Disclaimer: See last chapters. A/n: Hello people! Wow! I finally got my lazy butt out of bed to write this chapter. Yep, that's my excuse for not updating. Don't get mad at me. There are plenty of authors that are feeling too lazy to post new chapters. There are even fans that are feeling too lazy to R&R. Oh well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

~FROM THE LAST CHAPTER~ The arrow hit its target, but it had an odd cracking sound. The next thing I knew, there was a small explosion and hundreds of tiny, little, shiny objects flew everywhere in different directions. Turned to look at Laquisha, who looked surprisingly pale and her mouth hung open. After getting over some of her shock she said,

"We..... Are.... so.... screwed!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

I watched in horror as hundreds of little, glowing, glass pieces flew in different directions. When I regained the feeling in my legs, I staggered over to Kagome, who looked slightly pale.

"Kagome, what happened?" I asked breathlessly, in a hoarse, deathly whisper.

Kagome looked about ready to cry.

"S-Sango an-and I... w-we were going on a-on a w-walk an-and we were at- attacked........ an-and..... I'm so sorry!!!" Kagome managed to stutter out before she burst out crying.

I stood there hopelessly for a moment before my mothering instincts kicked in and I started to comfort her. After a moment, Inuyasha strutted over with a shard of the jewel and said,

"Laquisha, please tell me this isn't what I think it is."

I gave him a helpless look and returned to comforting Kagome.

"Shit! What are we going to do now?!" He asked heatedly.

I motioned for Sango to take over and drug Inuyasha out of hearing distance.

"Inuyasha! I was trying to comfort Kagome back there and you were just making it worse!" I exclaimed.

"It's her fault the jewel is broken, why do you even bother with comforting her?" Inuyasha asked snootily.

"INUYASHA, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! SHE WAS DEFENDING HERSELF FROM AN UNEXPECTED ATTACK WITH THE ONLY WEAPON SHE KNEW HOW TO USE! IT WAS *NOT* HER FAULT. IF YOU WISH TO BLAME SOMEONE, BLAME ME! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE TO PROTECT HER!" I yelled.

"Ok, OK. Jeesh, wolf-demons and their protectiveness." He said.

"That protectiveness is the only thing that keeps our pups alive." I replied exasperatedly.

"Speaking of pups....." Inuyasha started with a devilish grin.

"Ack, how could think of something like that at a time like this? I....am... NOT.... in the mood!" I said heatedly before I stomped off. I could feel his smirk on my back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

I watched as my mate, Laquisha, leave with a smirk on my lips. She covered her nervousness with anger and I knew it. She was nervous about the deal she made with me. I rejoiced in my cleverness on tricking her into agreeing to have no objections when I decided to pup her. Though I wanted to have pups with her at the next time she was in heat, I knew it was not the time for it. Now that the shikon-no-tama was broken, Laquisha would have to help gather it and she did not need to deal with a pregnancy and pup(s). 'Damn' I thought to myself, 'Responsibility is a bitch.' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

I watched the little scene Laquisha and Inuyasha had with dreamy eyes. They were so cute together! The way Laquisha's nostrils flared when she was mad at him; the way his ears folded back when she yelled. But even when they were glaring daggers at each other, I could still see the love and respect they had for each other in there eyes..... even if it was dimmed with their anger. I wished I were so lucky to have a relationship like that..... well.... maybe without the yelling, but even that could be fun at times. The thing that was so great about their relationship was, they weren't afraid to argue. Now that's a true relationship.

"Kagome, are you ok? You look a bit, well, zoned." Sango said.

"Huh?" I asked pulling out of my trance, "Oh, yah. I was just thinkin' about stuff."

"Well, if it's about the shikon jewel, stop beating yourself up about it." Said Laquisha, who had just shown up.

"Oh, yah..... ok." I replied.

"Hey," Sango said, obviously wanting to change the subject, "You want to see something cute?"

"Anything." Laquisha replied warily, "I need to get my mind off Inuyasha."

Sango put her fingers to her lips and let out a loud shrill whistle, causing Laquisha to immediately cover her wolf-like-ears and wince in pain.

"You could have warned me before you did that, you know." Laquisha said through gritted teeth.

Sango shrugged and said, "Sorry, I forgot about the ears."

"You forgot?! How on earth could you forget when they're sitting there on top of my head in plain sight?!" Laquisha asked heatedly.

Sango shrugged again and said, "I don't know, but I did."

Laquisha sighed heavily and shook her head. Then, all of a sudden, her ears perked up and every muscle in her body went very tense. A very low growl formed in her chest, then turned into very loud warning growl. Both Sango and I turned to her with confused looks on our faces. Then we saw something moving very fast through the tall grass, and out came a little kitten. Laquisha looked very confused for a moment; then turned to Sango, who was grinning. Sango walked over to the kitten and picked it up.

"Isn't she cute? Her name is Kirara and she's a fire cat." Sango said with a grin.

"Oh, is she your protector or just a form of transportation..... or both?" Laquisha asked, eying the cat warily.

"Both. But she is also my companion and friend." Sango replied.

Laquisha relaxed visibly after that. She held out a clawed hand to Kirara allowing it to sniff her. Kirara eyed her piercingly. Laquisha and Kirara locked eyes for a moment, then Kirara gave a self-satisfied, "mew", and rubbed her head against Laquisha's hand.

"I have never had Kirara warm up to someone who would have been a potential enemy that quickly." Sango said.

"Let's just say, we understand each other." Laquisha replied, stroking Kirara.

"I see." Sango said suspiciously.

We spent the next half hour oooing and awing over the cute little kitten and her tricks. Sango showed us the larger form of Kirara. Laquisha liked this form better for some reason. Well, that's what it seemed like anyway. She never actually said so out loud, but she seemed more interested with the larger form. When I asked her why, she simply replied,

"I'm not more interested in the larger form. What I was doing was going over Kirara's muscles and vertebrae to make sure everything was in order. I must congratulate Sango in keeping her fire-cat so fit. Kirara is in prime condition. She's the healthiest I've seen in captivity."

Sango lifted an eyebrow and asked, "How is it that you know so much about fire-cats?"

"Hello, you're talking to a hanyou here. I understand animals better than I do humans, and, no offence; I find them to be better companions. They don't argue with you. And the fact that I was pretty much my village's veterinarian helps too." She replied.

"Well, I must agree on preferring animals over human companionship, but, no offence; a hanyou wouldn't be my first choice in a hunting companion either. Most of them don't understand that we're only human and we can't be perfectly quiet." Sango said.

"Oh, well, in my defense, if the hanyou can hear you while you're hunting, who's to say a youkai won't?" Laquisha asked.

"Good point." Sango replied.

"Thank you. You had a pretty good point on your side as well. But when it comes to hunting, it all comes down to natural instinct for hanyou and youkai, so, no, I wouldn't recommend hunting with one." Laquisha said.

Sango nodded in agreement.

I looked from Sango to Laquisha; then shook my head.

"You two have the strangest friendship I've seen in my life." I said.

"How so?" Laquisha asked.

"One: You're a hanyou and you're a demon exterminator. Two: No more than five hours ago were you two fighting in combat against each other. Three: You start a conversation with two totally different outlooks on something, and you end it with agreeing with each other. It's not natural!" I replied.

They ginned at each other.

"What's not natural for one person, is completely natural for the next. It's the way of life. For example; it is not natural for a tiger to eat grass, yet it is second nature for a deer to do so." Laquisha said.

"I suppose, but it is still strange." I said.

"I agree, but no one ever said we were normal." Sango replied.

"And whoever did.... Lied!" Laquisha agreed with a grin.

We laughed over that for a bit; then Laquisha sighed heavily.

"Well, I suppose I should go talk to that butt-head I have as a mate. You two go tell Kadae what happened with the jewel, and I'll meet up with you later." Laquisha said, turning to leave.

"Ok." We replied; then headed to tell Kadae the horrible truth and get her advise on the situation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I headed back into the woods where I had left Inuyasha. Someone dropped behind me and wrapped their arms around my waist.

"A butt-head am I?" the person asked.

"Hello, Inuyasha, nice meeting you again." I said, turning around and draping my arms around his neck.

He looked at me with a fake glare. I just ginned and nipped the tip of his nose playfully.

"You are too flirtatious for your own good, you know that?" he asked.

"Yup, it's the only thing that keeps me out of trouble." I replied with a grin.

"I noticed." He said, brining me into a deep kiss.

I pulled away and said, "No, no, no. I have to talk to you first."

He gave a playful, yet impatient growl......... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~

A/n: Dum, dum, dum! Mwahahahaha! I am EVIL! I am feeling very evil today and I don't know why. Oh well. Anyway, my lovely, lovely fans must tell me if they want a lemon in the next chapter. Mind you, this WILL be my first lemon, so people must vote! Majority wins! Oh, and for some nonsense news, I took these two tests at creepy-kitty.net and I have discovered that I am an evil kitty and a creepy kitty. If you want to find out what you are, go to creepy-kitty.net click on, "it's fun time" and click on the last two items on the list. You will get the "kitty test" or the "creepy test". Okiloveyoubahbye.