Ch17

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.

AN: A reviewer had pointed my mistake on the way Ryu had cremated Usagi, so I edited that part. You can just skip down to the bottom of the chapter or read the whole thing, it is up to you.

Bold: what is occurring in the past

(Last Time)

It was then she noticed that nobody was paying attention to the tail, whose hair looked more like a spike; at first the tail just swished around and didn't seem very important, but the minute that InuYasha had his back towards the monster to warn his friends to move, with quick motion, the tail charged right up to the distracted hanyou. 'Yasha-kun, look out!" Usagi screamed, jumping off of Suicine's back into the line of interception.

InuYasha turned in horror to see the monster Naraku had created had his tail to graze into Usagi's side and then wrap itself tightly around her body, hoisting her up in the air. "Aneue," InuYasha whispered in shock. At the sound of his sister screaming in pain, he shouted, "NO, ANEUE!"

(Now)

Everyone stared on in shock at what had just came out of InuYasha's mouth. "A-aneue?" Kagome repeated. She glanced over at Usagi, who was still in the creation's grip, and asked, "She's InuYash'a onee-chan?"

InuYasha ignored the question. He gritted his teeth and growled angrily at the filthy youkai who had dared harm his sister. "You…teme," he snarled. He ran over to the mismatched creature with his sword raised up, only to get smacked into Miroku.

"He-he-he," a deep growl chuckled from the creature, "Naraku would reward me handsomely for this woman."

"Why would he care for a ningen woman?" Miroku asked, helping InuYasha to his feet.

"The main weakness of the hanyou that has been a thorn at his side," was the reply, "Not to mention, he has been experimenting on who this woman really is."

"You really don't believe I'll allow some power consumed monster to learn everything about my powers, do you?' Eyes turned to see Usagi glaring angrily at the creature, whose tail was still wrapped around her body. Blood was trailing down and creating a puddle of deep red on the floor.

"I thought you would've already passed out by now," the creature stated, "You're no ordinary ningen." His creator had told him to bring the woman back alive using any means necessary. An evil grin appeared on his face. His tail tightened its hold on the blonde, causing her to wince at the pressure on the wound at her side. In one quick swoop, the creature slammed his tail onto ground, knocking Usagi unconscious when she hit her head on the floor.

Suicine growled as he jumped over and began to gnaw at the tail. He immediately grew frustrated when his fangs wouldn't penetrate through the tough skin.

"Aneue," InuYasha shouted. His gold eyes flashed red for a quick second as he shouted, "Teme! Let my aneue go!"

Just then the two shards at InuYasha's and Suicine's possession blinded everyone, causing them to cover their eyes. Though nobody could see what was going on, their ears were able to hear the monster Naraku had created scream in pain as if somebody had poured acid all over him. When the bright light had vanished and allowed everyone to finally see, they were all shocked to see that they were no longer in the middle of the forest, but in a village instead. Not only that but Usagi was missing as well.

"Where are we?" Sango asked, looking around to see that many of the people passing by were all nobles and of the rich.

Miroku studied the people and wondered why nobody was reacting to InuYasha's presence or at how they had automatically appeared in the square.

"This place…" Kagome heard InuYasha whisper in shock.

Kagome turned to see the silver dog hanyou running off in a direction. "InuYasha, where are you going?" she shouted. When he didn't answer nor look back, she chased after him with their friends and the blue wolf following.

"Kagome-chan, where's InuYasha going?" Sango asked.

"I don't know, but I think InuYasha recognizes this place," was the reply.

As InuYasha ran through the village, he anxiuosly thought to himself, "How…how can this be?" he stopped in front of a large familiar house by the water. He could hear his name being called out, but instead of answering back, he entered through the doorway and froze when he saw the two familiar females staring at a young infant.

"InuYasha!" Kagome shouted, bursting into the house, "At least answer me when I'm…talking…to you…" Her voice had trailed off as her eyes widened when she saw a familiar woman.

InuYasha just stared on with wide trembling eyes. The last time he had seen his mother was when Sesshoumaru used her image to find out where their father had hid Tetsuiga.

Five year old Usagi stared in fascination at the baby in the princess's arms. She couldn't understand just why the other villagers looked at the baby with such hatred and disgust. Her mother had told her that they were just too scared of changes while her father told her that they were just plainly stupid. "Ne…Izayoi-sama, what is his name?" she asked.

"InuYasha," the princess replied in a soft tone. She smiled lovingly at the sleeping infant. "His father gave him that name before…" Pausing for a second, she looked up at the curious child. "Would you like to hold him?" she asked Usagi.

"Can I?" Usagi exclaimed excitedly. Anxiously her arms curled around the infant as the princess laid him down. "Izayoi-sama, he's beautiful," she whispered, "It's just as how kaa-sama and otou-sama said inu youkai would look."

Izayoi looked on at the two children, one was hers and a hanyou and the other was the last heiress to the infamous clan. It was a good thing that the Tsukino clan resided in her hometown otherwise her beloved child will grow up isolated and hated. "Usagi-chan, can you promise me something?" she asked

"Hai, Izayoi-sama?" Usagi asked.

Izayoi took a deep breath and sighed. "If anything were to happen to me, can you promise that you'll look after InuYasha for me?" she asked cautiously, as if worried that the small child would say no.

For a second, Usagi looked as though she was upset at the request. "Of course I would!" she declared, "You didn't have to ask me, Izayoi-sama." Cradling the tiny baby closer, Usagi continued, "After all, the older siblings always have to look after the younger ones."

Izayoi couldn't help but grin at the self declaration from the child, already adopting her son into her family. "I just pray that I don't die too early before InuYasha is ready," she thought to herself in sadness.

Everybody stared on at the events that had just occurred. Kagome was about to step forward and comfort the hanyou, who looked like he was ready to cry at the sight of his mother, when a huge gust of wind blew by, causing everyone to shield their faces. When the win had stopped and allowed everyone to see again, they noticed that time had fast forward when they saw a slightly older InuYasha. They all watched with saddened eyes as the motionless body of Izayoi was placed into a deep hole.

"Okaa-san!" a child-like InuYasha cried out, sobbing at the lost of his mother. His cheeks were bulged out as he shut his eyes tightly, tears falling down his face. "Okaa-san, please wake up!"

A sixteen year old Usagi knelt down beside her surrogate brother and held him tightly. The small child struggled against her grip; his sharp claws slashed the sleeves of her kimono and dug deeply into her arms. Usagi ignored the pain in her arms and just held onto him tightly. She turned the sobbing child around and felt him nuzzling his face into her chest. "Shhh, it'll be okay, Yasha-kun," she whispered softly into the silver dog ears on top of his head.

"Okaa-san…okaa-san is gone ,aneue," InuYasha sobbed into her chest.

"Hai, she is," Usagi whispered, "But I'm here for you." She looked down to see his pleading gold eyes. "No matter what, I'll be there with you." She hugged him tightly so he couldn't see the tears in her eyes. "No matter what, we're family."

Shippo looked towards InuYasha. He had never seen the inu hanyou so depressed, not even when he had forced Kagome to return home and blocked the well. He could understand why he was upset since when his mother had passed away, Shippo had wanted nothing more than to just hide in his father's arms and cry his eyes out.

When another gust of wind blew by, everyone knew that they were going to see another time in InuYasha and Usagi's life together. As they looked around, they noticed that they were standing in a small yard near the river. They watched as a slightly older Usagi was washing the clothes in the river as the still child-like InuYasha was splashing away happily in the stream.

InuYasha heard something coming and turned his head. When he saw who it was, he began to growl angrily. "InuYasha, what's wrong?" Kagome asked, hearing him growl. Everyone turned to see where he was looking to see a young man dressed clothes seen on those who are wealthy.

His precious aneue had kept her promise and stayed by his side, he even got to move in with her, despite what everyone else was saying. InuYasa was splashing in the waters when an unfamiliar scent rose in the air. He stopped playing and stared at the noble walking up. "Who is that?" he wondered to himself, "Aneue's friend?"

Usagi looked up when she heard the splashing stopped; following her younger brother's line of sight, she spied the stranger walking towards them. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she stood up and asked, "May I help you?"

"You are more beautiful than the rumors say you are," the young man said. His dark brown eyes stared at her adoringly. He knelt down on one knee and declared, "You must be my wife. You'll never have to work another finger for the rest of your life, living in complete luxury and comfort. All you have to do is this one little thing."

Usagi disliked the tone in his voice. He reminded her of the many men her mother had once told her about, the many suitors who came for her hand in marriage, only to be turned away. Just what is with these men who believed that every woman would drop everything they hold dear in order to live the rest of their lives in extravagance comfort? She rolled her eyes and turned to InuYasha. "Yasha-kun, get out of the river and dry yourself. It's almost time for dinner," she told him.

"Hai, aneue," he said, waddling out of the river. Sitting on the floor, he shook the water droplets out of his hair and clothes, similar to a dog. He sneaked a peek at the man, who was still kneeling on the floor and looking at his sister like she was a goddess herself. Then for a quick second, he could see the disgust in that man's eyes when he glanced at him.

Usagi watched as InuYasha quickly hurried into the house, as if his tail was on fire. With the way his ears were pressed tightly against his head and the slight shivering in his body, she knew what had happened, and it wasn't because he was cold and wet. An unpleasant look appeared on her face as she looked back at the man in front of her. "And let's just say that I want to live that kind of life, what do I need to do?" she asked, fully knowing what was going through this man's mind.

This confident man ignored the disgust Usagi was showing towards him, instead a smug grin appeared on his face as he said, "All you need to do is to get rid of that filth and you can be my bride."

"I'm sorry but if you want to take me as your bride, then you'll have to take Yasha-kun into the family as well," Usagi said. She stood up and gathered the wet clothes. "And if you can't do that, then I'm afraid that I have to decline your offer."

Everyone couldn't help but laugh at the flabbergasted expression on the lord.

The lord had heard rumors of how this young goddess would refuse those who tell her to get rid of the small hanyou she had adopted, but he was so sure…so confident that that she would say yes. While he was in complete shock at this woman declining his declaration of marriage, his servant shook his head and gently ushered him back to his carriage.

When he had left the scene, the whole group had entered the house, where they saw the child InuYasha crying on Usagi's shoulder.

"Now, why are you crying, Yasha-kun?" Usagi asked.

"Because…because…" he sobbed, clutching to her shoulders tightly. "He wants to marry you but you have to leave me behind! I don't want you to leave me!"

Usagi laughed. "Oh, silly Yasha-kun," she whispered. She rubbed her cheek against his silver locks. "I would never leave you if I can't help it. I promised you, remember?" The small child nodded his head as Usagi dried his tears.

"She must've really loved you to stay by your side, InuYasha," Kagome said softly.

A small sad grin appeared on InuYasha's face. "She gave up everything for me," he whispered, "Her freedom, her time, even her dream was given up for me."

The scene then began to change with InuYasha, still appearing to be the same age that was asleep on a futon.

As InuYasha was asleep under the thick futons Usagi had tucked him in, his ears twitched at the sharp sounds of the village's alert bell ringing and the screams coming from outside and his nose also twitched when there was a strong burning stench of smoke and blood. He immediately woke up and cautiously walked over to the front door where he saw Usagi standing there, looking out in concern. "Aneue, what's going on?" he asked.

Usagi, hearing his voice, turned around. "Yasha-kun, I need you to hurry into the forest right now," she said in a firm tone. She quickly closed the door and rushed over to her younger brother.

Just then the door was blasted open and several of the bandits stormed into the household. The leader was a rugged looking man with long black hair and cruel looking black eyes. There were blood stains on his armor and on the blades of the sword hanging at his side. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" he asked to his men.

Usagi pushed InuYasha behind her. "Who are you and what do you want?" Usagi demanded to know. Even though she was just a human, she could smell the fresh blood on this man's body and if she could smell it, then it must be worse for her younger brother.

The group of thieves all laughed. "We are just humble bandits, doing our job of plundering and causing destruction everywhere," the leader replied, "We steal treasures from all around and recently, we had heard of a specific treasure that many men had tried to claim but failed that is in this village."

"Treasure?" Usagi thought to herself in confusion. The only treasures she could think of where those valuables found in the homes of the rich lords and she has never heard of men coming to this village to claim it.

"The most beautiful and elusive woman found throughout the land," the leader clarified.

Usagi's eyes widened in realization to what kind of treasure they were referring to. Her blue eyes glanced over to her trembling brother, who was clutching onto her tightly in fear.

"The only problem is that the reason why no man has ever claimed her before has always been the same," he said. His men began to fan out in the room around Usagi and InuYasha.

InuYasha did not like the look in these men's eyes, it reminded him of those countless men who had came to court his sister, but with a much blood thirsty aura surrounding them. "Aneue," he muttered, trying to hide his face in the skirt of her outfit.

Usagi bit the bottom of her lip. "What should I do? I can't attack these men without the possibility of harming Yasha-kun too," she thought to herself anxiously.

Taking advantage of her distraction, one of the bandits grabbed InuYasha, causing him to scream, "Aneue!" He tried to pull away in vain.

"Yasha-kun!" Usagi was about to take a step forward to help him when the bandit, who was holding him, lifted up a sword to his neck.

"Ah-ah-ah," the leader tsked, "No sudden moves or this little brat gets it." Upon seeing the surrendered look on Usagi's face, the thieves immediately knew that they got her weakness and planned on exploiting it to the fullest. "Now, will the beautiful lady do as we say? Or will her precious little brother have to pay for her mistake?"

Everybody couldn't believe what they were hearing. While Sango and Miroku knew the dangers there were for the females of this time, Kagome had grown up in a world where there were laws that protected females from things like this. Suicine and Kirara felt nothing but complete disgust at the smell of lust coming from the men.

"You swear you won't do anything to him," Usagi said, narrowing her eyes at him. She knew that it was no use to trust the word of a bandit, but as of right now, she has no other choice. Her blue eyes studied the man who was holding InuYasha; her mind quickly calculated on what she has to do to get her brother away from him.

The leader made a mocking bow at the waist. "Anything our dear megami wants, she will get," he said, "As long as she does what we ask of her."

Usagi glared at him. "Swear on your life that you won't harm him and…and I'll do anything you want."

"No, aneue…" InuYasha started until that man covered his mouth.

"Shut up, you brat! Be grateful that you have such a caring sister," he snarled, "If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have mind slitting your throat immediately."

InuYasha watched with horror filled eyes as his sister was led away like a lamb to the slaughter. He continued struggling, fearing the worst for his sister. He could care less if anything were to happen to him, but his aneue doesn't deserve anything cruel to happen to her. He quickly grabbed hold of the guy's hand, which was still covering his mouth, and bit into it hard.

The minute he felt the sharp canine fangs pierce into his hand, the thief dropped the small half demon. His angry black eyes glared from his bleeding hand to the fleeing child. Promise or no promise, he's going to run his blade right through the abomination. He grabbed his weapon and followed after.

As everyone hurried to follow the pair, InuYasha stayed behind. Kagome looked back at him all worried. "InuYasha, what's wrong?" she asked.

"This is when…" InuYasha shook his head and dropped to the floor, groaning in frustration.

Kagome looked at InuYasha with sad eyes as she wrapped her arms around him. "What could have happened to cause him to be like this?" she couldn't help but ask herself. She had never seen him this depressed, not even when it involved Kikyo.

His nose followed the sweet scent of his sister as InuYasha hurried down the hallway. He dove into the room to see two men holding onto Usagi's arms to prevent her from trying anything. "You dirty filthy humans! Leave aneue alone!" he shouted, trying to scratch the arms with his sharp claws.

"Yasha-kun, get out of here," Usagi screamed at him. Her blue eyes widened when she saw the man who was holding him captured enter the room. She saw him raise his blade up and was about to bring it down on the unsuspecting child. "Yasha-kun, look out!" she yelled. She didn't even notice when her hands brought out a spark into the two bandits who were holding her, causing them to be pushed back. In desperation, she immediately wrapped her arms around the small hanyou just as the blade came down and stabbed her through.

When InuYasha and Kagome had finally arrived, they watched just as the blade had entered through Usagi's body. "Usagi-san!" Kagome gasped. Her brown eyes widened when she heard heavy breathing coming her silver haired love interest. She turned to see that he was watching the scene replay as a child and as an adult with tears falling down.

He was shocked to see who he had stabbed and quickly pulled out the sword, but that didn't stop the leader from decapitating him. "You fool, you ruined our chances of claiming her," he snarled.

"Aneue. Aneue, wake up," InuYasha sobbed as he tried to shake his sister to consciousness.

"You little brat, it's all your fault," the others snarled.

Everyone watched as the men were about to attack, they all burst into flames and was disintegrated into ash. Turning to the direction where the attack came from, everyone but InuYasha was shocked to find Ryu no Fuyu, the youkai who would later on attack them and try to claim Usagi as his own.

"Ya…sha…kun," a soft whisper came through the air.

"Aneue," InuYasha sobbed, rubbing his eyes.

Ryu immediately wrapped his arms around Usagi, staring at her with broken eyes. "Usagi, don't speak. You need to regain your strength," he whispered softly.

"Ryu-san…is here too?" Usagi said softly.

"Aneue, don't die!" InuYasha screamed, shaking his head as his hands clutched the bloody outfit. "You can't leave me, you can't."

Usagi brushed the tear trailing down his cheek. "Don't cry…Yasha-kun," she said, scolding him gently, "You're…a big boy now…so you shouldn't cry."

"Demo," he sobbed, the tears coming down even harder. His dog shaped ears could hear her heartbeat slowing down and it started to frighten him. He had already lost his mother, the only other person who loved and cherished him; if he loses his sister too, then he would be left all alone.

Ryu looked down at the wound, where blood continued to spill all over the tatami floors. He couldn't believe that the one person who he wanted to spend the rest of his life was dying in his arms and there was nothing he could do about it. His green eyes flashed into an angry red color for a second as he looked at the piles of ashes situated throughout the home, wishing he had actually done more than give them a quick painless death.

He felt Usagi try to move and immediately looked back down on her. He watched as she struggled to get her arms wrapped around the small child. The feeling of jealousy grew within him. She should be trying to regain her strength, not wasting it all on that cause of her death. She should be focusing more on him, the savior of her beloved younger brother, thanking him for her last breath, but instead she's still focused on the one thing that has ruined her whole life and dream.

Usagi couldn't move out of Ryu's arms so she settled with pulling InuYasha closer to her. "Shhh…don't cry," she said softly. Even now, she knew that she didn't have enough time and it scares her that she couldn't keep the promise she made to herself that she would live to see her brother grow up. She struggled to keep her eyes open, but it was hard to see with the blurring of her vision. Taking what she knew to be her last breath, she whispered to the crying child, "I…love you."

Everybody watched with painful expressions on their faces as Usagi's hand dropped to the ground, her head tilting off to the side, her eyes were closed, and her breath had stopped. Shippo, Kagome and Sango immediately attached themselves onto InuYasha and Miroku. Miroku actually comforted Sango with his hands at the appropriate places while InuYasha closed his eyes and tried to ignore the next sentences out of Ryu's mouth, words he knew to be true, no matter how hard his friends will try to convince him that they're not.

InuYasha rubbed his eyes, trying to pretend that this was all a dream. "This can't be real," he shouted, "I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming that aneue is dead."

"This is not a dream," Ryu said softly, he laid the body down and stood up. "She's dead and it's your entire fault." Shakily, InuYasha looked at him. "It's all because you're a hanyou that you couldn't stay with the other inu youkai and because you are weak that she has to protect you. "

InuYasha stared at the livid eyes his sister would always protect him from, but she could never continue to do. The angry words repeated in his mind as he stared down at the body on the ground.

"If only you were stronger and a full blooded youkai, none of this would've happened," Ryu shouted. As his rage maximized, so did his powers. In one second, he destroyed the house and burned everything around him.

Quickly turning around, he walked out of the burning building with Usagi's body in his arms, not bothering to look back to see if InuYasha was following him. When he was outside, he ignored the smell of burning flesh and continued on his way into the forests. With each passing step, other youkai that Usagi had befriended and aided appeared after hearing about her village being attacked.

Ryu brought Usagi's body into a large clearing where Usagi enjoyed having a picnic with that abomination InuYasha and put her gently down on the grass. He softly brushed his hand lovingly against her cheek, hating the once warm skin is now cold to the touch. It was strange that if a human is dead, their bodies often turned pale and there is evidence that the person is dead, but even in death, Usagi was still beautiful to him.

With sad eyes, everybody watched as Ryu lit a small flame on the grass next to her body and slowly the flames began to eat up her body. InuYasha stayed close to the forest and watched his beloved older sister being cremated.

InuYasha began crying and apologizing silently in his heart. "Gomen, aneue, gomen," he repeated over and over again, "You'll see, I'll become stronger and a full blooded youkai," he promised himself, his golden eyes shown with determination, "I'll become a full blooded youkai and nobody will be able to hurt those I care about again."