Love Will Find A Way

By: Angle-With-Attitude

Chapter 12: Punishment

o-o

After the sun had set and night was falling over the land, Lord Akio and Lady Yuki headed down from the hill and back to the house to find Kagome and possibly Koga. After everyone had left the garden no one saw what happened to the wolf demon. During the sunset Kagome's mother managed to persuade Lord Akio to not kill Inuyasha. Although he was going to get a very bad punishment and Kagome wasn't going to like it.

But hey, it was better than getting killed.

Since Lord Akio knew where the soldiers took Inuyasha, they figured that Kagome was there also and they headed for the dungeons. While they walked their silent walk Lady Yuki could sense that her mate was still upset and also knew that they were going to the dungeons to take Inuyasha out to free him - they were going down there to sentence Inuyasha to his punishment. They had gotten to the foot of the stairs and they stopped dead in their tracks. Lady Yuki's face turned into a soft smile while Kagome's father's turned into a scowl.

There was Kagome and Inuyasha sleeping together in the cell. They looked so cute, Inuyasha's head on resting on Kagome's lap while her one arm laid loosely over his neck and her head rested against the wall. Though through the darkness and grey of the dungeons and the events around them, their love was still shinning.

Akio started to growl and though Lady Yuki tried to hold her husband back, she wasn't strong enough and he pushed right passed her. He threw the iron door open and marched right up to the sleeping could and ripped Inuyasha out of Kagome's lap. Inuyasha hit the floor with a heavy crash and his wounds screamed in pain as they were aggravated by the force of the throw.

Kagome's eyes suddenly snapped open to see Inuyasha be thrown halfway across the cell space. She let out a very loud gasp as she watched her father go over to the fallen silver haired demon and he picked Inuyasha up by the sleeves of his fire rat kimono.

"You little bastard. Leave my daughter alone." Lord Akio snarled, back-handing Inuyasha in the face.

Inuyasha was still weak from the amount of blood he had lost and that slap had reopened the one over his eye. He tried to speak but he couldn't get his mouth to form any kind of words to stop the lord of the Eastern lands. He struggled not to scream out in pain as Akio had a very firm grip on his wounded shoulders but he held it in.

"Father don't do this, please!" Kagome begged, getting onto her feet. Her heart began to speed up - though she figured it had never had a moment to actually calm down. She tried her hardest not to break down and cry - she had to be strong.

"Akio please listen to your own daughter!" Lady Yuki cried out from the entrance of the cell. She could see how much pain Kagome was in and she couldn't help but let tears slip down her cheeks.

Though he was in pain and he was staring death he knew what he felt - his love for Kagome was stronger than anything he head ever felt. Inuyasha opened his right eye, the only eye that would open due to the wound on his left eye, to look at Kagome and smiled weakly. "I still love you Kagome. I always will." He whispered and he watched as her body racked with sobs. He turned to her father with a smirk on his face. "Well, are you going to kill me?" He asked. He wasn't afraid of death, he deserved his punishment.

"Father no!" Kagome sodded as she took a step closer to her father, trying to stop Akio from hurting Inuyasha anymore. "Please stop." Her voice hiccuped as she let out a sob.

Inuyasha was using her, he knew it. His daughter was crying because she was pulled in my Inuyasha's act. It was all a lie. His sharp fangs were exposed as he raised another hand to hit Inuyasha again but he stopped in mid-swing, glaring into the prince's eyes. "No." He said sternly and let go of Inuyasha's haori. Since Inuyasha was still weak when Akio let go of him he fell to his knees. "I'm not going to kill you."

When Inuyasha fell Kagome rushed over to him. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him close. Due to the blood loss of his wounds, Inuyasha was falling in and out of being consciousness so she shuck him to keep him awake. "Inuyasha." She sobbed. "Inuyasha stay with me."

Lord Akio snorted at the scene of her daughter crying over such a despicable person. "But!" He continued, raising his head high. "You will be banished from his land, forever." He snarled out his sentence. "Kagome you will never see him again." He looked over at the blacked haired sobbing girl and turned back to Inuyasha. "If you ever step foot in my lands again I will kill you."

Lady Yuki rushed over to the two teenagers as Kagome glared up at her father. She couldn't take it anymore. She handed Inuyasha over to her mother who cradled him in her arms and she turned to her father. She stood on her feet and walked up to Akio. She only came up to the middle of his broad crest but she was told many times over that she got her attitude from him. She just glared at him though tears still ran down her cheeks.

Akio couldn't meet his daughter's glare and he turned his back to her. He was about to leave the cell room when he looked over his shoulder. "After this you won't see him ever again Kagome and that is a promise." He snarled at walked out, the two women in his life glaring after him as he left.

o-o-o-o

With some firm talking from Lady Yuki, Lord Akio agreed to give Inuyasha three days to rest. Kagome stayed with the silver haired demon the entire time, in his cell. Inuyasha mostly spent the time sleeping and resting to regain his strength. But when he was awake they would talk and tell each other how much they cared about one another and they would tell stories about growing up in the East and the West. They treated the time they had together as the last days on earth - for it was the last few days that they would ever be able to see each other.

It was the second day and Inuyasha started to eat again. His wounds were still healing and Kagome spent most of the time reapplying his bandages. Her heart was almost about to break, holding onto the tinniest shread of hope that they would see each other again but her father's words echoed in her mind, making her head ache even more. She just sat on the cold floor beside Inuyasha and played with his hair, running her fingers through the silky colour of his hair while telling Inuyasha stories about her childhood.

It was sunset when Lady Yuki came down to the dungeons to check on the two teenagers. "How are you two doing?" She asked as she sat down beside her daughter, wrapping her one arm around her daughter. "Are you alright?"

Kagome just looked down at Inuyasha. The silver haired demon was now sleeping, his head laying on Kagome's lap and his breathing was deep but uneven. "Yeah I'm ok." Kagome whispered, scared that if she talked too loud she would wake Inuyasha. "But Inuyasha is running a fever again." She explained as she rested her hand against his forehead and feeling the hot temperature against his skin.

Lady Yuki was quiet for a moment, chewing lightly on the inside of her lip as she tried to gain enough courage to talk. "This was never supposed to happen." She started as she looked down at Inuyasha, running her fingers lightly down his cheek. "When you two were born, we four leaders arranged a marriage between you two. But ever since your grandfather died, we were at war and you two never saw each other like you were supposed to. But it seems that you won over us and you did fall in love with each other." She said, placing her hand on Inuyasha's cheek. "I just wish it didn't have to be like this."

Kagome was quiet, letting all this new information soak in. They were supposed to get married? If there was no argument, she and Inuyasha were going to be arranged to be married? "I guess fate has a funny way with playing with our lives." She half laughed thought she couldn't hold back a few tears.

Inuyasha stirred awake and slowly opened his golden eyes. The gash on his eye that Akio had given him healed over during the first day but it had left a nasty jagged scar over his left eye. His golden eyes focused on Kagome above him. "K-Kagome?" He asked hoarsely as he looked around him.

At the sound of Inuyasha's voice the princess looked down at the man she loved and smiled down at him, happy that the fever hadn't kept him unconscious for long. "How are you feeling?" She asked, resting her hand over his forehead again to check for the fever.

"C-Can you help me sit up." He whispered out as he tried to sit up. Lady Yuki and Kagome both helped Inuyasha sit up, careful of his wounded shoulders. They moved over to the wall and Inuyasha rested his back against the cool wall and Kagome moved under his arm to keep him from falling over. Silence filled the environment as Lady Yuki decided that it was time to leave for now. Before she got up to her feet she leaned over to the two teenagers and gave her daughter a light kiss on her forehead and then turned to Inuyasha and placed a hand on his cheek again. "Take care dear, be strong." She whispered as she got up to her feet. "I will be back with some blankets and some food."

Since Lord Akio agreed to give Inuyasha three days to rest Kagome refused to leave the silver haired demon and she never left his side. Though Akio had argued with her on the first day Kagome was stubborn and didn't listen to her father. As Lady Yuki said goodbye she headed to the castle to prepare some blankets and meals for the teenagers. After climbing the stairs up to the surface she drew a shaky breath and wiped away a few tears.

When she got back to the royal house she went to her private room that she used for her training and practice her priestess powers. She sat down at the desk and took out a feathered pen and continued to write the letter she had started writing yesterday. When she was done writing the letter she rolled it up and called her messenger. Her messenger was a phoenix, a fire bird that she had gotten from her mother as a gift. "Korra please take this to Lady Izayoi. She deserves to know what is happening to her son."

The said red and orange fire bird nodded intelligently and took the letter in her clawed talons and flapped her wings, taking off out the window and into the blue skies towards the Western Lands.

o-o-o-o

Meanwhile in the Western Lands Lady Izayoi was wondering about the royal house until she found her way into the garden. Her long silver hair shined in the sunlight as a gentle breeze blew random strands around. She took a seat on the bench beside the cherry tree and opened the book to the page she was reading. She then realized that she had never read so much in her life but it was the only way she could possibly take her mind off of the events of her family. All in all it wasn't working that well for a couple minutes after opening the book she closed it, unable to get into the words.

She sat under the tree, letting out sighs here and there until she heard a familiar cry from and sky. When she looked up she saw an old friend flutter down to her with a message in her claws. "Korra," Izayoi greeted the phoenix as Korra landed on the bench beside her. "What do you have for me?" She asked as she took the letter from the bird. "A letter from Yuki?" She unrolled the letter and read the first couple lines and let out a gasp. "Inuyasha is in danger?" She repeated from the letter.

Dearest Izayoi,

I hope you remember your old friend, it's me Yuki. It has been a very long time since we have been able to talk with each other and I miss you dearly. I wish I could have been able to write to you sooner but events have stopped me and I am truly sorry. But I am writing to you because I know that it is the right thing to do, you deserve to know about your son's health.

It has been a while now since Inuyasha had saved Kagome from that horrible fire. He had asked us permission to stay in our lands but Akio wouldn't allow it. After much talking, Inuyasha was able to stay in the East.

After time past, I saw that Kagome and Inuyasha were getting closer and closer by the day. They were perfect with each other, you should have seen them. Kagome would wake up early each morning to begin her training with your son and they spent the entire day together. It is now clear from what had happened a few days ago that they really love each other.

It seems that fate had a play in this. Something happened two days ago and Inuyasha revealed that there was a plan that he had been playing a part of to get to Kagome and attack our lands from the inside. Akio was outraged when hearing this information and he attacked Inuyasha.

Your son and our daughter are currently together in the dungeon cell, tending to Inuyasha's wounds. I figure that Inuyasha will recover but his punishment for this action was going to be death. But I talked to Akio and he had agreed to only banish him from out lands. Inuyasha has one more day before he is cast out of our lands.

We must do something to stop this. Please don't show this to Taisho as we both know that he would surely start a war. I beg for your forgiveness. I always knew that our children would fall in love but I wish it didn't have to be like this.

Please write back and we can make up a plan to stop our husbands from ruining our children's love for each other.

Lady Yuki of the Eastern Lands

The letter, the words were almost unbelievable. After reading the letter she hurried into the house, Korra following after her and she went into her private room. She sat down and her desk and grabbed a feathered pen and started writing a reply on another piece of paper. When she was done she gave the paper back to Korra and watched the fire bird fly back to the East. As she watched Korra fly away a tear fell down her cheek.

'Inuyasha's in trouble...' Yuki's words echoed in her head as she decided what she should do.

She turned and left her room and hurried down the hallways until she found Taisho in his study. She didn't let him say anything and informed him that she was going for a walk. When he questioned if she wanted an escort on her walk she shook her head no and hurried out. The Western Lord looked up from his scroll and watched his wife head out in a hurry. "What's up with her all of a sudden?" He asked Myouga who was sitting on his desk. All the little flea demon could do was shrug as Taisho's gaze stayed where his wife had hurried out.

When she was walking down the halls she turned down every offer for an escort and she sprinted out of the garden and down through the gates of the Western walls and into the valley. She raced through the knee-high grass, holding her many layers of kimono as to not trip over her feet. Looking up, she saw Lady Yuki standing up on the hill beside the trunk of the Goshinboku. When the silver haired lady got up there, it was clear that there was an atmosphere of uneasiness as the two women exchanged hellos.

"How's Inuyasha?" Lady Izayoi asked, her golden eyes shining in the sunlight as she looked around for a moment to see if anyone had followed her.

"I just went to check on them and he seems to be ok. But he has a fever right now." Lady Yuki said, stepping closer to the white haired lady in front of her. She could see that Izayoi was worried about her son's health.

"This is all Taisho's fault. He wanted Inuyasha to play along with his little plan and look what has happened." Inuyasha's mother said, tears welling up in her eyes. She had never showed her emotions, always holding it inside but now that she was face to face with Yuki, her long best friend from so long ago - not able to see her in several years - she couldn't help but let it out.

Lady Yuki nodded sadly, understanding how Izayoi was feeling and she closed the gap between the two and placed a hand on the silver haired woman, trying to comfort her as best as she could. The wind picked up, blowing both of their hair, jet black and silvery white around them as the two women comforted each other about the events of their stubborn husbands and their children in love.