Author: Hey, it's me again. I want to give my sincere apologies to all of you, I am making this story go by really quickly and I'm sorry. You see, it's because I don't know what to say, Naraku is a guy that always stays in his room and it's hard to make a love story for someone in that position. If he was a demon lord it would be different because he would go on adventures and all that stuff which would give him and Ame some time to bond. But he's not, so it's really hard so please forgive me if this story is fast forwarding a lot... I just don't know what to write.

Oh, If you guys would check out my other stories that would be nice. It would make me happy! Well thank you all the people that reviewed! You're very nice; now I introduce my next chap.

Kurayami looked outside his window for any sign of the half demon; his patience was wearing thin. He tapped his sharp claws against the railing of the balcony then decided to go inside. It's been two days and he still hasn't arrived, but he understood, he was probably miles away, it was quite a distance. The girl would wake up soon; she started to move a bit in her sleep.

Kurayami walked in to see her, she looked very lovely, he liked to see her in her slumbering state. He was surprised by that instant when her eyelids started to open slowly and her dark brown eyes met his green Haunting ones. She groaned and placed her hand on her forehead.

"Who are you?" she said in a low groggy voice

He looked at her blankly for a minute; he made a small warm smile (which is hard for a bad guy to do).

"I see you have awakened, my name is Kurayami, I saw you get knocked out by a powerful poisonous gas caused by a bat demon. I saved you and brought you here to get the poison out. You should be fine, though your mate didn't seem to like me bringing you here so when he comes...he may be a bit upset."

She tried to sit up a bit which seemed to be a bit of a challenge

"Where's my baby?"

Kurayami's mouth turned to a grim line and his bangs covered his eyes

"I'm sorry but...the poison proved too much for your child to handle...I'm sorry"

Ame's eyes grew wide and an incredibly shocked look came to her face

"My baby is...dead?" she said in a soft whisper

He nodded solemnly. She lowered her head to look at the ground and silently let tears run down her cheeks. He made a blank look of no emotion as he watched her...but the plan was working perfectly.

"I know this is a delicate situation for you, so I will leave you alone"

Kurayami bowed to her before exiting the room and shutting the door. She buried her face in her knees still crying about the loss of her child.

"What about Naraku?" she choked out

-

Naraku was running from tree to tree but he was getting lost a lot since the power had faded. He was still far from Ame and her captor, and it would be a while before he reached them. He had to hurry; he didn't want ANYTHING to happen to Ame. When he reached a high tree, he looked far off into the distance for any sign of the river that divided the north by the east.

It seemed like a blue streak in the distance, but he was determined to make it there.

-

Kurayami knew she would be like this for a while, so he took this opportunity to get some paper work done. He went in a small room next to a large window, and sat down ready to write.

"Ah, a letter from the Southern lord" he mumbled

Ame was lying down again, she couldn't believe how careless she had been, she shouldn't have gone for a walk this time. Now her only child was gone, and there was nothing she could do. She hoped that Naraku would come soon; she would feel better with him around then a stranger.

She slowly closed her eyes; she tried to clear her mind of everything and hoped that she would see Naraku soon. She hoped things would get better...but she was sadly mistaking.

Kurayami sighed and put the letter down

He wants me to attend a meeting tomorrow? I can't do that, I still have the girl, if I leave her here and that Hanyou comes then the plan will fail. I could always bring her along, it's only one day after all.

He signed the paper telling the southern lord that he would be there and with one wave of his wrist the paper disappeared in a blue light. He got out of his chair and walked down the hall to see how his captive was doing. He quickly slid open the shoji door not caring if he interrupted her or not. She had almost fallen asleep; she turned to face him, her eyes full of exhaustion and grief. He put on a fictitious smile

"Ms. Uh..."

"Ame...just Ame"

"Ame, I have to attend a meeting tomorrow and I need you to come with me."

"Why can't I just wait here?"

"Oh, these forests are full of dangerous Youkai, I wouldn't want you to get hurt or...taken."

An evil gleam came to his eyes at that last word and he remained silent

"...ok"

"Good, all right, you'll need to get up early."

"I will"

He smiled a last time and shut the door; she turned her head to face the wall and tried to go to sleep.

The next day, Ame woke up earlier than she thought she would, the candle in her room was out and some light was flooding in from the door not being shut all the way. She sat up quickly, and opened the door while brushing her hair with her fingers. The sound of a quill scratching the paper (not literally) was heard so she went to go follow the sound.

The sound immediately stopped and soon the sound of foot steps followed. She saw Kurayami come from around the corner.

"My, you're up early" he said to her in a friendly tone.

"Oh, yeah, I was just waking up by walking around"

"All right, well we'll be ready to go pretty soon...just stay here, I won't take very long.""

She nodded in response and he went to go put on better clothes.

-

"Ok"

He came back about ten minutes later with a gold kimono top with beige colored circles for a design. He also had on a matching Beige kimono bottom; Ame thought it looked quite formal.

"Let's be off then"

He grabbed a hold of her wrist and brought her along until they were outside. The sun was barely peeking over the hill tops; the sky was still a light grey with a bit of pink where the sun was. The chilly early morning air brought cold waves to the two beings.

Kurayami uttered a soft chant and the next thing they knew, they were just about fifty yards from a giant castle that peeked over a large hill with some mountains in the background.

"Where are we?" Ame looked around at the scenery

"We are in the southern lord's domain"

"It's...huge"

Kurayami looked up at the castle

"Yes, Lord Tokubei has put a lot of pride and work into this castle of his"

"Is Lord Tokubei the owner of these lands?"

"Yes, now listen, while I'm at the meeting, I want you to stay in the room he assigns us...I don't want you to come out under ANY circumstances."

Ame nods her head slowly, he walks to the castle walls and Ame follows closely behind him. The castle walls slowly parted and the sound of screeching was very loud and noticeable. When they opened completely he walked in and started to walk up the nicely carved stairs that went to the entrance. When he reached the top, he knocked on the door; a young woman opened the door with long curly dark brown hair and very dark brown eyes.

"Lord Kurayami?" she said in a low silky voice

"Yes"

"Right this way."

Ame looked at the young woman...something about her told her it was a full blooded Youkai...and a very pretty one at that. She led them down a long hallway filled with paintings of battles and ancestors. The young woman stopped in front of a rather large door and smiled at them as she opened the door and gestured her hand for them to enter.

Kurayami and Ame walked in; there was a young man with beautiful, shiny, layered golden-blonde, hair. His uneven long spiky golden bangs concealed most of his light auburn eyes that made the light that reflected off of them dance. He had a low ponytail as well that held hair that went down to his waist. He was talking to an even younger looking Youkai with long flowing beautiful silver hair and deep golden eyes that held nothing but seriousness. He had two magenta stripes on each side of his cheek and a blue crescent moon on his forehead; all and all they looked very handsome.

Both men stood up as Kurayami entered

"Good morning Lord Kurayami" the golden haired man said in a mellifluous tone and he bowed.

"Good morning Lord Tokubei...Lord Sesshomaru" (-wink-wink-nudge-nudge-) Kurayami bowed as did Sesshomaru.

"Oh Kurayami, who's the charming young lady behind you?" Tokubei giggled and looked over Kurayami's shoulder at Ame who blushed when he looked at her.

"Hi" Tokubei said in a very friendly tone as he beamed at her and waved his fingers; her whole face turn red at this.

"G-good morning Tokubei-sama"

At that instant, he got out of his seat and walked over to her and Kurayami,

"Wow she's really cute, how did you pick this one up Kurayami, what's your secret?"

The woman that directed Ame and Kurayami to the room cleared her throat; Tokubei looked back at her with a sweat drop.

"Don't worry Yuki, I'm not forgetting you" he smiled at her and gave a nervous laugh

"Can we move on to the reason why we're here?" Kurayami said a bit annoyed

"Oh sure, come now, have a seat next to me" Tokubei looked one last time at Ame and cupped her chin in his hand. "Don't be so shy, Yuki will direct you to a room and you two can do some girl bonding...and if you wait long enough I can join you and we can all...do some bonding."

"Lord, let's just focus on the meeting" Kurayami said to him, a distant fire burning in his eyes.

"Sure, sure" Tokubei let go of Ame's chin and walked over to his seat.

"Come on, I'll show you a spare room" Yuki said to Ame before walking out the door with Ame slowly walking behind. They went up a winding staircase and went mid-way until Yuki opened a shoji and let Ame walk in first.

"It's not the best room in the house but it should do" Yuki said looking at the dust and spider webs all along the corners of the room.

"Uh, thanks" Ame sat on the side of the bed and looked longingly out the window, then turned back to face Yuki.

"That man, Lord Tokubei...he seems nice" Ame started the conversation and Yuki took out a broom and brushed up some spider webs.

"Yeah, he can be really sweet sometimes...that's why I'm worried about him"

"Why?"

"A demon lord isn't suppose to be soft, but Tokubei finds his way around...if you catch my drift"

"Yeah."

Ame got up and walked over to Yuki

"I can clean it up, you don't have to"

"Ok" Yuki sat down on the bed (yeah, they actually have real beds) and made a deep sigh. "So, are you Kurayami's mate?"

Ame continued to dust with the broom and remembered something Kurayami said to her...

-Flashback-

'If anyone asks...tell them you're my mate, we don't want them to get suspicious'

-End flashback-

"Uh...yes I am his mate" Ame said rather slowly, she didn't want to say anyone was her mate except Naraku.

"I see, he seems very serious"

"Uh, yeah he's a hard worker."

They were both quiet for quite some time...then Ame decided to speak

"How long will the meeting last?"

"All day, they always do"

Ame sighed, she knew this was going to be a long day...but she couldn't stop thinking about Naraku.

-

Naraku past by the river, he was now officially in the southern lords domain. Most demon lords castles were built in the middle of the lands, Naraku knew he still had a long way to go. He continued to run from tree to tree not taking a break at all...he was very exhausted. That still didn't stop him from running at top speed, every minute was precious and he would spend them wisely.

-

Ame lay back on the bed; Yuki had left to do some errands so Ame was alone in the little room. It had been hours and they were still in their meeting; whatever they were talking about it must have been important. Soon, she heard some talking and the sound of footsteps echoing off the stairwell. The sounds got louder and louder until someone opened her door.

Kurayami came in and sat down on the bed

"Is the meeting over?" Ame said in a hopeful voice

"Yes it's been cut short today; I'm going to talk a little more to Lord Tokubei,you can come down when you're ready."

"Okay"

He got up and left the room slowly closing the door behind him. After a few minutes, Ame stood up and walked outside the door, she walked down the long staircase. At the base of the stairs, she saw the young lord she thinks it was called 'Sesshomaru' standing against the wall with his arms crossed and a serious look on his face. Being respectful, she bowed

"Good day my lord"

Sesshomaru just glared at her "Girl..." he spoke in a subdued tone.

She stopped bowing and looked at him.

"Who do you belong with? Your obviously not the northern lords mate...his scent isn't on you at all...it's someone else."

Ame didn't know what to say, what could she say?

"Uh...he's not my mate, but he says that he rescued me from a bat demon and is taking care of me until my real mate comes and gets me."

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at this statement

"And you actually believe him? No demon lord would rescue anyone, especially one who is not their mate."

Ame was silent; she bowed once more and quietly walked down the hall thinking about what Sesshomaru had said.

Is it possible that Kurayami is using me? If he were, why would he use me...for what purpose?

Ame walked down the hall and met up with Kurayami

"Are you ready to go?" he said in a blank tone

"Yes"

Tokubei walked by them

"Good bye lord Kurayami, good bye pretty lady"

Tokubei winked at Ame and she smiled shyly at him. Kurayami walked out of the castle with Ame right behind him. He recited a chant and they both disappeared and were back in his own castle again.

Kurayami cocked an eyebrow and looked over at the rolling green hills that were his lands. His eyes shown that mysterious fire in them again and he turned to Ame with a grim expression on his face.

"Your mate is in my lands...he should be here in about two days"

Ame smiled in relief and Kurayami entered the castle. He had to fulfill the other part of his plan, it was a terrible plan, it would make Naraku sorry he ever killed the eastern lord. The plan had to be fulfilled tonight. The sun was slowly setting; he rushed into the castle with Ame following him he then turned to her, his face showing the most serious expression Ame has seen yet.

He smiled but still his expression held a mysterious other emotion...almost pity.

"Ame..."

She looked at him, her face remained blank

"I need you to do me a HUGE favor"...

Author: Hey guys! Did ya like the chap? Can you guess what Kurayami's plan is? Because I'm not gonna tell ya, you're going to havta guess yourself. But I'll give you some clues the next chap. Well, thank you all you WONDERFUL reviewers I love you all! Oh and yes, the character in here named Yuki...Tokubei's mate...is a character based on Yuki Haitani! Even though she acts nothing like her as much as I put in.

Yuki Haitani put me in her story:

A Night of Passion

(Check it out and her other stories, she's my best bud in the world so be nice to her!)

So I'm putting her in mine! Well, see you all next chap...Bye!

Tokubei: And remember to review!

Ps: the name Tokubei was given to me by Yuki so don't give me any credit on the name!

REVIEW PLEASE!!!!