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When the Past comes Back

She stood on the cliffs and looked out at the turquoise water and wondered at the way the fates worked. She'd felt the pull to go to Japan and hadn't understood why until she'd walked along that street and had seen the demon's being circled by the vampires. Sis as they were called in Sesshoumaru's world. A world the demon's had been from and would hopefully stay in instead of returning to this reality. Who would have thought that Sesshoumaru would take a human for a pet, certainly not her. In fact she would be willing to bet she wasn't a pet at all, that Sesshoumaru simply told himself that to justify things. What was he like now she wondered as she pushed some strands of her hair behind her ear. In the beginning they'd been great playmates until Sesshoumaru's mother had begun to teach Sesshoumaru hatred of all things human. Of course at the time she hadn't known about her son's friend because Sesshoumaru had been the only one able to see her. So she'd listened to the hatred and pain in Sesshoumaru's mother's voice as she taught her son to feel the same and then once the woman left had tried to undo all the damage she'd wrought. Despite that Sesshoumaru had grown to hate the human race, his discovery of his father's betrayal with a human making the feeling permanent. He had tolerated her because she wasn't a human, only a spirit and therefore no longer human. She'd hated Sesshoumaru's family, especially the father for betraying her Sesshoumaru that she'd learned to materialize before them and had tried to beat the great demon lord up. How foolish a child she'd been Brianna thought with a smirk as she recalled how Sesshoumaru's father had stared at her in surprise as she'd cursed him and told him what she thought of him, how he and his wife were destroying Sesshoumaru with their actions. Things hadn't changed and the great demon lord had tried to get rid of her, blaming her for what his son was becoming instead of accepting blame.

But that was typical of most people, never accepting blame for the crimes they commit Brianna thought cynically as her hands tightened into fists. Eventually though the demon lord had paid for his actions, losing both his women and then his life. A fitting end for the bastard in her opinion. In his selfishness both his sons were left without their mothers, the demons who'd committed the executions making the fatal mistake of overlooking them. They'd destroyed Sesshoumaru's family home first, slaughtering his mother and other relatives as he fought bravely and was seriously wounded in the process but he kept fighting until he dropped unconscious. Not checking his pulse was the murdering bastards' mistake. Once she'd managed to wake up they'd headed to where his father's mistress was, assuming that they would find him there with his bastard son. Instead they'd arrived to find his father and mistress dead, Inu yasha surviving only because the demons had sensed Sesshoumaru coming. Most people would have cracked right there and then but not her Sesshoumaru, not him. After all, his name did mean the destruction of the circle of life, what else would you expected from someone who'd been given such a name. When they'd found Inu yasha Sesshoumaru had simply stared at Inu yasha while the boy gave the story then picking up his father's blade had headed off to confront the demons who'd murdered his father and kin. She had followed him there for the last time, losing her ability to visit him when she killed one of the demons to save Sesshoumaru's life. By taking that life she'd lost one of the brightest parts of her own but she had never regretted it. Sesshoumaru had been her best friend and therefore how could she wish things had been different.

Kagome hopped out of the well and walking forward opened the door and walked out, looking around her former home with a fond smile. It had been two weeks since Halloween and it had taken a lot of persuading to get Inu yasha to let her come here without him. She'd promised that she'd just stay for the afternoon and wouldn't leave the grounds of the shrine, which had helped but hadn't guaranteed her being allowed to come. Not that she needed his permission; just that things were easier when she had it.

"Hey Kagome, how's it going?" Kagome turned to see her brother walking towards her in his school uniform looking rather handsome in it but she'd bite her tongue before she'd say so.

"Shouldn't you be at school?" Kagome inquired with a smirk as she smiled at him, pulling him into a hug when he got close enough.

"Just came home for some lunch, I'm off to prison once more." Sota said with a wink as after she'd let him go. "So are you going to be here when I get back from school or are you heading back after you talk to mom about something?"

"I'll probably be around. Now you better hurry up and get back to school or you'll be late and I'll have to listen to mom give you her lecture on punctuality." Kagome said with a wink of her own. "Besides, I heard from mom that you've got a girlfriend that will be wait for you to get back."

"Ah gee." Sota said with pink cheeks and a dirty look towards the house where his mother was, unaware of the fact that her son was glaring at her. "Thanks a lot, Mom. Well see ya later." Sota said with a sigh then took off running as he really was going to be late if he didn't hurry. Chuckling as she watched her brother fade out of sight Kagome headed for the house and found her mother in the kitchen, fiddling with a flower arrangement of carnations.

"Hi, Mom." Kagome said brightly as she entered the room and smiling at the sight of her eldest child Kagome's mother happily hugged her daughter to her then ushered over to take a seat. The kitchen smelled wonderful as always and Kagome smiled wider as she breathed in the scents of her home.

"What a lovely surprise, dear. How are the children and the rest of your friends? Speaking of which why haven't you brought my son in law with you, I'd like to congratulate him on his fine choice of wife." Kagome's mother said with a grin as her daughter's face went an interesting shade of red.

"Mother." Kagome said in exasperation, her cheeks flaming red as she gave her mother a look that said she wasn't amused at all. She was still getting use to all this and her mother's words weren't doing anything to ease the transition.

"What? Was it something I said?" Kagome's mother asked with a wink. "Which reminds me, I have something that a lovely girl dropped off for you. Apparently you dropped it on Halloween night and she picked it up and tried to find you to return it. Luckily she went to Mrs. Kage asking if she knew who you were and Mrs. Kage pointed her in this direction. A very nice American with the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. Lovely shade of green."

"What did I drop?" Kagome said in surprise, not remembering losing anything that night. What on earth could it have been that the girl would go to all that trouble to try and find her? Kagome wondered as she waited for her mother to return with the item. "I don't remember losing anything important, what could it be?"

"An arrow from your holder apparently." Kagome's mother said as she walked back into the room, holding the arrow in her hand. Looking at it in amazement Kagome realized that that had to be the arrow she'd shot at the Si who'd come at them that night. That had been the only arrow missing and yet how had the girl known it was hers unless she'd been there to see her fire it. But the only other girl there had been the woman who'd help them and then disappeared, it couldn't have been her who'd returned the arrow. Or could it?

"What did you say this girl looked like again?" Kagome asked as she took the arrow from her mother. It was hers all right and free of the blood that should have stained it.

"Well she was really tall actually, probably around 5 ft 9 if I'm not mistaken." Kagome's mother said as she sat back down. "She had really long blonde hair with red in it and green eyes like I said before. Rather elfish features with several earrings on her ears and was slightly more built then you, more muscular, like she works out a lot."

"Did she say what her name was?" Kagome asked carefully as she looked at her mother intently.

"Well I believe she said her name was Brianna, yes I'm sure that was it because I commented that it was such a pretty name and she said that her mother had chosen it because it means strong and fearless. I thought that that was a very nice choice in name for her. She seemed like a very confident and strong person."

"Did she say anything else?" Kagome asked weakly as she swallowed her surprise. Could this all be coincidence or could Inu yasha be right in thinking that it was Sesshoumaru's old friend who'd saved them that night? Suddenly remembering the act that Brianna wasn't even supposed to be alive Kagome looked at her mother, her mother would have mentioned it if the girl didn't appear to be alive anymore. "Did she seem normal to you?" Kagome asked carefully seeing no other way to ask.

"Well yes she did, knew quite a bit about demons too." Kagome's mother said with a smile, unaware of her daughter's distress. "Apparently she's an artist and specializes in the depiction of fairytale like settings. I went to the art gallery near the market to see if they had any of her work but they told me its very difficult to get any of her work and that when they do they're usually gone really quickly. They said they'd phone me the next time they got any of her prints so that I could see them before they get sold."

"Really, how interesting." Kagome said absently, her mind on other things. Inu yasha had said that Brianna had never appeared fully solid as far as he knew and her mother would have said something if she'd been able to see through this Brianna which meant one of two things. Either it was a different Brianna and this was all some strange coincidence or in this world she was a solid, possibly living human being.

Sesshoumaru was not in the best of moods as he stared at the ruins of the keep. The keep had once been the home of his father's enemies; Sesshoumaru had destroyed this keep after murdering all the occupants of the keep. They'd recognized his father's weakness in his human bitch and had exploited it, used it to aid them in destroying his family. Now he was the last, Inu yasha didn't count. He'd decided to come alone and couldn't stay long; he didn't trust Jakken to be able to protect Rin on his own. He would have brought them both with him but he'd needed to come here alone to think things through. The idea that Brianna had saved Rin seemed impossible but the more he thought about it the more possible it became. But for it to be true Brianna would have to have been in Kagome's world, how on earth could she have managed such a thing? But it was difficult to stop Brianna from doing anything. Perhaps that's where she'd went when she'd saved his life, forced to reside in Kagome's world for helping him. The thought didn't sit well with him but he pushed that aside as not important, what was important was the fact that he couldn't get her out of his mind. He'd usually only seen Brianna once or twice a year, her never ageing at all during that time. She'd looked slightly older then Kagome when the girl had first arrived in the Feudal Era and had still looked that old when she'd disappeared for the last time. He'd never known when she'd show up next but had always looked forward to her visits, even when his parents expressed their disapproval. A part of him had seen their point but a larger part had told him that they were wrong.

She'd been a loyal friend to him Sesshoumaru thought as he moved forward, picking his way through the rubble as he went. When she'd been with him he'd felt lighter as he could tell her everything and know that she wouldn't laugh or tell anyone. It was Brianna that had comforted him when he'd found out the horrible truth of where his father went when he said he was surveying his lands and the existence of Inu yasha. She'd even dared to yell at his father in his defence, even thought he hadn't thanked her for it. Even now he didn't quite understand the relationship they'd had but he still valued it none the less.

Inu yasha was waiting for Kagome nervously beside the well as he waited for her to arrive back. Part of it was nerves that something would happen to her while she was away from him but a larger part had to do with the surprise he had for her. It had taken him a while to work up the nerve to get it but now that it was safely in his pocket he only had to worry that she wouldn't like it or that it wouldn't fit. Running a clawed hand through his hair nervously Inu yasha wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that his hair was sticking up in several places because his claws had mussed it so badly. Finally Kagome's head popped out of the well and wrapping his arms around her waist Inu yasha drew her from it with a slightly nervous smile on his face. "How did your trip go?" Inu yasha asked as he set her down gently on the ground.

"Let's just say it was very interesting." Kagome said with a wink. "Wait till you hear what I found out."

"There's just one thing I want to do before you tell me." Inu yasha said quickly, knowing that he might actually lose his nerve before he managed to muddle his way through this. Dropping one of his hands into his left pocket he wrapped his fingers around the object that lay there.

"Oh, what's that?" Kagome asked as she lifted an eyebrow at Inu yasha. He reminded her a lot of a kid about to open a birthday present, not sure if it would be what he wanted or not.

"Well Sango mentioned something to me and I was thinking about it a lot. I could have just gone out and bought one but I figured it should have more meaning then that. Then I remembered something but it took me two weeks to work up the nerve to go get it. I should have given it to you earlier, but better late then never right? This is for you." Inu yasha blurted out, pulling the ring from his pocket and holding it out to her. "It was my mother's."

"Oh Inu yasha." Kagome said with tears swimming in her eyes as she took the ring from it, holding it so carefully like it might shatter if she wasn't careful enough. It was a slim gold band with symbols engraved into it as well as shards of different coloured gem stones weaved into the band, or at least that's how it had cleverly been made to look. "It's absolutely beautiful."

"It was my mother's favourite." Inu yasha said with a half smile. "Does it fit?"

"I'm sure it will." Kagome said with a bright smile, ignoring the tears streaming down her face as Inu yasha took the ring from her and slid it onto her ring finger, a perfect fit. "I love it Inu yasha, I love you."

"I love you as well, Kagome. Despite all the sits." Inu yasha said with a smirk. "So what was it you were going to tell me?"

"Well I have good news and bad news, Inu yasha." Kagome said with a smirk of her own as she tilted her hand so that the dimming lights reflected off the shards. "The good news is that no one reported any demons or Sis on a rampage at home. The bad news is we have to go find Sesshoumaru and tell him that it was Brianna that saved us and that she apparently lives in my old world."