A/N: ...Might be some questionable material in here. :D If you don't like subjective situations, cover your eyes. Otherwise, buck up and REVIEW. :O

He had been fashioning puppet dolls, using wood that he had sent the saimyosho to gather for him, for several hours. As his strength returned so did his powers, and now that he was at least subpar it was time to begin work once more. The saimyosho had done their job well, returning from their mission with several tree limbs of suitable size and strength. He had been working diligantly to keep his mind off things, carving the wood into the proper shapes with a knife he found amongst the supplies that Kanna had returned with, when he heard her quiet voice break the air.

"Naraku...? Are you still here...?"

He put down the knife and puppet he was working on and pulled himself to his feet. He pushed the two puppet sets he had completed aside with his feet and made his way over to her side. He dropped to one knee beside her, resting his arms upon his leg and gazing down at her. So she's finally awake? I wonder if she has anything to say for herself now...

"I'm still here, Kanna. It would hardly do to leave you alone in this condition, and I have plenty to keep me busy right here." He brushed the hair from her eyes, and shifted to a cross-legged sitting position for comfort's sake. "How are you feeling?"

She closed her eyes and gave a silent prayer of thanks to whatever god would listen, then shifted her gaze to him. A faint smile crossed her face as he pushed back a random lock of hair, grateful for even that small favor. His question faded it back into a frown, however, and she pondered her reply for a moment.

"I can't move," she finally admitted, "at all, except for speaking. I...I need my mirror. If I had it..."

Kanna paused, glancing in the direction she'd last seen it. I have enough power so that I can work it, and hopefully get myself back in shape. I can't sit here and wait gods know how many days for my body to help itself. It seemed almost ironic, that not even days before it had been her moving about...

Don't beg. Don't beg, her mind moaned, and she shut it out. She was sick of being injured, weak and useless. She was too tired to save dignity; face could always be gained back later. To hell with looking calm, I need that damned mirror!

Looking back to him, an almost pleading look came over her. "Could you...I mean...is it possible that you might bring it to me...please? All you'd have to do is put it in my hand, and then I'll be out of your way, I promise."

Well now, this is what I wanted to see. He nodded to her question, and returned to his feet. The mirror remained on where he had last put it down the night she took ill, and he bent to pick it up. A line of dust had covered the mirror's surface, and he blew it off. He twisted on his heel and rests on his knees, putting him on Kanna's opposite side. The mirror was placed on her chest, and he placed her hands upon it one at a time. He chuckled a bit once he had finished. "You've never been in my way and you know it, Kanna."

Now then... if she can use the mirror, then I'll know for certain that it is her and I can put this nonsense behind me once and for all...

"Do I?" she murmured, unsure of what she knew anymore. Her mind was still foggy, though in moments she planned to end that problem. This has to work. It WILL work. If it doesn't...well, I'll think about that only if it happens. Which it won't...I know it.

Her fingertips touched the smooth surface of the mirror, and Kanna closed her eyes to concentrate. Just this one last thing, she thought determindly, directing her thoughts to the center of the mirror and waiting.

And waiting, and waiting.

No...no way. Come on...

Nothing. It sat in her hands like only so much glass and metal. She wanted to hurl it across the room, to curse every curse she ever knew. But that wouldn't have helped...My energy is just too low...that has to be it. But what will Naraku think, if I can't even work the mirror? My most basic task, and I can't do it? Oh, but I can pull off flashy magic tricks...Come on, WORK.

Nothing. The mirror remained flat and lifeless, and her heart sank. I was wrong...I didn't have enough energy to work it...now what am I going to do? It should work, even without that much effort... Kanna sighed, trying to surpress the panic rising in her eyes.

Naraku watched her carefully as she held the mirror in her hands. Come now... if you're truly Kanna, this should be no task. It remained dormant on her chest, despite the apparent focus she had been putting into it. She seemingly gives up after a few tries.

"It's...not working," she said hesitantly. "Things must be worse than I thought...I'm sorry..."

Not as sorry as you're going to be, he mused sinisterly to himself, whoever you are.

Naraku placed a finger upon her leg below where the kimono ends, and slowly slid his finger up her leg, seperating the kimono as he did so. "Its such a shame to see you this way," he whispered darkly.

His finger continued to slide across her inner thigh, then moving back toward the outside of the leg to spread the kimono open. He lifted his finger only long enough to undo the sash's tie, then continued his finger's questing movement across up her body. "Completely helpless. Practically a victim within yourself..." He allowed a second finger to caress across her stomach, then returned to a single finger as her slid up the middle of her chest. He flipped his folded fingers nonchalantly, tossing to remaining portion of her kimono off to the side of her, exposing now half of her body entirely. "So innocent... and yet..."

His finger stopped at the base of her throat. He pulled his hand away momentarily, only to strike her throat with such ferocity that her entire body shook. He grasped her throat in his hand and squeezed it, enough to hold on but holding back so as to not break her neck. "...And yet it seems as though you aren't who you say you are. The spells, the body, and I didn't see it before?"

At this he flipped the other side of the kimono open, completely exposing her before him. "This is indeed Kanna's mirror, and the only things stopping me from ripping your heart from your chest is that I'm uncertain if you have one, and I still wish to know what has happened to her." He let his free hand's finger trace back down the way he had come up, starting at the base of her throat and moving down to stop at her naval. "I'm sure I can think of a few uses for your flesh, and I believe you can imagine what I'm capable of doing to you."

All this time, he cursed within himself, and it had been a trap afterall. Who was this demon working for? What had they done to Kanna? He openly swore allowed, his anger trying to overwhelm him. I was left with a single servant, and I will be damned if someone thinks they'll control what I do and what I feel...

"W-what?" she choked, stunned at his statement, and falling deathly silent as she felt his hands upon her. What! Not who I say I am...how could he...do this...

She had no to time to think, to reply; his accusations stabbed into her like a sword, and before she could pull her thoughts into coherancey, he had bared her before him and seized her by the neck. Hatred, anger, betrayl...all these passed through her eyes, but they only one that stayed was terror.

"...and I still wish to know what has happened to her."

The light in her eyes slowly blackened, replaced instead by tears of fear and pain. Trying to hold them back, she attempted to speak, but all that came out was a whimper as her last barrier of the soul broke, and her tears flowed freely from the corners of her eyes as she wept miserably.

"I'll tell you what's happened," she finally said, her voice toneless, empty...dead. "You just destroyed her."

Her hand moved the inch it needed, her despair flooding over her as she touched her mirror; the surface glowed brightly as she clutched her oldest weapon...and saving grace.

"And all for nothing," Kanna whispered.

Nearly instantly, her body vanished, reappearing across the room. She stood in the door of the cavern, mirror in hand. She didn't bother to try and cover herself, her eyes lifeless. What is left to hide, after all? The mirror's brilliance intensified as she gazed wordlessly at Naraku, tears continuing to slip down her face. Without speaking she vanished once more, to the mouth of the cave itself.

For a moment, she stood there, looking into the darkness through blurred vision. She trembled from panic, from hatred and shock. Why are you surprised, Kanna? Did you actually think...honestly believe...it would have been any other way? It was a long time coming. And you played directly into the game.

Turning her back to the cave, she openly cried, her sobs echoing across the main tunnel and into the growing dusk as she ran towards the trees, disappearing into the woods...the forest, the Earth, and the twilight. Her true home. Alone.

You always have been alone, Kanna. Always have been, and always will be...