Disclaimer: As much as I'd like to own the characters they all belong to Rumiko Takahashi, not me.

A/N: Here is the next chapter, folks. Please do review! I love getting feedback, bad or good!

And here's a :WARNING: to heed, I suppose OOCness will be present sometime in the future chappies. By golly gosh, I find it hard to keep Sesshoumaru as prim and proper as he is now. Expect changes from him the most . . . I suppose.

A Gap Across Time

III: What Happened?

Kagome breathed in and out heavily, eyes squinted shut for that brief moment that she was miraculously nailed down by Sesshoumaru's pale hand. His gaze upon her was none too approving of what she had tried to do. Trepidation crept up on her, making her shiver unconditionally. She was amazed that he could move at all! Chocolate brown eyes finally willed themselves open to look when the girl sensed nothing was happening. In fact, the grip on her slender wrist was becoming slack; she could feel Sesshoumaru's nails dig lightly into her skin as he tried to maintain his menacing pose.

In a low tone of warning, he hissed, "I already told you once, I do not wish for you to undress me." Kagome's eyes widened considerably, a light smile almost caressed her beautiful lips. Much was not expected from this taiyoukai, and yet, Kagome, for the first time saw him flush a light crimson. Sesshoumaru noticed her astounded stare immediately, he had the mind to rip her throat out right there and then; if only it were possible for him he'd gladly do it.

"You're blushing, Sesshoumaru," Kagome breathed out. Her fear of him left her as quickly as it had come. Sesshoumaru can't be too much of a heartless bastard like Inuyasha states all the time, can he be? She could see annoyance creep into the other being's face, this time Kagome couldn't hold back her grin. "I've never seen you blush before! And here I thought you were really a heartless bastard! Way to go, Kagome, this is what you get for listening to Inuyasha all the time!"

Sesshoumaru's hand fell limp against the soft bed; his energy had been depleted much to his surprise. His ears wanted to tune out the sound of Kagome's voice, though he found that he couldn't do so, tried as he might; nothing was working. It was also a deft blow to his pride to let a human such as Kagome see him blush, he never recalled ever blushing once in his life inside the realm of his silent empire. Neither Jaken nor Rin had ever seen such a disfigurement of his face; he would never let them or any other, as a matter of fact, for as long as he lived see him in such a state.

Why am I blushing before Inuyasha's woman then?

Kagome's giddy side disappeared when Sesshoumaru's appearance became that of a frown. He looked none too happy to be caught. Uh . . . Maybe I should apologize or something . . . I guess this won't work out well with his subjects . . . "I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru, I didn't mean to react like that. I've heard a great deal about your kingdom from Inuyasha, he didn't say very nice things about it but I loved to go visit it sometime . . . If you don't mind?" Gah! Way to ruin your rep, Kagome! Sesshoumaru must think I'm a little snoop now! "And about this little incident, I'll forget it ever happened."

"So be it," Sesshoumaru replied gruffly. He managed to rid himself of the insidious blush that overtook him just moments ago. Cursing to himself, Sesshoumaru realized that he was starting to feel light-headed, the foul stench on his clothing was driving his poor senses mad. He wanted nothing more than a fresh change of clothes, however, he didn't want to accept any from the human girl before him.

Kagome noticed the taiyoukai distress, she pursed her lips, wondering what she was going to do with him. If he won't accept my offer of help how is he going to get better? Besides, he's stuck here whether he likes it or not, for the time being anyway. Still, I find it odd that he made it through the Bone Eater's well . . . Kagome nearly keeled over when Sesshoumaru unexpectedly passed out. Panicking, Kagome tried to wake him up, not caring that she was roughly shaking him. Small, thin hands clutched at his haori's sleeves as they tugged at them with quite a bit of force.

"Sesshoumaru, wake up! Please, don't die on me!"

-----

"Jaken, is Lord Sesshoumaru back yet?" Rin asked.

"Apparently no. Where could he have gone anyway?" Jaken delved the tip of his staff so hard onto the marbled floor that it resonated a sound across the expansive room. He already had enough to worry about, and here was Rin standing beside him, pestering him. The little glimpse of words he read on the parchment in his Lord's study unnerved him, no matter how many thoughts came to mind, they never satisfied his need to know the truth. However, loyalty to his Lord was Jaken's first priority over anything, so he wasn't going to read the parchment without permission even if it killed him from not doing so. Beady yellow eyes turned to gaze at Rin then. Jaken saw that Rin was now sulking in a corner of the room, nonchalantly staring at the floor. Her usually perky attitude completely disappeared, replaced with something that was rather foreign to the girl. It's been a long while since Jaken had seen her moping around for days on end though he couldn't blame her.

Sesshoumaru has been missing now for quite some time . . .

Back in the counselors meeting room, Saiai gathered all the other members to discuss this little disturbance that erupted across the castle. Word be known, almost every youkai, no matter their rank had their own suspicions and stories to tell of what really happened to their Lord, word had spread fast of Sesshoumaru's oddly prolonged absence.

Sitting around a round table were the many respected counselors of their trade, several were from the same branch since it was hard for one to handle the situated area alone. Saiai, being the most important of them all started the discussion.

"As you can see, we are all gathered here to hereby discuss the problematic issue that has risen. Our Lord has not returned to the castle for approximately two weeks now, it seems to have caused an alarm statement among colleagues in our ranks. Being the head of each department we should all be well aware that we each have some privileges that Lord Sesshoumaru has given us. I believe now is the time to put them to good use."

A somewhat short, lanky young looking youkai stood up to the declaration. His blue colored, bushy eyebrows moved about as if it were alive when he arched them animatedly. Bright, vibrant opal colored orbs shone with the justice to speak with clear precision. However striking looking his eyes were, they were no match for the beauty of his face; his chiseled jaw line was smooth and firm, his mouth was thin and strong, his nose was high and curved. Much was to be said about a youkai such as this one. Between each persona, this handsome youkai was known as the counselor for the northern tower that overlooked the land to the north. This was the direction Sesshoumaru took when he last left so he had a say in this.

"It has indeed been quite some time since Lord Sesshoumaru has been gone, moreover, it's such a big problem that if he doesn't return soon the castle may be thrown into chaos. Not to mention that that bright light that overtook everyone by surprise so many days ago also came from the direction of the northern hemisphere. At the time, the youkai undergoing their duty said they didn't detect such an aura approaching us. Isn't it strange that our Lord would vanish shortly afterwards?"

Everyone around the table talked to each other in murmured voices. Saiai gave the counselor of the northern tower a critical look, if the counselor had been paying attention he'd probably be perturbed by the sudden look of skepticism.

"Aizuna is right, it's rather peculiar that our Lord would disappear after the incident. Perhaps this is planned by some unknown force we have yet to give notice to." The youkai that spoke this time was even younger looking than Aizuna. His long tousled white mane that ran along the top of his head beautifully lined itself across to the nape of his neck. Parts lacking the long strands contained short, wispy specks of short hair. He was dressed fashionably with a ruffled white collar that ran along the length of his neck. From chest to waist down the youkai had worn preferably cotton made materials with the intricate designs of a icy blue chrysanthemum marring the fabric's pale surface. Fully clothed in snow colored items, one was sure to pertain him to a magical creature from the heavens. Aside from this, he was the only horse youkai to be found inside the castle since they were such a rare breed. As story be told, humans from centuries ago used to hunt youkai such as this one due to the valuable hair atop its head. Horse youkai were gentle by nature so humans took them down easily.

"You're as prominent as ever to support Aizuna, Katari," another counselor spoke in a sweet, rich voice. Soft, silk material brushed against dark colored skin charred to perfection much like hardened mother earth out on compact floors. Veiled underneath a large, purple shawl was the almighty sparrow youkai, her pointed fingers dug into the cloth of her creamy corn colored robes. Sharp, brown eyes surveyed the room with quick speed; always watching out for any signs of distractions and ill manners. Astonished milk tinted orbs stared back at the youkai that spoke. Katari knew he had a fixation with Aizuna, but he knew better than to let that get in the way of being a good counselor. "Listen everyone, we're just talking about the problem, we need solutions now, no?" Several heads nodded in agreement. "Then commence."

"As of late, Tsume, several counselors and I have thought things over, though we can't think of a single thing that would bring Lord Sesshoumaru back. We don't even know where he's located at the moment." Saiai interceded, letting Katari off the hook. "If you have any ideas feel free to share."

"I certainly will when I think of some," she replied.

"That's fine by me," Saiai unnecessarily added.

-----

"Geez, what the hell am I supposed to tell the others, they're pretty sure that Kagome should be back by now. Wait till Shippou hears of this, he's never going to leave me alone, that stupid brat," Inuyasha muttered to himself as he walked back to the camp his friends were located at for the night.

All heads turned to the hanyou when he appeared through a clearing from behind a clump of clustered shrubs. Shippou looked at him expectantly, his small green eyes were filled with anticipation; Inuyasha knew who he was waiting for to appear behind him: Kagome. Inuyasha almost wanted to laugh in the child youkai's face, but he couldn't pluck out the mood to no matter how he looked at it. In retrospect, he knew he was going to miss Kagome too. Her absence is going to hurt Shippou quite a bit, it can't be helped I suppose. Besides, that runt should learn to be more independent! As expected, Shippou sprung into action, hammering Inuyasha with questions. This is getting really old . . .

"How come Kagome isn't here, Inuyasha?" Shippou asked worriedly. "I thought you went to go get her? You must have left her behind somewhere, didn't you? You better go bring her here before she gets hurt."

"Shippou, just shut up!" Taken aback by the hanyou's aggressive comment, the fox youkai cowered slightly in fear. Hands coming up to cover his head incase the half-demon wanted to hit him soundly on the head. Nothing happened though, Inuyasha was merely standing there looking almost helpless for the first time in a long while. Shippou squinted up at Inuyasha, a look of anger was clearly marred on his face. "Kagome . . . isn't here, Shippou. All I can say is I don't know when she's coming back. And don't count on it being anytime soon, you hear?"

"Why's that, Inuyasha?" Sango asked, curious to know where Inuyasha was leading this. Even she could sense Inuyasha's distress, however, she didn't know what to do or say to make the rigid iciness in Inuyasha's stare go away. What does he mean Kagome isn't returning here anytime soon? Does she have something urgent to do in her time period? Letting out a small puff of air Sango stood up to walk towards the hanyou. "Did something happen between you and Kagome?"

"That's not it."

Sango frowned, Inuyasha's tone of voice was not to her liking. Something had happened, whether it was between him and Kagome or not. What is he hiding from us?

"That look on your face doesn't suit you, you know?" Inuyasha immediately caught himself, he sprung into action to correct his expression. Sango would've laughed at him if the atmosphere around them wasn't so thick with anger; it was hardly a minor matter at this point. Even little Shippou had his hands on his hips, preparing himself to give Inuyasha a very annoying scolding he'd probably heard millions of times before. "If it wouldn't bother you too much, mind telling us why Kagome isn't going to be here for a while?"

"The well is sealed off . . . Happy now?" Inuyasha sat down where he stood, briefly crossing his arms over one another as he stared at his companion's reactions. Out of the three, Shippou seemed to be the most surprised. Inuyasha paid careful attention to the runt. "Before you start yelling your head off, Shippou, you should let me explain, it's not like I haven't heard enough of your irritating voice for one day." Shippou opened his mouth to reprimand that statement but he clamped it shut when Sango gave him a stern glare. The little fox youkai bowed his head, being remotely quiet for once. "I'll give you all the short version . . . Sesshoumaru and I were by the Bone Eaters well dueling it out against one another, it was at this point that someone shot arrows at Sesshoumaru. As it so happened he fell inside the well and some hooded figures sealed it off. I couldn't even get through to the other side."

"So that means Sesshoumaru is trapped in Kagome's timeframe," Miroku commented. "What good could become of that?"

"Exactly! I swear if I ever get my hands on him again I'll make sure he's dead and buried!" Inuyasha shouted. Miroku and the others sweat dropped, Inuyasha was taking things too literally. "It just makes me mad to know that he's over at Kagome's time, he's probably causing chaos to everyone right now."

"That sounds a little more like you," Shippou slyly tweaked.

"What was that?" Inuyasha reeled on the little youkai, almost knocking him over with the proximity of his face to Shippou's body. "You better not be saying anything funny."

"I wasn't!" Shippou made sure to back up a step or two incase Inuyasha decided to do him in. Kirara watched the youngster with curious red eyes. "And you should calm down, Inuyasha, getting mad at everyone and everything isn't going to change anything."

"Keh."

"He's right, you know," Sango sided. "I suppose none of us are happy about something like this, but at the current moment you can see there's nothing we can do about it. Let's think things over, having a plan is better than charging on in blindly." Sango gestured towards Miroku, wanting him to speak his mind as well. He shrugged and shook his head. Sango sighed. "Anyways, let's get some sleep."

"You all can sleep, I'll stay up and watch out for those bastards. They might show up and try to kill us."

"Suit yourself," Sango replied, obviously not taking the hanyou seriously.

Daybreak was evident when the sun broke through the hilltops to bring forth light to mother nature. Kirara was the first to wake among the others, she automatically looked towards Inuyasha. He was perched on a tree by their camp still wide awake except his eyes had dark circles underneath them, Kirara meowed and Inuyasha turned his head to look at her. She stood up on all fours, tail wagging slowly as she continued to stare up at him. The hanyou turned back towards the other direction, watching the sun as it rose from it's perch upon the hills to float upward into the sky.

Kagome, I hope you're all right.

-----

Saiai sat down to rest his tired old bones, he may not look old but he definitely was old indeed. His youth had long been drained from him during the time of Sesshoumaru's father's reign over the kingdom, at that time he was at the peak of his youth. Alas, it annoyed him to no end to realize that he had grown old mentally, not physically. He closed his eyes, letting the sounds of the early birds soothe him, making him feel relaxed. As a tree youkai, he liked it best when nature was starting anew, almost like a lone plant trying to find it's way to the surface from below the ground. However, his much needed rest was interrupted when Aizuna strolled into his chambers without so much as knocking on the door first.

"Mind you knock next time, Aizuna," Saiai chided.

"Sorry for barging in but there's been an uprising among the ranks between the soldiers." Saiai arched an eyebrow at the other youkai. "Apparently no one is able to stop the dispute, not even the Minister of warfare. He asked me to come here to get you to help him if you don't mind."

"I'm surprised he would turn to someone like me, surely the counselors in that area of knowledge should be able to give him advice, even help him reprimand the soldiers if he wanted them to." Aizuna bowed his head, bright blue hair falling around his young looking face. "I guess I have no choice then."

What in the heavens could cause such commotions? Is it because of our Lord's absence?

Like Aizuna described all the soldiers of varying ranks were chattering amongst one another, some in loud voices while others in hushed tones. All heads turned towards the newcomer when the huge cedar doors opened, causing them to let out a loud, long creak to the hinges. Red eyes surveyed the area, it was almost as if the counselor was counting heads to see how many were present. The Minister of warfare gave him a grateful smile, silently beckoning him to enter the enormous dojo; Saiai did not hesitate to permit entry for himself. As a sign of respect, all the soldiers got on their hands and knees as they greeted the counselor.

"Well now, what seems to be the problem? Care to explain, anyone?" Saiai asked. He found it odd that he could command such obedience from all the youkai; it went to show how much of an influence he was to everyone. He wasn't even a counselor for this department either. A tall looking youkai rose from among the rest to speak. His short stubby orange hair did little to cover the battle wounds he had marring the sides of his head. His eyes were a steely gray, full of hard earned experience as a soldier, if Saiai wasn't mistaken, he was ranked fairly high in the charts.

"We've all heard that our Lord has gone missing. Nothing has been said about the incident that happened only several weeks ago, even more strange happenings have taken place since then. We all feel that we have a right to know what's exactly going on. Some say Lord Sesshoumaru has been killed, while others say he's been captured and held hostage somewhere, even brutally wounded if not dead."

Saiai inwardly chuckled. Ah, these soldiers do stick to their trade very well, they even think the way they fight! "Now, now, everyone, a commotion does not need to happen to get an answer from us counselors, as I speak, we're all trying our best to bring our Lord back. Before anyone goes spreading idiotic rumors, I, Saiai, have held a small meeting not too long ago with some of our other counselors, strategies were discussed and made. We've decided that in the meantime until our Lord returns, Inuyasha, his younger brother, shall govern over us for now." Murmurs broke out among the crowd of listeners. "I want to hear no objections, if we want to keep this kingdom up and running this must be done."

The youkai that had spoken earlier said, "we understand, Saiai, thank you for informing us. I'll make sure not to let another uproar happen." Saiai smiled and slightly bowed before turning around to leave the dojo, Aizuna followed closely behind him.

Once out of hearing range from anyone, Aizuna asked, "was it wise to say such a thing as that?" His green eyes were filled with uncertainty. "Surely Inuyasha wouldn't want to watch over his brother's kingdom for him."

"We'll think of something. Just wait."

To be continued!