Hiya everyone!!!! Happy 2004!!!! I hope you had a great Christmas!! I did~ Didn't get any Inuyasha stuff but that's okie my parents hardly ever know what to get me when it comes to my anime/manga. So they got me alot of Buffy and Angel goodies V^-^V Yum, luff David Boreanaz!

Thank you for the reviews~! As usual you guys are so sweet~~ Except for the "if you don't rescue Sesshie we will beat you to a death with a shovel" reviews. ^_~ A fake disclaimer is no one's friend, yes? lol I promise the Fluffy, Exalted One will soon see better days. Thanks for sticking with me!

RATED R WARNING. In the latter part of this chapter Inuyasha's language is very, very, "VERY I cannot stress the vulgarity of his language" vulgar. You might want to skip it if words like that (the w-word for prostitute or the f-word to name two of many) offend you. Be forewarned, I TOLD YOU.

Disclaimer: Blah.

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To Be With You Tomorrow

Part Nine :: Revenge

Chapter Thirty-Three :: Ani-ue

"Aaaah, the food was good," Tanpopo and Shippou purred in satisfaction, the two kits stuffed from the feast the inn had prepared. It was a well furnished inn, high class due to Miroku's typical "evil jaki" story. The furniture was of the best quality, polished to a shine. The futons were soft and clean, the tatami brand-new. There was even incense lit, the scent appearing to be lilac.

The kits curled up on a futon with Tama, the hanyou rubbing Tanpopo's hair as the young girl started to doze, relieved and excited to have returned to her surrogate mother's arms, and Shippou innocently clutching Tanpopo's shirt.

Kagome smiled at the sight as she finished her dinner as well, making small chit chat with Miroku, Sango and Tama. Every so often she would steal a glance at her hanyou who, in true Inuyasha fashion, was having none of it.

He was leaned against the wall, arms crossed, Tessaiga pulled up close against his chest. His eyes had narrowed down to pinpoints, and whenever the floorboards outside the door creaked his eyes would narrow further, almost disappearing completely.

"Inuyasha, would you relax?" Miroku suggested, "We're safe."

Inuyasha snorted in response, rolling his eyes "That's what you think. Why did we choose this inn, it's too close to the den. If Shiina or Sonoko or Manta wanted to attack they could make it here in a single bound."

Tama tilted her head sympathetically. "Inuyasha, it'll be alright. Kagetoki wouldn't let them anymore."

He made a disgusted glare. "What the fuck are you talking about, you're the one who picked this stupid spot. If I'd had my way we'd be miles from here."

It was Tama's turn to look disgusted. "Everyone's already exhausted! If you'd had your way we'd be sleeping in the forest because any further and they'dve passed out." Inuyasha snorted again and looked out the window, retaking his vigil.

Tama sighed. At least her plan was working. Sort of.

Inuyasha wouldn't go to sleep.

*Dammit... with him in such a state, trying to take Tessaiga would be especially difficult. I should have known keeping them this close would be stupid because Inuyasha would be on his guard, but the best path to the southern wolf tribe's home is right behind the den. I have to head south as quickly as possible after taking the sword.*

She frowned, continuing to comb through Tanpopo's hair, sighing aggravatedly. *Keeping him here was the best option in that frame of thinking, but... in that one way, actually getting the sword is impossible unless I outright attack him...*

She eyed the sword. The youtou made of her father's fang, created to protect her human mother. Broken in battle against some demon, and for some unknown reason, left unrepaired by her father. Rebuilt with the strength of two of her father's fangs at the time she and Inuyasha had been born.

And now Inuyasha wielded it.

And he was being a stubborn ass.

It was well after midnight when the hanyou finally fell asleep; Tama had noticed his lids drooping long before, and when he finally succumbed to it, she waited a few minutes to make sure he was asleep.

She got up quiet as a mouse, her bare feet padding over the tatami to her brother. Inuyasha stirred in his sleep, startling her, and she stopped her movement instantly. Inuyasha merely nestled further into the corner and further into his surprisingly deep sleep.

Tama moved forward again, gently reaching out and pulling the blade from his arms. Again he stirred, his mouth turning down in a frown and his hold tightening around the sheathe. Tama stopped again, irked.

When Inuyasha refused to release the blade, Tama tugged Tessaiga from the sheathe and left the wooden case in Inuyasha's arms, hugging the bare blade to herself. Then again by some form of miracle he settled, and Tama breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

As she turned to leave, she reached out to pat Inuyasha's head. She stayed her hand just a moment's touch from her brother's ears, afraid to leave without saying goodbye but more afraid to wake him and not get the chance to leave anyway. Her hand dropped to her side defeatedly, and she sighed.

"I love you, little brother. Goodbye..."

As she slipped out of the inn, the morning sun began to rise.

~*~

The sunshine was glittering through the forest canopy as Tama headed south, her arms folded behind her head. She couldn't help but walk slow, even though she was practically a fugitive. She had just stolen the Tessaiga from Inuyasha, not to mention she was on a mission to destroy the southern wolf tribe's heirloom, whatever that was.

She could have just put a sign around her neck that read, "Give me painful death" and she would be in the same situation either way.

But it was just such a beautiful day, perfect and bright. The sun was warm on her face and there was a cool breeze blowing through the trees. She lifted her face to the sky and smiled, remembering the days when she and her twin brother would walk with their mother in her home palace's courtyard.

Or even then memories from even farther back, when her elder brother used to take them on walks outside the den. Tama pouted slightly. She missed Sesshoumaru. Her ani-ue. When was the last time she had seen him...?

She had been sixteen years old. It had been her ani-ue who found her, broken and half-dead after she fell in the river, separated from Inuyasha. He had been the one who helped nurse her back to health. They stayed together for a short time, coming across two illusionists, Terith and Terrace, who had once worked for their father.

The twin sisters claimed Inutaisho had betrayed them and demanded revenge on his spawn, and the battle between Sesshoumaru and Tama and the sisters had begun. And once again Tama was lost, left for dead. After she had healed again, she returned to Musashi to find her twin--

--and found he had forgotten her; left behind her memory for a mortal woman. The same mortal woman who later killed him.

And from that day on, Tama threw away the ties to her past and lived as a human, with her husband Katsuyoumaru and her daughter Kiseki. She never saw either brother again, except on that one day every year when she returned to Musashi to check on the sleeping Inuyasha.

Years passed. Katsuyoumaru grew old and passed on to the next world. Kiseki, her child, grew up, moved away. She also died, at the hands of bandits. And Tama remained the same.

She found the kitsune cub Tsutsuji. She raised her as her own, and even Tsutsuji had left her to live her own life.

And then her past returned to her. Inuyasha returned to her.

When would her ani-ue return to her?

Suddenly she frowned, knocked from her thoughts by the scent of blood in the air. Blood and salty scent, like tears. Human scent, inuyoukai scent. Tama lifted an eyebrow in wonder.

One ear perked as she closed in on the scent; she could hear the obvious sounds of a child crying. She peered around a large oak tree, curious but not yet wanting to be found.

On the ground, over what appeared to be a corpse, a small girl of about 7 or 8 was weeping mightily, her dark brown hair covering her face. Her shoulders shook as she wailed uncontrollably, burying her face in the furry tail over the shoulder of...

"ANI-UE!"

Her wish to go unnoticed now forgotten, Tama raced to them, startling the girl, hardly noticing the little green troll who had insisted on following her brother everywhere. What was his name? Jikken? Jiko? She couldn't remember.

Sesshoumaru was unconscious, his lean face covered in wounds and burns. She noticed his left arm was missing, but it seemed to be an older wound. There were heavy patches of blood on his kimono and hakama, burned wisps of silk and cotton and some of his perfect fur and hair was singed.

She gently shook his right shoulder. "Ani-ue! Ani-ue, please wake up! Are you alive?!"

The toadie looked as surprised as the little girl. "Tama!! You're alive!!!" The hanyou looked irked. "Of course I'm alive!! How long has he been this way?! Has he moved at all?"

The little girl shook her head, lifting a single finger, indicating one. "He moved once, and that was all... he just won't wake up..." Her little face crinkled and she whimpered, lowering herself again to his chest. "Sesshoumaru-sama...."

Thump.

Tama paused, swallowing thickly. Had she just heard a sound? It was faint, almost like a drum, or a heartbeat. It strengthened steadily, until she could hear it without straining, and then she suddenly felt the thrum of heavy youki, an invisible reverberation through the air, and the sheathed blade at her brother's hip started to glow.

The little girl next to Tama shuffled, sniffling cautiously, and Jakuten, or whatever his name was, blinked. "Sesshoumaru-sama??"

The lord then stirred, his face tightening in pain, and his nose twitched slightly as he carefully sniffed the air. He perked suddenly, as though catching a scent he had not expected, and the gold eyes slid open, unfocussed at first. They quickly shifted and his blank gaze turned on her. Tama felt water gathering in her eyes and she leaned over him. "Ani-ue?"

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in surprise. "Tama..."

She smiled weakly, tears splashing over onto her cheeks and hands despite knowing how her ani-ue hated tears. "Ani-ue, you're alright...!" She huddled over his shoulder, burying her face into his tail. ".........Thank God."

Carefully his right arm coiled around her in an awkward, unaccustomed embrace, and he sighed softly. Tama understood his meaning without having to hear it, and she smiled gently.

"I missed you too, Ani-ue."

~*~

Kagome gripped tightly into Inuyasha's haori, nervously eyeing the hanyou's dark face. He was absolutely furious --for the second time in a span of three days-- and while she had always known him to cover his true feelings with anger, fury was slightly different. Inuyasha was *always* pissed off.

Rarely was he truly furious.

He was muttering obscenities under his breath, every so often barking out a particularly nasty one, ones that even though Miroku had done some bad things in his life and heard some bad things said, made him cringe inwardly. He and Sango were trailing right behind the leaping and bounding hanyou upon Kirara's back, and were constantly plugging the kits' ears for fear of Inuyasha's mouth defiling the youngsters.

Kagome gently rubbed his shoulders, trying to calm him down, and though she knew she could "s" word him into serenity without any effort, he had a perfectly genuine reason to be mad, and he didn't deserve being sat for being mad when he had a right to be.

"Inuyasha, I'm sure she had a good reason for taking it..." she said softly, and the hanyou cursed.

"Fuck good reasons! That's my sword! Traitorous bitch, she's gone too damn far! Goddamn selfish, stupid, no-good, stingy whore..."

"Inuyasha, she's your sister!" Kagome gasped, shocked at his angry words and he turned his head. "Forgive me if I don't like having my damn stuff stolen from me while I sleep!! Did you conveniently

forget about what happens to me when I lose Tessaiga?! What if I... What if something happened and I can't protect you!!"

Kagome looked down, knowing he had changed what he would say before it came out of his mouth. She felt his body tense underneath her and she looked at his face. Studying him now she could see the worry etched under his angry features.

'What if I transform again,' is what he'd meant to say.

The painful recollection of the last time he transformed was always in her thoughts, everytime she saw him she could see what he could do, what he had done. It was easier for her to overlook; she loved him and she knew the creature he became when his blood took control was not her Inuyasha. It didn't matter to her. But still, when she saw him brooding, it reminded her too much of that sad sunset when they sat together.

She knew she disliked her memory of the event, but knew that for Inuyasha, she knew it must have ten million times worse. He would have that guilt rest on his chest until the day he died, and sometimes she wondered if the fact he couldn't remember what had happened that day was a blessing or a curse.

She bent her neck and rested her forehead on his shoulder, tightening her hold around his ribs and relaxing the rest of her body, trusting him completely. Inuyasha swallowed, looking at her over his shoulder. "Kagome..."

She was probably about to say something sweet and wonderful that would make him feel better but snapped her eyes open suddenly, and turned her head a little, facing away from him. She turned back, her eyes intense. "I feel two Shikon shards coming this way, very, very fast."

"What?" he demanded, slowing to a stop and Kagome hopped down from his back. Miroku and Sango stopped quickly, and Sango reached up to grasp Hiraikotsu's tether instantly. "Something up?"

"I recognize this youki," Miroku said, looking sideways at Inuyasha, whose hair was standing on end. There was a slight rumbling coming from deep in the hanyou's chest; a nasty warning growl, and Kagome was certain he would started snarling and barking any moment. It didn't help he was already mad to begin with. Kagome whimpered. "Inuyasha be nice to--"

The tornado blur stopped in its tracks and the winds spiraled up and away, unveiling a brown-clad demon, his mouth set in a wolfish grin. "Yo! Kagome!" he called cheerily, waving, and Kagome laughed blatantly.

"...Kouga-kun."

~*~ To be continued ~*~

a/n :: Well there you have it, I fixed Sesshie. ^-^ And I reunited Sesshie and Tama. (originally it was alot sooner, like chapter 17 but that went all awry so~) I so love those two ^-^V Think Rin and Sesshie' relationship when she's 17. Awwwwww, cute!

Another note. Yay! I threw in Kouga! Yay! Note ended.

Btw, jikken means "experiment" jiko means "accident" and jakuten means "weak point" lmao~! ;p Im so mean to the little toad~ Please review!!! Okie, ja~!

~*~ V^-^V ~*~

~Tessen