showed him the respect he deserved so they had that, at least, going for him.

"My lord," A young man called. Sesshomaru stopped and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. He bowed low, before standing. "May I be of service to you?" Sesshomaru stared at the man a moment, as if trying to decide if there was something he could do for him.

"This Sesshomaru seeks the bandits of Suza. I have been ordered to check every village in the West." The man bowed again.

"Thank you, great Sesshomaru-sama! Rumors had surfaced of these bandits, and it is always comforting to hear that the great lord of the west seeks to rid us of their murderous ways. The last rumors we heard from southbound travelers three days ago was that the bandits were crossing into the eastern territories. They had come from a sacked village and managed to escape with their lives, but little else." Sesshomaru noted the somewhat saddened note to the young man's voice. Sesshomaru nodded.

"Papa!" A soft voice called. Sesshomaru turned out of the corner of his eye to see two small human children no older than three making their way to the young man. He could see the fear in their eyes. One had a bloodied knee. "Papa!" They called again in unison. The young man that had assisted him with gathering the knowledge he sought turned. Sesshomaru turned to walk away when the scent of holy energy caught his attention. He turned quickly to the young children who were crying. They were mikos.

"Papa!" One started.

"Mama was attacked!" Cried the other.

"By a youkai!" The first one sobbed.

"It's going to eat her!" They wailed together. The man jumped up, racing off into the direction of his wife. Sesshomaru scented the air. Indeed, he could scent the strong miko powers, and a familiar youkai. He snarled.

"Please," The soft voice startled Sesshomaru from his thoughts. He looked down to see one of the young twins staring up at him. Her eyes were an enchanting blue.

"Please, my mama." The blue eyes filled with tears. Sesshomaru swore he was not acting at the child's request, simply out of the duty as their lord. Not because the lower quivering lip had made the child seem utterly undeniable, but because he knew the youkai responsible, and he was not exactly on good terms with said youkai. With a brief nod, Sesshomaru took off into the air. He did not know what made him look, but he cast another look to the tiny girl, who was still staring up at him with her wide, precious eyes.

He felt the turbulent powers in the air. This miko was strong, but the youkai was stronger. He smelt the poison in the air.

"Hitomi!" The young man from earlier dove into the fight, wielding a pathetically made sword. Sesshomaru flew passed the man, snarling at him to stand back. The miko was on the ground, her hands over her eyes. Sesshomaru leapt down over her, crouching as he cast his gaze to the startled youkai.

"SSSSSSesshomaru-ssssssssama!" The youkai hissed as it backed away. "What bringsssss you here? Sssssssssurley not to sssssssave a miko?" The youkai was tall, its body a shimmering green and its eyes a soft yellow. It's hair was a similar green and was worn in thick braids that seemed as snakelike as his own body. The tips of the braids contained large yellow beads painted with the eyes of a snake. He stood up, his gaze flickering from the miko to the lord crouching above her protectively. Slowly, Sesshomaru stood. The wind whipped about his silvery white hair. It danced upon the winds. He pinned the snake with a cold glare, his hand was on the hilt of his weapon. He stepped over her, moving towards the youkai.

"Take her." He called to the human man sitting behind him nervously. "Cleanse her eyes, that poison has taken her sight." He called. The man rushed forward.

"Hitomi, come, please." He whispered as he pulled her from behind Sesshomaru.

"Sssssssseshomaru, protecting a weak human. Interesssssssting."

"Tsukyo." Was all Sesshomaru said. They stared hard at each other, before they suddenly moved. Tsukyo moved quickly, for snake youkai were known for their speed. He jumped up, his mouth opening impossibly large and a green liquid spraying from his mouth. Sesshomaru snarled as the poison sprayed over his clothing and it began to melt. Tsukyo jumped back, his sickening grin growing smaller as Sesshomaru's skin remained unblemished, even though his haori had melted. Sesshomaru smirked.

"Your pathetic poison cannot harm this Sesshomaru. Let us see if mine is stronger." Tsukyo's eyes widened as Sesshomaru's hand glowed green. Sesshomaru struck quicker than Tsukyo had anticipated, and soon pain flashed at his neck. He felt the skin grow hot and begin to fester. His yellow eyes widened impossibly large. He struggled against the daiyoukai, clawing at the arm that held him, though his claws were weak. His eyes bled red and Sesshomaru jumped back as his form lengthened and grew. The giant snake reared its head, its deadly fangs bared at Sesshomaru.

"Thisssss isss not over Sssssssesssssshomaru!" It hissed at him before turning and taking off at its greatest speed. Sesshomaru watched it go. He did not fear the snake, for he had already proven his superiority. His eyes did narrow however, he would need to watch the cluster of villages in this area for the traitorous snakes activities. He turned back to the village, noticing that there was another miko. She was identical to the woman he had saved.

"Sesshomaru-sama." The woman said with a bow. The holy powers of this woman were equal to the last. "Please come with me, we wish to show you our gratitude for saving Hitomi-chan. Sesshomaru followed, noticing with an annoyed scowl that his kimono was ruined.

The two made it back to the village to a small hut on the outskirts. He noticed that it was pleasantly kept and surrounded by a vast garden with herbs and food. The miko motioned for Sesshomaru to enter first and so he did. The sight that greeted him was something that for some reason appealed to him. The man, Kenji, kneeled beside his wife's futon, and the two children were kneeling beside her, sobbing into her smiling face. He noticed her eyes were bound. He frowned, sniffing again. At the scent, he felt an unusual feeling grow within him. He cast his glance to the miko, obviously her twin sister, who had come to stand beside him.

"She was with child." He said very low, making sure not to alert the others. The woman smiled.

"Yes, just a few months... oh no." The woman said, a hand coming to her mouth. He had said the word was. He could smell the stinging salt of tears, but the woman blinked them away.

"I will tell her soon." She said in a soft voice. Sesshomaru noticed Kenji standing and making his way to them. He kneeled touching his forehead to the ground.

"Great Sesshomaru-sama, I cannot offer you anything in return even close to as valuable as what you have given me. I am humbly in your debt."

"Your sword is ill fit for battle." The man looked up, confusion on his face. Sesshomaru sighed. He removed the weapon at his hip. It was an ornamental one at best, crafted excellently, yet it contained nothing extraordinary. "Take this so that you may defend your own family." Though the words were somewhat insulting, the man did not take it as such. He bowed and graveled.

"Please! It is nowhere near as valuable, but let me offer you something from my trade." Sesshomaru raised a brow. The man scrambled up and rushed from the hut. After a few moments he brought in something. It was a kimono. Sesshomaru looked at the fine details in the elegant clothing. It was high quality silk, something rare in this part of the west. They were made of white silk with a brilliant red design on the shoulder and sleeves. Small clusters of a honeycomb patter were designed into the silk. The obi sash was a bright red.

"It is silk, my lord, from the mainland. My father had obtained it at great cost, it is the jewel of my work." He said quietly. The piece had taken a long time, for the designs upon it were hand dyed. This must have taken him very long indeed.

"I can make as many kimonos as you like, my lord, for free of course. If you needed on tomorrow I would drop everything to make it for you. It is the least I could do." Sesshomaru inwardly smirked. This man speaks of tomorrow, how foolish.

"Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau." Sesshomaru said, the quote popping up from his memory. The man gave him an quizzical look. "There is no need, human, this Sesshomaru will take this and this one alone. It would seem I am in need of such as it were." Sesshomaru took the kimono.

"Come, my lord, you may use this room to dress." The woman's sister said as she moved aside a cloth to let him enter. He ducked his head and moved inside.

Sesshomaru quickly changed from his ruined garments and dawned the new ones. He was surprised to see that it fit him perfectly. He was much taller than any human male, and that fact that human made garments fit his was unusual. He decided to think not on it, he needed to return to his fortress to speak to his mother about Tsukyo's actions. He stepped out of the room and came face to face with bright blue eyes. The young girl was sitting on his father's shoulders. She was holding a soft gold colored silk sash with blue accents. Sesshomaru could not help but notice the color of the blue eerily matched the color of the crescent moon upon his brow.

"Sessooomaru-sama." The small child said in her soft childlike voice. "Papa and me and Kiky made this and Gome and Kiky wants you to have it." Her soft voice elicited a giggle, and Sesshomaru noticed the other little girl was hiding behind her father's pant leg. He noticed her eyes were brown. He took the sash from them, giving them a brief nod. The one referred to as Gome blushed as the lord took it from her. Kenji looked on with pride at his daughters. Sesshomaru untied the obi around his waist and quickly secured the new one. He was pleased with it. He lifted the former silken sash and handed it to the young girl. His actions puzzled him. He needed to leave, for he was not acting like himself. Sesshomaru nodded respectfully to them, finding to his disbelief that he had a small attachment to them. His eyes locked with the blue once more, and he felt something within him rumble. With that final look, he left.

****************~ Seven Years Later~****************

Dear Someone,

When we last spoke, I had told you the tale of suffering. Here, I continue my tale of innocence so that you too may see that my execution is not warranted. Remember me as I am, an innocent young woman who has suffered. I was eleven, a child by any standards, when they first came. The men, they were unlike anything I had ever seen. The brutality of their lives had ingrained itself onto their skin, the scars so ingrained it almost seemed as if it were their natural skin. Their eyes, their eyes brought dreams of horrible things, the coldness, the maliciousness, the cruelty that existed within those eyes was not human.

Sokuri, he was the man who began my life of torment. My father was a good man, an honorable man. When he saw the men approaching gave all the money he had to my mother and sent my sister and I away under the care of my mother and her sister. When we returned, we were the only ones left alive. The village, my friends, my father, they all were left to the youkai who had come to feast upon the slaughter. It is a memory to haunts me still.

My mother, a woman whose sight had been taken by a snake youkai, took us then and we set out for another village. As four mikos, we were safe from most attacks, or so we had believed. We had thought we had escaped Sokuri and his vile men, yet there he was standing before us on the road. I had never felt such terror. At his waist was my father's most prized possession, his sword. It had been a gift from a young youkai whom had saved mother's life. I remember it well for even now I have the sash he gave to me. It pained me to see my father's sword within that evil man's possession. He gazed at us with a crooked smile. I was young then, I did not know the meaning of that look upon his face. I do now.

To this day, I know not what happened to my mother and my aunt, for I have never seen them again. My sister and I had been taken away, leaving them to whatever horrors Sokuri had in store for them. I remember wishing with all my heart that they would live, that he would not kill them. Now that I look back upon that day, I sincerely hope that my mother and aunt's bones lay in that spot, killed that very day. It is an awful wish, but is it truly so awful? Is it not more awful to wish life upon someone, if that life only brings pain? I am no philosopher I am only a human miko, condemned to death.

They have come for me, I must end this note. If it is the last thing I speak, then I want my words to have an impact. Words that have rang true for me is this. Fukusui bon ni kaerazu, spilt water will not return to the tray. Things cannot go back to the way they were, for actions change everything. Do not dwell within the past for it holds no future for you.

K.H.

Sesshomaru could not believe his eyes. Could it be? All this time, it had been one of them? He lowered the scroll, his golden eyes impassive, yet underneath the tight control his mind was working into a frenzy. A knock sounded at his door.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" The shrill voice echoed and Sesshomaru grit his teeth. "There is something urgent that requires your immediate attention Sesshomaru-sama!" Sesshomaru opened the door, the green toad before him letting out a startled squawk.

"Jaken." He said slowly, the ice in his tone making the poor toad shiver.

"My lord! Scouts have reported that the bandits of Suza are back! They are within the western territories!" Sesshomaru felt his stomach tighten oddly.

"I was eleven, a child by any standards, when they first came." The words echoed in his mind. The girl, she would be that age by now. With an uncharacteristic snarl, the youkai lord pushed passed his retainer.

Jaken followed his lord out of the fortress grounds, the daiyoukai's gait much faster than his normal one. Jaken was pleased at the ferocity his great lord showed for surely Sesshomaru was infuriated that the bandits would dare touch the lands of the west. They had disappeared for seven years, but now Sesshomaru-sama would have his revenge.

He took to the skies, the wind harsh against him as though it thought it could inhibit his goal. With a growl of annoyance, a small whirlwind of youkai forming beneath his feet. He was not sure why, but he was determined to stop whatever fate it was that the girl had faced. However as he drew near to the village on the hill, he was forced to face the reality. The smell of blood was too great to be a lone man. A massacre had occurred on his territory. This matter was no longer about the letters. Sesshomaru's eyes bled red, the fury within unleashing.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Love,

Caleesci