Sorry sorry SORRY for the long update! Vira has been verrry busy staring school and stuff. Now that I've gotten back into the swing of things, I'll update much faster. Promise! Gomen! I hope you guys aren't mad for waiting. Anyways, I don't own Inuyasha at all, and here's the next chapter:

It was discovered a day later that Kikyo was dead…murdered. She had been found in the woods—shot by one of her own arrows. Everyone was puzzled at the question of who could've committed the crime with her own weapon, but I recognized this immediately to be Naraku's doing, one way or another. Inuyasha was clearly devastated by it, and locked himself away in his room. Meanwhile, Kikyo had remained still for two more days until she rose up again, being the powerful miko that she was. But things were different. For the most part, she looked to be emotionless except for an occasional smile when my brother would visit her. Kikyo was now a haunting shell, and nothing more. On one occasion before his daily visit, I pulled Inuyasha aside.

"This is part of Naraku's doing."

He looked to the wall sadly. "I know. I overheard you talking about him the other day. I sent some hunter youkai to seek him out, but this 'Naraku' that you speak of seems to be as elusive as the new moon on a cloudy night. I can't seem to detect his scent from anywhere."

"He's a coward." I answered. "Naraku will go to great lengths in order to his trail." I paused thoughtfully. "He did not…kill Kikyo randomly." I used the word delicately in from of him. "His elaborate plot is starting to unfold."

Inuyasha jerked his head up. "Nani? What do you mean? Just who the hell is this guy!?"

"By killing Kikyo, she has weakened in miko powers. In fact, most of her energy is being spent trying to stay in this world. She isn't capable of doing most of the things she once did. Her great healing powers…have almost completely faded."

He nodded. "Yes, it was once thought that she could revive the dead if she had really wanted to. But now…all Kikyo can do is try to stay here." He balled his fists in tight anger. An aura of immeasurable hate was starting to flow from him.

"Naraku knew that would happen." I explained calmly. "He did not want someone who could cure death to be living. His next target is most assuredly the royal youkai family…us. He plans to overthrow our father with a swift death and claim the throne. Kikyo would've revived us from the dead and thus ruin his plans"

Inuyasha scoffed. "Impossible. You're next in line. He can't just become the new Emperor when there are two heirs."

My brow deepened. "He can with half of the Shikon no Tama. The youkai in this land are begging for a leader that is willing to use it for war against the human kingdom. They'd be eager to overthrow us."

His eyes widened. "Then…our father…" I nodded. "We have to hurry. It may already be too late."

I glanced outside. "It's not. For now. Look out there." Inuyasha peered out the window curiously to see our father walking once again into the castle.

He let out a sigh of relief. "He's okay, then."

"For this moment." I added with unmoved emotion. "Naraku does not plan to strike any time soon. In fact, he thinks we know nothing of his plot."

He looked at me. "And how do you, then?"

"I have seen…events to come."

His expression turned to bewilderment. "How!?" But at that moment, we heard our father coming up the stairs to greet us.

While Inuyasha went up to visit Kikyo, I stayed behind to talk with him. When he entered the room, he immediately proclaimed "Come here, Sesshoumaru. Your father has brought back a priceless item from the human lands after the negotiation meeting. Come and see!"

As he unraveled the cloth hiding it, I barely gave the item a glance. Predictably, it was one half of the Shikon no Tama. "Queen Higurashi gave that to you while there, I suppose?"

He nodded with glowing eyes. "Yes. After the negotiation meeting and a short ceremony, the Queen broke the jewel in half and gave me one of the parts as a symbol of her trust in our alliance. I'll be sure to keep that trust fully."

Everything was falling into place, then. Once again history was showing me that there was the familiar pattern of it all: Kikyo was dead, Naraku was lurking in the shadows, and my father had one half of the Shikon no Tama. What happened next in the story? I thought back deeply. Then, I remembered suddenly—next was the Queen's untimely departure. But it would be of natural causes and there wasn't anything I could do to prevent it. Then, I would visit Kagome as an ambassador to console her for the loss…and my father would be slain, but not during my first trip to see Kagome, but rather…the second. And that would be the moment I would wait for Naraku. Until then, I would continue to play my part.

Perhaps, then, that I was sent back in time with my memories further than I wanted to for a reason. Perhaps…perhaps, in order to win Kagome's heart, I would first have to set things right again. Was it something that Bokusenou's leaves had done? Or was it the real Sesshoumaru of this world that wanted me to fix everything? I had no way of knowing for sure, so, for right now, I decided not to speculate further.

"You should not have accepted it. The power is too tempting to not fall into the wrong hands."

"I will keep it locked away carefully." He insisted. "No one will know where it is except for me."

"Even so, I would not tell many that we have half of the jewel now." I made a mental note to later follow my father secretly and see where he would hide it. The task wouldn't be easy, but if I could catch Naraku in the act, then surely his defeat would be swift.

At that moment, Inuyasha appeared from Kikyo's room with a grave expression. Our father noticed this. "What's the matter, Inuyasha? Aren't you glad to see that my party has returned from the journey?"

He glanced at him. "I knew you came back, and I'm glad for it. But…my mind is preoccupied with more serious things."

The proud smiled faded from his face slowly. "What do you mean?"

Inuyasha appeared as though he was trying to tell him the news, but the words couldn't quite form coherently. Instead, he simply turned to Kikyo's room and gestured to it weakly. Our father needed nothing more to be conveyed, and walked swiftly across the room to where his son pointed. I followed behind him curiously while Inuyasha stayed there.

As we got closer to the door, his face turned more and more grim. "There is no scent." He observed singularly. "Is Kikyo in there?"

"Hai." I answered. I needed to say nothing more, as he was already making his own deductions as we entered the room.

What we first saw was Kikyo under the sheets of her bed with the appearance of being fast asleep…but both of us knew better.

"She's dead."

"Hai." I said again simply.

"When?"

"We believe it was three days ago, because that was when Inuyasha realized she was missing, but…Kikyo was found a day after that."

He looked at me sharply. "What do you mean? Are you implying that she didn't die of natural causes, Sesshoumaru!?"

"There was an arrow—hers—found in her body."

"Murder?" He bent down to look at Kikyo closer. "There is someone powerful enough to kill the strongest miko in this land?"

I looked away, knowing fully well who it was. "Why don't you ask her who did it yourself?" I couldn't answer directly just yet—all the events carefully planned out could be altered quickly.

My father stared at me again. "Ask…her?" At that moment, Kikyo stirred a little under the sheets. "…I see." He said with comprehension. "No scent—an empty shell…a spirit still attached to this world."

After a moment passed, she opened her eyes slowly and looked at us with no emotion or recognition whatsoever. He proceeded to ask her a few questions, but she simply would not reply. I stood watching in the background until he finally gave up to let her rest while we left.

Several days passed as I waited for the next event to happen. I had decided it would be far better to let certain things take place until my moment would come to change the course of time. Meanwhile, Kikyo had begun to talk—but only to Inuyasha, and only one sentence at a time. Despite this, he was happy to see her making progress. She explained briefly that she noticed one of her arrows was missing, but by then it was too late. Unfortunately, since she was shot in the back, Kikyo obviously did not see the face of her murderer. Although this trouble my father greatly, it didn't bother me, since I knew Naraku had probably not done the killing directly, but instead sent out one of his minions to do everything for him.

Then, things had remained relatively quiet until the next event took place—Queen Higurashi of the human land had died. At last this was my cue to set out for a visit to Kagome.

My father called me into his room. "Sesshoumaru, I have received some terrible news today."

I played my part and pretended to be surprised. "What is it?"

"The Queen has passed away."

"Queen Higurashi? Of the human kingdom?"

He nodded sadly. I imagined for a moment what Kagome was feeling right now—her mother, who wasn't exactly her mother, had died. Would she grieve over this? I knew that the answer was most likely yes—her kind heart would be fragile in a situation like this.

"It was of...natural causes?"

He looked surprised. "Of course. You remember how ill she's been lately, right Sesshoumaru?"

"Hai." Of course, I really didn't.

"I want you to do a small task for me. She had a daughter named Kagome." A tiny amount of joy managed to seep through in my calm expression. At last, I would be able to meet her. "Go to the human kingdom and visit her—after all, she is next in line for the throne. Assure Kagome that this kingdom will grieve over her loss, and make it clear that we fully intend to keep our alliance. Do you understand, Sesshoumaru?"

I almost smiled. "I will be an ambassador, then?"

He nodded. "Will you be able to do this?"

"I'll leave immediately." He might have become slightly suspicious from me being so eager, but I didn't mind.

"Very well. A horse has been left by the front gate. I want you to be back here in three days at most."

"...Fine." I grumbled. Three days would not be nearly enough time to explain everything to Kagome, but it was better than nothing. The journey itself took one half of a day, and I was already wasting time by standing here and talking.

"Three days." He repeated. I nodded again in comprehension and quickly left the room.

As I was walking quickly down the halls, I met Inuyasha along the way. He gave me a questioning look. "Are you leaving to go somewhere, Sesshoumaru? You're in a hurry."

"I'm going to the human kingdom for a short time." My pace increased. I did not have time for trivial things such as this.

"Why?" Apparently he did not see or mind my annoyance with him.

"I'm going to act as an ambassador."

"Is it because the Queen died? I heard the news this morning. Anything I can do to help?"

"Watch over the land with our father and be on the lookout for Naraku. If he is sighted, send the message to me." He nodded to show that he understood. With one last look at the castle, I turned and started my journey to the human kingdom.

The journey to the borders between the two lands took about a half day. During that time, I saw much of the resident youkai. Overall, they seemed to be living peaceful lives. Whenever I would pass a few of them, they would bow their heads to me as a sign of respect. Some lived in clans. Others lived by themselves. As I journeyed farther and farther from the castle, I began to realize just how vast the variety of all the youkai there really was. Obviously, it must have been a great task to unit all of them into one kingdom. But my father managed it somehow. I questioned the stability of the Empire, however. How many of these youkai were really loyal to the kingdom? Could Naraku really succeed in overthrowing my family?

When I reached the gate into the human land, the guards looked at me with a cautious eye. I could sense that getting in would not be entirely easy, but I didn't care. At this point, nothing would stop me from seeing Kagome's face again.

"…Why are you here, Lord Sesshoumaru?" One of them asked me. "Why didn't your father come instead?"

"He just came back from his journey and is very tired. He sent me here to act as an ambassador for him." There was a small murmur through the guards. Clearly, they still did not trust me. "We heard about the death of your Queen, and our kingdom would like to extend its condolences."

That did the trick. A moment later, they slowly opened the gate for me. True, I could have slashed my way through, killing them along the way, but I would pay my respect for Kagome's men…imbeciles that they were.

"This way, then." One of the guards said to me after stepping forward. "I'll escort you to our castle."

I nodded numbly. The sentence was barely heard. With every step closer to the castle that we took, my heart was beating faster and faster. At last, I would get a chance to see her. At last. At last. If I had been human, nervousness might have fallen upon me. But since I wasn't, thankfully, I remained calm and determined on the outside. Now was not the time to let my emotions take over. In fact, the illusion of a professional attitude was probably for the best.

As we moved closer to the castle, a wave of memories crashed back to me. Here, Kagome and I had lived as a married couple. We worked together in order to solve the mystery of our arrival, and the same place that we gradually fell in love.

"Well, here we are." The escort stepped aside and waited for the door leading into the castle to fall across the moat completely. Once that was done, I nodded to him and proceeded inside slowly.

Almost immediately I was greeted by a handful of servants. Various questions were asked, such as how well my father was doing, what the journey to this place was like, and whether or not I had eaten enough along the way.

I pushed them back one by one until the head maid led me away from the crowd. I told her that seeing Kagome was of the utmost urgency and importance. She reminded me that her mother had died not too long ago, and it would be best to leave Kagome alone for now in her grief. I respectfully declined to wait, and she knew I would be firm in the matter.

"Very well. Please wait in our negotiation room while I send for her." I nodded and watched her walk away.

Two more escorts led me into the specified room. There I sat down and waited patiently while they closed the door behind them. A slow feeling began to creep through me, but I didn't know what it was. After all this time, I would finally be able to see her. Would she hate me for putting her into this world? Or maybe she would be surprised that I too knew of what was going on? It was all I could do to speculate, and to hope beyond hope. 'Kagome is kind-hearted.' I reminded myself. But certainly she would not greet me with true happiness…would she?

My thoughts froze as I heard the door off to the side push open. 'Kagome.' Her familiar, wonderful scent touched my nose. My heart beat faster and faster as each inch of the door swung wider while I looked on, trying not to rush to her in a frenzy behind the door.

Review Responses:

Tokoyami Mitsukai: Heh don't worry about it. Thanks for the review!

Beautiful Witch Hunter Robin: Yeah, and I hope you keep reading! Really, I do! Ain't nobody's getting killed, you hear?

puffin: We'll probably never see the story from Kagome's POV, but who knows…

Pixy-Misa-Misao-Amano: Arigato! Glad you like it! =D

Harmony8390: Thank you. This update wasn't exactly quick, but what can we do, ne?

cubanblood: Well he needs to time everything just right, otherwise the consequences could be dire, heh.

anim3-ang3l: Thanks! Glad you like it so far!

m1s7ress: Heh, I don't think Naraku is bi. But man, that'd be a weird plot twist…XD

Youkai no Yume: I have no idea if Kagome knows what's going on….best to figure that out by the next chapter! Heh.

Tsuki Yume: Exactly! Delicateness is essential when dealing with time, ne?

snowy-angel: Well by the time he realized this it was too late. Also, he can't change things too much, or certain events won't happen.

Choas Babe: Arigato! Hopefully my next update will be faster…

barbara-marie: With luck, his father won't know about the blood fest, lol.

KouseiJL: Yeah, maybe you're right. I guess it's because he had Kagome one his mind, ne?

EvilEssie PIxIE: COOKIE!!! Well now, I just have to do anything you ask with this story. XD

Sesshoumarulovesme: Cool! Was it fun? I've never been there…

Supreme Neo slytherin Countess: I switched it to angst because Sesshoumaru isn't happy that she doesn't love him like she once did.

DarkPyroPlanet: Hey girl, glad to see ya. I e-mailed you again, but it was only yesterday. How much time should I give you for beta?

Sesshys Hime: Ah, you're making me blush. Thanks though, I just hope I can live up to your expectations…heh…

the hitokiri battousai kenshin: Close, but she's dead. Lol.

fluffys-sidesick: Thanks! Will do!

Yuna of Paradise: Vira wants to see the movie but she'd have to get them online…

MoonlightPrincess: You certainly can't, that's for sure.

Blue Rhapsody3: Eh, don't worry. He'll get better, promise!

Razzle: Uhhh…sorry, looks like she already died! =D Vira is very evil, ne?

Miko-Princess: Complications? Yes, hopefully there will be less in the next chapter though. Less confusing that way!

Katgome: Yep, he found her in this chappy! Hopefully they'll be happy.

Wyntermajik: Yummy, brownie points! XD Thanks though, I suppose this IS a weird kind of story, ne?

yuki kesuma: I will! Hope you love this story just as much!

Yuna of Paradise (again): Hmm, well I was thinking of a Kiba/Blue pairing…do you think that would work?

AngelMiko69: No no, I am quite evil! Poor Sesshoumaru! Hehehe…

Again, thanks for all the reviews—it really makes me happy that so many of you are interested in the sequel! With luck, this whole thing is making somewhat of some sense to you guys? Maybe? Hopefully my next update will be faster. Much, much, much faster. Heh. Anyways, R&R! Arigato, ja ne!