Hey! I've been a little busy, but here's the next chapter, enjoy! Oh, and I'm making a minor change. Instead of Kagome remembering that she's a demon, I'm gonna change it so that she and Sango have known the entire time. Here's some Fluffy for ya, with a flashback to his childhood.

Last chapter:

Kagura was quiet. She hadn't thought of that, and she seethed with hatred at his casual words. 'How could he do this? After all these years of loyal service, he was going to go back on his word?' she grimaced. 'I should've known.' The familiar hatred began to fire her blood, and she struggled to keep it in. "I don't know." She finally replied, and with that she quickly turned and walked out of the room, a single tear coursing down her cheek.

"I WILL free you, Kanna, I promise." She whispered.

Chapter 3: That Fateful Nod

-!!The Eastern Castle's Guestroom!!

Sesshoumaru was feeling restless. His paperwork lay complete on his desk, and was contemplating going out to find something to take out his boredom on.

All activities and forms of entertainment at the castle had been cancelled for that day because the queen was having another one of her 'fits'. Of course, no one wanted to say she was off her rocker; Naraku would quickly silence any who would dare threaten his judgment.

Every once in a while, Koshi would break out in a mad frenzy, belting out loud, blood chilling screams and wildly tearing at her clothes; slicing up any who dared to come near. On these occasions, Naraku had to keep her locked in the dungeon to at least muffle her mad shrieks and keep her from damaging anything. In reality, this was Koshi's plan to make sure Naraku still believed her crazy.

"How do you keep it up, Koshi?" Sesshoumaru said with a grim smile, shaking his head at her acting skills.

Since Naraku didn't allow anyone to visit Koshi while she was in this 'state', he decided that something was bound to interest him in the woods.

He was just rising from his seated position when Jaken burst into his temporary office and threw himself prostrate onto the priceless ebony floorboards. "Forgive me master for disturbing you," he squealed, "But one of our messengers sent from your castle has arrived with news of a large band of youkai in the Western land. Shall I send out the castle guard?"

"No."

Jaken, forgetting his terror, lifted his forehead off the ground to direct huge, confused yellow eyes at his master.

"I am in need of some diversion." stated Sesshoumaru, answering Jaken's unspoken question.

"But...but, my Lord Sesshoumaru, it is so far, and they are numbered to be about 500 armed, bloodthirsty savages! Surely you would not risk you life fore a mere diversion!"

"You forget your place, Jaken. Do you feel that I am incapable of defending my own lands from a pitiful band of mindless worms?" Sesshoumaru's tone was amused, which his poor advisor took to be a VERY bad sign.

"N-no, Master!" The toad youkai stuttered, panicking as he cowered closer to the floor for fear of his master's wrath. "I was merely stating, that is to say..." He covered his head with his spindly arms, the staff of heads partially protecting his back. "Please don't hurt this undeserving servant!"

"Jaken," Sesshoumaru stated impatiently, "Get off the ground and fetch my armor. Where is that stupid monk?"

"I believe he is in the kitchens, collecting information from the scullery maids." Jaken said, quoting what Miroku had told him before he'd left his chambers.

"Find him and see if he might glean information on messages Vizier Naraku has sent from the castle by crow demon."

"Ye-y-yes, my lord." Jaken stuttered, his head bowed while he shuffled backwards from the room.

Sesshoumaru suspected that Naraku had something to do with this band of youkai. 'Low-class demons don't group together unless someone more powerful is directing their movements.' He thought. 'Perhaps Naraku thought to attack my lands while I am here, under his watchful eye.'

'And while I'm there,' he thought while reaching for his swords, 'I shall keep an eye out for you, Kagome.'

Kaede's Village

Sesshoumaru was drifting on his red youki cloud, high over some woodlands. His thoughts wandering to days in his youth, with his friend, the would-be heir of the Eastern Lands, when the sound of clashing steel reached his ears.

His interest was piqued. 'Perhaps I should get a warm-up.' He mused. 'It will not take long.'

The tai-youkai swooped down to investigate, and the scent of blood, youkai, and something hauntingly familiar reached his nose. He came to a clearing in the trees and saw a village. One of the larger huts had a wall blown in, and he noticed two people running into the nearby woods. They didn't concern him, for he'd caught sight of a figure fighting 3 youkai.

He felt an enormous energy surge coming from her, and was dimly aware that she had little control over her actions. He cautiously sniffed the air again, and his head went reeling at the smell of rain and honeysuckle.

At first, he was surprised and excited, then suspicious. Though he was happier that he'd been for the past eight years, he wasn't positive that it was really her and not a trap. So, he remained rooted to where he stood.

He watched the mysterious figure take out another five, and saw someone club her over the head. Sesshoumaru thought she'd be alright, being a youkai, but he didn't know that her transformation leeched off her regeneration powers.

She fell, and without thinking, he came down and decapitated the rat youkai that had clubbed her. He caught sight of the only survivor running into the woods, and casually flicked a drop of caustic acid from a sharp claw, and then turned away, satisfied with his work as he heard a faint cry, and then a hiss of burning flesh.

Returning his attention to the girl he'd saved, he leaned down, and looked closely at her peaceful face.

It was pale, and a thin trickle of blood was sluggishly sliding down the side of it. His heart pumped faster as her features registered in his mind. 'She looks alot like Kagome, but it might just be a coincidence.' He sniffed the air for blood. 'At least she's not hurt that badly.' Sesshoumaru thought with a mental sigh.

He brushed back her bangs, and gently swept his fingertips across her forehead. 'This ought to tell me who you are.'

Slowly, a thin, red diamond appeared, and he was satisfied that this was in fact his childhood friend. "The royal symbol of the Eastern Lands." Sesshoumaru murmured.

Now the young lord was faced with a dilemma. He could not move her because he knew that head wounds were tricky; if he wasn't careful, she might end up sleeping for years. And yet he could not stay: he had 500 demons to kill.

He was reluctant to leave her alone, and was almost going to taker her with him anyway, when an odd, pink balloon-like thing came floating in from the sky.

He sniffed the air, and almost smiled. Almost.

The Lord of the Western Lands looked down at the unconscious beauty, whose claws had begun to recede and her hair was returning to normal. "I will find you again, Kagome. You can be sure of that." With that, he made a shallow cut across his arm.

Sesshoumaru had never done this before and so, used less than was usual. Nevertheless, he held his arm over her head and dripped some of his blood into her wound, then rose to his feet. "Now, I will know whenever you are near." he said quietly.

Satisfied with his handiwork, he mused that this was essentially half of the youkai mating ritual, but then decided that as long as it wasn't completed, there wasn't any harm in it.

He glanced up quickly at the pink ball slowly floating down, and disappeared.

Six Years Previously (Eastern Castle

Bright lights and music brightened the winter night over the magically freeze-proofed lake. In the center on an island, a sprawling maze of graceful stone arches, towering trees, and extending twine bridges rose in and over the dark water: the Eastern Castle. And in a ballroom high off the ground where the Compass's most powerful youkai mingled and master musicians plied their arts in the celebration of the century, stood a young future lord, bored out of his mind.

'More like bored to death.' Sesshou thought ruefully. He watched the dance floor where the nobles of the Four Lands were weaving in and out among themselves in a complicated pattern. It was the winter solstice, and the dancers were celebrating that and the final stages of a peace treaty between the four castles of the Compass. A ten-year-old Sesshoumaru had been dragged along to observe the proceedings for his training as the future lord of the Western Lands.

Sesshou didn't have anything to do besides watch since his father had insisted he be there. So he stood there, gazing out at all the unknown faces and feeling out of place. 'Maybe I should practice hiding my feelings like father said.' He thought. In this case it was extreme boredom, and after a couple of minutes of making strange faces, he frowned. 'I don't have to be here.' he thought rebelliously.

As he was inching his way towards the door as inconspicuously as possible, his father looked up from speaking to Lord Yusagi of the Southern Lands, and glared with his don't-you-even-think-of-leaving glare.

Sesshou scowled at being caught, and directed his attention back to the seemingly unending dancing, resigned to attempt counting them. He was just about to fall asleep where he stood when his sharp eyes caught a break in the dance pattern, and then another. It was as if something was moving between the legs, causing a few to waver and take miss-steps. The disturbance seemed to be harmless; the dancers didn't spare whatever it was more that a brief glare, but it was moving toward him at an alarming speed.

The young demon tensed into a defensive crouch, preparing for whatever was coming, and blinked in surprise at what appeared from beneath the dancers.

"Hi! My name's Kagome!" Sesshou simply stared at a pretty little youkai girl about his age, who was bouncing about and grinning so wide it was almost scary. Her chocolate- brown eyes sparkled and a pair of thin red markings streaked both her cheeks. Long black hair was tied back with a simple green ribbon at the nape of her neck. Cute, ruffled bangs covered her forehead, screening her clan symbol from view.

"Umm... hello." Replied Sesshou in a guarded tone, not knowing what else to say.

The girl wrinkled her nose at that, and her blinding grin went down a few watts. "Don't be so stiff." She commanded sternly, and then the girl grinned and whispered, "I just snuck out from Mother's chambers after setting Vizier Onigumo's robes on fire, and right now I don't feel like dealing with stiffness."

Sesshou could only stare at the freaky little pyro girl. He'd heard a rumor earlier that an insane youkai child had set fire to an ambassador's robes. Though he wasn't hurt, the negotiations were being re-organized because of the incident. "Why did you set his robes on fire?" Sesshou asked, curious.

She shrugged. "I didn't like the way he looked at my mother." Sesshou was floored. (falls down on his head Japanese style, then pops back up), "You didn't like the way he LOOKED at someone?"

"Not just anyone; at my mother." Kagome corrected. "What? You've never seen someone looking at your mother funny?" she said defensively. Sesshou took a moment to consider her question, and realized that he had, and he didn't like it either. Normally though, his father had them killed. But he still was wary of her.

"Don't be so guarded." Kagome giggled, "I'm not gonna eat you." Sesshou was about to deny it when she interrupted. "Don't even try, I can see your aura. Mother taught me how just yesterday." She pouted childishly, and Sesshou marveled at her rapid-change moods. "It doesn't work on any of the grown-ups, they're always shielded."

Sesshou's eyebrows shot up at this. It was rare for a youkai to be born with a sense for auras. Many had to train for years to even learn how, and even then, only the best could read more than a faint shimmer. Sesshou remembered his father telling him this talent was less rare among the noble youkai families in the East lands.

He was about to introduce himself with his full title when he remembered other youkai seemed always so fake around him when they discovered who he was. Even though she seemed to be extremely silly, for some strange reason he didn't want that with this girl. " I'm...Sesshou." he said simply.

Kagome grinned her cheerful grin, and said, "I haven't seen you here before; did you come with the Lord Inutaisho's people?" She asked. He nodded mutely. She then said excitedly, "Sesshou, do you wanna go to the garden and see the fountain? You can tell me all about the Lord Inutaisho and the Western Lands." Sesshou nodded, unaware of what that one nod would bring him: the best friend he'd ever have in his life, and an adventure that would decide the fate of the four Lands.

Woods between the Eastern and Western Lands

Sesshoumaru was now calculating the best and fastest way to kill all of the youkai army below with the least effort on his part.

He wanted to get back to locating Kagome and restore her to her position at the castle. And then...he wasn't sure what would happen next. Whatever it was, at least she'd be safe.

'Why am I so concerned for her well-being? It's not like it's any of my business.' He wondered, then reasoned that he couldn't let such a noble land as the East be corrupted with Naraku's rule, and besides, she was the only person other than his mother that ever truly cared about him.

He pushed away any further thoughts on the matter and focused on the task at hand. Little did he know that he was also being watched. A pair of golden eyes, next to which was a pair of cold, dead ones were watching intently.

Sesshoumaru had finally decided that his poisoned whip could take out alot of them before they could regroup for battle, while his sword, Toukijin, took care of the rest. He grimaced. Sesshoumaru didn't much like Toukijin: it was difficult to control. If given the chance it would take control of his actions. But at least it was an effective killing weapon, unlike his other one.

'What a worthless sword, it can't even cut!' He looked at Tenseiga sheathed by his hip with disgust. With that in mind, the tai-youkai suddenly swept down from the sky on the unsuspecting demons and took out about half with his whip. Then he quickly rolled it up and used Toukijin on the remaining demons, killing another dozen with each slash of his sword. He was deep in the rush of battle when his senses alerted him of the smell of clay. Suddenly, a piece of red flickered into his vision. There was a shout of "Wind Scar!" and an explosion of white light.

Sesshoumaru only had a second to see his attackers. "Inuyasha?" he murmured before going unconscious.

Yup, dog-turd is in this one too! Sorry it's a little shorter than usual, but I'll be updating soon, promise!

Read and REVIEW!! (drops to knees and begs)