Yay! I got LOTS of happy reviews! Thank you, thank you, thank you all so much! The only flames I think I have actually gotten about this story is about the rape scenes. I'm terribly sorry if the rape sections offend you, but it is a very important element in this story. Rape happens often in real life. It is a modern day offense that has been going on, unfortunately since the early days of man...yes, even in feudal Japan. Rape is often used a way to weaken the enemy, destroying a person physically and emotionally by corrupting their bodies on a most personal level. In When Pain Brings Happiness, this is what Naraku attempts to do to Kagome. Their encounter isn't meant to be romantic in the least, it's meant to display the pain that Kagome must endure. As an author I could think of no other way to write about Kagome enduring the "ultimate suffering" unless I truly wrote about what the ultimate suffering would be in my opinion. To me, writing the rape scene should be no more offensive than writing a scene where Naraku tie's Kagome up and beats her with a cane for several chapters. Rape is a real life concept, and the Constitution as well as the Amendments backs up my right to write whatever I want as long as it isn't libel or defamation of any real person's reputation. Besides...I warned you, If it offends you...then sorry, but YOU made the choice to read it.

Lol, sorry about that. Please enjoy the chapter...and be sure to review.

-ChibiMinko 3

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Kagome awoke with a sudden alertness but for some reason she felt terribly tired, so she decided to keep her eyes shut just a few more minutes before Inuyasha woke her up, screaming at everyone to stop being lazy and start looking for more shards. 'Oh.' Her eyes shot open as tears welled up in her eyes and kissed their way down her cheeks. If only she could have slept forever. The memories came flooding back to her in a great wave, crashing over her heart and ripping it into pieces. 'Stupid, stupid stupid! How could I be so stupid!'

Kagome's hand drifted up to cover up her face, not bothering to wipe away the tears that now heavily rained down her face and neck. She attempted to curl up in a ball to hide herself, protect herself, and hopefully make herself smaller and smaller until she was completely gone from the face of the Earth...from this time and the others. She suddenly found herself unable to move her body though, not from physical injury or pain, but because someone or something warm had wrapped itself around her and was not allowing her to easily move around. Her body immediately went stiff and she began to unconsciously shake in horror. In her mind she was suddenly back in Naraku's cold, wretched torture chamber and he was laying beside her, holding her down after having spilled himself inside of her and stolen the very last ounce of her hope and dignity.

"Kagome..?", came a masculine voice, and her captor's body moved and he shifted his weight. She could feel his eyes watching her, probably staring at her with lust and greed, a predator's ultimate triumph, but Kagome didn't dare look. She snapped her eyes tightly shut and her arms shot up in a weak attempt at an defensive gesture.

Bracing herself for another slap on the face or cut on the body, she flinched and quietly whimpered when she felt a hand lightly brush against her wet cheek. "Kagome...," the voice came again but this time it was softer, more calm...almost as if it felt her anguish and sympathized with her inner pain. Suddenly Kagome felt a weight against her body and a strong arm wrapped itself around her shoulders hugging her, begging her, "Kagome, please, open your eyes." Slowly, very slowly Kagome opened her eyes. Warm golden orbs stared back at her, opened wide and filled with worry. She immediately knew that this was not Naraku. "Sessoumaru," she whispered, and a small smile graced the demon lords face as his face dropped down to rest next to hers, face first into the pillows. He allowed himself to rest on top of her for a moment, simply enjoying her warmth and savoring in the closeness of her, even still, addicting scent. He ending the hug, arms reluctantly unwrapping themselves from her shaken form, and set back up to look at her again.

"I am pleased to see that you're awake." As he spoke the demon lord regained his stature, putting up his cold front yet again, but his eyes still clearly displayed what his heart was feeling, even if his face and tone of voice didn't. Kagome just stared at him, her voice felt tired from screaming and her throat felt dry from crying. Besides...what was she to say? 'Yes! Thank you Sessoumaru-sama. I'm glad I'm not getting raped anymore.' Yea right.

As if he had read her mind..or maybe had actually done so, Sessoumaru stood, rising up from his current position on the edge of the bed saying, "I'll go fetch you a glass of water and some herbal broth." Kagome only nodded in response before pulling herself up in a sitting position, her back propped up against the bed's headboard, and pulling her legs to her chest. 'What are you going to do, Kagome,' the girl mentally asked herself. She sighed, 'I've got nowhere left to run, no place to hide. I couldn't go even if I wanted to. What would become of Shippou of I ran away? But...I can't do this alone...I'm just one person...i can't always be strong...i hurt too...i, i can't handle this. I don't know what to do.' Surprisingly, Kagome wasn't as sore as she thought she'd be. Her eyes trailed down to her arms. There were no cuts, no bruises, not even any scars. If the memories weren't painfully burned into her skull, then she herself probably would never even know what had happened.

To bad there was no magical way to erase her memories, make her forget everything. Perhaps, if she didn't have a duty to fulfill she would wish to have it all disappear. Make it like she had never been forced down the well, never meet Inuyasha, never shattered the Sacred Jewel. No, that wasn't true either. She was glad for the memories...Sango, Miroku, Shippou...hell, even Sessoumaru. She would never want to forget them...even if it meant that ever day she would be reminded that Naraku had...had...Kagome's hand slowly drifted down to the only place, besides her heart, that still throbbed in unsufferable pain. It hurt and she wondered if perhaps, the pain would ever go away. When Kagome lifted her hand up to wipe away the fresh tears now springing up from her already glazed eyes, a redness on her hand caught her eye. She peered at the dry, crusted blood on her fingertips. It was more brown than red, but she supposed that was a good thing. At least the blood was dry, meaning she had stopped bleeding down there...something to be glad for.

"Kagomeeeee," squeaked two high pitched voices that came bursting through the door. Kagome shocked at first, smiled at their innocence. Sessoumaru came in behind them carrying a tray, but when the children came dashing over to her bedside he lingered, moving to stand in the corner and cooly listen to their conversation.

"Momma, I'm so glad you're finally awake! I was sooo worried about you," Kagome smiled brightly at him, and quickly wiped away her fallen tears, "I'm glad to be awake now too, Shippou," arose a shaky, raspy voice. Rin frowned, and piped in saying, "You sound really funny, oneesan." Though, after seeing the sad look on Kagome's face, Rin quickly whispered something to Shippou and gave him a sharp nudge in the side. "Oh yea," Shippou chirped, jumping up on the bed to cuddle up next to her, "Look what Rin-chan and I made you!" Both children beamed proudly as Shippou unfolded a slightly crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Kagome. "See Kagome," began Rin, "Shippou and I both worked real hard to make it for you." "Hai, momma, we wanted to make you feel better."

Kagome stared at the drawing. It was child's portrait of herself, Shippou and Rin. "Arigatou, you two. I love it!" Kagome couldn't help but inwardly laugh, her lips curving upward around the edges at the kid's attempt to show their concern. In crooked, sloppy kanji symbols the children had written, "Get well soon. Koi, Rin-chan and Shippou," at the top. Even though she had a very large head in the drawing...and one eye was bigger than the other...it had cheered her up. Children have miraculous abilities that are often lost as they grow older, yet, getting older is all they ever want to do.

"Rin, Shippou, leave." The demanding, yet stoic tone pulled the three out of their stupor as all three heads turned to stare at the forth person in the room, the one who had been quiet and unmoving up until that time. When the children made no move to follow his order Sessoumaru narrowed his eyes adding, "I need to attend to Kagome's wounds." His fierce, powerful eyes met with Kagome's innocent and yielding ones, "I also wish to talk with Kagome in private." Comprehension flashed over Kagome's features, the unspoken request settling in her thoughts. The children needed no further encouragement; they left the room quietly and without further hesitation. Over the past couple of weeks they had learned not to disobey the dog demon's authority. "Bye, Kagome!" "Bye, Momma."

Now Kagome and Sessoumaru were left alone. "You didn't have to do that, you know," Kagome whispered, slightly agitated and slightly saddened. "Do what," the taiyouki asked cooly, making his way over to her bedside, tray in hand. "You didn't have to send the kids away. I, I don't even have any wounds and you know it," Kagome's voice shook of it's own accord, her vocal cords weakened and scratchy from lack of use...as well as overuse. Her heart didn't truly accept her mouth's words. "No? I didn't ," the cool, collected voice said with a questioning ring sounding off the end of his words, though his words didn't come as a question at all. He stood above Kagome and stared down at her, his eyes immediately softening, almost as if staring at Kagome alone caused the reaction. "Sessou-," her words were stifled as a gasp escaped her lips and she was scooped into the demon lord's lap as, in one fluent motion, he set the tray down on her bedside table and lofted the little miko into his arms, pressing her back against his chest.

Kagome stiffened and blinked in shock, her puffy eyes burning a bit from crying so much. Sessoumaru growled softy from deep within his cheat, calming Kagome so that she relaxed and allowed her weight to rest against his lean form. He buried his sensitive nose into her raven locks, causing the low growl to deepen, turning into the likeness of a cat's purr. He allowed his thoughts to stray, doting on the lovely smell...slightly changed smell? His nose wrinkled up a little, trying to determine the cause of change...but...no. He decided to worry about it later. It had been to long since he had been able to really hold her, stare into her eyes...admire the sheer perfection of those raven locks. He stared at them...allowing his clawed fingers to run through them. They had grown a lot since the first he had met her. She used to always keep them just above midway down her back, but having not cut them since she left Inuyasha, they now fanned out around her lap, framing her womanly curves and highlighting her beautiful eyes.

"Do not confuse my actions, Kagome, I am...glad," he whispered, not emotionlessly, but shyly. He then reached over, and grabbing the glass of water, gently pressed it into Kagome's open palm. "Drink," he commanded, and so she drank the water...greedily, letting droplets of it run down the corner of her mouth and gather on her upper lip. After emptying the glass, she set it back on the bedside table and sighed in contentment. The cool water tasted good to her senses, and felt heavenly going down her parched throat. "Arigatou, Lord Sessoumaru," she turned slightly so that she was facing him, "do not confuse my actions. I am glad also." She smiled sadly at him and he felt a tug at his heart.

"Kagome...time has passed slowly. You had been asleep for two week as of today. We...Rin and Shippou...were worried," his voice stammered on, explaining to her and seeking out her reaction, trying not to harm her any further, "You put up barriers, using your miko powers. No one could come inside your barrier, and I couldn't...You were unable to be moved." Kagome looked down and stared vaguely at his chest, slowly letting the information sink in.

"Miko...will you...be okay," he came in again after several moments of silence. She knew what he was asking, and it wasn't about her health. It was strange though...to be like this with Sessoumaru, the human hater, the blood spiller. It was even more strange to see the emotions running through his eyes as he stared at her, the worry that he seemed to show for her. "I'm not sure, milord...but i think that with time, the cuts will heal, and the scars will fade...as all cuts and scars must." And...like his question, he knew what her reply was intending to say, and it wasn't about her health.

He didn't respond, but leaned back against the headboard of the bed, so that she lay on top of him, her head resting on his chest. He fought the urge to kiss her, and instead settle on brushing his clawed finger tips over her lips, tilting her chin up so that her eyes started into his once again. "Perhaps you should drink your broth before it grows cold." Kagome smiled up at him and nodded slightly. If what he said was true then she hadn't eaten a thing in over a week. Surprisingly, she didn't feel that hungry, nor that weak, but took the bowl into her hands and swallowed a large gulp of the warm earthly concoction anyway. Shortly afterwards she began gagging violently, "Sessoumaru, this stuff is HORRIBLE," she shrieked out in between gags and coughs. She glared at him, her lips twisted in a scowl. He laughed loudly and smirked at her, her comical face breaking through his emotional walls causing an outburst, "Did I mention it tastes worse after it gets cold?" Slowly, ever so slowly, the scowl on Kagome's lips turned upward into a pleasant smile.

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ChibiMinko