A/N: Thanks again for the reviews, the positive thoughts, and the kudos. You guys keep me writing. :)
When Kagome returned to her body, she found herself waking in Sesshomaru's arms.
Oddly enough, it didn't bother her. It should have, given Sesshomaru's long list of recent transgressions, but it didn't. In some way, having him accompany her spirit as they'd followed the lure of the enemy had made him seem more familiar to her. Comforting, even.
There was an odd expression on Sesshomaru's face that she couldn't read, but that didn't bother her either. Maybe he was just looking at her that way because she was still wearing his mokomoko and it was probably collecting dirt, given the fact that both she and Sesshomaru were on the ground.
Either way, Kagome was not left alone with her thoughts for long.
"Miroku! She's awake!" Sango's voice rang out.
Kagome pulled her gaze away from Sesshomaru and his mokomoko to find her friends, new and old, surrounding her. Miroku and Shin were the closest, each kneeling with their staves in hand, but just behind them were Sango with Miroku's and her children, Kohaku, Jinenji, Shippo, Ah-Un, Azumi, and even InuYasha and Rin.
Jaken was the only one not nearby as he stared moodily off into the distance, muttering something under his breath.
Jaken keeled over a moment later, unconscious yet again.
Miroku managed to give his wife a wan smile. "So she is." He leaned a little more heavily on his staff to keep from toppling over.
"It took you so long to find her," Sango murmured before turning to give Kagome a bright smile. "How are you feeling? Do you think you can move?"
The implication was obvious. Sango didn't think Sesshomaru would be all that happy to keep Kagome sprawled on his lap, and so Kagome needed to move sooner rather than later to prevent adding to his ire.
"I'm fine," Kagome hastily reassured her friends. "Really."
None of her friends seemed that ready to believe her. All of them had varying levels of concern on their face, so she decided it was better to stand up now and prove it to them than let them continue to worry.
Her friends weren't used to her being on her own, she reminded herself when she felt annoyance well up within her for their doubt. She'd always needed help or rescue before.
But when she tried to stand, a strong arm snaked around her stomach and held her firmly in place.
Sesshomaru.
"Let me go," she hissed to him quietly.
"You really should rest a moment, Lady Kagome," Shin spoke up as his mate placed a comforting arm on his shoulder. "You've been in that trance most of the day, and even an experienced holy person would find that mentally and physically draining. This was your first deep meditation, so give your body time to adjust."
Kagome sighed unhappily as she realized dusk was already taking a firm hold in the sky. They'd managed to waste most of the day hunting for the renegade camp and then lingering once they'd found it.
"But it's not necessary," she protested, waving a hand around. "I feel fine, Shin. And besides, we can't rest. We need to check on Koga's and Ayame's people. I'm certain the renegades have already attacked them, and they need our help. We need to find them."
"Are you sure?" Rin exchanged a look with her mate. "Neither InuYasha nor the two monks have sensed anything to indicate an attack."
"She is correct," Sesshomaru said, and for the first time she felt his voice rumble through her as he pulled her more securely against his chest. "The renegades have already attacked their cave."
Kagome closed her eyes for a moment to pray that everyone had escaped safely. "We need to check out the cave first," she said, opening her eyes. "Then we should be able to figure out where they went."
"And what if the renegades are hunting them down?" Sango looked down at her children. "You know I'm not opposed to fighting, Kagome, but we have children with us. We can't take on an army on our own."
Kagome stood and this time Sesshomaru didn't try to stop her. "Koga and Ayame have children with them, too," she reminded her friend. "Including a newborn."
Sango flushed with embarrassment at the reminder.
"But I don't want to risk the children, either." Kagome scrunched up her lips as she considered the matter, and an idea immediately came to her. "Shin, you know how to erect a barrier, right?"
At Shin's slow nod, Kagome continued, "Azumi, can you and Shin take the children into one of the caves in the mountain? Take Shippo with you," she added, ignoring the kit's protest. "That way if trouble comes, he can use his fox magic to find us and get help."
It reminded her of the foreign saying to kill two birds with one stone. This would help keep Azumi out of danger she couldn't risk with her child developing within her, but it would also allow the children to remain safe.
"Take Jaken as well," Sesshomaru spoke up before Azumi had the chance to speak. "His staff would make a useful defense."
She smiled at the inuyokai, touched by his concern. He didn't quite smile back, but she was surprised to see the corner of his lips twitch.
Shin looked ready to agree, likely out of concern for his mate and the child she carried, but his mate spoke up before he had the chance to voice his concerns. "I will not be removed from this battle."
Kagome had the feeling that Azumi's refusal had more to do with the grudge she knew the moth yokai still harbored after her own brutal assault. But, she reminded herself, Azumi had nearly lost both her mate and child in addition to her own life, and who was she to judge another's pain? It wasn't the pain Kagome would have chosen...
Or was it? Kagome had never been put into a position where she'd risk losing both mate and child. What would she be willing to do if she had?
"If Azumi is going, then I shall as well." Shin put his staff firmly on the ground as though daring anyone to try and force him from his mate.
Jaken didn't bother to give anyone the chance to voice their own objections.
"My lord—" Jaken squawked but immediately shut up at the look on his lord's face. "R-right!" He stamped his staff on the ground. "I shall look after the children, my lord!"
Shippo, however, was not willing to agree so easily. "I'm not a child," he complained, though the pout on his face belied his words. "I've been going to school, K'gome, and I'm a lot stronger now."
"Of course you are," Kagome said, thinking quickly. Shippo may be older and stronger now, but he was still young, probably even younger than Sota.
"And Kohaku gets to go. It's not fair." Shippo folded his arms across his chest.
"You're right. It's not fair." Kagome gave up any pretense of being an adult in the situation. She wasn't Shippo's mother and she didn't want to try and impede on his memories by pretending to be something she wasn't. "But other than Sesshomaru, you're the only one I know who can fly and get help. Ah-Un and Kirara couldn't tell us what happened, and we need Sesshomaru to help me track down the renegades. It's not fair that you have to stay behind, but we need your help."
Shippo kicked at the ground with one foot. "It's not fair," he repeated, though she could hear that a lot of the fight had left his voice. "I went to kitsune school so that the next time you guys had a big fight, I could join and help, too."
Kagome's heart clenched. "Oh Shippo." She hugged him. "Helping your friends isn't always about fighting. In fact, without your help, Miroku and Sango couldn't fight because they'd have to stay behind to look after the children. I know it's not the way you want to help, but believe it or not, you'd be a really big help."
Sango hugged Shippo the moment Kagome released him. "Shippo, there is no one I'd trust my children with more," she said as Miroku nodded his agreement behind her. "You're strong enough now not just to get help, but to help protect them. It means a lot to me to know I can depend on your help."
Though Shippo still didn't seem completely satisfied by their words, he nodded. "Okay. I'll make sure nothing happens to them," he said, puffing out his chest.
"I know you will." Miroku smiled at Shippo.
"Rin's going with them, too," InuYasha announced in his typical loud, brash way. "She's never been trained to fight, and I want her and the baby safe."
Kagome was instantly distracted. "You're expecting?" she asked, turning to Rin, who blushed. Beside her, InuYasha looked momentarily uncomfortable, as though he suddenly realized it was awkward to have his sort of ex-girlfriend together with his pregnant mate.
Kagome didn't care. She pictured InuYasha's fluffy eared babies and she knew right then and there that nothing was going to stop her from defeating the renegades so she could watch those cute babies grow. And as soon as InuYasha's and Rin's baby was born, she was going to check it for fluffy ears. And hug it. Oh, that baby was sure to be adorable.
She was hugging Rin before she could stop herself. "Oh, Rin, I'm so happy for you both!"
"T-Thank you, Kagome." Rin stared at the mokomoko for a moment and added, "Sama."
Kagome, lost in the idea of fluffy eared babies, hardly noticed.
"I shall protect the children, my lord!" Jaken crowed as Shippo, looking older than he ever had before, took Sango's son and bundled the baby on his back. Ran, meanwhile, was scooping up Sango's daughters, one in each arm, as Miroku helped her bundle spare cloth he'd been carrying to turn into makeshift toddler carriers to help support their weight.
Shippo turned to give Sango a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Sango. I won't let anything happen to them." He then offered her a decidedly kitsune grin. "Think of all the pranks I can teach 'em to pull on Miroku for payback on the ones he's pulled on you."
Everyone chuckled, except for Sesshomaru, who smirked, at the kitsune's attempt at levity.
"Hey!" Miroku protested, allowing the joke to continue at his own expense, and Kagome knew the monk well enough to know he did so to lighten the dark mood. "I'll have you know that as a monk of the honorable Buddha, I'm a paragon of virtue and—"
"Oh, you're a paragon, alright," Sango retorted, rolling her eyes. "A paragon to all the vices that can lead a monk astray." She batted away his hand that was making its way to her backside.
Miroku wagged his brows at his wife. "It's all because you tempt me so, my dear."
Sango just sighed, but Kagome saw the smirk on her lips that the slayer tried to hide.
"We'll find a cave tonight to make camp and then tomorrow we'll head back to Kaede's," Shippo spoke up, "rather than hang out here in the mountains until you're done."
Kagome nodded in agreement.
Sango and Miroku were gentle as they bade their children goodbye, and Kohaku even took part, hugging each niece or nephew before Azumi and the others left with the children.
It was odd now that they'd left. In a way, the original group was back together—minus Shippo, of course, and with the new additions of Sesshomaru's group, minus Rin—but this time, they weren't off hunting Naraku.
Instead they were hunting something much, much worse than Naraku, and Kagome couldn't shake off the feeling that this battle, when it finally happened, would decide the fate of her world and countless species.
As they made use of the remaining daylight before stopping to make camp, Kagome's thoughts drifted back to the reveal of their enemy's leader.
Isetsuhiko. What were his intentions? Clearly he desired to wipe out all competition, probably with some grand scheme for revenge against InuYasha and Sesshomaru for their grandfather's earlier defeat of him, but then what? Isetsuhiko clearly didn't survive to Kagome's time because she'd have sensed a demon of that caliber.
In fact she'd only sensed two demons in her time, ever, and one of them had already died. So it begged the question...what happened to Isetsuhiko and...was there something else the yokai had planned for the world?
Whatever his plans were, Kagome didn't like the situation. Not one bit.
