AN: Okay here I am with another chapter! I know I can hear the squeals of delight from here and my ears hurt. LOL, okay.. I see that some people don't read the ANs, but that's cool. I haven't officially decided, but my muses say they have and they are not telling me...so sorry people but the pairings will still be a mystery! ^_^ You could try bribing them, but that doesn't work for me, so I don't expect it will work for you either. silverspun I hate when Kagome is weak too it goes against my nature of shouting "girl power" *rolls eyes* not really, but she's not as much fun! Oh and Sesshomaru will be making his appearance very soon ^_^ Skitzoflame, oh you should see the plot…this is still watery...so you'll have to wait and see KenshinOtaku You always make my day by reviewing ^_^ Lady Love Thank you for your review, and you'll just have to wait and see ^_^ I promise you won't be disappointed (I hope) Thanks to everyone that reviewed I'm glad you all enjoy my story! Okay enough talk, time to get on with the story!

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time. ~Mark Twain

Chapter 8

**LAST TIME***

Everyone was surprised to see a giant dragon emerge from the forest. Most of the demons ran for cover, or at the very least move out of the demon's way in fear of being squished. Kagome removed the bow and arrows off one of the warriors, who seemed to throw it at her when she went to reach for it. Kagome was all settled on Yukiro who took off to the skies.

***NOW***

The two demon lords were following behind her. She wanted to know why they were following her, but before she could ask Soun told her that he did not trust her to kill the demon on her own, and leave Sesshomaru's lands without incident.

Kagome laughed. She felt the pull of the shard and told Yukiro where to go. There was another sound of a battle under way. Yukiro flew as fast as the air currents could take him. Kagome saw three shards one in the forehead, one in the heart, and one in the stomach. There were so many bodies; it was a sight to make anyone queasy.

In the middle of the fight was Sesshomaru and the Chimera. It really was a Chimera. Half snake, half lion, half goat and all nasty*. Kagome called down to Sesshomaru and told him that the demon possessed three of the jewel shards, and their locations.

The two other lords nodded in some unanswered question and joined the fight. Kagome stayed in the sky with Yukiro and readied her arrow. The demon looked slow and ugly, but looks were deceiving. It was quite fast, and the shards were giving it a big advantage. One of the demon lords attacked and it staggered enough for Kagome to have knocked a purified arrow and lodge it into the demon.

The demon's power decreased significantly. This gave the three demon lords enough time to attack. Each demon going after a different shard. Kagome kept sending purified arrows into the demon distracting it, so that they could kill it.

Once Kagome sensed that the shards were out of the Chimera's body, she motioned for Yukiro to descend. The moment Kagome touched ground she ran towards the shards. Genma went to pick one on, but she warned him that the shard needed to be purified first unless he wanted to turn on his friend and kill him. This made the demon stand back. Kagome bent down and upon her touch, the jewel turned back to its pretty pink hue.

The two demon lords asked if she suspected anyone who would gave the demons the shards, and she told them that by the amount of the miasma, it looked as it was the work of the half demon Naraku.

Once the shards were purified and placed with the rest of her collection around her neck, she turned her attention to the demon lords. Genma and Soun thanked her and told her that she and her companion were welcomed in their lands anytime, and that without their help one of them would be dead. Kagome informed them that nothing was stronger than friendship. She watched the pair return to their armies to raise a celebration, and also leaving before Sesshomaru could raise a fuss about unwelcome demons trespassing on his lands.

Once the two demon lords were out of sight Kagome turned to Sesshomaru and told him what he already knew, the healing sword was pulsing at his side. He gave her a piercing glare. He removed the sword and sliced through all of the demons of the underworld.

There was only one little body that was not moving: Rin. Kagome rushed over to her side, and didn't feel a pulse. She sensed Sesshomaru losing all of his control. The newly raised demons fled in terror at the sight of their lord in a rage, and he snarled at Kagome to move aside.

"It won't work. The pulse is not there, and you know it." She examined the small child.

"Move human if you know what is good for you." He snarled as the his eyes started to bleed red.

She stepped aside and let Sesshomaru try to heal her. The demon lord started to wildly swing Tenseiga around, which all lead to no movement from the child. She knew his powers would not work, so she moved back to Rin and started chanting a spell the forest demons taught her.

Her powers pooled into her hands and into the small child. She was performing a transfer of life energy. This would give the soul enough power to come back to life, but Kagome didn't have all of her soul so the process was draining. She felt a pulse on the girl's throat and sighed in relief.

"She will live. I'll heal her more later, but right now she needs a place to rest, as do I." Sesshomaru nodded and picked up his ward and lead the way to his castle.

Yukiro was flying beside Sesshomaru with Kagome on his back. Kagome told him that she would answer his questions later, but right now she had used too much energy to string coherent sentences together.

The demon lord sent a curt nod in her direction, and the rest of the journey was spent in silence. Once they reached his fortress, he placed Rin in her bed and showed Kagome to her own room. Kagome let out a sleepy thank you, and headed straight for the bed. Exhausted, she plopped down on the futon and succumbed to sleep.

She awoke a few hours later feeling better. She threw off the blanket and realized that Yukiro must have covered her up. What a sweet demon. She left Yukiro sleeping on the bed and went in search of the master of the castle.

She found him in his study. She knocked on the door, and he told her to come in. He was hunched over some papers on the desk. He raised his head and sat back trying not to show that he was stretching his muscles.

Kagome went through the interrogation process, and answered all of his questions. He seemed to be satisfied with her answers. Kagome could now see why he was the demon lord of the Western lands; he asked every question imaginable, and expected a complete answer every time.

Kagome's stomach made its presence known, and Kagome excused herself so that she could go and find something to eat. She shrugged when Sesshomaru escorted her to the kitchen. What she ate was not what she expected. She had a modest bowl of rice and some vegetables, which was perfectly fine, as long as it wasn't pickles. Anything but pickles! It was nothing like the fancy meals that she had pictured from the fairy tales that she read as a young child.

She had just finished when Jaken came stumbling in informing Sesshomaru that Rin was awake, but that something was wrong with the human. Sesshomaru rushed out of the room, and Kagome followed after him.

Kagome let out a sigh of relief when she saw her. Kagome explained that in order to revive the child, a part of her soul resided inside of Rin, and now that Rin was stable, her soul was fighting hers. All Kagome had to do was touch the child and her soul entered back into her body. She warned Rin and Sesshomaru that she would now experience a massive amount of pain because Kagome's soul had been acting like a giant painkiller.

Rin nodded her head, and Sesshomaru glared. Rin's body started to contort in pain, and Kagome knew that now would be a good time to start healing her. She warned the demons that they should leave the room, because a mass amount of purifying energy would be in the room and she couldn't guarantee their safety.

Reluctantly, and with a snarl it was agreed, and Kagome started to heal the badly damaged body. Bright pink shot from her hands, and Rin's screams of pain lessened. Her power was growing, before her training, she would never have thought she was able to do something so powerful, and when she healed Kurama, she felt a little light headed, and now she was fine with only a dry mouth.

The young girl looked up at her like nothing was wrong, just as Kurama had done. Rin was back to her normal self. Kagome called to the demons outside that it was safe to enter. As soon as Rin saw Sesshomaru, she ran straight towards him and hugged his legs.

Jaken looked grateful, it seemed that the demon was supposed to be watching Rin, and he told her to stay still and went to investigate a noise that he heard. As usual, Rin didn't listen. The Chimera attacked, many were killed, and the rest, well, is history.

Kagome thought that this was the perfect time to bring out her gifts. Not to mention that the small child was asking if she had brought her anything. She returned a few minutes later with her small bag. The demons raised their eyebrows in wonderment. Kagome took all of the items out and placed them on the bed. Boxes of crayons, packages of coloured paper, colouring books, and stencils all lay on the child's bed.

Rin looked on in wonderment and confusion at what she was looking at. Kagome explained what crayons were and what they were used for. She patiently showed her all the different pictures that she could colour with the books, and that each page told a story. It would help Rin learn how to read.

Kagome saw Rin's eyes fill with tears at her kindness, and Kagome turned to Sesshomaru, and explained to him that his would keep her out of trouble and keep Jaken's hide attached to his body.

She tossed the toad demon the large bottle of lotion and told him that this worked wonders on dry skin. It was unscented so he could add an herb or two so it could smell nice. The demon looked at her like she wanted something in return, either that or was wondering if the lotion was actually poisonous. She turned to the Lord of the manner and told him that she had a gift for him as well, but she could not give it to him at the moment.

He quirked his eyebrow and demanded to know what she was up to. She warned him that his present was not as materialistic as Rin or Jaken's. The stubborn demon could not have a surprise. He demanded to know what she could possibly think that she could give to him that he would want. She looked him straight in the eye and told him the thing he wanted most: his arm back.

The toad demon was stammering about harlots, and liars, but Kagome's face never changed. She was dead serious when she said it, and she was dead serious after it. Sesshomaru demanded to know what she wanted in return. Kagome smiled.

It was simple yet too much to ask from the dog demon. All she wanted was friendship, and to make sure that Rin had someone capable of protecting her, and her description of a protector was one with two arms.

Sesshomaru told her that he needed time to considerate it, and Jaken stammered, whether it was in gratitude or not, Kagome didn't know. She told the demon that she was leaving in an hour so he had until then to decide. Kagome offered to take Rin outside so that Sesshomaru could think it over.

The dog demon thought that going outside was a good idea, but that he would accompany her as well. She shrugged and went to get Yukiro.

The small demon was still sleeping, so she left him. As soon as everyone was outside, Rin ran straight to the flowers and began to pick them. It was that time that Sesshomaru demanded to know the reason for her 'gift'. Kagome told him that it was partially her fault for having it cut off in the first place, and that inside he wasn't a bad guy, which earned her a dirty glare. She told him that if he really wanted his brother dead, then he would have killed him the first time they met.

Not only that, but when he possessed Inuyasha's sword he hesitated in killing him. She continued on, and Sesshomaru told her to be silent. She knew that she was right, and he knew it too.

This next question came as a surprise, "Why aren't you with the half breed?"

She didn't know how to answer the question, so she answered what she thought was the truth. "He has to find himself in order to gain what was lost, and in truth I am his guide. When he hits rock bottom, I'm there to help him back up, and I cheer him on when he is victorious. I guess I do that for all of my friends. Now the question is Lord Sesshomaru, are you my friend?"

She left the demon to ponder his thoughts and went to show Rin how to make chains out of the flowers. They made a chain for each other. Once they were done Kagome told the girl that she had to be leaving, because her friends would be worried about her, but that she was welcomed to come and see her anytime she wanted.

Rin was sad one minute then joyous the next. She was really an array of emotions. She walked up to Sesshomaru, and told him that the hour was up and that she needed her answer. He gave her a curt nod and she told him that she would meet him in his study. She went inside and woke Yukiro up and told him that she would heal Sesshomaru, and then they would go back to looking for more shards. Yukiro mentioned that he was hungry, so she pointed him in the direction of the kitchen.

Once Yukiro was off, Kagome joined up with Sesshomaru in his study. She decided to just get it over and done with. She rolled up his sleeve and placed her hands on the cauterized flesh. She warned him that there would be a great deal of pain. He played the stubborn warrior and grunted. She shrugged, she had warned him. She took slow deep breaths, while pooling the powers into her hands.

The demon hissed as he felt her powers burn him. She had to destroy the scar tissue to regenerate the new flesh. The room's stench became unbearable and Kagome was forced to breathe through her mouth. She could taste the charred flesh, and she knew that for the next little while she'd be eating like a vegetarian.

Once she was sure that all of the scar tissue was gone, she concentrated on forming a new demon arm. That was an easier process. She didn't have to worry about purifying him as much as the previous process. The rest of the operation took only a few minutes. She ran her hands up and down his newly formed attachment. An after thought came to her. She took a dagger off his desk and made a large slash on her arm, and went to make one on his. The demon was too weak to make much of a protest, but Kagome knew she had to work fast. She placed her wound on top of his.

The feeling burned both of their skin until it became a dull sensation. The process was soon over. Her priestess blood was purifying the demon, and vice versa. But that was not point. She didn't want to see if his demon blood could destroy hers, she already knew the answer to that. She called it insurance for the future.

What she wanted to do was done, and both of their wounds healed themselves. He glared at her, and she explained that all things are revealed to those who wait. Now was a good time to leave before he went for her head mantled on his wall. She kissed him on the forehead, which was another nail in her coffin; hell if she was going to die she was going out with a bang. Besides only the good die young. Oh crap she was good, and she was young. At least her death would be a bang...right?

____

* Yes I know that half snake, half lion, half goat makes up to more than a full monster, but I'm just gonna say this, I never go dissing something that has worked for several millennia. But that's how the myth goes and I'm not about to change it!

AN: There's another chapter! Please remember to review!