Saeka's Hypothesis

Sesshomaru jammed the Tokijjin into the rocky ground and sighed heavily. Making sure no one was watching, he sunk to the ground, exhausted. He wasn't sure he had the energy to go on at present. He'd been running nonstop for almost a day. The only interesting thing that had happened, while running along a ledge, he'd accidentally scattered a caravan passing by, knocking one man over the edge and unintentionally crushing a wagon as he whizzed past. He muttered a 'whoops' as he got out of their sight and hurried away before they could determine what he had been. Even so, a demon of his stature could tire and he couldn't count himself an exception. This didn't help the fact that a lone moth demon had attacked him from out of nowhere. Now, while he was immune to poison of all sorts, harboring a particularly dangerous type in his own body, it did make him slightly nauseous if used in rapid and large doses. Now, he felt exactly so: nauseous. This moth demon had been one powerful demon, but was no match for him nonetheless. Therefore, the battle itself, no matter how brief, had been slightly boring.

He glanced around. Bits and pieces of his late-adversary lay scattered around him on the ground. His Tokijjin was tarnished with the creature's blood and down and he reeked of poison. Now he was glad for once Saeka wasn't with him. She'd have swooned and passed out from the horrible toxins. Sesshomaru was only used to them because it was partly in his blood. Also, he had a lot of poison in his body that had at one point made him sick quite frequently, but he gradually became accustomed to the toxin and grew to use it to his advantage.

He straightened up with a groan and sheathed the sword after burning the filth from it. He glanced at his hands. They were dyed greenish from the moth poison residue. He'd have to wash somewhere if he wished to keep traveling. He glanced back in the direction of the village, many miles away. For the briefest moment, his thoughts were burdened with his beloved companion. He thought about what he knew he was doing to her, especially after all they'd been through. But he knew it was for the best. She was safer this way.

With a sigh of dejection, he stepped over the remnants of the moth demon and continued on his way.

Kagome tied the message around Kirura's neck and scratched her ears fondly. " Take this to Sango, and be very quick." She instructed. Kirura growled in agreement and took off into the sunny sky. Kagome sighed and made her way back into the cabin where everyone was waiting.

" It's on its way." She announced. Saeka, who was seated on the floor and still studying Sesshomaru's letter, glanced up briefly. " How long should it take?" she asked.

" About a day, depending on how fast Kirura flies." Kagome replied. "That cat was anxious to see her mother. Hope she makes it in time."

" I hope they get here before he gets too far away." Saeka said quietly. She sighed. She was tempted to tell them that their once greatest nemesis was sitting outside by the lake, but she knew that she had to keep it a secret for as long as possible. Besides, it wouldn't do her good to worry unnecessarily. She only had to think of the growing life form within her to keep her from doing anything rash. It was all that was keeping her going. It was all that would keep her hopeful. She knew they were on a strict time limit if she were to go with them. She was sure it wouldn't take the full nine months she required to find him, but even so, it wasn't good to travel while caring for both your own life and one that still needed time. And even if it did take the full nine months or so, it was even worse to travel feudal territory with a newborn baby, and somewhat of a half-demon one at that. Bandits would attack them, and demons and humans who hated each other would be after her for their lives. If she traveled with the others, she stood a much better chance than she would alone, but she didn't want to risk their lives.

" Kirura can fly very fast." Kagome said. " She'll make it to the southern coast by evening. Then, Sango and Miroku will be on their way by midnight and reach here by noon the following day."

" Are you sure they'll come?" InuYasha asked.

" Of course. They know how close Saeka and Sesshomaru were. They'll want to help in any way they can."

Saeka sighed and rolled up the scroll, cradling it in her lap for comfort. Besides Saaya, it was the only thing she had left of him. Unnoticed, a tear slowly slid down her face and fell onto the tan parchment. Kagome however noticed this and she frowned worriedly. " Saeka, are you okay?" she asked. Saeka gave her a blank look and got up. She went over to her sleeping pallet and put the scroll back beneath it. " I have some work to do." She said quietly. She turned to InuYasha and Kagome. " And I also need to let you guys in on something."

" What?" InuYasha asked.

" Well," Saeka said, folding her arms behind her back. " You have to promise to leave Tetsuaiga in the cabin, as what I'm going to show you will not threaten you in any way."

" Fine." InuYasha grumbled. Saeka wasn't done yet. " And, you have to listen to me when I tell you something. You can't just tune me out."

" I get it. What is it?" he snapped.

" Follow me." She instructed. She led them to the door.

" This had better be good." He growled.

" InuYasha," Kagome reprimanded. " Be nice."

As she led them down to the lake, InuYasha spotted who was sitting at the shore and froze.

" What the hell?" he exclaimed. " Naraku!"

At the sound of his name, Naraku and Saaya turned around. Saaya instantly jumped up in front of him protectively. " InuYasha, I'm warning you!" she snarled. InuYasha flexed his claws menacingly. " Saaya, get out of the way." He grumbled.

" Kagome?" Saeka said to the priestess.

" InuYasha, SIT!"

Thud!

" Agh, why I oughta—" he mumbled, getting up shakily. He glared at Kagome. " What the hell was that for?" he demanded.

" InuYasha, we'd like to have a chance to explain this to you if you'll sit still." She snapped.

" It'd better be good. He's got five minutes to give me a good reason as to why he's here and hanging around with Saaya."

Saaya sat back down and looked at the calm figure seated beside her. Naraku looked from her to InuYasha and got to his feet without a word. He bowed his head. " Hello, InuYasha." He said quietly.

" Just what the hell are you doing here?" InuYasha grimaced. Naraku looked at him, eyes blank and expressionless. InuYasha was a bit taken aback. " If you're here for the jewel, we destroyed it long ago." He announced.

" I know. I felt it happen." Naraku said. " I'm glad you did, actually."

" Wait, Huh?"

" Please, allow me to explain." Naraku pleaded gently.

" You got three minutes."

" Obviously, I am the same Naraku who caused so much misery to you and your friends so many years ago. True, you had thought you destroyed me and even I believed it, until I woke up on some distant shore. All of my previous powers are gone and there are only a few shreds of demonic power still keeping me a half-demon. I was revived by Tenseiga and returned here."

" Yeah. Sesshomaru. He brought you back." InuYasha snapped. " But why'd you come here?"

" I came back for one reason." He murmured. He glanced at Saaya. " I came back for her." He said.

" Well, you sure as heck ain't having her!" InuYasha yelled.

" I can well understand that. It's taken a long time to get here, now. I want you to understand, that I beg your forgiveness for all I've done to you."

" And what makes you think you'll get it?"

" InuYasha," Saeka said. " If we forgive him, he might help us find Sesshomaru. We'll need all the help we can get. Sesshomaru won't easily be found and you know that."

InuYasha glowered from her to his ex-enemy, or so Naraku claimed. He searched his face for any sign of trickery. He folded his arms and growled.

" Either you're telling the truth, or you're one hell of a liar." He grumbled. Naraku nodded once. " You were right with the first one. I am truly no longer your enemy. I wish to help in any way I can."

Saaya smiled at him thankfully. " You'll help us find dad?" she said. He glanced down at her. " Yes. I'll help." He replied. " After all, he brought me back to life. I'm in debt to him."

InuYasha crossed his arms. " All right. So you've been here, how long?"

" Lost track. A while, though."

" And you haven't tried to hurt Saaya, my niece, in any way?" he said, emphasizing her relation to him.

" I wouldn't think of such." He said truthfully. He looked at her again.

" Hmm. I'm still not happy with it. If you do anything sneaky, I'll kill you." He threatened. Saaya jumped up, suddenly frightened. But he raised his hand toward her. " I'll protect her with my life." He said. InuYasha sighed heavily and looked at Kagome. " I still don't like him." He grumbled.

" InuYasha, I've known he was here far longer than you have. He convinced me, and that's hard to do, even for him. Trust him." She said. InuYasha looked at him once more. He searched his face for any sign of treachery, but found none. Finally, he closed his eyes. " All right. You can help us. We'll permit you to remain around Saaya, but never alone!" he yelled. Kagome rolled her eyes and shook her head. " InuYasha, I hope you aren't practicing for when Sakura gets a boyfriend." She grumbled. He made a face and whirled on her. " Hell no! It's just that her own father ditched her and I'm only trying to protect Saaya!"

" Dad didn't, ditch me! He was guilt-ridden!" Saaya yelled.

" For as long as I've known him, Sesshomaru has never let guilt get the best of him! I don't think anything makes him feel like that!"

" Lady Kagome, please?" Saeka said.

" InuYasha, SIT! SIT! SIT!"

THUD!!!

Kagome crossed her arms and glared at him. " How could you say such a thing?" she snapped. InuYasha heaved himself to his feet and growled at her.

Naraku glanced at Saaya who motioned with her head to the left.

Come on, she mouthed. He nodded. While InuYasha and Kagome argued, they both quietly snuck away to let this blow over. Saeka nodded and turned back to the cabin to start preparing for the journey. She looked up at she sky as she went and sighed.

" Sesshomaru? Where are you?" she whispered.

Sesshomaru lay against a rock inside a small crevice in the cliff wall, recovering from the moth demon poison. It had affected him more violently than he'd anticipated and rendered him paralyzed until further notice. It was a strange poison. He was completely numb from the chest down. He sighed irritably and stared out at the world around him. He was on a mountain face a few miles north of the village. He didn't know why he'd headed north. Maybe because it was cooler and he secretly preferred the cold weather to the warm. As much as he hated to admit, he was a bit rusty to his nomad lifestyle he'd given up in order to have Saeka in his life. It had been hard adjusting, but if he could do it one way, he could reverse it just as easily.

He groaned as he shifted positions and sighed again when he realized moving was pointless. He was stuck until his blood took care of the poison. He wasn't concerned with dying or becoming something else with an odd variety of poison. He was too strong for that. What he was concerned about was his current vulnerability. He was virtually unable to move. He could still summon his light whips, but they couldn't take down another moth demon if one should stumble upon him. If a demon of that stature came along, he was in trouble. Fortunately, he'd found Kaede's store of badger scent that Miharu had used when she'd run away and had inhaled some of that. Now he understood why Kaede was the only one who used it. Nausea wasn't fun.

Sesshomaru's eyes closed halfway and he felt a terrible tug on his heart.

" Saeka." He whispered. He wanted so badly to go back to her, but it was far too late. By now, he hoped, she'd have moved on and forgotten about him. Perhaps, she'd found someone new and if that was the case, he was glad for her. It gave her a chance at a normal life. Maybe, there was even a slim chance that she could have a normal child with no chances of death for it. The demon blood in it if so would be almost eliminated and gradually, it would break down until nothing remained.

He actually felt a pang of slight jealousy. He wasn't real sure about someone else taking his place in her life. He knew that since the day he'd asked her for permission to court her, there would always exist between them a bond that could neither be explained, nor broken. Yet here he was, breaking it.

" Damn paradox." He grumbled.

His mood brightened slightly when he realized he could feel his right leg.

" Not too much longer."

Naraku and Saaya slowly made their way through the forest until they could no longer hear InuYasha's voice. Naraku wanted some time with Saaya to discuss the further plan of action for finding Sesshomaru. Also, he had a funny feeling that they wouldn't get much time to themselves in the upcoming future. He glanced over at her walking beside him. She still hadn't retrieved a new tie for her hair, so it continued to hang down. But she didn't seem to notice. He knew that from the back when it was like this, she resembled her father and hated being mistaken for him. But when she kept it up, she was a dead ringer for Saeka.

" Saaya?" he said. She looked at him. " Hmm?"

" Where do you think your father went?"

Saaya looked at the ground thoughtfully. " I don't know. He never spoke much of his life he met mom. She once told me he was a nomad. I suppose his blood calling was stronger over time."

" Well, there are only four places he could go." Naraku said.

" Where?"

" North, south, east or west." He said with a chuckle. She rolled her eyes.

" You're hilarious." She grumbled. She sighed. " I miss him already. He never even said goodbye to me."

He was shocked to see her eyes were shining. She was trying not to cry. He turned and gathered her into his arms, stroking her hair and willing for her to stay strong. She had to be. He understood the need to cry for some, but there were times when it was appropriate. Now, unfortunately, was not one of them.

" Don't cry, Saaya." He whispered. " We'll find him. I promise."

" Don't promise. Promises are made to be broken, Naraku."

Naraku understood her meaning. He couldn't remember a time when he'd seen a promise kept fully, without some sub benefit beneath it.

" I will keep this one, Saaya. We will find him."

" I know. But now, just please, don't say anything." She murmured.

" What should I do?" he asked.

" Just what you're doing now." She replied. He smiled slightly and closed his eyes.

Saeka helped Kaede prepare supplies for the journey through Japan in search of Sesshomaru. InuYasha and Kagome were struggling with Sakura over what she could bring while she argued with them in fluent English over what she couldn't bring. It had been well over a day since the message had been sent by now and Sango and Miroku had arrived and were discussing the situation with each other, all the while resisting sleep. Rona was sitting around not far from them, watching them intently.

Saeka was slowly putting everything together with movements that molasses moving uphill could outrace. Kaede noticed this.

" He can't have gotten too far, Saeka." Kaede said. " He isn't that fast. Do ye have any idea where he might be going, now?"

Saeka paused in mid packing of some of her medicinal herbs. She stared off into space a moment and then looked at her. " I only know of a couple of places he might have gone to. One of them is rather remote, but it's a possibility."

" What are they?" Kaede asked.

" The first is where his family has resided for generations, in a mountain range far to the west. He might have gone there. The second, and this is the least logical, he might have gone…north."

" Why north, child?"

" The northern domain is actually supposed to be mine." She said. Everyone's heads shot up at this. " What?" InuYasha exclaimed. Saeka turned and nodded. " Yes. Originally, I would have been a female demon lord of the northern domain. But, my father killed my mother and the others and banished me after the Great Dog Demon saved me. Technically, I'm ruler of those lands." She said, resuming her packing.

" Woah, so you think he might be going there to avenge what happened to you?" Miroku said. Saeka didn't realize he was talking to her until Kaede gently nudged her. " Oh, sorry, I'm not used to hearing your voice, Miroku." Saeka said apologetically. He nodded and smiled. " That's quite all right, it's good to see you too." He said.

" To answer your question, Miroku, he might. But it's likelier that he returned to his family's dwelling in the mountains."

" How come I never found out about this dwelling place?" InuYasha snapped.

" Apparently, Sesshomaru doesn't think too highly of it. He told me about it once before and he seemed to view it with distaste. For all we know, he's heading in the opposite direction altogether. But he doesn't just wander aimlessly. He always has some purpose on mind, wherever he travels and he's sure to be heading to a specific place. The northern domains and his western dwelling are the most logical places for him to go to." She explained. She finished her packing and pulled the strings on her rucksack taut and tied them. She turned to them again.

" If he's heading north, then he'll try to find out information on the Dragon Clan." She said.

" The Dragon Clan?" Kagome stated. " Is that your family?"

" I'm the only surviving blood member. There are no true blood members left." Saeka said sadly. " They were all wiped out almost a thousand years ago, by an ancient emperor from the continent. He and his men drove my family far to the north and then, several years later, killed the majority of them. Only my father and a few others survived. But the others were hunted down for their skins and teeth. My father was the last remaining member of the Dragon Clan and he sought to survive somehow. When he met my mother, Lady Saaya, whom my daughter is named for, he realized this could be his only chance. He somehow managed to win her heart. You all know what happened from there."

The last part was said in a whisper as she turned around dejectedly.

" He killed your mother because you were a girl instead of a boy." Kagome murmured. Sango looked at Miroku with a sad expression and he bowed his head.

" Yeah. But that's not the only thing about the north that's different." Saeka said. They all stared at her. Saeka turned around again. " You see, my mother was an extremely powerful sage of the highest order. That's why I'm not a true half-demon. Lady Saaya lived in a small abbey in the mountains outside the region of the Dragon Clan. Apparently, my father knew of this abbey and when he learned that my mother had already had me, he destroyed the abbey looking for her, never knowing that she was on her way to find him. He got back just in time, or so it goes."

" So what's all this got to do with Sesshomaru?" InuYasha demanded.

" My point is, a sage or two might have survived my father's attack on them. Sesshomaru might be going to find the abbey and see if he can discover anything about my family. If the sages are still alive, he'll find them. Sages live much longer than humans because their power acts as life force and lasts longer than an ordinary human body. They'll remember everything."

" Why would he do this?" Sango asked.

" He may be trying to take over the Northern Lands." Saeka said gravely.

A/N: I came up with like the best middle plot for this story. I have a feeling this may be the last book. So be prepared to say goodbye to Saeka, Sakura, Rona, Botan and whoever else I created who does in fact belong to me. I'm sure some of you knew of Saeka's heritage and that she's a dragon demon, or half-demon. See, there was a lot of important information in the second book that many of you may remember, and some might have to go back. It's important that you know about Saeka's heritage. She technically is the lady of the Northern lands here. I hope you all like this. As I write more of this and another fic I'm working on, I hope you'll forgive me for doing what I'm gonna do.