Inuyasha rubbed at his eye momentarily and turned back to the path he was following, sniffing the air several times to ensure he was going in the right direction. He could barely see through the fog that had been lingering over them for half of a week. They hadn't traveled very far, and it was Kagome's fault, he just couldn't figure out why. She had been down since leaving Gorenchi's castle, so he knew that it had to have something to do with Sesshomaru. If he was going to find out what had happened, and what was going on he would have to track down his older brother and hope he was more forthcoming than Kagome was proving to be. He sincerely doubted that Sesshomaru would be, but there was less chance of being thrown face first into the ground than Kagome, and at least if Sesshomaru tried it he could fight back.

A part of him wanted to just leave the bundle he carried and forger the entire endeavor. He had to be an idiot for doing this, but now he had come too far to turn back. And Miroku had seen him leaving with the thing. He didn't have a cover story yet, so he couldn't go back. He would tell Kagome what he'd done, if Sesshomaru was as stubborn as he was expecting. Maybe if she were happy with him she'd stop this sullen silence and tell him what was going on.

He rounded a corner and nearly collided with something before finding himself in the air, fingers around his throat. His feet stopped and he hung limply from Sesshomaru's hand.

"What are you attempting Inuyasha? Just because I did not kill you does not mean I will not reconsider." He lowered the half demon until they were eye to eye.

"If you put me down I'll tell you." Inuyasha snapped, prying at Sesshomaru's hand with one of his own. Absently Sesshomaru dropped him and stepped back, watching Inuyasha climb back to his feet. "What's with you and choking people?" He demanded, rubbing his neck.

"What is your reason for being here?"

Without a word Inuyasha held out the bundle he had carried and turned away for keep from seeing Sesshomaru accept it. After a moment he turned back and saw the curious look on the demon's face. "Just take it will ya?"

"A present little brother? How sweet of you." Sesshomaru mocked, turning away.

"It was already yours or I wouldn't be giving it to you."

"And what of mine do you have?"

"This." The white cloth was unwrapped to reveal gracefully curved long fingers, tipped with sharply pointed claws. "Do you want it back or not?"

"It matters little." Sesshomaru looked at the exposed flesh of his severed arm. He had never expected to be presented with the missing limb, and the proper etiquette for this situation escaped him.

"Look Sesshomaru, I'm not doing this because I like you or because I want to. I figure I owed you something for saving Kagome."

"My actions involving the girl have nothing to do with you." Why did he want to announce that he had protected her because she was his? Even though it was not necessarily true, and he was beginning to think that he did not want her at all, except for the screaming voice in the back of his head that demanded he had been a fool for letting go of her, for leaving her behind and not having her. It forced him to have a nearly overwhelming urge to claim her publicly as his, an urge he had some trouble repressing.

"Yeah well, this thing was making me sick anyway. Just take it." He looked from the arm to Sesshomaru.

"If returning it means so much to you." Sesshomaru gripped the cloth around the arm's wrist, but did not take it. He watched Inuyasha drop his end.

"I didn't come here to fight with you, but you could be a little grateful."

"And why should I ever show gratitude to you?" He watched the half demon turn and rush away, as ever in a great hurry for no apparent reason. This lack of caution made him seriously consider going back for the girl, but her lack of obedience and her insolence made him realize that he would eventually have to kill her if she continued to behave in such a manner, and he did not want to have to deal with such a thing.

Certain that he was alone, Sesshomaru shrugged his shoulder out of his sleeve, unwrapped the arm with his other hand. He wondered suddenly if the limb would reattach at all, it had been separated from him for so long. There was no other way of telling. He put the end of his arm to his shoulder.

At first he was aware of nothing, then of an itching tingling sensation that could be considered almost painful. For a moment he considered the flesh rapidly sealing into place. Other than the physical annoyance he could find no difference between now and when the limb had been gone. The sensation crawled lower into his arm as Sesshomaru readjusted his clothing. His blood felt hot flooding into the well preserved, but lifeless tissue. Soon its regenerating power would take affect and even after several years it would be as if the arm had never been parted from him.

*

This was the place. She recognized it immediately. Kikyo had had some difficulty finding her way back here, but was sure that the treasure she had come for would be worth all of her efforts. Soon everything she had been fighting for would be returned to her, everything that had been taken from her would be hers again.

Her fingers trailed over the iron door of the kiln where her clay body had been formed. It was strange to think about that day again, to face what she had accepted and chosen not to dwell on. She forced the thoughts that forced her to see herself as an abomination and turned away from the kiln intent on her task. She had come back for a reason and did not intend to linger.

A long table stretched out in the center of the room, the unrecognizable items barely discernable through the thick layer of dust that covered them. She instantly recognized the large square in the center as a book, and ran her hand over the cover, her eyes flicking over the symbols engraved there. She'd found it. With a small smile Kikyo scooped the heavy book up and turned toward the door of the dead witch's layer. With the power contained in the pages of this book she would be able to finish Kagome. The girl would be easily over taken by black magic and wicked spells.

*

He turned away from the window, disgusted with himself as he never had been before, only to find himself looking into a full-length mirror. Almost in a trance he moved toward it, his eyes glued to his reflection as if he were staring at a stranger. He wanted to look away, but did not, unsure of his ability to or of his will. How had he earned such a curse? At every turn he must be reminded of the father he loved to hate and the woman he hated to love. How long could even he endure this torture?

There was a crash and the tinkling of broken glass as Sesshomaru's hand slammed into the smooth surface, shattering his reflection. His movement was slower as he pulled his arm back, turning his palm upward to study the gashes and remove several slivers of broken mirror. He looked away from the already healing wounds. Even the scent of his blood would not cover the lingering smell of her. He'd been gone from this room, this castle for far too long and still she was here. Until now, the first time since childhood that he had needed the comfort of oblivion, he had not had trouble sleeping. That nothingness would simply not come to him, and even closing his eyes brought the tormenting image of her face to the backs of his eyelids, made her scent grow stronger. When he was still he could nearly feel her pressed against him, and even his body would turn against him with an aching need to hold her.

He fought in vain against the feeling, managed only to push back the need to strike the remaining fragments of mirror clinging to the wooden frame. This was not the first mirror he had broken, many had shared this glass's fate, but that had been ages prior to now. This meant he could not remain here much longer. These needs and desires he could not control or understand were striping him of his sanity. It was worse when he was alone, but his fragile patience would not stand companions. He had vowed when he was younger to never feel helpless again. A vow he was failing to uphold as Sesshomaru fought the urge to crawl into or under his bed and curl up as he had as a child when the world's weight became unbearable. He could not do that any longer. He was far too old for such foolishness.

"Back to this again? You should find better ways to vent your anger than smashing up mirrors"

He hadn't heard her enter, but did not show his surprise as he looked to Norain, "What is it you wanted?" His voice had lost its frigid strength. To his ears it sounded like a stranger's, tired and almost childish again.

"You clearly should not be left alone my boy." There was an almost paternal tone to Norain's voice as the old woman took and turned over his hand to examine to fading cuts, removed a sliver of glass he had carelessly missed.

"I am not a boy any longer." He did not pull away from her. Years of training had taught him that it was simply easier to humor the woman, something he had been reminded of before leaving the last time.

"To me you always will be, and you are certainly acting like one right now."

"You dare to…"

"Yes. You may have everyone else in this place scared of your shadow Sesshomaru, but not me." Norain dropped his wrist, "I practically raised you. I know you better than anyone." Sesshomaru only scoffed in response and stood stubbornly for a moment as Norain attempted to move him away from the shattered mirror. The woman won and he found himself seated on his bed as she began to collect blood-spattered chunks of glass. "You don't believe me? Right now your just about going crazy because you miss that girl more than any of us, and you're being stubborn and with yourself because you've fallen in love with a human, which is what your father did."

Sesshomaru glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, then looked pointedly away again. Silently he refused to acknowledge that she was right, or that she had even spoken.

"It's time you made peace with what happened. You've forgiven your mother, but not your father, and until you do you will never know peace."

"It is none of your concern."

"Yes it is, you aren't hurting yourself alone any longer." She sat beside him, the pieces of mirror tinkling in their handkerchief, "I sat by while you turned your rage toward your brother, your only remaining family, and I've watched silently as you began to hate yourself for looking like your father, but I've been silent long enough. You love that girl, and she loves you enough that she constantly tries to put your happiness above her own, otherwise she would never have left you."

"I have heard enough, leave."

"So you can cut yourself open again? Eventually you'll hurt yourself enough that you can't heal. You just got that arm back, do you want to loose it again?"

"I said enough." He looked at her directly for the first time, "It has been many years since I have needed a mother."

"No it hasn't, boys always need their mothers, and I'm the closest you've got."

"I am not a child and I am not in love with a human!" He'd shouted the words before he meant to and Sesshomaru chose to see this loss of control as further proof that he was loosing his mind. It was embarrassing though; even when he had been a child he had not been given to tantrums.

"I would tell you to look in the mirror if you hadn't already smashed it." Norain paused, giving him a chance to defend himself. Sesshomaru was silent, his eyes on the ground, "I'm sorry to have to tell you little one, but you're head over heels for that girl, even if you don't want to see it." As she had when he was a child, so many years ago, Norain placed her hand on the back of his head, gently petting the dog demon's hair. For a long moment he was stiff, then slowly he fell sideways, his head falling to her knees. The same way he had sat after being informed of his mother's death. "You are still very young for a demon Sesshomaru, don't waist your life reliving the mistakes of those before you." She whispered, tucking his hair behind his ear. He was silent and unresponsive. Norain understood why. He saw this as weakness, and Sesshomaru detested weakness, especially in himself. She sat silently, petting his hair back from his face. He hadn't changed much from the boy she had known, he just wanted to have.

*

"What have you got there?" Sango asked softly making Kagome jump slightly.

"Oh… I don't know, Sesshomaru dropped it at Gorenchi's castle, I just haven't had a chance to give it back yet."

"That's funny, I doubt he would have dropped something like this amulet."

"Amulet?"

"Yeah, people wear them for protection that the stones and metal provide." Sango reached out to take the item, but didn't push when Kagome was hesitant to give it up. "Sesshomaru's probably looking for it. It must be important if he put it on his own hair."

"Yeah, I wonder why he…" She paused. She had told Sango that Sesshomaru had dropped it, not been angry enough to throw it away.

"Why he what?"

"Why he hasn't come back for it yet." Kagome looked away, of course Sesshomaru hadn't come looking for it. He didn't want to see her and he didn't know that she had it. "I think I'm going to take a walk."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I think I'll be fine on my own." She smiled and moved away, tucking the small object into a pocket. "Don't worry, I won't be gone too long."

She walked slowly away from the clearing into the trees, wanting to be alone, hoping every time she rounded a corner that he would be there, and she would have a chance to apologize for what she had said. Somewhere deep inside she knew that Sesshomaru would not be there, that she would not see him any time soon, if ever again. She had really messed up.

A twig snapped and she stopped in mid-step. She glanced over her shoulder and nearly sighed. "I know you're there Kikyo." Why was she doing this? Hadn't Kikyo nearly killed her the last time? But this feud had to be ended. Now she would have to tell Kikyo that it could be.

"I meant for you to." Kikyo murmured, stepping out onto the path. She moved suddenly, throwing her hand out at Kagome, a dull gray powder flying at her. Kagome stared at it in shock cringing a little as it fell toward her. She cringed as a brilliant silver light surrounded her.

"You don't have to keep doing this Kikyo. You can have Inuyasha, I don't want him."

For a second Kikyo looked surprised, then laughed softly. "Inuyasha? He's already mine, he always has been. I could have him in a second."

"Then why do you keep attacking me? And what are you doing?"

"I want what rightfully belongs to me. I want my soul back."

"I've already given you the part that was yours. The rest is mine." She hadn't seen this coming. She had just assumed that Kikyo was after Inuyasha.

"If you refuse me I will take it by force." Kikyo's hands spun, throwing chopped up herbs at the same time a soul collector flew forward. They merged into a wall of blue green gas that fell at Kagome like wind in a hurricane. The Silver white light formed a shield scattering the force.

"How are you blocking my power?"

"I…" She pulled out Sesshomaru's amulet, shocked that it was still ice cold despite being in her pocket.

"The next time I will not miss."

She had to buy some time, come up with a way to escape. Being out here alone had been a bad idea, so had staying to talk with Kikyo. She hadn't expected Kikyo to want to kill her after she'd given up Inuyasha. Her eyes fell to the open top her backpack, her thoughts racing. Then her gaze landed on the rounded ends of metal spines. Sesshomaru's fan. Why hadn't she even considered fighting back. "That's really cliché Kikyo." Her hand closed around the weapon's end. She drew in a steadying breath. The backpack dropped as she turned hiding the fan behind her. She would have to get closer before the weapon was effective.

"You aren't afraid?"

"No, not really." She took a step closer, trying to think of the situation as Sesshomaru would, well as Sesshomaru would if he wasn't fast and strong enough to kill her instantly. She had to get closer and she had to remain calm. She took another step.

"What are you trying Kagome?"

"Me? I'm not trying anything. You're the one threatening me." Another step. She was nearly close enough now, her grip tightened on the fan. Kagome barely defeated an urge to bite on her lower lip. Kikyo was beginning to look jumpy. If she dared to move any closer the priestess would be forced into action.

"Give me my soul and you will have no need to fear."

"It's my soul Kikyo, and I've given you all I am going to." She brought her hands to her sides, letting the fan be seen, but not drawing attention to it.

"You intend to fight me with a fan?" Kikyo was laughing again. She tossed another silent spell at Kagome and the shield around her began to glow.

"Kagome!" Their voices floated through the trees, but she didn't answer them. Kikyo thought to use it as an opportunity to attack her, and channeling Sesshomaru, Kagome was prepared for the move. Giving up on spells Kikyo sent two soul collectors flying at her. The fan blades opened, slicing cleanly through one, going for the other. She wasn't quite fast enough, but the second creature disintegrated as all the spells had upon touching her.

"You can't hurt me like that, not this time." They were still calling her, coming closer, but Kagome continued to ignore them, focusing instead on Kikyo.

Kikyo's eyes fell to the cord hanging from Kagome's hand. It looked like Inuyasha's hair, but she knew it wasn't. Then who's? The small object hanging from it was easily recognizable. An amulet, of course, that was how she was blocking the spells, and why her soul collector had died upon trying to touch the girl. She could hear running feet. "This is not finished Kagome. I will have my soul back." She didn't turn from Kagome as she backed away.

Kagome watched her vanish into the trees, closing the fan. For a long moment she stared into the shadows, wondering if Kikyo was really gone. She turned away finally and collected her backpack. She had only taken a few steps when Inuyasha appeared running toward her.

"Where is she?"

"What are you talking about?" This had been between her and Kikyo, and as it hadn't been a fight over Inuyasha it was none of his business. If he found out that Kikyo wasn't after him, he would be crushed. She couldn't do that to him.

"Where is Kikyo?" He nearly shouted.

"I haven't seen her." Kagome shrugged and walked past him, "I just took a walk." She was lying, blatantly and badly, but intended fully to keep to the story. It was for his own good really, and she wasn't hurt…thanks to Sesshomaru even in his absence.