Sorry it took so long, high school took over my life. Okay, this may get a bit angsty, so be patient with me. You know I always try to throw in some occasional comic relief. I know self-inerts are automatic mary-sue's, but again, you know I try to keep the cliché mary-sue moments to a minimum.

Don't own it, wish I did, blah, blah, blah... And I don't own Malice Mizer... If I did, they would still be together, Kami would still be alive (because I said so), Gackt and Klaha would split duties as lead singer, and Mana would pull double duty between them and Moi Dix Mois.

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The next morning Sesshoumaru awoke and looked down at the pillow in his arms... Wait, pillow? Wasn't he holding Angel? Maybe it was a dream... Which means, maybe that horrible incident was a contrivance of his imagination. He leaned up on one arm and felt a sharp pain shoot through it up to the shoulder... No, it wasn't a dream, then where was Angel?

She'd probably just woken up early and went to do something. He got up to go look for her. He checked the library but only found missing the book in which she'd found the spell and the one from which she'd found out about her father. He searched the garden up and down but found no sign of her there. He checked the hotspring, the dining hall, and Rin's quarters. Rin finally told him she'd seen Angel in her old room earlier that morning. Strange, he would've thought that to be the last place she would want to be. He went to see if she was still there, as he had looked everywhere else.

What he found shocked him. On the bed, laid carefully, was the white silk robe she'd been wearing when she went to sleep in his room; on top of it was a note.

Dear Sesshoumaru,

I'm very grateful for everything you've done for me in the time I spent in your home.

I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you. I know you are wondering where I've gone.

I've borrowed Ah and Un (they will be returned when I arrive at my destination)

and the books you've probably already found missing from your library.

As for my desination... I have cast a spell on this paper so that it will not appear unless you say the words

"I promise not to search for Angel."

I know that you are a man of your word and would not break that promise.

Love,

Angel Youkai

Sesshoumaru knew that this was a ludicrous idea. Yes, he was a man of his word, lying was beneath him, but so was letting Angel go off by herself in unfamiliar territory with a sociopathic killer after her. He wondered what would happen if he said the words on the paper and added a few more words so that he could search for her without lying.

Then, it struck him, he didn't need what it said on the paper, there was only one place she would go to find the truth, and it wasn't back to her time. Her father's former home, the palace of the Lord of the Southern Lands.

He decided to travel this one alone. After making preparations in the palace for his absence, as he did not know how long he would be gone, ordering Jaken to watch after Rin, and ordering Rin not to drive Jaken completely out of his mind, he set out on the relatively short flight to the Southern Lands. Flying with his own cloudy powers was much faster than Ah and Un, but the dragon was necessary when traveling with Rin, mostly for her protection when he was not with the child.

"Might I ask what your business is, my lord?" asked one of the guards almost immediately upon his arrival.

Sesshoumaru decided he should find out what to expect before he got inside. "Has a young woman arrived this morning?"

"No, my lord," the guard responded.

"When she does, let her in, but do not tell her I am here. I intend to surprise her. She has long blue hair and will either be wearing a blue and green kimono or strange, tight black and green clothes. Also," he added. "Do not ask her any questions." He had given a description of her just in case she did not appear on Ah and Un.

He walked the winding corridors, having visited the Southern Lands enough times to be able to find his way to most of the main rooms. He made his way to the reception hall; he knew that though he'd seen no one after speaking to the guard and he'd moved rather quickly, news of his arrival had already traveled to the Lord.

As he expected, Sesshoumaru found the young Lord of the Southern Lands looking ready and relaxed, prim and proper, as if the palace had been awaiting his arrival for days at a minimum. "What can we help you with, Lord Sesshoumaru?" the blue-haired demon set his ruby gaze on the golden eyes of Sesshoumaru. "And might I ask why you would come to my palace looking for a woman?"

"I have strong reason to believe she will be coming here," he said shortly. He was not foolish enough to mention her connection to the Lord's younger brother. It was common knowledge that the Southern Lord was unable to have an heir. It was also rampant rumor that nearly all the concubines of the beautiful lord were male. Scandalous as that may seem to other nobles, Sesshoumaru didn't really give a damn about the man's sexual preference. But being that the young lord was unable to have children, if Angel truly was the child of his younger brother, he might not allow her to make it known. Just as Sesshoumaru was afraid Inuyasha might someday want recognition and power among the nobles, threatening Sesshoumaru's claim to his title, he was sure this lord was not much different. However, he'd believed his brother dead for nearly twenty years, and for all Sesshoumaru knew, they may have had a much better relationship with one another. Sesshoumaru's silent musings were interrupted when his fellow lord cleared his throat.

A guard had just spoken quietly to him before he spoke. "It seems your intuition was correct, your young lady has just arrived. And from what I'm told, she bears a striking resemblance to my family. Why could that be?"

Sesshoumaru's response was cut short by Angel being led into the hall. "Sesshoumaru, what are you doing here!" she was shocked, thinking he'd broken his word. "How could you?"

"I didn't," he stated firmly, knowing exactly what she meant. "I guessed without that message." He tried to put those fears to rest but to no avail.

"You knew I didn't want you to come. Why did you?" she asked, attempting to maintain her composure.

"Those are reasons better discussed in private, if Lord Yukio will spare us a room for our conversation," he said, directing the second half of the sentence to the lord.

"But of course. Maiko, show them to their prepared room in the east wing," he commanded. A young woman stepped up from the back wall and waited for them to follow her. Neither Sesshoumaru, nor Angel said anything about the fact they'd been given a room together. But Angel did wonder how Yukio had known to prepare a room, especially for two.

When Maiko had left them alone, Sesshoumaru turned to her and asked, "Why did you leave?"

"I had to," she said simply. "I couldn't stay. At least not without finding some answers. Did you want me to stay?" She sat in a chair near a desk at the wall waiting for his answer.

"You should not be wandering about the countryside in your-"

"What? My what? My condition!" she demanded hostilely, not rising from the chair.

"Your state of mind," he said coolly. "You- you need..." He surveyed her. She looked exhausted. She had been flying for almost two days, had she slept at all? "You need rest, for now."

"No. I can't do that. It looks to me like that's how he finds me. Remember the dream three nights ago... I died. I don't want to do that again anytime soon. Sleep deprivation is something I can deal with, as long as it means that..." She searched for a suitable term. "Mutated monstrosity can't find me."

"He won't lay a finger on you. Let me protect you," he said, trying to keep the pleading out of his voice.

"I don't need your protection anymore. I'm-"

"Don't say it," he said suddenly. "Don't say you're a big girl. You can't take care of yourself. You can't do it alone. Please, let me help..."

"Did I just hear the word 'please' escape the lips of Lord Sesshoumaru? Now I've heard it all," Lord Yukio interrupted, standing in the doorway. "I couldn't help myself. You were taking a long time, and I was getting bored, so I came to see if you were taking advantage of the private room."

"I am not his mate," Angel said coldly. Sesshoumaru still could not fathom why the words stung as they did. He had forgotten why he awoke from his slumber with Angel two nights before.

"I never said you were. You seem more like a-"

"Lord Yukio," Sesshoumaru set a murderous gaze on him, daring him to finish the sentence. "We've only just begun our discussion, and we are both tired from traveling. We need a bit more time to continue our conversation and refresh ourselves."

"Of course... I will send for you when the evening meal is prepared." His voice and smooth movements reminded Angel strongly of a vampire, despite the fact that she knew he was her uncle, and therefore probably not a vampire.

"Man, he's kind of a bitch. Is he gay?" she asked Sesshoumaru as soon as he was out of earshot.

"How did you know?" Was she really that perceptive?

"My gay-dar was sending up a flare. I'm kidding. I was doing a lot of reading the other day, remember. I came across some stuff, you know rumors and such. Anyway, what was he going to say that you stopped him? I seem more like a what?"

"It does not mat-"

"Let me guess, then. A whore, a concubine, am I getting close? Listen, I don't know if you stopped him because you didn't want him to insult me or because you didn't want him to remind me what happened. And right now I don't care. Let me let you in on something. I have come to terms with it. Even though you guys don't have therapy or victims' counseling, I know enough... It wasn't my fault, can't change the past, blah, blah, blah... I wasn't a virgin to begin with, so I can just accept it and move on. The only reason I even came here was to find the truth. I'm not trying to get close to my family or get some kind of inheritance or recognition. I just want to know why Naraku was targeting my family and now me."

"Okay..." Sesshoumaru said slowly, even though he had no idea what therapy was or how she'd come to all the conclusions. "If you know all this, let me ask you. Do you realize that you are betraying you own heart?"

"What? Have you got a screw loose? Did you fall off your little cloud? Betraying my heart, where the fuck did you come up with that?" she said, becoming very snippy, to state the obvious.

"I got it from you. I know... how you feel about me. Your memories of me are highlighted, and I know that you... love me." He was very awkward saying that. Talking about feelings, even someone else's was new and uncomfortable for him. Talk about therapy.

"That dream... that was you! Oh, I'm mad now. It's impolite to go through my memories like files on disk. That's just... Ooh, I'm not talking to you for a while."

This confused Sesshoumaru even more. True, he hadn't confessed his own feelings about anything, but he told her that he knew about hers and didn't reject them. And he was trying to show her that he cared. He wouldn't even have been there if he didn't. Now, she was angry with him. Women are so confusing. "What did I do wrong?" He just needed to know.

"What if I had gone through your memories. Think about that and let it fester... jerk," she stalked over and sat on the bed. She then realized she couldn't really go anywhere. She didn't want to leave the room because she really didn't want to deal with Yukio, plus she didn't know her way around and didn't want to get lost. But, she didn't want to stay. She decided to let boredom sink in. She began humming an old Malice Mizer song, "Ma Cherie," and as she was singing, she realized how soft and comfortable the bed felt. She lay down and was out before even finishing the song.

Noticing that her singing had trailed off as well as her heartbeat and breathing evening and slowing, Sesshoumaru leaned over her to see if she was asleep. Briefly, he wondered which course of action he should take. If that was indeed the way Naraku found her, he did not want a repeat of any past incident; he also did not want Angel afraid of sleeping. But he had been rebuked for using the only method he'd found that kept her safe. Finally, he came to the only optional conclusion. He would rather risk her being angry and safe than dead or worse.

He crawled onto the bed and lay next to her. He once again delved into her mind, her memory banks. Since she'd been humming before she fell asleep, Sesshoumaru decided to just replay music related memories for her. Concerts, music videos, dancing, and the like were memories being revisited while Angel slept. Invariably, Sesshoumaru, also rather tired from everything happening in the past few days, fell asleep. In his sleep, he rolled and protectively wrapped his arm around her, at which point, she snuggled into his chest.

Two hours later, they were still asleep and nothing had been resolved. It was at this time that Maiko knocked on the door to summon them to the main dining hall. Sesshoumaru mumbled some untranslatable, sleep garbled response which she took to mean "Enter."

"Oh my!" her shocked outburst woke both occupants of the bed. The fact that their clothes were still on didn't manage to wriggle its way into the rumors that flew there after. "I'm sorry, I just came to inform you that the evening meal has been prepared and Lord Yukio has summoned you to the dining hall." She darted down the hall without giving anyone a chance for further explanation.

Angel sat at dinner in a severe funk, both over what Sesshoumaru had done, again, and what she knew her uncle was thinking. Sesshoumaru was in a funk over Angel's funk, and also over what he knew were Yukio's thoughts. Yukio, on the other hand, was quite smug; they knew why.

"You know," Yukio said, causing them to almost flinch. "Angel, you are the spitting image of my younger brother."

They were surprised by the change in subject, but nervous for the new direction it was taking. If he continued, things could get very bad. There was no telling what he would do if he figured out that Angel was related to him. If he would accept her, or if he would make sure she would gain no recognition as a member of the family, which could prove deadly.

"I would hate to think you are keeping a member of my family as a pet, Sesshoumaru," Yukio almost sneered.

"I'm nobody's pet!" Angel shouted indignantly.

"What about a member of my family?" When she didn't answer right away, a mistake, he asked, "Do you want to know what happened to my brother? No one quite knows. His mate was murdered, and he and their child disappeared."

"Was he blamed for the murder?" she asked, attempting to act nonchalant.

"No, it was generally assumed that they had been killed as well. Why? Is palace intrigue a matter of interest to you?" he asked, looking down his nose at her.

"No. It was just the way you phrased it, made it sound as if… Well, it doesn't really matter." She was determined not to let him get under her skin. She would get the answers she came for and spend as little time as possible with her father's brother.

"Why exactly did you come here?" Yukio asked before Angel could continue. "You must have some staggering reasons for being here if Sesshoumaru knew you would run away here."

At this, Sesshoumaru thought it wise to intervene. "Come now, Yukio, you make me sound thick. Surely you are not implying that I could not easily discern the actions of a foolish, headstrong girl for myself."

"Well, excuse me for having a mind of my own and not asking for permission to breathe," Angel hissed.

"You have gotten yourself into a few bad positions…" he trailed off, realizing she might not understand what he was doing.

"Fuck you very much for reminding me of that!" She didn't understand. Instead, she rose from the table and stormed out of the dining hall, praying that she would find her room without getting lost.

"Sesshoumaru, having problems controlling your woman?" Yukio leaned back in a pose of graceful boredom. "She seems quite willful. What could you possibly see in her?"

"She certainly keeps things interesting. I have not felt an ounce of boredom since the moment I met her. But," he added. "Despite what you may think, I have not bedded her."

"Is that supposed to change my opinion of her? She's still a willful whore. Being my niece does not change that fact." He looked Sesshoumaru over once. "Or is that supposed to keep up my opinion of you?"

"I do not particularly care what you think of me, Yukio-"

"Right, you don't seem to care what anyone thinks. Of course, I don't believe that's true. If it were, you would have no need for that cool mask you wear. We only hide our emotions when we care what others think, even if, by others, we mean enemies that might exploit the weakness of emotion. So, despite what you may say, you do care what others think of you, even me."

Sesshoumaru was surprised by this moment of wisdom from the usually childish lord.

"And despite what you might hope," Yukio continued. "I don't think of you in that way. You may be gorgeous, but you're not my type."

"Since you are apparently in the mood to share," Sesshoumaru ventured. "What do actually think of Angel?"

"I'm just screwing with her. I know she's not a whore. And I know what you really think of her. So you do care what I think of you, or you wouldn't have put on a show like that. But I don't think she knows it was a show. I think you should go apologize." The young lord seemed like a completely different person.

"This Sesshoumaru has never apologized for anything in his life," he said, while at the same time, rising from his seat. "And she would have to be a fool not to know."

"Well, she seems to be in a delicate state at the moment. You go do or say what whatever it is you need to, but remember, she's not to know what a nice guy I really am. Later, we can lay all cards on the table and discuss why you are actually here," Yukio said, ushering Sesshoumaru toward the hall. He finally stopped arguing and went off to the room he shared with Angel. He wasn't quite sure why, but he knocked before sliding the door open.

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Okay, I've finally finished the chapter! I had it mostly done… in October. Then, over break, I watched that last 40 or 50 episodes of the anime, and it made me sad that it was over.. and I was inspired. And I realized that I hadn't touched this fic since October. Sorry..

Because of you guys, this story officially has over 300 hits!

Special thanks to ColdSypher, I hadn't even thought of how she would react, so that bit of the story goes out to you.

And of course, thanks to everyone that reviewed. , but remember, I still want more.

Notes:

Yukio means "gets what he wants"

I watch way too much Law & Order: SVU, not that that makes me any sort of expert on rape, nor do I know or want to know what it is like to be raped. All rapists and child molesters should get the needle (among other things) for irreparable harm done and the crime committed... B.D. Wong rocketh meh sox.