Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of it's characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, I believe…

Chapter 4: Leaps and Bounds

Sweat ran down her face as she slept, tossing and turning fitfully on her futon. Her mind was filled with images, images from her not so distant past that she would prefer to forget. But luck was not with her, it was intent on reminding her how she got to be where she was.

Silence greeted her that night when she woke from her sleep. They were camping out in a clearing, just over the border of the western lands, and Inuyasha had oddly enough agreed to rest earlier than usual that day. He had of course disappeared as soon as they'd gotten a fire going. That was typical. Kagome understood why.

What she hadn't expected when she awoke was to find herself and Shippo completely alone. She looked all around the camp, eyeing their rumpled bedding and glancing back down at the kit lying beside her. Where had everyone gone off to? Gently, she woke the kit, picking him up to cuddle in her arms as she stood.

"What is it Haha-ue?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his tiny fists.

"They're gone," she muttered quietly, almost afraid to speak too loudly. Something felt off.

Shippo looked around as well then, his nose sniffing experimentally.

"I can't smell Sango or Miroku or Kilala…," he began. "Not anywhere near here…But I can smell Inuyasha."

"Will you take me to him? I don't care if he's with Kikyo, If Sango and Miroku are gone I'll need his help to find them. I'm worried about them."

Shippo jumped down out of her arms, quickly leading the way through the brush, but not before Kagome could shoulder her hideously yellow backpack.

Soon enough they came near a clearing. Kagome stopped though as soon as she heard the screams of agony surrounding her and bouncing off of the trees. Her blood ran cold. She could also hear a familiar near-roaring; a malicious growling that echoed in her ears. It was Inuyasha. And if her suspicions were correct, his demon had taken over.

She quickly ran to the clearing, avoiding the trees and branches that were in the way. She had to do something. But what she saw before her would quickly make her regret her actions.

Several demon bodies littered the ground, pieces of them scattered here and there. Inuyasha was among them, taking the life of yet another right before her eyes, his red eyes feral. Thankfully he hadn't noticed her yet. She gagged at the sight.

Clamping a hand over her mouth she looked around, searching for any possible survivors, and seeing none. A high keening wail soon grabbed her attention though. She looked over towards the bushes somewhat nearby and saw a youkai woman's body laying before it, her blood sprayed everywhere, her dark hair falling like a halo about her pale face. But Kagome soon realized why that woman was further away from the others. She had had something to hide, something to protect. Inuyasha seemed to realize it as soon as she did. He stalked towards the bush like a hunter stalking it's weak prey.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. She could not let him kill another. She bolted towards him, knowing that she could not make it to the babe before him. He turned, surprise written all over his face before it turned to anger. He flashed his claws at her, growling ferociously. Feeling threatened, he took a swipe at her. She cried out as she fell backwards, his bloodied claws scraping her forearm. She shrieked, unable to help the panic that filled her. She had seen Inuyasha when possessed by his inner demon before but it still made it difficult to see him that way. Especially after seeing him kill his own kind so savagely. How could she possibly stop this?

He jumped at her, his fangs glistening with saliva at the prospect of yet another prey. She twisted out of the way, shouting "Osuwari!" as she clambered to her feet. He shot face first into the ground, roaring fiercely in protest, his hands scrambling to reach her from his spot. She ran to the bush quickly, grabbing the bundle into her arms and calling Shippo to her, hoping he'd come before the spell wore off. She didn't want to hurt Inuyasha any more when he was in that state. He didn't know what he was doing, right? The kit ran to her from his hiding spot, whimpering as he came, and she immediately erected a barrier. Inuyasha squirmed in his spot, pushing the limits of the spell to the brink. Afraid at how franticly he wanted to get to her, she cried the spell out again and again and again until he fell unconscious into the pit he'd dug out.

She sighed in relief, panicked tears running down her face. At least now she could get a moment to think. She nearly sank to her knees, feeling exhausted as if she'd never slept. She pat the kit on the head with her free hand, looking down at the bundle in her arms in slight confusion. She would figure out what to do about that later. First she'd have to find his sword, wherever it had gone off to.

Just as she was about to begin the search, Shippo stiffened on her shoulder.

"Kagome. Wolves." She froze. They must have smelt the blood. And now they were coming for a meal.

"Shit! Come on Shippo! We have to get out of here fast!" She grabbed him with her other arm, pulling him down in front of her and bolting out of the clearing. She needed to put as much distance between her and them as possible. And while she was worried about Inuyasha, he could take care of himself. He wouldn't die that easily, but she would and so she had to run.

She ran harder than she'd ever run before, her lungs burning for air.

She bolted upright, panting in her fear, sweat and tears pouring down her face. Quickly she sealed her scent, hiding it from the others in the fortress if they hadn't smelled it already. She didn't need any of them knowing of her distress. It was unnecessary.

Slowly, she dragged herself off of her futon, her blankets having already been thrown off of her in her sleep. It was tedious, and a little painful, but she finally managed to get herself to the door to the garden, sliding open the shoji screen just enough to let in a cool breeze. She leaned heavily on the door frame, breathing in deeply the calming floral scent. The dream had set her on edge and she knew her nerves were fried from all of the stress. She could not do anything about it, no more than she could control the tears that freely rolled down her face. It was more out of fear than anything. She knew she was safe there, in the Western fortress, but it did not help at all with the memories. They plagued her mind when she slept, and more so that night. It seemed to her that the better the day she had, the more vivid her dreams became. She could hear the howls, feel a shiver of panic at the sound, and cringe knowing that they were getting nearer and nearer with every frantic step she took.

She breathed in slowly through her nose, shuddering as she did so. The breeze was cool, but refreshing. Coming to a decision, She chose not to tell Sesshomaru of what had occurred. It was hard enough seeing it in her mind on a regular basis; she didn't honestly know if she could handle speaking of it out loud. And what's more, she didn't know how he'd respond, what he'd do if he found out about what Inuyasha had done. Would he be angry? Or would he be happy, having finally lost what he considered to be his imbecilic half-brother? Kagome tried valiantly to put a stop to the questions that ran through her head, but every day she couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her friends. Why weren't they there? Why would they have left without so much as a goodbye if they knew of the dangers? Were they, or Inuyasha, alive?

With one last sigh she laid down in the doorway, letting her exhausted mind drift to darkness once more.

Kagome smiled contentedly as she watched the children in their daily lessons. Rin was learning in leaps and bounds, taking after Shippo in his earnestness. She was a very bright girl and it made Kagome happy to see her put her mind to work so eagerly.

That day she had asked them to draw something from their memories, something that made them happy. Glancing over at Shippo she noticed that he was drawing the day that the Inu-tachi had spent at the river. There was a lot of splashing involved and of course hentai remarks from the houshi in regards to the ladies' swimming suits, but all in all it was a very fun and relaxing day. Probably one of the first in a long, long while. He frowned as he tried to draw the patterns in the different swimsuits as he remembered them. Kagome's was a bright blue with light blue polk-a-dots.

Turning over to her left, she glanced at Rin's picture. What she saw made her smile. She was drawing a picture of herself and Sesshomaru, the day he had patted her on the head. In the picture Rin had a huge smile spreading across her face and she was hugging Sesshomaru around the waist. She giggled a little, seeing that Jaken and Ah-un were scribbled in on the sides for good measure.

"Very nice job Rin," she acknowledged to the little girl.

Rin didn't look up, concentrating on drawing Sesshomaru's hair perfectly. It was so shiny and smooth that she had to make sure it was done correctly. Of course.

"You look very happy in your picture," Kagome murmured, wondering how the child would respond.

"Mm hm," she mumbled. "Rin was very happy! Sesshomaru-sama doesn't pat Rin on the head very often, and it makes her happy when he does."

After a moment she stopped drawing, her crayon being set aside. "Is Rin a bad girl Kagome-chan?"

"What?" She couldn't help but be surprised.

"It's just that, Rin tries to be very good but Sesshomaru-sama never notices when Rin is good. She does everything that he tells her to, because she wants to, but he never smiles at Rin." She played with the crayon, picking at the paper wrapped around it. "He takes care of me like Rin's Otosan did but what if Sesshomaru-sama is angry with Rin?" She looked up at Kagome, tears forming in her eyes. "Will he leave Rin like Rin's Otosan did?" Shocked at how quickly Rin became upset, she wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into her lap, rubbing her back in gentle circles as the little girl cried.

"Oh Rin, Sesshomaru-sama loves you. You know that," she pulled back to see her face. "Don't you? He just doesn't know how to show it."

Her big brown eyes lit up a little. "Really?"

"Mm hm, and I think that if you just be patient with him and hug him whenever you can he'll come around." She smiled down at Rin and watched as her eyebrows rose.

"Just hug Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Mm-hm!"

"Will he let Rin?"

"Of course! And you know," Kagome whispered conspiratorially, pressing the tip of her nose to Rin's, "I bet if you call him Otosan he'd be really happy." Her eyes widened significantly. Just as she was about to speak, Kagome sat up straight, sensing someone else in the room.

She looked up to see Sesshomaru in the doorway, a slightly worried expression on his face. His eyes were on Rin, and as soon as he realized that she was fine, he calmed visibly. His ever stoic expression returned and he placed his hands in his sleeves.

"What has happened, Miko?" She smiled meekly up at him.

"Rin's alright Sesshomaru-sama," she said, "No need to worry. She isn't hurt."

"Hn." Rin crawled out of Kagome's lap, slowly making her way to the lord. When she reached him she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his haori. He stiffened for a moment as he looked down at the little girl before putting a hand around her shoulder.

"Thank you for worrying about me…Otosan."

Kagome watched as his eyes visibly widened in obvious surprise. She couldn't help but smile at the expression on his face. He seemed frozen, not knowing how to react.

Rin pulled away, content that he didn't reproach her when she called him what she'd always wanted to call him. Smiling as brightly as ever, she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the low set table, already telling him about what she'd been drawing. She pulled him down to sit, crawling into his lap as she pulled the picture onto her own lap and explained every detail of it including how much time she'd spent on his lovely hair and what color of green she thought was perfect for Jaken.

Throughout all of this he remained silent but when Kagome glanced up at him she caught his eye. He stared at her blankly for a moment before a small smile graced his lips and he turned back to what Rin was showing him. Indeed Rin was learning in leaps and bounds.

~~M'kay! Hopefully you guys liked this chappie, and hopefully now most of it makes sense! ^_^ If it doesn't it will make more sense as it progresses. I can't, of course, reveal everything so soon… XD Anyways, I'll get on the next chappie! R&R!