Thief of Hearts

Sakura's Note: My apologies for getting this chapter out a week late. I have lots to do, and could barely find time to write at all in the past few weeks.

Quickly, let me just say that I have started a mailing list on notify If you don't have an account at or you do and still want to know when I post even when is having technical difficulties, then sign up. The link is in my bio. I have done this for famous authors like Rozefire, and it's a great way to find out easily when the next chapter is being posted.

Anyway, onto the chapter.

.-..-.

Chapter 7: Hollow

.-..-.

The sun finally peaked over the dunes, bathing the entire gang of Jidai in morning light. Stars were fading into the darkness and winds whipped harshly. Sand swirled around the hooves of their horses and settled in the winkles of their clothes. Everyone was hungry, but they had stopped grumbling about it hours ago. They were already salivating at the thought of fresh stock of food up ahead.

Tents already peaked out from the sand in front of them.

"Don't let them con you out of anything, Naraku." Ginta jeered, speeding up his mare.

Naraku sneered in response.

In the lead, Inuyasha could now make out the shadowed figures of the gypsies starting their daily routines. Out of instinct their horses sped up the closer they got to the camp. Soon they entered the gypsy territory in a wave.

Inuyasha stifled a yawn, watching as an old man hobbled out of his home with a grin. "Back so soon Jidai? Have you truly gone through your food so fast?" He didn't look too upset to hear this, though. The more they ate -- the richer they got.

Onigumo scoffed. "Well of course! What other reason would we come here?"

The old man frowned. "Because you grew up here, fool. And to check on your sisters."

"Speak of the devil..." Naraku hissed, glaring as three figures approached.

The oldest of the three women paused on her way to her tent and looked over. She darted a glance at Onigumo, then at Naraku. "You!" She stormed forward, giving them both a strop slap. "What are you doing here? I told you never to come back!"

"You say that every time, Kagura." Onigumo reminded, "We never take it seriously."

She slapped him again. "Get what you need and get out, the both of you." With a glare that could freeze the sun she headed back off to join the other two dancers. She looked over her shoulder as an afterthought, "The rest of you are permitted to stay."

"Alright!" Jakotsu squealed, tying off his own horse.

Sesshoumaru eyed the others coolly before turning to leave. That was when he felt a hand slap down on his shoulder.

"My sister is not up for grabs, Sesshoumaru." Naraku reminded, successful in stopping the stoic thief. "Not even to you."

"My business is none of your concern." He said coldly, "Neither is your sister's. She has lived here on her own long enough to make her own decisions." He took another step before Onigumo stood in front of him.

"You're joking, right?" He laughed. "We ain't letting our sister have any happiness!"

"We control her life." Naraku admitted, "Her heart is in our hands; we decide who she falls for."

Sesshoumaru looked them both over, as if watching an annoying fly. "And your plot is in mine. Inuyasha could easily find out this plan of yours."

Onigumo sputtered. "That's blackmail!"

"Call it what you like." Sesshoumaru shrugged. "I call it stating the facts. Now, I must be on my way." He turned, leaving both men in a state of worry.

"He's bluffin', ain't he Naraku?" Onigumo whispered, still aware of how close the others were. "Sess won't tell anyone about what we're planning, will 'e?"

"He isn't a rat. Never would he tell his brother anything. Besides, he's going to be ruler, what fool would ruin his once in a lifetime opportunity?"

Onigumo smirked, "You're always right, Naraku."

"Of course I am." His brother walked off, leaving him to stare off where Sesshoumaru had gone alone. "Of course I am."

.-..-.

She was an angel.

He'd been checking in on her constantly during the night. Once, he earned a hit to the head, but it was worth it. In sleep the fiery warrior princess he'd come to know as Sango was a totally different person. She looked so carefree and peaceful. Yes, she did drool sometimes, but that only made her human. Not some dolled up creature; the kind he usually went for.

With a sigh he stopped at the entrance of her temporary guest room. The sun was currently still to his left, which meant it was early morning. The sundial in the dining hall seemed to tell the same thing. But it was time for her to get up.

Without any announcement, Miroku entered the room. "Alright, sleepyhead, time to rise and shi--Sango?" There was no one under the covers. "Sango?" He heard a clink down the hall. She must be on her way to Inuyasha's bedroom... He mused, shaking his head. "Ah well, I'll let her explore a litt- shit!"

He took off at a run. "SANGO!" He saw her hair disappear behind the corner, and then the telltale sign that she'd entered the farthest sleeping quarters.

Miroku turned the corner, almost tripping due to his hurry, and saw Sango right outside the King's door. He grabbed her shoulder, whirling her around. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I think I'm going in here." She gestured at the door flippantly. "Why?"

"Oh no you're not." Miroku argued, "You're coming to the dining hall with me."

"Why all the secrets? You revealed your whole code to me last night." Sango reached for the curtain. He knocked her hand away. "Hey!"

"Look, you can go anywhere. Just. Not. In. There." He looked her in the eye, "Inuyasha can sense when someone's been in his room without his permission. Trust me, he doesn't have to see your face to track you down."

"This is Inuyasha's room?"

Uh oh.

"Well, actually, it's just his bed in there." Miroku lied casually, "Nothing really important about it. Doesn't mean he can't be territorial."

Sango gave him a skeptic look. "Just his bed?"

"Just his bed."

"So there's nothing else in there?"

"Not a thing."

She released the cloth she'd been gripping with a sigh. "Save for the dining hall, this place is dull."

Miroku laughed, mostly out of relief. "Except for sleep, the dining hall is used for everything." He informed. "In our line of work you really don't need anything else. You can go anywhere."

"Your 'line of work'?" Sango scoffed. "It's not a job, Jidai." She admonished. "Have you never realized how many people suffer because of what you do?"

Yes, he had. But, after all the years of having been called a street rat, he'd blocked out other people's problems. Except for a select few. Inuyasha had been his friend since they were children, and they had never had a serious fight over anything. The ones who had called him names as a boy were the same ones that cried over their lost belongings.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Miroku snapped back into reality. "I realized it a long time ago. It was around the same time that I realized that no one cared if I lived or died, except here."

"That couldn't be true! What about your parents?"

"My mother died when I was born, and my father died when I was six. Something wrong with his hand that spread." He shrugged, "I barely knew either of them."

Sango gulped; how could he make the death of his parents sound so...mundane?

"Anyway," Sango had to do a double take at the cheerful tone in his voice. "Let's go on into the dining hall and scrounge something up for breakfast. Maybe they missed something."

Hesitantly, Sango nodded. "Remember, if they're not back in another hour or so I'm gone." She trotted into the hall after him.

He flashed her another perfect smile and made himself at home at the table. "So. Palace life, huh?"

Sango seated herself; "I'm not royalty, if that's what you're asking." She played with a stray tuman. "Besides, you wouldn't like it."

"Oh, I know what you mean. A thief whose main goal is riches would hate to live in a palace made of gold..." Miroku winked and Sango could feel something chipping away inside of her.

Instead of looking as shocked as she felt, she gave him a dry look. "You really like sarcasm, don't you?"

"Love it."

She sighed. "You'd be royalty, a warrior, or a servant. Simple as that." Looking up at the large opening in the dune/cave's ceiling she shed the bored look for one of pity. "Did you know that the Princess has never walked on sand? Except for the balconies she has never. Been. Outside. She is that sheltered. She's already betrothed to some naïve noble that she can barely even stand anymore. Can you imagine?" She shook her head.

"The Sultana is always having to sort out something, or coming to another village's aid." Sango shot Miroku a look. "We have to leave Shikon constantly to chase you off, and still you get away safely. And I have the pleasure of ordering them all around. It took forever to gain their respect, and now I'm always worried about when I order them to do the wrong thing. I could fully lose them."

"I thought you didn't trust me."

"Who would you tell?" Sango countered. "After today, we'll probably never speak again."

Miroku rested his head on his fist. "I suppose so."

.-..-.

Kagome stewed silently in her room, legs tucked tightly under her pink-clad form. A veil covered her face, only allowing her stormy orbs to peek from behind it. A gold bracelet wrapped around her upper arm, snaking down to a ring on her finger.

Life was never fair.

Twists were expected in life, events that made people ask 'why me?' over and over again. But, there was unfair, and there was unfair. Living a life of hardship was one thing, living a life that wasn't your own was another. Hojo had indeed spoken with her mother, and the Sultana was expected at any moment. Most likely for a lecture that would last until the sun went down that night.

Could there be a reason for a Princess's life to be decided for her? Was the world beyond the palace walls so dangerous that she needed to be kept away at all costs? Was there a reason that every decision that made any difference in her life was never chosen by her own conscience?

"It doesn't make sense to me." She muttered, running her fingers across her silken sheets. Sure, palace life was something that people dreamed of, and it did have its perks...but the most essential things were missing. Without those, it all seemed...hollow.

There they were.

The almost inaudible footsteps making their way down the hall. Any moment now her mother would make her presence known.

Kagome wiped at the dried tears on the backs of her hands.

Red curtains brushed to the side as the Sultana entered the room. "I have spoken with your suitor." She walked further into the room until she stood in front of her daughter. "I wished to hear your side."

Kagome's eyes darted up to her mother's face. She wanted to hear her feelings? Tears came unbidden to her already clouded eyes. "This isn't right, mama." It felt awkward to say 'mama' after so many years, but it slipped out. The room grew silent, Kagome's heart pounding rapidly in her chest the only sound.

The Sultana's eyes softened, "Kagome?"

"I've known him all my life, mama, and I don't love him that way. I want to marry for love, not because I'm told to."

Her mother sighed and sat down beside her, placing a hand over her daughter's. She was a strong woman, but even the Sultana's façade was waning. "I...understand, Kagome." At her daughter's slightly shocked face, she smiled. "You and I don't communicate on personal issues that often- I'm not surprised by that face. Suitors can be intimidating, just the name 'suitor' alone can give the strongest woman butterflies in her stomach."

Kagome looked out the window, "I'm not marrying him."

"Oh, Kagome..."

The Princess jumped up, ignoring the usual formalities. "I'm your daughter! My instincts are telling me it isn't right and I believe in them, why can't you? Honestly, don't you think you raised me to make good decisions? Why is this so different?"

"Because you're young, Kagome. You don't know what love is yet... what if you made a mistake? What would I be able to do about it?"

Kagome's temper flared, "Did you know what love was? Is that why your suitor sells food down in the markets and my own father is dead?"

"Kagome!" Kagome's mother shook her hands sternly, "We don't mention the dead!"

"Well I am! Sango died trying to protect me, and the reason she died was because the Jidai King wanted his horse back! They came for a raid so he could steal back his horse. Hojo gave me that horse, mother, and it was never really mine!"

Her mother's eyes widened in confusion, "What?"

"I was down in the stables, they were empty, so I figured it would be safe there. 'Desert Flower' was neighing, so I tried calming her down. That's when he came in, claiming the horse was his." It was easier to tell this now that adrenaline was coursing their her. She wasn't afraid of what her mother would say anymore. She didn't have a say in her life anyway.

"I checked the bridles. They had his name, as well as Wind Scar's."

"He dared come so close to you?!" Her mother's controlled emotions were unleashed.

"Inuyasha didn't hurt me." Kagome stated calmly. "He took his horse and left." There was a fine line between angry ranting and all-out stupidity. Kagome knew where that line was. It would have been complete idiocy to tell her mother he had chased her into her bedroom. Not to mention attacked her for the jewel.

That was a secret between her and him that she planned on keeping.

"Hojo knew, mother." she continued, gripping the window sill. "He seemed flustered when I asked him, and it wasn't because he thought I could have gotten hurt. He was a nice boy, but he's changed."

Her mother sighed, running a stressed hand through her short black locks. "Kagome..." She stopped for a moment, her brow furrowing in thought, "I will sleep on it. Know that my decision will be in your best interest." With that, her mother left the room, the only fleeting proof that she was ever there the midnight blue train of her dress sashaying behind her.

.-..-.

Kagura secured the sash around her waist and grabbed up her tambourine. "I can't believe him! Those jackasses know they are not welcome here! Especially Naraku, he wasn't born from our mother. Oh no. He crawled up from the slime and got a human form! 'Your heart is in our hands...' Pah!" She threw her hands up in the air angrily.

The man on the other side of her tent sat with the same passive face. "Why do you let him control you?"

"He's my brother! He can try and control me whether I like him or not!" Kagura shot Sesshoumaru a glare. "Why are you so calm about this anyway? What about you, can't you get rid of him for me?"

"I will kill him under other terms, which will solve much more than your troubles." He watched the scowl on her face deepen. "No matter how important they are, there are other things that he is plotting that can undo him." Sesshoumaru stood up, ignoring the woman's icy glare. "You have a performance to attend."

Kagura crossed her arms, partially hiding her gypsy marking. "I do not appreciate all this nonchalance, Sesshoumaru."

"Not many do." He frowned himself as she stopped only inches from his face, "You agitate me."

Sesshoumaru stared at her for a moment, noting their closeness, before turning to leave. "Know that I will kill Naraku... you don't need to worry anymore. You will be free soon enough."

Kagura faltered, her defenses failing a moment. "W-well I better be, you damn confusing man!"

"I accept your thanks," his voice had the slightest air of amusement she'd ever seen.

"You--" He was gone. Kagura sighed, running her hand down her face- careful not to smudge her face. "One question still remains, Sesshoumaru. Why do you seem to care about my heart, anyway?"

.-..-.

Inuyasha watched from a distance as the other men celebrated their new supply of food with the gypsies. He'd never truly felt at home anywhere, even Ano Horaana. This place was no different.

At the moment, his thoughts were on Shikon. Wind Scar was back with him, happily drinking from a trough of water. But the Jewel... it was the reason why his sights had been on the city for so long. He'd always wondered if he would ever meet the woman who guarded the Jewel. Now he wished he hadn't.

She was the most infuriating woman he had ever met--and he'd met plenty. There was something about her that made him want to see her again, though. Maybe it was the fact that she seemed to put up a fight without fear of being killed, unlike the other Jidai. It had given him time to vent pent up frustration he'd had for months. Then again, she also brought half the stress back. Or, it could have been that she was a skilled fighter and gave him a run for his money...

He liked to think it was because she carried the Jewel.

It was the most logical--and the most predictable--answer. The only possibility that actually sounded like something he would do.

King of the Sengoku Jidai never felt weakness from a woman...

But she carried his one weakness with her, which made the game a whole lot more complicated. The Princess of Shikon held all the power he ever needed in her hand, and he was afraid at the feeling in his gut... the idea floating around in his head.

She had the Jewel, and he would do anything to get it.