Kimora was quieter than usual at lunch. She occasionally glanced at her father while he browsed through his phone not really acknowledging anyone at the table. Her grandfather talked to him despite being ignored by him. Samara made small talk with her but Kimora kept her distance; she didn't feel like taking a ride through her mood swings again.

"Are you still upset that I hit you?" Samara sighed. "It's part of sparring. You hit me, I hit you. There is no need to be so sore about it." When Kimora didn't answer, she frowned and looked at her food. "Fine, don't talk to me. You're such a baby."

Kimora wasn't concerned about what happened during their sparring match. She still harbored curiosity about the woman she saw on the internet, the one who claimed to be married to her father. Sure, she assumed that it was a common tabloid hoax but there was something inside her wondering if…

"Kimora, is there something you want to ask me?" her father spoke and her stomach lurched. She didn't realize she was staring at him the entire time. He didn't look up from his phone and waited for her to speak. When she didn't, he finally lifted his gaze at her. She pressed her lips, slouched and shook her head. "Then why do you continue to stare at me as if you have a question?"

This time Samara and her grandfather were looking at her too. Kimora was always terrible with confrontation and every time she was confronted, she had an ill habit of grabbing a strand of her white hair, covering it over her face and twirling it. This made it very easy for others to know there was something she was hiding.

"I am waiting." He said.

"It's just that…"she cleared her throat and looked between her sister and grandfather. Inutaisho sipped his water looking expectantly with one cocked brow. She fixed her gaze on her father, his expression not changing. He set his phone down so it was detrimental that she spoke now since putting his phone down meant he was serious. "Were you married before to another woman?"

Inutaisho choked on his water and let out a chuckle while Samara looked at her disbelievingly. But nothing could beat the look of surprise on her father's face. He looked at a loss for words for just a second, blinking as he processed what she asked.

"Where did you get that vacuous notion?" he frowned and looked at Samara. She lowered her head in a guilty fashion and he could tell she knew about this as well.

Samara kicked Kimora's foot under the table and glowered at her. Kimora just ignored her and looked back at her father.

"Is it true?" she asked.

"No." he said flatly.

"But it said-"

He scowled. "I said no."

She was quiet and looked down at her lap. Regardless if he said no, she still didn't feel assured. Her grandfather rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"Darling, I can assure you that your mother is the only woman your father was ever married to."

Samara squinted between her father and grandfather and leaned toward the edge of her seat. "Then why did this woman claim to be his wife?"

"What woman?" Inutaisho tilted his head and looked at Sesshomaru for answers.

Sesshomaru glared at his father for staring at him accusingly and looked back at his daughters. "You did not answer. Where did you hear this?"

Both girls hesitated and gulped at the same time. "The internet."

Inutaisho scoffed. "You girls mustn't believe everything you read on the internet. It's filled with garbage."

"But grandpa, "Kimora said, confused. "You said that the internet was the most impressive, efficient and reliable technology the humans have ever created."

Inutaisho blinked. "Well…yes but..."

"Enough," Sesshomaru sighed. "You know better than to go on the internet without supervision. You dare disobey my rules?"

"But it wasn't me, it was Dena—ow!" Kimora cried and glared at Samara for kicking her again.

"Don't you dare rat on Denali!" Samara whispered tersely.

"Whatever, she's not my friend. I'm not getting in trouble for something she did."

"What's going on?" Inutaisho asked.

Kimora eyed Samara one last time and looked at both her grandfather and father. "Denali is the one who showed us."

"Who?" Sesshomaru cocked a brow and looked at his father.

"Denali?" Inutaisho pondered. "Oh yes, Denali Sambe… she's the little blonde girl from the Nekochiba tribe. You met her at the party. She's Koura's daughter." He said to Sesshomaru who dismissed it with little care. "I knew that girl was trouble…"Inutaisho muttered to himself. "Those cat demons always are."

Samara crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward in her seat. "Father, why are you working today? You're not supposed to work until Wednesday."

"Something important came up."

"Something important always comes up…"Samara muttered under her breath. "When will you be home then?"

"Soon." He said.

"How soon?" she asked.

"When things are taken care of."

"What things?" she asked, knowing she was out of line with the interrogation. She refrained from asking any more on that subject and picked a pickle out of her sandwich. "What happened to Lana, father?"

"Lana left."

"What a shame." Samara sighed. "I rather liked her. I'm not really fond of your new secretary."

"That makes two of us." Sesshomaru said in a low breath as he looked through his phone. He growled to himself as he deleted the spam emails his secretary kept sending about the Acai diet and penis enlargement.

Inutaisho sighed. "Oh, give Selene a break. She's new. She'll catch on to the way things work."

"I thought her name was Stephanie?" Samara chewed on a fry.

"No. That can't be—wait, is it?" Inutaisho brought his index to his lips.

Samara shrugged. "That's what I heard you call her."

"I don't think either of those is her name." Kimora leaned back into her chair. "I overheard someone in the office call her Sara."

"Are you sure?" Inutaisho's eyes widened. He looked at Sesshomaru. "Is her name Sara?" Sesshomaru shrugged and Inutaisho tilted his head to the side and waved his hand. "Don't you know your secretary's name?"

"Not that it matters, I do not believe I will keep her."

"Good." Samara said. "She has deceiving eyes."

"Samara…that is not very nice. You do not know her." Inutaisho shook his head.

"and I do not wish to." Samara said. "You've always said to trust my instincts, grandfather. Are you telling me now that my instincts are unreliable?"

Inutaisho sighed. He had looked hypocritical at this point and didn't press further. "I can't believe I've been calling her the wrong name." he said and looked at all of them. "Well, now I'm embarrassed."

There was a commotion behind them and they all looked to see a small man shouting in a foreign language at Koga who walked toward them still wearing his motorcycle helmet pushing the short man out of his way. He removed his helmet and saluted them with his index finger.

"Yo."

"Hey, uncle Koga." Kimora greeted him with a warm smile.

"For crying out loud, Kimora, how many times do I have to tell you he is not our uncle?" Samara rolled her eyes.

"I'll stop when you stop calling the other clan members 'cousins' when they're not our cousins." Kimora mumbled, still smiling at Koga.

"What are you doing here?" Sesshomaru regarded him dryly and took a sip of his water.

"I went to the manor and saw that no one was there. I had some pie while I watched a few reruns of Happy days and got bored. Why are you working?"

Sesshomaru rubbed his forehead and glowered at him. "What pie did you eat, not the one on the counter?"

Koga twitched his lips and debated his answer. "Uh…the apple pie, you mean?"

"That apple pie is for the prime minister of Somalia. He is arriving from the airport in an hour. We have a meeting."

Koga winced. "Ooh, I probably shouldn't have eaten it all…my bad. I was hungry and the pie was just looking at me. You guys don't eat sweets anyway…I thought I was helping you guys out." He added defensively when he caught the look of disapproval on everyone's faces.

Inutaisho shook his head and looked at Sesshomaru. "Better call in quick and have Sahara bake another one. You know Omar is indubitably cranky when his blood sugar is low. Sahara's apple pie is his favorite."

"So, the woman with the blue hair, who is she?" Kimora asked.

"What woman with blue hair?" Koga leaned in and stole a cherry tomato from Sesshomaru's salad.

"The woman who claims she's daddy's wife."

Koga choked. "What?"

Sesshomaru shook his head. "Don't provoke the matter."

"I didn't say anything. I'm just curious. What woman, Kimmy?"

"I don't remember her name, something Boku…Bokunaska?"

Koga squinted as he rummaged through his memory. "I got nothing. You know you had all those girls on your-"he stopped when he noted the look on Sesshomaru and Inutaisho's face. He cleared his throat. "I mean…your dad had quite the fan club."

"Bokunaska, why does that name sound so familiar?" Inutaisho rubbed his chin and laughed. "I can't seem to remember anything these days."

They sat down for another ten minutes while they finished their lunch. The girls went back to the manor with their grandfather and Koga followed Sesshomaru back to work. When they arrived, Koga mingled through a group of women talking by the coffee machine and worked his charm successfully with them. Sesshomaru headed toward his office, stopping briefly at Sara's desk to pick up incoming faxes from his inbox bin. She looked up at him, met his eyes and quickly looked away when he met hers in an unfriendly way.

He removed his jacket when he entered his office and set his gun on the desk. Skimming through folders, he frowned when he didn't see what he was looking for. Before he could page Sara on the intercom, a woman with short red hair barged in through the door, a little too excited, holding a folder in hand.

"I thought you were still at lunch, sir, but I have what you're looking for right here!"

Her name was Julie and she'd wanted the position for Sesshomaru's private secretary for years, even begged Lana and offered to pay her for it. It was no secret in the office that Sesshomaru thought Sara to be incompetent so Julie made it a point to stick out like a shining star so he'd consider her for the position when he became impatient and fired Sara. When he had asked Sara to run a photo through the system to find someone, Sara stared blankly. Julie overheard and offered to do it right away.

"Thank you, Julie."

"No problem, sir. If you need anything else."

"Nothing mo-"

"Anything, coffee, tea…or if you want me to sort out these files for you, I'm not doin-"

"That will be all, Julie."

"Right, ok. Well, if you need me."

Sesshomaru stared at her indifferently and she closed the door. His mind quickly focused on the folder and he couldn't wait to find out more on the man Kagome had met for lunch. He glanced at the picture on his desk and his heart ached. Seeing her that one night, her telling him that nothing happened between her and that man, he couldn't get his mind off of it. She was close to moving on. Any further mistakes, any detail gone unnoticed, if days became months…he could lose her again. No, she understood. She wouldn't. Not after that night on Christmas Eve. He ignored the anger as he looked through the file.

Sasuke Hideko went to Shikon High with Kagome, graduated the same year as her with honors, went to Oxford and served in the D.D.C military for five years. He's a descendant of the Shirohyoma tribe but was revoked of leadership by his grandfather, reasons weren't stated. He married a woman from the same tribe, her name wasn't disclosed in the file but they divorced four years ago. They have a son named Arahim who is the same age as his daughters. Sasuke worked for D.D.C branch in Shanghai as an interpreter and transferred to the New York branch a few months ago. He now resides in a penthouse in the Upper East Side, not too far from where Kagome lives with the girls.

He continued to read the information and scanned through an evaluation chart sent by the Chinese branch. He was surprised to find out that Sasuke was the reason he had a lead on finding the demon troops harboring half-breeds in Siberia. Perhaps he could show his gratitude then threaten him if he should ever approach Kagome again. He paged Sara to come into his office and within a second she stumbled in.

"Y-yes, sir?"

"I need you to contact Sasuke Hideko and schedule a meeting with him. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Absolutely, sir." She nodded vehemently and turned to walk out. As soon as she stepped out, Koga walked in.

"I don't know how you do it…"he said. "All these women…they're like hot, tell me you honestly don't notice?"

Sesshomaru wasn't paying attention. He stared at the picture of Sasuke and drummed his fingers on his desk. Koga walked toward the desk and pulled a chair in front of the desk.

Sesshomaru cocked his head to the side. "Do you know someone named Sasuke?"

Koga paused midway, his butt hovering over the seat. "Um…nope."

"Really…" Sesshomaru held up one of the pictures of Sasuke and Kagome and placed it back in the folder.

"Should I?" Koga cleared his throat, noting the disbelieving tone in Sesshomaru's voice.

"I figured you would since you met him the other night with Kagome." Sesshomaru looked up from the folder and fixed him with a cold stare.

Koga tittered. "Oh…yeah. I remember now."

Sesshomaru nodded, placed the pictures down, and folded his hands in front of him. "Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"Er, well, I was gonna, right? But I forgot. That's why I came here now…I was going to tell you that actually now that I remember."

"Mmhm."

"You know I can be forgetful when it comes to important stuff, it wasn't like I was taking Kagome's side or anything. I didn't even like the guy, his teeth are too white."

"Is there anything else you feel you've forgotten to tell me?"

Koga cleared his throat. "Not that I can remember?"

"Very well…I need you to leave then. There are things I need to take care of."

"Yeah, you're right. I know you're a busy man. You have a lot to handle…you know, saving the world and junk." Koga nodded and stood up with no hesitation. Normally, he'd stick around regardless how many times Sesshomaru told him to leave but he didn't want to be around if he decided to question him again. He walked to the door and looked back. "Hey, actually, the cops keep giving me these tickets for speeding and parking in the handicap zone, you think you can like…take care of it?"

Sesshomaru looked up from the pictures and squinted. Koga tittered and flashed a huge smile. "Yeah, you're busy. We'll talk later." Koga added and left.

There was a lot to take care of and 'busy' just didn't seem right enough for the appellation. There was Naraku to think of, his daughters, Kagome, the world…it was beginning to be too much. He'd never felt stressed from work and was always calm when it came to handling complicated situations but this one felt out of his control. He had no idea who he was up against and it seemed that if he didn't act fast, that regardless if he was home or not, his work would still find Kagome and the girls.

He drummed his fingers on the desk and searched through the files again and when he was done, he'd do it again. There had to be something he was overlooking.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"I cannot believe you squealed on Denali. When she finds out, she is going to have my head, Kimora." Samara plopped on her bed and crossed her arms.

"Oh no, am I supposed to care?" Kimora rolled her eyes and opened her sketchbook. There was a tingling feeling on the back of her neck that had been bothering her since lunch. She started doodling lines while Samara scoffed and paced around the room.

"You may not care because you don't have to but I have a status to establish."

"What status is that, being a major buttface?" Kimora snorted and Samara stopped in her track and bristled over her shoulder.

"Of course I don't expect you to understand. There isn't much of a status you can ever establish with your blood."

"You know when you say my blood, do you mean mom's blood? Because the same blood runs through your veins too, or did you forget?"

"You know what I mean. I was fortunate to come out with only father's blood."

Kimora chuckled. "That's scientifically impossible."

"Don't be such a brat, Kimora."

"Well, then don't be so stupid, Sa-mah-ra!"

"Ugh, I'm not going to lower myself and argue with you." Samara rolled her eyes. "I'm going to ask father if I can live with him."

"So you're just going to leave mom and me like that?"

"Of course, I'll visit." Samara stuck her nose in the air and ran her fingers through her long black hair.

"How nice of you to grace us with your presence…not!" Kimora scoffed. "Dad's not going to let you live with him…and how can you be so mean to mom. I hate you so much right now."

Samara pressed her lips and walked to her closet. Kimora had never told her such mean thing. She shrugged and pulled out a few dresses. "I don't care if you hate me because I hate you too."

"Then we're even." Kimora said. She grabbed her sketchbook and headed out the room.

"Where are you going?" Samara shouted after her.

"Somewhere where you aren't." Kimora shouted back, wiping tears from her eyes. Despite trying to stand up to Samara and look strong, it hurt her to say such things. She didn't hate Samara, she could never hate Samara and she especially didn't like to see her mother hurt when it came to trivial things like her 'human blood.' How many times did she have to hear things like that?

Growing up in a house full of demons, being around other demon clans, she and her mother always felt left out. They were nice to them for the sake of Sesshomaru but it was all fake and even at three years old, she could tell it was. She always had to hear at gatherings how stupid her father had been to take a human as his wife and how it ruined his status. One time a lady from the snake tribe actually had the nerve to come up to Kimora one day and say 'You know, your father was betrothed to me when we were thirteen. Think of it, I could have been your mother, Kimora, and you would be a full demon."

Kimora had replied that she was stupid to have believed such a theory and went about playing. Her grandmother had punished her for speaking to an elder clan member in a disrespectful way. There was also her grandmother. She didn't know what to think about her. She wasn't readable the way her grandfather was. With each glare, she always wondered, does she hate me?

Kimora didn't want to talk to anyone, didn't want to see anyone but the manor was full of people around. A few men sat in the meeting room waiting for her father to arrive, her grandfather was in the library, her grandmother was in the dining room, scolding the maids most likely, and guards surveyed the halls all the time. The pantry was too dark to draw and Sahara would probably walk in there every few minutes looking for a spice or ingredient. Her father's study was the only quiet place and she knew she couldn't go in there but she wanted to get away from everyone for just that moment.

Sesshomaru didn't like having guards around his study so there wasn't much sneaking around she had to do. The problem was the code to the lock. There was only one lock and it wasn't as high tech as the one he had inside that guarded more important things. This one was a standard numeric pad with a five digit code. She had seen too many movies and felt the adrenaline rushing inside her as she stared at the pad. Did her father guard the office with traps like Indiana Jones? Would there be a boulder chasing her down the hallway if she got it wrong? She set her sketchbook by the door and rubbed her chin, scanning the hallways for anyone.

She punched in her birthday, the one she shared with Samara and it blinked red. No, not their birthday. She punched his birthday and it blinked red. This time she looked over her shoulder expecting darts to shoot at the door. She punched in her mother's and it blinked red.

"Ugh…" she looked around frustratingly and glared at the door. She turned the knob around hoping it would be open but of course, it wasn't. She heard voices in the hallway and her heart raced. She tried already three times and nothing. She had given up and turned around when she decided perhaps…

Three, Three, Zero, Zero, Five. The light blinked green and she cheered quietly as she opened the door and grabbed her sketchbook. She couldn't help but smile at how hopelessly romantic her father was; putting his wedding date as the pass code. She looked around and sat in his chair. She thought about how much trouble she could get into but she wasn't doing anything wrong, she thought. She just wanted a quiet place to draw. She'd been inside his study a few times to ask him if she could play outside or watch a movie that was not PG but she never fully noticed what else there was. It was pretty boring, nothing really stood out.

The shades were closed; there were files all over, even on a few chairs. The desk had been cluttered with pens, crumbled papers and paperclips. She pushed them aside to have space to set her sketchbook on. The silence bothered her at first. She couldn't hear anything at all, not even the voices around the house. Periodically, she looked around the room when she thought about what she was sketching and fixed her gaze on an envelope with a sticker of Santa Clause on it. She opened it and saw a CD or DVD and wondered if it had anything to do with Christmas, perhaps a Christmas movie or soundtrack. It struck her odd why her father would have something like this and decided to pop it into the laptop in front of her. The screen appeared and of course it was locked.

"Oh, crappy." She frowned. "Another password."

She typed in her parent's wedding date but it didn't go through. She decided to give it one more try and if it didn't work, she'd leave. She felt she was already pressing her luck with the breaking and entering. She typed in her birthday and it went through. Why does he make it so easy?

She opened the file and realized it was a DVD. It was weird at first with a white screen and black words that she didn't fully understand. She was about to turn it off when the visual part came on and as she watched with dread, her breathing labored, she couldn't look away. Was this real? Was that uncle Naraku? She watched further and realized it was a big mistake to come in her father's study. When the bullet pierced Naraku's head, she fell from her chair and started screaming. She left her notebook on the desk and continued screaming as she opened the door and ran out.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Samara waited by the door when she saw her father's car pull up. She put on her prettiest dress and fixed her hair and waited as he opened the door. She'd ask him one last time if she could move with him.

"Hello, father."

Sesshomaru looked exhausted as he removed his coat and nodded. "I need you to go upstairs now, Samara."

"But I have something I want to—"

"Samara, not now…please."

"But father…it's important. I wanted to know if you could reconsid—"

"Sir, they're here. We need to move them downstairs now!" said a guard, apprehensively. "You might need to move some of them into the living room perhaps, there is just too many of them."

"Right…" Sesshomaru said and glowered at Samara. "Go upstairs…now."

Samara fumed as she stormed up the steps, looking behind her. Her father walked out of the front door and she heard screaming. People rushed inside through the large doors, strolling gurneys into the lobby. Men screamed in agony, holding bloody parts of their bodies. There were women too, screaming just as much.

"It hurts…please, make it stop!" one man cried, holding his eye.

"Let me die, let me die, let me die!" cried another.

Samara paused, her eyes wide as she watched people barge through the doors. The screaming became louder as people shouted orders over the wailing.

"The infirmary is downstairs, take them down now, don't cram yourselves in the elevator, those who can walk, please take the stairs!"

"This man needs to be operated on, right now!"

Samara hadn't realized she was walking downstairs now, looking around scared and shocked. It was too grotesque as she watched a man coughing up blood and a woman holding her arm with a hand that wasn't there.

"F-Father?" Samara called out but he wasn't around. People pushed her and a gurney rolled over her foot as it passed her. "Ow…father?"

What was going on? Who were these people and what were they doing here? Everything was too loud. Where was Kimora, or Cado, or Remy? Where was her father?

"Kimora?" she shouted and looked over her shoulder at a man who stood in the middle of the room holding his dislocated arm, blood trickling down his forehead.

"You're one of them, aren't you? A tricker, eh? They sent you to fool me?" he gritted.

"I don't know what you're…I have to find my…" she stopped and shouted. "Father!"

"Actin' all innocent, man, they teach you all well. But I don't agree with my buddies, you see? A kid is no longer a kid when a gun is placed in their hand and they start killin'. You ain't gonna kill anymore!" he said and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Let go of me!" she cried. "Father! Remy!"

"Those fake tears don't fool me! I've seen what you kids do out there! That's how they get you to get us, but you don't got me!"

"Father!" she choked on her sobs, feeling the man pull her away from everyone and no one seemed to notice.

Sesshomaru stood outside, directing everyone inside. People cried and grabbed at his collar. A few people scratched at his neck when he tried to pull them off.

"Help me!" one woman shouted, grabbing at him. "Please, my lord…make this stop!"

A young guard approached him. "Sir, it's filling up in the infirmary and there is no more room in the living room. Perhaps we could use the second floor."

Sesshomaru rubbed the back of his neck. Samara and Kimora's room was there. He needed to move them now. He walked up the steps and there was a sharp pain in his chest when he heard Samara.

"Father! Father! Aggghhhhhh!"

Sesshomaru pushed through everyone and entered the lobby looking around. At the same time, Cado and Remy heard the screaming and rushed in as well. Sesshomaru saw the man gripping Samara's arm and the look in his eyes told him he was insane. In a split of a second, Sesshomaru darted toward them and punched the man in the neck and dug his nails into his wrist to release his daughter. Remy grabbed the man and dragged him away. Samara was hysterical as he picked her up and brought her up the steps. Cado followed behind.

"Where's Kimora?" Sesshomaru's chest felt heavy.

Cado looked regretful. "I don't know, sir. I was called downstairs. She was in her room when I left her."

"Samara, where's Kimora?" Sesshomaru asked but Samara was crying, holding his shoulders for dear life. When they got to the second floor, they found Kimora all right; screaming at the top of her lungs, running down the hallway.

"Daddy!" she screamed and wrapped her arms around his waist, shaking. "Daddy! Is Naraku dead, is he really dead? Was it just pretend? Daddy! I want mommy, I want to go home!"

Between Samara's crying and Kimora's and the people downstairs, he felt himself break down. He shot one last glare at Cado and brought the girls back to their room.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Kagome was still in pajamas when she got out of the car and ran up the steps to the D.D.C manor. Inside, she kept herself calm as she passed people all over the place in bloody bandages, shouting obscenities here and there.

"Thank goodness it got quiet…"she heard one woman say. This was quiet?

"Lady Kagome…" said a guard.

"Where are my daughters? Where is my husband?"

"Upstairs." Said the guard as he led her up the steps. Haji followed behind her.

"Who are these people?" she asked.

"Soldiers, lady Kagome. There was an invasion at General island, a terrorist attack. Someone snuck a bomb inside. There was no more room at the D.D.C and the manor is secondary to bring the wounded."

"The wounded?" Kagome's voice wavered. Sesshomaru had told her that it was used as an infirmary but she didn't expect it was actually used. There were many guards surrounding Kimora and Samara's room. Cado and Remy stood outside, their heads bowed and abashed. Kagome looked at them briefly before entering the room. Sesshomaru sat on one of the beds, Samara crying on his lap and Kimora huddled on his shoulder, her eyes red and wide as if she thought about something traumatic. She didn't even notice Kagome standing in front of her at first.

"Mommy…" Kimora's voice was hoarse.

Kagome wanted to cry at the sight of them but she had to remain strong and looked at Sesshomaru questionably.

"Hey…" Kagome said, with an assuring smile.

"Mommy, I want to go home." Kimora jumped off the bed and hugged her.

"Okay…"Kagome said and looked at Samara who was still crying. "Let me just talk with your father for a minute."

Sesshomaru stood up and Samara cried even more.

"No, don't go!"

"He's not going anywhere, ok? We're just going to be outside. Why don't you girls pack your things, ok?"

Before anyone could protest, Sesshomaru led Kagome outside. They walked away from the guards into a room near the girls' bedroom.

"What the hell happened?" Kagome crossed her arms.

Sesshomaru didn't answer and pressed himself against the wall. He, too, looked like he had seen horror. Kagome had never seen him like this and pressed a hand on his cheek. He cupped her hand and gazed at the floor.

"I am failing…"he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "failing at what?"

"It was a mistake to bring them here…a mistake to have you here."

"Come on, what are you talking about, the important thing is that they're alright and you're alright."

"They are not alright." He snapped. "I am not alright. A crazed soldier practically killed Samara tonight if I hadn't arrived on time, confusing her as a tricker."

"A what?"

Sesshomaru didn't feel the need to explain but Kagome insisted on knowing. "It is something the soldiers say when terrorists use kids on the battlefield, confusing the soldiers to have them falter any attacks…and Kimora watched the tape."

"What tape?" Kagome felt tired trying to piece everything together but he kept saying things fragmented.

"Naraku's murder…"

"Oh my god." Kagome clasped her forehead and looked over at the guards. "Where the hell was Remy and Cado during this?"

"Helping out downstairs."

"They are supposed to watch the girls all the time!" Kagome cried. "What's the point of assigning them personal guards if they are not going to be there all the time?"

"On their defense, the manor is usually safe and the girls were thought to have been in their room."

"Sesshomaru, they are nine years old! They're not going to listen all the time and they're not always going to be where you think they are."

Sesshomaru nodded and Kagome could see that she didn't need to make him feel worse than he already did. He couldn't even protect them in his own home. He would never forgive himself for it.

"Take them home with you tonight, "he said. "I will be out of contact for a while."

"No…" she shook her head and walked away. "You are not going to do this."

"Listen to me, I am very serious."

"So am I…" she spat. "You're not going to disappear out of our lives just because-"

"Just because what? Our daughter was almost killed and the other traumatized. That doesn't suffice as a liable reason for this?"

She grabbed his shoulders and looked at him pleadingly. "Please don't do this. We need you. We can do this together."

He stroked her cheek and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I cannot do this anymore, Kagome."

"Yes, you can. You don't have to come back home but we can visit like this, I don't mind. Just seeing you, at least, will be enough for me and the girls." Her eyes became misty because she could see it in his eyes that he was not going to change his mind. His mind was made up.

"I'm sorry." He said, caressing her back and she buried her face into his chest and sobbed.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

*****Please Review******