Beyond the Darkness
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A/N: Yo peeps, again! So here's another chapter, only because I feel so generous right now. [: I'm working on chapter twelve right now, but I'm installing my Sims2 Nightlife (which I finally have!!!!! I now own all expansion packs! Woot!! Sims2 guru, right here, ya'll!!!), so I'll be playing that right now. :D Enjoy! R&R too, por favor. Grass-iass. XD Ciaozies. -Michele

::Chapter Nine::

Sesshomaru's heart beat like a jackhammer in his chest. What had just happened? Had Nikala just kissed his cheek in exchange for letting her stay?

This wouldn't have happened if you wouldn't have let her stay! his conscious yelled at him. Now a fire storms in your chest where your heart is. Now you are vulnerable. You are no longer the most fearful demon of all of Japan. You are weak.

Sesshomaru glared and pushed Nikala off of him. She looked at him with utter shock and disbelief. It had been just a kiss after all.

What's gotten him so fired up? she asked herself, cocking her head.

"That is unnecessary," Sesshomaru growled. "Just because I let you stay does not mean there is need for physical contact."

Nikala gulped and nodded very fast, her topaz eyes wide.

"Yes, I'm truly sorry, my lord. It will never happen again," she said quickly. He tore his glaring eyes off of her and started back through the forest.

"We are leaving," he mentioned and disappeared through the trees.

Nikala watched him go sadly. "I just wanted to thank him," she whispered.

"I know, Lady Nikala. I think maybe he just isn't ready for that yet," Rin suggested, still having hope that Sesshomaru would grow on Nikala.

"Or perhaps I'm moving too fast," muttered Nikala in a voice that only she could hear.

I'm sorry, Tairoku. I can't help but think that I'm breaking our fox bond, aren't I?

Rin and Nikala followed Sesshomaru through the forest. They met him back at the hot spring where they found Jaken tying his kimono together.

"Ah, so Lady Nikala has talked with you, I presume, my lord?" Jaken asked with a sly grin. Sesshomaru shot him a death gaze, which made Jaken immediately stop his grinning and bowed. "Forgive me, Lord Sesshomaru! It was not my place!"

Sesshomaru said nothing, but shot a gaze at Nikala, who looked at him back straight in the eye. She felt as if they were communicating only with their eyes, for she knew what he was telling her.

"We shall never speak of this again."

She nodded and bowed her head. Rin stood beside Nikala, sliding her hand through Nikala's and grasping it.

"Are we ready to go, Lord Sesshomaru?" she asked innocently. Sesshomaru met eyes with her and nodded.

"Indeed. We'll stop again for camp during nightfall," he said and led the way away from the springs.

* * *

That night, Sesshomaru and his gang stopped and made camp in another clearing that was surrounded by a wood of tall trees. They hadn't found any trace of the small fox boy, or of Sesshomaru's target, Naraku. Nikala was becoming discouraged and depression suddenly hit her again throughout the night.

She lay up against a tree, staring out into the mass of many other trees ahead of her, her eyes blank. What if Shippo really was gone? What if he was eaten by the Thunder Brothers, like Jaken had suggested? As horrible as it may be, Nikala was starting to believe he was right. They hadn't found any trace of her small boy. His scent was clear to her like night and day, yet she hadn't caught any trace of it. Were they just not close enough? Were they not following his path?

She didn't know what to think. Tears strolled down her face in silence as the others (aside from Sesshomaru) lay dormant beside her. It panged her heart to believe that Shippo was dead. Her little kit, her baby, her son. The boy she and Tairoku treasured since his arrival. The boy they adored, loved, cared for, raised… there was a chance that he was gone.

Nikala swallowed, but the large lump in her throat prevented it from going down and stuck there. She breathed in heavily, trying hard not to cry out loud.

Tairoku… I've failed. I've failed to protect our son. I've failed as a mother, she thought and closed her eyes. Images of her once happy family sped passed her eyes, remembering their past.

"Nikala, you haven't failed, my love," whispered a voice in her gasped silently. That wasn't just any voice. That was his voice.

"Tairoku," she whispered. She slowly opened her eyes and saw before her a spectral form of Tairoku, his color faint and transparent. However, he was still tall and handsome with those beautiful amber eyes and his long, golden hair, a golden tail swaying behind him.

He smiled at her, that wonderful smile that made her heart beat exceptionally fast. The tears fell down faster.

"How could you think that you have failed as a mother? You are only having trouble," he said. "You are doing an excellent job as a mother. You will find our son, our Shippo."

"But how Tairoku? How can I find him if I have no trace of his scent? It's been so long since I've been with Shippo, I'm losing it. I'm losing his scent."

Tairoku's smile widened and he knelt down beside to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. He narrowed the space between the faces so that they were inches apart.

"Follow me," he whispered and then suddenly, he was gone. Nikala's eyes widened in fear at the disappearance of her late fox mate, but soon she spotted a faint, silver glow in the distance.

She immediately stood from her sitting place and ran after it, quickly transforming into the beautiful auburn fox she was, her original golden tail shifting to the auburn color as the rest of her body.

She followed the silver glow that she suspected was her mate with her keen sight. She had forgotten about the others she'd left behind. None were important now. She was with Tairoku. How, she wasn't sure, but there was a possibility that he could tell her where Shippo was, or maybe refresh his scent in her sense of smell.

Nikala hadn't realized how far away Tairoku was taking her from her group, and she didn't care. Anything to get her closer to Shippo.

Even if it risks losing my life.

"It won't risk your life, Nikala," she heard Tairoku's voice say, which brought relief to her. Though she'd give her life for her baby boy any day, the idea of being able to live another day with him brought her happiness.

I just want my kitsune in my arms. I want my baby.

"I know, Nikala," Tairoku responded. "I know you do. And I do too; I want our baby in your arms as well."

She knew he wanted this because there wasn't a possibility that Tairoku could ever hold Shippo ever again. Tairoku was gone.

After many long hours of running, Tairoku's silver glow brought her to a place that smelt of burnt brush. But the second scent was so much more stronger and Nikala immediately burst into tears from her fox eyes.

It was the scent of the fox tribe.