Author's Note: Well, here's the fourth chapter. I've gotten back into this story, so I expect new chapters will be up fairly soon. I have no idea how long this story will be when it's done.

Thanks to Lanie - I didn't quite fix the question you had, but while I was re-reading the beginning of the story I saw a HUGE! plot hole that I've since gone back and fixed. Nothing major, but I have re-uploaded chapters 1 and 3. So no one has to go back and re-read it, in the beginning Inuyasha says that they need to find shards, but later I said that the jewel was complete. That's been fixed. In Chapter 3 I added some exposition-type information as to what Kagome is doing still back in Sengoku Jidai. Kaede is training her to use her miko powers.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but Tsuki and Hana.

Kagome's Gone
by Maia Serrelinda
Chapter 4

Inuyasha's thoughts tumbled together in a chaotic tangle. Who could have taken Kagome? He already had a pretty good idea it hadn't been Kouga, one because that stupid wolf wouldn't have known how to conceal his scent, and second because he was heading in a different direction from Kouga's territory. It probably wasn't his brother, because he had his own female problems, in the form of one small, intensely curious young girl.

As he followed the lingering traces of Kagome's scent he realized that he was heading in a direction he had not traveled in much before. Most of the shards they had found east of where Naraku had made his base. Inuyasha figured Naraku had gathered most of the shards in that area on his own, because when they fought him for the final time, the jewel had been completed, and he knew his own group had not collected nearly that many shards. The terrain was becoming a little rougher than he was used to, but due to his hanyou reflexes, it wasn't proving to be a problem.

******

Kagome entered the dining room to find Tsuki already seated at the low, traditional table. She looked up as Kagome entered and waved a hand toward the laden table that was against one wall.

"Please, help yourself. I trust you slept well?"

"Actually, I did." Kagome placed servings of several dishes onto her plate and turned to the low table. She set her plate down and carefully knelt at the table, taking care to arrange her yukata underneath her so that she wouldn't inadvertently strangle herself. "What happened to the clothes I was wearing?"

"They are being cleaned. Why do you wear such a short kimono? As a miko, you would normally wear more traditional garb."

"Well," Kagome began, "I'm not exactly a miko. I'm being trained, but it's because I have miko powers, not necessarily because I will become a miko."

Tsuki laughed. "I don't think you actually get a choice. You are a miko. The question is, in what capacity will you serve? I assume from your clothing that you are not originally from this area."

Kagome flushed slightly. "You could say that, yes. I don't know if I will be staying here or whether I will return to my home. Kaede is helping me learn to control my powers, but once I have learned that control I'm not sure what I will do next."

Tsuki arched one eyebrow. "You cannot control your powers?"

Kagome's flush deepened and she frowned. "No, not exactly. Before Kaede started helping me, I could only use them with my arrows. Well, that's not exactly true - twice I blasted a centipede demon with my hand."

"Purifying arrows? Then you were the one to defeat that revolting Naraku?" Tsuki asked.

"How did you know that?"

"I had heard he was destroyed by a miko's purifying arrow." The youkai smiled slightly and sipped at her tea.

"Er, well...I was really angry. I didn't know I could use that much power in one arrow. I sort of lost my temper." Kagome drooped slightly as she recalled the insults she had hurled at Naraku. Her cheeks flamed as the curses she'd used played back in her mind. Obviously, she had been around Inuyasha far too long, because she hadn't even known some of those words two years earlier.

Tsuki laughed. "I'd heard he also got a tongue-lashing. I should have figured it out as soon as I met you that it was you."

"Erk!" Kagome wished the floor would open up and swallow her. She was so embarrassed she was surprised her clothing wasn't on fire.

"Don't worry. You can be assured that the memory of what you said to him will be treasured for years to come."

"Ah, you mean...?" Kagome cringed in anticipation at what was to come.

"Oh, yes! It's practically a legend by now, even though it's only been two months. I think I've heard the story at least seven times since then."

"Wonderful," Kagome buried her head in her arms. "I finally do something to help and all everyone remembers is when I chewed him out."

"Oh, I don't want you to get the wrong impression. The, ah, lecture, is being told as a side story. I heard of the actual defeat many more times than I heard that bit of information."

"I guess that'll have to do, then," Kagome sighed. She finished her meal and placed her empty plate to one side. She sipped her tea and felt the flames engulfing her cheeks slowly die down.

Tsuki rose and gestured for Kagome to follow. "I will show you around the rest of the house. You have free rein around the property. The gardens are bordered by walls which are guarded, just in case you were thinking about escaping."

Kagome stood and smoothed her skirts. "How far away from the village are we, anyway?"

"I fly very quickly. I would say it is a good four days' walk for a human. Your hanyou should be here by tomorrow, midday."

Kagome's face fell as she realized she would probably be missing that exam in spite of the care she had taken in studying for it. She was so deep in her own thoughts she almost missed Tsuki's last statement.

"Tomorrow? You're still going to kill him?"

Tsuki sighed. "It's nothing personal, you understand. His father was responsible for the death of my sister. Come to the sitting room and I will tell you the story."

Tsuki walked a short distance down a hallway leading in the opposite direction of Kagome's room and walked into a large, bright room. Colorful cushions were strewn about the floor as well as a few comfortable looking chairs and chaises. Shelves filled with books and scrolls lined three of the walls. The fourth had several screens which Tsuki slid aside, revealing the manicured garden just outside.

"Oh!" Kagome exclaimed in delight. "It's beautiful!"

Tsuki smiled. "This is my favorite room in the house. I spend a lot of my time here." She sat on a pale green chaise and indicated to Kagome that she should also be seated. She set her tea on a small table and folded her hands in her lap. "I will tell you the story of my sister Hana."

******

The sun was nearly overhead and Inuyasha felt he wasn't any closer to Kagome. Where the hell was she? he thought, irritably. He could still catch wisps of her scent, so he knew he was on the right track.

Anger and fear fueled his desperate flight. He couldn't allow her to be hurt again. He was furious with himself that he had not been there to protect her, even though rationally, he knew that he had been away when she came back through the well, and once she went back to her own time, she rarely came back early. There was really no reason he should have been close to the well when she came back, but the feeling that he should have been there battered his mind relentlessly, causing a slight ache in his chest.

He shook his head violently to stop the train of thought, and with an effort, concentrated on his surroundings again. He occasionally passed near small villages and roads, but he was far enough away that humans took no notice of him. He was peripherally aware of a few youkai he had passed, but he sped on by without stopping. He couldn't waste time on petty youkai right now, he needed to find Kagome.

******

"Hana was my elder sister. She was everything I aspired to be: kind, cheerful, intelligent. Our parents had died when I was very young and Hana took care of me and raised me as if I were her own. This house...this was the house we were both born in. It was left to us after my parents passed on.

"Hana was learning magic from the old sorceress who lived with us. She'd learned all kinds of useful spells. It was she who taught me the concealing spell I used when I abducted you as well as the spell I used to keep you quiet until we had left the area."

"You concealed yourself?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, I hid my scent. However, I did nothing to mask your scent. I needed to make sure your hanyou would be able to find you.

"I was already a woman, albeit a very young woman, when Hana told me why she had been working so hard to learn all the magic she could.

"She was going to kill Inutaisho."

Kagome gasped. Inutaisho was Inuyasha's father!

"I see you know of him. I said that both my parents had passed on, but my father died first, during a territorial fight with a neighboring tribe. My mother was killed by Inutaisho."

Kagome sat silently, in shock. Inutaisho had killed this delicate youkai's mother?

"Our mother was the youngest daughter of a noble family. Her marriage to our father was an arranged one, but they grew to love one another. Shortly after we were born, our father was killed, and Mother was left alone. All we had was this house and a few servants. Mother knew the best solution was to find another mate. She chose Inutaisho."

Kagome nodded, digesting what Tsuki had already said.

Tsuki continued. "She traveled to the Western Lands to see him. They had met before but he was mated and had an heir."

That would be Sesshoumaru, Kagome thought.

"Inutaisho's mate had died and the rumors were that he had a human woman he was keeping."

Inuyasha's mother! Kagome's eyes widened and she gasped.

"Mother believed that the liasion was not serious and that it would be a simple matter to convince him that he was better off with her."

"He rejected her. He said that he was happy with his human woman, and that he had taken her as his mate. They were expecting a child, and he would not be convinced to leave her.

"Then, he cold-heartedly killed her."

Kagome's eyes filled with involuntary tears. "That can't be right! Inuyasha's father would not have done something like that!"

Tsuki's eyes narrowed slightly and she frowned at the young miko. "Shall I continue?"

Kagome brushed the moisture from her eyes and nodded.

"Hana had sworn to avenge our mother's death. Father's sword had been brought back with his remains and she planned to kill Inutaisho. One morning after I had awakened, she came to me and told me that she was leaving to carry out her plan. Two weeks later a messenger appeared with Father's sword and Hana's body."

******