Sanctuary

Author's Note: lol I love you guys! Thank you for all your reviews! I also wish to thank those who tried to make my stories better! ^-^ You love me! You really do! Anywayz, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer's Note: You want a disclaimer? I'll give you a disclaimer! See the first chapter!

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Mariko approached InuYasha with caution. She had not found SesshouMaru anywhere and decided to take matters in her own hands. She knew more of his tantrums than most people knew. She herself had gone through them.

She shuddered as she remembered the hard lessons she learned from her first tantrum. The bloodshed caused by her hands, the screams and the smell of fear and death would forever be branded in her mind. She vowed never to become a monster and trained hard to keep her blood in control.

" InuYasha, I can help you," she said softly as she approached him slowly. She extended her hand for him to reach.

" M-mariko?"

InuYasha's voice was hoarse and pained. His eyes were slowly returning to their usual golden color. He recalled what he had done and began to weep as Mariko placed her arms around him for comfort.

" There, there… it wasn't your fault…" she cooed as a mother would to a hurt child.

InuYasha pulled away from her and wiped the tears from his eyes. A sad smile escaped his lips and he nodded in appreciation.

" W-what are you doing here?" he asked finally.

Mariko smiled brightly. " I am staying with SesshouMaru."

She grinned at his shocked expression and patted his shoulder. " Not like that you dumb-ass! My parents passed away and Sesshou took me in."

InuYasha smiled uneasily.

" Besides, Sesshou already has a mate so even if I wanted to; and Kami knows I don't, I can't have him," she said.

InuYasha's brows knit together. " My brother does not have a mate… nor does he show signs of wanting one…"

Then a horrific expression flashed through his eyes. " Not that ningen child!? That's low even for SesshouMaru!"

Mariko slapped InuYasha lightly on his arm and shook her head.

" Not her!" Mariko said as she went into child mode. " Her name is Kagome. She looks so pretty! Kind of reminds me of that woman you used to like though… but she's way better! By the way what hap-"

She stopped. She saw InuYasha's angry expression. 'Uh oh…' she thought. She backed away as she saw the fury in the hanyou's eyes. 'What the hell…'

" Kagome? No…"

InuYasha growled and punched the nearest tree, unfortunately, knocking Mariko down as well. The last thing Mariko saw before she fell was an angry InuYasha running towards the North- West. Back to his original destination.

'Shit' she thought. She felt her consciousness leaving and prayed that SesshouMaru would find her soon.

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SesshouMaru had gone into a cave beyond the waterfalls near a spring in the gardens. His aura was completely covered by the earth and the water washed away his scent. It was his sanctuary in real life. The one place he could count on to be empty for him to be left with his thoughts.

He sat down and eyed the dark cave. Being a youkai, his sight had already adapted to the darkness. He had discovered it before his hanyou brother was born, thus he had known that it was dry and good for a den. He had a rug and a few chairs as well as a futon and a table. He had often sneaked out of his room to sleep in the cave. It felt much better to be away from everyone and to hear nothing but the babbling water.

"Kagome…"

He closed his eyes only to open them as soon as he hears Mariko's silent cries. He ran out of the den, not caring if his kimono get wet. Water fell from his drenched hair and his clothes stuck onto his body like a second skin. He ran through the forest with ease and found Mariko's body lying limp, sitting on the base of a huge oak tree.

"Mariko…"

The neko woke up, her violet eyes looking into his golden ones.

" G-gomen… In..inu…yasha… h-he's off t-to try and… take… K-ag…-" she managed to choke out before having a coughing fit. Blood issued from her mouth as she tried to stop.

SesshouMaru lifted her gingerly into his arms. " You'll be fine, just a broken rib or two… but you're going to have to tell me what happened."

He summoned his 'cloud' ( AN: can someone please tell me what that thing is? ) and flew off with Mariko still in his arms.

He could hear Jaken's squawking in the distance. 'I shall be back soon' he said to the frantic youkai telepathically. 'harm a hair on Rin's head and you will find yourself wishing for death'

He listened patiently as Mariko told him of what happened between breaths.

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Sango and Miroku were at the end of their rope. InuYasha was nowhere to be seen and they had no idea where he had gone.

" We should just go to Kagome-sama… he is bound to be there," Miroku said.

Sango slapped the houshi's hands as it went dangerously close to her rear end.

" No, houshi. We cannot let InuYasha get to Kagome without Tetsusaiga. He's too dangerous!" she said.

Miroku nodded and spotted something flying towards them at a high speed. "Wait. Is that SesshouMaru?"

Sango looked up and nodded. " Hai!"

They were surprised to see it float down towards them. They got a good look of SesshouMaru carrying a wounded Neko-youkai bridal style in his arms.

" I need you to take Mariko-san for me. Take care of her wounds. I am off to find my half-brother."

He placed the neko in Sango's arms and left without another word.

"I think we should follow suit," Sango said.

"Not with a wounded youkai we aren't," Miroku said.

" I am not dead, I will heal, let us go," Mariko said as she tried to sit up. " I managed to calm InuYasha down even for a second, I have a feeling I can do it again."

Sango nodded and helped her climb Kirara. Miroku sighed. 'Stubborn women' he thought and climbed in after Sango.

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InuYasha could smell Kagome and he knew he was getting closer. 'Just a little further…' he thought. He needed to know and his anger was fuelling his curiosity. 'SesshouMaru gets everything' he thought bitterly.

Meanwhile, Kagome was just preparing to leave the castle. She as well as Shippou were going to travel to the Western lands to seek SesshouMaru. After all, he was to be her sensei.

The thought of being close to SesshouMaru once more made her feel butterflies in her stomach. 'I can't be falling in love with SesshouMaru… can I?' she asked herself.

She stopped packing and found her CD player in the bottom of her pack. 'Hm… the batteries are still good… I guess it won't hurt' she thought.

She put her headphones on and began to sing along with the CD. Not knowing that just outside her door was her father listening to every word she sang.

'How carefree my daughter is…' Komashiro thought. 'Just like her mother…'

He smiled at the thought. ' She had the same fire when we were forced to be mated…'

Flashback

Komashiro watched as his mate-to-be glared at him from the other side of the room. It was her 18th birthday and law proclaims a woman to be mated by the age of 18

He so wanted to become her mate. She was as beautiful as she was kind. Not to mention powerful, and every male in the lands had wanted her. Although, he was the only one that her father ever took a fancy to.

"You know, this will never work!" she seethed. " You will not get me to cooperate with this."

"I know" he said lightly. " I wouldn't have it any other way"

Ayame glared at him once more and growled as she passed by. " You will have to drag me kicking and screaming before I ever become your mate, you overgrown wolf!"

Komashiro raised his eyebrow and saw the fear in her eyes. He began to corner her.

"Wh-what do you think you are doing?" she stammered.

He lowered his head and kissed her lips lightly. "Whatever I damn well please."

Flashback Ends

He chuckled at the memory and sighed.

' I do hope SesshouMaru treats her kindly' he thought. 'If only she knew how he felt… maybe she might even want to be with him…'

With that thought keeping him amused, he went towards Lady Yumemaru's chambers to discuss the matter further.

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Yumemaru felt InuYasha was close. She knew about his tantrums and had once been at the wrong end of it. She had gotten more bruises from him alone than the battles she had fought all together.

She would not be able to stop him, and he was arriving much faster than she thought. In the speed he was travelling, it would take him 3 hours to arrive at the castle.

' I must keep Kagome here until then… I will not afford to lose her to some mutt!' she thought angrily.

Her door opened and Komashiro stepped in.

" I see you've already known of a hanyou arriving." He said.

Yumemaru nodded and looked at the canvas she was about to paint on. It was blank, save the black dot in the center.

" What is it?" Komashiro asked.

Yumemaru shrugged. " I have no clue."

Suddenly, they heard sounds of panic at the castle gates.

"How can he arrive so soon?" Yumemaru asked. " It is just impossible!"

Komashiro shook his head. " Not if you're in a mad rampage…"

'SesshouMaru… get here… soon!'

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InuYasha managed to get through the guards and was relying on his instincts to guide him to Kagome. He had knocked down plenty of servants to get to her chambers and finally found her. His anger was temporarily forgotten and he stepped forward. Kagome still had her headphones on and was softly singing along with the music. Her back was towards him.

InuYasha slowly approached her and hugged her from behind. He inhaled her scent deeply and sighed.

Kagome stiffened. She saw InuYasha's red haori and felt weak. 'Why is he here? Why is he doing this to me?' she asked.

" In..InuYasha?" she asked slowly.

She turned around and stopped her CD player, taking her headphones off. She felt his stroke her tail lovingly and shivered as a wave of disgust flowed throughout her body.

" What are you doing here?" she breathed.

" Mariko said you were mated to SesshouMaru… that liar." He whispered as he hugged her again.

Kagome blinked and pushed him away. She looked him over and noticed that the Tetsusaiga was nowhere in sight. The only thing left was the scabbard which still hung on his hip.

" Where's the Tetsusaiga?" she asked, fear creeping into her voice. " Wh-why isn't it with you?"

InuYasha frowned and pulled her back into his arms. " Why are you afraid of me?"

Kagome backed away and said the one word that popped into her mind.

" SesshouMaru"

InuYasha felt his blood boil. 'How dare he touch Kagome?!' he thought as his eyes started to turn red once more. Not caring whether he hurt Kagome or not, he grabbed her by the waist and ran towards the window.

Shippou, being in the gardens at the time screamed for help as soon as he saw Kagome in InuYasha's arms. Lady Yumemaru and Lord Komashiro tried in vain to catch up, only to see InuYasha's retreating figure.

" Where is he going to take her?" Shippou asked as tears fell from his eyes. " Where is he taking my mother?"

Yumemaru took the child in her arms and rocked him back and forth. " I don't know…"

"I do"

Komashiro and Yumemaru looked behind them to see Kouga with an angry expression on his face.

" He's taking her back to the forest. His territory…" he growled. " I will bring her back!"

Sadly, without the shards in his legs, he was not as fast as he used to be, but he was fast enough to see SesshouMaru as he flew overhead.

" Kouga, what happened?" he asked, not bothering to mask his emotions. " Where is Kagome?"

"InuKorro took her," he said bluntly. " He's headed back to his forest."

SesshouMaru cursed underneath his breath. " Come, it will be faster this way"

Nodding, Kouga climbed on the cloud and both he and SesshouMaru flew off to save Kagome from a raging InuYasha.

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Kagome didn't know what to do. Kikyou was nowhere in sight and InuYasha never acted this way around her. Maybe it was Naraku? He doesn't have the bead on… but no… Naraku never knew that InuYasha would go ballistic without the Tetsusaiga.

" InuYasha… stop," she commanded him gently.

He seemed to lessen his pace, but he did not stop running. She could sense the forest just ahead. 'We traveled that fast? I thought it took days, er… hours to travel from the North-West to the Western lands…'

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"Home" was all he said.

Suddenly, she felt him growl and stopped. He set her down beside a tree and turned around.

" SesshouMaru" Kagome whispered and heard InuYasha growl even louder. She could feel SesshouMaru's presence even though she could not sense his aura just yet. They saw two figures in the air flying towards them. InuYasha stepped a few feet in front of Kagome defensively.

" Why are you following us?!" InuYasha roared. Still in full youkai mode.

SesshouMaru stepped down from his cloud, making it disappear. Kouga growled and was about to attack when SesshouMaru prevented him from doing something rash.

" Give me back my sister!" Kouga yelled through clenched teeth. " She's got nothing to do with the likes of you!"

InuYasha growled even louder and felt for the Tetsusaiga only to feel the empty scabbard. 'Chikuso'

"Looking for this?" said a feminine voice. All eyes were on the newcomers. Kirara detransformed and heaved heavily for needed air. Sango cradled the exhausted youkai and glared at InuYasha.

Miroku stepped in front of her and showed InuYasha the rusted sword. " You so carelessly dropped the fang as you killed Kikyou."

Mariko grasped a branch to steady herself and placed her other hand on Miroku's shoulder. " Do not provoke him. He may seem civilized, but he can throw a tantrum pretty well."

"Well then how do you propose we defeat the hanyou?" SesshouMaru whispered not letting his guard down as he watched the hanyou wearily.

Mariko shrugged. " We attack him until he becomes unconscious, or until his anger wears off."

They all saw InuYasha still in defense mode and Kagome behind him.

"Try not to move towards Kagome-sama," Mariko said. " He seems to be protective of her."

Kouga growled but nodded.

Without any warning, they all closed in on the hanyou. Miroku had gotten a few punches in, but InuYasha had knocked him into a tree. Sango was more careful and tried to aim for InuYasha's head. Mariko tried not to faint as she kicked InuYasha's back.

After a dozen or so of punches, Kagome decided to join in, knowing InuYasha would never go down without a fight. Locating his pressure point, she poked his neck and he went limp, into SesshouMaru's arms.

"I suggest we return to the castle," he said. " Maybe we can help him there."

Sango nodded as Kouga picked Miroku's body and carried him over his shoulders. Sango helped Mariko as she limped towards the castle.

" Thank kami you're safe," Sango said to Kagome as she walked by.

Kagome nodded and sighed. " I only wish I was stronger… I could have helped out more."

SesshouMaru halted as soon as he heard her. He turned around and glared at the woman who instantly bowed her head in shame.

" If you had not done what you did… InuYasha would have killed us one by one." He said. " So do not say you were of no help"

Kagome blushed at his intense gaze and nodded. " Hai"

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As they reached SesshouMaru's castle, they placed InuYasha in a locked chamber with the Tetsusaiga until he would wake.

Rin was ordered not to go inside, or even to go near the chamber.

Everyone was exhausted from trying to wear InuYasha down, only to find they had worn themselves down. So Sango kept Miroku company in one of the guest chambers in the Eastern wing, and Mariko was left to heal in her chambers. The only ones left still walking were Kagome and SesshouMaru.

" We should inform Lady Yumemaru that I am fine," she said softly.

SesshouMaru nodded. They walked around the castle until they reached the dojo. Kagome stood in awe at his collection of weapons.

" I see you like your classroom?" SesshouMaru said.

Kagome laughed and nodded. " I had no idea there were so many kinds of katanas…"

SesshouMaru watched by the doorway as Kagome examined every weapon in the dojo. His heart was yearning for her, but he just could not move.

'I will just scare her off again…' he thought sadly.

He saw her pick up one of his older swords. It was one his father gave him. The sword was light and cut through most anything smoothly.

He smiled as he saw her trying to perform a basic kata. Her form was bad, but she looked so graceful, even though her strokes were not precise. Finally, he walked up behind her and placed his arm on hers. He rearranged them for better form.

"There," he said still holding her arm. " Now try it"

Kagome went through the kata flawlessly and blushed as she noticed how close she was to him. She looked sideways and blushed as they made eye contact.

"Um… arigato"

'The hell with scaring her off… she must feel the same…'

SesshouMaru took his chance and turned her around slowly. He took the sword from her and placed it back on the wall. Wrapping his tail around her waist, he gazed deep into her eyes, leaned down and gave Kagome a passionate kiss.

'Oh Kami…' Kagome thought as she felt her knees weaken. 'I'm falling… no… I've fallen for SesshouMaru…'

Instead of pushing him away, she surprised herself as she kissed him back with the same passion. SesshouMaru, taking it as a sign purred and broke of the kiss. Kagome whimpered in disapproval, she pouted at him as he laughed at the cute expression she had on her face.

" I think it would be more fitting if we continued this somewhere… private" he whispered huskily kissing her neck.

Kagome blushed and nodded, placing her arms around his neck, he picked her up and began to walk towards the spring in the gardens. He went through the waterfall and laid Kagome down in the futon.

" This is amazing," Kagome said in awe.

" You are the first person I brought into my 'den'," he said lovingly. " You make me feel alive…"

" Aishiteru, Kagome…koishii." He whispered in her ear.

Kagome smiled at him. " I love you too."

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Author's Note: ^_^ * sniff sniff * I … I feel so… loved! Wahhhhh! I'm sorry if it seems a bit different and not as well made as the others… I was writing this when I had a headache so it might be fast paced and bunched together… sorry. I promise the next one will be better!