Hey everyone, I'm back with another update! Isn't it amazing? Eh heh heh… alright, sorry for the wait, but I actually expected to have time over the break, not be pasted by so many things… I had like 4 days of Christmas, two days of traveling, and the rest cleaning days… ugh. I'm really sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except Shingo, Yumi, and Ao.

Winter's Night

Chapter 27

Inuyasha's POV

The moon was bright and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Just my luck, right? The one time when I actually need to get some rest so that I'm ready for tomorrow, and sleep won't come to me. The moon casting its bright white light, illuminating the land, and glowing right in my face. I've tried to fall asleep, but nothing works. My brain has gone into overdrive thinking about the fight, getting back to my mate and pup, getting Shingo's mother back to him and his sister, finding a way to get back home, how to go about killing the dragon…

I sigh and rub my temples trying once again to will my brain to shut up and let me sleep. It doesn't, so I rise and try a walk. I use my nose and find a small stream nearby. I walk to it and crouch down beside it, splashing the cool water against my face. I stare at the slowly moving surface and sigh as more thoughts enter my already cluttered mind.

A growl escapes me as I hit the water with my open hand. Standing, I trudge back to the tree that I had been trying to sleep in and jump back up onto the branch I had been on. I try taking deep breaths and counting in my head.

'Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyu, jyu, jyu ichi, jyu ni…'

I feel my thoughts slowly fade away and yawn as blackness invades my mind. A smile creeps its way onto my face as I finally fall asleep.

1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1


A shrill scream fills the air, jolting me out of my slumber and almost causing me to fall off the branch that I'm on. I stand up and look around only to yelp as another ear-piercing cry echoes over my surroundings. A heat fills the air and I look up as the mountain top is engulfed in flames. My eyes widen at the site before narrowing as I smirk.

"So, you finally show where you are dragon?" I jump out of the tree and run towards the mountain, jumping up it's cliffs with ease. The heat increases and another scream fills the air. My ears flatten back against my head in an attempt to block the noise, but it doesn't do much. Focusing too much on the noise, I lose my footing and fall, landing on the rock below the ledge with a loud crack. I wince as I sit up, my back screaming at me in pain.

'Idiot, how could you slip like that? And you expect to beat a dragon?'

I growl at myself and get up, ignoring the jolts of pain my movement causes. I glare up at the ledge above me before jumping up, landing on it with an extra stomp for pissing me off. Suddenly the temperature rises and I look away from the ledge up towards the fire above. My eyes widen as a ball of fire rapidly approaches. I dive towards the mountain side and duck my head against the rocky crevice. Heat surges passed me, clinging to my back. The temperature drops back down and I sigh in relief.

"Thank kami for my haori." I mumble stepping out away from the side. I narrow my eyes in concentration and resume my climb up the mountain. The higher I go, the lighter the air seems, but the heat continues to rise as I near the flames.

Finally after a few more slips, I reach the top, a wall of flames rising high above me. I look around for a way to go around it, but find nothing. I try to jump, but I barely reach half way up it. Growling, I bunch up my hair and shove it down the back of my haori. Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but I really don't feel like having my hair burned. Covering my head with my sleeves, I take a deep breath before charging the flames. The fire engulfs me, the heat burning my hands and face, the flames licking at my feet. I come out on the other side, taking rapid gulps of air.

Sweet coats my body from the heat and my excursions. I wipe my forehead with my sleeve trying to keep the substance from running down my face and into my eyes. Removing my hair from my haori, I tie it back with the small piece of rope that Shingo had used to tie it back before. Releasing my hair, I clutched the hilt of Tessaiga, my knuckles turning white from my grip. A small shock shoots through my hand before the sword settles down, recognizing me as its wielder. I walk towards the edge of the cliff that I'm standing on, and stare down into the small valley/crater below me.

I stare at the sight, my eyes taking in everything about my surroundings. There is no plant life, only black, charred ground, rocky walls covered in ash, the scent driving my senses insane. Movement to the side catches my gaze and I look to see a man dressed in extravagant robes approach two women huddled on the ground. One woman moves back at his approach, but the other lay out on the ground, not moving at all. The man only continues his advancement, a whip in one hand and fire in the other. He throws the fire at the woman moving back, but it lands at her feet, just missing her bare toes. He raises the whip and cracks it down upon the still woman. The whip tears at her neck with enough force that it separates the head from her body. Blood spurts out and coats the ground. The other woman screams and jumps up, limping slightly as she runs away from the man. The man stands there, a look of pure pleasure on his face as he laughs at the woman's reaction.

My eyes narrow, my blood surging through my veins at the man's blood lust. Memories of the day Kouga attacked flash through my mind. This man was just like him. He attacked innocents to fill his own desire to see and sense blood, just like how that stupid wolf tried to kill my innocent son just to end his life and try to take Kagome.

"Why don't you attack someone of your own strength demon!" I growl before he could attack the other woman. Anger surges through me, filling my mind with hatred as red seeps into my vision. "Or are you so weak that you have to prey on weak innocent humans to get your kicks?"

The demon stares at me. I knew he couldn't understand, but at least I got his attention. The woman also stares at me for a moment before coming to her senses and begins running towards the stone staircase that appears to lead towards a cavern. The demon also catches her movement and growls, turning his gaze back to me.

"You would do best to stay out of this you dirty-blooded dog." He roars in such an emotionless tone that he could rival Sesshomaru. I stare at the demon only to realize that I understood him perfectly.

"What the hell? You speak Japanese?" I yell down at him, trying to not let my confusion surface.

"After having lived for a few centuries, one meets a few foolish foreigners from time to time. Yet you are the first half breed that has come by in a long time." He says turning to face me. "You have interrupted my games and now you shall pay."

"Oh yeah? Well bring it on bastard, I came here to kill you anyway." I growl back, drawing Tessaiga from its sheath. He gazes at my sword before laughing. I growl and narrow my eyes even more. "What the hell is so funny jackass?!"

He calms down some, but a look of amusement still adorns his face. "Is that the only weapon that you carry with you? An old dog fang? Well, let me show you something that will put that pitiful excuse for a weapon in the dirt."

Suddenly a bright green light erupts from around him as his aura flares violently. His body disappears into a cloud of green smoke, a sort of miasma filling the crater. I shield my nose with my sleeve and stare as his youki begins to grow faster. I gulp, a sudden nervousness running through me.

What if Sesshomaru had been right? What if I can't beat this dragon and I die here? What would happen to Kagome? Would Kiyoshi grow up without a father?

I shake my head, ridding my mind of those kinds of thoughts. Thoughts like those will only make me lose. I will win and return home to my family. I won't let Kiyoshi grow up without a father like I did.

The smoke begins to clear and a dark silhouette shows through. I get into a fighting stance and scowl as he comes into full view. He towers over me, probably a good hundred or more meters high. Green scales cover his face, blue iridescent ones coat the rest of his body, black spines running down his back, and two enormous wings fan out from his back. He smirks, his teeth coated in a faint red. He opens his mouth and a giant ball of fire launches at me. I jump to the side, dodging it easily.

"Damn, you should really do something, that breath is killer." I yell causing him to growl in annoyance.

He throws more fire at me and I continue to dodge, jumping all over the place. I dodge a particularly large fireball and am about to shoot another insult at him when the spiked tip of his tail connects with my side sending me into the crater, sliding across the burned ground and into the rocky wall on the other side. I groan and sit up only to have electricity run up my spine, making me painfully aware of all the abuse my back has been given. I hiss as I stand, trying to push the pain to the back of my mind. I look up at my adversary only to see a red and orange blur rush at me.

I howl as the fire tears into me, somehow making it passed my robes and igniting my skin. The fire dissipates and I slump to the ground, smoke rising from me, the only article of clothing left being my hakama and tattered shreds of my haori and inner kimono.

"Heh, given up already half breed?" the dragon smirked. "I am Li-Long, the most powerful dragon in all of China. It was foolish of you to even think of challenging me."

"Feh, I already said I was going to kill you" I growled as I rose to my feet, tightening my hold on Tessaiga. "And that's exactly what I'm going to do!"

"Oh and how are you planning to do that?"

"By doing this! KAZE NO KIZU!" I swung my blade fast and hard, the wind rushing out of it, swarming with youki.

"What?!" The attack engulfed Li-Long, a scream of pain coming from his big mouth. I smirk but hold Tessaiga ready. That attack didn't even faze Ryokotsusei, so it shouldn't have done anything, just surprise him.

Laughing echoes and I flatten my ears. His monstrous voice is already bad, his laughing is even worse.

"That was amusing to say the least mongrel. However I will thank you for the breeze, it was quite refreshing." He smirks and narrows his eyes at me. He raises his tail and I rush forward to attack him head on. I slash at his legs but none of my slashes pierce the skin. He lowers to attack me with his teeth when I sink Tessaiga into his underbelly. He hisses as the sword sinks in deep, blood pouring from the wound. He rears back and I move to grab Tessaiga when his wings flap. The wind picks up and I'm thrown back, but I twist mid-air landing on my hands and feet, sliding back only a few meters.

"How dare you!" His calm look is gone.

"Oh come on, I thought my little sword couldn't do anything to the great Li-Long?" I yell. "You're just a weak overgrown lizard."

I run at him again, this time doing flips and jumps to dodge his tail and mouth. I run underneath him, grabbing Tessaiga and running it down from the wound making a larger gash in him. Blood pours out and hits me, burning my skin. I take Tessaiga and get away, coughing a little and rubbing my eyes.

"What the fuck?!" I yell as his blood burns like acid on my skin.

"How'd you like the taste of my poison? My blood is filled with that. It will eat away at your skin until it seeps into your blood stream, killing you slowly, allowing you to writhe in agony as it tears you apart from the inside out."

He stalks over to me, lashing his tail out, piercing me through the middle. I cry out as the poison seeps into the wound and the spines on his tail dig into my innards. He lifts me face to face with him and opens his jaws. I clutch Tessaiga and ram it into his eye. He thrashes, his jerking movements causing me to be thrown off his tail. I hit the ground with a sickening thud and darkness ebbs into my vision. My ears twitch, catching the sound of metal hitting the ground to my left. He must've gotten Tessaiga out of his eye.

I hear his loud footsteps as he walks towards me. I will my body to move, but it doesn't heed my thoughts. I try and try to get up when a crushing weight comes down on my arm. I scream as the pain rushes through my body, a thousand times worse than before. The darkness invades further and I'm slightly aware of his youki fading as the scent of that green smoke fills my nose. I choke as I inhale the scent of my own blood and I feel something hot and sticky ooze out of my mouth.

"Are you dying already? How disappointing yet again." I feel his hand wrap around my hair and drag me up off the ground. I hiss at the pain of my hair being pulled from its roots. I force my eyes to open and I glare at him as best I can.

"So you still have some life left in you I see? Well, can't waste that now can we?" I see a blur as his fist crashes into my temple and the black completely surrounds me.

1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Something cold touches my skin. I shiver as my senses slowly come back to me. My head feels heavy and pain runs throughout my entire body that I just want to lay here forever. Wait am I even lying down? A scent wafts to my nose. I'm not alone? But… I take another sniff. It's a woman, that woman from before. What the…?

I slowly open my eyes and look around me. There's the woman rinsing a rag in a bowl of water. The water is tinged with a deep red… blood. I look around more, noticing I'm in a dark, damp chamber, metal bars over the only opening. A few lit torches hang from the walls lighting the chamber enough to see.

I move my hand to wipe the blood from the corner of my mouth only to find that I can't. I tilt my head to the side, though my neck screams not to move. Metal shackles are attached to each of my wrists and are chained together and then to the wall. I look down towards my feet only to feel pressure on my neck. Something hard and cold goes all the way around my neck. I move my head and hearing metal scrape against metal.

So there's a shackle around my neck too…

I look back at my feet; they too are shackled but only together, not to anything else. I let a sigh escape me, only to hear a startled gasp. I look up to see the woman staring at me, her eyes wide in shock and fear. The wet rag is clutched tightly in her hands as she sits there unmoving.

"What are you staring at? It ain't like I can hurt you." I say my voice a little scratchier than I would've hoped for. Guess all that fire and smoke got to my lungs. My words seem to shake her from her stupor and she lowers the rag back to the water before wringing it out and moving towards me. She raises it to my face and wipes the blood away from my mouth and starts to wipe my cheek.

I blink a few times and stare at her confused.

"Uh hey, what's going on?" I ask as she removes the rag to rinse it again. She looks hesitant to speak.

"P-Please, keep your voice down, or Li-Long will hear that you have awakened." She says. I nod, though the movement makes me feel a little light headed.

"So, what's going on?" I whisper. She moves back with the cloth and begins to wipe the blood from my chest.

"Li-Long knocked you out. He decided since you were strong that you may prove to be entertaining for a while… He had me give you the antidote to his poison and he chained you here. I was told to clean you up and to inform him once you've awakened. He plans to… entertain himself by torturing you… like he did to Keiko…" she whispers.

"That other woman?" I ask and she nods in response. She rinses the rag again and removes one that was placed on my abdomen that I hadn't realized was there. She winces as she looks at my wound and places some herbal paste over it before replacing the cloth. Tears slowly slide down her face and I frown in confusion.

"Why are you crying?" I ask the confusion evident in my voice. She shakes her head and wipes her eyes.

"You remind me so much of my son…" she says sadly. She takes a deep intake of breath before she begins to gather her things.

"Is your son Shingo Ariyoshi?" She whips her head around so fast; it looked like she could've broken her neck. She stares at me, her eyes wide once again. What's with her and that look?

"Y-You know Shingo?" She asks her voice full of worry and some joy.

"Yeah, he gave me a ride over here from Japan. I came to kill that bastard of a dragon and he wanted to come save you. He, Yumi, and Ao came over to Shanghai, but I left them in the village." A look of relief washes over her features and she smiles.

"I'm glad to know that they're alright."

"Yeah, I promised I'd take you back to them. So how about you unchain me, I kill the dragon and we leave this hell hole?"

She frowns and shakes her head. "Sadly, I can't do that. Li-Long is the only one who can break the seal placed on the shackles. If I touch them, we both would be harmed."

"Damnit." I growl out of frustration. "It's just my luck ya know? I come here to kill the thing quickly and end up its damned prisoner. The hell if I'm gonna stand for that."

Growling, I pull at the bonds, ignoring the pain in my limbs from my actions.

"No you mustn't! He'll hear you and then he'll begin his torture!" Ariyoshi-san yells at me.

"I'd rather die than be some asshole dragon's torture toy." I growl and pull harder at the bond. The chains begin to strain under the pressure and I smirk as one cracks. "Yes- AHH!" I scream as lightening shoots through my body, engulfing me with enough energy to leave Sesshomaru on the floor in pain. The energy fades and I slump down, the chains the only things keeping me from collapsing on the floor.

Ariyoshi-san quickly moves to check me. She's speaking, but her words are a jumbled mess as they reach my ears. A loud clunking reaches my ears and I lift my head slightly to see a shadowy figure approach. A deep voice begins to speak, but once again the words are a mass of slurred sounds that don't make any sense to my tired brain. The speaker steps forward and I narrow my eyes at him.

"Woman, move away." He says, words finally forming in my head. Ariyoshi-san hesitates only to be smacked by the whip that Li-Long is carrying. She falls to the side, spilling the bowl of bloodied water onto the floor. She quickly gets up to clean the mess when he speaks again. "Get out woman, go tend to your other duties and you may be lucky enough to get some food tonight."

She nods and leaves, giving me a sad look as she goes. She knows what he's going to do, but can't stop it. And right now, neither can I.

"So, you've finally woken up half-breed?" He drawls as he steps towards me. He places his hand beneath my chin and raises my face to look up at him. I growl and bare my teeth, my eyes narrowed in an icy glare. "Still have life in you, even after all that you've been through? My you are resistant, aren't you?" He says before running his hand down my cheek.

I snarl and whip my head away from his hand, snapping my teeth as he pulls it away. He smirks in amusement and lifts his whip, cracking it against my cheek. I bite my tongue to keep from yelping as my head is tossed to the side from the force of the leather. I feel his hand come up to my abused cheek again. I snarl and bite, just missing his wrist. I feel the whip crack against my other cheek. I growl and glare at him.

He smirks once again and licks the blood from my cheek off his fingers. "Dirty blood always did seem to have a distinct taste that was always desirable. The best of both species I must say."

"Go fuck yourself asshole!" I snarl, growling louder.

"Oh no, my dear half-breed, that's what I have you for." He smiles sadistically at my disgusted look.

"You sick bastard, I'd kill you before you ever got near me."

"Oh now, don't flatter yourself mutt, as if I'd dirty myself like that. I have others who amuse me in that way." He leans forward grabbing my chin again, moving his mouth towards my ear. "But I must say, you are more tempting than any of them."

I growl, slamming my head into his. He steps back, in semi-shock before narrowing his eyes. In a blur he moves towards me, his claws digging into my chest. I hiss as his acid singes the flesh around the newly inflicted wounds. He then raises one hand and smashes my head against the stone wall behind me. He holds it there while I struggle, raising his other hand. He takes one claw and moves it towards my eye.

"If you somehow manage to survive what you are about to be dealt, this will serve as a reminder of what Hell is like. Even if somehow all the other wounds heal, this one will never go away." He whispers in a deadly calm voice. The claw sinks into the flesh above my and I close it as he runs it down to my cheek. I growl and kick, knocking him off of me, only to have the whip lash across my chest. Again and again, it crosses my chest until my front is covered in the crimson liquid.

He advances once again, smirking as he raises his claws.

1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1

What felt like hours, but I'm sure was much longer, went by until he finally stopped. My body is numb in pain and I can't move my fingers let alone any other part of me. I feel as though I've been through Hell and back twenty times over. My head aches and my vision is fuzzy. I'm amazed that I haven't passed out yet from the pain. I stare at all the blood pooled on the floor. My blood…

Why haven't I transformed into an insane red-eyed youkai? I move my eyes and catch a glimpse of Tessaiga on the floor beside me, the hilt just barely touching my hip. If I somehow move it, would I transform? To transform means more strength, better speed, senses, and faster healing. But if I transform and kill Li-Long, will I still be stuck as I was and will my whole ordeal have been a waste?

Pain throbs in my head from too many thoughts. Light footsteps reach my ears and the scent of Ariyoshi-san reaches my nose over all my blood. I hear her gasp and her footsteps rush towards me. I smell tears and mentally sigh. I see the rag and her hand touch my cheek, but I don't feel it. The pain has completely numbed me… all I can do is hear, see, and smell and even those aren't functioning properly…

"You poor boy…" I hear her whisper as she tries desperately to wipe the blood off of me. She tries to wipe the dried blood away from the wound over my eye when I hiss in pain at the rag brushing over it. Guess I have feeling somewhere.

"S-Sorry…" she says and immediately pulls the rag away. She waits a moment as if unsure of what to do.

"A…Ariyoshi-san…" I try speaking… I have an idea if only my voice will hold out. I hear her gasp, my voice sounding hoarse and quiet. "P-Please… move… sword…" My voice gives out and I gasp for breath, breathing only causing pain to my abused lungs.

A minute goes by, my strangled breathing being the only sound and I mentally sigh. She probably didn't understand a word I said…

"O-Ok…" she whispers and I watch out of the corner of my eye and she grasps Tessaiga and pulls it towards her. She stares at me and I can feel my blood burn as my youkai blood dominates even more. My blood surges through my veins and I can feel the numbness go away and be replaced with heated pain as my youkai blood tries to heal my wounds and revive my youki. Red bleeds into my vision.

"When… my wounds… heal… give… it back…" I say and see her nod. I smile faintly and close my eyes, allowing my youkai to take almost complete control. Power and blood course through my veins, my wounds slowly but surely closing up. I struggle to keep somewhat sane as my healing continues.

My strength begins to return and with my still sane mind, I tug at the bindings around my arms. The spell ignites to life again only to be overpowered by my growing youki. The chains strain under the stress and suddenly break, causing me to lurch forward, only to be stopped by the shackle still clinging to my neck. I reach up with my clawed hands and break the shackle no problem before slicing through the chain keeping the shackles on my feet connected. I remain sitting, my aura flaring as my youki almost fully recovers.

Strength runs through me and I feel better than I ever have. My aura dies down and I check my wounds, seeing that all of them have healed, but they've left scars. I touch the one over my eye and wince. It's the worst scar and probably true to what Li-Long said, it won't heal easily.

I turn my red gaze to Ariyoshi-san, huddled against the wall, clutching Tessaiga. Her eyes are staring, and fear radiates off her being. I shake my head slightly and reach my hand out towards her. She looks at it hesitantly before standing and placing Tessaiga in it. I close my fist and feel the shock as it calms my youkai, as I revert back to somewhere between hanyou and youkai. I look at Ariyoshi-san now with golden eyes and smile.

"Thank you." I say and she nods, still somewhat shocked. I stretch when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look down at Ariyoshi-san and she smiles.

"I believe that this is also yours." She says pulling my haori out from a small bag at her side. I take the haori and stare as it slowly continues to mend itself completely. I slip it back on and my inner kimono starts to mend itself now that I have my haori back on.

"Time to go kill a dragon." I say and move towards the hall. Ariyoshi-san follows behind me as we move stealthily down the corridor. I follow my nose, picking up the retched scent of Li-Long coming from a chamber near the outside door.

"You go straight out those doors and get up to the cliffs. If there isn't any fire, go to the nearest ledge and get down without killing yourself. Wait there for me." I whisper and she nods. We walk down the hall and she leaves out the doors. I draw Tessaiga and stand before the door where Li-Long's scent is. Once I don't hear Ariyoshi-san's footsteps, I jump through the door and attack.

"What? How did you get free?" Li-Long yells as he draws his own sword to fight me. Our swords clash and I sweep mine down, knocking his away and allowing me to slash him across the chest. He hisses and lunges at me, my blocks meeting all of his attacks.

He swings his sword and I back flip, hitting him with my feet before landing and springing forward, running Tessaiga right through his stomach. He gasps in pain and I rip Tessaiga from his body, before landing a punch on his right cheek. He falls to the ground.

"What's a matter Li-Long? Have you grown so weak as to get you ass beat by a half-breed?" I taunt, staying in my stance. Debris gets shoved aside as he rises, a thoroughly pissed off look on his face. I smirk and narrow my eyes. "Bring it on asshole, your wasting my time just standing there."

His eyes glow green as he lunges at me in a fit of rage. I easily dodge his attacks, ducking, flipping, jumping. I smirk and bring my foot down on his back before doing a front flip, and twisting to face him once I land. He rises and glares at me with hate filled eyes.

"Am I pissing you off?" I smirk. Suddenly he's gone in a blur and his fist connects with my stomach, sending me back into a wall.

"Don't think you can beat me easily half-breed." He says raising his sword. I rise, wiping a bit of dirt from my face.

"And don't you think that I won't beat your ass, because you're as good as dead dragon." He snarls and I lunge at him head on, moving last second to hit him in the side with Tessaiga. The fang effectively sinks into his flesh drawing blood that I dodge before it spurts at me.

"You seem to have gotten a little smarter than last time mutt." He growls and clashes his sword against mine.

"You seem to have gotten slower than last time old man." I retort back throwing his sword away. He glares down Tessaiga, which is right against his neck, down at me. "Time's up bastard."

I lunge Tessaiga upward disconnecting his head from his body, both fall limply to the ground, blood spurting from the severed parts. I step back, careful not to let it touch me. I bring Tessaiga up, to finish off the asshole once and for all.

Suddenly a searing pain hits my side and I growl at the spike embedded in my side. I glare at the fallen body, the arm outstretched from when it had thrown the spike as I cut of the head. I raise Tessaiga again and bring it down against the ground.

"Kaze no Kizu!" I yell as the wind rushes at the remaining pieces of the dragon, blasting it into tiny particles. I green mist rises as Kaze no Kizu fades and I step back as it surrounds me. I choke as it fills my lungs and I can feel my power slowly fading. I fall to my hands and knees, coughing as the mist dissipates. Catching my breath, I sit up and run my claws through my hair only to notice that they're shorter than they were. My eyes widen and I run over to a small mirror on the wall that is still intact even after my attack.

I stare at my reflection. No more stripes or red tinge in my eyes and my fangs are normal. I smile in relief until I see the scar still over my eye. I frown and run my finger gently over it. I wince at the slight pain and frown. Kagome isn't going to like that…

My eyes widen at the thought of her. I have to get back to her.

I run out of the ruined building and jump up to the cliff. The fire is gone and I sniff the air, trying to locate Ariyoshi-san. I find her sitting on a cliff, looking over the land below. I jump down landing beside her, startling her.

"You alright?" I ask as she regains her wits and stands up.

"Yes, I'm fine, shall we g-" She begins but is interrupted by a yell.

"MOM! INUYASHA!" We both look at the owner of the voice to see Yumi and Shingo riding a falcon youkai towards us. We move to the side and the youkai lands as both siblings rush at their mother, hugging her tightly. Shingo releases her first and turns to me.

"Thank you for saving our mother." He says bowing. "If there is anything more that we can do, just ask."

"Well, actually, I need to get back to Japan as soon as possible, so could you give me another ride on your boat?" I ask. I want to get back to Kagome, every part of me, yells for me to be with her. I need to get back to her.

I look at Shingo as he bows his head low. I open my mouth to speak but Yumi cuts me off.

"Inuyasha… you were gone for a month… we left a week after you did, and it took us at least three to get here by flying…"

"So?"

"So…" She looks at me sadly. "It's the storm season. No ships will leave for Japan for another seven months, and even then most ships will need repairs, so it will take awhile before anyone can even think about going to Japan."

My heart cracks as her words sink in. That long? After all this, now I have to wait here, in a foreign country before I can even start planning to return home. My mind shuts down, my soul fades in pain.

"Come along Inuyasha, we'll get you back as soon as we can." Ariyoshi-san says as Yumi and Shingo climb onto the falcon. I nod slowly, not trusting my voice to speak. I help Ariyoshi-san up and then follow them by foot as we head back towards Shanghai to wait out the storm season.

My thoughts take off, leaving me with more heartache as my heart breaks more and more. I feel alone, sad. Why do I have to wait so long to see you Kagome? I stare up as the sky starts to darken and I see the falcon land so that the group can stop for the night. I take my time walking to meet them, the pain inside me digging in too deeply…

I'm broken…

2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyu, jyu, jyu ichi, jyu ni… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12…

Well that's it. See ya next time!

Please Review!

Ja ne!