A/N: Hey everyone thank you all for all the wonderful reviews thus far, it really makes me feel better to hear you guys like the story than to just see how many hits to each chapter I get(there are quite a lot though) so I posted a bit earlier in the day as a reward ^_^. So just in case you didn't know, to make up to you my extended absence I WILL be posting a chapter every day until Friday and then it will be once a week on Fridays. Also in response to a review I received I felt that there may be a need for clarification. So I will be listing a few facts that I feel may have been misconstrued due to the fact that I am only human and sometimes make mistakes, because of this I will be including at the end of the chapter a list for anyone who feels the need to make sure they are on the right track with everything. Again I am sorry for any confusion and if there are further questions or clarifications needed please feel free to ask.

Oh and the lords don't know everything all the time because I like being the omnipotent one (lol) so I'm sorry. Anyways the attack took place closer to where Kagome's room is and that is almost opposite in the castle of where everyone else was and Sesshomaru told Arisugawa instead of anyone else because he was heading that way and the time between the attack and him learning of it wasn't significant enough to make any difference if someone else had told him. Anyway the guards had to make sure that new hole was guarded against any further intrusion.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the few characters that I have invented to make my story possible.

Ch. 15 Decisions

When she got up in the morning the sun was still not up nor did it look like it would be rising soon, but she still couldn't just lie there anymore. Kagome didn't know what was wrong with her. She kept telling herself that before Arisugawa said anything to her she hadn't thought once of Sesshomaru that way but she knew she was lying to herself. She then decided she would forget any actions he had made towards her that had helped in solidifying her feelings for him and that she would just brush those off now and resist thinking like that.

'Maybe I should go take a bath since I have the time now and since I can't go back to sleep.' She figured as she grabbed her bathing supplies and a under kimono to change into after she finished.

She then headed out of her room and to hot spring that Kumiko had shown her before. When she entered she made sure there was no one else inside the spring before disrobing and slipping into the warm water.

'It doesn't make any sense anyways for me to want to be with Sesshomaru. So why can't I just let go of these ridiculous feelings?'

But she couldn't think of any answer so she took a deep breath and sunk into the water submerging herself completely and sinking to the bottom. She was a bit surprised at how deep the spring got but at the same time she figured that she was short in comparison to the demons present so it might not be as deep as she imagined. Sensing that her air was running out she began to return to the surface.

When she surfaced she looked around and asked herself, "Why do I always want the guy I can't have?"

Her voice seemed to fill the room despite the fact that she barely said the words loud enough for her to hear herself.

"Why? Why can't I just accept that this isn't my time and I don't belong here anymore?"

Then her own words struck her and she knew what she would do, "When it's all over this time I will go back to my time and they can use the jewel for whatever. I will seal the well and then… I'll be happy."

Little did Kagome know Sesshomaru had walked in while she was under water and he had heard what she said. He then turned and left the spring careful not to draw her attention to him.

'Then it is settled that there is no point in the miko or I every being with one another. She will be gone after I get my lands back and that will be that.'

Kagome felt cool air come in the room suddenly and she dipped more into the water to warm her chilled skin, "Is someone there?"

But there was no answer. Kagome quickly finished bathing and when she was done she got out and dried off before putting on the inner kimono. When she walked out the door to the hot spring she was met by Lord Arisugawa.

"I went to your chambers to see if you had awoken yet but you were not there."

Kagome bowed, "Yes, well I thought I had some time so I came to the spring to relax and bathe before we leave."

"You still have plenty of time. For the most part everyone is ready and discussing the battle ahead but I have never been one for battle so I came to speak with you about what we talked about the other evening."

Kagome nodded remembering their conversation.

"And have you figured out anything Kagome?"

"Even if I admitted I loved him it wouldn't make any difference to him or me or anyone else. So I have decided to do as I originally planned and leave after the battle is finished, Naraku is dead, and the jewel is finished."

Arisugawa nodded sadly. He had hoped that Kagome would have been more passionate and want to pursue her feelings and an answer from Sesshomaru but he knew now that unless one of them decided otherwise they would not be together.

"And you are sure? Have you even tried to tell him?"

"No I haven't, but it is better that way for both of us and that is how it will remain."

Arisugawa nodded realizing that he wouldn't be able to persuade her. "I wish you would reconsider. He may love you and you never know the truth, he may want to be with you and not know it, he might just be blind and need time to see."

"I have decided what I want to do Lord Arisugawa, please respect that and not tell him anything. If he loved me he would have been different towards me or made it known, if he wanted to be with me he would have done so, and I am tired of waiting for men to see what stands before them." She then walked away towards her room, tears running down her cheeks.

Arisugawa stood and watched her walk away leaving her feelings there at his feet to keep to himself forever and never tell the one who needed to know them because she asked him not to.

~*~*~*~

Jaken stopped to look at the map again, "This doesn't look like the place a flower a life would be." he said looking around again, "Did Bokusenou mess up when he gave me directions?"

He was standing at the edge of a barren plane that only had thorns and sharp rocks sticking out everywhere ahead of him. It was near dawn so he decided that he would wait until the sun rose to look for the flower. The baby drake was still at his side and looked up to him now as he put down the small pack and map that he had been carrying.

"We will wait here until dawn little one. Then we will set out to look for this flower."

"Ka-cheep."

Jaken nodded, "Now rest, it will take no time to find the single flower in all of that."

The dragon then laid down at his feet and Jaken sat relaxing against a fallen log. They didn't have to wait long as the sun soon began to rise over the barren land in front of them revealing that not only were their sharp boulders jutting out of the ground here and there and thorns everywhere but there was a single plateau ahead also covered by the thorns.

Jaken then rose and the dragon followed as they went forwards on what Jaken hopped would be a clear path. As they walked through the thorns he looked for any signs of any flowers but all he saw were thorns.

He pulled out the directions again, "Let's see…it's a blue flower with red thorns and black leaves. The red looks like blood and the blue is like the night sky…so it should be easy to spot in all there grey thorns!"

"Ka-cheep!"

"Keep an eye out now it is important that we find it so that we can make the potion for lord Sesshomaru and Lady Kagome."

"Ka-cheep?"

"Ah, I didn't tell you yet. My Lord Sesshomaru was attacked and I took him to a human miko named Kagome and she healed him. Since then she has been with my lord and I have seen a change in him! My hope is to offer him this position we will make in hopes he will accept her as a possible mate and stop seeing her as a human since it will make it so she can live forever like him and always be at his side."

"Ka-cheep! Ka-cheep!" The dragon said wagging its tail and jumping up and down.

Jaken let a smile cross his face and shook his head, "Now let's find this flower."

~*~*~*~

Kagome put on a blue hakama over her inner kimono and tied a white haori over it since it was still cold outside. Then she tied her hair back in a pony tail with a simple black hair band then she looked in the mirror.

"I look like a miko except with blue instead of red bottoms. Hmm but I like this more it looks much better."

She then grabbed the dagger she had used to train with and placed it inside a fold of the haori. Then she grabbed the sword Miyuki had given her and tied that to her hip where if needed she could quickly access it.

She looked in the mirror again taking in how she looked as a warrior, "I don't look like much of a warrior."

"Don't say that! I trained you myself and you are the best warrior I have ever trained that is besides Kumiko." Miyuki said as she entered Kagome's room followed by Kumiko.

Kagome noticed that Kumiko and Miyuki were dressed similarly to her except Kumiko had orange hakama and armor covering her chest. And Miyuki wore purple hakama with armor similar to the armor she had seen Lord Kazuki wearing when they first came and Sesshomaru's.

"What is that at your hip and where is your sword?" Kagome asked as she noticed its absence from Kumiko's hip.

"Oh, it is with my horse. but I plan on using this," she said pulling the object from her side that Kagome asked about, "it is a collapsible staff, similar to the one lord Arisugawa uses except not as nice looking. Lady Miyuki says I am better at it so should use it as my main weapon."

"That's so cool Kumiko! I wish I could use one, but I am much happier with the sword Lady Miyuki gave me."

Miyuki smiled triumphantly, "Well I do have a talent for figuring out the best weapon of use for a person."

The women then laughed together before Miyuki then said, "So are you prepared? Do you have everything you need?"

Kagome nodded picking up her yellow back pack and bow and arrows, "Yes, I have all that I should need."

She had emptied a good amount of stuff out of the bag only keeping the essentials figuring that she would be able to come back for the rest of her belongings later.

The three then left the room and headed towards the stables. When they got there Kagome was surprised to see none other than Totosai.

"Totosai, what are you doing here?" Kagome said running up to the old demon.

He scratched his head, "Waiting for you. Lord Sesshomaru said it was urgent that I made you armor for the upcoming battle but when I tried to give it to him this morning he told me to do it and left with the first group of soldiers'."

"Really?"

He then pulled some armor, similar to the kind Miyuki was wearing, from his bag on the side of his cow, "That should fit you just fine. I have an eye for those things you know, but try it on now just in case it's too heavy. I tried to make it light but effective."

Kagome then took off her sword, pulled out her dagger, and put down her bag. Then she lifted the armor over her head and let it rest on her shoulders feeling its weight fully. It was a bit heavy but no worse than her backpack when it was full.

"Actually Totosai it's really light! It looks much heavier than it is. It is a bit loose though, is it supposed to be?"

"Uhh…."He said uncomfortably.

"Here Lady Kagome I will check it for you."Miyuki said as she grabbed the armor and repositioned it a bit then she found a few strings on the sides and she tightened those. "There that is the way you are supposed to wear it. Is that fine? Can you bend and move like that?"

Kagome bent over, then she twisted her torso from left to right, and finally she moved her arms around and took a deep breath, "Yup perfect! It fits like a glove Totosai and I am very thankful for this." She then began to put her dagger and sword back on.

He smiled and bent his head humble, "Yes, well it was no trouble at all Kagome."

Kagome then went to hug him but he stopped her, "Those spike do hurt you know, even a demon like me."

Kagome laughed and smiled settling for just her thank you, "Well we need to go then if the other troops have left already."

Totosai nodded, "You take good care Kagome, be careful out there."

She nodded before continuing over to where their horses stood. She mounted the horse that Kumiko had put her bag on and attached her arrow case to the saddle before they went to catch up with the army.

~*~*~*~

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I will see you all tomorrow. Please review and continue to read. Now for the facts thus far in our story! ^-^

First Info on Lords and their lands and other important events

Lord Kazuki and his wife/mate Lady Miyuki are from the Northern Lands (where there are a lot of dragons). The color representations for their lands are green and purple.

Lord Arisugawa is Lord of the East and because of this his colors are red and orange. Also his wife/mate died some years ago to miko and monks in their lands when she went to help a close by village against his wishes. He also lost their unborn child during this time. He is currently helping Sesshomaru and allowing him to stay in his home.

Lord Sesshomaru is of course from the Western lands but has currently fled due to a sneak attack. He was badly poisoned in this encounter and Jaken as a result took him to Kagome for help. Rin was killed in this encounter as where the majority of servants loyal to Sesshomaru.

The Lord of the South, who has not been named yet in the story (suspense!), is the one who teamed up with Naraku to overthrow Sesshomaru. We currently do not know his motives but we do know that the other Lords didn't like him much before hand and that he is a snake youkai. Oh and his colors will be yellow and black.

Jaken was with Sesshomaru until recently when he decided he was going to meddle with things and go find a way for 'a mortal human miko to become immortal'. He went to the tree demon Bokusenou for help and he directed Jaken in making a map to collect the things he would need to do so. So he is off doing that, good luck to him. ^-^ Just so you all know I like Jaken, he is a good source of comic relief.

Descriptions: I have problems with these so I may have left some details out.

Arisugawa: He is shorter than Sesshomaru, has fiery red hair that he wears pulled back and tied, the symbol on his forehead is the sun, he has a dark complexion, kind of plump, he is a very easy going happy person despite everything and plays the fool sometimes, he is a cat youkai, has an uncanny ability to decipher your true emotions and meanings in your actions. As a weapon he uses a collapsible, golden, studded staff that glows with power and he keeps it at his side at all times.

Kumiko: She is Lord Arisugawa's servant and guard of sorts, she would do anything for him because of her love for him, she appears to be Kagome's age, she has orange eyes, golden hair, and the weapons she favors are daggers, staves, and her hands.

Kazuki: Dragon demon, a bit impatient, aggressive, wise and well fit for battle, he has long dark violet hair with lighter blue streaks through it, he wears his hair pulled back into a long braid, darker complexion than Sesshomaru but lighter than Arisugawa, his eyes are brown but they refract the light causing them to appear rainbow in color (it's a dragon thing), and a leaf symbol is on his forehead. His weapon of choice is a sword except when it's personal he uses his hands.

Miyuki: Named after the snow, she is very pale, hair is knee length and white, her eyes are a translucent silvery blue, she wears the same symbol on her forehead as Kazuki since she is his mate. Her weapon of choice is her hands (pugilist) but she carries two swords that she uses at once.