Chapter 16 – Lost - Again

Wow! A chapter that doesn't start with Kaza's POV! This chapter is kind of off my usual style, because it alternates between third-person and Kaza's POV. It kind of jumps between people, too, but anytime you see Kaza's POV at the start of the section you may of course assume it's from her perspective. Anyway, it's amazing how much I am like my characters now. I've been having alot of shoulder and knee problems because of swimming recently, so I was walking home from practice and rotating my shoulder, and suddenly I thought - Wow, it's just like Kaza! Except of course, Kaza got her injury from being stabbed by Naraku, and I got mine from over-rotating on my freestyle 500-meter, but we're not gonna go there. :) Sorry for talking - read, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: When I own Inuyasha, I'll let ya'll know.

"Kaza! KAAA-ZAAAH!" Sango's voice pierced the still air, high up in the sky on Kirara. She looked esperately at the demon carrying her away, and could still hear her frantic cry suspended in the air – "Mama!"

"Please, Kirara, go faster!" She urged, but she knew it was no use. Kirara was flying as fast as she possible could, and already the demon was out of sight. Miroku was holding her hands tightly as she started to cry.

"KAZA!" She shrieked. "That bastard of a demon has my DAUGHTER!" And she turned around and leaned into Miroku, sobbing. "I just got you back, I can't lose Kaza too…not her too…"

Miroku held her and whispered, "We'll get her back, Sango, I promise."

She smiled and looked up with blood shot eyes. "You sound…sniff just like her."

He just grinned, but then Inuyasha, with Kagome and Shippou on his back, bounded up into the air. "Come on!" He yelled. "We have to follow before they get too far away!"

Sango nodded and they flew off.

Sango anxiously scanned the horizon, looking for any sign, any clue of where he could have taken Kaza. She saw it now – that was no ordinary bear demon. Bear demons shouldn't have had the mental capacity to take a young girl hostage. No, he'd been some cunning other form of demon, and she realized, he'd probably had a jewel shard.

And he'd probably been planning to kidnap Kaza from the start.

"There!" Kagome suddenly pointed. "Kouga, down there!"

"Yeah, I smell him." Inuyasha grunted. "We're going down." Kirara swooped down just as Inuyasha touched ground and Kouga sprinted in front of him.

"Hey, mutt." He growled. "Sup?"

"Look, Kouga, we're on urgent business." Inuyasha panted as Kirara, Sango and Miroku flew down. "A bear demon kidnapped Kaza. You seen her?"

"Kaza? The girl?" He said, frowning, and then saw Miroku and Sango. "Oh. Hey, Miroku, Sango. Long time, no see. You defeated Naraku?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Kouga, have you or have you not seen my daughter?" Miroku said coolly.

"No, but I've heard rumors." He said. "About a bear demon that kidnaps young girls. It's strange behavior for a bear demon, but they say it's got a Sacred Jewel Shard, one of the few left in all of Japan."

As I suspected, Sango thought. A jewel shard. This complicates things.

"A couple of village girls were captured a month ago and then ransomed off. He probably saw Kaza and thought it would be a good opportunity to get some extra money, or else demonic powers, since she was with one of the most famous traveling groups in all of Japan."

"Dumbass of a bear demon." Sango growled. "She killed Naraku, some bear demon shouldn't be a problem, even if it has a jewel shard. We just have to find her and help her get out."

"She defeated Naraku? The girl?" Kouga said. "Oh, wow. That's some very interesting news. Inuyasha, you've gotten weak if some little girl could kill Naraku and you couldn't."

"How about a showdown, you mangy wolf, and then we'll see if I've gotten weak." Inuyasha snarled, grabbing Tetsusaiga, but then Kagome said calmly, "Sit, boy." As Inuyasha slammed to the ground, she said to Kouga, "Thanks for all the help. If you do find the bear or Kaza, well – "

"You want me to help the girl?" He said with a smile. "I suppose so, if you ask me to, Kagome. It's been pretty boring around here lately. Later, dogface." He yelled, and then vanished in a whirlwind.

As Inuyasha picked himself off the ground, grumbling, Shippou peered into the horizon. "I can't smell anything. Where are we going to find her?"

"The hills." Sango said. "That's where bear demons usually like to make their dens."

"But there's hundreds of hills, and he could be in any one of them!" Shippou protested.

"Then let's get started." Miroku said, already climbing on Kirara. They quickly took off – the hills where a good day or so away. And they knew they needed to cover some ground. Miroku leaned over and whispered to Sango, "Are you worried about her?"

She nodded. "She left her sword with us, she doesn't have any weapons at all. She doesn't even have the Kazaana now. I just pray she'll be okay – she's my only daughter, my life."

"Sango, she's strong! She can handle herself better than most adults. Kaza's a smart girl, she can do it." He said, trying to be reassuring. Inwardly, Miroku was just as nervous as Sango was. His hands were shaking in hers, but both of them pretended not to notice. He'd been so proud of his daughter this past week – how strong she was, how resilient, how she'd managed to take on Naraku and only come out with a wounded shoulder. He was hurting just as much as Sango – he'd just met his daughter, he didn't want to lose her again. But he tried to be strong, for Sango. Unfortunately, she turned her bloodshot eyes to him and pointed out what he'd been trying to deny, the fact he didn't want to face.

"But she's not an adult." She whispered. "Kaza's a little girl, and when she was a child, the one thing she was scared of, the one thing that haunted her dreams, was always getting kidnapped by a demon."

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Kaza's POV

I tried to be strong as I saw my mom, my dad, all the people I'd ever cared about, disappear. As he kept running, long, looping strides that covered miles in minutes, I tried to stay strong. I wasn't going to be caught weak in front of this demon. I couldn't do it, I couldn't be weak. The night darkened till the sky was the color of ink, and a couple of milky stars fluttered overhead. I looked up at them and prayed I could get out of here. I'd always been scared of getting kidnapped by a demon – it always was the one thing that could send me into hysterical tears. Now it was really happening, just when I thought I could have a happy ending.

When we got to a cave, set deep into the side of a hill, he chucked me in, and I hit the cold floor hard. He turned back into a human, said a spell over the mouth of the cave, and I could see a barrier flicker up. He smiled at me and just walked away, and that's when I cried.

That's when I curled up and sobbed, the cold dirt floor dirtying my already filthy yukata, my hair greasy and thick over my face, tears leaving streaks on my face. I sobbed like a little girl. I couldn't be strong anymore. I didn't care. Nobody cared anymore.

That's when I realized there are no such things as happy endings.

The night was dark, lonely and cold. I was terrified of what might lie in the back of that cave, and so I stayed as close to the opening as I could, looking desperately at the few stars I could see. What was the big deal about stars? I didn't see a damn thing special about them. They sure didn't give me any hope. I rubbed my face with the sleeve of my yukata and tried to curl up, and keep some body heat circulating. I was hungry, thirsty, and generally having the shittiest day of my life.

In the middle of the night, I woke up and leaned against the barrier, pushing feebly to try and get out. It wasn't giving. I couldn't help but smile as I suddenly remembered Kanna's prediction – the Daughter of the Wind. Hmph.

"What about your Daughter of the Wind, now, eh, witch?" I grumbled to myself. I suddenly stood up, leaning against the barrier, and screamed with all my might, "KANNA! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHAT'S HAPPENED TO YOUR DAUGHTER OF THE WIND NOW? WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HAPPY ENDING? KANNA, WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?"

I closed my eyes and fell back against the ground, and everything went pitch-black.

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"Kagura." Kanna whispered. Kagura pressed a finger to her lips. She'd heard it too. The night had been amazingly still when suddenly a girl's frantic screams had pierced the air. "KANNA! WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?" They went silent, and Kagura grumbled and tilted the feather towards the sound.

"Who was that?" She muttered. "Should we check it out?"

"Kaza." Kanna whispered, clutching her mirror. Kagura looked back and saw the mirror reflecting that girl – Miroku and Sango's daughter, the one who'd killed Naraku – lying sprawled on the floor of a cave. She looked half-dead.

"I wonder what happened." She said thoughtfully.

"We have to find her." Kanna said. Her black eyes were more bright then Kagura had seen in months. "She can't die yet."

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"Huh, it's Kaza." Kouga said. He hadn't expected the girl to turn up this soon, but whatever. If he managed to get her out before Inuyasha could, then kudos for him. He wasn't exactly hoping that Kagome would leave Inuyasha for him – they were married, for God's sakes – but all the same, he made a promise, and wolves never broke their promises.

He barked, and wolves raced out of the trees, gathering around him, panting, awaiting orders. Kouga looked at them, and then looked towards the sound of the screams.

"Be ready to fight!" He yelled. "We're going after Kaza!"

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Kaza's POV

And they say mornings are beautiful. I woke up, my whole body sore, and just saw a crimson red sunrise peeking over the top of the trees. It just made me even more depressed, and I bit my lip as my stomach grumbled. Finally I got up off the ground and started to look around. The best way to cure an empty stomach is distraction, so I decided to find a way to get out of the cave.

With no weapons.

And no Kazaana.

And wearing my yukata.

Damn it to hell.

Within five minutes, I was back at the front of the cave, sobbing my eyes out. I'd ran the entire length of the cave, pounded on the walls, looked at the height of the ceiling, checked for cracks, every logical thing I could do in that situation, but nothing yielding. There was no way in hell I was going to get out of there, and it made me feel like the most miserable failure in the world.

The only thing I could do was sit at the mouth of the cave, soaking up the sunlight, biting my lip or gnawing on the sleeve of my yukata for some comfort, I was just that hungry. I hadn't had any food since lunch of the previous day, and I wasn't used to going without Kagome's ramen. (Mmm…ramen…)

So I didn't even notice when the young man walked past the mouth of the cave.

He didn't notice me either, but then suddenly did a double-take to look back at me. He had thick, long hair tied up in a ponytail, soft eyes, and was wearing a peasant's outfit. I was glad when he doubled back to look at me. I was a teenage girl trapped in a friggin' cave. Seriously, people, how much weirder can you get?

He sat down to look at me and said slowly, "What are you doing?"

"What, you think I want to be here?" I scoffed, wiping my nose. My tone softened. "I was taken captive by some bear demon and left here, and I don't know where he went."

"Oh, no. That's awful. How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"Oh, Kami. Would you like some food?"

I sighed. "I would love some food, but I don't think you can get through the barrier." He sighed and sat down. I kind of panicked – why was he just sitting here and talking to me? It was weird – I thought that if you found a teenage girl alone in a cave, you'd either give her food and walk away, or else you'd just keep walking. He actually seemed like he wanted to chat.

"Why did the bear want to capture you?"

"Don't ask me!" I said. "It was a job, me and my mom were hired to kill him, but I let him get me and he captured me and took me here."

Suddenly he perked up. "You say you were hired to kill him?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm a Taijiya. A crappy one, but…" I trailed off. He looked genuinely interested.

"But how could you be a Taijiya? We were the only surviving Taijiyas in all of Japan…" He should thoughtfully.

"Who?"

"My sister and I."

"I thought there were a lot of Taijiyas all over Japan."

"There used to be, but we were all destroyed by Naraku. My sister and I were the only ones to make it out alive."

I sat back in silence. Why hadn't my mom ever told me this? I'd always assumed Taijiyas were numerous over the country, and I was just the only one in that province. Now it turns out there were only two left? And who was this guy's sister to be one of only two Taijiyas to survive?

(A/N: Isn't she retarded? God, Kaza, how stupid can you get? Oh well, she's starving, we can't blame her. Sorry, just had to say that.)

"So you're a Taijiya? What was your favorite weapon?" He asked politely. I was caught off guard.

"Oh…um, I never really had a weapon. I was pretty good with my katana, but I really used my wind tunnel as a weapon."

His eyes flashed. "Wind tunnel?"

"Yeah. It was a curse from Naraku. There was a wind tunnel on my right hand that would suck up anything it came across."

I expected him to be surprised, or disturbed, but the only thing he did was murmur, "Miroku."

I jumped up. "What? How did you know him?"

He smiled. "Let's call him an old family friend. I'm sorry to hear that he died. Did you know him personally?"

"Died?" I said, my entire body going rigid. "No, he didn't die! What are you talking about?"

"Well, the Kazaana gets passed onto his child after he dies, right? And you'd have to have been his child to get the Kazaana, right? Did he finally get a child from one of those whores he always hung around with?" He said easily.

I stepped back. "Look, we need to get a few things straight. He's not dead. And I am NOT some love child – " And then it hit me – I was his love child. He and my mom were never married. I sighed and sat back down. "Well, umm…"

"You were his love child, weren't you?" He said gently.

"You got it." I grunted. "I guess he was a womanizer. But he's not dead, okay? He's fine. I saw him yesterday, he's okay."

"But then how did you get the Kazaana?"

"He vanished for fifteen years – it's a complicated story, okay? Naraku's dead, I killed him, Dad's back, the Kazaana's gone, it's all good."

"Except that you're stuck in a bear demon's cave with no food, no water, and no one to talk to but me."

"Well, thank you for pointing out the obvious." I said coldly. All the same, he was smiling, lighting up his still youthful face, and he was making me feel a lot better. "I guess we're going to be here a while. My name's Kaza, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Kaza. My name's Kohaku."

Just in case there was any confusion. Which, if there was, I will personally murder you. And isn't Kaza retarded? Seriously, both of them are completely skirting around the issue. But anyway, I think this was a random chapter, but I liked it. I went through a million versions before I finally settled on this one – (Shisha, you were right, but don't kill Neferius!) I think most of you saw this coming, but all the same, it is a very touchy issue. Yes, he is freed from Naraku's control, that's why he's so brotherly. I always imagined him as being very sweet when he wasn't a mindless puppet. Anyway, please review – we're up to seventy! I love you guys!