Disclaimer: I'd love to say Inuyasha and co belong to me, but then I'd be called a big fat lousy liar; Inuyasha belongs to Takahashi-san.

'Single quotes' are thoughts

"Double quotes" are English

Bold- inner youkai talking among other things

Last Time:

The power miko bowed her head mournfully to stare at the still kneeling Sachi, who heaved for breath. Tears started to fall slowly down her cheeks; her eyes never leaving Sachi. "A war is brewing and it is inevitable, and young Sachi is in the center of it all; she's the one that could sway the outcome for either side."

"Sachi-chan, my gakuto, is the Shikon no Tama in ningen form" stated Son'ou, his face expressionless and his grey eyes hard.

"You must protect her." The sadness in Kagome's voice was easily noticed.

"Good luck Inuyasha, I'll be watching you" whispered Kagome. "If she fails…we all fail…" then the chaired miko of the past Inu Taishi faded away a sad smile still played across her face as always when she saw the man she loved with someone other then her.

Inuyasha looked down at the serene face of the miko he held in his arms. 'Who in the hell is this other sensei?"

This Time:

Chapter 21- In the Unblessed He Sought, He Found…

"Darkness…"

Darkness was all she saw; absolute impenetrable darkness.

"Fire…"

Searing fire that flowed over her body slowly like thick lava, was all she felt. It left her sweating in waves and heaving for needed breath.

"Pain…"

Unbelievable pain that racked her body as it convulsed terribly. The unbearable pain Sachi was experiencing was all she knew in the bottomless dark full of smoldering heat. While Sachi floated in between dark consciousness, she never noticed the honey eyes that watched over her continually. Never did she feel the clawed hand across her sweaty brow and the comforting hand in her own. The young reincarnated miko, who was the Shikon itself, never reacted in her battleground for consciousness. Sachi didn't react to the worry stricken hanyou that never left her side.

"Mmm…" moaned the rousing miko fluttering open her eyes.

The scramble of feet against wood panels filled Sachi's ear. Her blurry indigo eyes took in the figures looking down at her. All worried expressions were on her dear friend's faces, as well as relieved.

"Sachi-sama," whispered the houshi as he kneeled, and the other followed. "How are you feeling?"

Sachi groaned as she thought about it and grew annoyed as her head throbbed. "What do you think? My head feels like it was hit with a sludge hammer." Miroku, Sango, Kirara, Shippo, Kouga, Kaede and Son'ou all gave her the strangest confused looks, but Sachi noticed there was a pair of eyes missing. "Where's…Inuyasha?"

All eyes became troubled and averted from looking the unblessed miko in the eye. And seeing this Sachi forced herself to her elbow in a panic.

"What's wrong with Inuyasha!?"

The ookami prince huffed, much like the hanyou himself. "Oh, the mutt is fine; he ain't wounded or noth'in, but something sure is bothering him." Kouga looked down at Sachi's still worried face and troubled emerald eyes. "He never left you sides these past two days, but when you started to wake, he bolted out of here like there was a plague."

Sachi took in the ookami youkai's words as she bowed her head, her hand in her lap. "He ran…" she whispered in English so none knew what she said. "Does he hate me that much?"

"Sachi-chan," asked Sango worried.

Shippo climbed into the fire haired miko's lap as he looked up at his new foster-mom. "Okaa-san," he asked in his small squeaking voice.

All gasped from what the young kit had said. Soon all eyes went to the miko's face, and saw it shocked expression. Shippo had finally called his new mother by her intended title. The look Sachi gave her young kitsune could not be described as anything other then loving and motherly.

"Oh, Shippo-chan…" Sachi whispered with raw emotion in her voice and took the kit in her arms hugging him close. "Gomen…" came her strained whisper breaking with raw emotion. "Gomen nasai…I'm so sorry," and tears of grief fell upon Shippo's orange fluffy hiar. "Gomen nasai for Kagome having to die…"

Tears swelled in the bright green eyes of the kit. "Sachi…okaa-san," he thought fisting his hand in the ripped and tattered black blouse, and wept into her neck as Sachi held him even closer.

As the mournful tears began to dry up between okaa-san and her kit as the miko's deep indigo emotional eyes turned to the elderly pair at the foot of her futon. "Where's…" she whispered, but swallowed to keep down the lump in her throat. "Where's Inuyasha?"

Kaede sighed. "Child, perhaps this is not the best time. Inuyasha is deeply troubled and needs time to think."

The fire haired woman-child growled deep in her throat, startling them all, because it was defiantly directed at the elder miko. "Tell me where he is Kaede! I know what happened in that cave, so don't treat me like an ignorant child!!"

Kaede's face fell in hurt as she heaved herself to her feet, and turned away to quietly retreat from Sachi's bedroom. The others looked from the departed miko to the young miko sitting erected in her bed, with her fists clutching the blankets.

Son'ou as well took to his feet where he sat; a stern look on his crinkled face. "That was very unnecessary my gakuto. Kaede-baba was only thinking of you and Inuyasha, and you snap at her; very rude. I assumed you had better manners then that Sachi; how disappointing." And the elder of the Slayer's Village walked out of the room to track down Kaede and console her.

Sachi growled out her frustration with herself as well as her extreme exhaustion. Averting her eyes to the window, she found the moon shinning down with pale and pure mournful light. All anger melted away, leaving the young miko even more strained and weak. Sachi mentally sighed as she held her head in one hand. 'I need to find him, and apologize,' she thought as a single salty tar found itself falling down her pale cheek; she remembered in that instant how much she hated crying.

"Sachi-chan," asked the taijiya softly.

The troubled miko bowed her raised her head to look at her elder woman friend to bowed her head once more. The smoldering mane hid her face from the others, and she was grateful for it. "Where is he? I need to talk to him."

Sango sighed reaching for the young kit in the miko's lap. Shippo answered in turn by reaching for the older onna. "He should be outside somewhere, most likely in the garden."

Sachi stiffly nodded and rouse to her feet only to sway. Gripping the wall, she found prevented her from falling to the floor and landing on her face; Sachi started her journey to the garden. Sango went to help and encourage the stubborn teenage girl to rest, but her husband's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"But-"

"She's a stubborn girl, Sango. If she wants to track down Inuyasha in her weakened state, she won't stop till it's done. Sachi can take care of herself," Miroku encouraged with a smile.

Sango returned to a sitting position as she sighed. "It's not Sachi I'm worried about…it's Inuyasha. I've never seen him so angry outside a battle."

Miroku nodded, his eyes falling shut. "Let us hope neither come out horribly scathed."

"Damnit," breathed Sachi as her breath came in shallow gasps to rattle wetly in her chest. "My vision is going blurry…"

Sachi had struggled through out the large house in search of the central gardens. Using all walls to hold herself up, the determined miko kept going while fighting off unconscious's blackness. Heaving for breath, Sachi finally found a pale blue beam of blight tumbling through the shoji door that was partially open.

Abandoning the wall the fiery haired miko swerved her way to the door on weak wobbling legs. Putting all weight on the sliding door, she pushed open letting the cool fall air in as the light washed over her, paling her already sickly pale face.

At the first glance the half-dead garden seemed vacant and abandoned, but the weakened miko knew better. She knew he was there; the angry crimson hanyou aura told her so. Stepping hesitantly into the garden, Sachi let her half-blurry eyes travel over her surroundings as her weak legs shook violently under the strain. The half conscious miko stumbled further in, even the motionless lush green grass was able to trip her bare feet. Without the help of a wall or door to hold her, Sachi soon found herself falling to the hard ground to stay there breathing deeply, to weak to get up.

"Damnit," Sachi whispered harshly to no one. "My body is so weak; I feel like an over stretched rubber-band."

"If you so damn tired and weak go back to bed and rest," came a snappy voice as bare foot falls stopped in the grass next to the fallen miko's head. Sachi turned her head sluggishly to see the bare clawed feet with a red hakama ending at the ankles. Indigo eyes looked further up to take in the scowling face of Inuyasha; Sachi said nothing. "You're such a weakly," he said turning to walk away to vanish back into the autumn night.

"Am not," snapped the fiery miko back raising to all fours, to struggle more to stand on both legs. "I am not weak," stated the miko snarling in the hanyou's face, challenging him to say otherwise.

Inuyasha crossed his arms in annoyance. "Oh really, you sure look it."

Sachi snarled again, but fiercer which she regretted greatly as all blood rushed to her skull; the dizziness and nausea driving her to her knees once more. She was weak, and she knew it; she hated it. What she hated most was how cruel Inuyasha, her friend was being; how emotionless he was. It scared her a little more then she would admit to anyone.

"Why…" she whispered through clenched teeth as fists dug into the earth in frustration. "Why are you being this way!?"

The silver haired male said nothing as his molten gold eyes remained both steely and unreadable. Without a single word, he turned away heading back to the dark house. Sachi watched him walk away, his silver mane swaying and shimmering in the light of the pale full moon. Being ignored was never something Sachi took lightly; she rather despised it in moments of importance. What made it worse was the fact that she was staring at a friend's back, it infuriated her more.

"Get back here damnit!!" Her frustration with the inu-hanyou and her determination caused her to push strange back into her legs to leap at the retreating Inuyasha. Sachi grabbed hold of the red cloth and spun the arrogant male around to face her just as he reached the door. "Talk to me here! I came out here to apologize for taking Kagome's place in this group, which can't be helped, so you don't have to be so god damn cruel about it!! But seeing like this really helps me understand why Kagome ran away all the time…YOU ARE AN ARROGENT ASS WITH NO SENSE OF HONOR!!!!"

Inuyasha remained mostly unmoved by Sachi's sudden rant, but she say the rage that was being just barely held back. She smirked evilly and watched as the hanyou stiffened. "She was so weak to fall victim to your worthless hanyou hide."

Before she had time to react, to even comprehend the harsh words that had left her mouth, pain shot up her spin and the rough feel of wood against her bare back told her what happened. Sachi was pinned to the house's outer wall with her hands above her head in a nearly bone crushing grip as hanyou claws dug into her soft skin. His body heat was easily felt through the thin tattered clothing she wore; ragged sharp breathing against her cheek and ear drove shiver through her body. The fire haired miko refused to look into Inuyasha's emotional eyes.

"Don't you dare smear Kagome's name," he growled out in a furious rage.

Sachi just remained looking to the side, still refusing to answer, and knew very well not to struggle; the little twitch of the wrist and the iron clad grip tightened more. She remained unmoving and unresponsive, which earned her a low and furious growl that vibrated deeply in her own chest.

"Answer damnit!!!"

Sachi chuckled emotionlessly. "I didn't know you asked a question."

Inuyasha growled flashing his bared ivory fangs. "I want you to agree not to insult and taint Kagome's name ever again!!!"

The unblessed miko scowled and huffed. "You're one to talk about insulting," stated Sachi turned her head finally to look through smoldering bangs at her hanyou capture. She saw the hint of scarlet bleeding in the corner of his eyes; she ignored the obvious warning. "Weren't you the one…that always made her run off; weren't you the one always calling her wench and worthless."

The miko remained harsh and relentless as her words became daggers as her steely eyes struck deep into Inuyasha's core. Inuyasha was shocked for a second but found it off as the shock was replaced once more with a steely gold gaze.

"Inuyasha, you…you were the one that called her nothing but a shard detector time and time again."

Inuyasha lurched back in shock as he stared back at Sachi, his eyes unseeing. All he saw was the hurt face of Kagome as she took his insults over and over again. She had stayed by his side no matter what; no matter how many times he went off to Kikyou, she would be there waiting for his return. Then she would flash that gorgeous smile that he knew to be forced, every time he saw it he felt even guiltier, even more of a baka.

Constantly he has asked himself why he always chased after Kikyou, constantly he found the answer was lacking. It always went back to what Kikyou had said time and time again; he couldn't stay away, because he still loved her, still felt the promise he had made weighing down him. He beat himself up about it every day, there was never a time he half regretted those foolish words.

Then Kikyou had loved him only because he was half ningen, not half youkai, or a hanyou; just ningen. She wanted her own dreams fulfilled and he was the perfect thing to make it work. The undead miko wanted him as ningen and then there was Kagome.

Loving, caring, gorgeous, life loving, motherly, energetic and talkative Kagome; she was the one that Inuyasha found himself missing the most. Her place in his heart could never be filled; her absence left a hole in his heart as well as his life. The three months without his Kagome, were just a blur of booze and hangovers; no laughter, no love, and no will to live. Only the constant way of the fact that he, Inuyasha a pathetic unblessed hanyou, had something so precious in his hands, and he let it slick through his fingers like the very blood she shed for him. The very blood that she loved him with; his Kagome was gone, dead to the world, untouchable and unreachable.

'Kagome…' he thought as sorrow and regret filled his core.

Sachi took notice of the regret the man before was giving off; the air reeked of the regret. Sachi smirked not yet done with the torture she wanted Inuyasha to experience and to understand. "Is that regret I see, Inuyasha?"

His eyes focused finally on Sachi's face, seeing the undeniable likeness between the deceased Kagome and the spitfire miko he pinned to the wall. He hated her for it; hated the fact that Sachi took Kagome's place whether intentional or not.

"URUSEI!!!" he yelled putting more pressure on her fragile wrists, and enjoyed seeing her cringe and arch her back in pain as he frame rubbed against his own; no cry left her lips thought, and it disappointed him. "Urusei," whimpered Inuyasha feeling more exhausted and strained then he every felt in his long tormented life. In his emotionally unstable state he laid his silver crowned head on Sachi's shoulder without thought, as tears burned painfully in his eyes.

"Inuyasha…" whispered Sachi shocked, but the salty scent of tear told her the hurt and anguish she had inflicted on her best friend; yes, Inuyasha was her best friend and she was proud to admit it. Cautiously the miko removed her wrists from the slackened grip of her capture, to wrap her arms around his torso in a comforting strong hug she hoped would grant some comfort.

"Gomen nasai, Inu-kun, I shouldn't have said those things; gomen nasai," she whimpered painfully in his inu ear hoping he sensed how sincere she was about it.

"I hate you," his voice said in a deathly soft whisper in her ningen ear. Sachi's eyes shot open as they remained unfocused in her own distress now. "I hate you, because you have her face; a heart-wrenching reminder of my unforgivable failure to her. My failure that I can't forgive myself for, I was unable to protect her. I can't protect anyone or anything that I love," he said in a croaked up voice. Inuyasha's raw emotion clearly heard in his tone.

"Shh…" cooed Sachi running her agile fingers through the silky man of ivory. "It's alright…"

Inuyasha felt the barriers around his hardened heart begin to crumble and vanish at the power of this strange perplexing miko. Even when he hated the miko so much, he still found himself unable to stay anger at her and hate her for long. As much as he refused to say it aloud, he was growing oddly attached to Sachi.

"I couldn't protect my okaa-san, Kikyou or Kagome, what is Kagome thinking by asking me to protect you; I'll only fail again, like all the rest."

Sachi felt somber tears burn in her indigo eyes, blurring her vision. The sound of the strong hanyou's voice broken voice physically hurt; everything seemed to ache painfully as she held him closer. "Inuyasha," she murmured into his clothed chest as his arms wrapped around the miko bringing her closer. "Inuyasha, if you think you're going to fail, you will."

"That's easy for you to say, you're not the one that was the cause of you loved ones dying."

"You're wrong!" she yelled into his chest as he balled her hands in his fire-rat haori. "I was the cause of my loved ones dying! I understand completely Inuyasha! I struggled to move on, but I still found a way, not it's your turn to move beyond your scarred past."

Inuyasha loosened his hold to pull back and look into Sachi's jeweled eyes. Sure enough, in those troubled ocean like orbs, there was understanding and pain, as well as burning determination and strength that he remember so well himself. He saw it all in the sorrowful eyes of an unblessed miko.

'Sachi…' he thought as he stared down at her. He's own tears poring from his eyes to cascade down his face; he ignored them.

"Inuyasha, you must be strong. Be as strong as I know you to be," she whispered giving the golden eyes male a watery smile that matched a certain raven haired girl's smile. Still through the tears of pain and grief there was joy and triumph in those emerald-indigo eyes he adored so much.

With a steady hand the inu-hanyou whipped away the sparkling crystal tears away with a padded thumb. "Don't cry Sachi-chan; I can't stay to see a woman cry."

The fire haired miko just nodded deeply yet slowly.

"Let's get to bed," he said softly, but found an exhausted miko plastered against his chest, her face buried in his chest; her salty tears dampening his red haori.

"Please," she whispered. "Let me hold you a little longer. You're so warm; I feel so safe with you." She turned her face to look up at his flawless youkai face. "Is that alright?"

Inuyasha couldn't help but give the onna in his arms a full blown smile; her face was so innocent in that instant and he remembered that she was not as hold as her eyes made her appear. "Hai, Sachi-chan," he whispered as he brought her closer, arms encircling her shoulder as he buried his nose in her flaming hair. 'You do the same for me Sachi,' he thought, mentally grinning. 'You fell so warm too; so warm that you scare away all those unwanted memories so I can finally breathe again.'

As the night wore on and time seemed to fly past them both, the silver haired hanyou took notice of the miko's change in breathing. Looking down at the flawless face, Inuyasha smiled happily. The innocent girl in his embrace was dead asleep; her breathing slow and even in her deep blissful slumber.

"I didn't know she was that exhausted; the stubborn wench searched me out when she was about to pass out of exhaustion,"

As much as he wished to scold the limp and unconscious miko in his arms, he couldn't. He reluctantly found himself admiring her boundless persistence. All he could do was stare at the flawless beauty that even made the god green with envy. Sachi was the fire that burned anything, but as well as the fire that brought warmth to even the coldest and most heartless.

"I wonder what her affect on Sesshomaru would be," he stated aloud as he ran his knuckle across the slightly freckled cheek bone.

"Mmm…Inuyasha…" she murmured as a soft blissful smile graced her face. The young miko snuggled closer to the warmth Inuyasha was giving off.

Inuyasha in turn smiled at the fire haired miko. Laughing slight at Sachi's subconscious antics, the hanyou slipped his a hand behind her knees and around her waist to lift her effortlessly into his arms. He held her close and she buried her face in his neck; her soft breath tickling the exposed flesh there. Looking from the miko's slumbering facade, he looked to the waxing moon. Inuyasha swore as he watched the lunar maiden, that Kagome's playful laughter was heard on the wind. Even in the afterlife, the young raven haired, chocolate eyed miko was able to taunt him playfully.

"Kagome, I hope you're happy…"

A sudden autumn breeze swelled and blew to play across Inuyasha's skin and the miko he held. The breeze was soft and warm, with a comforting essence, like the embrace Sachi and Inuyasha had just shard. This whirlwind embrace however, was Kagome wrapping her warmth around the hanyou and miko. As the breeze flew about Inuyasha, it seemed to say…

"I am…"

Then the soft autumn breeze was gone, as if had never even been there.

Bowing his head in silent prayer and thanks, Inuyasha turned and opened the shoji door with his foot and stepped into the dark house of Son'ou. Weaving his way through the unlit halls, Inuyasha never hesitated when he reached Sachi's bedroom.

Sliding open the door the inu-hanyou took the room in one quick sweep of his amber eyes. The room was vacant and dark, no candle was lit. With gentleness unknown, Inuyasha placed Sachi on her futon and pulled the heavy wool blanket up to her chin, all the while smiling. Brushing aside the smoldering bangs that hung across her brow, the young man found himself lining down and placing a feather light kiss on the strange dark miko's crown. Raising and backing away into the darkness that enveloped the room, Inuyasha stared down at the onna he was leaving with withdrawal and frustration in his golden honey eyes.

"Come morning Sachi, thing will change. Tomorrow we won't be friends anymore, tomorrow it we will be Sensei and gakuto," he whispered softly in the dark as he vanished in the shroud of shadows as he closed the shoji door. Inuyasha vanished once more into the cool autumn night, as his words echoed hauntingly in the sleeping Sachi's ears, to disturb her dreams till the coming of dawn.

A/N: WoOT it's done! So it appears our pairing is some what getting along….for now at least. But I hope to have you read the next chapter to see how it goes. Next chapter…the training begins…

Well this BLAZE wishes you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS….well a day late anyway (gives shy smile) and HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

PUSH THE PURPLE BUTTON….that'll be my Christmas present from u, my readers :D