The Missing

Kagome was the first to awaken. Townsmen were standing over her talking about what to do with her.

"Maybe we should throw her in the river" one said.

"Maybe we should cut off her head," spoke another.

"No" a third cried out "too messy"

"I've got it" yelled yet another "let's torture her with magic, then the demon will tell us why she's here." Kagome's head hurt too much for this nonsense; however, the others started to agree. Then one of the older men asked, "What do we do with the other demon?" The mastermind replied, "Kill him…before he wakes up."

Two men grabbed Kagome's arms dragging her away. Wake up Inu-Yasha. Kagome thought. Wake up. Kagome was able to lift her line of sight enough to see two strong men dragging Inu-Yasha off in another direction. "INU-YASHAAAAAAAAAA…" Kagome yelled at the top of her lungs. Inu-Yasha made no movement. Kagome dropped her head and started to cry. "Inu-Yasha; Inu-Yasha, I'm so sorry." One of the men punched Kagome in the stomach to shut her up. With all the strength she had left, Kagome wasn't strong enough to withstand the punch.

Kagome awoke strapped down to a table. There were scrolls everywhere; she guessed they were supposed to suck out her demon strength or something. In addition to being thrown into this strange time where she didn't understand these people, she now could not see straight thanks to Sesshoumaru, she had been separated from Inu-Yasha thanks to herself, and she had a few broken ribs compliments of these guys. She had to get out before they came back.

"Ah, I see you're awake." The mastermind said.

Kagome gently eased her arms and legs from the straps. She was preparing to run. The man jumped on top of her. He kissed her neck. She tried to drop the hint that she wasn't interested, but he didn't get the message. He reached his hands back pushing himself backwards sitting on her stomach. She brought her leg up, hoping to be able to run. The man fell off of her onto the floor. Now was her chance.

Kagome ran out the entrance. She knew Inu-Yasha would be out searching for her if he had escaped. "Inu-Yasha!" she yelled. "Where are you?" The other man that had dragged her off tackled her pinning her to the ground. "Where do you think you're going?" The man asked in a tone of voice that meant he already knew the answer. "Let me go" she demanded in her best voice. He had no intention of letting her go so he simply smiled picking her up from the ground. Her head told her to flee so she twisted her body in all directions until he lost his grip. She broke free. She ran as fast and as hard as she could until she reached the village when her body could take no more. She stopped running nearly collapsing in the town square. This was the place where she had originally met Kiada. This place had always been safe. The men that had been chasing her, yelled "stop that demon!" The village people gathered around her blocking all her exits. Kagome began to cry. Her body ached and there was no comfort left here. There were no friends in sight as the villagers closed in. She looked to the sky and asked quietly through her tears, "Where are you, my Inu-Yasha?"

As it turns out, Inu-Yasha dropped down into the center of the group. He grabbed Kagome and pulled her behind him. He growled, pulled out one of his swords and powered it up. He only wanted to scare them, but he would fight them if need be. "WAIT!" commanded an elderly yet feminine voice. Kagome could barely stand from running all that way. She swore she wasn't hallucinating. That voice sounded like Kiada's, but if this were the future Kiada should be dead by now. "Back off" She spoke again. "No…" Kagome told herself that wasn't Kiada's voice. She knew now that it wasn't. "Ma'am" one of the villagers spoke softly. "Let us deal with these demons." "I said BACK OFF or I'll slay you like a pathetic demon." "Sango?" Kagome spoke questionably to herself aloud with what little breath she had left.

At the elder's comment, the villagers began to back away. Kagome tried to inhale air, but the shock forced Kagome to fail at this simple task. Her sudden coughing fit and difficult attempts to grasp air attracted Inu-Yasha's attention. As he looked over his shoulder, Kagome fell limp. He spun in time to catch her in his strong arms. "Kagome?" He asked quietly while shaking her gently. She didn't respond. Her ribs are broken, he thought to himself. He growled louder; who caused this? Panic and pain pulsed across Inu-Yasha's pale face. This was not the same town he had come to trust. Kiada was long gone and frankly so was everyone else he had come to trust. Inu-Yasha bound into the air. There was nowhere he could think to go. They had everything with him; Kagome had been carrying the book in a bag that hung to her side, the jewel was hidden in her possession, her arrows were strapped to her back, her bow was slung over her shoulder, and Inu-Yasha's second sword was in Inu-Yasha's possession next to the first one. Inu-Yasha landed atop the roof of Kiada's old hut. He closed his eyes saying his goodbyes to the woman that had chanced everything to help the demon both she and her sister believed in.

Villagers crowded around the hut screaming curses for Inu-Yasha to hear. "Kirara!" The voice yelled. Startled by that voice, Inu-Yasha stared out into the crowd. That voice was the same voice that had startled Kagome in the village square. That voice was the same voice that Kagome had identified as someone she knew or thought she did. The enlarged Kirara landed on the rooftop near where Inu-Yasha was holding Kagome. Inu-Yasha may have been weakened from the previous fight with Sesshoumaru, but he was not one to go quietly. Inu-Yasha barred his fangs at Kirara and growled serving as a warning message. Kirara knew Inu-Yasha was afraid for Kagome and himself so Kirara heeded the message and landed on the ground in front of the hut. Inu-Yasha followed foolish enough to trust that Kirara was as he'd always known the demon cat to be. The villagers backed away slowly revealing an elderly woman. The woman was not as old as the Kiada they remembered. Black hair draped over her sturdy shoulders as the woman walked up to Inu-Yasha unafraid of his threatening growls. "Inu-Yasha?" She asked excitedly. "Is that really you?" Inu-Yasha felt cornered so he growled louder. "Who wants to know?" "It's me. Don't you remember? It's me…SANGO…"

Inu-Yasha could not believe that this elderly woman could be Sango. Sango was a warrior like him; she would have died in battle. "Prove it." He said without haste. Just as Inu-Yasha finished his sentence, Sango's boomerang flew out of nowhere. Inu-Yasha let go of Kagome literally dropping her. He pushed off the ground taking to the air for the battle. Except when he pushed free of the ground, he was caught in the stomach by her boomerang. Sango was faster than he remembered her being. Inu-Yasha was badly hurt as he crashed through Kiada's old hut. This old woman had to be Sango. He thought. Sango was the only one who could handle that thing and one the few that could keep up with him. Inu-Yasha slowly made his way back over to Kagome. He crawled on top of her to protect her growling at them while they were closing in on her. While growling at the villagers, he passed out from his injuries.

"Get them to my hut!" Sango ordered the men once Inu-Yasha passed out "and find me Miroku." "Kirara," Sango added, "take a message to the others. Kagome and Inu-Yasha have returned."