"Inuyasha! Please! He's going to destroy us all!"br
"Why should I care?" Inuyasha flicked his hair over his shoulder.br
"Because I love my time! I don't want it to be destroyed!"br
"Well ya know what? I have no more power over him than you do! What makes you think I can do it?!"br
Kagome's eyes filled with tears. "Because you can do anything," she murmured. She put her arms around him and cried into his shoulder. "Without you I'd be dead a hundred times over! Inuyasha I lo-"br
Inuyasha shoved her off. "Stupid girl! Humans give their feelings away too easily. I hate this time and place! I want to go back where I belong!" He turned away.br
Kagome's sadness turned to anger. "IF YOU DON'T DO IT I'LL PULL SIT ON YOU!" Inuyasha fell down. "SEE?! I'LL DO IT WITH MUCH MORE FORCE IF YOU DON'T PUT THIS ON YOUR BROTHER RIGHT NOW!"br
Inuyasha stood up, looked at Kagome with sheer hatred, and called to Sesshoumaru. "Sesshoumaru! Come here for a second!" He glanced at Kagome with a sad expression. iShe's becoming just like Kikyo. Wanting to control demons at whim.../i Sesshoumaru leaped down from the post. "Kagome! He trusts me!" Inuyasha watched as his older brother sauntered over to him.br
"I don't care! He's a monster!"br
"What is it, Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru asked.br
Kagome started to say, "Sii...".br
"I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru!" He cried as he flung the beads over Sesshoumaru's head.br
"SIT!"br
Both demon brothers fell over, Inuyasha landing on Sesshoumaru's side. "Umph! Agh!" Sesshoumaru yelped. Inuyasha, accostomed to the drop, just growled and said, "Sesshoumaru! Are you ok?"br
"Wha...what happened?" Sesshoumaru tried to get up, but he only succeeded in moving slightly. Inuyasha, who was already on his feet, pulled his brother into a sitting position. "Kagome! Why did you make me do it? Couldn't you have gotten one of your friends to do it?!"br
"Simple," said Kagome. "They would have gotten killed, so I had to get you to do it. Nothing personal, Sesshoumaru, but I can't have you running around no strings attached. So come on, we're going back to the shrine."br
"The shrine?" Kokira asked. "You live at the shrine? How cool! Can I come see it?"br
"Uh..."br
"Thanks!" Kokira took one of each of the demons' arms and led them away. Kagome just looked on in shock, then scampered after them yelling "HEY WAIT!"br
Back at the shrine, Sesshoumaru sat under one of the huge oaks in the back thinking. This time era was so different than anything he could've imagined. Kagome and Kokira were on the porch talking quietly. Inuyasha was who knew where. Rin ran out of the house yelling "Sesshoumaru! Sesshoumaru! Look what I found!"br
He laughed. "What is it, Rin?"br
"There's this really neat thingamabob in the house called a..a...nintendo system! If you press the buttons on the little pad, the thing on the big box picture maker moves! Come see!"br
Sesshoumaru was intrigued. He walked upstairs with Rin to see what the fuss was about.br
From inside the room, there came a S^#%! Then a *Crash*. "Inuyasha. So that's where you went."br
"I CAN'T WIN THIS FRICKIN GAME!" He slammed the controller against the floor again. "HMPH! What good are these skills anyway? What will I have to use them for?!"br
"INUYASHA!" Kagome called. "BAD! SIT!"br
"Crap...BANG!" Both demon brothers fell like a ton of bricks.br
"Hey...there were two crashes! OH MAN, SORRY SESSHOUMARU! I keep forgetting that you're on "sit command" too."br
"Ack-no problem," Sesshoumaru muttered. He hoisted himself to a sitting position and helped Inuyasha up. Since the command was directed at him, he was affected much more heavily than Sesshoumaru. The two brothers left immediately.p
Later on that night, Sesshoumaru was sitting in Kagome's room, listening to Inuyasha's soft breathing. He looked around at what his suroundings had become. iI have to get out of this,/i he thought bitterly. iA Youkai like myself is not meant to be restrained. I need the open and desolate wilderness. Being cramped up in this futuristic world is wasting me away to nothing./i He looked down at Rin who was half-heartedly stroking his long tail. She missed her mother, however short of time she had known her. iWhy do I feel this duty to them?!/i Sesshoumaru raged at himself. His body shook with so much fury Rin jumped and started crying. Against his will, Sesshoumaru's heart wrenched and he tugged the girl close. iI have to get her mother back. For myself as well as Rin. I really have become weak.../ibr
He looked out the window of Kagome's house to the small shed containing the well. Suddenly he knew what he had to do. Being careful not to wake Inuyasha, he picked up Rin and tucked his hand around her mouth. "We're going home," he whispered in her ear. "And we're going to find your mother." And without a sound, he leaped from the room, landing softly on the ground. In one hand, he held the small figure of Rin. In the other, the shards of the Shikon no-tama. He looked back over his shoulder, his hair blowing beautifully in the wind.br
"Goodbye, Inuyasha. May we meet again in battle." Then he swung into the well without a backward glance.p***p
When he hit the bottom of the well, he heard screams searing through the sky above him and demon hisses echoing everywhere. There was a battle! Sesshoumaru's heart beat faster, urging him to join the fray and prove his superiority as the demon lord. His doglike instincts were starting to kick in once again. A wild grin spread across his face. Yes, he could feel the cold killing power coming back to him! The predator had returned. But just as he was about to leap into the fight, Rin tightened her grip on his arm, digging her short fingers into his sleeve. Sesshoumaru fell to his knees, his mind reeling. His heart was hardening and melting at the same time, torn between two worlds.br
"Sesshoumaru! I'm afraid!" Rin clutched his hand close to her heart.br
Sesshoumaru made up his mind quickly. He scooped Rin up and jumped easily to the top of the well. "SILENCE!" He proclaimed. Everything went quiet. He began rapping orders as fast as he could, telling each individual demon what to do and when. He quickly slayed the opposing demons with one slice of his sword, then bounded off through the trees.br
"Sesshoumaru, where's my mother?"br
Sesshoumaru's feet barely grazed the ground he ran so fast. "I don't know, Rin. But I hope we can find her soon," he answered between dodging branches and leaping through trees. iBefore Naraku does something horrible to her.../ibr
Something loomed up in front of him, and he skidded to a halt seconds before he would have crashed into it.br
"Raene?!" He gasped. She smiled at him and ran forward, tears streaming down her face. Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms tight around her.br
"I can't believe it's you! Have you come to rescue me from Naraku?"br
"Yes, yes I have!" Sesshoumaru ran his hand along her back, massaging it carefully as not to scratch her with his claws. Her long black hair mingled with his own, and Sesshoumaru sighed happily. His quest was done. "I can take you home now."br
Raene pulled out of his grasp. "It's not that simple," she said softly. When Sesshoumaru looked closer, he saw spider-web thin ropes around her arms and legs.br
"I don't understand," he said. "What are those?" He pointed to the strands.br
"They bind me to Naraku. You see, he too has fallen in love with me. But that's not the only reason he keeps me bound. He's looking for you, Sesshoumaru. He KNOWS you have the shards of the jewel!"br
"MOMMY!" Rin ran up from behind and jumped into Raene's arms. "I thought you were dead!"br
Sesshoumaru jumped at a sudden realization. Raene HAD been killed, by Naraku himself! His original quest had been to bring Raene back to life using the Shikon no-tama. But now things had changed drastically. But before he could ask what had happened, Naraku's voice boomed through the trees.br
"RAENE! WHERE ARE YOU?!"br
"You must go! Take my little girl and go!" Raene shoved Rin into Sesshoumaru's surprised grasp and fled into the trees.br
"Don't go!" But Raene had already disappeared into the underbrush. Rin started sobbing.br
"Mommy...!"br
Sesshoumaru held his breath and pulled the crying child away into the shelter of the forest.br
Sesshoumaru tried to quiet the young girl, but it was no use. She only cried louder. He cradled her head against his chest, while he lined up the blow that would knock her out cold. But before he let his hand swing forth, he leaned down and kissed Rin's small forehead; something he had never done before. "Be brave, Rin. Your mother's counting on you." Then his hand struck, leaving the girl unconscious.br
Sesshoumaru looked around for a place to keep her safe for the moment. He had to go after Raene. Finally, after finding no one place to his liking, he called down a passing demon and told it to keep Rin safe at all costs. The demon's name was Kouga, and Sesshoumaru had known him for some time. He had been in the same league against Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru knew he could trust Kouga with his life.br
"Take her as far away from here as possible. I will come to retrieve her after I have...completed my quest."br
Kouga laughed. "Well, Sesshoumaru. Even the mighty demon lord cannot stand against the tides of affection. I never thought I'd see the day."br
Sesshoumaru started to tell him off, but then reconsidered. "What's the use of fighting, if you have nothing to fight for?" He said softly. "I used to fight for vengeance, just for the thrill of the hunt. But now I see...there can be much more to fighting than that. I must save Raene." Then he walked away, leaving Kouga bewildered behind him.p