DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.

Since a couple of readers didn't understand the timelines, I have written another explanation below:

Sess's depart ----5 months----victory------3 months------Chp.18----1 month----Chapter 19
.....................---------- 6 months ----------Inu's depart-----1 month-----Chp.15-17

Both timelines is supposed to one timeline. I have made two timelines because Sesshoumaru and Kagome aren't having the same experiences together at the same time. So the upper one is the timeline as Sesshoumaru had experienced and the lower as Kagome had experienced it.

First there was Sesshoumaru's departure. 2 months later Kagome and Inuyasha went to Naraku's mansion to ask for the first halve of the reward. At the same time, Sesshoumaru and the rest had already arrived at Valkyrie's stronghold but they were staying put and preparing themselves for battle, which took them 3 months altogether.

After their victorious take over of the stronghold, Sesshoumaru and the rest defended the stronghold for another 3 long months, waiting for the Imperial Army to arrive. In the meantime Kagome received the threatening letter about the recruit and Inuyasha and his friends had to leave. And Kagome was left alone for a whole month. The massacre at Valkyrie's stronghold happened around the end of that month (Chapter 18). While Sesshoumaru was heading back to Mayr, Kagome received the message about Sesshoumaru being killed during his mission (Chapter 15) and was attacked by Musou on the same day. Inuyasha saved her from the attack and escaped to the forest together with Kagome (Chapter 16). Kagome took Inuyasha to a cave to tend his wound and lived there for the following days to wait for his recovery (Chapter 17).

So basically, the previous chapter was like a huge flashback with Sesshoumaru as the main character.
And now...we're "Back to the present..." (title of this 19th chapter) and Sesshoumaru finally arrives in Mayr...

Italic: thoughts
-- --: locations
"...": spoken words
~*~*~*~*~: time gap
*...* : noises


AN ELVES' CHILD

-by Kittymui-


Back to the present...

Previously:
"Let us go." Sesshoumaru ordered with a calm voice before he dashed into the direction of Mayr, and the rest followed. Damn it! Kagome...please be okay... he thought worriedly as he increased his speed. I should not worry too much...Inuyasha is with her...but...why am I having this uneasy feeling? he wondered slightly disturbed.


~*~*~


There were lots of obstacles on the way back; they had to cross a march and they bumped onto groups of vicious youkai several times. Even with Sesshoumaru and his companions' speed, it still took them almost a month to reach Mayr.

Compared to the time that took them to reach the Valkyrie stronghold from Mayr, they had already cut the time by halve.

-- Back in Mayr --

Sesshoumaru was both relieved and alerted when he arrived in Mayr.

Relieved when he found the city unharmed but alerted because Kagome's scent was nowhere to be found; together with Inuyasha and his friends' scents.

They have left Mayr!? Sesshoumaru thought shocked but quickly shook his head. They must have rented a house somewhere...

"What do we do now?" Kouga asked.

"Spread out and ask the whereabouts of Kagome and the rest. They must have rented a house somewhere." Sesshoumaru replied calmly. "And gather at the marketplace after an hour."

His three companions nodded and the four of them spread out to inquire about Kagome and the rest.

~*~ About an hour later ~*~

Sesshoumaru wandered around the marketplace and was deep in thought.

He snapped out of it when his eyes caught a particular row house. Sesshoumaru didn't know why, but his instincts told him to go to that house and check it out.

He followed his instincts and walked towards the front door.


*KNOCK KNOCK*


Sesshoumaru was disappointed as soon as the door opened. It was a short and wrinkled man with a bent back who opened the door.

"Yeah? What do YOU want?" the man asked with an annoyed voice.

"Do you know a certain raven black haired girl who lived here together with three youkai?" Sesshoumaru asked plainly.

"No! Nobody lived here before I moved in, now go away!" the man shrieked and slammed the door shut.

Sesshoumaru let out a low growl and turned around to leave.

Before he left he took a look through the window of the house and mindlessly scanned through the living room. I wonder what made me come to this house...? he thought puzzled as he turned away from the window.

Suddenly something struck him and he quickly turned to the window again.

His eyes widened when they fell on a certain object on the wall and leaned closer to look carefully.

The rage within him increased as he realized what it was.


K-Kagome's bow and quiver!!!!

He calmly walked back to the door.


*KNOCK KNOCK*


"Go away!!!" the man's voice sounded from inside.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and flexed his claws.


*CRACCKKKK*


The door was ripped apart in a split second and Sesshoumaru entered the house.

The man appeared in the hallway. "What the hell do you think you're__AARGG!!" Before he could finish, Sesshoumaru had already grabbed his throat.

Without saying anything else, he walked into the living room and approached the weapons on the wall, dragging the old man with him.

Sesshoumaru gently took the bow from the wall and sniffed it. There's no denying it...this is truly the bow that I gave Kagome...her faint scent is still lingering on it. he concluded.

Then he realized something as he looked up to the quiver with arrows on the wall. Wait a minute...an arrow is missing...? Was there a fight before she left? he wondered worriedly.

He turned to the struggling man in his grip. "Where did you get this?" he asked.

"I-I found i-it..." the man replied with a trembling voice.

Sesshoumaru tightened his grip on his throat. "Don't lie to me!!" he roared. "You said nobody lived here before you moved in!!"

"I-I l-lied...I'm s-sorry!!"

"Then tell me the truth...NOW!!!" Sesshoumaru growled as he threw the man to the floor in front of him.

"T-the landlord *cough* knows...ask *cough* him...I-I don't know anything, I swear!! Ask the landlord...he lives on the corner of this row houses." he replied terrified.

Sesshoumaru thought for a moment before he spoke. "I will come back and hunt you down if you lie." he growled.
Then he turned to the wall and retrieved the quiver with arrows before leaving the house.

~*~*~

-- At the house of the landlord --

"I suggest you tell me the truth or I'll slit your throat with my sword." Sesshoumaru said, pointing the tip of his sword at the middle-aged man who was lying on the floor in the hallway.

"P-please don't kill me!!" the man shrieked. "I...I'll tell you what I know!!"

Sesshoumaru looked at him expectantly without removing his sword from his throat.

"It w-was indeed a girl with raven black hair and three other youkai who rented the house...a-after six months the three youkai suddenly left. I heard it was because of a recruit or something like that..." the man began.

Sesshoumaru widened his eyes. Kagome was left alone in the house...!?
"Go on." he ordered, pulling himself together.

"A-a month later I saw a maid in front of her door and the girl with raven black hair left the house to follow her. I heard she went to the counselor's mansion... a-and the next day, the girl just disappeared without taking everything with her...that's all..." the man finished.

"That's all...?" Sesshoumaru asked suspiciously. "You're not telling me everything, human, you better open up or I might lose my patience..." he said as he pushed his sword closer to his neck.

The man winced in response when he felt the cold metal against his bare skin. "Okay okay...I'll talk..." he said hastily. "T-there was a dead body...when I inspected her house after her disappearance...it was disgusting..."

A dead body!? Sesshoumaru thought shocked but his attention was drawn again as the man continued to complain.

"Damn woman...must be her work...doesn't she know how difficult it is to clean up all the blood?!? It took me hours to__"

"SILENCE!!" Sesshoumaru roared, causing the man to shut up and widen his eyes of shock.

"What was the identity of the corpse?" he asked with a low growl.

"I-it was a young man...with black hair. An arrow was buried into his chest when I found him." he answered obediently.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and clenched his claws. Must be Musou...

"But it was strange..." the man mindlessly continued. "There was small trail of blood on the wooden floor of the living room and it couldn't have been the blood of the young man..."

"What did you do with the body?" Sesshoumaru inquired, slightly disturbed by what the man said but he thought it was too soon to conclude anything yet.

"I buried it in the middle of the night after I cleaned up the whole house. I still want to rent out the house you know. If someone found out about the murder in one of my houses, nobody would ever want to live in it again...not to mention the annoying authorities and gossips__"

"What about the weapons?" Sesshoumaru cut him off.

"You're holding them, sir...that's the only one I found..."

"Do NOT play dumb in front of me! I doubt that my mate would suddenly kill a weaponless young man like that!!!" he growled furiously.

"WAAH!!" the man cried. "Please forgive me...I-I have hung them... on my w-wall...as d-decorations..."

"Show them to me!" Sesshoumaru ordered as he motioned the man with his sword to stand up.

The man obeyed and led Sesshoumaru to his living room.

"This is all of them..." he said as he stopped in front of a wall.

Sesshoumaru looked up to the wall and scanned it from left to right.

Kagome's arrow...a long thin blade...and__ His eyes widened when they fell on the small gold coated weapon. This is...!!!

He carefully took the weapon from the wall and examined it.

"It's a gun..." the man suddenly spoke. "I heard that only the people of the Southern Lands make them. Very powerful...but not efficient for war..."

Sesshoumaru looked up from the gun to the man with a puzzled expression.

"You see... this weapon can only fire once." he explained. "And this one has already been used once."

Sesshoumaru looked back at the gun.

He had heard of these things before. It can instantly kill a person with this tiny iron marble-shaped thing called 'bullet'.

Sesshoumaru suddenly felt shivers down to his spine when he remembered what the landlord said before.


"There was also another pool of blood on the wooden floor and it couldn't have been the blood of the young man..."


He shook off the scary thought and turned to the man again. "When did it happen?"

"About one week ago, sir." the man replied.

Sesshoumaru frowned. "You have not seen me today and I will not tell anybody about the murder in one of your houses, is that a deal?" he offered, while cursing himself for making one with a human.

The man nodded.

"Good." Sesshoumaru said and turned to the wall again.

He put the gun back on the wall and took Kagome's arrow.

After he put the arrow back into the quiver, where it belonged, Sesshoumaru left the house of the landlord without saying anything else.

To his surprise, Kouga, Kyoukotsu and Renkotsu were already standing outside and waiting for him. They had sensed their leader's presence in the house and decided to wait outside for him.

"And?" Renkotsu asked when he saw Sesshoumaru coming out of the house.

Kouga looked down at the objects that their leader was holding and widened his eyes. "You found out something about Kagome-sama?" he asked hopefully.

Sesshoumaru's emotionless expression didn't change as he walked past his companions.

"Let us go...I will fill you guys in while walking." he ordered with a calm voice.

"Where to?" Kyoukotsu asked surprised.

"To Naraku." Sesshoumaru replied with a growl.

~*~*~

-- Meanwhile, somewhere in a cave deep in the forest --

Kagome was cleaning the face of Inuyasha with a wet cloth.

It's already been a week since the incident...the fever has died down...but why isn't he regaining consciousness? Kagome thought sadly.

Kagome was wearing a thick brown coat made of rabbits' fur and her hair was tied into a loose braid. She had not cut her hair since Sesshoumaru's departure and it was already reaching the lower part of her back.
Inuyasha's clothes didn't change. A thick brown blanket made of the wild boar's fur covered his body to keep him warm.

He isn't suffering any infections...maybe he just lost too much blood...but I can't save him with that...I-I'm not related...to him... Kagome started to sob. ...h-he is...

Chikusho! she cursed inwardly. ...am I going to watch someone dear to me die...? I feel so powerless...I__
Her thoughts were cut off when she heard someone moan.

When she looked down at Inuyasha, she realized that the moaning came from him.


"K...Kagome..."


"Inuyasha...???" Kagome called out his name; her voice filled with hope.

"D-don't...cry..." he whispered weakly with his eyes still closed.

Tears welled up in Kagome's eyes. "Inuyasha!!!! You woke up!!! You have finally woken up!!!" she cried out as she let herself fall onto his chest. "I was so scared...really scared that you might...die...!!!"

Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself looking into two teary navy blue eyes filled with worry and relief.

"Shinpai k-kakete...g-gomen ne..." he managed to say with his hoarse voice.

He wanted to dry her tears with his hand but he didn't have the strength after being unconscious for a whole week.

Kagome pulled herself up in a sitting position and dried her tears with the back of her hands. "D-don't apologize...baka...you were wounded because of me." she sniffled.

"Kagome..." he called her name and lifted his trembling hand a little, using all his strength.

Kagome quickly grasped it before it fell on the cold floor again. "What is it?"

"...I...I know I shouldn't be saying this...b-but I want to take care of you Kagome...in my brother's place..."

Kagome widened her eyes. "I-Inuyasha...! I...I..."

"I know..." Inuyasha cut her off. "I'm not asking you to be unfaithful to my brother...I just don't want you to think that you're all alone with Yuri...I want you to know...that I'll always be here to protect you and Yuri...in my brother's place."

Kagome lifted his hand to her face and leaned her cheek onto the back of his hand.

"Arigatou..." she whispered with a sad smile.

-- Back to Sesshoumaru --

"You WHAT!!!???!!?!" Sesshoumaru's voice echoed through the counselor's mansion.

"Calm down Sesshoumaru." Naraku said.

"My mate thinks I'm dead and is missing at the moment and it is ALL because of YOU!!!" he growled. "And you're telling me to calm down!!?!!"

"Well, the report said that there weren't any survivors, so all I did was telling her what I knew." Naraku explained.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. I cannot let him know what I already know...not until I have found Kagome. he convinced himself inwardly.

"I must say that she surprised me for not collapsing to the floor after she heard about your death." Naraku thought aloud.

Sesshoumaru's ears twitched.

"Not very smart of her to leave Mayr in her condition...being pregnant and all." he continued with an amused voice. "I surely don't hope she's__"
Before Naraku could finish; Sesshoumaru had already shut him up by pointing his sword at his throat.

Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed red for a moment before he spoke. "You better pray that my mate is unharmed or I, Sesshoumaru, will hunt you down until one of us is dead!!" he growled.

With that he sheathed his sword and left the office, leaving an extremely annoyed and shocked Naraku behind.

~*~ Later ~*~


"He WHAAT!?!?! That bastard!!" Renkotsu growled after listening to Sesshoumaru's explanation.

"Calm down Renkotsu, being angry at Naraku won't help a thing right now." Kyoukotsu said.

"Yeah, finding Kagome-sama is the most important thing to do right now." Kouga added.

"But where do we look?" Renkotsu asked.

All three youkai dropped their gazes to the floor.


"The forest." Sesshoumaru suddenly spoke. That is where you always would go, right Kagome? he thought.

"But__" Renkotsu was halted when Kouga put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

Sesshoumaru knew what Renkotsu wanted to say and sighed. "I know it would be like finding a needle in a haystack...I know that we might not..." Without finishing his sentence, he turned to his companions. "But I do not care...if I need to search through all the forests of the Western Lands to find her then so be it. " he stated determinedly.

Renkotsu, Kyoukotsu and Kouga nodded in agreement. "We'll always assist you with whatever you decide, Sesshoumaru-sama. We're sorry to have lost hope in finding Kagome-sama a while ago." Kouga apologized.

"Then let us go." Sesshoumaru ordered and walked into the direction of the city gate with the rest following him.

Sesshoumaru stuck his hand in his sleeve and held the lock of Kagome's hair in his hand.

Mother...if Kagome and our child is still alive...then I beg of you...please guide me to her... he prayed inwardly.

Vocabulary:
Shinpai kakete gomen ne: Sorry I worried you

Posted: 12 October 2003
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)
Spelling check: YES