A/N: I guess the preview scared some but fear not! This is my birthday and it couldn't pass without an update of some kind! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own them.

Mother's Vengeance

At the same time that her son awoke from his last nightmare to the blue-tint of the first hint of dawn, Shiroihana caught up to the trudging, weary, and demoralized troops that had been Kanseninu's army. They were already at the border of the Middle Lands to the north, resting before they would tackle the mountain passes the next day. They lit no fires to avoid easy detection, but Shiroihana had followed their tracks as well as their scent, rank and male.

She didn't try to hide herself as she approached a sentry. He was a wolf youkai with a bushy light gray tail. With her keen nose, Shiroihana knew long before the wolf saw her and spoke that the gray was from old age, not his real color. His armor clanked metallically. Shiroihana could smell the rust in it and the mold in his tattered robes. He was an old, lowborn wolf, banished or exiled from his pack, a terrible existence. She felt a cold pity stirring in her chest.

"Wolf," she called to him from the deep, lightless shadows of the forest. Without fires from the army and with the trees shielding her from the moon and starlight, Shiroihana knew her eyes would reflect very little light. The wind carried her scent away from her, not toward the wolf. She had the element of surprise until she made herself known.

He whipped around in her direction and narrowed a thick, hairy brow and skin covered in thick wrinkles like cracks in splintered wood. "Who's that?"

She could guess what was happening in his mind. He wondered if he had heard a ghost or a kitsune trying to trick him because the voice was female. Shiroihana restrained her smile as she stepped forward, letting him hear noisy footfalls.

He spun, searching out the sound with movements of his head. He lifted a spear with a sharp tip that glinted in the opaque white moonlight. He let it fly the second he saw the slightest reflection from Shiroihana's white hair and golden eyes. Shiroihana saw the shaft racing at her, straight and aimed for her head. She ducked and stepped to one side. Her pale hand shot out and caught the spear in mid air as easily as she might've plucked a flower from the ground.

The wolf shouted an alarm. "Shimofuri's forces have caught up with us!"

Shiroihana rushed at him from the dark of the trees, bursting through the foliage and out into the open. Other guards shouted alarms and ran at her, but as they registered her as female, unarmored, and seemingly unprepared for a fight at all, they slowed and hesitated. Their nostrils flared, their eyes were wide as they took everything in from her that they could.

"She's some kind of trickster!"

"A witch of the Middle Lands!"

"She caught my spear," the wolf snarled. "Don't underestimate this dog bitch."

Shiroihana allowed herself to smile wryly. "I have not come to fight with you. I am here to negotiate with Lord Kanseninu of the Northern Lands."

A cat with a black coat and startling green eyes like jade charged forward with his claws out, snarling viciously. "Who are you, bitch?"

Shiroihana didn't bother concealing her irritation with his rudeness. She lifted one hand and flexed her claws. "I am to be addressed as Lady Shiroihana." She saw that the name meant nothing to them. She had nothing less from the ogres, wolves, foxes, bears, weasels, and cats, but even the young dog with gray-black hair had a blank look plastered over his face and his stance. Shiroihana decided to use their ignorance to her advantage.

"I am Lord Sesshomaru's mother," she revealed, and this drew the appropriate shock as mouths gaped wide and a few of them gasped. Real warriors would disguise their amazement, she thought disgustedly. "I have control of his armies. I have come to negotiate with Lord Kanseninu. Please take me to him."

The wolf held out his wrinkled, callused hand. "Give me the spear and I will take you to our lord."

Shiroihana made a show of her reluctance, as if being amongst Kanseninu's barbaric warriors from the North frightened her and the spear, chipped by the wolf's claws and poorly made, comforted her. When she had turned it over to him the wolf nodded and led her through the sea of warriors, all staring at her with undisguised curiosity. Shiroihana stroked the white pelt at her shoulders and internalized a sigh of disgust. Let this be over swiftly or I will kill the whole lot of them.

The wolf led her through the scattered army, between little hillocks and copses of trees until on one foothill where the trees were especially dense, he halted and called into the shadows. "Lord Kanseninu! I bring a messenger from the Western Lands…"

From within the shadows Kanseninu exploded outward in a rushing rage. He was tall and narrow-bodied with white hair that he kept tied back and shorter than was normal in the Middle and Western Lands. He snatched Shiroihana by the throat and closed his fingers so tightly that her windpipe closed and his claws dug into the skin at the back of her neck. The wolf yipped with alarm and backed away with an awkward hop.

"You," Kanseninu growled, bending Shiroihana backward and glowering into her face. "It was you. You led Sesshomaru's armies."

Although she couldn't breathe, Shiroihana controlled her body and her mind with a will of steel. She did not panic as Kanseninu's claws bit into her skin. Her face flushed hot with lack of oxygen but she did not move against him.

"Lady Shiroihana," Kanseninu spat. "Mother of the Western Lands." His hold loosened slightly as he gave into curiosity, as Shiroihana had known he would. "Tell me why I shouldn't cut you down?"

Shiroihana drew in a small, calculated breath. Her throat ached but she could breathe. If she had fought and panicked in Kanseninu's hold then the inuyoukai would have reacted with bloodlust. He would have killed her or tried to take her against her will as a show of power. Of course Shiroihana would have stood a good chance of killing him in such a struggle, but that would have alerted the army by way of the wolf who was standing nearby, watching and listening with awe. Shiroihana didn't like messy situations. She preferred manipulation, the ultimate source of the great and sustainable power.

She spoke in a small voice, "My son is dead."

Kanseninu's mouth opened and then closed with surprise. His hold on her neck stayed loose. "That isn't a good reason for me to keep you alive, is it?"

"I am the Lady of the Western Lands now," Shiroihana murmured. "I have come to negotiate peace with you."

"You and Shimofuri defeated me in battle—why do you desire peace now?" he demanded, unconvinced.

Shiroihana slowly lifted her hands and touched his wrist where it was secured like a parasite at her neck. "Please, I do not desire to be your enemy."

Kaseninu released her with a growl and then grunted at the wolf, "Search her."

The wolf licked his lips in an openly sexual manner, admiring Shiroihana as he stepped up behind her and started tugging on her robes. First his claws closed over the white pelt at her shoulders and Shiroihana hissed with genuine distress. "No, leave this."

The wolf paused and looked to Kanseninu. The Lord of the North nodded. "Let her keep her dignity, wolf."

With noticeably less enjoyment, the wolf untied Shiroihana's obi and had her strip out of her outer robe, then he felt along her body for hidden weapons through the lighter fabric of the inner robe. He was about to pronounce her clean when the meidou-seki at her neck drew his attention. "Take the necklace off," he growled.

"It was a gift from my late husband," Shiroihana protested, laying her pale hands over it.

Kanseninu growled, "Do it."

With another show of reluctance, Shiroihana lifted the heavy metallic necklace over her head and laid it onto the ground atop where the wolf had carelessly tossed her obi and outer robe. She stood before Kanseninu stripped to her inner robe, a white silk with embroidered purple flowers, and the rich white pelt at her shoulders. "Are you finished dishonoring a mourning mother?" she snapped.

To his credit, Kanseninu suddenly turned away and sighed, visibly shamed. "Dress," he ordered. "I am sorry for my behavior. I did not believe that the mother of one as despicable as Sesshomaru could act with honor."

"Leave," Shiroihana spat at the wolf. He retreated quickly; also ashamed for the part he had played. Shiroihana knelt and picked up her outer robe and the obi. She dressed meekly and in silence. At last, as she knotted the obi awkwardly behind her, she said, "If I were a man I would gladly slaughter you in war, Kanseninu, but as a woman I am weakened. I do not like cruelty. You deserve to die for killing my son before he could sire a proper heir. You have left the Western Lands without a male ruler."

Kanseninu's back was turned to her but he had cocked his head listening. When he spoke Shiroihana noted the pride, the mirth that he so clearly felt at the thought of having taken part in killing Sesshomaru. "I was not directly involved in your son's death. May I ask, how did he die?"

"You are too cruel," Shiroihana cried, letting out a little sob. It was not hard to fake. She thought of her son lying suffering in the little room in Shimofuri's castle, his great humiliation, his weakness…and then his dismissal of her when he learned that she had deceived him. It twisted her heart more than enough to set real tears into her eyes and catch her breath as she spoke. "An assassin, an illness—I know you were responsible. I have come to you to stop this needless killing. I ask you to disband your army, to swear your allegiance to peace."

Kanseninu snorted and laughed derisively. "I may disband my army, but I will never swear allegiance to anything or anyone but my clan and my family."

"Please—I am nothing but a weak-willed woman. I cannot contend long with war."

Kanseninu turned and examined her from head to toe. His narrowed eyes, the slight curl of his upper lip, and the hard set of his jaw all told Shiroihana she had made some sort of error. Finally he said, "And yet you wield Sesshomaru's armies very well. It seems the Western Lands can be ruled well enough by a woman."

"They do not know of my son's death," Shiroihana sobbed. "Please—do not make me beg. Disband your army. Allow me to sort out the Western Lands in peace."

His stance relaxed, revealing Shiroihana's success. "What's in it for me?"

Shiroihana's mind raced. "I will swear allegiance to you and send a ration of food each harvest."

"Very well." He strode forward and held out his hand to her. "Join me as I order the men on their way. I will stay with you to discuss the arrangements of our pact." The glint of his teeth, the sharpness of his words, the swagger of his walk all filled Shiroihana with loathing. She accepted his hand with feigned meekness, counting down the seconds until she could lop off his head and carry it back to Daken and Oushi. Kanseninu was already looking at her as a conquest, planning to strike a hard deal with her. He knew by scent that she was older than he was, a longtime mother and unmarried for centuries, yet she was not past the point where she might bear more pups and Kanseninu surely relished the thought of adding his genes with hers, to becoming the patriarch of both the Northern and Western Lands…

Shiroihana stayed quiet and demure as Kanseninu ordered his troops to depart. Hours passed as the sky began to lighten as warriors separated and headed north, wandering into the mountain passes. Each symbolically laid his armor and some of his weapons before Kaseninu and Shiroihana as a sign of their loyalty and obedience. They grinned at their leader and winked at Shiroihana, deriving a cruel amusement at her predicament. The rumor had passed from the wolf quickly throughout their ranks that Shiroihana had come to be gutted in the name of peace, having no other choice but to undergo such humiliation because she had lost her son, the Lord of the Western Lands and she was unfit to replace him.

Shiroihana felt her pulse quickening, thrashing just under the skin of her neck. She let Kanseninu see her nervousness, let him smell it in her sweat. It would build his lust, his sense of power, for he didn't see her as a threat. He saw her as a victim who he would lay deeper into ruin, cleaving her in two. She endured the warrior's unspoken taunts until most of them had left and her patience finally gave out.

"Lord Kanseninu." She bowed when she addressed him after the sky had turned pink with the rising of the sun. "I must rejoin the armies further south and disband them. Let us discuss our pact quickly and I will swear my loyalty to you."

"Very well." He dismissed the rest of his warriors, which numbered only a handful, and retreated back to the hill with its thick copse of underbrush and trees still shaded from the dawn sun.

Shiroihana let Kanseninu lead the way, watching as he picked out a good spot and scuffed the dirt and grass with his boots, trying to clear it as a spot for him to sit comfortably during their deliberation. Shiroihana glanced quickly behind her, back toward the winding hills, scattered trees, the upturned soil that marked where the army had been. There was no sign or smell of the warriors. Seemingly none of them had waited to try and spy on their lord taking advantage—in whatever way he chose—of the Lady of the Western Lands.

Kanseninu grunted as he knelt down. "Come and join me, Lady Shiroihana…"

"Gladly," she replied and lunged forward, flicking her fingers, letting the whip fly from her fingertips in a sinuous, green-glow. It snapped like the sudden crack of thunder and caught Kanseninu's long, lanky neck, coiling about it like a constrictor.

He gagged and cried out with alarm and shock. Shiroihana tugged and he fell over onto his back. His clawed hands slashed at the whip and the green light flickered as his aura clashed with her own.

"Before you die I would like you to know, fool, that my son is very much alive. You have disbanded your armies and ended your cowardly uprising before any further shame came on any of those involved in it. But you and your clan will suffer greatly for your needless ambition."

Kanseninu's gray eyes had expanded and bugged out, ready to pop out of their sockets with his shock and with the pressure of the whip about his neck. His tongue stuck out and he gagged sickeningly.

One of his hands flew to his waist and pulled on his sheathed sword. If he could free it the sword would be able to snap the ethereal energy in Shiroihana's whip. She jerked her arm, hauling him in a sudden motion over the dirt and grass. Kanseninu gurgled with despair as the sword slipped out of his fingers.

He landed heavily, thumping on the ground. Shiroihana grabbed his wrist and lifted him up with a small grunt of effort. His legs kicked at hers but Shiroihana maneuvered him so that his blows found nothing but dirt. She released the whip with a quick wiggle of her fingers. It disappeared like an extinguished candlelight. As Kanseninu gasped at the air, Shiroihana punched her other hand through his back and out his chest on the other side. His gasp became a wet rasp and then a gurgle.

Shiroihana pushed him away. He collapsed and shuddered on the ground. Blood pumped and hissed, pouring from the massive wound in his chest. Shiroihana watched him warily as she flicked her hand, sending a spray of blood droplets in a wide arc around her.

Kanseninu tried to rise to his feet. His hands clutched weakly at the hold in his chest. He let out a wet cough and blood flew out of his mouth in a fountain of crimson. Shiroihana had aimed her blow precisely, a destructive hit to the lungs. Not even an inuyoukai could survive massive blood loss and a ruined lung. One or the other might have been survivable, but together with such a massive wound it was a death sentence. Even one as great as Inutaisho had ultimately succumbed to blood loss.

Kanseninu collapsed as the blood began to slow. He was running out of it. His breathing cut off abruptly though his mouth and muscles still jerked with the remnants of stubborn life. Finally he stilled though the blood continued to dribble out of his horrible wound. The stink of death claimed him, an indescribable mixture of blood and putrefaction as cells died and the soul fled.

Shiroihana walked to the spot where the wolf had partially undressed her. She had left meidou-seki there as it were a weapon. Now she picked it up and reverently slipped it over her head. Her bloodied hand left smudges of brown-red from Kanseninu's blood and Shiroihana frowned with disgust. She would retreat to the Kosetsu province in the Western Lands and her personal palace to bathe as soon as she had delivered Kanseninu's head to Daken and Oushi.

She let the whip fly out again, wrapping around Kanseninu's neck where the flesh was still warm. When it was coiled tight enough she jerked her hand in a swift, precise motion and the whip sliced effortlessly through his flesh, muscle, and bone. The head flopped and rolled to just a foot from her feet on the uneven grass. The gray eyes stared up at her in a lifeless pantomime of shock. She stooped and picked it up by its hair, a macabre handbag, and started walking at a quick pace toward the south where her generals and Sesshomaru's army waited.

"She has been sleeping since then?" Shimofuri asked. He was at Rin's bedside, staring down into her pale face, which was contorted by a small frown of pain.

Tsukiyume nodded. She said quietly, "I think this is the natural sleep of the wounded. I have not tried to wake her but she moves and talks in her sleep as if she's dreaming. She didn't do that before. It was nothing but a deathly stillness when Lady Shiroihana first brought her in."

Gently, and with great caution, Shimofuri peeled the cover back from Rin's side and stared at the red stain on her robes. "The blade wasn't poisoned, was it?"

"No," Tsukiyume murmured. "I haven't smelled any poison and Lady Rin has not suffered a fever."

"We should remove the blade," Shippo said, speaking for the first time.

Shimofuri dropped the covers, covering the bloodstain. He glanced at the young fox and noted absently the closeness between his sister and the fox. They sat side by side, their thighs and knees almost touching. When he had first entered the room they had been on opposite sides of the bed watching over Rin. Now they addressed him almost as one unit. He cleared his throat and asked, "What makes you say that?"

"She woke up and the lady said she wouldn't be possessed anymore when that happened so..." The kit had guessed by the strange reverence that his companions displayed for Lady Shiroihana—the inuyoukai woman he hadn't really seen but understood from Tsukiyume to be Sesshomaru's mother—that they trusted Shiroihana's word and experience. "Her body is trying to heal but the blade will hold her back. It can't be comfortable."

"The wound is closed," Tsukiyume muttered. Her ears fell flat against the black curtain of her long hair. "We would have to cut it open to get it out."

Shimofuri remained impassive, hiding the distress the thought caused him. As an inuyoukai now Rin would recover from such an injury, but Shimofuri knew that Sesshomaru would never look kindly on him for ordering such a procedure. Yet he could sense the wisdom of the fox's words. He nodded, coming to a swift decision. "I'll have to send for the physician. Sesshomaru is recovering more each day. We need Lady Rin to be awake."

Tsukiyume and Shippo bowed, showing their respect as he left the room, sliding the door shut behind him. With a heavy sigh, Shimofuri walked for the nearest flight of stairs to head up to the floor where he had heard from the maids that Ginrei was waiting with Hanone, sitting awkwardly outside her sickly husband's door. Of all of the things he had to do upon his return to his castle, this was the lowest on his list. He fought to control the twist of anxiety in his gut with each step that he took, drawing nearer to where Ginrei was waiting.

When he reached it, Shimofuri found that his earlier words to Shippo and Tsukiyume had been truer than he'd realized. The door to the room that had been Sesshomaru's throughout his illness and unplanned stay in Shimofuri's castle stood wide open, almost demanding that visitors and curious onlookers should step inside. Bright morning light, colored white-gold, streamed into the hallway from that room. A maid left in such a hurried state that she nearly tripped as she caught sight of Shimofuri lurking in the hall. She was carrying a tray of food and tea. She nearly dropped it as she fell into a deep bow and begged his pardon. Shimofuri sent her on her way absently, distracted by the open doorway to Sesshomaru's room.

Another maid, this one older and gruffer, spilled out of the doorway, colliding with Shimofuri. She fell with a small shout, dropping the rolled up futon mattress she was carrying. Yet another maid waited behind her, holding a bundle of bed linens. Both of them exclaimed with surprise at his presence and dropped into low, apologetic bows.

Shimofuri leaned to one side and peered past them into the room. The windows were all open, the wooden slats removed. A mirror had been erected and robes set out. Sesshomaru was nowhere to be seen—but standing in front of one of the windows opposite the open door was Ginrei, staring out into the day. Hanone was peeking over her shoulder and making little noises, barks, giggles, and growls as she watched the flurry of maids moving around her.

"Excuse me," Shimofuri said, addressing the maids that were still bowed and waiting for his acknowledgement. "What's happening here? Where is Sesshomaru?"

"Lord Sesshomaru has gone to the baths," the older maid replied. "Please forgive us—was this not allowed?"

"It's fine," Shimofuri reassured them. He saw the way Ginrei turned her hips and her head slightly and Hanone pointed a plump, clawed finger at him and knew both mother and daughter had heard him. When he spoke next he made sure to adopt polite language and as much courtesy as he could, unsure of how Ginrei would react. "Lord Sesshomaru and his family are my most honored guests. It has been my honor to protect him during this time."

The maids could have cared less about this explanation and were already halfway slinking away. They tossed quizzical glances between one another and then at Shimofuri's back as he moved past them into the room.

It had a musty smell, a dirty smell. It was a room that had clearly been the site of a traumatic illness. It contained layers of Sesshomaru's scent: a human's sweat, a hanyou's shed hair, and the full inuyoukai's saliva left on chopsticks from a meal. Or was it pureblooded? There was still a fragment of something human in it, a trace that Sesshomaru's powerful immune system had not yet reclaimed. He is not fully well, Shimofuri realized, but very nearly. Perhaps by sundown he will be himself once more. The recovery is quickening. With dry amusement, as a maid came in with another set of clothing for Sesshomaru, white hakama this time, he thought it would benefit him to send Sesshomaru on his way. Now that he was recovering he was exerting too much control over the servants. Soon the castle might become his if Shimofuri didn't take charge and send his "guest" on his way.

Ginrei surprised him by speaking first. "Lord Sesshomaru has assured me that he will not sign Shiroihana's proposal."

"Her proposal for adopting Hanone?" Shimofuri inquired, seeking clarity. Could it be true that Sesshomaru would deny everything his mother told him out of spite, including Rin? Shimofuri found the idea unbelievable.

"Yes," Ginrei said. "He will not set his name to a document that takes my daughter from me. It is his right as her father."

Shimofuri blurted, "It was never my intention to harm you, my lady. I took part in Shiroihana's ploy to do what I felt was right. When we saw that Lady Rin had transformed we knew he would toss you away. I thought of how badly it would insult you, of how much it would hurt you, and I agreed to help her deceive him. It was not done to harm you, it was to manipulate Sesshomaru."

She was a petite woman and the grayish robes she was wearing were thin and bland, making her all the more diminutive, perhaps even pathetic. Her hair was silvered, a slightly darker shade from Sesshomaru's snowy white. Hanone had a whiter shade, that of her father's, but her eyes were the same silver as Ginrei's, as were the colors of the stripes over her cheeks. As Shimofuri met her young, uncomprehending gaze, she smiled.

"Lady Shiroihana assured me that her adoption would only be in name. She has no desire to take Hanone from you, Lady Ginrei."

"Do you really believe that?" Ginrei asked, laughing bitterly. She turned around to face him, shifting Hanone in her arms at the same time, making the little girl growl irritably and mumble her mother's name reprovingly.

Before he could think about the consequences, Shimofuri gave her the truth. "No, if I had to think about it, no. I believe she has the capacity to take Hanone as her own. Why she would want to do such a thing I don't know. She is a very…" he struggled for the right word that would not prove too insulting. "…difficult."

Ginrei was silent, but her eyes roved over him, searching for something. Shimofuri waited tensely, wondering what she was thinking as her silvered eyes moved, drawing him in. Shimofuri recalled the first time he had seen her, singed and smeared with ash, knelt in snow that was dappled by blood. She had been the first found to be unrelated to Sesshomaru in a long line of female kin that were examined by Shimofuri and Sasugainu's plundering army. Because of this bit of luck—though at the time Shimofuri had only pitied her and thought it a terrible curse—her life was spared and her female kin were slaughtered all around her.

He saw with sudden clarity the way that past had shaped the current inuyoukai woman that stood before him, pressing her daughter close to her shoulder and breast, unwilling to break their contact even if it were truly only in name. Hanone had become all of the slaughtered family that Ginrei had lost that night in the fire and by the swords of the conquering army—an army that Shimofuri and Sesshomaru had had equal parts in leading. He had agreed to deceive her to punish Sesshomaru and with the intention saving Ginrei from his mistreatment, but really he had only heaped cruelty upon cruelty.

The desire to save her, to hold her and protect her the way she clung to Hanone, enveloped him again but Shimofuri battled it away, trying to think without emotion. What was truly best for Ginrei? Was it in her interests to leave Sesshomaru behind and join him? Marrying him had killed Amagumori.

He spluttered, "I have done you a great wrong…"

Ginrei lifted her eyebrows high into her forehead but she said nothing, letting Shimofuri speak onward unhindered.

"I will not sign Shiroihana's proposal." He went on in a hushed, strictly formal way, removing himself from the situation. "Lady Ginrei must stay with Lord Sesshomaru. Lady Ginrei deserves only the best, but her life has been undeservedly painful."

"Lord Shimofuri," Ginrei murmured, lowering her gaze in a sort of embarrassment.

"I will call the scribe and have all of the records of the proposal expunged. Lady Ginrei's marriage will be restored and unquestioned…"

Ginrei's jaw flexed, clenching hard. "No."

Shimofuri stayed where he was, his back stiff and his legs heavy as lead. He didn't look at her, only waited to hear if she would speak further before he would risk prompting her for her reasoning.

The silence did its trick, but slowly. Ginrei and Shimofuri stayed silent and tense as three maids swept in and out of the room, carrying more parts of Sesshomaru's wardrobe and then finally one maid, a plump middle-aged woman, bowed and the doorway and called, "Lady Ginrei, it is time for your bath. Lord Sesshomaru will return shortly to dress."

Quietly, while gazing at Shimofuri with a distant, saddened expression, Ginrei said, "Lord Sesshomaru will not keep Rin as a concubine. She has always come before me. She has been the master and wife of his heart from the beginning." She drew in a shaky breath. "I will only be a bother to him, especially now. But I believe Lord Sesshomaru is the only one that can truly protect Hanone from Shiroihana."

Shimofuri glanced at Hanone in Ginrei's arms. The girl's head was nodding as she tried to fall asleep, her messy white hair spilling forward. "I would gladly adopt Hanone as my daughter. Shiroihana has no hold over me. She is not my mother."

This reminder, that Sesshomaru was perhaps more vulnerable to Shiroihana then an outsider like Shimofuri, set Ginrei's face blank with shock. She was silent for several thick, heavy seconds. Then she said, "Perhaps Lord Shimofuri would discuss this further with me later today, after my bath?"

The thought of the moist, warm, steamy bath and of Ginrei lacking her clothes made Shimofuri's scalp burn. He tried with minimal success to hide the scarlet blush that crept up from his throat. He ducked his head in a deeper bow than was necessary. "Of course, my lady."

The physician moved from one bedside to another. First he visited Inuyasha and Miroku and used the same smelly concoction to wake her a second time, then he left to perform the surgery on Rin with Shippo and Tsukiyume helping.

In the room with Jaken and the hostage boy Boroya, Inuyasha and Miroku ate with Saya and tried to keep her from falling asleep again, but it was a difficult task. The girl would sit upright and then begin to lower her head and close her eyes as her body became terribly heavy. Jaken harped on her and his yelling worked better than anything else. The high, nails-on-chalkboard quality of his voice was able to act like a pinch inside her brain, turning the lights back on. The physician had found nothing obvious that would make her prone to unconsciousness, no fever or any other sign of illness, but he did remark on the paleness of the crescent moon in her forehead and the brownness of her eyes, the loss of the amber color that he recognized as being her natural color as Sesshomaru's daughter.

Finally the fox, Aojiroi, came and met with them. Saya recognized him with dread and screamed with panic. She hid inside Inuyasha's haori while he was in the room and Boroya, still under the furs on the futon, watched with unabashed fascination.

When Miroku showed the fox the white stone, Aojiroi nodded instantly with memory. "I had come to Lord Sesshomaru's palace to invite him to Lord Shimofuri's wedding," he explained. "Saya asked me for an example of magic, so I gave her the stone. I may have exaggerated its powers."

"What does it do?" Miroku asked.

Behind the monk Inuyasha was sitting with Saya in his haori, a large lump. He poked at her and asked loudly, "Are you awake in there, kid?"

The lump nodded in answer.

"It has several abilities, but they only become available after the power within the stone has adapted to the aura of the carrier. That can take weeks. It is able to absorb the carrier's energy and expend it in their defense. After long training and practice the stone can render the carrier invisible to protect them, and it can even be used to change shape."

"It drew on Saya's energy?" Inuyasha repeated, growling.

"That is the only explanation I have," Aojiroi admitted. "When I gave it to her I did not believe she would have reason to use it so soon and so young! The stone must have sensed her life was in danger and used what little youkai power she had to fend off the danger."

"Will she recover?" Jaken squawked. He tapped his claws together and whimpered pathetically. "Lord Sesshomaru is going to kill me if she was permanently harmed!"

"You?" Inuyasha snapped. "He's been trying to kill me since I was born! I'm the one he'll blame." Then he chuckled with a dark enjoyment and smirked with memory. "Of course right now he wouldn't stand any chance since he's as naked and toothless as a newborn rat."

"You—you—you…" Jaken was so appalled by Inuyasha's description of his majestic, beautiful lord that he couldn't find an insult that was harsh enough to do the hanyou justice. Finally he spat, "Half-breed! You take that back!"

Inuyasha's ears laid flat with irritation. "Shut the fuck up, stupid toad."

"Listen to you!" Jaken puffed, horrified. "First you poison Lord Sesshomaru with your words, then you pour more poison into little Saya's ears! And the boy too! He's listening to your foul mouth. What kind of mother allowed you to speak in such a way?"

"Feh," he grunted. "Mom was a high-class lady. I learned this shit after she passed away. Idiot. What kind of she-toad pushed you out?"

"Common-bred mutt!" Jaken spluttered. "Pond scum!"

Inuyasha made a fist and bopped the imp over the head, knocking him out cold. From the furs behind them the inuyoukai boy laughed gleefully.

"So we should return the stone to Saya?" Miroku asked the fox.

Aojiroi nodded. "It can do her no harm currently, and it may help to waken her. It is possible it has retained some of her energy and when she holds it again it may return to her." He smiled reassuringly. "There is almost certainly no permanent damage. She will recover in time."

After Aojiroi had left Miroku and Inuyasha gave the stone back to Saya, encouraging her to hold it. She did so, examining it sleepily with a little smile. "I remember this…" she murmured through thick lips.

While Jaken was in the back of the room begrudgingly entertaining Boroya with a fairytale of some kind, and rubbing his painful head, Miroku spoke in a quiet voice to Inuyasha. "Perhaps Saya's sleepiness could be used to our advantage."

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha asked, staring at the monk clearly as if he thought his longtime friend had gone crazy.

"While Saya is sleepy in this way she is calm. You could gradually get her accustomed to Sesshomaru and Lady Rin again. She could see in her calm, dreamlike state that they mean no harm. Then she may be able to let go of you and return to her real family."

Inuyasha frowned, skeptical. "That's stupid."

"It's worth a try, is it not? I'd like to get back to my family sooner rather than later."

"I ain't leaving until Saya is safe—and good and ready to stay here alone." Inuyasha pulled open his haori and peeked in on Saya where she had dozed off, curled into a ball in his lap, sheltered and surrounded by his scent and his touch.

Miroku sighed heavily. "Inuyasha," he said.

"What?" the hanyou barked.

"You have grown too protective of her." He lowered his voice and let it take on the air of a dark warning. "You are not her father. Saya isn't your daughter. When we leave she won't be alone."

Inuyasha's ears fell flat, hid face twisted with a silent snarl. "She's my niece, Monk. I'm not dumb."

Miroku nodded as if humoring an ignorant child. "Will you be able to remember that when Sesshomaru and Rin want her back?"

A hard, pained expression entered Inuyasha's eyes. His ears stayed pinned backward. "Leave it alone, Miroku," he growled.

"Very well." the monk sighed and withdrew. He adopted an air of good humor and changed the subject, but Inuyasha stayed sour, haunted inwardly by Miroku's words.

A/N: wa! Life has been interesting later. My dad has whooping cough so we were all on antibiotics, I'm waiting on news about my Graduate Assistantship if I get one or not, a new LOST is on (a wonderful present for my borthday!) and then I will be enslaved by Resident Evil 5. I am such a loser. Happy trails!