I own nothing from Rumiko Takahashi.

Read and enjoy.

It was late in the day before the foreigner started to move. The blood patterns had completely faded, leaving her skin absence of blood. The gems had turned white once more but the blood stains remained in the ends of her braided locks. She made no movements to sit up but he saw her head turn his way before crimson locked onto blue surrounded by red.

Her brow furrowed as he got out of his burrow in the snow and padded closer, though making sure not to touch the barrier. He barked at her, wanting to inquire how she was but knew this form would still be better than his humanoid form due to the language barrier. Her lips moved and her hand lifted and waving him away, and he growled at her.

She moved to prop herself on one elbow and he saw increased pain as her hand pressed against her abdomen. He watched as she grimaced and took several breathes before lifting her crimson eyes to look at him. He sat on his haunches and stared back, seeing confusion in her eyes before she broke the staring contest and laid back down, wincing as she did.

Feeling that she didn't plan on moving too much due to the unknown of her evident pain, he used his youkai to search for something that she could eat. Feeling a low-level kitsune nearby, he got up to hunt it down as she showed no ill effects from eating the boar youkai that morning. Catching it quickly, he broke its neck with his teeth and carried it back in his mouth. The female had gotten her hamakas and boots on but was lying down once more with a newly fed fire with both hands pressed to her abdomen.

Letting out a growl as he stopped short of her barrier, crimson eyes opened to look over at him and frowned as slitted pupils dilated as she looked at the kitsune in his jaws. Bringing a hand the the fire, she scooped up some ash and brought it to her mouth, blowing into her closed fist before throwing the ash at the barrier. He saw it ripple but it did not drop as she gestered him to come closer though her eyes were full of caution.

He growled at her but moved one paw to the barrier, expecting pain, but his paw passed though as if passing though a layer of water. He moved through the barrier and only smelt her scent and the burning of wood. He dropped the kitsune beside her before walking around the cave to examine the circle of ash near the back and frowned seeing no trace of the blood she had poured on herself.

Her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke and he turned his large head to look at her. He growled low, not understanding her words and she stopped and frowned. She rolled onto her stomach, getting to her knees so she didn't roll onto the kitsune and her hands clenched into fists. A whimper escaped her lips, but her eyes didn't leave his as she forced herself to push her torso up so she was sitting on her knees.

She spoke quickly before pointing to her throat before pointing to him. Growling at her again, wondering what nonesense she was uttering, she laughed before pointing to him before to her ears. Letting out a huff at her erractic actions, she seemed to laugh again before her hand went to her abdomen and she grimaced as her eyes closed.

Growling in mild concern, not being able to smell any reason why she would show so much pain, she opened one eye as she spoke. Her tone was as if she was trying to comfort him rather than worry about herself and he barked at her, her behavior and tone breaking his calm demeanor far too quickly. She shrugged at him and he frowned, a thought coming to mind.

'Does one understand this one?' He growled and she nodded after a moment. 'Does one know where she is?'

She shook her head as she finally moved and grabbed her dagger and the kitsune. She skillfully skinned the kitsune and tossed its guts into the fire but no smell came from them burning as she set aside the heart and liver before tossing the rest to him. He accepted the meat as she ate the two organs raw once more and saw the tension in her shoulders fade some.

'One is knowledgeable of youkai and magic of sprites, how does youkai or raw meat not cause a human to become ill?'

She rose a brow before talking and he huffed, irritated at this language barrier, and she chuckled before her hand grabbed one of her earrings, shaking it before pointing to the other piercings.

'What of the blood ritual this morning?'

She frowned as she thought for a moment before pointing to her piercings once more. He tilted his head, confused and she sighed before grabbing her dagger and pressed the sharp edge into the muscle of her left palm. Blood quickly pooled into her palm and ran down her arm before she used her fingers to wipe away the blood from the wound to reveal no injury where she had cut herself.

'Healing ritual? No wounds.'

She shook her head and groaned in frustration before licking the blood away from her arm. Once she finished, she pointed to her piercings once more before pointing to where she had cut herself before patting her abdomen.

'The piercings heal?' he growled and she nodded. 'All of them?'

She nodded again before grabbing the sheath to her blade and slid it into her boot and secured it, sheathing her blade as she got to her feet.

'Internal damage?' He inquired and she nodded again as she pulled on her shirt and tucked it in to her hamakas before grabbing her coat. 'Where is one going?'

She shrugged but kicked at a line of ash around the fire and it was immediately snuffed out, leaving a stone glowing orange. She grabbed it with a gloved hand before walking to the barrier and kicked that ash, letting the barrier fall. Not even giving him a second glance, she headed off into the woods. Following close behind, Sesshomaru knew that he most likely wouldn't be able to stop her without breaking the fragile trust he had managed to build.

'There is one who possibly know one's speech,' he growled as he moved to walk beside her and noticed ash lining the bottom of the glowing stone, protecting her from it's heat. 'Would one allow this one to take one to her?'

She snorted in amusement but shook her head as she spoke, her tone skeptical.

'Her clothing was similar to one's before adjusting to the culture. She is pack.'

The foreign female stopped walking and turned to look at him confused. He realized his mistake and returned to his humanoid form and looked down at her, only just realizing that she most like was under five feet. Molten gold met crimson as she studied him and her eyes widened in surprise.

Her voice became quiet as she spoke before pushing her hood off her head. Pulling all of her hair over her left shoulder as she lowered her head, she exposed the right side of her neck. Surprised that she went into a submissive stance, he studied her neck and noticed bite scars overlapping the junction of her neck but the most recent seeming to be several years ago.

He brought his nose to her neck and could detect old traces of multiple youkai. Biting into her neck, he sent a pulse of his jaki into her and quiet moan reached his ear as he felt her body tremble. Pulling back, he watched as her body lost all tension though her hand tightened around the glowing rock.

"This one would like to hear your story, human," he spoke, grabbing her chin to make her look up at him and saw that her pupils were dilated and eyes glassed over. She blinked and her pupils constricted and cleared as she focused on him. She nodded and spoke softly. "You understand this one still?"

She nodded.

"Will you allow this one to guide you to the one who possibly understand you?"

She hummed in response and he summoned his jaki cloud under both of them as he released her chin and she looked down in surprise. As they ascended, he heard a whimper escape her and her free hand grabbed the side straps of his armor and stepped closer to him. Smelling a hint of fear, he allowed his pelt to wrap around her.

"This one will not allow you to fall," he spoke calmly and she looked up at him, nodding silently despite the fear in her eyes.

Once they passed the treeline, he redirected their direction towards Edo, the setting sun at their backs. With her fear of heights, he didn't push their speed and kept them close to the trees. At this pace, they would reach the village before sunrise.

Sesshomaru saw the village in the distance, the sky dark with some time before it would start getting light. Glancing down at the foreign female, he frowned as he saw that she had fallen asleep standing, her head pressed against his armor. Using his pelt, he lifted her up and into his arms, though she was small enough that she fit comfortably in the crook of his arm. She stirred from the movement and her head shifted onto his pelt, but did not try to touch him. She still managed to hold the rock that was still glowing, though it was more red than orange now.

Seeing a flash of white below and sensing Inuyasha, he moved to land in a clearing not far from the village. The female lifted her head and glowing crimson eyes focused on the direction the inuhanyou was coming their way, confirming her ability to feel youkai. Golden eyes showed confusion as Inuyasha appeared, his hand resting on the Tesseiga as he studied them both.

"What are you doing here, Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha frowned. "Don't know why you need to come here since taking Rin back a week ago. Who's this?"

"This one has brought her to see your mate," Sesshomaru spoke coolly, keeping the female in his arm.

"Why?" The female spoke quietly and only spoke a few words but it did its job. "Oh... Well she won't be up for another hour or two. Been throwing up the last few days, old Kaede is still trying to figure out why and has forced her to stay in the hut to be safe."

"Hn." The female spoke something and Sesshomaru focused on her. She had a questioning tone before pointing to her stomach before pointing to Inuyasha. "You cannot eat the hanyou."

"Wait, what...?" Inuyasha took a step back, confused but the foreigner laughed and shook her head and made a curving motion over her abdomen.

"Are you asking if she's been pupped?" Sesshomaru frowned and she nodded, but her face fell blank of any emotion at the question. "Well, hanyou? Have you pupped your mate?"

"Ah..."

He watched as the gears turned in his head before disappearing, quickly retreating back to the village. Chuckling, the female moved to try and get out of his hold so he set her on her feet before walking towards the village. She followed, her pace slower than it had been.

"Are you well, human?"

Sesshomaru turned to look back at her and saw her arms wrapped around her waist, her eyes to the ground. She shrugged but didn't look up at him as she caught up to him. As she moved to continue ahead, he grabbed her arm gently to stop her and felt a tremor go through her body.

"Are you in pain?"

She shook her head but he could smell salt. Using his free hand, he lifted her chin and saw tears falling silently, but her eyes never lifted from the ground. Stroking her cheek, he frowned seeing her wall waver and pain leaked into her eyes.

"Is there any who misses your absence?" he asked carefully and saw her wall crumble a little more as she shook her head. He noticed her arms tighten around her abdomen as she whimpered. "Did you loose a pup?"

Her wall fell to ruin and had he not been holding her arm, she would have collapsed to the ground as her knees gave out. He wrapped his arms around her and moved to sit against a tree as a sob escaped the foreigner. He pulled her into his lap and she seemed to fit perfectly against him despite his armor as her legs fell outside of his, straddling his thighs. He noticed the red glowing rock a few feet away as both of her hands gripped his chest plate and he eased her head to his shoulder as she finally broke.

Her sobs were violent as she shook against him and he held her, though he did not know why. Whenever Rin cried, he only ever touched her head, but holding this foreigner seemed right. There was more emotional trauma than she showed and he felt that what caused her physical pain, she hid as much as she could of that as well.

The sky was starting to lighten when either of them moved and her crying had not lessened and he could feel his haori soaked from her tears across his shoulder. Sliding his hands under her cloak, he pressed his palms to her cold skin above the low back of her shirt and felt her body stiffen. She didn't move but her sobs tapered off and each breath was shaky.

He let his thumb stroke her skin and she jerked backwards, her movements surprised him that his hands slid out from under her cloak as she ended up falling backwards and hit the ground, his legs on either side of her while her knees were bent over his legs. A strangled sound escaped her and he watched as her back arch off the ground. Her hands gripped at her cloak, one at her abdomen while the other jerked down the metal toothed fastener of her cloak as she struggled to breathe.

His eyes fell to the scars on the right side of her neck, feeling strange as he didn't move while she writhed in pain. His mind wandered back to when he had bitten her the night before when her body seemed to instantly relax. Leaning forward, he bit into her leg just above her knee and pulsed his jaki into her.

He watched as her back relaxed and a quiet exhale left her as she fell quiet. He released her leg and slid his arms under her and pulled her into a sitting position, her legs still bent over his. Her head fell forward as her shoulders slumped and he noticed her breathes were slower than normal. She brought her hands to her head, propping her elbows on her knees as her eyes opened slowly, but he noticed that her pupils were extremely dilated and eyes unfocused.

"It seems to this one that youkai jaki seems to help your pain, though too much seems to cause a high," Sesshomaru commented as she blinked several times before her eyes focused and she nodded as she ran her palms over her face.

"There must be severe internal damage to cause this much pain just from falling from a sitting position."

She spoke softly, propping her head in her hand while the other went to touch one of his hands on her waist still. He felt her pull and allowed her to guide his hand to her back, stopped at mid back and pressed his fingers against her spine. Frowning as she pushed his hand slowly down her back, prodding her spine before reaching the waistband of her hamakas.

"This one doesn't understand," he frowned as he retraced her spine back up before feeling what he thought was normal above where she had started.

She looked around and saw the glowing rock and reached over to grab it. She wrapped both hands around the stone for a moment before opening her hands to reveal the rock shaped like a vertebrae, ash moving in small lines over the surface. Seeing the ash shift and move away from the shaped stone, it fell into pieces.

"How are you able to walk if there is that much damage?" She pointed to her piercings again. "What else is still healing?"

Her hand pulled his from her back and her small hand guided his fingers to her face, tracing around the sockets of her eyes before her eyes closed and his fingers were guided over her eyelids. As she pulled his hand away from her face, she opened her eyes and her slitted eyes constricted. Then he felt her move his hand once more and pressed it to her lower abdomen before a pained expression crossed her eyes and her hand tightened around his slightly.

He opened his mouth to speak but words fell short as he sensed Inuyasha coming. She must have to as she quickly scrabbled back several feet and got to her feet, a wall already up around her. He got to his feet as well as she fastened her cloak before Inuyasha came into view with a wide idiotic grin.