A/N: Not much to say here. I added humor in this for plain comic relief, just to lighten the mood a bit right beofre and after something very serious. Don't want everyone to get too depressed, after all!

kk, having said that...

Reminder-... /-/-/-/memory;... +-+-+-+past, not a memory;... /-/-+memory and past;... #(anything after)special pov

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except Juzume, or any songs except the one she sang. Don't sue me.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 24-Holding My Last Breath (Evanescence)

Safe inside myself are all my thoughts of you...sweet raptured light, it ends here tonight...

"Lord Sesshoumaru, where are we going today?" Rin asked curiously.

"Wherever we happen to go, child!" Jaken said snappishly.

"That's not an answer, Master Jaken," Rin pouted slightly.

"East," Sesshoumaru said simply, ignoring the annoying little imp for the moment.

"What a strange girl," Jaken mumbled under his breath.

"Yeah, well you're a funny toad!" Rin protested.

"I'm not a toad!" Jaken retorted.

"Then you're a pretty strange frog!" Rin shouted back.

"I'm an IMP, you stupid little girl, an IMP!" Jaken almost shrieked.

"Hey, you can't call me little! I'm bigger than you!" Rin said, sticking out her tongue. "SO NYAH NYAH!"

"You're still a little girl!" Jaken said, sticking out his own tongue in an uncharacteristic display.

"EEWW, Master Jaken, your tongue is all weird!" Rin pretended to gag, then chuckled in amusement as Jaken hurriedly slurped up his tongue.

"Yours isn't any prettier, girl!" Jaken returned.

"At least my tongue isn't all pointy like yours!" Rin crossed her arms.

"At least my tongue isn't all rounded at the end!" Jaken shot back.

"At least I have hair!" Rin said.

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm bald," Jaken grumbled. "But I don't have to get tangles."

"Quit acting foolish," Sesshoumaru snapped before either of them could continue. Truthfully, it had been amusing at first, but he was growing more and more irritable by the second. He coud tell that Inuyasha had been nearby a few days ago, though he wasn't right now, and the scent was getting to him for some reason. It wouldn't normally stir such feelings in the core of his chest, it didn't usually make him feel so strange...he felt-nervous, almost-anxious, maybe even restless...but he didn't know why, exactly, he just...felt it.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, are you okay?" Rin asked worriedly, noticing his agitation. "You don't look so good..."

"I'm fine," Sesshoumaru said, trying to calm his nerves.

"But, Lord Sesshoumaru, you look really really sick," Rin said worriedly. "You're pale, and the black part of your eyes is so tiny, and you're panting-"

"I SAID I was FINE!" Sesshoumaru almost shouted. Rin's eyes widened, and Sesshoumaru himself was shocked by his sudden angry outburst. Did I just...yell at her?

Rin cringed, cowering down behind one of Ah-Un's heads in mild fear.

"I'm sorry, Lord Sesshoumaru! I really am! Please don't get mad at me!" she said timidly.

"Now look what you did, you stupid girl!" Jaken squawked.

"Jaken, shut your beak and keep it shut," Sesshoumaru growled.

Jaken snapped his mouth shut, too afraid to continue after seeing his lord so angry.

Sesshoumaru sighed heavily and brought one hand up to brush a few bangs out of his eyes, realizing idly that he really did have a fever. The realization made him notice that he felt as if he were standing in the middle of a fire, and that the nearest stream was very far away, and a hot spring would only make him feel that much warmer...

"Ah-Un..." Rin whispered into the dragon's ear, then pointed. "Go help him," she said very quietly, silently slipping off the creature's back. Ah-Un nodded slightly and took a few hesitant steps forward, nudging Sesshoumaru's hand with one head. Sesshoumaru glanced at Ah-Un expectantly.

"I think he wants you to get on his back," Rin supplied, seeing that Sesshoumaru was staring blankly at the dragon. "You do look kind of shaky, Lord Sesshoumaru..." Rin took an uncomfortable step back as she said this.

"Perhaps it's simply a passing illness, and all you need is some rest," Jaken said uneasily.

"You're all conspiring against me, aren't you?" Sesshoumaru said idly. "Alright."

Rin and Jaken let out sighs of relief as Sesshoumaru swung up onto the dragon, feeling almost dizzy. He hadn't realized that he felt dizzy until he actually stopped to think.

Ah-Un looked back at Rin and winked, and Rin smiled at the dragon. Rin and Jaken both ran up to walk in front of Ah-Un and Sesshoumaru. Jaken glanced over at the dragon, surprised that Sesshoumaru held the reins in his tightly-clenched hand. The demon was holding the reins so tightly that his knuckles were almost white, and his claws were digging into his palms as he curled his fingers, making him bleed slightly.

"Master Jaken, let's play a little game-just us. It's a two-person game," Rin said, nudging the imp slightly. Jaken blinked, but he nodded slowly as Rin blinked a few times and gestured slightly behind her.

"Okay, fine," Jaken agreed. He stole a few glances back and forth between her and Sesshoumaru questioningly, and she nodded slightly.

"Okay, Master Jaken, in this game, I ask you a question about a person, and you tell me the answer by talking about that person or somebody else that person knows. Ready?" she asked cheerfully.

Jaken nodded carefully; he knew where this was going.

"Alright, Master Jaken, we gotta test you first and see if you know what I mean. I know, ask me a question first," she said happily.

"Um, okay, Rin...what's your favorite color?" Jaken asked.

"Well, I think Lord Sesshoumaru's white kimono is pretty nice. See, you understand now?" she winked.

"Alright, I get it," Jaken nodded.

"Now it's my turn to ask you a question!" Rin declared. "Master Jaken, what do you think is the worst thing in the world?" she asked vaguely. She blinked at him a few times, hoping he would remember her other game she had played before. It had been a game without a title, but it involved figuring out a secret code to get an answer to a riddle, and she had told him the code after about six hours of wrong guesses.

Jaken remembered the game, and he understood what she meant. He would go along with it.

"Well, I supose being slain by Lord Sesshoumaru couldn't be pleasant," he said.

"Your turn," Rin said.

"What's your favorite animal?" Jaken asked with a few blinks.

"What kind of demon is Lord Sesshoumaru-I mean, he's a full dog, right? He's not half cat or anything, is he? I know that Inuyasha is a half dog demon, but..."

"I'm quite sure that Lord Sesshoumaru is a dog-demon in his entirity," Jaken said hastily.

"Well, then I suppose a dog like Lord Sesshoumaru would be my favorite animal."

"Your turn, Rin."

"Master Jaken, if Ah-Un is really just two dragons with one body, what would happen if they fought?"

"I suppose that they would probably hurt themselves just as much as they hurt each other," Jaken said.

"Your turn," Rin nodded.

"Has Ah-Un ever talked around you? I know he hasn't around me," Jaken said.

"Ah-Un doesn't talk, I don't think, but maybe that's because they just can't get both minds to decide on what to say. Maybe only one of their mouths can talk and they would have to share it, so they just don't."

Ah-Un had been watching with interest, and he understood the whole thing. Normally he would have snorted at such ridiculous questions, but he knew what it really meant.

Sesshoumaru, having never paid close attention to thier games, was left entirely out of the secret loop, and only thought it was a silly children's game, so he didn't think about it much. Which was exactly what the others were counting on.

"Probably," Jaken said thoughtfully. "Your turn."

"So, if Ah-Un has two heads, then he might have two stomachs-what do you think would happen if one got sick and the other one was fine, but they just had a fight with each other? Would they be nice to each other?"

"Well, from what I've seen, Ah-Un has a very peculiar way of doing things. I suppose that it's possible that they might both get sick, but they might try to brush it off because they don't want to hold the other one back."

"Your turn," Rin said.

"Rin, I'm getting tired of this game," Jaken sighed, blinking a few times in the process. "Just ask a question for me and then quit it!"

"Okay," Rin nodded. "If Ah-Un fought over something, what do you think it would be? Or, well, do you think they would ever get over it, even if it were serious? I mean, they could always find a sorcerer to split them into two different creatures."

"Well, Rin, I suppose that they would eventually, because they still are the same flesh and blood, even if they were split into two. If it got that serious, it might take them some time, but I believe they would eventually talk it over and resolve thier problems. Although I doubt it would be a pleasant conversation, I still think they would come to terms with each other and accept their differences. After all, they are brother dragons," Jaken said.

Ah-Un blinked a few times, then shook his head. Sesshoumaru was paying absolutely no attention to any of them, and he was holding the reins as if they were his lifeline. The girl had noticed his illness just in time, it seemed, for Sesshoumaru was most certainly close to a collapse. He was shaking all over, his body shivering though he was scorching hot.

"Okay, I'm done," Rin announced. Jaken nodded; they had both said everything that they had needed to say.

Basically, Rin had been asking Jaken what he thought about the situation. Unbeknownst to Sesshoumaru himself, they had both heard the demon-lord mumbling both his father's name and his brother's name during the time he had been asleep, and they suspected strongly that Sesshoumaru's sickness had to do with pent-up emotions. They'd been speculating on whether or not to tell Sesshoumaru, or to suggest that he go find Inuyasha and talk to him. The way that Sesshoumaru was getting sick...it was getting out of hand. They both knew he wouldn't get anything accomplished if he went to a healer, except maybe a few herbs to help him cut back his fever. No, this was much worse than an average cold or slight under-the-weather episode. It was definitely caused by his recent emotional instability, which only his companions were able to notice. Nobody else would have seen any pain in those golden eyes, nobody else would have felt the sorrow radiating from him, but they did, and it scared them, in all honesty.

Rin looked at Jaken, and they both nodded. Rin took a deep breath, then dropped back a few steps to walk next to Sesshoumaru and Ah-Un.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, I have to say something, and you have to promise to listen, okay?" Rin said seriously.

"Sure," Sesshoumaru agreed with a nod, his fist curling more tightly as he fought off a wave of dizziness.

"You said Inuyasha's name while you were asleep. And you've been sick lately. And we're right near Kaede's village, so I think you might be able to smell Inuyasha, because they come around here a lot. I think you're hurt."

"Hurt? I'm fine, Rin. I haven't got a scratch on me," Sesshoumaru said.

"Not that way," Rin said gently. "Hurt in your heart. I think you need to talk to Inuyasha."

"Preposterous," Sesshoumaru scoffed slightly, surprised that she was able to see what was going on.

"You said his name while you were asleep," Rin pointed out a bit more firmly. "And you just got a lot more sick after we got here. I'm pretty sure it's because you can smell his scent all over the place."

"I'm not going to talk to Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said, his voice holding less authority than he had intended.

"You're getting really sick, Lord Sesshoumaru...I don't want you to...to..." Rin couldn't finish her sentence.

"To die?" Sesshoumaru scoffed. "I won't die from a mild sickness like this."

"Nevermind," Rin sighed a bit moodily. She gave up on it; there was no persuading the stubborn dog-demon.

No, I won't die from a sickness, Sesshoumaru thought to himself. I'll save my last breath for you, Inuyasha. You would never be my brother, never care...I can only offer you what I have. You've wanted to kill me before, you've wanted me to die...so be it. Only you can take my life, little brother-I'm holding my last breath for you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yay! Rin and Jaken finally tell him! It took me forever to get to it, but I managed! Alright, you know what goes here! Please review, everything accepted! You'd make me very happy! ;)