Sesshoumaru alarmed most nurses and doctors, not because of the strange sense they had around him, like being in the presence of a predator, but simply because he had not slept or ate in the three days Kagome had been at the hospital. He sat unmoving by her bedside, as watchful as a guard dog. The demon would speak to no one, even seldom her family, and his thoughts were hidden to the world. There was an impassive, aloofness to this fiancé of hers that was just unnatural. Of course, all of their instincts were pointing in the right direction.

This aloofness was unnatural for a human. Sesshoumaru was most certainly not.

Of course, no human would think of the latter. It wasn't built in them to be knowledgably suspicious of him. Demons were not an everyday part of their lives, so they did not look for them.

Why look for legends?

Are'a checked in on Kagome, her eyes scanning over her monitors and countenance as Sesshoumaru had noticed the other nurses often did. She'd come in a few times before and never spoke unless Ms. Higurashi or Kagome's grandfather was present, but instead of leaving, she surprised him a little by turning her sapphire eyes to his.

"You should eat something, or try to sleep. If you don't, you might be lying in a bed next to her." There was general concern in her voice and as he searched, nothing more lay beyond it.

"I have no use of it." He told her stubbornly.

She smiled a little. "Kind of figured you'd say something like that." She sighed. "Well, just don't pass out on us. We're short staffed today."

And with that, she turned and left. Earlier that morning she had told Kagome's mother that they would be pulling the respirator out of Kagome and she would be woken there after. They had already taken out the tube just to see if her lungs would function on their own, and they had. So now was the next step, waking her up. From the conversations he could hear nurses having, it would be within the next hour. Glancing down at her face, he certainly hoped it would be.

Kagome did not seem as horribly ill, whatever this era had to help her was doing just that. It was saving her life.

A little, tiny woman nicknamed Kai came in about an hour later. "You must not crowd her, sir. She will be dazed when she first wakes." She told him sweetly, keeping her eyes from his all the while. He'd seen Kai quite a few times and did not mind her timid nature.

"I will remain seated." He told her, saying nothing more.

She nodded her thanks and administered something into the I.V. at Kagome's elbow. "She will wake shortly. Press the red button when she does."

When he looked at her briefly, she took that as his signal that he had heard her. She left thereafter, leaving him to Kagome's company. She began to show signs of life after about ten minutes. Kagome was restless, moving and twitching, murmuring, coughing. She did everything but open her eyes it seemed. The scroll hummed in his hoari, just as anxious as he it seemed.


Sango moved through the village with a purpose in mind, one that flamed her cheeks red with the intense emotion brought behind it. Rin and Shippo both followed her. Ever since Kagome and Sesshoumaru went into the future, the pair hadn't left Sango's side and if they did for any moment, it was together, near the two headed dragon, Ah-Un.

It was a long walk it seemed, this one she had traipsed many times before. Yet today, with all of the thoughts rushing around in her head, her nervousness and determination, it seemed like this path had grown several miles.

Her decision would not change, she was determined. Even when her knees grew weaker at the sight of Miroku meditating, she swallowed the anxiety down and walked to him with purpose. Sensing her, the monk opened his eyes, and at her expression, didn't know whether to run, or remain.

"Sango, my love-" He began smoothly, recounting his entire day as quickly as his human mind could allow. He had said good morning to a few villagers, nothing more. What could incur her wrath with children following behind her.

"I want us to get married as soon as Kagome returns." She blurted before being able to stop herself.

Miroku didn't know how to react to that. "But you wanted to wait-"

"I know." Sango told him. She had wanted to wait until Naraku was dead, but she couldn't anymore. "I won't let Kagome miss out on this. If Naraku could make her so ill, what's to say he wouldn't do it again? What if she died next time? It made Sango think of everyone she loved. "I don't want the family I have now to miss it, in case-in case…"

Miroku pulled her into a gentle hug, glancing at Shippo and Rin who watched them silently. "I understand." He closed his eyes, glad she'd decided this. It'd been something he had been mediating over. "As soon as Kagome returns." Miroku agreed, feeling Sango slacken her tense shoulders in relief.

"Thank you." She breathed.

Rin looked over at Shippo, curiosity in her eyes. "Do you think Kagome-sama and Sesshoumaru-sama will ever get married?"

Everyone jumped a little at the question, unsure of what to say. Luckily for everyone, a butterfly swooped just before the child's face and she took off after it, a big, toothy grin displayed as she followed the butterfly's loops around the general area.


Naraku sat in the darkness of his castle, his eyes far beyond the present, rather, flowing into the future that somehow mingled with the past. Midoriko was something, or truly someone, who always remained on his mind. She was his obsession, and Kikyo was Onigumo's. It was something they had in common, but where Onigumo had been so weak, Naraku was strong.

Tightening his fist around the shikon no tama, her agonized scream emphasized that point. The once powerful, glowing and pure priestess was now reduced to a weakened animal. She could not speak and rarely had the energy to cry out. When she did manage it, he relished the moment. He wanted to tell her that she wasn't the only one who could harm others, that he could harm her too, but decided not to waste his breath. He rather liked focusing on upcoming events.

Somehow, thanks to Sesshoumaru, Kagome had managed to return to the future. He knew, even if Kanna could not see it, that the damned girl would survive. Somehow fate smiled upon her…

No matter, when she did return, she would be incredibly weak and vulnerable to attack. And he had a new player to bring to the game. She was the best Archer known to demon kind, a woodland youkai whose heart and soul now belonged to him. She had been one of Sesshoumaru's few allies, but with a rather large, darkened jewel shard, she was now his minion. A Princess reduced to a mindless slave, like Kohaku, the prince of demon slayers who too was his to command for any task.

"Salvera," he called out softly into the darkness. "Come forward." Some of her green and blue hair surrounded her face in ringlets of curls, while the rest was in a tight bun, held with poisonous clips. Her pale face, like the moon, almost seemed to glow, sweat beading over her face. She was still fighting his control, how amusing.

He chuckled, tightening his fist around the jewel, willing her to break. She and Midoriko screamed, the sound of their feminine voices piercing the air, entertaining him.

"If you do not enjoy pain, listen to me." He ordered. "Come forward."

Her eyes flashed with green and blue swirls, the honey almond of her eyes changing to red for a moment. "You wi-will d-d-die." She stammered, panting thereafter heavily.

Naraku smirked. "And you will entertain me." Pushing even more darkness into the jewel, her eyes finally glazed over and she came forward, slow step after slow step. "Sit." He demanded, and so she did, straddling him.

He brought his lips to hers, feeling how she was trying to fight past his power still. All through the day, that seemed much like night within his castle, he felt her fighting his every touch, his every bite, caress, clout and shove. She trembled, she cried and sometimes she came back enough to force him from her with a blast of energy. Yet with ease, she belonged to him again.

Just as Midoriko would.

Just as Kikyo would.

And had he the choice, just as Kagome would have.

"Say it." He demanded of Salvera.

She tried not to, but the word slipped from her breath. "Yours."

"And when this is all over, when I have all the jewel again, when Kagome is dead and I have reached the Gods, you are who will be my Queen." She knew what he meant. She would be his puppet.

Her mind was still there enough that she could think, even if she couldn't control herself. "Gods," she called. "Help me overcome this beast."

She hoped and prayed her mate would find this heathen and rip him apart. She hoped Arconen went to Sesshoumaru and together they found her. For he was their most powerful ally and their only hope. If Arconen found Naraku on his own, he would surely die, as would she for their bond, and so their child, their heir, would be orphaned.

The darkness of this jewel was too much for her and she could not defeat him. She would be a puppet, she would be used. But one day, somehow, she would have revenge.


Kagome jolted upright in her bed, coughing violently a moment later. She'd been dreaming of Naraku with a beautiful demon woman, forcing her to-to… She couldn't stop hacking and suddenly thick fluid from her lungs left her airway as tears streamed down her face. She had to get the image from her mind, she had to forget it somehow…

At a large hand against her back, she reopened her blurry blue eyes, finding the source of the touch. A man she did not recognize sat beside her, his impassive face so familiar.

"Who…?" She began to ask, but took a gasp of air as she started coughing violently again. Her throat and lungs burned viciously. Suddenly the hand shifted at her back, moving to her shoulder and slowly pushed her back until she was resting against the bed again.

When she looked at this stranger, he spoke. "You will not rise again, miko."

Her blue eyes widened, flashing with shock. "Se-Sesshoumaru?" He was in a suit and human…

No, she realized. This was a farce. He made himself look human and made the clothes look like human clothing. "Indeed." He answered monotonously.

She felt his hand move away from her shoulder, to her face with a shock so clear that her heart nearly stopped. "You are still fevered." He murmured distastefully. "It has been three days-"

"THREE DAYS!" She began coughing again.

After she was finished, Sesshoumaru asked. "Must you repeat my words? If it had not been such, I would not have said it."

"I-I'm sorry. I was just surprised." She answered honestly, looking away from him. Sesshoumaru looked too weird as a human and she was suddenly very tired. Coughing, thinking, it took too much out of her.

"Hn." The familiar noise from Sesshoumaru made her relax more.

"Where's mom?" She asked. "I'm sure if you," she paused, coughing and wincing thereafter. "If you came through the well, she knew."

"She is at your home, your brother needs someone to care for his basic needs." Sesshoumaru explained. "Your grandfather, however, is down stairs, demanding the demon you intend to marry be removed from your presence."

"Marry?" Her eyes were wide and Sesshoumaru gave her a flat gaze. "Sorry." She realized she'd repeated him. "Who said we were-"

"Your mother because I was not to be allowed to remain at your side if not for such a lie." There was a moment where she flinched, but Sesshoumaru chose to ignored it. "I am to call for a nurse because you have risen." He eyed the red button, then turned his gaze to her face once more.

By that time, she'd already fallen unconscious. Kagome had been talkative beforehand and all of a sudden she was out cold. The sudden change alarmed him, and without thinking, his aura wrapped around to feel whether something had suddenly gone awry. She felt the same, nothing had changed.

Letting his muscles ease themselves, he simply watched her once again. Kagome's surprise when she woke must have made her lively and so that energy drained quickly due to illness. It was the only thing he could think.

He could hear her grandfather approaching the room once more and did his best to remain calm and focused. No need to kill the loud and annoying old man. That would definitely hamper Kagome's chances at getting well anymore quickly.


Tara and Goshin were the closest to the village the miko had recently sent hair raising power over the past few day than they'd allowed themselves for sometime. Mostly because she had been there and then she was gone. Both demons could feel her ill, near death energy clearly and after some time, it had traveled further away with the air of a dog demon, where they tracked her. Then it shot back like a bullet and they were following it as quickly as possible, where she and the Taiyoukai's power vanished into oblivion.

And they found the source of it, a magic looming some distance away from them still. Yet they knew if they drew any closer, someone would take notice of their presence and approach them.

"Where do you think she and the demon lord have gone?" Tara asked her mate softly. They hadn't died, both knew that.

"To another time perhaps." Goshin answered, chewing thoughtfully on the raw meat of the rabbit he'd skinned for the two of them. "It is possible, I have heard of this happening every once in a great while."

She glared at her food, concentrating. "She seems to hold so much power, but it is all wild and uncontrollable. Everything for her so far has seemed like luck." She hissed. "The most unexplained, sent by the very Gods luck one has ever heard of."

"Perhaps there is reason for that." Goshin murmured, looking through a few unruly hairs that fell before his eyes.

He watched as Tara glared through the aqua of her own, staring into the thicket before her. She just wouldn't listen to anything he had to say. "She's just fortunate, that's all. There is no reason for her to be so-"

"The miko has not killed every demon that crosses her path." Goshin sighed.

Tara turned, glaring heatedly into his eyes. "Oh, so she's allowed to play a God?" Standing up suddenly, her revealing garb swaying all about her, Tara said. "It is disgusting!"

"Did we not do the same?" He asked. "When we came across demons, half breeds or humans, did we not decide whether or not they deserved to live or die based on their actions towards us?"

"How can you-"

"How can you be prejudice? How can you be so certain she is evil? If she were, why would so many demons ally themselves with her?" Goshin had stood now as well, her smaller frame dwarfed by his height and his width.

"I don't know!" Tara hissed in frustration. "She is of miko, that is all I know." A miko had killed them, had taken away their chance at a committed life to one another, had taken their chance of becoming parents. That was what she hated about them all, how they could so easily wipe a demon from the earth, like ash and never look back.

Goshin stood before her, silent for a moment. "I will not kill a genuinely kind soul without testing it first." He told her. "I hope you have not changed so greatly to disagree with me."

Looking into the electric green of his eyes, she had to decide just how much she had changed. Tara knew it was quite a bit. She was meaner than she ever had been and far less trusting, unwilling to put up with anything suspicious at all. But did she still trust Goshin's judgment? If she didn't trust him, that would mean she did not love him, and that most certainly was not true.

"No." She told him almost silently, looking down at her feet, hoping she wasn't risking their lives again.

Goshin smiled in relief, kissing her forehead gently. "Maybe there is hope for you." She snorted, something she seldom did, but he enjoyed none the less, booming with laughter.


Akin stood before that well, leaned against a tree and watched its unchanged depths. She had not returned, nor had Sesshoumaru, and the desire to know of what was happening with Kagome left him uncomfortable.

No, he could not go there, to her era, but he wanted to. All it took was one leap down the depths of it and he would be there, in her era once again. Frowning, he wasn't sure why he had such a need to find her. She was not his mate, though he had been designated her defender. It was more than that, she was important and very magnetic. She had his every attention, all of his sight was set upon the miko. It was rather infuriating, vexing, but somehow pleasing in an odd manner.

He had not genuinely cared for someone in years, it was both a nightmare and a dream to do so again.

Shifting his eyes to the left of him, he acknowledged the presence he felt. Tokaruman was approaching. Akin waited, curious to see what it was the snake demon desired, and more than willing to kill him if it was a journey to the girls era that was his task.

He still recalled what it was like to see her in the demon's hold, those poisonous fangs piercing her flesh. She had not been so important to him at the time, but now, after so few days, the memory of it brought an anger forth so hot that it escalated into fury.

It wasn't long before the snake stepped from the brush in humanoid form, his eyes already on Akin's. Neither said anything to the other, rather they each stared in one another's eyes, thinking, assessing. And then Tokaruman's eyes shifted to the well, something flickering behind his eyes that made Akin tense, his aura flaring out warningly. Tokaruman took notice of it, but did not pay him any great attention. He simply continued to look at the well for a moment longer before at least speaking.

"Do not move forward or hunt them, but another two of Naraku's assassins are near." Akin did not speak, he listened instead. "They are not going to harm the miko, I can sense it. They will, however, test her when the time comes."

Tokaruman went to leave, so Akin spoke. "What makes you tell me, when you claimed you would warn none of the others Naraku has working for him?"

"So that you do not try to kill them should the wind bring their scent your way." The snake chuckled. "Tara is the one to watch out for, Goshin will be less likely to loose his patience and kill the miko. They were both destroyed by a dark priestess long ago, so the hatred for miko kind sprouted within at least one."

"How can you sense them so clearly and yet I can not?" That agitated Akin more than anything.

Pain flashed across the snake's face briefly. "The miko souls within me react to the hate they have."

Akin resisted the urge to cringe. "Why don't you release them?" His hands tightened into a fist. "You are no longer collecting souls and I am sure your power will not be so diminished should they leave you."

"That can only be done by a priestess. I am waiting for an opportune moment to speak with Kikyo." The snake admitted. "The hanyou rarely leaves her side."

Akin said no more and sensing the brief conversation was over, Tokaruman left the small area the dragon demon stood guard.


Kohaku raced through the foliage, his blind eyes set on a mission. If Naraku could not have the scroll of Ugai, then there was one more artifact he was determined to have. It was the sword of Ocraseous, the very demi-God the scroll of Ugai would have led him to. No matter, he would take the sword of Ocraseous and use it to destroy the small band of shard hunters. Why he hadn't thought of this before, he didn't know, but he'd truly not thought the sword to exist.

Of course, then it occurred to him, there was one thing that the sword smith Totosai kept from all the world's knowledge, even that of the two brothers father. It was that which Kanna could not see, and he was certain it was because the sword was an item under great protection.

If Kohaku ran into any trouble, Kagura would take care of whatever lay in the boys path. The echoes of legend were that only a human could hold the demi God's sword. Why, Naraku wasn't certain. But no sense in being foolish. First he would see if Kohaku could take hold of the sword, then he would test Kagura. If each of them could hold to it, then Naraku would use it to bring down Kagome, Inuyasha and the whole lot once and for all.


Kagome strained in the covers, much to Sesshoumaru's notice. He watched as she panted, watched her turn this way and that, coughing every once in a while. "Na-Naraku." She called out angrily, her whole body jerking in the quiet of the room she now had to herself.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the name, keeping a close eye and ear on her for any sudden change in her symptoms. She shuddered against the bed, her powers suddenly flaring like a flame. The equipment malfunctioned immediately, sparks flying, sending loud and annoying alarms off in the room. He bit back a growl, glaring angrily around the room before turning his gaze back to her. He wasn't sure what they would do, the humans, when they reached this room, and something instinctively told him to fly with her.

She would live now, whatever they had given her was forcing Naraku's effects to recede. He quickly pulled the needles and tubes from her skin, cradling her burning spiritual body against him, the human farce dropping. Thankfully there was a large window in her room. He threw out his whip and the glass shattered beneath his attention. His energy wrapped around him as something sped to the room with unnatural flight.

Pushing forward, he was nearly to the window when the door crashed open behind him. He was going to leave without looking back at whoever reached this place, but something stuttered in his chest, faltering at the cry that bellowed with a demand.

He would listen.

"FATHER!" Turning his head sharply, his eyes came into contact with Are'a. Her sapphire eyes were alight with power, the black of her hair sliding out of its restraints as pink surged around her, the straightness to it reminiscent of his own silver locks. Her eyes, though they were Kagome's, the look in them, the way they reached into him were a mirror to his. "Go home. There's something you need before you leave this time."

There were others coming now and so he left the hospital room, somehow knowing the place she spoke of. Home, there was only one place he would have ever desired to build a castle so that he could call it so.

But to go there, with her? Looking down at Kagome, he was unsure of what to do, and yet his instincts seemed to drive him.

And so home he went, looking down at her face all the while. A human child with spiritual powers, it was unfathomable. And with Kagome no less… He searched for the rage at that thought, for the hate that should surely come, but all he could find was a small bit of ire. Nothing impressive in the least, leaving him miffed and uncertain of how to feel.

When he arrived, after the countless hours of flight, beyond unfamiliar things, just an urge to follow a pull, he found himself submerged in a wilderness thick and impenetrable for all of those but whom the barrier knew.

And it knew them very well.

His feet touched the ground without a sound, and he found himself staring upon a courtyard filled with moonflowers that were blooming in the moon's light. There was a serenity here and familiar scent, something that only could come with Kagome's constant presence. His heart worked oddly, a coldness of dread coming over him as he looked upon the palace, it's crescent points everywhere. This was greater than what he envisioned, somewhat more modern than his imaginings, yet clearly Feudal in overall intent with small touches of his youth, of his childhood.

He swallowed the anticipation as much as possible, not understanding the sudden intensity, his near… Near what? Fear?

Preposterous.

And then at the sound of a shoji door sliding almost silently, his muscles bunched as though ready to fight. And then everything seemed to stop, even his own existence flickered, almost stilling in a moment unbelievable.

"Sesshoumaru." She greeted softly, her blue eyes far older, far beyond the navy, ebony of the sky and deeper than the darkest of the ocean. Her gentle smile lit her features and he realized she had changed greatly, yet had not.

She had a firm grip on her spiritual powers, like with one word, one flicker of her eyes, she could dispatch him to the next world. It was a feeling that left him much more self aware and smaller than he had been in six hundred years. Her black hair ran down beyond her hips, standing out against the pale blue kimono.

Sesshoumaru barely found his voice as he stared at this intense beauty before him. Her face had hardly changed, at least the contours of it, but there was something in the set of it that showed him what they would endure… Together.

"Miko." He replied.

She laughed, almost delighted. "You haven't called me that in years." She promised, stepping off the porch. "The last time you were honestly cross with me was three hundred years ago."

"Three hundred years…" He echoed, in a daze.

"Must you repeat my words?" She asked him, a playful smile on her face.

His face smoothed back into a mask. "You recall such an inquiry?"

"You'll learn, I have an excellent memory." She promised, coming to stand just before him. "What bothers you?" She asked, ignoring her ill self right before him.

"How can you-" Then he paused, turning as abruptly an energy flared.

"Reikri." Kagome chastised.

The young man stared at Sesshoumaru impassively, a single red stripe on each cheek and a blue crescent on his forehead. His white hair was to his mid back and he was a full blooded demon, though he held Kagome's features. "From stories of how father once was, I felt his aura was too high strung. I came to see why." Looking at Kagome in his father's arms, Reikri added. "Seeing your once ill state, I suppose now I know why."

"If your father did not come out, you shouldn't have worried." Reikri snorted, turning away. She smiled fondly, then looked down at herself finally. "Come inside. I only want to keep this world safe from what will happen, as my future self had done before."

At his confusion, she added. "Time just turns in loops and loops, Sesshoumaru."

And with that, he followed her inside a home that was his own, and yet hadn't been built by his own hands as of yet. When he stepped inside the entry room, he saw himself sitting down at the far end of it, gazing impassively into his impassive face. Something flickered in that gaze, and not being able to identify his future self's thoughts unnerved him.

Then Kagome cried out in his arms, her body alighting with painful power, but he did not release her. His eyes grew with crimson and he felt his claws unintentionally dig into her flesh. "You must set me down." Kagome chastised. "It's beginning."

"What is beginning?" He snarled, angered by the lack of information he was being given.

"The battle for the sword of Ocraseous." At the name, the scroll pulsed in his hoari. Kagome glanced at it, but paid it no heed as Sesshoumaru slowly set her past self down before her. "And I am seeing it as we speak." She explained.

"Will any harm befall… You?" Sesshoumaru asked, somewhat confused.

Kagome smiled. "No. I just make the decision that will change a very important tide."

There was a moment of silence as the younger Kagome writhed wildly, coughing. Sesshoumaru asked. "You will give me no information in regards to the end of the war with Naraku, will you?"

Kagome shook her head, and then her aura spanned out, blue spreading around the three of them in a small barrier. Her eyes whitened as her past self screamed, and her own shot open, just a white as hers. A blinding light consumed them all and a blood curdling scream rose up from the unconscious miko, calling out Sesshoumaru's inner demon.

It answered.


I've been having trouble submitting chapters, and I've been trying everyday since March the 19th. I'm sorry about this. I've e-mailed twice. Let us see what happens.

To those who I've sent messages about my transferring to dokuga, I am shocked to say that is finally allowing me to upload again. Please remember my dokuga account because now I have a preference for their website. I will update here when I am allowed and when I can.

Thank you for your support. If you want my dokuga account information, please go to my fanfiction profile.