A/N-Thanks to those who reviewed my last chapter. And thanks to my muse Forgotten Angel. I am currently searching for a permanent beta reader, someone who is willing beta all my stuff. If you could respond in your review if you would like to volunteer for this. Thanks! And I can get this chappie out today because….SNOW DAY:)

Disclaimer-I don't own…and if I forgot from past chapters…I don't own…cept the plot.

Chapter 7

Running, always running, never looking back. For, she believed, that if she kept running that he couldn't catch her. Who was she fooling? She had only been on the run for a day and a night; the demon lord could easily catch her. Riki slowed to a stop for a much needed break. Her once flawless face was marred with scratches from tree branches. But they were nothing, didn't present any pain compared to the emotional pain that was assaulting her as she took every breath. She was a replacement to the only one she could ever love. And, though he said otherwise, she refused to believe it, based on a small seed of a thought that was growing in the back of her mind. 'If he truly cares about me…why didn't he come after me right away?'

Another day and another night passed. Riki drank from the stream that she had found and was walking beside but the water couldn't fend off her hunger, which, at this point was at an aching point. Having been raised in a palace her whole life she didn't know how to scavenge for food in the forest. A long thick branch was all that was holding her up but it was evident, if someone happened upon her at that moment, it wasn't going to hold her for long.

She took another shaking step eastward, away from his palace, when her strength gave out and she passed out, unconscious upon the bank of the river.

Almost immediately after she collapsed, a silver haired female dog demon jumped out of the bush to her right. She appeared to be about 8 or 9 and her eyes were a shocking spun gold with flecks of green and her ears were pointed like an elves. A boy who appeared to be about 17ish with shoulder length black hair followed her closely, silver inu ears perched upon his head. His eyes were the color of straw and he ran after the young girl, clearly annoyed. "Izayoi! Stop running away from me or I'll tell mom and dad!" Izayoi, the young female demon looked down and said "Sorry Souta nee-Chan."

The boy named Souta harrumphed before he smiled and said "It's ok Izzy…just try not to do it again." The younger one smiled then pointed to Riki. "Who is she Nee-Chan?" Souta whirled around and, glimpsing her, ran to the side of the fallen girl. "Izzy." He said in an urgent voice. "I know I just said to stay with me but I need you to run and get mom and her medicine kit." The young girl was gone in a flash of silver.

Souta gently flipped Riki over so that she was facing up, and could breathe easier. He reached out a hand to brush her forehead like his mom had taught him to detect a fever when her stomach reacted. This caused him to realize why she had passed out. He jumped into the tree above him and began to scavenge for a piece of fruit. Finding a wild plum he picked it and jumped down to the unconscious girl. Cutting the plum into pieces with his claws, he fed it to the girl piece by piece. He was about halfway through the plum when help arrived in the form of his sister, his mother and his brother. His mom went straight to Riki and began to examine her.

"She's alright everyone, no permanent damage. She just hasn't had food in roughly two days." The woman brushed her black bangs into a clip that held them just behind her fuzzy black dog-ears. Hazel eyes turned to her mate. "Inuyasha can you please take her back to the hut? Izayoi is exhausted. I'll carry her." The inu-hanyou walked towards the prone body and picked Riki up bridal style. Izayoi hopped onto her mother's back and the little group sped back to the house.

Something warm was going down her throat. It tasted like stew, and for that matter the air around her smelled like stew. She was in a hut. She cracked a chocolate eye, shielding her eye against the bright light. She glimpsed a woman with waist length black hair bending over something in a pot. "Umm…" her voice was cracking from lack of use. The woman stood up and turned around. Much to Riki's surprise the young woman had dog-ears! She couldn't suppress a gasp of shock.

The woman laughed. "That was my reaction when I looked in a mirror after the transformation." She walked over and sat down beside Riki. "My name is Kagome. You were on a riverbank, my son and daughter found you-passed out from hunger. Why were you in the middle of nowhere with no food?"

Tears began to fall from Riki's eyes. "He…I loved him…love him…and he…he didn't tell me who he was…and who I was…." Her voice cracked. "I was his servant. He told me he loved me but…I didn't know who he was." She broke down. Kagome gathered her into her arms and began to rock her like a little child.

Once Riki had calmed down Kagome began to get into little trivial specifics about her family. "My mate is an inu-hanyou as am I and my son and daughter. However…whenever I look at my daughter I only see my mate's older brother who is a full inu. That leads me to believe that she got my demon genes and Inuyasha's demon genes and no human genes-making her a full demon- but that can't be right because she does have a day of the month where she turns human…Shes named for his mother you know. And Souta is named for my little brother. I'll see him in 500 years give or take..." Something had hit Riki though. A story that her mom hand told her about a miko who could time travel, who at the same time protected the Shikon jewel. A miko named…. Kagome.

"You're Kagome the time traveler? Purifier of the Sacred Jewel?" Grinning cheerfully Kagome said "Yup that's me!" Riki skipped over the story in her head to one important detail. 'She went through what I'm going through.'

"You…you're the reincarnate of Inuyasha's first love?" Kagome snarled quietly before saying "Kikyo, yeah. Why?"

"Maybe you can help me with my situation. The person I love is, as I said, a demon. But 17 years, roughly, ago, just before I was born, he was in love with a young girl. She was killed by a lesser demon. I had a dream two nights ago, sent from the Kami's that told me about her." Her voice broke. "It said that I was a replacement, that I wasn't loved for me, I was loved for being her…"

Kagome listened with growing horror. She couldn't believe that Fate and the Kami's were doing this to someone again. How cruel can they get? "Listen Riki…" she said softly "Sometimes…the past can be extremely difficult to forget. There were countless times before we mated where Inuyasha would go back to Kikyo." She deliberated with what to say. "I've heard the legends surrounding me. What they don't include was how, in order to finally get Inuyasha's attention I ran away to my time with the Shikon for 3 months. He finally came after me once he had managed to put the past and Kikyo to rest. I believed that he would come for me and it is my belief that whoever this demon lord may be, he will come for you eventually, just give it some time."

"Let him come." Said Riki, a trace of bitterness in her voice "I will not forgive him for what he did to me. But…I will always love him." Kagome just arched an eyebrow knowingly and turned to call her husband and children to dinner.