Well hi everybody! So much for the "update on Mondays" idea. Anyways, this would be chapter seven, and I must say, I never expected to get this far with this fic! It helps to have such kind reviewers. I suppose that's all I have to say for now, so have fun!

Disclaimer: Hmmm... You know what? I'm getting a little tired of saying the same thing over an over again, so why don't you just go to chapter 2 if you want a properly done disclaimer, okay?

Alright, I have a few notes, specifically for Profiler120. Ahem, Profiler120, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm such a fan of Prisoner, My Prisoner! I'm so shy, sorry I never reviewed, but now that I've actually spoken to you through this story, you'll certainly be hearing more from me. Also, I'm sorry you were confused about the scene transaction, I always did a double line to show that kind of thing, a little hard to distinguish though. So I'm going to take your advice use *** to signify things like that from now on. Now, in my other statement, I believe a few of you have said "best Sess/Kag I've ever read," well, I'm flattered but you're mistaken. In my opinion, it's a three-way tie between Disease, by psycho pixie, Ariels (sequel to disease), and Prisoner, My Prisoner by Profiler120. I highly recommend them to anyone and everyone.

Now, on to the story!

***

Reflection

Chapter 7-It Just Gets Better and Better.

***

Sango had held Kagome's head soothingly on her lap for nearly a half an hour while the girl cried her eyes out. She was now sitting rigidly on her legs, gazing at her hands, which were neatly folded over one another.

From her wracking sobs, it was obvious to anyone that Kagome's problem's ran deeper than her love life. Sango was itching to ask her about it, but refrained, lest her friend burst into gushing tears again.

Instead, she reached out and touched the girl's hand lightly, "Kagome-chan," she said softly, breaking her from her trance. "Is there anything I can do?"

After a moment, Kagome looked up the demon-exterminator, and said in a clear voice, "Let's go out."

"Where?"

"Anywhere but Inu-Yasha's room, and the garden." The statement obviously said "no questions asked please," and Sango, being the considerate friend that she was, stayed quiet for at least the hundredth time.

"Alright then, Kagome-chan, let's go." She smiled brightly and stood up, having no idea whatsoever where they would go, but trusting that Kagome knew what she was doing. 'It's best to cooperate with her wishes right now,' she thought.

Kagome got up beside her, and they moved to the door, throwing it back and exiting quietly. The moment that Kagome got out of the room, however, she felt the icy silence of the castle pierce her. It was strange, how there were so few servants scuttling about as they had been when she had first entered. Perhaps it had been the arrival of their lord that had brought on this change.

It was so eerily clean, and cold. Just standing in the vacant hall was like leaving for school on winter morning. The air was crisp, and as she breathed in, it prickled her lungs. It occurred to her, that she might retreat back to her room, and hide inside her bed all day, but Kagome couldn't bring herself to separate herself in such a manner. She had to get out.

"Which way?" Sango asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

Sango thrust her hands in opposite directions; each pointing down the length of the hall. "Left or right? We shouldn't go into the rooms, we don't who might be in them."

Kagome nodded, "Left." She said finally, recognizing that the light shown more brightly that way.

"Alright," Sango chirped, slapping, her hands together and putting on a false show of enthusiasm, "Let's go!" She turned and led the way, walking proudly like a soldier. It was amusing, and it made Kagome's heart light to see her friend treating their little jaunt like a terrific adventure. She put a delicate hand to her mouth and gave a silent giggle before she followed after the exterminator.

The wove slowly through the intricate passageways, Kagome always choosing the direction they would go in when they met a fork in their road. Steadily, the sunlight that streamed through the sparsely scattered windows grew brighter, and Kagome slowly realized that she had been yearning, not only to escape her chamber, but to escape the castle itself.

A free creature by nature, she couldn't handle being cooped up for extended periods of time. She needed to breath the fresh air, not in a boxed up garden, not from a balcony, but outside, standing in the wild grass with the wind sifting through her hair.

***

Shadows lurked in the darkness, hidden in the massive forest. They peered anxiously at the mountains before them, growling, twisting, writhing with the anticipation of a battle. But none of them were as impatient as Kagura.

A day and a half hand passed since she had discovered Inu-Yasha's whereabouts. She couldn't wait to drag her fan through his flesh. They were there, the fortress was before them, her was weak.

Her head twitched around and she eyed the demons that had escorted her. They were each very powerful, and would yield a great help in knocking over the castle, but she was suddenly fearful that one of them might go for HER kill.

Kagura met a red demon's gaze, his yellow eyes twirling in his head as his slender, snakelike body curled out behind him. He was incapable of speech, but he would certainly understand her body language as she growled sharply at him, baring her teeth in an animalistic way.

The demon shifted away, and her head snapped around towards the palace again. "Why don't we attack them now?" She complained snappishly to the shadow that sat beside her. Her muscles twitched as she spoke, her hand trembling on her fan.

"Patience Kagura, we must wait for the girl to become most vulnerable to us." The shadow said darkly, it's voice laced with darkness and death. She growled again and lowered her head. It was becoming increasingly difficult to hold herself in check.

It didn't occur to her that Naraku was using her heart against her. That he had inspired this new bloodlust because he held her soul in his grasp. It didn't occur to her that he was fooling her into doing his dirty work either. None of that mattered to Kagura in the heat of the hunt.

Her orders were to kill Inu-Yasha, though most importantly, the girl Kagome. In her passion to destroy him, she would no doubt flick away the girl as an insect; there would be no stopping her, and if she wanted to tackled Inu-Yasha, and his brother, she would need to be inspired with hatred as she was now.

It had sparked his curiosity, this new "truce" between the bitter enemies, but not to a point where Naraku would spare their lives to determine the answer. He had better things to do.

Kagura was not a fool, she wouldn't let the jewel shards slip when her work was done, but should she fail to, he would no doubt acquire them somehow.

There was movement in the vast garden-forest at the base of the mountain. On the stone steps, two women stood. One had dark brown hair, and was dressed in clothing of a common woman, with the exception that she was draped in unusually colorful fabrics; and the other, was a girl with black hair, and odd, outlandish dress. Her name, was Kagome.

Kagura tensed even more so than she had previously and licked her lips. She resembled a hunting dog, crouched low and leaning forward on her heals anxiously, head pointed at the pair straightly. She was ready to spring from the ridge on which her party was perched like the wind that she was, now was the time.

Her eyes flicked to the puppet Naraku beside her and back to her target, begging for the command to attack. The dark orbs stared silently from behind the shroud of baboon hide, observing this obstacle, and in a deep voice, "In your haste to kill the hanyou, remember that your target is the girl. Go."

Like an eager child, Kagura leapt from the hill and swept towards the females; her small army of demons rushing out behind her like a massive cloak. Their shocked faces as they realized what was happening were priceless, Kagura would be on them in a matter of seconds.

***

Sango and Kagome wandered aimlessly down the halls. To Kagome, everything resembled impenetrable concrete. She felt trapped, her heart had never beat for freedom and life more passionately. Every breath she took now felt suffocating, every step she took now felt dizzying. Where was she going? Who was she looking for? She couldn't focus now, not even on Sango's back where she trudged in front of her.

But something was about to happen that would bring it all back into view now. That which the part of her mind that was still awake feared the most. That which her heart trembled at.

Sango stopped at a turn. "Left, right, or straight?" She murmured, enthusiasm lost.

"Left," Kagome mumbled, and they set off.

Not ten paces from the point where Sango had asked her the same mindless question she had asked the whole trip, she stopped abruptly. Kagome stopped as well when the rhythm of Sango's swishing feet ceased. Slowly, she raised her gaze from where it had been resting on her own feet to Sango's face.

"Why've we stopped?"

She didn't answer, but her message was conveyed loudly enough. Her eyes were begging, pleading, twisted in grief and concern, and staring straight ahead. Kagome followed her stare.

Her heart skipped a beat, she trembled and took a step back. The long hours she had spent hiding form this...

'I'm not ready!'

Sango's lips were dry, "Inu-Yasha..." She muttered hoarsely.

The half-demon stood there, white undershirt halfway on his shoulders, attendants and his brother standing in shock around him. Sesshomaru seemed poised to drag Inu-Yasha somewhere, as did a few braver servants, but whatever transaction had been going on between them, they had all stopped in silence the moment Kagome and Sango had arrived on the scene.

Sango berated herself for a moment for not bothering to pay attention to the voices she had heard bickering at least seven turns back. She hadn't been thinking of anything at all, and she knew when she turned to observe the totally shocked Kagome that she had been doing the same thing.

"Kagome..." Inu-Yasha said quietly, his angry features softening.

It clicked in Sango's head. Inu-Yasha must have felt a feeling akin to Kagome's desire to leave her room. But he was out to find her, he wanted to speak to her of what had been said, but obviously, Sesshomaru had protested. 'He really DOESN'T know anything about women.' She thought.

Tears had begun to creep down Kagome's cheeks. She took another step back.

Inu-Yasha countered with a hesitant step towards her. "Kagome, I, don't know what to say..."

"Then don't say anything!" She barked suddenly, voice frail with oncoming sobs.

He faltered, as if hurt, but continued towards her. She backed away even more.

"Don't," It was now a faint whisper, so quiet in her throat.

"Kagome," he said patiently.

Her hands tightened into fists and she struggled with her movements. In a heartbeat, she had tensed as if prepared for a fight, and suddenly shouted, "DON'T SPEAK TO ME!" And with that, she spun around and began to bolt, trying to put as much distance between herself and the half-demon as possible. His brother too, for that matter, who, though she hadn't noticed, wore a vaguely similar expression to that of Inu-Yasha.

She was still wearing her shoes, and they slapped hard against the wood floor, causing a noise that swept throughout the castle as she ran. The tears were flying out behind her now, and she could hear Sango, and perhaps Sesshomaru and Inu-Yasha following.

The light was growing clearer as she ran, maybe she could escape, maybe she could outrun them... Her legs moved like the wind, she had never before run with such speed as this, though she hardly thought of it. Kagome soon became a blur crashing through the halls, her surroundings unfolded before her, and all she could think of was getting out...

Doors loomed before her, there were no other turns in sight, this had to be the way out, she remembered it, it had to be!

Her arms reached out before her and met with the filmy meterial. She threw them aside and stumbled out, letting the fresh air seep into her lungs. Kagome continued to run until she collapsed over a nearby balcony; panting and heaving. To her left, the stone steps of the palace entrance rolled down to the level ground like a river.

Sango was shouting for her, she could hear it. It was Sango, her friend, her companion who had done nothing but help her this whole time. Sango...

"Kagome-chan," she exclaimed as she burst through the doors, "Kagome-chan, Kagome-chan, Kagome-chan!!!" Kagome felt her slender arms fall over her, and she was suddenly content. Like a child with its mother, she leaned into Sango's embrace and wept to her again.

They stood like that for a moment, and she could feel Sango's own tears seeping into her hair, but just as she was regaining the peace she had sought after for the past five days, Kagome saw something out of the corner of her vision. She looked again briefly, and her eyes widened in fear and shock. Sango grew silent, she had seen it too.

A great wave of demons was hurtling toward them, Kagura, daughter of Naraku, at their head.

They were scarcely a quarter of a mile away when Inu-Yasha and Sesshomaru came thundering through the doors, the elder brother supporting his staggering sibling; but in an instant, all signs of weakness were banished as they realized the sudden desperation of what was happening. Their swords were drawn in a heart beat.

Now Kagura was on top of them, the shadow of her army stretching across them, her fan and claws out and ready to kill, her eyes burned with a merciless wrath.

She was feet away, she was going to attack.

She was going to attack Sesshomaru.

Instincts pulsed through her as Kagome suddenly grasped what was going on, her heart pounded wildly, and without pausing to think about it, she sprang from the balcony and threw herself between Sesshomaru and Kagura, standing to face down the Lady of the Wind with arms spread protectively.



A thought was ringing inside of her head, 'She's here...!'

Kagome knew she wasn't thinking of Kagura. Soft light was growing about her form.

'I'm here!'

***

How do ya like dem apples huh? Lots of good stuff prepared for chapter 8!