Busy week. Glad it's over.

There are many and rapid perspective shifts in this chapter. You have been warned.



Chapter 12: If at first you don't succeed

Sesshoumaru resumed his vigil that night as his companions fell asleep. Kagome and Rin were cuddled up together again, both of them smiling a little in their sleep. It eased Sesshoumaru's mind to see them lying there together, their chests falling and rising rhythmically with their exhausted breaths. 'Neither of them ever complain about the pace, though,' he thought. They both had the kind of attitude that tried to make the best of everything.

He stood against a tree, in a sort of half-sleep, waiting for dawn. Like his brother, even in rest he was constantly alert. From where he was, he could smell Kagome's gentle scent wafting up to whisper to him. It was relaxing. He remembered how much thicker the scent had been when he had held her previously. He decided to step away and scout the nearby area before the smell tempted him to repeat the performance.

He had only taken a few soundless steps away from their resting spot when he smelled Naraku's scent. It wasn't the hanyou himself, Sesshoumaru could tell. Nor was it making any attempt to hide its scent as it approached. In fact, it was coming from downwind of him. It could only mean an invitation.

He walked forward to meet his enemy's messenger, putting a little distance between himself and the humans in case a battle ensued, though he stayed close enough to hear any disturbances from where they slept.

Sesshoumaru drew Toukijin as a figure clad in a white baboon pelt materialized in front of him. Sesshoumaru glared as he whipped his blade to point its tip at the kugutsu's chest.

"What do you want here, Half-breed?" Sesshoumaru demanded, his eyes flashing.

Kagome's eyes flew open. Frightened, she realized her hands were bound above her and she could smell blood. She was back in Naraku's prison. "No," she whispered. "I escaped. He can't have me again." She looked down and realized she was in her uniform again, battered and torn. 'I must be dreaming, if I'm wearing this,' she thought.

No sooner had she reached this conclusion than she realized she was in terrible pain from scratches and cuts and bruises all over her body. The pain seemed sharper than it had the last time. She was fully alert this time, and it felt like every inch of her body was screaming in agony inside and out. She began to think that the poisons had been a blessing, she wished for their deadening effects now. She whimpered and pulled at her chains, the pain flaring higher with every second and amplified by the movement.

"What's wrong, Miko?" Her breath caught and her blood ran cold at the sound of Naraku's taunting articulation. "Uncomfortable?"

"No. . ." she hissed, tears streaming down her face as she pulled her arms against the chains. "You're not real. You can't really be here. Go away."

"I'm not going anywhere." Naraku gave her a sly smile and yanked her head up by the back of her hair. "Not real, you say?" Kagome watched in horror as he slowly brought a claw to her throat. Very slowly, he drew his claw over the skin of her neck, carefully making his cut shallow, but painful. She could feel the edge dragging and tearing at her skin. His touch seared and she struggled to draw breath over the pain.

"It feels real to me," Naraku whispered in her ear.

Naraku chuckled through his puppet. "Not happy to see me I gather?" Sesshoumaru waited for Naraku to come to the point.

"I have no time for games. If you want the jewel you need the girl. And I have the girl." Sesshoumaru sneered contemptuously. "You continue to play a recreant in the shadows. If you want her, come and get her yourself. I do not have time for this."

"Ah, but what of your oath to protect her, Sesshoumaru-sama," Naraku mocked. "Surely the great Sesshoumaru would not break his promise. But she is after all human, so perhaps it's not that important anyway."

"Come for her. It will not be necessary to break my word. I will kill you before you ever manage to touch her."

"I do not need to touch her to get what I want." The eyes beneath the baboon mask spoke of amusement. "You seem so certain that you have found my weakness, Sesshoumaru. Are you so sure you haven't made it your own?"

Kagome gasped as Naraku released her head. She tried to instinctively pull a hand to her throat, but was impeded by her bindings. Panicked, she yanked and pulled her hands against the chains until she could feel blood running down her arms.

"You left too quickly last time. I didn't get a chance to finish with you. I think it's time we resumed where we left off, don't you?" The last comment was punctuated by a thrust of something sharp into her side. Kagome stiffened and arched, practically hurling herself away from the wall, only to crash back against it. She lost her breath for a moment as her vision blurred with the pain. 'Please let me pass out,' she begged in her mind.

"Oh, no you don't," he said, pulling her face up again. "You're going to feel every moment of this," he tapped his finger, wet with her blood against the tip of her nose. "You continue to cause problems wherever you go, don't you? Well, you'll only be an asset to me from now until I decide to kill you." He smoothed her hair condescendingly, "Make no mistake, miko, your death will come at my discretion. So will your new companion's."

The kugutsu chuckled again at Sesshoumaru's rage. "You've gotten your arm back, Sesshoumaru. Would that have been the miko's work or your own?"

"You do not have the right to ask this Sesshoumaru questions." Sesshoumaru was fighting the urge to rip the thing in front of him apart, but resisted in hopes of gaining some information.

"I've been watching you, as you probably have realized. Your eyes stray to your brother's woman more often than she sees. Are you becoming attached, Sesshoumaru?" the puppet sneered.

His right hand strengthened it's grip on Toukijin while his left claws tensed and the green poison began to rise. "She is a means to an end. Your end, as soon as you come to meet it," he growled.

Naraku went on undeterred, "I'm surprised, Sesshoumaru, that you would be interested in some disgusting human woman. Of course, that's hardly surprising, considering your father and your brother." The kugutsu grinned. "But she is fun, isn't she? I have enjoyed playing with her-she puts up a nice little fight. Pitiful, but enjoying to watch. I'm looking forward to the next time we meet."

"You will not touch what's mine," Sesshoumaru hissed, his eyes red. "I will slaughter you if you touch her!" An animalistic taint was filling Sesshoumaru's words.

"So possessive, so quickly. You're weaker than I thought, Sesshoumaru." Speaking through the puppet, Naraku could not suffer any immediate consequences of the demon lord's wrath. "I will reclaim her. Or, I may just decide to kill her. The shikon shards have a way of making themselves known, it is only a matter of time. And killing her would be so much easier than taking her alive."

Kagome continued to struggle as Naraku watched in amusement. "You may have escaped my hold briefly, but you are still very much under my control." He leaned down, pressing his face into her hair on the side of her head. "Manipulating you is so easy, you know." He grinned as he whispered into her hair. "Your powers allowed me to destroy Inuyasha. Soon you will locate the last shard for me and then we can take care of Sesshoumaru."

Fear and worry flickered on Kagome's face, and she tensed in realization. Naraku caught it and laughed. "I think I may let you live afterwards, though. After all, we've been through so much together, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"There's no hope for you, woman. No Inuyasha to come to your rescue. Sesshoumaru cannot help you, even if he wanted to. You're mine."

Kagome watched, trapped, as Naraku brought his hand for another strike. "You won't ever escape me." He laughed as his blow came down and collided painfully.

Kagome screamed.

"Sesshoumaru, you will soon find, as your brother did: there are many ways for me to get to the girl. You cannot protect her."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What do you mean?"

"I still have her bloodstone. There's a link between us." Naraku said vindictively.

Sesshoumaru heard an anguished scream, immediately recognizable as Kagome's.

The kugutsu smirked. "I told you, I do not need to touch her to get what I want. Touching her is only a perk."

Sesshoumaru snarled and in a moment the puppet was nothing more than a pile of dust hissing and bubbling in severe green poison. He whirled around and sped back to his followers.

Kagome's scream had woken Rin and Jaken, who were just beginning to move by the time Sesshoumaru appeared at his captive's side. Rin was frightened, he could see, but she would have to wait until he had taken care of Kagome. "Jaken, move Rin away."

The young miko was gasping and thrashing on the ground, her eyes winced tightly shut. Her fingers clawed at the air as she jerked her wrists away from invisible bonds. She huddled protectively and gave a little whimper of distress. "Woman," Sesshoumaru ordered. "Wake up."

Kagome cried out again as her body yanked away from some unseen force. She choked and went slack for a moment before tensing back up. She made no sign of hearing Sesshoumaru.

"Kagome," he called again, kneeling beside her. "Listen to me: wake up."

Gently, he put his hand on her shoulder. Kagome screamed voicelessly and recoiled from his touch. He reflectively pulled his hand away, but he knew he had to get her awake again. He saw the tears running down her face and listened to her rasping breath, broken only by her sobs and screams. She was being tortured. That damned hanyou was torturing the woman he had vowed to protect right in front of his eyes. She writhed in agony again beneath him. He growled. He would not let him do this to her.

He pushed her down and held her to the ground by her shoulders. She twisted and thrashed under his hands, but he ignored her yelps of pain and kept his grip. "Kagome, listen to me. I won't let him hurt you. Now wake up." She lessened her struggling, but tears were pouring steadily down her face. Her breath was unsteady and quick. As she continued to remain unaware of him, he felt his anger grow. The rage, however, was only masking his growing fear for her. "Naraku! Bastard, she's mine!" he rumbled at the night air.

Kagome was crying freely beneath him in her sleep, small sobs escaped her trembling lips every few moments. Sesshoumaru kept her pinned to the ground with one hand and brought the other to her face to wipe away her tears. "Kagome, wake up. . .please, trust me." He felt the rhythms of her heart and breath change abruptly and remained completely still, waiting.

"Sesshoumaru?" she whispered uncertainly.

Sesshoumaru relaxed a little and took some of the pressure away from her shoulder. "Yes. Now open your eyes."

Kagome timidly opened her eyes to find herself back outdoors with Sesshoumaru holding her down firmly, his golden eyes fixed acutely on her. Her arms flew to her throat and wrapped around her middle, she still felt the burn of the pain. Sesshoumaru watched her strange behavior. 'Is she still in pain?' he wondered.

He reached down and pried her fingers away from her throat. "You are not wounded," he told her.

Kagome fought to prevent him from pulling her hand away. "It hurts so badly," she gasped. Sesshoumaru frowned and ran his fingers softly over her smooth throat. "There is nothing here. You must trust me." He found her other hand and pulled it away from her body. Kagome winced as he did so. 'What has he done to her?' he growled in his mind.

Kagome was still breathing heavily as she struggled to take control. She could still feel the wounds Naraku had inflicted, but the pain was starting to fade a little. Sesshoumaru's voice comforted her, as it had drawn her out of the nightmare.

Seeing her calm, Sesshoumaru started to pull his hand restraining her away. Without thinking, she launched herself out of his grasp and upwards. She latched her arms around him, scraping herself on his armor in the process. "Don't leave me," she whispered, her panic from the dream still lingering. "Please, don't let him take me." Sesshoumaru glared as the scent from her small cut reached his nose, though Kagome didn't seem to notice she had hurt herself.

He wrapped a strong arm around her waist and pulled her up to a kneeling position while she kept a desperate grip on him. His other hand impulsively reached to stroke her hair. "I will not let him touch you," he said, holding her tighter. He looked over at Rin, who was standing agitated, wringing her kimono sleeves in her hands. "Rin, go back to sleep." The little girl looked at Kagome and hesitated. "She will be fine. Go back to sleep."

Rin nodded and obeyed , curling up in her favorite place next to the dragon. Jaken, catching an intense glare from his master, backed away slowly to give Sesshoumaru some room.

"Kagome," he said softly. He gently lifted her chin to look at her face. "Tell me exactly what happened."

Her eyes swam as she recalled her experience. "It wasn't just a dream, was it? It felt real... It was worse even than when he tortured me before."

Sesshoumaru fought to hold back the part of him that wanted to tear Naraku's body to shreds. "How did he hurt you?"

Her hand twitched protectively toward her throat again and he saw the memory of the pain flash in her eyes. "He cut me here first. Then he stabbed me, I think. I couldn't move. I tried, but he had me chained like I was before. Then he just kept hitting me and cutting me. He said. . ." She snapped her head up with renewed anxiety.

"What did he say?" he prompted.

"Sesshoumaru, you have to send me away from you," she said breathlessly. "You have to! Otherwise he'll try to use me to kill you."

"I'm not letting you leave," he said with an air of finality.

"Please!! You have to! It's my fault Inuyasha's dead. I won't let you die too." She pleaded with him, fisting her hands in his sleeves.

She was worried for him. After all the pain and torture, she wanted to leave him so that he would be safe? 'What kind of creature is she?' Sesshoumaru wondered. "You are the one that is in danger; he cannot hurt me." He watched his words impact on the girls face. She fell forward against him dejectedly. "What else did he say?"

Kagome buried her face into Sesshoumaru's pelt. She spoke softly, half ashamed, though she knew he would hear. "He said that he still had power over me, and that he would use me to find the shards and destroy you. I don't understand what he meant by that, though." Sesshoumaru glanced down at her but remained silent. Kagome pushed herself a little closer to Sesshoumaru. "He said I would never escape." She paused, her voice shaking. "He said that I was his."

She gasped as Sesshoumaru used the arm around her waist to pull her tightly against him. "You are not his," his hissed. "He will never touch you."

"Sesshoumaru, I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough to stop him." She relaxed in his arms, and Sesshoumaru felt himself release some of the tension he had been holding.

He pulled them down into a more comfortable sitting position against a tree, though he kept his arm around her. He unstrapped his armor and laid it to the side before pulling her to rest against him. He was pleased when she made no attempt to resist and calmly leaned into him. "Do not apologize," he said softly. "You are strong enough. I have never seen you fail."

They remained still for a long moment. It felt strangely right being held by the demon lord. She felt safe with his arm around her, and leaning against him was so comfortable. "Sesshoumaru," she whispered. "Why are you holding me?" She made no attempt to move, and hoped that he wouldn't come to his senses and shove her away when he realized what he was doing. She had to know.

Sesshoumaru brushed his hand down her arm from her shoulder to her fingertips. "Because I want to."

Another moment went past. Kagome laid her hand on Sesshoumaru's chest and delicately fingered his long white hair. He noticed the tired, dazed look on her face and wondered who she imagined holding her. "I'm not Inuyasha," he said.

"I know you're not," she answered, still not moving. Her eyelids were drooping and her heartbeat was slow.

"You're tired, go to sleep."

She shook her head against his chest. "Can't. He'll find me again if I do."

"If he comes, I will wake you before he can harm you. I told you I would protect you. Sleep." She sighed against him and he felt her breathing become slow and steady once more. Her eyes were closed and her long dark lashes rested on her cheek.

Certain she was asleep, he picked her up from where she leaned against him and resettled her in his arms. There was no armor between them this time, the warmth from her body pressed against him was soothing. He inhaled deeply, breathing in her scent. She snuggled in closer to him in her sleep, bringing her hand up to rest next to her face on his chest. He smiled at her innocent gesture, picking up her hand and gently caressing her fingers in his own.

Naraku had hurt her tonight, but he would not let it happen again. Naraku's only purpose that night seemed to have been to demonstrate his dominance over the situation and spread doubt. Sesshoumaru frowned, thinking of Naraku's spies. Had he made the girl his weakness? Having two humans in his care limited his actions, he could not deny that. He also could not hide from himself the fact that he wanted the girl with him, and no longer simply for the sake of destroying Naraku. She was human, but she was also more than he had ever expected a human could be. Naraku's attempts to hurt and manipulate her made him seethe. She drew out his protective urges, reactions he never even had until he met Rin.

What Naraku thought he knew meant nothing, Sesshoumaru decided. He would treat Kagome as he pleased, wether Naraku was watching or not. He would not allow Naraku to use her, or Rin for that matter, against him. He would fight his way out of any traps set in his way, and the filthy hanyou would not lay a hand on her again.

She was very beautiful, he allowed himself to think. Such strength and power in such a delicate package. His fingers found the cut on her wrist where it had scraped against his armor. It had already scabbed over completely, but he frowned at it all the same. Kagome had been in many battles, even against himself, and she had never become so unhinged. She had not been broken by her time imprisoned by Naraku; she had fought even when things seemed hopeless for her. Whatever Naraku had done to her in her dreams must have been horrific to frighten her so much. Not only that, but she said she could still feel the pain from his torture after the dream had ended. He would have to be vigilant to keep her from getting hurt again.

How had he become so protective of her in so short a time? His vow, he knew, was not responsible for his outrage on her behalf. He was pleased that she had wanted him close after the attack. She had not shrunk away in revulsion after she settled down either. Perhaps she was finally beginning to trust him, to fall asleep so unhesitatingly in his arms. Or perhaps her fear had simply overridden her dislike, though he preferred to believe the former.

Kagome stirred a little against him, turning into his chest and hiding her face, wrapping her fingers tightly around a fist-full of his kimono. "Sesshoumaru," she whimpered softly.

Sesshoumaru rested his hand on her head, stroking her hair until she relaxed again.

"You are not his," he told the unresponsive bundle in his lap. The pads of his fingers gently glided over her throat, reassuring himself of her vitality and testing for the absence of Naraku's wound. He ignored the voice in his head that insisted she was only with him by force and she loved his half brother. "You're mine."



This past week has been some pretty hellish. Since it's been a bit longer than usual, I decided to go ahead and post, even though the next chapter is still in a rough draft stage. Also, I have been restructuring and filling in my outline. This story has a way of expanding itself. Oh well. From now on, I will try to put story status up on my profile page, so you can check there if you like.

There is now an update list for this story.

Thanks for all of the great feedback, you've all been really helpful.

Keep reviewing!!!!

-Aiwen



This chapter last updated: Friday, April 18, 2003