Aikomaru and I had been traveling for about three weeks now, I knew it was a matter of days before I turned human. I had to think of something to do with Aiko, she'd be defenseless when I was human. We had finally crossed over into southern lands a few days ago and now we were moving at a steady pace through the southern coastal forests.

"Granny, when are we going to reach the beach, I want to play in the water before we leave for a nearby island" Aiko asked as she walked beside me her hand in mine, I'd managed to find a kimono for her with in our time traveling and also I'd managed to conceal my scent and other identifying hanyou traits so our traveling would be easier. After all humans were much more welcoming of those of their own species and demons are less drawn to a measly human over a powerful and wanted hanyou.

"We'll be there soon, be patient, you can play in the water as long as you want as we wait for a ship" I told her.

"Yay!" she exclaimed tugging on my green furisode's sleeve and the white veil of my uchikatsugi.

I couldn't help but smile at the young girls excitement, I'd become quite attached to her and having her company brought summer to life for me. I looked up at the splotches of sunlight peeking through the thick canopy of leaved branches far above, song birds singing their songs of summer on their branches. It was a fair day with a slight breeze blowing from the shore not far in front of us.

We walked in silence for a long while before danger was present in our travels once again with the shifting of the breezes direction. He was extremely close, he'd used the wind to his advantage to weasel his way to us.

I looked down at the young girl next to me and decided what to do, "Aiko, run and hide, and don't come out until I call for you" I told her pushing her ahead of me and toward the brush on the side of the unmarked trail.

"But Granny…" she whined as she turned to look at me, stumbling slightly from the push, protesting my demand.

"Go!" I demanded, shooing her on into the brush, before turning to face the direction he was approaching from. I could hear her feet as she stumbled away to hide in the brush as I had asked of her.

"I've finally found you, you've been quite difficult to find" Sesshomaru commented as he approached, "Now tell me, why have you run, you are my mate not a wanderer?" he asked getting right to the point, as he came to a stop a few feet in front of me.

"I…" I began to retort but came to a loss of words at the sight just beyond his shoulder. I tried my hardest to not have my eyes widen into large saucers.

This angered him even more, he growled and reached out, pulling the hat from my head and yanking me to him by my hair, his eyes flashing red, "Answer me!" he demanded his voice much louder than his usual composed tone, his anger was very much evident in his tone.

However, I was too shocked to answer as I watched horrified as Aiko was sneaking up behind him, her eyes on the scroll that was thrown over his shoulder. I'd told her that he possessed it when she'd asked about my collection of weapons. I watched her and quickly noticed that though the wind was not in her favor, Sesshomaru never noticed her. It dawned upon me that Sesshomaru could not smell nor sense her presence, just as I had not sensed her either, I had only heard her following me. I glanced at the scroll hanging from his shoulder before looking back at Aiko, I had to distract him.

"I didn't know what else to do, you'd never shown such an interest in me before, I was confused but now I see I was wrong to leave" I said curling up to him, hoping seduction would work on him for once in his life.

He pushed me back slightly, but he obviously wanted to allow my advance, "Don't treat me as a fool, your sly tricks will not work on me" he said but I grabbed hold of his kimono in hopes of keeping up my distraction. I watched the girl as she came to stand right behind him, she examined the scroll and its string before grabbing a branch and climbing it so she could reach the top of the scroll.

In hopes of covering up the young girl's noisy movements I continued to pester the angry warlord, he was becoming very agitated at my constant babbling on about how I left for reasons that were only half true, but I was not concerned with his temper at the moment. Aiko finally positioned herself on the branch the way she wanted before pulling the small kodachi, I had gifted the girl with the short blade for her to protect herself from the harsh environment of the Feudal World, from her obi and unsheathing the glistening, silver blade. I tensed as she brought the blade to rest on the string and my babbling was kicked into hypo-drive as I prayed I would react fast enough to stop him if he went to kill the pest disturbing our conversation once Aiko cut the string.

I heard the pop of the string once she had cut it, my throat and mouth felt as dry as a desert for it seemed to be the only sound I heard. Sesshomaru's hand went straight for Bakusaiga, I had irritated him so that he was planning to kill whatever nuisance had disturbed the current conversation. I grabbed his shoulder as his hand came to touch the hilt of the mighty blade, and as he unsheathed the blade I catapulted myself over his shoulder and tackled Aiko, shielding her with my body.

"Stop!" I yelled as his blade came in contact with my neck, the small cut oozed blood as Aikomaru shook under me, terrified at the sudden and quick actions that she had not been able to comprehend with her human eyes. I hushed the girl as she began to try to cry, I tried calming her with sweet and gentle words. Sesshomaru seemed frozen in his place for a few moments, he suddenly snapped out of it and pulled the blade away quickly and sheathed the katana.

Aiko let out a scared cry at his sudden moments and she asked me, "Why am I in such a scary place, why would he attack someone of his own blood, demons have family relations too, right?"

"It's okay, I won't let anyone harm you, I promise" I reassured her and she soon calmed down but she did not let go of me or the scroll she had successfully obtained as she wrapped herself around me like that of a toddler.

I managed to get her to release the scroll, I fixed the string and threw it onto my back, I pulled her close before picking her up and turning to Sesshomaru. He stared at the child in bewilderment obviously not understanding where she had come from, and I knew from this that he was no longer a danger to my young traveling companion.

"It might be best to explain this somewhere where not just anyone can listen, it is best that her story not fall upon just anyone's ears" I told him as I picked up my uchikatsugi from the ground and placed it on the young girls head.

He nodded as he composed himself and followed behind me as we continued on toward the Southern seashore, to the small fishing town that had been mine and Aiko's destination. I managed to get a small, private room at one of the town's small café's, after having to argue with the demon warlord about making his appearance more human. Once inside the room I laid the small girl down in the corner of the room, she'd fallen asleep during the short journey to the town.

I pushed her hair from her face and kissed her forehead before returning to sit at the table across from Sesshomaru, "I found her while I was on my way to see Rin, she's our granddaughter from Kagome's time period, she came through the well. I'm not quite sure how she did it though. I was taking her to another island here in the south so my father would not find her, he'd kill her if he found out" I told him. His eyes showed a hint of surprise as he turned to look at the young girl.

I glanced at her before continuing, "She told me she fell into the well and when she climbed out she was here, she was looking for help when she saw me and recognized me as her grandmother. I think she knows Kagome's brother's son. I thought she was just a village child until I saw the vegetation in the well had been disturbed. I didn't believe her at first but then she knew all these things about me, but I can't figure out how she got here, much less how to send her back, or why she is human if she is the child of one of our children. She should be at least a hanyo…" I trailed off, I looked at Aikomaru and decided to put my wants aside for her safety, "I'll be changing into a human in a few days, she needs protection…until I can send her back she'll need better protection than just me. I'll return to the Western lands, but please, protect her, I've grown attached to her. I'll do anything you ask" I told him as I watched her sleep peacefully.

It was silent for a long time, or so it seemed, "I'll protect her, she is my blood also, but you cannot leave even after she returns to her place" his voice broke the silence. I smiled, happy she'd be taken care of.

"Thank you."

We had been traveling for several days and we'd finally came to the well in hopes of figuring out how to send her home. I had hoped to move quickly traveling with Sesshomaru but his pace had been too much for Aiko and it had taken longer than needed. By the time we had reached the well it was sunset, night was quickly approaching and so was my transformation into a human.

I watched as the fire flared as Sesshomaru built it up, "Thank you" I told him as Aiko gripped at my kimono in her sleep. I shifted her on my lap, she seemed much heavier in my human form. My attention was pulled from her as Sesshomaru sat down next to me, he pushed a stray strand of black hair from my face. I leaned on him, taking advantage of his kindness, his arm coming up and wrapping around my shoulders as we gazed at the fire.

"Thank you for this, after what I did…It is very kind of you to take care of her though I've treated you horribly" I told him as I looked at my lap, ashamed that I couldn't be nice to him, ashamed I was going to ruin such a prestigious bloodline.

He was silent, I thought he was going to ignore my thanks as he usually did but his hand came to touch my cheek, drawing my gaze to him and away from my lap. I was drawn closer to him as we stared into each other's eyes. I felt like he was staring into my soul, trying to read my thoughts, searching for answers to unasked questions. His face moved closer to mine slowly, our eyes closing as he moved, but suddenly he moved and there was an arrow lodged in the tree between our heads. He was gone in the next second as Katsuro jumped from the limb he had been perched on the second before when he had shot the arrow. I jumped up waking Aikomaru as a dense army of soldiers emerged from the surrounding brush.

I put up a barrier around Aiko as I drew my katana and attempted to find a way out of the circle we had come to be trapped in, "What's going on, I'm scared?" Aiko exclaimed as she gripped my leg as I searched for an exit. I didn't see one, and I had yet to retrieve the Denryoku no Tama from Hosenki. I looked to Sesshomaru, he had drawn Bakusaiga and was ready to fight. I knew the sword held great power but there was no way he could fight a whole army alone, it seemed like every soldier in the Northern Lands Army was surrounding us at the moment.

"There is no way out…" I thought as I searched frantically for an opening but there was none. I sheathed my katana, "I can't put them in danger, I have to give myself up there is no other way around it…" my thoughts were interrupted by the movement of all the soldiers toward Sesshomaru. I whipped around to see he was already fighting several hundred soldiers as more headed toward him, they were plotting to take him out so I'd have no way out.

I watched as Sesshomaru seemed to be handling them just fine, I thought that maybe he'd win. Then everything changed with just one movement from one soldier. The katana went through his lower back and protruded out of his chest, the amount of blood that came from the wound was magnificent.

"I can't let this happen" I mumbled to myself knowing that surrendering would not stop them as I watched Kasuro slowly pull the katana out of him as another soldier impaled him with a kodachi through his shoulder.

"Aikomaru, stay here" I told the girl as I laid the scroll down on the ground next to her.

"Wait, you'll be killed!" she exclaimed as I exited the barrier, summoning a nihonto that no demon could stand against. So'unga.

As soon as the bladed appeared in my hand it began its malicious attack upon my presently human body, the tentacles erupted from the sword and plunged into my hand and encasing my entire arm as it began to try to manipulate me. I pushed away the demanding voice and advanced on the soldiers killing most with just the aura the sword emitted.

Upon noticing the deaths of his comrades, one soldier turned and began to attack me. Already angered with the sword and their nuisance, I raised the sword and with a single swing unleashed a gokuryuuha upon all the soldiers except for Katsuro and Sesshomaru, and the several squads that had ran at the sight of the powerful sword. As dust cleared, I quickly grabbed Sesshomaru and Aikomaru and escaped.

I writhed in pain on the ground as the sword tightened its grip on my arm, Sesshomaru had fallen to the ground with me when I had collapsed after having run so far with an injured demon and a terrified young girl, "Damn it!" I cried out in pain from the maiming forces of the tentacles. The tentacles constricted more as I worked up the voice to command it.

"Stop!" I demanded of it and the tentacles stopped but did not retreat, "Release me, now!" I growled at it, and with a submissive hiss from the dragon in my mind the tentacles retreated back into the blade, I returned it to its sheath, sealing it back in the scroll before turning to inspect Sesshomaru.

He was seriously wounded, and from what I could tell there had been poison on the blades of the weapons of the soldiers. I untied the armor and threw it to the side, telling Aikomaru to bring me the items I deemed necessary from my bag. I pulled his kimono off and inspected the wounds.

I knew using my ointment would only further the damage of the poison he already had in his system, I remembered the region in which we were in and turned to Aikomaru as I pulled my sketch book from my bag.

"Aiko, I need you to find something for me" I told her as I flipped through the pages of the book, finding it I held it up for her to see, "Find this plant, they're plentiful in this region, it'll have a bloom just like this one in the picture, here" I handed her the book, she nodded after inspecting the drawing and ran off into the forest in search of the item.

I watched her momentarily before turning to the small stream next to us, a landmark I'd noticed before while we were running. I untied my obi, the silk of my kimono would not work well with cleaning his wounds, I quickly pulled off my cotton nagajuban and tore it into pieces dipping one piece into the water and ringing it out. I turned back to Sesshomaru and began to wipe the blood away.

"I did not know you inherited So'unga, I thought those old fools had destroyed it" Sesshomaru commented as he watched me clean the wounds.

"He gave it to me before he passed, I was the one who delivered Tenseiga and Tessaiga to Totosai and Myoga" I told him as I scooted around him to clean the entrance wound on his back.

"I never thought a human would ever wield it, or a half demon, yet you can control the evil spirit of So'unga even when you are in your weak human state" he mumbled as if he wasn't speaking to me, I took this as the fact he was shocked.

"I trained long and hard to be able to surpass your father, and by learning to wield his sword it would put me on my way. Though I know you've surpassed him back when we were still against Naraku, I'm not quite sure of myself, everyone tells me I have but I've a hard time believing it" I told him as I continued cleaning the wounds.

He scoffed at my statement, drawing my attention away from his wounds, "If you haven't yet surpassed my father then I doubt I have, you are much more powerful than any demon I've ever encountered, even as a human you can send daiyokai running, if not to their graves" he said as he looked up at the starry sky above us.

I looked up at the sky also gazing at the one star I always pointed out when star gazing with Lord Inu no Taisho before turning back to the task at hand. This was the first time Sesshomaru had ever acknowledge me as a superior, much less as an equal, but there was no time to revel in the moment. There was still much to do.

"Granny!" Aiko exclaimed as she rushed toward us with her arms full of the plant I needed, "I found it!" she said with a large grin.

"Yes, you did, thank you" I told her with a smile, hugging her before taking the plants and reaching for my bag.

"How is the plant going to heal Jiji?" Aiko asked as I pulled a mortar and pestle from my bag along with a small knife.

I began cutting the stems from several of the plants and throwing the roots into the mortar, "It'll help speed up the healing process and neutralize the poison" I told her as I began to grind the roots up into a paste.

"What about the blood?" she asked.

"I'll just use my yoki to…" I stopped all I was doing as I realized I was human at the moment. Troops would regroup soon and we could not stay where we were for long but without my yoki I could not heal Sesshomaru enough to move him elsewhere much less stop the bleeding.

This can't happen. What will I do now? What can I do? I stared at the ground frozen. I was nothing but useless now. We'd be found and Sesshomaru and Aiko killed because of my transformation. I was powerless.

"Will this help?" Aiko asked as she dangled a necklace with a spherical gem hanging from the beaded chain.

I took the necklace and inspected the gem. It was an item I had only ever seen once in my life, long ago, and it was exactly what I needed, "Aiko, where did you get this stone?" I asked her and she looked at me confused.

"You gave it to me when I was born" she told me as if it was just that simple, nothing too special.

I gazed at the gem in amazement, "Aikomaru, this necklace cannot only heal Sesshomaru completely but it is also what brought you here. We can send you home!" I told her and her eyes lit up with happiness.

"I can go home to mama and papa?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, you can" I told her. She stared at me for a moment making faces as she attempted not to cry, I reached for her and pulled her into a hug as she began to cry, "It's okay, you can go home now, just as I promised" I patted her back as she sobbed into my shoulder. Soon her sobs turned into hiccups as she stopped her crying and I turned to Sesshomaru, healing his wounds as well as my own before we started to head for the Bone Eater's Well at a fairly slow pace due to my shape as a human but we still managed to escape our enemies.

We reached the well the next morning after having stopped a few hours to allow Maru to sleep. I carried the child the rest of the way through the early morning despite the evident exhaustion Maru was experiencing. She was determined to return the child home as soon as she possibly could, which was taking its toll on her currently fragile body.

"Yokatta the night is finally ending" she breathed as the horizon began to lighten from its black purple color to lavender, reds, oranges, and yellows. The smile on her face was unearthly beautiful as she was so grateful for the ending night and the return of her powers.

I watched her as her hair slowly faded white and her eyes to icy blue I had always known her to have, unless she was angered. I had never cared for hanyo before but now having seen the transformation they undergo, I grow curious of the creature that both my brother and mate were. She let out a noise that was close to a squeal upon her demon powers returning.

"I don't think I've ever been so happy to have my powers back!" she exclaimed as she readjusted her bag.

"Hn" I watched as she smiled off into the distance. A part of me wanted that smile directed at me, it had never even been made before in my presence. She has never smiled around me before, we've only ever fought.

She soon turned my way, sensing my gaze, the smile disappeared and silence fell upon us, "I almost don't want to send her back" she stated after a few moments.

"Why would you want to keep her?" I asked her remembering how excited she had been to send the girl back.

She looked at the girl before looking down at the ground, "Because, I've grown to hate being alone, plus having her is like when I was raising Inuyasha. I love children and for some reason caring for a child makes me incredibly happy, maybe it is just a female instinct" she said trailing off into her own thoughts.

Soon the girl awoke due to the brightness of the morning sun and our conversation ended, well, the silence between us ended as Aikomaru spoke nonstop to Maru of her parents and her home. We soon arrived at the well and I took my seat underneath a tree as Maru attempted to clear the vegetation around and inside the well as well as determining how to use the jewel to return the girl to the correct time.

While Maru was not paying attention the girl approached me a smile on her face, "Jiji?" she called to me. I glared at the girl not liking the name, such a name was for one much older than I, however, even though it was not the current situation, I would undoubtably be the girl's grandfather in the future.

"Hn?"

"I have secret to tell you but you can't tell Granny, it isn't time for her to know yet, promise you won't tell?" she asked me. I stared at the girl. It had been a long time since I had dealt with a girl her age and making promises had never been my strong point.

"Aikomaru, it's ready!" Maru yelled to the girl as she climbed out of the well.

Her grin grew larger as she reached and grabbed my hand, tugging on it, wanting me to get up and follow. Rin had never been so bold. I complied despite her demanding nature and followed. She is just like Maru.

"Oh, Sesshomaru, you're going to actually say farewell?" Maru asked as she turned to us.

Aikomaru nodded her head, answering for me as she released my hand, she turned to me but instead of the glacier blue eyes she had before her eyes were amber and demonic markings similar to my own graced her features. I was surprised by this.

"Goodbye, Jiji, I'll see you in the future!" she smiled as she said her farewell. I nodded as she turned to Maru and hugged her, however, she had returned to normal.

She gave her finally wave not long after and jumped down into the well to be engulfed in the pinky-lavender light which would send her back to her home, "Well, now that she is safe and back with her parents, I guess it is time to return to normal life" Maru said as she stretched, turning and heading East.

"Where are you going? I never said you could leave" I told her and she stopped at the edge of the clearing.

"Oh, right, you have all my stuff, mate-sama, and that promise too" she trailed off and turned back to face me, "Please, lead the way back to camp, Sesshomaru-sama" she mocked me as she stood there and waited for me to begin back toward Jaken's location with Ah-Un. I ignored her mockery and began West to find Jaken, if the imp was still alive.