Part 26: Weakness

A/N: Hello, I am still alive, and this story is still going forward. I apologize for the delay as I know that the last chapter's cliffhanger had all of you anxious and curious. Without further ado, here's the next chapter with (some) answers.

Once again, thank you dear reviewers! Your words of encouragement make me push forward:

Little25victor

AmorPorSiempre

Iraswife1120

Ladyfujin (x2)

KiwiWitch

Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish for it, I unfortunately own nothing except my plot, and a few OC's here and there.

The place was full. Guess no one wanted to miss out on seeing two of the most powerful youkai fight to the death. All eyes were stuck on me, the official reason for this fight. While everyone knew that Naraku attacking me and insulting me was just an excuse Sesshoumaru had used to be able to call a duel with the man he hated, they still were curious about me. Naraku's daughter, married to Sesshoumaru, how scandalous. No wonder their eyes were stuck on me.

Frankly at the moment, I could care less if I was the center of attention. In just a few minutes, the man I loved would engage in the fight of his life, and for some reason, I could not shake a feeling of unease. Naraku had been too quiet up until now. He surely was up to something, and it would be something bad. Nausea crept up my throat, and I struggled to push it down.

I needed to freshen myself before I threw up all over the place. "I'll just go to the restroom. I'll be back in a minute."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Kagome asked me.

"No thanks, I'm fine."

"You look a bit pale…" She insisted. "I feel dark energy in here. Must be a dark witch in attendance." The miko shuddered, clearly upset.

Just as I made to head to the restroom, Sango laid a hand on my shoulder.

"Maybe I should go with you…"

"No need." I cut Sango off, gently shrugging her hold on me. "I'll be back in five minutes." Before the human woman went back on bodyguard mode and followed me out, I snuck in search of a restroom.

My phone rang, and I fished it out of one of the folds of my kimono. An unknown number. How unusual. I answered the call, and my heart stopped cold. Heavy breathing and a strained female voice I knew all too well greeted me on the other side.

"Kagura… my baby…"

"Mom?!"

My heart stopped beating for a second. Never could I have mistaken that voice. It was a voice that I had never expected to hear once again; at least not in this lifetime.

"Mom?!" I gasped in shock. "Mom, is that you? Are you okay?"

I could not believe it, mom was alive! Where was she? How could I get to her? These questions ran through my head as I waited impatiently for her to answer me.

After a silence that felt like an eternity her voice finally came through on the line again.

"Don't come for me baby. No matter what he says...!" A pained gasp stopped her from speaking further. "Whatever happens stay safe I love you..." That last bit was yelled as the phone seemed to be yanked away form her. I had had to strain my ear to hear the last part of her sentence.

A scream of pure agony unexpectedly came from the other end of the line. Dread ran through me.

"Mom?! Mom?!" I found myself yelling in my phone hoping for an answer.

"No, no, no. That was not what we agreed on." A syrupy sweet male voice said in a sing-song tone. "Sorry for the interruption of this touching family moment. What your dear mommy meant to say was: honey come save me from the bad man Jakotsu."

Jakotsu. The last remaining member of the Band of Seven, the group of sanguinary mercenaries Naraku had hired to do his dirty work and attack the shrine, kidnap mom, torture her, and up until now I had believed murder her. It could be real, there had been no corpse, no ashes, only the word of the coroner and Naraku. For all I knew mom had been indeed alive this whole time.

Another scream of agony filtered from the other end. The monster was torturing mom, and making me listen. I felt sick to my stomach. No more time to think. It was now time to act.

"Stop it!" Angry winds swelled around me, causing cracks in the nearby walls. Good thing the hallway was empty. Everyone had rushed to get a seat around the fighting space. No one wanted to miss the epic fight between the two Lords. Normally I would be among them, cheering Sesshoumaru on, but right about now my main concern was mom. I needed to find where she was and rescue her. My lover had prevented me from being part of the search and rescue mission earlier, but this time I was taking matters into my own hands, and making sure mom would be safe. There was no way I was going to get anyone from the Tashio clan involved.

As hell bent as I was to find mom, I could not dispel a nagging feeling. Jakotsu's timing was too conspicuous, I knew it had to be part of one of Naraku's schemes. As much as I hated it, I had no choice but to play his game. I wanted mom back safely.

"Just tell me what you want, but stop hurting her."

"Oh sweet Kagura, I thought you'd never ask." Jakotsu chuckled maniacally. "Take the flight of stairs by the entrance, and come down to the basement. We will have ourselves a touching family reunion."

I did not think twice. In a matter of seconds I was by the staircase. Time to go get mom.

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I took the stairs three at a time, and was down in a matter of seconds. As soon as I threw open the door of the basement, I was greeted by what at first glance I thought was an overly made-up woman in a loose kimono, but could only be the man I had come to meet with: Jakotsu. The human mercenary was not what I had expected. He was slight and young. His big wide eyes gave him an innocent look, very far from the cruel monster I knew him to be.

You are as cute as I thought you'd be." He exclaimed, cocking his head to the side to look at me better. "Like mother like daughter… too bad I had to bang up your mother's beautiful face. If only she listened to what I asked her to do…"

"I did not come here to talk." I spat out, my eyes scanning the room. Sadly I was coming up empty, no signs of mom. "Just tell me where my mother is." I clutched my fan tightly in my hand, ready to attack him if he did not tell me what I wanted to know.

His fake smile fell off his face, replaced by a nasty grin. "That kind of impatient behavior is why I hate women." He took a few steps in my direction, his eyes burning with intensity. "I especially hate women who get my older brothers killed!"

In the blink of an eye Jakotsu unleashed his attack. With just a flick of his wrist, the small sword at his hip turned into a long coiling snake made of what seemed to be hundreds of blades.

I had barely enough time to raise my fan and summon a protective wind blade. Good thing I had spent so many long mornings training with Sesshoumaru. Only the defensive instincts I had developed saved me from getting torn to pieces by the mercenary's unexpected attack.

"Aw so the little kitten has claws, our play time will be even better then!" Jakotsu exclaimed, snapping his sword back, causing the strange weapon to fold itself back.

His sword was like nothing I had ever seen before. Its coiling nature made it hard to anticipate. My only luck was that I could attack and defend from a long range. I should be okay as long as I kept myself well away from the reach of his nasty weapon. By the traces of youki I could feel emanating from his blades, looked like there might be some sort of poison infused in the sword. Damn. All I wanted was to incapacitate him so that I could go look around the basement and find where he had mom locked up. She had been captive for too long, I needed to get her out as soon as possible. It was a miracle and a true testament to her resilience that she had managed to stay strong this long. Now it was my turn to do my part and set her free. I needed to wrap this up, and fast.

"Your brothers got themselves killed because of their evil nature. Don't worry, you will join them soon!" Without letting the human mercenary time to respond, I sent a wind tornado towards him.

He clearly was a pro as he wasted no time springing into action. His damn sword extended to wrap itself around my attack, preventing my cutting tornado-shaped wind to approach him. Clearly if I wanted to defeat Jakotsu, I needed to disarm him.

Without leaving him any time to breathe, I sent another tornado towards the mercenary.

"If this is all you got, no wonder you weren't able to protect your mother."

I wanted to wipe the nasty sneer off his face, but I kept my cool. Little did he know I had something up my sleeve. As he was busy wrapping his sword around my tornado, containing my blades of wind, I called forward my dear element, and gathered wind blades behind Jakotsu's back. Maintaining the tornado while forming blades of wind was hard, but I was stronger than I had ever been, more determined than ever. Mom needed me, I had no other choice.

A well placed flick of my wrist was all it took to launch my surprise attack. The young human cried out as my blades shredded his back. I felt every blade of wind slice through him just before the smell of fresh blood assaulted my nose. Good. I knew that just like Naraku, he would die today. Unfortunately I had to keep the mercenary alive long enough to rescue mom, but as soon as he told me what I wanted to hear, we could get rid of him. The only life I had ever taken was Hakudoushi's, and that was by accident. I did not know if I could kill; even in the heat of battle, but I did know that I wanted to be rid of Jakotsu, and I wanted to see him punished for all the pain he had put me and mom through.

The beaten up mercenary fell to his knees and a pool of blood spread all around him. His blood soaked kimono fell in tatters around him, clearly my attack had done the trick and he was fully incapacitated.

"No!" A piercing scream ripped through the air, shocking the hell out of me. I would recognize that voice anywhere, mom! I turned back and ran towards the sound. I realized at the back end of the basement was a small door off to the side. That had to be where mom was kept.

I wrenched the knob hard enough to almost rip the door off its hinges. A single swinging light bulb illuminated the small space, but it was enough for me to see that the storage space was empty. Before I had time to retreat and search for mom elsewhere, a strong blow was dealt to the back of my head.

I cried out more in shock than in pain, and staggered forward. I struggled past the pain and turned to face my attacker. I did not want to give the mercenary the chance to attack me again, but I was too late. A small flick of his wrist unleashed his sword. I barely had time to bring my fan up in protection before the attack was on me. I deflected most of it, but one of the sword's blades buried itself deep into my shoulder, shredding clothing and skin alike. I refused to give him the satisfaction of crying out in pain once again. Besides I had suffered much worse under Naraku's care.

"That's what you get for ruining my favorite kimono, bitch." He dared turn to the side to show off how my wind had torn apart his back. His clothing was only holding on by a thread, and blood gushed heavily from the seemingly hundreds of cuts my winds had made. How a mere human could still stand let alone fight with such a grievous injury was a mystery to me. Clearly there was some youkai or magic involved. I needed to finish this before he got to show me what other abilities he had.

He grinned maniacally, and extended a blood stained hand towards me, displaying a small remote control. He pressed the button, and I was shocked to hear another scream of agony coming from the room I knew to be empty.

"Do you like my surprise?" His question startled me.

He cackled, clearly amused by my confusion. "While I was having fun with your mom, I recorded it so I could enjoy and savor the moment over and over and over again." As if to prove his point he once again pressed the button to replay the horrific sound of mother's terrified scream.

"Sadly, our fun time was cut short." He bemoaned. "Seems like the old lady had a bad ticker. Her heart let go before I got to have any real fun. I dumped her in a ditch somewhere, but Naraku was unhappy and had me call an ambulance to go get her. Apparently she'd been out too long and died frozen or something… I had her cremated and paid off the coroner..."

I tuned out the rest of what he said. He had just confirmed my worse nightmare. Despite my slim hope, Mom was dead and gone, and was never coming back. Hearing him confirm the information in such a callous way tore me apart. I wanted to break down and cry, but I held it in. There would be time to grieve later.

"You're going to pay for that." I growled angrily. I had heard enough, it was now time to bring down the mercenary and have him pay for all his crimes. I raised my fan, ready to unleash a killing blow. To my surprise something latched on to my limb, preventing me form deploying my attack.

"I don't think so."

A female voice said just as the hold on my hand tightened. I looked around and was shocked to see someone I had not expected to see: Yura of the Hair. Shortly after allying with Sesshoumaru I had found out that she had been a Tashio operative sent to find dirt on Naraku and help the Lord of the West prove the devious spider had been the one to kill Touga Tashio. Unfortunately Yura had been lured in by Naraku and became his mistress and a favorite source of information.

Damn it, I should have been more aware of my surroundings. Now I was stuck in between two formidable opponents. Despite being grievously injured, I had no doubt Jakotsu still posed a threat. I had to get out of that trap and quickly. Right about now, I regretted not bringing along Sango; I could have used some back up.

"You're pathetic Yura. Sesshoumaru will kill you for betraying him." I spat out angrily at the hair demon just as I did my best to loosen the hold she had on me.

"Oh someone will be dying here tonight, but it sure won't be me." She chuckled summoning more hair strands to wrap around my ankle and middle, locking me in place. If I did not move quickly, I might get buried under nasty hair.

To my dismay the more I moved and tried to free myself, the more tangled I became. Right abut now I could not even move my right hand. Good thing my training with Sesshoumaru had taught me how to use wind without the use of my fan. I breathed deep and summoned my inner demon. It would help me get free. The wind stirred around me and started cutting into the hair caging me in.

"Your little tricks won't work on me." Yura yelled as she brought forth more hair strands to trap me in. As I was struggling to free her hold on me, the bitch pounced on me and grabbed me by the neck from behind. Just as I was going to grab her and toss her over my shoulder, Jakotsu intervened. For a few crucial seconds I had forgotten about him and that was going to cost me. The mercenary unleashed his sword and placed it right against the soft skin of my neck.

"Now onto the real fun!" Jakotsu exclaimed with glee. "I wish I could just slit your throat and chop off your head, but I don't want to make things go too fast." He paused to wipe some blood off his forehead. "I will make you suffer and beg for mercy before I grant you the sweet relief of death. Only then will my revenge be complete. All my brothers died because of you, and your pain will make me feel better and less empty without them." To emphasize his threat, he burrowed his sword in my neck. I felt a trickle of blood race down my skin. I did not flinch. I would be damned before giving him the satisfaction of knowing he had hurt me.

"Ease off. Don't hurt the goods." Yura sneaked in a lock of hair to gently push off Jakotsu's blade from my neck. "Naraku-sama, everything is ready over here." I could not see her, but I could guess she was using some sort of covert device to speak with her boss and lover.

"I only did as you wish. It is an honor to serve you." Her syrupy tone of voice made me want to vomit. Naraku was a monster, how she could obey and serve him willingly was beyond me.

"Yes, I will put her on." I snorted at Yura's words, if Naraku thought I was going to happily answer the phone and chat with him, then he had another thing coming.

Using hair strands, Yura flicked on a broken TV placed on the wall. I had not even noticed it as I came in. Well, in my defense I had thought mom was still alive, and was looking for her.

"Naraku!" I hissed angrily. Just seeing his face on a broken screen was enough to make me sick. Based on the angle and the faint buzzing sound, he was clearly using some sort of hidden webcam attached to one of his goddamn bees. The view was not the best, but it was still enough for me to see that he was standing in the middle of the fighting ground. No sign of Sesshoumaru from the limited camera angle.

"Hello dear daughter of mine." He spoke in the collar of his kimono where he probably hid a microphone.

"I'm going to enjoy watching Sesshoumaru kill you!" I spit out angrily. My comment made Jakotsu bring his blade back against my throat, making me bleed even more. I did not even wince. Physical pain was nothing in comparison to the torment I was currently feeling since I had found out my mother was truly dead. The only thing that would be able to make me feel even a bit better was seeing Sesshoumaru kill Naraku. Only once the spider would be dead and gone would I be able to find some peace.

"Jakotsu, don't hurt her too much before we get to the big climax of the show." Clearly not impressed by my threats, Naraku indicated for his nasty bee to turn so that we could see even more of his surroundings, including the fighting grounds.

"Have you come here to fight, or to speak to yourself?" I would never mistake the provenance of that grave voice.

Sesshoumaru! Only hearing his voice made my heartbeat speed up. I wondered if he had been told I had disappeared. Probably not. Surely Inuyasha did not want to disturb his brother's concentration before the most important fight of his life. I was certain the Tashio clan was actively searching for me, and all I needed was to hold on a bit longer, and they would come to my rescue. I had every confidence we could dispatch Jakotsu and Yura together, and that my lover would rid us of Naraku once and for all.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, so glad you agreed to join us." The hanyou smirked. "Considering you are late, I wondered if you had decided to run away scared."

"This Sesshoumaru merely decided to give you a respite of a few minutes before I end your miserable life." Clearly not wanting to leave the hanyou even a few more minutes of life on earth, my lover took out his sword and pointed it at his enemy.

"We shall see who between us will be still standing once this fight is over." Naraku raised a hand and sent a youki attack towards his opponent.

Sesshoumaru scoffed and slapped away the energy ball, sending it crashing against the protective shield surrounding the arena. The barrier absorbed it easily. Its presence made the fighting ground seem odd. It absorbed all sounds and blurred any view from the outside. Sesshoumaru and Naraku were effectively stuck in a world of their own, safe from outside interference. This explained why cameras had been set up all around the fighting space. Clearly they would be the only way for people outside of the arena to know what the hell was happening between Sesshoumaru and Naraku.

"Just wanted to warm you up milord." Naraku mocked. "Now onto something serious." He summoned a couple tentacles and in the blink of an eye wrapped them around Sesshoumaru's sword hand. Good thing we had trained for such a situation. Sure enough, my lover gathered his own youki around his fist, burning up the nasty tentacles and melting them away.

Clearly, this had been a diversion as Naraku sent several more tentacles to try to overpower Sesshoumaru. This time around my lover had to use his sword to parry the attack. He slashed the foul appendages with his blade, so he stayed in the clear.

While Sesshoumaru was defending himself well, he was not making headway towards killing our common enemy. Naraku, in true coward fashion used his tentacles to attack, staying clear and away from Sesshoumaru.

"Stop hiding and fight me." The Lord of the West growled angrily. Clearly he was done waiting.

Sesshoumaru was trying to move things forward, and so should I. I clenched my fists and gathered my trusty wind. Time to fight back.

"I don't think so." Yura tightened the hair hold on my wrists. I clenched my fists and refused to cry out. No way would I let her know she had almost snapped my wrists in two.

"Stock with the catfight, and watch." Jakotsu once again pressed his blade into the soft skin of my neck… as if I needed a reminder of how precarious my situation was.

True to his word, Sesshoumaru charged towards Naraku clearly with the intent of slashing him open. The hanyou used his speed and managed to barely side step the attack.

"Is that the best you can do? I expected more from you Sesshoumaru-sama". He taunted his opponent once he was safely well away from the reach of Sesshoumaru's weapon. Naraku then unleashed an offense of his own. He sent a tentacle in the direction of Sesshoumaru, but to our collective surprise it broke down to dust before even making it anywhere close to my lover. Clearly his illness had progressed since I had last seen him and Naraku was having a hard time controlling his body. Good. It would make him more vulnerable. I realized it might make him even more desperate to end Sesshoumaru and get his hands on one of the Higurashi so as to carry out the blood ritual ceremony that he believed would cure him. Desperation was a great fuel though, and I feared what Naraku would do next.

His face reddened, as he grew angry upon his previous attack missing. The back of his purple kimono broke apart as a mass of tentacles burst from his back like vicious swirling snakes heading straight for the man I loved. In a fraction of a second the tentacles latched on Sesshoumaru, restraining him in a way similar to the hold Yura currently had on me. All of a sudden the tentacles expanded in size, the more Sesshoumaru tried to shrug their hold on him, the bigger they became. Soon enough they had him engulfed in a living cocoon. My heartbeat picked up as I grew anxious. I knew Sesshoumaru was strong, but would he be able to break free? If Naraku, even in his weakened state had him pinned down, he would be able to destroy my lover easily. Damn it, this had gone on for too long, was he even able to breathe under all that. My worry made me attempt to break free once again, which earned me a punch in the ribs for my troubles, courtesy of Jakotsu. While the hit had hurt me, and robbed me of breath momentarily, it also created a small amount of separation between the mercenary and me. Maybe if I kept this up he would be too busy hitting me to hold on to me properly and I would be able to break free. At this point I did not know why Naraku was having his goons restrain me, but I did not plan on finding out, as I was sure it could not be something good.

Suddenly in a burst of light, Sesshoumaru emerged form his prison of flesh, ripping apart Naraku's tentacles. He flew at the hanyou, his blade brandished in his hand. While Naraku parried the sword slash aimed at his sides, it left his sides unprotected and allowed Sesshoumaru to land a devastating punch. Judging by Naraku' cry, the hit did major damage, the resonating sound of crushing bones was a good indicator that Sesshoumaru had got him good. Fantastic. I almost jumped in joy, well I would have had I been able to move.

"It seems I might have underestimated you Sesshoumaru." Naraku wheezed in pain. "Good thing I obtained some insurance for myself." He took out a remote control from one of the folds of his kimono, and one of his nasty bees came flying down. It had some sort of screen attached to it, and a sunken feeling spread through my stomach. I now knew exactly why Naraku had Jakotsu and Yura lure me into a trap and keep me prisoner. Damn it. As if she knew she would be soon called upon, Yura tightened her holds on me. The small wiggle room I had managed to ear by squirming was now gone.

"Smile for the camera." The hair youkai snickered as she put her phone in my face. She clearly had some sort of live feed set up for her boss and lover because she pressed on her ear piece and spoke to him "Everything is set up over here."

"Good it seems the little entertainment I had planned to liven things up is ready." Naraku pointed to the screen above his head.

"What is the meaning of this?!" The coldness in Sesshoumaru's voice let transpire how angry he was. He probably had imagined me sitting in the stands watching him fight under the close supervision of Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku. I wondered if the Tashio clan was actively looking for me.

Instead of answering, Naraku made a show of reaching for his sides. For the first time since the beginning of the fight, he took out his weapon, a nondescript blade. What was most shocking was the receptacle in which the katana had been kept in; I would recognize it anywhere, anytime: it belonged to Touga, Sesshoumaru's father. The ofudas plastered on the sheath explained why my lover had not felt the traces of his father's youki as soon as he had approached Naraku.

"So nice to take this out of its hiding place." The hanyou sneered, making a show of twirling his inferior blade before putting it back in the stolen scabbard.

"Release Kagura." Sesshoumaru was not one to be easily distracted. Naraku would be hard pressed to make him deviate from his set goal.

"If only your father had been so steadfast and resolute when we faced that day in his office. Such sadness I felt when I found out he had been killed in his own home, with his own weapon." Naraku was not dumb enough to incriminate himself by admitting he had been the one to plunge the knife in Touga's back, but this was as close to a confession as we were sure to get. "Last I saw him, he was kneeling on the ground, tears or shame and anger running down his face. He was so pitiful; I left him behind and went on my way once we concluded our business. He did dry his tears long enough to gift me a nice plot of land."

"Stop telling lies. My father would never submit to one such as you." Despite himself, I could tell Sesshoumaru was growing interested in Naraku's tale. I could not fault him, for so long he had been yearning to get information about his father's death.

Naraku chuckled, clearly taking pleasure in the situation. The fire in his eyes proof enough that he was losing his grip on reality. "He was a love sick fool. I told him I had a witch named Urasue who would bring back his beloved Izayoi from the dead, and that once she did, I would turn her into my plaything." The smile on his face grew impossible larger. "I had my witch give him a taste and summon Izayoi for a few instants, and when he got to see his beloved standing in front of him, saying whatever I wanted her to say like a puppet, he broke down."

Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed red. I could not blame him. The level to which Naraku was willing to stoop were unfathomable. Thinking of summoning the dead, even if for a brief instant, to torment the living caused a shiver to run down my spine. The mere thought of Inuyasha's late mother being used in such a despicable way made me ill. No wonder Touga had willingly surrendered to his greatest enemy.

The pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place. Naraku had clearly used Touga's love for his late wife to render him powerless. The former Lord of the West had had no choice but to give Naraku anything he wanted: money, land and his own weapon. The devious spider must have then wasted no time plunging the weapon in the unsuspecting man's back. Disgusting.

"I sent you Kagura in the hopes that you would make the same mistake as your father, and I was not wrong. Foolish dogs."

My blood ran cold. All this time I had thought Naraku had sent me to spy on Sesshoumaru and gather intel when in fact his goal was much more horrifying. He knew I had had an infatuation for the inu youkai for years, and he probably hoped I could make Sesshoumaru fall for me. How happy Naraku must have been to see Sesshoumaru and I become an actual couple.

"Enough talking. Now sheathe your sword." Naraku's command brought me out of my musings.

Sesshoumaru clenched his jaw in anger, clearly not willing to do as told. Good, I would hate for him to surrender to Naraku on my account.

"My sweet, show him what he risks by being difficult."

In response to her lover's summon, Yura coiled a strand of hair around my neck. I gasped as I was choked. I tried not to make a noise, but it had proved impossible as my airways were cut off. I tried to take in small shallow gulps of air, but the sadistic bitch choked me even more, ensuring that I would be unable to breathe. Small pitiful sobs escaped my throat as I struggled to let in air. Small black dots started swimming in front of my eyes. I was close to passing out.

Without uttering a word, Sesshoumaru quickly sheathed his sword. All of a sudden Yura relaxed her hold on me. I coughed and struggled to let much needed air in my lungs. Had I been able to talk, I would have told Sesshoumaru not to surrender. Once he would be weaponless, Naraku would be sure to kill him. He would relish doing so while I watched.

"Actually I changed my mind, hand over your weapon." The hanyou chuckled. The bastard was having way too much fun.

In my mind I begged Sesshoumaru not to. I'd rather get my throat slit by Jakotsu or have Yura choke me to death then seeing Naraku murder the man I loved in front of me. Bile rose in my throat and tears threatened to fall from my eyes.

His hand twitched, I could tell he was considering it. I would have none of it. I would rather die than have Sesshoumaru sacrifice himself like this.

"No!" I shouted.

"We can hear them, but they can't hear us." Jakotsu informed me. Damn it! How could I get to Sesshoumaru?

I watched powerless and it seemed as if things were happening in slow motion. Sesshoumaru relaxed his hand, and his sword clattered to the ground as he let it fall. He then took out his other sword tied to his hip and handed it pommel out to Naraku. The hanyou hungrily took it. He tested the weight of the blade, an appreciative grin on his face.

"Like father, like son. On your knees!"

"Sesshoumaru don't!" I yelled in outrage. Naraku was taking things too far. He did not only want to disarm his opponent, but humiliate him too.

"Don't you want your beloved whore to keep breathing?"

Sesshoumaru growled angrily, he still wanted to defend my honor despite the precarious situation he found himself in.

"Well? Maybe another demonstration then…"

On cue, Yura choked me once again. She squeezed so hard I felt my neck snap. I tried to remain as calm and relaxed as possible. I would not give them the satisfaction of seeing me struggle for breath once again. Despite my best efforts, once darkness started to creep in my eyes, I started to sob. I had tried to be strong, but I was only so strong.

"Enough!" Sesshoumaru roared. Light red bled in his eyes. Obviously he was struggling to reign in his inner demon.

A flick of the hand by her master was all it took for Yura to let off the pressure. I gulped in deep breaths of sweet fresh air.

"If you don't want your dear wife to die, then you know what to do…"

His teeth clenched tight, Sesshoumaru slowly sank to his knees. I screamed in horror and denial but no one hear me, least of all Sesshoumaru and Naraku, who were secluded and separated from all of us by a damn barrier.

I knew what was coming next. The hanyou was going to reenact the murder of Touga. The bright smile on his lips let me know how much he relished the thought of killing Sesshoumaru with his own sword as he had with Touga. I struggled to keep my eyes on the glowing screen. I could not stand to watch the man I loved being stabbed.

Naraku rounded his prey. Sesshoumaru was kneeling on the dusty ground, his back straight, his eyes staring forward, waiting for whatever Naraku was planning.

I closed my eyes when Naraku stopped behind Sesshoumaru. I was pinned, there was nothing I could do, and I knew the protective shield was keeping Inuyasha and the rest of the Tashio clan away. No one was going to swoop in and rescue Sesshoumaru at the last moment.

Naraku raised the blade, his eyes staring straight at me through the cameras and the screens, then he brought the weapon down, targeting the soft skin of Sesshoumaru's back.

I slumped forward in defeat. I did not care that Jakotsu's blade had cut the soft skin of my throat causing a trickle of blood to run down my neck, or that Yura had almost choked me to death only a few moments ago. The two goons could just kill me now. It would not matter. Nothing else mattered. Naraku had just stabbed Sesshoumaru in the heart.

To be continued…

A/N: Kagura is prisoner and Sesshoumaru has been stabbed. Has Naraku won? Is everything over? We shall find out in the next chapter. I will do my best not to wait months before the next update! The chapter will be fittingly named Culmination.