Sorry it has been so long since I have been able to update. Been working 60 hours a week and preparing for the baby, but I haven't forgotten. Please read and review.

Sesshomaru flew all night, Jaken was barely able to hold on to his mokomoko. By daybreak he found the river and the town the traveler had discribed to him. He landed outside the shrine just as the priest came out to begin his chores and spotted him. He waited patiently but obviously on guard as the youkai approached him.

"I am looking for my wife and believe she may have passed through here. Have you seen any strange women in this town?" He asked the priest.

"As a matter of fact I have. Foreign woman I believe. I thought she might be a youkai by the looks of her. She stayed with a local family near here for several days and nursed them through a pox. Left once the mother was back on her feet. I believe she headed west, towards the coast."

He flew off again, Tenseiga had been urging him to go westward since he spotted the village. The sword was guiding him to her, but why? Why would it suddenly do so after all this time? Unless something was wrong!

That family had been sick with a pox. Had she contracted it? Was she all alone, sick and in need of care? He flew faster, he had to get to her!

Then he smelled it, her scent! It was stale, old, but she had passed this way. He found an old camp site, a fire pit and the charred bones of a duck. She loved duck and few other people ate meat besides fish, that had to be hers. Her scent was growing stronger, fresher, he was getting close.

Suddenly he found his way blocked by the massive form of a dragon. "Move aside, I am in a hurry." He told the beast.

The dragon glared down at him. "Are you the one known as Sesshomaru? I am Hiryu, elder brother of Hibikazan whom you killed a year ago last spring." Sesshomaru lashed out with his whip but Hiryu dodged it easily and once again blocked his path. Blocked him from Melissa.

Melissa crawled to the back wall and huddled against it in the dark, trembling and sobbing as she processed what had just happened to her. She'd been raped! He raped her. He couldn't rape her vagina, so he raped her mouth instead, but it was still rape.

She was still crying when a man came to cut a hole in the door and set a lamp in the rafters so that the guard could look in on her. Minutes later a man came in with a bucket of water and a paper package. "The general wants you to clean up and plug that hole up before the blood attracts evil spirits."

She washed her face first, scrubbing until it felt raw. Then she opened the package to find it full of tampons. She set them to the side, she didn't need them. But then she realized they might check her waste bucket to see when she stopped bleeding.

If there were no bloody tampons they may realize she wasn't actually bleeding. The general would come back to rape her again, and this time... She shuddered. What could she do?

Looking to see that she wasn't being watched she retrieved her knife and rope again. She moved to a corner where the guard couldn't see her. Biting her rope she made a small cut on her hip and dabbed up the blood with a tampon until it looked used and put it in the waste bucket.

Once that was done she huddled again against the back wall. Hours later a man in his mid twenties came in and looked at her with pitying eyes. He spotted her uneaten food from that morning and approached her. She huddled tighter against the wall but he only placed another bowl of rice and water in front of her. "It might not be as good a you're used to, but ya gotta eat."

He picked up the food and water from that morning and paused. He didn't turn around to look at her, but spoke. "We don't all serve him willingly. If your husband is strong, strong enough to end all this, I know at least one sword will fight beside rather than against him."

"The general threaten you life" She asked.

"My life?" the man asked with a humorless laugh. "What is a man's life worth if he has no honor?"

He looked over his shoulder at her now. "I have a daughter. She is in her 7th year. If I had refused... He would not have cared that she's a child. I've heard rumors of your husband, Sesshomaru. A man who can raise the dead must have great power. Have faith in him." Then he was gone, leaving her alone again.

She didn't know what to do. She was terrified. But she couldn't just wait around hoping to be rescued. She had been searching for Sesshomaru for weeks, well over a month, what were the chances they would find him? She couldn't fake a period forever. Eventually the general would figure out what she was doing

And what if they did find Sesshomaru. He was a diayoukai, he was powerful, but he was up against an army. If he brought his own there would be no problem, but would he think to do that? Or would he, in his haste to rescue her, attack alone. They might kill him on his own!

She couldn't take that chance. She could never live if he died! She had to escape and stop him from doing something foolish! She had to think up a plan.

She went to the door and tried to speak to the guard. He ignored her, but she kept trying to gt him to talk. Asking him questions, about himself, his family. She learned very little but that he signed up for battle, not to terrorize villagers, and that they were not supposed to talk to her.

She took a few breaks and picked the scab to bloody tampons throughout the day. She forced herself to eat and drink. Mostly she paced and tried to think up a plan. She was still thinking and pacing when someone came in to refill her lamp and bring her fresh food and water. She saw him glance at the waste bucket as he picked it up to empty it, making sure there were tampons in it.

Shortly after dusk the guard changed. The night guard kept leering in at her. "Hey, girlie, too bad you belong to the general, isn't it? You're not the cutest thing ever but when a man has been away from his woman for months even you look pretty good!" He taunted "Don't look like that. You spread your legs for a youkai, didn't you?" He taunted as she turned away in disgust.

He laughed and continued, "Funny things, Youkai. They say even after the body dies the head can remain conscious for hours. Even days. How long do you think your hubby's head will be conscious to watch?

"Or don't you know? The general has offered you as an incentive. Who ever bring him the severed head can humiliate him further. Whoever slays the youkai gets to have a go at you while the head watches. I might get a piece of that ass yet."

"I bleed!" Melissa told him, wanting to shut him up. She didn't want to hear the disgusting things he was saying to her. "You not suppose to talk to me!"

"You're bleeding now, but it might take a few days for him to be found. And your mouth isn't bleeding, is it?"

She gave up on holding her kimono closed and covered her ears, but the memories were already flooding back. She sat down in the corner furthest from him with her back to him. She tried to will away the memories, the feelings of pain and humiliation. He continued to talk, to say lewd things but she did her best to ignore him and he eventually lost interest. Eventually she fell asleep.

Sesshomaru glared at the dragon in the morning light. The fight had lasted all night and no end was in sight. The fight with the younger brother had lasted days. And the image of Melissa, alone and ill kept flashing across his mind, distracting him from the battle. In his desperation to get to her he had even attempted to flee from the battle but the dragon had matched him in speed and prevented his escape.

Keeping his eye on the dragon h landed near Jaken. "Jaken, go ahead. I must fight but my wife is ahead. Get to her, care for her, I will follow when I am able."

"Aye M'lord!" Jaken replied, scurrying away to follow orders as Sesshomaru once again engaged the dragon.

Melissa stirred from sleep as she heard the door creak open. She refused to open her eyes, terrified of what morning might bring her. Someone approached her and she wrapped her arms more tightly around herself and choked down a whimper.

"I'm still working on a plan, my lady, please stay strong." A familiar voice whispered. She opened her eyes and looked toward the door just as the boy turned to close it and their eyes met for a brief moment. She forced herself to eat the fresh rice and took a sip of the water, she had to be strong to escape.

Her subconscious had been hard at work as she slept, and she awoke with a hazy half formed plan in her head. She knew the shed was not watched save for the guards, otherwise the guard last night would not have spoken to her. Regular patrols went by, but only the guard watched the shed she was kept in. If she could convince one to open the door she could try to overtake him. She was no match for an army, but one on one she might be able to escape and slip out before they noticed she was gone.

She bloodied a tampon then sat down to plan. Night would be the best time. Aside from the decreased visibility her night guard seemed to be an idiot. Dangerous, but impulsive and perhaps disloyal, he could perhaps be baited into opening the door.

Night came and she still wasn't sure how to do it. Words didn't seem enough. If only she had some way to get booze or cannabis. Something to lower his inhibitions. She thought about asking the boy to bring her sake, but discarded the idea. Trying to smuggle her sake would be dangerous, and while here he was an adult in her world he was still a child. If he came up with a plan she would go with it, but she would not ask him to get involved in hers. She couldn't endanger a child.

If only she could turn water into wine. She stopped dead, Jesus Christ was not to only person said to have had that ability, many gods and wizards alike were said to have possessed it. It was preposterous, no one could really turn water into wine. But she had once believed no one could really travel through time either.

She had no tools to help either, but tools were only an aid. Real magic came from the will of the witch. She sat down with her nearly full gourd of water and meditated, concentrating with all her might on the water being sake.

After what must have been hours she took a sip and frowned, she hadn't really expected it to change to sake. She'd have to put her plan into action without it. She drank her water then paced around the shed.

The door creaked open again and her blood seemed to freeze as the general stepped in with two other men. He approached her as one of the men went to look in the bucket and informed him she was still bleeding. "Get on your knees, woman."

"Please, please no do this!" She pleaded backing away and shaking her head frantically as her eyes filled with tears.

"I said get on your knees, concubine!"

"No, no concubine, I am wife. I am Sesshomaru wife!"

"You're his widow, free to be claimed. Now on your knees!" He yelled slapping her so hard he knocked her to the ground. His men pounced on her, wrestling her to her knees. She fought and struggled but they held her by her arms and hair. He raped her and taunted that soon he would claim the rest of her then once again left her crying on the floor of the shed.

She finished crying and wiped her face on her sleeves. She couldn't take anymore, she had to escape. Somehow she had to get away. She had to try tonight, no matter what.

Her food was delivered and shortly after the guard change. She had no appetite but forced herself to eat. Then she took a drink of water and nearly choked. She stared at the gourd in surprise, sake. Someone in the kitchen had made a mistake and sent her sake instead of water. Her spell had worked, kind of, just not how she meant it to work.

She approached the hole in the door. "Um, they make mistake in kitchen. I get water?"

"You've got water." The guard answered, "I'm not leaving my post."

"They make mistake. is sake, I can't drink. Please get water?" She requested again offering the gourd through the hole. He took it and took a swing, eyes going wide. He took another drink and turned his back on her.

She waited, allowing him to drink the sake then requested water again. "Stupid girlie, I told you I'm not leaving my post. You should have just drank this sake. Mine now, your loss."

"I not able drink sake, is bad for baby."

"What baby?"

"My baby, husband baby." She replied, placing her hands lovingly over her bruised belly. "Sake make stupid babies."

"There is no baby, the general would have beaten it out of you! besides, sake doesn't make stupid babies. My mother drank sake." The man told her.

"That explain much. Explain why you so stupid you believe my baby dead. General not strong enough to kill my baby, is hanyou, is strong! General is weak." She replied scornfully. "And you are underling. Weak and stupid."

"You shut your mouth whore. We all know you're bleeding. Pregnant women don't bleed."

"So stupid! I not bleed! I trick general! He so stupid and you are under him!"

"You shut up whore!" He yelled again, falling silent as a patrol passed. But she didn't shut up, she picked up a tampon then lifted her kimono to expose the cut on her leg. She picked the scab and bloodied the tampon in front of him and mocked him about how stupid he and the general both were.

This was a dangerous move. If her plan failed he was sure to tell the general about her deception in the morning. But it was her only chance to escape. It was only a matter of time before her raped her again, and next time he might figure out the truth himself.

She continued to taunt and torment him as he continued to drink the sake. A shock as she thought the gourd should be empty by now. It went on for hours. Near dawn she turned away in terror and frustration, it wasn't working. What was she going to do?

Then she heard the door creak and saw the guard entering her shed, tossing the empty gourd to the side and wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "If you're carrying that animal's brat then their isn't any harm in fucking you. The general will just have to kill the brat once it's born and fuck you then." He slurred.

She gaped in horror and backed away from him. He advanced on her, reaching for her. She looked over his shoulder and gasped "The general!"

Swaying he turned to stare in horror at the empty doorway. She pulled the loop of rope that had once bound her from her kimono and threw it over his head. She pulled the ends taunt before he could act to get his fingers under it.

He grabbed at it, but she pulled it tight so that it dug into his skin. He reached over his shoulder but she braced her knee against his back and leaned back out of his reach. He scratched and grabbed at his neck until it was boody. He twisted and thrashed to throw her off, but he held tight. He threw himself against the stone wall, trying to crush her, but she still held on. Finally he fell forward and was still.

She quickly stripped him and put his clothes and armor on. She got the helmet on and took his spot outside the door just as another patrol went by. She kept her head down and skulked half concealed in the shadows by the door until they were gone.

She then turned to leave and the teen boy gasped in horror and dropped the knife he had nearly plunged in her back. "My lady! I was coming for you. Come, quickly, before they discover you gone!"