Chapter 3 - A New Purpose

She watched his back fading into the distance until she could no longer see white silk. She was even more lost than she was before. Why did he even come here? Her head hurt and she couldn't ignore the waves of pain she felt. She felt each loss constantly and it felt fresh every time. She mourned for each of them individually and all of them together. People tell you life is hard, but they fail to mention how much pain the heart was capable of feeling.

A cool breeze swept over her skin reminding her once again of her state of undress. She managed to force her body to walk back to the hut. It was like walking through a dream. Nothing was recognizable and she forgot everything almost as soon as she passed it. There were no thoughts in her mind, only memories playing over and over again.

Kaede walked out of her hut the moment she heard the villagers loud whispers. None seemed upset by her state of undress, but rather the look on her face. These people loved her and yet that lifeless look in her eyes was enough to keep them far away. They were afraid to even look directly at her. Of course the girl was once so lively and loving that people almost never had to really come up to her. Kagome had always had a way of initiating conversation with just about anyone. She was truly interested in what they had to say and people had always been able to sense that.

The old woman was forced from her thoughts as she saw Kagome's body fall to the ground. The girl fell to her knees and wailed. Her arms wrapped around her body in an attempt to keep herself from falling apart. Her tears stained the dirt beneath her as her whole body lurched forward as the force of her sobs wracked her tiny farm. The girl would never be right again.

Some how a few village woman were able to half carry Kagome into the hut, clean her as best the could, and get her into decent garments. After a while her wails and sobs became muted crying and a few hiccups. Slowly, the life was completely draining from her. It would seem that even the pain found it hard to live in such a lost soul. The women all sat and offered her what comfort they could. However, they soon found their attempts were futile. They all bowed the Kaede and turned to leave.

Kaede almost asked them to stay simply so she wouldn't feel so...alone. She thought better of it and decided to try and get Kagome to eat. Luckily, Kagome sat up for her and ate every drop of soup she gave her. Her body seemed to go through all the motions as if she were a puppet and Kaede the puppet master. Kaede was stuck between relief and horror as she watched the young woman move as if she were still asleep.

This is how it was for days. Something inside of Kagome shut down completely. The fire that had sparked with Sesshomaru had gone out entirely. She slept, woke up, ate, was bathed and changed, and used the bathroom only when told to do so by Kaede. The old woman's voice seemed to be the only one that broke through to the rational part of her mind that understood what her body needed.

Kaede slowly brushed her hair from her face and took in her hollow face. Kagome suddenly focused on her face and the sadness there was unfathomable. There would be no healing for her this time; her heart would never come back together.

Kaede was torn from her sad musings when she felt a strong presence coming toward the village. With one last quick look at Kagome she stood and walked outside. The power was familiar. What that power was doing here she had not a clue.

He had no idea why he was back. Sesshomaru slowly walked toward where he felt the girl's power. He ignored the frantic movements and screams of the villagers. He saw the old woman exit the hut that he assumed was where Kagome was being kept. He had no interest in speaking to the woman, but he couldn't be so crude as to force his way into an old human woman's house. He unfortunately was a painfully curious man. He needed to see how the woman responded to all the events that had taken place in her life. The fact that she hadn't taken her life by now was promising. It would be interesting to be able to have such a powerful weapon at his disposal. Certainly someone so broken wouldn't put up a fight against being given a purpose once more.

She felt no animosity from him, but she couldn't find it in herself to not be afraid on some level. However, she squared her shoulders and held her head op as he closed in on her.

"Lord Sesshomaru," she greeted him with an old respect. Appearances aside the man was hundreds of years older than her and far more powerful.

"Hm."

"May I ask what I may do for ye this day?"

"You have nothing to offer me. I simply want to see the woman for a moment to appease my own curiosity. All I need from you is allowance into your," he took in the small hut, lifted his eyebrow and spoke slowly," home."

She ignored his pause regarding her home and simply stepped to the side. She couldn't look away as he walked passed her and gracefully swept the mat out of his way. A sight she was sure she would never see again. And did the man actually ask her permission. She sighed loudly, looked to sky with her arms behind her back, and walked toward the center of the village. Surely his honor, the same honor that forced him to ask permission, would not allow him to hurt the child.

He was taken aback by the smallness of his current surroundings and the seeming insignificance of the tiny form huddled under a thin blanket. Her face was hidden by her hair and facing the wall as her body was curled into the fetal position.

"Pathetic," he said more to himself than to her.

He could hear her breathing and she sounded very much asleep. He walked closer and sent a very silent thank you to the old woman for keeping her clean. He was inches away from her bed roll at this point and he gracefully took a knee. Without really thinking he reached out and swept her hair out of her face. If there were a fabric softer and richer than silk it would still fall short of the softness of her ebony locks. Just as he was allowing his hand to linger he noticed a pair of eyes focused on his face. Those eyes! Honestly, he was thinking about ripping them out to avoid having to get lost in such despair. However, they were...pleasant eyes to look upon if one were only observing the shape and color. The color brown had never been more beautiful. Not to mention the full lashes that acted like a curtain threatening to close hiding those eyes from his...observations.

His hand suddenly felt like it was burning. He blinked at it for a moment before he realized the tips of his fingers were resting on her face. He ripped his hand from her flesh and glared at her for a moment. His fingers still burned slightly. Did she just try to purify him?

He would have growled had he not been so surprised, but instead slowly asked, "Did you just try to...purify me?" It rolled off of his lounge as if he were testing the words to make sure that's what he was actually asking.

For a moment her eyes drifted passed him, but came back in focus as she replied, "Sorry." Her voice was rough as if she hadn't used it in days.

"I should kill you."

"Wont you?"

"I suppose not. Now why did you..."

"I can't control it...it just happened."

"You didn't even try...it simply came to the surface."

"…"

"You are too powerful to remain here for anyone to claim or kill as they wish," he spoke so casually it was as if he were commenting on the weather.

"Please, just leave me alone," her eyes filled as she turned her head to face the wall.

Moments ago the girl was a corpse and within moments she was alive once more; alive and filled with agony. Her shoulders started shaking and she began to turn the rest of her body toward the wall.

"You will not turn away from this Sesshomaru woman," he snapped as his hand shot out and gripped her shoulder.

The moment his hand touched her he felt like his skin was being melted off by his own blood. He clenched his teeth and forcefully pulled her back to face him. The moment his eyes fell on hers once more he removed his hand, but kept his claws poised to kill.

"Refrain wench or I will make you wish for a death that I assure you it will never come," his voice dripped with malice.

He had no idea why he was even here and putting himself out in such a manner. The girl was better off dead and she seemed to have no problem with the fact. However, he couldn't seem to bring himself to end such a power.

"I CAN'T help it!" Her head turned harshly to fully face him.

Her eyes were so alive he couldn't look away. However, he would happily reprimand the girl for her tone. His hand shot out so fast the girl's eyes didn't even flicker in observation of it. With deadly precision he moved one clawed finger from her cheek to her chin. He pulled his hand back and watched as the blood slowly started to form all along her face. It was only then that her eyes widened and her eye brows shot up.

"Raise your voice to me again, I dare you."

Slowly she raised her hand and was once again taken aback when her hand came back with blood on it. She stared at her finger now smeared with her blood and something inside her snapped.

He noticed the moment her eyes seemed to dull as if her mind was going somewhere else. For a split second his chest tightened. He knew her mind was taking her to the last moment she was covered in her own blood. She was going to fall back into a prison of pain made by her own memories. That was too big of a set back for him to deal with.

"FOCUS," his voice was sharp and full of authority.

Her eyes narrowed as they refocused on his face. Her face worked itself into a hard glare and it was as if she found her body again. She sat up with an ethereal grace; her body was stiff with power just barely being restrained. Were he a lesser man he would've fled the hut and probably the village.

"Don't ever touch me again." A whisper never sounded so menacing and neither, he was sure, had this woman.

"You will do well to remember who it is you are talking to. I am not Inu..."

He didn't even finish when something powerful and burning hot struck his chest. He felt his back break through the hut wall, but all he could see was her hand right where he had just been kneeling with her palm open and glowing in his direction. He knew he was still flying through the air, but he couldn't help taking in her face. Her eyes were blazing with white power, her eyes brows up in surprise, but the rest of her face set in anger. She was shaking with power that wanted to be released.

Just then he noticed his proximity to a rather large tree and chose that moment to land. He slammed a claw into the ground rooting himself to the ground. However, his momentum was too great at the moment. He was forced back several more feet until he was able to get his feet on the ground and swing his body around full circle. Slowly he stood, flicking his hair back with a graceful jerk of his head, and simply waited for her next move. It was only then, when he was finally still, that he notice his armor was completely gone and his chest was mostly bare.

"I rather liked this," he said aloud as he picked at the tattered edges of his clothing.

She sat there with her arm still hanging in the air. She tried to calm her rage, but her body was shaking violently and her blood was boiling. She knew exactly who she had just sent through the wall and she also knew that that was just a taste of her power. She had no idea where it came from. She had trained with Kaede, but only to control her power. Suddenly she was tapping into a whole new pool of power. She didn't why, but she was glad as hell.

She didn't know what he wanted and she didn't care.

"CHILD!" Kaede came running into the hut.

Kagome only took notice of her for a second before turning her eyes back to HIM. He had the nerve to come in here, disturb HER rest and then WOUND her. The man was intolerable before, but now he was...he was worth killing. Slowly she got to her feet. She ignored the protest of her weak, unused muscles and began walking toward him. Suddenly she regretted sending him so far away and couldn't help being grateful that he had come to his senses when he did. She knew damn well that man could have stopped sooner. Why he hadn't she had no idea.

He watched her with a mask of boredom. Truth be told he couldn't wait until she was close enough to make her next move. He wouldn't waste his time on a real fight, but this would be a perfect moment to really see what she could do. He tried to remain passive, but he couldn't ignore the single, thin kimono she was wearing nor the fact that it was coming undone. One side was practically hanging off her shoulder and dropping low enough for him to catch a generous glimpse of her breasts. Another glimpse of skin stole his gaze as he noticed, with every step, her right leg was being exposed passed the knee. Her skin was seemingly flawless and surprisingly tempting.

It was only the sight of her white knuckled fists that snapped him out of his foolish thoughts. It wasn't as if he had never seen the girl done up like a common whore. The hideous thing she wore while traveling with his fool brother had only ever disgusted him. Her state of undress the night everything ended was vastly over shadowed by the utterly exposed pain shinning from her eyes. Today was another story entirely. It was the fact that she was wearing something appropriate and it was coming undone in such an intimate manner. Like a wife walking to her husband the morning after...

His eyes widened as the word husband found its way into his head. Now was not the time to dissect that thought. Her scent was closing in on him.

She felt the breeze lift and flutter through her kimono, but she paid it no mind. She was very much set on murdering this man! She felt her cheeks blazing with angry heat and her chest was heaving as she forced air into her lungs. Neither of these things escaped the notice of Sesshomaru. He suddenly wondered if he could make that face a little darker. He wasn't usually one for playing with people in such a way, but he also wasn't one to deny himself a little fun every now and then.

"Aren't you cold?" He spoke calmly once she was in hearing range.

"Shut up!" She snapped at him without even thinking about what he said.

He intended for her to get embarrassed, but it would appear that getting her angry had the desired affect. He decided to forgive her outburst for now. She was close now; close enough to overwhelm every other scent around him. At this point he could practically feel the anger rolling off of her. He forced down a smirk and watched as she stopped and rooted her body to a spot just a few feet away from him. She was getting ready for something.

"You," her finger pointed accusingly at him, "do not deserve to speak his name! I have no idea who you think you are or why on earth you are here! I cannot fathom any possible reason as to why you are here, but I can think of more than a few reason why you should turn around and leave me the hell alone!"

Her chest was rising and falling at an impossible speed and her face was impossibly red. Her finger still hung in the air condemning him. It would seem this conversation would be unpleasant for both parties.

"Are you deaf or stupid? I have already told you why I am here or did your feeble mind already forget being in the hut just moments ago?"

He could practically see the steam coming from her ears as she yelled, "I was practically asleep still or were YOU too stupid to realize I was asleep when you barge into the hut in the first place!"

"You say barged as if I was intruding when in all actuality the old woman had no qualms with me entering her home." He watched as she faltered for a moment and chose that moment to shut her up. "And you were not sleeping...you were practically dead."

He watched as her hand fell along with her face as she softly spoke, "Dead..."

"Yes, you were too wrapped up in your own despair to be bothered with living."

"What..." her voice was louder now, but still lost as her eyebrows creased together.

"You are much too powerful to waste away like a pathetic fool," his words were harsh, but his tone was still calm.

"Excuse me?" Her anger was slowly boiling back to the surface.

"Humans find life hard when they lack a purpose. You are useless at this point and I simply seek to give you a new purpose. I have a kingdom to consider after all and you could be made into a rather impressive weapon," he spoke with a natural air of superiority. He thought she should consider herself lucky that he would pay her such a grand compliment.

He watched as her eyes narrowed and her fists balled once more.

"You pompous bastard! I am not some thing that you can just claim and use however you decided!" Her voice worked its way up to a rather unpleasant screech.

He flinched at the abuse of his ears and spat out, "You had no problem with my brother using you."

He knew the moment those words left his mouth that he had crossed a line. A line that even he had to admit was better left untouched. Slowly her eyes filled with angry tears and her entire body tensed as her powers pushed against her skin to get out. Just like that she was upon him. In all his life he had never failed to react until this moment. He saw her knees bend and her feet push of the ground as she launched herself at him. He didn't not anticipate the force with which she was launching herself as she closed the gap between them in a second. He managed to take a step back, but that was a natural reaction that he had never actually learned. He felt a burning sensation spread over his shoulder as her tiny hand found a grip there. He fought off a shiver as she wrapped one long leg around his hip and somehow managed to find a foot hold on the other hip. For a moment he wondered what it would have been like had she wrapped both legs around him, but quickly returned to the situation at hand.

Her scent was drowning him and there was a burning sensation spreading from every point of contact her body was making that he wasn't sure was entirely due to her power. In fact, he was positive his body was simply reacting to...HER.

He had no time to dwell on the fact as her free hand hovered above her head. It was glowing with a fearsome power and was aimed directly at his heart. Such a small, delicate hand was actually threatening his life. And yet he could not find it in him to react. He had never been taken by such surprise and frankly had never been met with such a threat. Would the girl really kill him?

"You will never speak of him again," her voice dripped with malice and obvious pain.

He moved his eyes from her hand to her face. He almost sighed in relief when he was able to force his gaze up and away from her highly exposed chest. However, when he finally met her eyes he almost wished to be looking at her chest. It was there that he saw murderous intent and a girl who wouldn't blink once she took his life. He had seen the girl in many roles; care giver, victim, hero, body guard, friend, and lover. Murder was one suit that he would have bet his life he'd never see her wear. But now as he looked into her eyes he thought it fit rather well.

"You would take a life?"

"Wouldn't be my first," her voice cracked, but she refused to break.

"It wouldn't help," he was actually trying to talk her out of it instead of just killing her!

"I don't care...you deserve it," her tone betrayed no doubt.

He knew this would not be settled with diplomacy. In a split second his hand was wrapped around the hand threatening his life. He held back a scream as her power burned his flesh and immediately began producing his acid.

Her mind was overwhelmed by the white hot pain of his acid now burning through her flesh. She barely even registered his hand grabbing hers. In pure desperation her whole body fell from his and her other hand started clawing at his hand. In a moment of animalistic fear she forgot herself and her powers as they seemed to fade into her body again. She kicked and screamed as she felt the acid burning away her skin.

"One way or another you will learn to stop fighting your own fate. You WILL accept that happy endings are not birth rights. There are those who must resign to simply living the most minimal lives where happiness is a luxury NOT a necessity," he spat every word in her face and she struggled.

Her feet suddenly stopped kicking as she hung from his grip on her hand a foot off the ground. She just stared her their hands with wide eyes. He was right of course. Fate it would seem only deemed it necessary to throw her in any direction that needed her power. She was literally a weapon to be used and forgotten. Inuyasha got what he needed from her and now fate found her another purpose. Crueler still fate seemed to have no intention of offering her an early death, but a prolonged life of...slavery. It would seem that he was right when he spoke of learning what nothing really meant.

He felt her body fall and her struggles stop so he stopped his acid. Her free hand dropped to her side and her body slumped like a doll in his grip. He almost regretted breaking her this way.

"I was idiot to ever believe my life could be my own...to believe that my fate was to love or be loved," her voice was dull and lifeless again as she rambled to herself.

He smelled salt before he actually noticed tears falling from her down turned face. She seemed too broken to even noticed her still burning flesh. Slowly he lowered her to the ground and released her hand. He looked at his and noticed his palm was free of skin. Luckily this would heal in hours, but the fact that SHE had done this to him so easily would stay with him for a while. He let his hand fall from his gaze and tried to ignore the smell of her tortured flesh.

"You will come with me," it was not an answer nor a confirmation of her obvious submission; it was a command.

She didn't say a word. She only cradled her hand to her chest and kept her teary eyes on the ground. He was surprised she managed to stay on her feet. It was only then that he realized how cold his body felt at the loss of her warm body so close to his. He suddenly felt the regret of losing her warmth on his body and the begrudging regret of sucking the heat of life from her soul. Moments ago she was furious, but alive. Now, she was resigned to her fate, cold...dead.

Author's Note: ALRIGHT! there ya go whoever is reading this! i hope it was okay and chapter 4 is coming soon! Don't worry things will start moving a little faster :)