Author's Note: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the source material for this story. All are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. This fic is labeled MA per standards for eventual violence, sex, and language so be warned.

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Reconciliation

Chapter 10 - Say You'll Be There

Kagome was exceeding everyone's expectations today.

"How many should I make, sensei?" She drawled the last word for fun.

"Kagome-sama, I think ten is enough for now. You are approaching hubris at this point."

Miroku stood with his arms tucked in his sleeves and a wry grin on his face. One brow cocked up over violet eyes that knew she was still holding back even now.

He raised one finger in the air and cleared his throat. "The Great Buddha teaches that one will receive praise and blame, but do not let either affect the poise of the mind: follow the calmness, the absence of pride. And thus, ends my teaching for today."

"Okay, fine, sorry. I'm just so glad this is going so well, you know? It never has before…" she trailed off, refocusing her eyes above her head.

"I agree, but I must call it a day. The sun is setting and there is much… to be done..."

Miroku followed her gaze as he was captivated again by her work.

The young priestess before him was enchanting, blue eyes staring up innocently into the sky at her work as her gentle smile revealed how truly happy she was. Dark raven hair was bouncing gently around her shoulders in loose waves as she stepped this way and that in the yard around the shrine using slim fingers and demure hands to direct her incandescent creations.

Kagome had learned to concentrate her reiki into a physical form and manipulate it around her in the last two days. The effect was a show of skill unlike anything Miroku had ever seen. After the theory had been explained and the meditation completed, Kagome had slowly created a glowing, icy blue butterfly in the palm of her hand and willed it to flutter up into the rafters of the shrine house before blinking out of existence. Miroku had been unable to stop the watering of his eyes at the simple beauty of it. His dear friend was discovering her true power.

Miko robes were dimly reflecting the orbs of power she was directing, lighting up the white and crimson traditional outfit with pale highlights of blue as they drifted close before floating away again.

"I'll take care of the shrine grounds. You go on home." she said, not looking over at him but blinking one of the lights from existence with a pinch of her fingers.

"I was going to assign it to you anyway. As a training exercise, of course." He winked as he walked past her, headed for home.

"Good night, Miroku, and tell Sango and the kids I said 'Hey'!"

"I will. Good evening, Kagome-sama. And well done."

She gave him a grateful smile and glanced back upward at the incandescent orbs of power glowing above her head. Nine spheres in total were traveling in slow figure eights above her head as she held hands open, palms up, willing them to track wherever she wanted.

Kagome was coming into her own in more ways than one.

Her bow skills were intact but improved. Accuracy and precision both were hers through hours of practice and calloused hands.

She had strengthened her body. Her forms were not perfect but they were tidy, and she was sparring with Sango now and holding her own. She would never rival a master but she could defend herself and attack without fear. She had chosen the quarterstaff as her weapon, aside from the bow, because it was used more often to defend than to attack and she had seen enough of violence. Incapacitation should be enough when necessary. It also gave her a useful tool for traveling the countryside, which was tempting her more and more these lonely days.

Miroku had admitted that she was nearing the end of what he could teach her. She had had trouble getting started but once the idea of her energy as an extension of herself was no longer a foreign one, her progress had been incessant. She inhaled lessons about barriers, offensive weapons, detection, and manipulation.

Kaede had been around for a few of her lessons and admitted the same: Kagome was outgrowing them. She had given the young miko a few lessons on more powerful barriers but found that Kagome's natural level of power rendered chants and sutras useless. The elder miko was thrilled to have such an accomplished priestess to survive her.

"I wonder…" Kagome mused. In a flash, the remaining nine orbs were combined into one, pulsing and shifting in midair like a glacial sun several feet above her outstretched hand. With a flick of her hand, the orb shot upward into the sky and illuminated the clouds from within for a brief moment before dispersing. Kagome clenched her fist from its extended position above her and waited, eyes searching.

"Oh well."

She lowered her hand, shrugged, and was headed for the shed to fetch the cleaning tools when the first drop of water fell. A grin split her face in anticipation. Surprised and overjoyed eyes turned back up to the sky and she laughed and turned circles as the small shower covered the shrine grounds and fell in heavy drops for a few minutes.

"Ha! Yes!" She'd have a new trick to show Miroku now.

'Remember when we talked about rainclouds a while back?'

Kagome was beginning to understand that her energies applied broadly to the world. She had been brought up to believe that they were for protection and destruction of demonic energies but the more she used them in practice, the less she thought that was true. Or at least, that wasn't all reiki was capable of.

She could use her energy to influence the world around her in new ways all the time. Her experiment with the cloud had been an impulse but she had been thinking about how to influence natural energies around her for some weeks now. Surely such a gift could be used for something grander than just punishing demons.

It was an unconventional idea, granted, but she was an unconventional woman. A priestess but not. Out of time but not separated from it. The lover of a half-demon who was as much a curiosity as she was. A bearer of destiny, both her own and others'. What would her future look like?

As she grabbed the broom and bucket from the shed, her thoughts drifted through the past two weeks. Even her total success today wouldn't take her husband from her mind. Kagome was rapidly approaching the decision to leave and try to find him. She wasn't defenseless anymore and had a horrible feeling something was wrong. He should have at least been back to tell her that nothing had changed. Unless it had. Unless he wasn't coming back.

Conjectures were interrupted as a youki, bright and scorching like the sun, blinked into existence at the edges of the village, pulsing impatiently. It was familiar but frightening. Her reiki rose to coat her skin unconsciously.

'Only one demon I know still around that's that powerful and arrogant. Sesshoumaru.'

But why was he here when Inuyasha had been looking for him? She dropped the broom and bucket and ran down the stairs. Surely, he was here to see Rin but then where was Inuyasha?

…

Sesshoumaru was flying quickly but lower to the forest than usual, scenting for his brother as he went. He was armed and headed for Edo but determined to investigate what had happened to Ren and find any evidence that might help him in assuaging the council to keep Inuyasha alive. When the cardinal leaders and Western council met, he intended to have all of the facts to present a case and be done with them.

Squabbling politicians were the bane of peacetime. At least, during the wars, there had been less talking.

Inuyasha's affliction was now less of a mystery but not having seen the incident, his information was limited. Ren was recovering but exhausted so Sesshoumaru had not pressed him for more information before leaving. The remaining campsite should reveal some clues so he was searching for the camp as he headed in a wide arc towards Edo.

Some hours later, deep into the afternoon, Sesshoumaru caught the captain's scent and dipped down lower to follow it. There were no human settlements for miles around but he was approaching Niigata again. Maybe Inuyasha had simply stayed where Sesshoumaru left him. The hanyou must have been desperate to sit and stay as he was told.

As he landed, two things were clear: Ren's severed arm had been here but was now gone so there was no hope of reattaching it, and Inuyasha had left this clearing as soon as Ren had. His scent was days old now but the scorched earth in the middle of the clearing was clear evidence of the violence Ren had described.

Physical marks on the earth left from intense youki were not uncommon but it should not have been able to come from Inuyasha, half-demon as he was. The remnants of power here were akin to what Sesshoumaru himself might have left during a violent and sudden transformation but that could not be right. Inuyasha had maintained a human form, Ren had said.

Sesshoumaru moved over to where the captain's blood had pooled on the ground and sniffed lightly. The blood had dried and left a black stain on the earth but no other signs of struggle were there. Inuyasha and the captain had both been here only a day or so ago. So, it was true. No signs of struggle meant it had indeed happened too fast for Ren to break free.

'Surprising. The captain is efficient and powerful. He should not have been taken by surprise. Inuyasha's strength must now be formidable.'

Suddenly, a pulsating energy past the edge of the clearing caught his attention.

'Tessaiga? The whelp left father's sword? Why does it call?'

He went to retrieve it but remembered the barrier that would inevitably strike his hands. The sword was lying several feet into the woods from the clearing and fairly well hidden by the brush. Sesshoumaru removed his gold and indigo sash and as he found the sword, threw it over the scabbard and hilt together and picked it up. The demonic silks should protect it on the journey home. Sesshoumaru was surprised at how light the sword seemed. Unless memory failed him, Inuyasha had reforged the sword with his own fang, restoring the lost demonic energy. If the sword was drained again, Tessaiga must have been constantly funneling energy into maintaining the hanyou's youki.

'How ironic that I should possess it now but it is without pride or accomplishment. I have indeed been changed this last decade...'

He would take the time to reflect on the multitude of changes in his attitudes later. For now, Inuyasha was a pressing threat. Rin would need to be moved to safety and then he would hunt Inuyasha down to avoid gossip and conjecture about his father's indiscrimination yet again. He gathered his youki and vaulted from the ground, making his way as fast as he could toward Edo.

…

As the Western Lord descended towards Rin's village, he was shocked to see a huge sphere of reiki leave the shrine grounds and dissipate into the clouds above. He paused in midair, sensing no immediate danger, to watch the spectacle. What was the elderly priestess playing at?

Shortly after, he felt the energy condense and realized what was happening. Reiki was woven into the clouds above and then the energy was called back, gathered like a cinch, and then condensed to make the clouds produce rain. Very rarely was Sesshoumaru impressed but the old miko had succeeded. Surely, she was too advanced in age to be playing tricks at the close of the day though…

Inu curiosity running wild again, he landed at the slope of the hill near the Bone Eater's Well and began a slow walk into the village. Rin might be asleep and there was no need to alarm the humans unnecessarily. Squawking humans was something his nerves did not need tonight. He would grab Rin and her things and be off, mystery of the elderly priestess solved or not.

As he approached the old miko's hut though, the Western Lord could hear her inside working and Rin chatting away with her. If it was not she who had conjured that blast, then who…

"Sesshoumaru!" A voice called him from the direction of the shrine.

His head whipped around, hair and haori sleeves swirling behind him, at the dishonorable use of his name. He scowled at the disrespect. Only one human he had ever met had dared…

"-sama. Sesshoumaru-sama. Sorry. Whew! Those stairs are a killer…" She was panting for breath, leaning over with her hands on her knees, but had corrected her impropriety.

'Good. At least the old miko is training her replacement to be more respectful… even if she is an unsightly mess.'

Suddenly her scent filled his nose and he realized this human was familiar. A buried memory. Her scent was mixed with that of his brother and the gore of the scene in his mind's eye. Who was it?

Then she stood and faced him and he was momentarily stilled. Soft cheeks were flushed pink from exercise and licking full lips dried from recovering her breath. Shades of the deep ocean caught the fading sun from the hillside and sparkled against the dark lashes that framed her round, doe-like eyes. Ebony hair was unbound and fell in waves around her face and shoulders, covering full breasts and stopping just below her waist. Her haori sleeves were tied back revealing toned arms and she was properly attired otherwise for the first time he could remember.

More than that, he could feel the thrum of her power beneath the human façade. It was immense and bright. It filled her and threatened to overflow at the slightest provocation. It was ancient and terrible. He could feel his youki rising to the surface in challenge. His baser instincts wanted to test her, provoke her… dominate her.

No, they had met not long ago but he had taken no notice of the disrespectful, naïve slip of a girl that had returned to Edo. Before him now was a different woman entirely. Beautiful, matured, powerful. He instantly shook himself of the thoughts. Why was he so focused on this woman? There was much to be done.

"Miko." he greeted.

"Coming to see Rin?" she asked lightly, watching his guarded golden eyes assess her.

She was dying to ask about Inuyasha but wanted to make sure he was in a relatively amiable mood. Well, amiable for him.

"I am removing her to the West for her safety." He glanced back toward the house, breaking his gaze and Kagome was struck by the regality of his profile. He was so much like Inuyasha and yet so different.

"Ah. Is there trouble? Should we be worried here?" Concern laced her voice. The words of warning from the Sesshoumaru of the future echoed in her head.

"Hm. It would be wise to remain alert." A thought occurred to him then and he turned back to her. "Was it you This One saw at the shrine?"

"Ah, saw that, huh? I'm experimenting with reiki. Gives me something to do now that my training is pretty much complete." She was grinning slyly but her pride was evident.

"Training is never 'complete,' miko." he scoffed, "If you are not challenged, you must seek new masters."

Why he was giving her advice, he wasn't sure. He had been mildly impressed, however. She was much improved from their last battle together if the 'experiment' was any indication of her mastery. The few miko he had come across this century paled drastically in comparison.

"I'm sure you're right. By the way, have you seen Inuyasha? He left here to find you a few weeks ago. Did he?"

She thought for just a second she saw him flinch. His eyes darted to Kaede's hut again.

"He did."

His flat, inarticulate answer made her just as worried for some reason. She instantly launched into questioning him, concern written on her face.

"How long ago? Was he okay?"

He remained impassive but found her eyes again.

"No, he requested help-"

"With his youki, yeah I know. But did you help him? Could you?"

Her patience was overtaking her manners and Sesshoumaru had already had a trying day. This miko was testing his tolerance for impertinence.

"Do not interrupt me again, priestess."

It was not a request and Kagome knew it. Anger spiked in her chest but she willed it away.

'He's just an ass, he can't help it. Deep breaths, Kagome. Suck it up. You need him to talk.' she reasoned with herself.

"I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru-sama." She gave a slight bow, realizing how dangerously close she might be to pissing him off. "I'm just really worried. My husband hasn't been home for a month now or sent any word. He was supposed to be with you trying to fix whatever was driving his youki wild but I haven't seen or heard from him and it's making me a little crazy."

'Husband? Does she mean a mate?' he wondered.

"Do you mean you and the hanyou are mated?" This would affect her if so. It would affect a great many things, he lamented.

"We are married. Is that what you mean?"

"No. Youkai mate with life partners, not bandy words and make hollow promises. Be still."

She opened her mouth to retort but thought better of it when he started to move toward her. Sesshoumaru strode calmly over, closing the distance between them in four long strides. His eyes seemed to be searching hers for something. Kagome found his eyes striking, cold and emotionless, but the predatorial command in them was clear. 'Do not move.' When he was standing directly before her, she saw him flare his nostrils ever so slightly. She held her ground and stared right back.

'She smells like only herself. Ripe camelias and spring rain… Surprising.'

'Inuyoukai…' she thought, mentally rolling her eyes. Inuyasha and his obsession with her scent made this behavior tediously normal.

Sesshoumaru was nearly done with his inspection. He raised a clawed index finger and placed it under her chin, tipping her head gently to the side. She kept his gaze until the angle of her head would not allow it. She instead watched his flowing silver hair fall over his shoulder as he leaned. A curtain of silk across the hard planes of his armor. No man should have hair that perfect.

He tipped the miko's head to the side to expose the column of her neck.

'Perhaps Inuyasha impressed the rules of pack on the human. She is being unusually cooperative.'

Immediately he knew that was not the case. Inuyasha would be ignorant of all but the basics of inu pack relations. He tested the theory by tilting her head back in the other direction to examine the other side of her throat. He found himself searching for her eyes as her head turned toward him. Blue met citrine for a moment before she looked away and allowed her head to be turned fully. Enough was enough, however.

"Sesshoumaru? What are you doing?"

She was growing apprehensive, heartbeat increasing and her scent took on notes of citrusy yuzu, but she remained impassive and allowed him to examine her. His youki reached out to assess her. Prodding waves of his natural energy at her throat, her heart, her womb. She flinched at the foreign sensation when she felt his energy brushing hers but he was gazing intently at her neck. She merely cocked an eyebrow and waited. He watched her pulse race beneath the pale, fragile skin of her graceful neck-

Suddenly, he released her and stepped away as if burned.

'They are not mated then. There is no trace of his youki within her.'

"You are not mated. There is none of the hanyou's youki within you." he shared.

This made his life a little easier. A surviving mate would be the responsibility of the Alpha if Inuyasha died. His responsibility. He could claim ignorance of the whelp of course, but since assigning the captain the duty of assessing his half-brother while at home in the Palace, he had as good as claimed him as pack.

"Good? If that's the demon way, Inuyasha must not have known. Is that something we should have done?"

"No. The effect on a miko is unknown. And now, it would be dangerous for you."

"What?" her stomach dropped. "Why would it be dangerous?"

He eyes turned hard then and bored into hers. "Because he might be killed… and you would suffer."

"What? Why?" Her breath was stolen. "By you? By someone else?" Panic was rising in her chest.

"I am retrieving Rin to take her the Western Palace and then I will find him and assess his state of being. A decision will be made when I know more."

Why did he keep divulging his plans to this miko? Those pleading eyes reminded him too much of Rin when she wanted something trivial. He was becoming too accommodating.

"Because of Inuyasha? He's that dangerous? Where is he? What is happening, Sesshoumaru? Please? Did you find out anything about what was going on?"

Kagome was stepping closer and closer to him, and he found it made him vaguely self-conscious and uncomfortable. Her desperate stare was stirring something primal and curtained in him, and he was becoming agitated. Sesshoumaru also realized he had failed to correct her lapse of respect for his title several times.

The hour was still early and he would make it back in time to see Rin settled if he spared a few moments to explain the delicate situation. Her hands were wringing together, and he knew it would be a blow to hear but felt it was better to be honest so she could prepare herself. She was a warrior. She deserved the truth.

"Inuyasha is lost to his youki, miko. If he does not recover on his own, he will have to be stopped. But a half-demon overtaken with bloodlust and crazed by energies he cannot control is unlikely to return to normal.

The damage he could do while in this state is severe. He will hunt down and attack any youkai of great power, and with his heightened senses and battle experience, a great many could fall prey. This could become much bigger than a hanyou lost in the woods. The honor of my house and the threat of war is at stake if my father's half-blood son begins hunting down daiyoukai lords.

A captain of the Western army was sent to train Inuyasha to control his energy and he returned to the Fortress maimed and near dead. The forest where they were to meet is far away from any other cardinal families but he will not waste time. Now, I must gather Rin and leave."

"No… There was nothing you could do?" she whispered, like a prayer for a different answer.

"No. I… underestimated the situation. I will attend to the hanyou personally this time."

"So, you failed him after you gave us hope…"

Kagome recalled the concerned look on the future Sesshoumaru's face as he requested she arm herself. She was looking down when she spoke but he heard her clearly enough. She had said the last words more to herself but they left him curious.

"I gave no vow of help prior to the hanyou's visit to Niigata. You are mistaken. Now, I must go."

His patience was wearing thin. He could not remember ever speaking with at such length with a human. Sesshoumaru turned to enter the house but was stalled again by her request.

"Let me come with you? Just take me to where you last saw him? Niigata, you said?"

"I cannot. Any further delay is an unnecessary risk."

"Unnecessary? I want to help, Sesshoumaru. I can bring him back. I have before!"

That gave him pause. If she could subdue Inuyasha first, perhaps the whole ordeal would be shortened and he could get back to the quiet of patrols and securing the West. No, it would be more hassle than it was worth to bring her along. Dealing with human needs for days on end, or else having to carry two human women across the country, and then finding and dealing with his half-brother… Certainly not. His original plan was sufficient. He would deal with the hanyou alone.

It would be easier to kill them both, of course, but honor demanded that he stay his hand after declaring his quest for his father's sword finished. Killing his half-brother now would be simple murder, not a challenge over birthright. His claws twitched at the idea, though. Either way, the miko was not coming with him to his ancestral home and he was not ferrying her around the countryside with Rin in danger. His patience was nearly gone.

"Then This One suggests you leave Edo and find him, miko!" he reprimanded, anger getting the better of him. This delay had cost him time enough already.

He turned to go into the house to gather Rin and leave the miko to her thoughts. He could smell the building scent of salt as she began to cry silently and the acid tang of vinegar from her growing fear. It was no longer his concern. The list of his concerns seemed to be growing day by day and the Lord of the West would not add the tears of a heartbroken priestess.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin jumped up from her spot by the fire and ran to him, elated.

Her bright smile and sunshine-laced scent lessened the heavy weight of the hanyou predicament on his heart just for a moment. He was grateful she was safe and would remain so now. He relayed his reason for visiting, nodded in response to the elder miko's questions and thanked her for caring for Rin, and within minutes was walking back out into the road and preparing to take off with Rin happily padding next to him.

He looked back towards the shrine. No one was out on the road. The younger miko was no longer in sight and he was grateful she had left them alone. The smell of flowers wafted to his nose then and he looked down at Rin in question. She only smiled and held the small bouquet out for him to see. They were objectively beautiful. But wrong for the season, he noted. Sunflowers and iris were summer flowers, some of Rin's favorites, but not available now in the autumn. Curious.

Seeing his curious look and anticipating his train of thought, as his ward was wont to do, she explained.

"Oh, Sesshoumaru-sama, do you like Rin's flowers? Kagome-sama grew them. She is especially good at growing flowers now. We talk about them a lot. She has been teaching Rin a lot of useful things when we walk and do chores together."

So, the miko and his ward were friends, were they? He felt satisfied that Rin had a companion closer to her own age than the old priestess. Especially one that made her happy. This miko was a curiosity. He glanced back down the road towards the shrine briefly, thinking, and then looked down to Rin.

He nodded to indicate her explanation was accepted and held out his arms for her. She smiled widely and smelled of happiness and excitement as she walked toward him and shifted her sack and the flowers to be near him. He lifted Rin into his arms and took off into the sky, headed for the Western Palace.

…

'Inuyasha was right and now he's out there all alone, a danger to himself and everyone else, according to Sesshoumaru. I have to find him and fix this.' Kagome thought as she stomped back to her house. 'We were ridiculous to think Sesshoumaru would help, and why did he send someone else to help Inuyasha instead of doing it himself?'

So many questions and no answers. She arrived at the house and immediately set to packing the essentials in a sack she had constructed to emulate her old backpack. It was crude but it would last.

It was getting late and as much as she wanted to leave right now, she wouldn't get far tonight and she needed to close up the house and leave Shippou a letter letting him know where she had gone. He had just left for the autumn term and wouldn't be back, according to him, until the peak of winter. She would also need to go see Sango and Miroku to let them know what had happened. Maybe Miroku would have some advice about how to help him, and Sango would have some insight on the "bloodlust" Sesshoumaru mentioned.

She laid down to try to sleep that night but knew it was futile. She was too worried about her husband and their interrupted life together.

'This is all wrong. Inuyasha… Why did I let you go alone? Why do you always try to face the hard stuff alone?'

She let herself cry until she fell asleep. Tomorrow, she would need to harden her resolve, and her emotions, and start the journey to set things right.

...

So, they finally meet! Much more to come. I hope everyone is still enjoying this fledgling attempt. :)