To the reviewer whose name started with J. Sorry I can't remember all of it. You said that you feel that Sesshomaru should have felt the kidnappers. His senses are superior, but Kagome also knows this so she traveled a bit down the river to for privacy issues. Plus, he can sense emotions not the events that are happening. Since they were drugged, there wasn't any distress or fear for him to pick up on. He would have senses the humans, but once again they weren't aiming to battle Kagome so there wasn't any strong feelings to pick up on. But I agree i could have made this clearer, thank you for the constructive criticism.

And a special thank you to everyone who has been following this story! I will try to be more regular with the updates!

Kagome was sobbing. She could feel the hot tears streaming down her face as she struggled for breath. She had though that they would be fighting the soldiers, would perhaps have a chance to die honorably. But this...this was torture. This was watching her tiny kit be injured again, and again, and again.

The cruel laughing of the men around them gave her a surge of strength, and she twisted and fought to escape the hold of Tadunobo. He just growled and yanked her back to him, his hold on her hair tightening as he wrapped an arm around her waist. Effectively halting her movement and forcing her to keep watching, helpless.

She let out another shaking breath, her heart cracking as she heard Shippis cries through the gag they had placed on him. If only they were demons, then she could purify them. But she was useless against humans. Utterly useless.

A scream of anger jolted her from her horrified thoughts. She saw a blur of white flash by, and then Shippo disappeared. Her eyes widened in shock, blury as they were with tears.

Kagome felt her shoulders slump in relief as she saw Sesshomaru, standing proud and tall as he brandished his sword, the tiny kit on top of his Mokomoko. She felt new engerg tear through her. Revitalizing her. She kicked and fought against the man holding her with new vigor, delighting in his sharp cry as she hit a tender spot. Feeling his hold on her slip for a precious second, she burst out of his clutches.

Breathing heavily, she ran over to Sesshomarus side, grabbed Shippo from his shoulder and hugging the little kit to her chest.

He whimpered,"Kagome...it hurts." She felt her tears start to flow again. Sesshomaru stepped in from of her protectively, and she looked up at him.

The soldiers had formed a loose circle around them, brandishing their crude weapons. Their faces wore expressions of hate and anger. But Sesshomaru only scoffed as he sensed their underlying fear. The one who had been holding Kagome got up off the ground, his hand gripping his sword so hard the knuckles turned white.

"Release them demon!" He shouted. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. Who did these peasants think they were, speaking to him like this?

"Why?" He asked coldly, his deeply voice barely portraying the rage that lay coiling just beneath the surface.

The mans face reddened and his eyes narrowed. "So that we can kill all of you," he spat. Sesshomaru just sighed inside. He was tired of the humans blind prejudice. He blinked in shock as Kagome sprang in front of him.

"He didn't do anything to you!" Her yell was loud and indignant. He raised an eyebrow at her courageous actions, but also sighed internally at her stupidity. Aggravating the enemy? Amateur.

The mans acidic voice snapped him back to reality from his internal monologue. "It doesn't matter if he's hurt me! He's a threat to all humans!"

He heard Kagome start to retort, but she was cut off as he stepped in front of her. "You are the only human who is in danger from my claws," he growled.

The man flushed a dark red, and drew his sword clumsily. "We'll see about that," he spat. Sesshomaru merely scoffed and gathered his youkai cloud beneath him, quickly spiriting away himself, the Miko and kit.

Kagome clung to his arm for support as the cloud moved quickly through the skies. She shivered as the a cry of rage rang out below them.

She was about to thank Sesshomaru when Shippo whimpered pitifully. His voice was weak, and as she clutched the little kit to her best she could feel his skin burning up.

"Oh Shippo," she whispered. "I'm so sorry." Her Miko power started to flare, and a soft pink glow emanated from her body. The gashes all over the tiny kitsunes body started to close. His cries of pain faded as the wounds healed, and the exhausted kit collapsed into sleep.

Sesshomaru looked upon the scene with wide eyes. He had no idea the girls Miko power was so strong, usually they could not heal any other than themselves to that degree, and that was only after a great deal of training.

His attention was caught as the woman shivered, her face pale and her breath shaky. "Sesshomaru...I'm going too.." Her cerulean eyes fluttered close as she collapsed forward, into his arms.

He sighed internally, but merely sat on his cloud and let the woman rest on his lap. The kit was curled up on her chest. He looked down at her thoughtfully.

If she could be trained...harness that rough talent that she held...She could be turned into quite the force of nature. And he knew exactly how to go about it.

Smiling darkly, the demon lord flew through the air as a devious plan started to form.

~WLITS~

Kagome came to slowly, becoming aware of of just how hard her head was pounding. Whatever she had done had given her a massive migraine. But just what had that been...

She gasped as the memories ran through her. Shippis broken body, Sesshomaru standing tall. That pink glow surrounding her, and then a sense of falling into a warm embrace.

Despite the pain, she sat up, releasing a little gasp as her head throbbed. That was not a good idea. Sighing, she laid her head back down. The womans eyes blinked open slowly, Adjusting to the light. She almost screamed as they met a pair of golden orbs looking down at her.

A great sigh of relief was let out as she recognized that it was Sesshomaru's Amber orbs that were staring into hers. He sniffed slightly, his eyes narrowing.

"You have been asleep for quite some time, Miko." His was voice was as impassionate as ever, but she could see a flicker of something in his eyes.

"What..." Her own voice was a bit scratchy, and she swallowed dryly before speaking again. "What did I do?" Why did she have to look so far up to see him? Surely he wasn't that tall...Right?

"Are you asking how you were captured by such ignorant men, or what happened before you lost consciousness?" Her eyes narrowed, his words had stung her pride a bit.

"It wasn't like they just walked up and grabbed me, they drugged us!" He just rolled his eyes, and looked back into the sky for a moment. A jolt ran through Kagome as she realized that she was far below him, and seeing how she wasn't standing...She was on his lap.

Her cheeks immediately started to redden with a blush, and she hastily dragged herself up, wincing at her still tender head.

"Even so," his cold voice drove away her blush, especially since he had no reaction to seeing her sit next to him, still on his youki cloud. "You should have sensed their present before they accosted you."

She looked down, her eyebrows drawing togeher in embarrassment and anger. "My Miko powers will only let me sense when youkai are near. And malevolent humans, but only those that had Shikon shards."

She drew her knees up to her chest, resting her head on them as she looked back over at him. He couldn't help but think that the pose seemed childish, and at odds with the courage she had displayed earlier.

"Why not train your senses?"

"You make it sound so easy. I don't the first clue how to do that." Her voice was slightly bitter, she didn't like the thought of her powerlessness.

"I can teach you how." Her eyes snapped to him, the bright blue filled with wonder.

"You...really? You would, Sesshomaru?" He nodded, but wondered when the suffix had stopped being attached to his name. Surprisingly, he didn't particularly care.

"Of course. You'll be much more useful if you aren't so helpless," he said matter of factly. She laughed slightly, eyes sparkling.

"Yes, I suppose that's true. Thank you."

He turned a bit so that he was facing her and laid his hands on top of his knees, sitting Indian style.

"First, you need to relax your mind. Slow your thoughts, and become empty." He looked fairly relaxed as his eyes met hers, empty of emotion.

Kagome mirrored his position, but bit her lip. "Do you mean meditate?" Surprisingly, he shook his head.

"No. To mediate is you look within yourself. Now, you need to open yourself up to the world around you." The woman merely gave him a sidelong glance.

"It's a bit odd to think of you as open," she said wryly.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You do not think that this Sesshomaru can sense all of the creatures around him?" She shook her head quickly, smiling a little bit.

"It's not that. I Just think it's. A bit ironic that the most open creature is the most unapproachable." That made his eyes dance with amusement.

"Being approachable is not always desirable," his deep voice rumbled. The little spark of laughter in his golden orbs made her warm slightly, feeling more at ease than she had in a long time.

Nodding, she answered him. "I understand that. I gather that you like your solitude?" Her head cocked to the side curiously.

His own eyes grew seirous, and distant. "Not solitude, but this Sesshomaru does prefer as little...distractions as possible." It was his turn to gaze curiously at her as the woman's cheeks reddened.

"I-I'm sorry... I've been nothing but trouble." She said sheepishly. But her smile faded quickly, replaced with a scent of hurt, and self loathing. "I can't even fight off a few humans without dragging everyone into it." Humiliatingly, she felt her eyes begin to grow wet.

"Then become stronger." His voice rather shocked her, it held more emotion than she had ever heard from the taiyoukai. It was filled with determination, almost a bit angry. "Hone your powers, and physical prowess. Become the one that they fear." His usually icy tone was gone. Replaced with the fire of his strength.

Kagome found she rather preferred the fire over his ice.

She straightened her shoulders and looked up at him, smiling ferally. "You're right. I can stop crying, and get my own power." Her little hands curled into fists. He looked back at her appreciatively, and a tiny, dark smile flickered at the edges of his mouth.

It seemed everything was going according to his plan.

~~~ AN!

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