Blanket Disclaimer: The writer does not own any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi but like everyone else wishes she did. All original characters or concepts are the author's Inuma Asahi De's (with the exception of historical figures).

Chapter Fifteen:

The Abduction

Inuyasha and Miroku both wiped their foreheads as they looked at the product of nearly four hour's handy work. Before them stood the now assembled bed Inuyasha had purchased in the market place along with a new mattress stuffed with down instead of straw, making it relatively high quality. It had been decided that this bed, the better bed in the room, would be Kagome's bed and if Inuyasha was ever inclined to sleep he would take up residence in his old bed.

To fit both beds in the room, they had rearranged the space, placing the beds against the back wall of the room where the windows stood making up the rear portion of the Captain's quarters. The two beds were as far apart as possible, which amounted to no more than five feet. In theory, they were close enough that if both individuals reached out their hands, they could just touch fingers. In front of the beds, against the wall Inuyasha's bed used to occupy, now set the dining table and chairs, the desk (fortunately) had not needed to be moved.

It was a decent arrangement, not optimal but decent. Hopefully, it would allow Kagome to be somewhat comfortable being the Captain's bitch, without the men getting any ideas and without Miroku having to constantly sleep on the Captain's floor, something the young man took no pleasure in.

Said man popped his neck and set down in one of the dining chairs with a yawn. His body aching from the labor required to assemble the wood for a bed frame. "Why didn't we make Totosai do this again?"

"I didn't want any of the men to know that she wasn't sharing my bed." Inuyasha muttered as he set in his desk chair popping his knuckles. "This way they think I gotta bigger bed for her and I and they don't know I just have two beds now instead of one." The Captain stretched his hands above his head leisurely. "The less they know the better."

"Won't they smell it?" Miroku questioned as he lazily closed his eyes.

Inuyasha shrugged, "Even if they do, they won't say anything." He said with a snort. "For all they know I only make her do felicio."

"Felicio is good." Miroku commented back as he continued to stretch, one eye opening with mischief. "But nothing beats a warm woman, if you know what I mean." Miroku winked and Inuyasha stared him down dryly.

"You did not just say that." Inuyasha muttered as he put his chin in his hands.

"Aye, I did Captain." Miroku said with a closed eyed smile. "You should know, you've been with a few women in your time."

Inuyasha snorted and looked at Miroku with a bored expression. "That may be so but I seem to recall a boy who's been with a few women in his time too, women a certain girl knows nothing about."

Miroku gulped and looked at the Captain, trying to assess what he might do with that information. "I suppose that's true, however," Miroku cleared his throat. "It was only one or two."

"Times five." Inuyasha mumbled with a sharp laugh. Miroku had the decency to blush. "I even recall the first time my little boy came home smelling like a whore."

"Hey!" Miroku yelled completely flustered.

"The look of shame on your face," Inuyasha smirked. "The smell of guilt and confusion. Awe, what pleasant memories."

"I hate you." Miroku uttered as he leaned back in his chair arms crossed over his chest, body completely red from head to toe.

"I know." Inuyasha said with a slight snort and laugh. "All the love in the world my boy," He added. "I have all the love in the world."

Miroku cringed and sank low into his chair, ignoring his surrogate father's words. He had started the conversation after all, so it was completely his fault if he got his ass handed to him.

With a sigh Miroku looked at the Captain out of the corner of his eye. The man had his eyes closed and was resting his head against one of his hands while the other fingered the gem around his neck absently, it made Miroku smile. The habit of messing with that particular gem had been around probably longer than Miroku had been alive and to see it and the calm that came over the normally energetic man when he messed with it was comforting. Inuyasha had always been an energized teacher, constantly pushing him to do better, to learn quicker, and to fight faster and harder but at the same time he had always been a fun teacher as well.

Many days they would play, wrestling or playing music when Inuyasha was so inclined. They would go to pubs, get into fights for the hell of it, drink, and dance with strange women. Those had been fun times and yet—the Captain had also taught him more subtle forms of fun. He had learned to play Chest, a game he still enjoyed to this day, and he had learned several card games (most of which involved money passing from hand to hand). They had often spent nights on deck playing poker with the men or even simpler games like Truc, which they had learned from Black Beard himself who was fond of Tarot card games.

Miroku smiled as memories came back to him, of a stern instructor but also a playful man. He remembered the first time he went into the birds nest, the Captain had put him on his back and jumped all the way there, landing fifty feet above the ship with a young Miroku clutching his shoulders afraid. At the time, Miroku had thought he would cry (little eight year old he was) but then the Captain had spoken.

"Look," The kind voice had said. "Open your eyes and see. This is our life, our world, our sea. No one can take it from us, rich man or poor, powerful man or weak."

And he had—he opened his eyes and took in the world from fifty feet above, the fear leaving his heart as he felt the Captain's strong hands holding onto him as they stood above the sea together.

Those words had haunted him in a way. They were true, he of all people would understand their truthfulness. The first years of his life—those first eight years had been miserable, filled with orphanages and lack of food, but then the Captain had found him, pulled him from the gutter and brought him to a world that no one could touch. A safe place where he knew he was protected, where he knew he could protect himself.

Those first horrible years of his life where he had been cold and starving had become worthwhile the second he had entered the Captain's world—the second he had been granted the untouchable life he now lived, the blessed life he now lived. He was well educated where most men were, he had been allowed to play where most children were not, he had been allowed to grow unhindered by social constraints, he had been allowed a good home and a family, a wife that he had chosen for himself and no man—no king—no Queen—no devil in rich man's clothes could take that from him.

Miroku looked at the Captain and smiled—he had been allowed a wonderful rule model—even if the Captain could be rude and loud and cussed a lot, he was still the best rule model Miroku could have ever asked for. He wanted to live like him, untouchable, smart, and strong for the rest of his life. "Thank you."

"Hm?" The Captain grunted making Miroku realize he had said those words out loud.

Hastily he laughed it off by stretching and diving into a conversation. "I bet the girls want to see the new furniture."

Inuyasha opened one eye and nodded slightly before stretching, his mouth opening and his tongue curling very much like a dog. Miroku refrained from commenting—he had commented once and received a rather large lump on his head in return.

"They went shopping." Inuyasha mumbled as he narrowed his eyes.

It had been against his better judgment, especially after the incident from yesterday (or it should be said multiple incidents) but Sango had insisted that the two be allowed unhindered time together. It was normally Sango's job to go to the markets and collect the food and water anyway; after all she was the best at negotiating things like that. But to take Miss Dresmont with her, it worried him, the girl just attracted trouble. Still, he didn't have much to worry about, even if trouble was had he would know instantly through Miss Dresmont's mark. Besides, he was glad the two girls were having some time together to bond—Girl Time Miroku had called it.

Inuyasha shuddered at the thought—he didn't want to know what girl time entailed. In the end, he had let them go with Myoga escorting, not that the old man could help if trouble should arise, Sango was more likely to get rid of anyone harming them but it made him feel better to know there was someone with them to keep a look out for danger. Those two girls were easily distracted when together, they could deny it but it was true.

Miroku tapped his chin and looked out the window at the back of the room. "They should be back soon, we'll show them then."

"Miroku," Inuyasha said as he laid his head on his desk. "Do you remember what I taught you about women and shopping?"

Miroku frowned and took a deep sarcastic breath. "Women who are shopping are unpredictable just like the wind—," He began his voice laced heavily with mockery. "You never know when its gonna start or when it's gonna stop."

"And knowing those two, there's no telling when the wind will leave their sails." Inuyasha said with a deep breath as he gave Miroku's bored face a stern look. "Remember their shopping trip in Port Royal?"

Miroku looked at him and fringed innocence, or in truth, tried to block out the memories of the shopping trip in question.

"How long was it?" The Captain pressed, sending the man a look that told him not to lie.

Miroku scratched the back of his head suddenly seeing the truth behind the Captains' logic but not willing to admit it. "Five hours."

"How long has it been?" Inuyasha prodded, moving his hands in a little circle as if to propel the words out of Miroku's mouth.

"Only three." Miroku supplied and brought a hand to his head to rub.

"So what can we conclude?"

Miroku groaned to himself and bowed his head, "They won't come back for at least two more hours."

"Exactly." With that Inuyasha stood up and took his long red coat off his chair, throwing it on quickly. "Let's go look for 'em, maybe we can get them to hurry it up."

Miroku nodded in complete agreement, pushing himself to the his feet and following the older man with dragging feet.

-break-

Sango and Kagome walked through the market together, Myoga trailing behind them mortified at the fact he was babysitting two women dressed as men. The small demon dragged his feet looking around for any sign of impending danger. His eyes darted back and forth seeking out any small thing that was somewhat out of place. So far nothing had been out of the ordinary. In fact everything had gone seemingly smooth. The two girls had simply gathered supplies for the ship, bartering with the local merchants to get reasonable prices and then directing the merchant to the dock the supplies should be taken.

They both seemed to enjoy the heckling process, even though half the time they didn't speak the same language as the merchant, and—Myoga had to admit—they had done exceptionally well (language barrier and all). They had gathered enough dried and pickled food to last a few months at the price of only a few weeks. It really astounded him, he had never realized that the Quartermaster's bitch was so adapt at such things but then again, the Captain would not put her in charge of such an important job if he didn't have his reasons.

Still, despite how good they were at heckling and how much fun they were having together, Myoga knew they were in constant threat of unknown dangers. He glanced around looking at all the men with guns and knives, if even one of them got wind that his two charges were females and not just young boys, they would be in trouble.

"If-fu one of them get-to hurt Inuyasha-sama will kill me." The small flea thought as sweat trickled off his forehead not from the heat but from his own fear. "Why did he put-to Myoga in charge-e of somethin' as-u important-to as-a this?" Myoga ducked his head and sighed, he was a relatively small man, no more than four feet high, both Sango and Kagome were far taller than he. And on top of that, he was an older demon. He had been alive over five thousand years. Stiffly the small man popped his neck. "Oh Inutaisho-sama, why did yuu put-to Myoga in charge-e of Inuyasha-sama?" He took another deep breath and looked at the two women. "Um why did Inuyasha-sama put-to Myoga in charge-e of them," He sighed heavily as he watched Kagome and Sango laugh together. "Myoga hate-e life."

Currently, Kagome and Sango had finished buying supplies for the ship and now had allowed themselves to look at what different stalls the market had to offer. There were over a hundred merchants in the open aired market in the middle of the town, some selling animals like chickens or pigs, others selling spices or maps and optics, and even the odd weapons merchant with guns, knives, and swords. They had explored most of them, looking at the odd trinkets with avid interest while Myoga trailed lightly behind.

They found some stalls that sold jewelry, none of which were as fancy as the ring Sango now wore on her right hand but the gems had still be beautiful and they had spent the better part of thirty minutes debating if Kagome should pierce her ears. Sango's were already pierced at the hands of Miroku who also had one ear pierced in numerous places. After long moments of thinking, Kagome had decided it would be too painful to attempt and they had left the stall, driving them to their present shopping site. The stall they were in sold bolts of fabric of all sorts, from heavy materials like canvas for mast, too much lighter materials meant for clothes.

"Miss Sango, what do you think?" Kagome held up a bolt of fabric, turning it this way and that. "The Captain gave me money to buy fabric for sheets and I thought this might make a good one." The fabric was a dark blue, almost indigo.

Sango reached forward and touched the fabric with the tip of her fingers. "It is rather soft but will it match the room? Everything in there's red."

Kagome taped her chin and fingered the fabric some more. "True, but—," She glanced at the assortment of red fabrics. "Do we really want to add to the obtrusive amount of red in that room? It almost makes my head spin."

"Variety is nice." Sango admitted and touched the cloth again. "And it is really soft."

The two girls looked at each other, as if having another more silent conversation. Myoga raised an eyebrow at the two from his spot some distance away, what did it matter, cloth was cloth and a room was a place to sleep. He tilted his head sideways in boredom, his eyes glazing over as the two women continued to debate about the blue material.

"It is really nice and it's a high quality, very silky." Sango reasoned as she rubbed her face against the fabric to see how gentle it was on the skin.

"I wonder if it is silk." Kagome commented out loud as she too ran her face on the fabric. "If it is, it'll be expensive." She bit her lip and took a good long look at the fabric.

"Why don't you ask the price?" Sango recommended as she brought her hands away and crossed her arms over her chest in thought. "It couldn't hurt, right?"

Kagome smiled and nodded her head before looking into the recesses of the stall. She glanced around, trying to see if the merchant was nearby. Narrowing her eyes slightly she looked into the dimly lit place. The stall was like any other, as far as structure. It was built like a typical stand, with a canvas roof going to the back for the merchant to keep supplies. The only different between it and the other stalls was the way the fabric bolts and strings hung from all angles, which prevented any sunlight from entering the enclosure.

Kagome blinked several times, feeling an odd sense of trepidation fill her as she spoke into the dark semi enclosed space. "Excuse me, Mr. Merchant do you speak English?" She paused and waited but no one appeared. She glanced at Sango who shrugged. "Um," she called again. "Excuse me?"

Suddenly from in the darkness of the stall came two piercing red and blue eyes. Kagome felt her heart leap into her throat as the eyes stared at her, burning into her with a gaze that could melt a diamond.

Her body began to tremble as the eyes got closer, revealing a small man with grizzly white hair that stuck out on his head in all directions. He stepped into the light and Kagome nearly gasped as she noticed the extra set of arms that graced his body, six total equaling eight working limbs including his legs.

"A spider demon?" She whispered as the man leaned against the wooden frame of the shop and grunted at her. She blinked a few times before she realized the grunt had been an unvoiced question. "Um, Mr. Merchant, do you speak English?" She stepped closer to Sango as she spoke, the other woman standing to her full height in order to intimidate.

Behind them Myoga too stood at his full height, although much shorter than Sango and took a few steps closer. The spider side glanced with only his eyes, looking at both Sango and then Myoga before returning his gaze to Kagome. He brought two of his six hands up and straightened his mused clothes before looking at Kagome with an amazingly gentle smile. "Aye I do youn' man. Whatcha need?"

Kagome's eyes widened at the Scottish accent and the gentle eyes. All of her fear melted away as this small old spider demon looked at her with kindness and no malice what so ever. Bravely she stepped away from Sango, bringing the cloth to the spider demon and showing it to him. "Mr. Merchant, how much is this fabric?" She asked in her best imitation of a man's voice.

The spider demon raised his ancient eyebrow, looking at her as if seeing her for the first time. Kagome felt rather nervous as the spider demon took in her appearance once again and then looked at her hands on the bolt of cloth. He appeared to be contemplating something, his wise old eyes filled with a knowledge that she didn't share. After a moment, he turned his eyes away from her milk white hands and looked towards Myoga, his gaze filled with question and understanding at the same time.

Myoga gulped, this man was an old demon, a very old demon, older than himself, and he was positive the man had figured out that the 'he' in front of him was in fact a she. "What-to Myoga do?" Myoga asked himself as he stepped closer to Kagome and Sango, his small hand reaching around his back for the gun he kept hidden. He was not as bold as the Captain or the Quartermaster, he would not carry his gun in sight but he would hide it just in case it was needed. He fingered the gun, waiting to see what the other old demon would do with his new knowledge—if he had in fact realized Kagome was a woman.

If the old man knew, however, he didn't make it known. Instead, he merely looked away from Myoga to the fabric, pointed at it and shrugged. "I's let her go fer a silver piece a length." He muttered before scratching his old head, crumbs of either dandruff or dirt falling from his hair.

"How longs your length?" Kagome asked reasonably, every merchant of cloth had a different way of measuring lengths. The old man pointed to a line on the wooden counter of his stand, it ran about three feet from end to end—the equivalent to a yard. Kagome smiled, the price was good. "Can I have seven lengths please?"

"Sure," The man hesitated, looking at Kagome with a fixed gaze and then a smile. "Youn' man." He took the fabric from her hands and produced a pair of fabric cutters, similar to scissors. Within no time he had cut the fabric and packaged it in a brown paper material tied with a string. "Here ya go, 'ave a nice 'un."

"Thank you." She said with a small grin taking the fabric from him before walking off. "That was a steal." She said to Sango who nodded her agreement.

Myoga took a deep relaxing breath behind them, thankful the merchant had not said anything. They were safe for now, he looked around, trying to find any danger—there was nothing—the girls were safe. Silently Myoga turned to look at the spider's stall. The old man looked at him and nodded, the two sharing a look of mutual understanding.

"How-u did yuu know?" Myoga whispered, knowing the old demon's ears were better than any of the youth around him. Modern weapons, although convenient for fighting, had destroyed the hearing of the modern demon, leaving the older generations far superior in the area of sound.

"Th' hands," The old spider said as he began to retreat back away from the sunlight. "No boy has milky hands like 'ers." With that he disappeared into his stall, Myoga bowed lightly at the fading presence before turning to follow his two charges.

-break-

"What do ya think brother?" Manten said from his spot behind a bakers stall. "Should we get 'er now?"

Hiten clicked his tongue from his spot next to his brother. "No, this requires strategy, we don't know what that little demon is capable of or her other escort." He glanced from Sango in disguise to Myoga. "We should wait until they're closer to the docks."

"But, isn't that worse?" Manten looked at his brother confused. If they were closer to the docks then they were closer to the Captain of the ship Shikuro. Yes, they knew of its docking location, they knew of its crew, they had studied them thoroughly the previous day in hopes of finding a weakness. He had thought the girl's trip to the market would be a weakness and yet—it didn't appear so.

Hiten smiled as his brother's thoughts ran away from him. He knew what he was doing, he had his plan. "Manten," He said slowly as he watched the figure of Kagome and her escorts disappear into the crowd. "I'm going to go to the ship and leave port."

"Hiten!" Manten said in shock. "What?"

"I'll leave a shore vessel at out dock." He said back, his eyes fixated on his younger brother conveying the importance of what he was saying. Once he was sure the younger man completely understood he smirked and turned towards his young Cabin Boy. "Shippo."

"Aye Captain?" The little kit said on the Captain's other side.

"You distract the girl and her companions with your magic at Manten's signal." The Captain's eyes quickly shifted back to his younger brother. "Manten, you'll grab the girl when everyone's distracted, understood?"

"Yes, brother." Manten looked at his brother delighted at the cunning yet simple plan. The girl would easily fall for Shippo's young appearance and let her guard down, allowing Shippo time to cast his magic on her and thus let him grab her, making a clean escape.

"I'll wait just outside the port for you, row as fast as you can."

Manten nodded enthusiastically. "I'll move like thunder my brother."

Hiten smirked and nodded. "Go hide yourself in front of the dock, let no one see."

"Aye!" Without any other words the younger brother nodded and hurried away, knowing he had a limited amount of time to get himself in place at the entrance to the docks—the place the girl would have to walk to get to her ship. Hiten smiled into the crowd watching the people and demons passing before his eyes. He smirked licking his lips. "Shippo?"

"Aye, Captain?" The small boy said his small frame hung with guilt, he knew the order before it was given.

"Tell her you've run away so she doesn't suspect anything and when Manten gives the signal knock her out with your fox fire, so he can grab her without struggle, understood?"

Shippo looked up at his Captain and felt something well into his throat as small tears came into his eyes, watery and full of regret. "Aye, Captain." He managed to get out as the well in his throat intensified.

"Good." Hiten said and with unnatural speed even for a demon, he disappeared out of sight. Shippo knew that Hiten would make it to the ship within seconds.

Shippo watched the people in front of him for a moment, his eyes filled with unsheadable tears. "Why am I so weak?" He asked the air around him as he closed his eyes, imagines of a father he had lost and a mother he had barely known haunting his vision. "Mama, Papa, why did you leave me all alone?" An image of Kagome came into his vision, the smile on the almost angelic face, the short hair and the beautiful grey eyes. "I'm sorry Miss Kagome. I wish I was stronger."

With that he too took off down the street, running along the road he had seen Kagome take. He felt his heart twinge in his chest, he felt his blood run cold in his veins, he felt his pulse point quicken in his wrist and neck, he felt his mind scream at him as gentle images of a smiling woman came to his mind.

"My name's Kagome and your name is Shippo, right?"

"Miss Kagome." Shippo said in a slight voice as he ran in the direction Kagome's scent was taking him, he saw her up ahead with two other people, a human and a small demon. He gulped and slowed down, watching her as she moved in man's clothing.

He felt the apple in his jacket pocket.

"Are you hungry?"

He saw her gentle smile when she had asked, he felt her hand touch his unruly red hair, he felt everything as if it were happening just then, like it was repeating behind his eyes—in a special spot in the back of his head. He touched the apple again as her voice once again ran throughout his mind.

"Are you hungry?"

His hands moved off the apple knowing it was an apple he could never eat.

Shippo came to a slow when he was only a few feet behind her, his eyes trained on her figure, watching her as she moved with the other two men, they were almost in to the dock area of the Port. With a shudder he jumped after them, trailing not too far behind. He saw the ship, The Thunder, pulling away from the dock, the wind favorable in her sails as she departed as ordered. It always amazed him how quickly Hiten could launch The Thunder. He supposed it was from years of experience with hasty escapes.

He was only a foot behind Kagome now, he could reach out and touch her if he really wanted to but—Shippo didn't want to. He didn't want to disturb her, he didn't want to stop her, he didn't want to see her abducted, he didn't want her to know the pain of Manten and Hiten. The aura of Manten in the shadows, however, pushed him onwards, his fear of his Captain's brother outweighing his need to protect the kind girl.

"I don't want to hurt you Miss Kagome." Shippo thought to himself, his eyes filling with unbidden tears. "You're the first person to ever show me kindness since Papa died."

He looked at Kagome's back, watching her as she moved closer and closer to the designated dock. He couldn't let a nice girl like her have the same fate as his father and his mother. Shippo shut his eyes tight as he saw his mother's face. The kind woman who had loved , cuddled him, fought for him when the Thunder Brother's came. She had yelled, screamed, her eyes filling with hollowness as Hiten ripped her apart. Shippo had seen it all from the carefully made hiding place his mother had crafted in their den. It had saved his life—he owed his life to her.

His father had been furious when he returned home and he had been uncontrollably sad. He remembered his father's tears, he remembered the anguished look on his face, and he remembered his father declaring revenge on the Thunder Brothers of the Caribbean Sea. And now, he remembered the image of his father's fur wrapped around Manten's waist.

"Father?" He whispered through his tears. "Idiot."

He looked back up, wiping his face as he searched for Kagome's form, she was in front of their dock, his heart raced. Now was the time to act just as he had been told and yet—he felt frozen in his spot. He didn't want to do it.

"I can't do this!" He muttered to himself only to catch a glimpse of Manten hiding nearby. He felt his whole body freeze under the glare as the older man stared him down. A bead of sweat went down his nose, dripping to the floor as the promise of death seemed to explode from those eyes.

"Move Shippo." The lips formed the words with no sound but Shippo could have sworn he still heard the evil voice. "MOVE!"

"Miss Kagome," His voice sounded in his ears but he was sure he had not ordered himself to speak.

Kagome turned around at the voice, the familiar child like voice. Her eyes searched for him, looking way to high for his small figure and then she tilted her chin downwards and her eyes opened slightly before a beautiful smile lit her face. "Shippo!" She exclaimed as she knelt down beside him. In front of her Myoga and Sango watched, waiting for any signs of danger from the young boy, both their eyes filled with a sense of leeriness.

"Hello, Miss Kagome." He said with a large gulp as he eyed the other two people slowly. "I—I saw you and—well—I—I need your help."

Kagome tilted her head to the side as she looked at the young man taking his stuttered words in stride. "Why do you need my help sweetheart?"

Shippo felt his heart clutch in his chest at the pet name, he felt like scum, absolute scum, this nice sweet girl was being so kind, so—motherly. "I—," He said softly, his voice sounding confused and shaky. "I ran away—and I have nowhere to go."

Behind them Sango and Myoga both relaxed, knowing the child was no more a threat than an ant would have been.

"What's going on?" The deep voice came from behind them causing both Sango and Myoga to jump slightly in their boots.

Instantly Sango turned to see both the Captain and Miroku approaching decked out in their full pirate attire of fancy coats and endless weapons. "That small boy stopped Kagome to talk with her 'bout something." Sango said as she pointed at the small lad.

"That's the boy from yesterday." Inuyasha commented mildly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"He told Kagome he'd run away from his Captain." Myoga mentioned off handedly to the Captain.

Inuyasha blinked taking in the information with an actual mild look of interest. "I see."

"Is he a Cabin Boy, Captain?" Miroku questioned as he took in the small demons appearance. His body was relatively unscathed which meant he probably had a decent job on the ship and not something deadly to children like loading ammo or cleaning the underside of the ship. Those were the jobs that often killed children by either accidental fire or drowning. This boy at least showed no signs of scars or welts although he was extraordinarily thin.

"He is." Inuyasha said without further explanation as Kagome spoke up from her spot with Shippo a few feet away.

"You poor thing," Kagome said softly with saddened eyes. "But I'm glad you're safe," She added resolutely as she knelt down to his height. "You'll be much happier for it, I'm sure."

"But I've nowhere to go." He said with a sniffle that was way too real to have been faked. On the inside Shippo was feeling true fear for his life—he wanted to go against his command and yet he knew, he knew he couldn't. He was stuck to this job, he was stuck to his duty to abduct Kagome, but, he didn't want to, he didn't want to hurt her. Tears fell one by one down his cheeks at the thought.

Kagome frowned at the tears and reached forward brushing them away with a gentle hand. "Why don't you come with me, to my—to Captain Inuyasha's ship? I'm sure he would let you aboard."

Kagome turned red as she spoke; she had almost referred to the ship as her own—as her home. She gulped at the mere thought, that ship was not her home, it was a place of pirates, and her home was back in Port Royal—she shook that thought from her head also, and her eyes almost closed, half lidded and sad, that place was not her home, no place was her home—she had never truly had a home.

Further behind her, Inuyasha had a similar reaction, what had she just said, what had her stutter meant? He felt his face grow read and then growled lightly at himself, stutter or not, she had said nothing other than the word 'my,' there was no telling what she could have meant without reading her mind—so why bother thinking too hard on it. He huffed slightly at the thought and turned his ears to the conversation.

"Go with you?" Shippo questioned in a small voice. "I could go?" The idea made Shippo pause, to get away from the thunder brother's, to escape from them, to be free of them. He looked at the confused face of Kagome and frowned. Wouldn't it be nice if he could do what she was implying. He felt his face try to smile. "Miss Kagome, do you mean it?"

"Of course." She said with a soft smile on her face. "I would love to have you."

Shippo felt tears prick his eyes at the happiness he felt but then, to Kagome's right he caught a glimpse of a gun, a gun he recognize—the gun of the younger brother Manten. He let his head fall to his chest; he let the tears change from those of happiness to that of sadness and fear. He remembered that this was all a lie, he remembered his mission and yet—even though it was all a farce, even though he knew any second now he would get the signal from that gun, it still felt good to hear that someone would take him in, someone would have cared for him as his mother and father once had.

Behind them Inuyasha and the others stood in silence at the exchange. They watched intensely as the boy and Kagome talked, as the small demon was reduced to tears. It warmed all of their hearts but in the end it warmed Inuyasha's the most. He watched the woman as she reached forward and touched the crying boy's hair. His tears lessened as she spoke gently to him, words of motherly affection and love. It struck him to his very core when she promised Shippo a happy life aboard his ship.

"How," He said in a small voice, not realizing he was speaking out loud. "Can she be so kind?" He finished lamely, unable to form words.

"Ano—Miss Dresmont izu a remarkable-e person." Myoga said softly to the Captain as he too watched the woman smooth the small fox's hair. "Like another-u human woman Myoga remember-r." Myoga turned and made eye contact with the Captain as he said those words.

The two men looked at each other for only a few seconds but it felt like hours to Inuyasha as he realized who Myoga was speaking of. Turning away from the older man Inuyasha felt his hand move of its own free will to touch the gemstone around his neck fingering it ever so slightly as an image of the woman Myoga spoke of entered his mind. "Okaa-san."

"Yes," Sango in disguise agreed bringing both Myoga and Inuyasha back to the present conversation. "She really is a remarkable person."

"Yeah," Miroku nodded with a smile. "Just like yesterday when she apologized to the men you and the Captain beat senseless."

"They deserved it." Both the Captain and Sango said together in unison. The two looked at each other in surprise but then both nodded in agreement.

"They really did." Sango said with a huff. "No man should think he can just take a woman because it's convenient." Her fist clutched at her side tightly from her own words.

"You're absolutely right." Miroku said with a firm nod of his head, knowing that Sango's words held more importance than they implied. "Completely so."

"Miroku—" Her voice faded as she smiled at the man and then turned away to look at Miss Dresmont and the small boy whose eyes were still filled with tears.

"I'm so glad." His small voice said without any control, carrying to the pirates watching behind Kagome. "To have heard those words, I'm so glad." Shippo let his eyes travel to Kagome's right side for a second as he heard the sound of a gunshot, a common occurrence in the Port of Spain but at this time—it was a very important signal. "Thank you, Miss. Kagome." He said in a small voice as his head dropped to his chest where his heart pounded. "And—I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what, Shippo?" Kagome said in confusion as the boy raised his eyes once again, they were blood shot.

"Fox fire!" He yelled suddenly, the dock was thrown into a fiery world at the words, everything becoming engulfed in the fake flames.

Behind them Inuyasha found himself flushing with panic, through the multitude of flames he couldn't see Kagome, he couldn't even smell her because of the odd scent the flames emitted. "Miroku!" He screamed and the man beside him instantly moved, knowing exactly what his Captain was asking of him.

In seconds Miroku had climbed above the crowd, onto the roof of a nearby shop, his eyes searched in all directions, looking for any sign of Kagome. They darted, looking left and right, up the docks and down the docks. "Shit." He yelled into the air around him, he couldn't see her anywhere. "Captain, I can't see a thing!"

"Damn it." Inuyasha yelled from his place on the pier as he ran into the flames, knowing that he would not be burned even if they were real, the clothing he wore secretly under his coat would prevent it. "Miss Dresmont!" He yelled into the blazing fire. "Miss Dresmont, answer me you fucking bitch."

Despite his harsh words, Inuyasha was in a full on panic induced by fear. His eyes were dilating and his heart was pounding so loudly in his chest that it was making it hard for him to hear the chaos around him clearly. His breath came out in harsh pants as he felt himself growl deep within his chest. He was angry, angry at himself for allowing the small kit to fool him. He had figured the child was incapable of such strong magic and yet—here he stood engulfed in flames only a high class demon could make.

"Fuck." He said into the flames, "Fuck!" His voice startled the people around him who were in their own states of terror. Inuyasha felt his heart pound in his chest as he thought of her, the first time he had been introduced to her.

"This is Miss Kagome Dresmont, she is the daughter of our Human Representative in Port Royal."

Inuyasha saw her in his mind, the way she stood there so improper, her hands ungloved, her hoop not in place. She had looked like a small defiant child the first time he had seen her and yet, she had been beautiful. The way the loose strands of her hair had caught the light, the way her big gray eyes had looked at him, the way they had shinned, the way they stormed like the sea.

"Fuck," He said as anger entered his heart tenfold. "Where are you?"

"This is Miss Kagome Dresmont." The introduction repeated in his head, again.

"Where are you?" Inuyasha's voice grew small as he looked around the chaotic docks everything flowing around him in slow motion, even his heart seemed to beat slower, even his breathing seemed to become slower.

"Miss Kagome Dresmont."

"Miss Dresmont!" He yelled as he frantically looked around the harbor, his sharp eyes failing to see her as images of her played in his head, the way she had curtseyed, the way her hand had felt against his lips.

"Kagome Dresmont."

The blush that had covered her cheeks when they talked. The way she spoke of the sea, the way she had defied him when he asked her if she had something to live for. "Do you?" Her words echoed in his head.

"Yes," He answered as he felt a moisture come behind his eyes. It was ridiculous, he had only known her for a little over a week, only ten short days and yet—his demon already knew—the demon inside of him acknowledged what he couldn't. She needed to be by his side.

"Kagome."

The name seemed to reverberate in his mind a slow wave that hit the turbulent shore of his psyche.

"Kagome."

"Kagome." He repeated the name out loud for the first time softly as an image of her defiant face formed within him as she yelled at him about the man he had pushed yesterday. He saw her crossing her arms over her chest. He saw her leaning down to apologize to the men that he and Sango had beat up from the day before. He saw her as she held onto the rail as they entered the port and docks. He saw her now short hair wave about her face, he saw her joy as she saw dolphins in the water.

He saw her shock, he saw her smile, he saw her embarrassment, he smelt her arousal, he smelt her fear, he smelt her confusion—he smelt her. That beautiful scent of flowers and sea.

"Kagome.

"Kagome." It felt odd on his lips at first but the more he said it, the better it felt to say that name, that strange and exotic name that matched such an amazing and exotic girl. "I need her." He admitted to himself, the demon in him growling in approval. "Kagome—where are you?" He looked around him, ignoring the panic of the people, his mind only focused on one thing, on one thought:

"KA—GO—ME?"

End of Chapter

Please Review

Edited for content 7/30/2012 and for accents 6/5/2013.

Bonus Point:

In what episode did Inuyasha first call Kagome by her real name AKA he didn't refer to her as bitch or wench but instead as Kagome?

Last Chapter's Bonus Point:

Specifically, the event I was referring to is a lunar eclipse which occurs on the night Inuyasha is born. Literally he is born the moment the moon is covered.

Also, Inuyasha's mother is killed by Takemaru, then is revived by Inuyasha's father who names him and then tells Izayoi to run. As they leave the castle, the Inu no Tashio and Takemaru fight, both dying in the end. This is revealed in the Movie, Swords of an Honorable Ruler (my favorite movie). Congrats to those who got the moon reference especially but I will also give bonus points to those who knew what movie it came from!

TheRealInuyasha (Movie), Dark Angel and Silver Savior (Knew everything except the moon), The Anime Choosen One (Both), AnimeRomanceFreak1990 (Both), Victoria-Fortis-Elegit (Moon), Laken (Both), Warm-Amber92 (Moon/Maybe Both), InuKag4eva (Movie), angel (Both), Regina lunaris (Movie).

Notes:

Truc is a popular card game of the 17th century that is played with tarot cards and was the favorite card game of Black Beard, the famous pirate of the Caribbean.

Next Chapter:

Kagome's Light

See you then!

UNEDITED

POSTED 3/21/2011