A/N: I just wanna say thank you to my reviewers, and all the people who didn't review, but still added it to their favorites. That means so much to me, you have no idea. To Jeweled Fairy, yes, she decided not to take the horse. She should've, though… And that's actually a good idea, what you suggested for the plot. I might just do that… Anyways…on with the story!

The Best Cure

By Naiya Kokoro

Chapter Two

Sesshoumaru was sleeping. Sesshoumaru never slept. A taiyoukai did not need to sleep, they were just that powerful. In Sesshoumaru's mind, calling it sleep was misleading. He preferred to call it prolonged meditation. But this meditation was intended to be a peaceful exploration of the mind…

"Sesshoumaru! Sesshoumaru!" Where was she? She sounded so near, yet he couldn't find her… He was getting worried. If they found her before he did… No… He couldn't think about that. Thinking such thoughts was admitting defeat, and as his father had told him so many times, a taiyoukai of the west did not admit defeat. Ever.

He continued down the hall. The fire was spreading, and his armor was heating up fast. And she was still hurt, still weak… He knew she wouldn't last long.

Finally, he found her, in the very last room. She was sprawled out on the bed; her pale rose cheongsam was spattered with dirt and blood. Her eyes were distant, and clouded, staring straight ahead of her.

"Sesshoumaru…" Her voice was barely a whisper, even to his ears. She was fading fast.

"Sesshoumaru…" He took a step closer. His mouth and throat were dry from the heat of the fire that was quickly spreading. The smell of burning wood assaulted his nose, but he wouldn't go for fresh air, not while she was here.

She called out to him a third time. Her left hand clenched and unclenched slightly. She was reaching out for him. He knew it.

He tried to go to her, but his foot was stuck. Looking down, he saw the floor melting, sucking him into the depths of hell with the house. No matter what he did, his demon strength was no match, and he was forced to watch as she waited for him to save her. But he would never come…

Slowly, her head turned towards him. Her eyes, now focused, were looking directly at him. She never said anything, just stared at him as he continued to be sucked in. A burning beam fell from the ceiling and landed on her back with a sickening crack that Sesshoumaru felt in his own spine. His efforts to pull free increased, but it was to no avail. He was neck deep now, mouth deep, nose deep, and now he couldn't breathe. The last thing he heard before it closed over his head was…

"Sesshoumaru…save me…"

The taiyoukai known as Sesshoumaru awoke with a start. Quickly, his amber eyes scanned the room to ensure no one was watching him. If word got out that the great Lord Sesshoumaru had nightmares, there'd be no telling how fast the other lords would attempt to invade his mind, and through it, his lands.

He ran a hand through his silver bangs and sighed. For a month, he'd been plagued with dreams of… her. He couldn't understand why, either. She'd been dead for almost 150 years. He really needed to forget her.

But could he?

When Kagome woke up, the sunlight was streaming through the leaves and onto her face. Opening her eyes, she saw that it made the leaves almost look translucent, like emeralds that someone had fastened onto the tree. The birds were singing, and there was no demonic aura for miles. In all, it was a typical morning after a storm.

Or, it should have been. Kagome's left side was caked in mud from when she had slept during the storm. Both of her hands were numb from supporting the weight of her head all night. She could feel insects crawling on her legs, and mosquitoes were buzzing around her face. Inside her mouth was that horrible morning breath feeling. Usually, she'd rinse with a bottle of mouthwash from her time, but she didn't have her bag. And, worst of all, she was starting to get cramps. Her period was coming soon.

Straightening her uniform a bit, she stood and headed in the same general direction she had been traveling in the night before. Truthfully, she really did not know where she was going, or even where she wanted to go. She just planned to wander around, and she figured she'd stumble upon it eventually.

And if not, well, she could always go home…right?

Sesshoumaru sat at the head of a long wooden table, an elaborate meal in front of him. To his right, the Lord of the South was reciting a long list of the most recent damages sustained. A small band of mercenaries from both lands were wreaking havoc on villages located along the border. In his pursuit of Naraku, Sesshoumaru simply did not have the time to deal with these things. Three months before, he had given the Southern Lord's armies permission to cross his borders in pursuit of these mercenaries with hopes he'd be competent enough to catch the nuisances.

Apparently, he had been wrong.

The Southern Lord looked up from his list and frowned. "Sesshoumaru, are you listening? This is becoming a serious problem. Four villages have been attacked in the past week. Four!"

Sesshoumaru sighed. "Daitaro, I am perfectly aware of everything you are reading from that paper. I have already given your armies permission to cross my borders. You assured me that you would be able to handle them, did you not?"

Daitaro shuffled his papers until he found one towards the back of the list, and threw it at Sesshoumaru. "That was before. While you were away on your latest chase after those two hanyou, Keiji was killed. Maro has taken over, and my scouts report that he is planning an invasion. I have moved all of my troops to our northern border to prepare for such an attack."

Daitaro had Sesshoumaru's full attention now. Sesshoumaru's scouts were the best in the land, specially trained by his best generals. Some of them possessed the gift of clairvoyance. Knowing of events before the other three taiyoukai had always been what made Sesshoumaru's army the most feared, so much that the other taiyoukai would not dare declare war on him. Why hadn't he known this?

*Flashback*

Sesshoumaru's bedroom was dark, except for a small lamp that burned dimly in a corner. Armorless and shirtless, he sat Indian-style in the center of his circular bed, surrounded by Tōkijin on his left side, Tenseiga on the other. The two swords were angled so that had the blades been extended, they would have met at Sesshoumaru's feet. His eyes were closed, and his hands were on his knees, palms down. The air was deathly still. Not even a bird chirped outside, as if Sesshoumaru himself had commanded the world into silence. Not even his chest moved while he breathed. To anyone looking in on the room, he would have appeared to be a statue, crafted from the finest Chinese porcelain.

He remained like this for hours without interruption. Serene as he looked on the outside, in his mind he was sorting through a troubling dream he'd had the night before. His mind had been invaded with thoughts of her, and he didn't understand why. She had been gone for over a century, and had not crossed his mind in almost an equal amount of time. So why now?

Shortly before dawn, he'd been brought out of his contemplating by a knock on his door. Lazily, one golden eye cracked open, but Sesshoumaru did nothing more. Ten more minutes passed, and then another knock followed.

"Lord Sesshoumaru?" A voice on the other side inquired.

"I thought the entire staff was instructed that I was not to be disturbed before dawn tonight, soldiers included," he said, half to himself.

"I understand that, sir," the voice apologized. "But our scouts have brought something to my attention that I felt you would need to be notified of immediately."

The other eye opened, but Sesshoumaru did not respond.

"Sir?" the voice asked.

"Which of the scouts has reported this urgent news?" he said conversationally.

"Amarante, sir."

Amarante, one of Sesshoumaru's clairvoyant scouts. She was one of his best fighters, as the last part of her training had been overseen by Sesshoumaru himself. Gossip among the other nobles was that Sesshoumaru considered her his top pick for a mate. Her predictions did not come as often as others' but they were always the most accurate. The generals might have seen this as urgent, but Sesshoumaru knew for a fact that her predictions were always made at least two weeks before the prophesized event.

"My orders still stand," Sesshoumaru said at last. "Come see me in the morning, after I have completed my morning ritual. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir."

*End Flashback*

Now that Sesshoumaru looked back, he heard nothing more of Amarante's prediction after that event. Whoever the messenger was had probably been scared away for good.

"Is there something wrong, Sesshoumaru?" Daitaro asked after swallowing a piece of futomaki. "You seem troubled by something, and I fear that whatever it is, it is beginning to affect your duties as a taiyoukai."

Sesshoumaru simply ate a piece of meat without responding. If you only knew, he thought.

Kagome had been completely, totally, one hundred percent wrong. Traveling alone was extremely boring. And it was hard. Very hard. Back when she had been traveling with Inuyasha, he and Miroku would catch all of their food, but Inuyasha and Miroku were no longer around, and it sucked.

"Just great, Kagome," she told herself. "You've condemned yourself to die of starvation. What a lovely job. Out in the forest, alone, no food, no weapons, no nothing." She stopped and sighed. Rubbing her arms through her thin uniform, she noticed it was getting cold. Well it is early fall, she thought. Right around this time, back home, the leaves would have just started to fall off of the trees… She and Souta would be piling them up and then jumping in while Mother stood nearby and laughed… She wondered what they were doing at this moment.

They don't even know that I won't be going home for a long time…

She kept walking until she found a small stream, then turned and followed that. This way, I'll always have water. Who knows, if I'm lucky, there are even some fish in there. Her thoughts once again drifted to her family. Kagome knew that would be the hardest part of her journey, for her family was the most important thing in the world to her. And knowing Inuyasha, he wouldn't have bothered to go explain to Mother what had happened, anyway.

That would be a nice conversation between him and mom, she thought. "Hello Mrs. Higurashi, no, Kagome's not with me. She ran off because I couldn't keep my hands off of a dead clay bitch named Kikyo. No, I don't know where she went. But don't worry, she has to come back. She has to purify the jewel once I slay Naraku."

The jewel! Kagome frantically reached for the chain around her neck and gasped. She still had it! This was…what was this? A blessing or a curse? On one hand, it meant she had to cross paths with her friends again someday; eventually it would lead them all to Naraku. On the other hand, it would lead her to Naraku. And any other power-hungry demon she met along the way. Out in the forest. Alone.

Kagome cursed to herself. She needed to find a village soon, where she could stop and clean off, and pick up some food and a bow and some arrows. I need some new clothes too, she thought, looking down at her dirty, tattered uniform. She continued walking, looking out for signs of human villages.

She was so intensely focused on her search that Kagome didn't notice that the wind had picked up and the birds' singing had ceased. As she passed a particularly large tree, one of its roots snaked up and wrapped itself around her foot.

"What the-" she twisted around and tried to yank her foot free, but it would not budge.

"Oh, come on!" Kagome continued to struggle with the root, to no avail. While the pulled and tugged, she heard a chuckle come from above her. Looking around, she could not see or sense anything. The only thing around her was…the tree?

It chuckled again. "Foolish human, my grip is too tight for you to ever escape. I am Kuroki, and this is my domain. With those jewel shards around your neck, I shall become even stronger once I consume you! Ooh, and a miko at that… Yes, I've done well for myself this time."

There was no discernable face on it, and its voice seemed to fill the entire forest as if the tree were an omniscient being. Damn. Kagome cursed her bad luck. The root around her ankle was tightening and drawing her closer to the demon tree. A gap near the base of the trunk slowly expanded with every inch that Kagome was brought nearer. She scrambled in the other direction. Chunks of soil were thrown everywhere as Kagome futilely clawed at it. Her arms and shoulders burned with the strain of being stretched in two directions at once. She desperately wished that Inuyasha were there to save her.

Kagome closed her eyes, resigned herself to her fate, and allowed herself to be drawn in by the tree. Kuroki felt her resistance lessen. "Yes, yes…" he chanted.

Just as her left foot was drawn into the gap, Kagome felt herself stop moving and her ankle was free. Kuroki then let out shouts of protest followed by a scream of anguish and the smell of burning wood. Kagome did not look up. Whatever had the ability to dispose of Kuroki must have been a very powerful being. She pressed herself into the ground and hoped whoever it was would just leave her there.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. With Kagome still refusing to open her eyes, the thing that saved her life grabbed her arm and hoisted her up in the air. Before she could fall back down, she felt another arm catch her around her waist. She was rising up in the air again, and rising, and rising, and the fall never came. What?

Kagome finally opened her eyes to find herself face down and bent over with an arm at her side hoisting her up. The ground she'd been sprawled upon only moments before was now growing more and more distant as she was lifted into the air on a cloud. Um…cloud?

Kagome craned her head to get a good look at the man who'd saved her. He was obviously a youkai, but not the one she expected. His black hair was short, growing to the back of his neck, with bangs that fell to his eyes. He had no markings, and his eyes were the color of molten amber. He was dressed in a suit similar to those of the taijiya, but with spikes around his shoulders and wrists. A wakizashi hung from his left side, and Kagome could feel a katana bouncing against her on his other side.

The two traveled for what seemed like hours until stopping in a clearing. Kagome grunted as she was unceremoniously dropped on the ground. Her savior touched down on the ground next to her, and watched as she attempted to compose herself. His expression still had not changed from the one of bored contempt he'd held throughout their flight. Kagome thought it reminded her of someone.

"Thanks for saving me," she said. He continued to stare, so she fidgeted nervously, tucking her legs beneath her. "Do you have a name?" she asked.

"Yes."

"O…k, then…" she cleared her throat. "What is it?"

"Don't worry about it. Just don't let me find you out here again. There's a reason why humans stick to their villages." He turned and began walking away from her.

"Wait!" Kagome called after him. He stopped, but did not face her. "Yes?"

"Um…" she stood up. "Can you take me somewhere? I'm really unprepared to be out here on my own… Is there a village around here somewhere?"

"Yes, I know of one. If I carry you there it is less than a day from here."

Kagome's face lit up. "Really? That's awesome! Um…so…" she paused, unsure of how to continue.

The stranger got down on one knee. "Get on my back."

Delighted, Kagome scurried on and the stranger took off, leaping from tree to tree much as Inuyasha would but in a much more graceful fashion. The past few days had exhausted her to the point that within ten minutes, she had fallen asleep and the stranger had to grab onto her so that she wouldn't slide off of his back. Once or twice he could've sworn he'd heard her mumble the name Inuyasha but it was faint, even to his youkai ears.

The village was surrounded by a ten-foot wall on all sides. She would not get in unless the gate-keeper allowed her in once she awoke, and the strange youkai did not have time to wait for that. He was already delayed. He knew the villagers inside would take care of her.