Author's Note: I was freakin' sick all weekend! Damn, I'm getting sick a lot lately. (shrugs) it's not that big of a deal I guess. I do feel a little better. I feel guilty for not updating the last chapter in like five days, sorry! School, as we all know, takes up most of our time. So now this chapter is here sooner! Please read and review! Enjoy!

lady kjerston of the western: Whoa, lol, I was wondering why everything was in caps. Now I know. lol. You're welcome, I'm always here to help! heehee, I love the shy type! And no butt touching? That's a keeper! And thank Jumbo for me for reading my story! Ohh, a nonbeliever huh? lol, that's fine, just as long as she enjoys the fic, it ain't a problem. lol! Well I'm glad one of your freaks reads my ficcies. But keep her away from my freaks k? We don't want no nuclear war here, lol. Thanks for your review!

Miru Amai: Oh don't worry about it. i'm sick too (cough cough), lol. Yeah, I wonder who's gonna die first too. Oh wait, I do, heehee! Thanks for your review and hope you feel better hon!

Suaru: Yes he did! lol. Yeah, I've read a lot of fics where he's usually the son of Naraku. I think that's cool too, but I wanted to do something different. Did I surprise ya? lol, hope I did. Thanks for your review-UGH I know, lol, I can't believe I forgot something like his wind tunnel. I guess I was just not paying attention. (slaps her own hand) bad little-sango bad!

erica0606: lol, thank you so much! I'm workin' hard for all of ya readers! Thanks for your review!

HEY everyone- heehee, did any of you see the episode of Inuyasha when he and Kagome help Sota confess his love to this girl he likes at school? remember when they encouraged him as he left saying "bonzai bonzai bonzai!" (spelling right?) lol, anyway, i thought it was too funny! Just hearing Inuyasha scream bonzai like that really made my day (sighs)

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

Chapter Fourteen: Living Becomes a Privilege

Sango got up with a large heave of breath and ran at a steady pace to where she knew Kaede would be in the fields with Shippo. She felt the heat come down on her from the sun and for the moment she cursed the giant star to hell. Did she honestly need to be more uncomfortable than she already was? Hell no. But we all can't have our way, so uncomfortable she shall remain for now.

"Lady Kaede! Shippo" The demon exterminator called out urgently. Putting a lender hand over her forehead to get a better look around the fields, she looked in every direction and didn't see them.

"Mother, wait! Be careful" Teishin called out after her in apparent concern. Once he caught up with her he stopped and took deep breathes. He held onto his mother's arm gently, pulling her toward him to get her attention"Mother, Kaede seems to not be here. Let's look inside the hut." He suggested as he took his first step towards the hut and Sango followed.

On the way, Sango had to slow down"W-Wait Teishin, I can't walk any faster." She breathed and he nodded"Oh, sorry." He apologized and slowed down his walking pace. Sango just smiled down at him as he held her arm tighter and went to find Kaede.

Once they walked in the hut, they saw no one there. Only a stew pot left upon a dead fireplace, a basket of herbs in the corner, and other things here and there, but no sign of the old priestess. Sango looked around with her eyes, 'She must be in the village someplace aiding a sick child or something. But, then how are we going to get help and bring Sanae back? Is she already with Kagome and Inuyasha?' She looked down in thought and squeezed her son's arm a little tighter.

-

Reina and Hineto were squaring off and Inuyasha made the others behind him step back"This could get too dangerous, back up." He whispered as to not get both the demon women's attention. Kagome and the others followed his instructions without question, certainly not having to be told twice.

Inuyasha was worried nevertheless, 'What if they both are still alive and Taisuke comes? Will the three of them just fight us all together? Or will these stupid wenches kill one of the two of them?' He pondered and felt his teeth grit mutually tighter. He wondered if backing down for the time being was a mistake. Well, it was too late now, so he just had to watch the fight till one or both of them die.

Hineto narrowed her ruby red eyes "Fine. If this is what you want, then so be it... bitch." She finished, thinking she actually offended Reina by calling her a bitch.

Reina sighed and opened her elegant sapphire fan with a swift flick of her wrist. 'She is nothing but a burden. I'll relieve the world of her, once and for all.' Reina waved her fan once and giant shards of icicles flew in Hineto's direction.

Hineto dodged and attacked with her scythe.

Miroku made a face "Inuyasha, how long do you suppose this would take? It appears as those two are equally matched in power." He whispered in question toward the hanyou. Inuyasha shrugged"I don't know, but I hope it won't take forever. If it does I'll just attack them by surprise or something." He suggested.

Kagome sighed and made sure the kids were at the back her and safe from any danger, 'I hope we continue our travel again very soon.'

Asoka and Sanae glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes from time to time. I mean, they were paying close attention to the fight yes, but they seemed to be more nervous about how to deal with their feelings at the present time. Taikan was clearly too busy to become aware of what was going on behind him, he just kept his awareness on the fight before him.

Sanae silently sighed, 'What am I going to do?' She shook her head, 'This is silly, I shouldn't be feeling this way about anyone, not yet. And besides, I don't think I'd be able to because if I did, then Dad would be upset.' She sighed evidently now.

Asoka looked down at his feet, finding them suddenly incredibly interesting, 'What do I do?... Do I even do anything? Ugh, I should've asked Dad more advice about girls.' He closed his eyes and sighed.

Hineto threw a fireball at Reina and she did her frozen wind attack once more. Freezing the ball of flames in its place and watching it fall to the ground without a concern in the world. The ice sorceress was already getting sick of this preposterous battle. Her heart was sinking though; she knew Taisuke was watching them, irritated no doubt. Reina scowled, 'I must get rid of Hineto now before Taisuke decides to kill me.'

-

"What hell are you two doing!" Taisuke was up and out of his large chair.

He grasped the mirror in a firm grip, but cautious enough not to break it. 'Those impudent fools, the hanyou could be getting away!' He screamed in his mind. He seethed over and over. Taisuke very much disapproved of his servants that don't do their job right away... or even right at all.

Taisuke spun around and slammed his fist against his chair, smashing it into oblivion with much simplicity. "I'll do it all myself." He growled and walked on the way to the balcony. He leaned frontward and looked at the mountain where the orbs were to be found. It appeared so small to him, thanks to the faraway distance between him and the mountain. But he smiled, knowing he'd get there quickly enough.

He gazed at it with a smirk now, 'It won't be long now until I arrive.'

-

Hineto was slashed across the back, and the blood that flowed out of her froze instantaneously.

She sank down to her knees. Hineto could feel her blood start to solidify and her eyes turn a vanishing blue. She slowly looked at her skin and saw it was becoming paler by the second, "D-Damn you Reina." She gasped.

And sooner than anyone knew it, she was frozen all together. Inuyasha and his friends behind him could merely stare in shock at the horrifying sight of watching someone freeze to death. Taikan had turned and hugged his sister, protecting her eyes from what he wished he hadn't seen.

Kagome gaped at the crystal that was Hineto and looked down, 'That could happen to any of us. We have to be very careful.'

Inuyasha scoffed, "Well, that's one pathetic demon out of the way, and only one more to go." He muttered and unsheathed Tetsusaiga for a second time. The swiftness of the large blade caught Reina's attention and she tediously turned to look at him, "So, you want to go again I see." She mused with a dull smile.

"Hell yeah I wanna go again you wench! What'd you think?" He shouted and ran toward her. "Inuyasha be careful!" Kagome called out before he got 'too into' all the fighting he'd be doing.

Reina did a double take in the direction of Kagome and saw a great deal of loving emotion in her kind brown eyes that was meant for Inuyasha and she frowned in suspicion. But for the reason that Reina had kept her guard down for a mere second, Inuyasha had the upper hand and used Tetsusaiga on her just after the instant it turned red.

Reina was thrown against the trunk of a tree from the impact of the sword's power, her back making contact with the hard wood first, and then she slid down in a sitting position. She gasped for breath and breathed in the air that was knocked out of her as she stood up gradually. Inuyasha neared her, not wanting to let her have the possibility to recover again. When Reina was standing up fully, she wiped a finger across her lips to free the blood that had appeared there, "Finally I have some competition from you."

Inuyasha growled and raised Tetsusaiga to get attack Reins again, except then she disappeared and unexpectedly reappeared behind him, fan open and rose in the air. Reina slashed it across Inuaysha's back like she did Hineto, but he managed to drop himself from it and roll away from her.

Standing once again, he readied his sword in position, catching his breath.

Kagome whimpered somewhat in frustration. She dreadfully wanted to help, but she knew Inuyasha would most likely not let her. But what was there left to do? If Reina could ice over everything they threw at her, what could they possibly do? 'We have to getaway somehow and think of a plan. But how?' Kagome wondered hurriedly.

Inuyasha jumped out of the way from an additional ice attack Reina tossed at him and he gripped his sword tighter, 'I can't use my Windscar on her. She'll just freeze it like she did last time... I'll have to wait for her to use another attack on me, and then I could gather energy from that to carry out the Backlash wave.' He almost smirked.

After another ten minutes of fighting, Reina decided to use something else other than her fan to beat Inuyasha. She held up her hand in front of her, and a vivid blue energy ball formed. Seeing this, Inuyasha noticeably smirked and Reina was actually thinking if she should fire her energy ball at him. 'What's he planning?' She wondered, but let the ball gather a little more energy, 'It will instantly crystallize anything it touches. Inuysaha, when I'm through with you you'll be nothing but a boulder of ice.' She threw the energy ball at the hanyou.

Inuyasha's heart raced and he got his sword ready"Backlash wave" He swung his sword toward the attack, and suddenly whirlwinds surrounded them. The wave blasted Reina's attack back at her and her eyes widened.

Reina felt her arm freezing and turning into clear frost. "Damn it." She silently cursed and disappeared before the ice devoured her. "This isn't the end Inuyasha" Were her last words.

Inuaysha heard the echo of her words and shrugged. He closed his eyes and casually waved his hand lightly at her comment, dismissing it effortlessly"I've heard that like a million times now from demons who wanted to kill me, and it was the damn end, ok? This ain't different… Man, what a persistent bitch…" He muttered.

Kagome jumped up and ran to Inuaysha. "I was so worried" She cried and they hugged.

Miroku sighed and turned to the kids"Are you all ok" He asked and the children nodded shakily, still surprised by the battle that had taken place. He turned back to look at the scene around him. Thanks to Inuyasha's energy wave, they were in a complete clearing, no more trees.

The monk looked further out and saw the mountain where the orbs were, and he smiled. 'Finally, it seems like we have gotten closer already. I hope we get to them in time.'

Once Inuyasha and Kagome reluctantly broke separately, they went to the others and breathed in a sigh of relief. "Dad! I thought you were gonna lose!" Sanae cried and hugged Inuyasha around his middle. He lay his hand on her head softly, "Nah, I knew I had her beaten from the start. So don't worry." He smiled, but inwardly, he was falling apart. What he just said was nearly the opposite of what he really felt, and that scared him to death. He couldn't make any more mistakes, or let anything else just overpower him like Reina had done from time to time.

Miroku placed a hand on Asoka's shoulder and looked at Inuyasha, "Don't you think we should be taking our leave now Inuyasha? We must get to the orbs as soon as we are able." He said and saw the hanyou nod. "I agree. Come on, let's go now."

As usual, Inuaysha and Kagome led the way, with Miroku walking near the kids at the back them. Inuyasha was carrying Sanae on his shoulders though. After she had almost fainted from the heat and even still when she was trying to convince Inuaysha that she was ok, he carried her nonetheless.

Asoka watched birds fly by in the sky, 'I wonder how Mother is doing. I hope Teishin is taking care of her well.' He thought and smiled. He couldn't wait to have another baby brother or sister.

-

Reina was healing herself down in a deep dark place that was underneath the castle. She sat cross legged on the floor, meditating her hand over her arm that was frozen over by her own power. After a long while, the ice melted away from her and her skin appeared in her normal color.

She opened her eyes, 'How dare he humiliate me by injuring me As more time passed, she gained her power back, and that's when Taisuke came in.

"What?" She asked, not turning around to face him.

"You know damn well what Reina." Taisuke said in a dangerously low voice. "What was your reason for killing Hineto?" He demanded. Taisuke already had enough to deal with on his own. He really didn't need his own 'faithful' servant to not follow his simple orders.

"You know why just as well as I do Master." She said offhandedly. Taisuke did know, but he was still annoyed, "You don't kill any minions of mine unless I say so." He threatened. Reina knew what he'd do to her now. He'd torture her, just like he did last time when she had tried to betray him years ago. But that was all in the past, she had a new problem to handle now.

"Forgive me Master." She faced him and bowed respectfully in front of him, "I'll not disobey you ever again." She convinced him and he gazed at her raven hair, "You had better, or I will have to keep that pretty little head of yours."

Reina didn't flinch at all. Even though he had never threatened her like that before, she was not surprised to hear him say something like that to her. "I understand."

A little pause later, Taisuke smirked, "Would you like to know a little secret to where Inuaysha is going and why?" He asked, evidently pleased. Reina glanced up at him, "And that little secret would be?.." She trailed off, wanting him to answer her.

"They're after the orbs of Higan." He replied and saw her face turn to that of shock. She stood up, "Are you positive?"

"Yes, but you need not worry so much. We'll get there before Inuyasha and his friends even come close to them."

-

Inuyasha and the others walked by his side.

The mountain seemed to grow larger and larger as they looked at it with hope in their eyes. They were in a way mesmerized by it. What they really need was so close to them, yet still so distant further on. Would they make it? Alive? They didn't know. But they strangely wanted so desperately to find out.

Inuyasha sadly looked around his home. He considered all of this life out here his home. He had been all over the place in the years he and Kagome were married.

Inuyasha smiled in spite of himself at the moment. Looking aside from the challenge they faced now to live, his home was still so beautiful once you took the chance to notice it. And so, walking on and leaving his unwanted fears behind him, he thought of this home again.