Hey there! I decided to publish the next chapter today because tommorow I have this huge math exam and after that I don't think I will be able to um let's just say, think straight :P

Special announcement:

I would like to thank 1bluefire who decided to be my beta reader! I'm really really gratefull for that ;)

End of announcement!

Now on with the story!

Kagome could not sleep, thinking repeatedly about what happened last night. When she finally managed to get a little rest, it was almost sunrise. No surprise, that when the young miko woke up the sun was set high in the sky. Her first thought was neither a bath nor the training, only Rin. Running to her room, she slid the door open, only to find that the place was empty. She looked for her little baby in the gardens, dining room, kitchen and the library but with no luck. Finally, on the edge of her nerves, Kagome went to the front gate.

"Has young Rin left the palace?" she asked. Silence.

"Has she or has she not!" now Kagome was digging her claws in the palms of her hands, letting the small drops of blood down to the ground.

"Is there a problem here?" a voice questioned from behind. The raven-haired girl turned to see Inu female walking slowly to them.

"Milady" the guards bowed. "This woman wished to receive information strictly forbidden to reveal"

"Oh? Might I ask what kind of information is that?" Saya stopped right behind Kagome and put a hand on, the now, boiling with anger girl.

"About young Rin's location"

"And why can you not tell this female here, where her little girl is?" stated Saya who was a little mad herself.

"We were ordered not to do so."

"Well, in that case, I order you to tell us right now" The guards hesitate for a moment but seeing almost blood red eyes looking at them with a promise of death, they quickly spit it out.

"Milady, young Rin and Lady Asuko went to the field of flowers near the lake" by now Kagome was growling uncontrollably.

"Dear" Saya said softly, trying to calm her a little "Before we go "Kagome's face change from anger to confusion for a second when she heard 'we' "I want to ask you. What did Asuko do to you that you hold such anger toward her?"

"She wants to kill Rin." That was enough reason for the Inu female, so she sped up to their destination, with Kagome just a little behind.

--

In the mean time our sweet and innocent little girl, knows as Rin sat down on the blanket, surrounded by beautiful flowers. The other woman, mad and heartless, known as Asuko was sitting in front of her with a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Rin, would you like some tea?" the little one nodded. The older woman knew this would be too simple. All it took was to take her on a picnic when they were in her father castle, to gain the little one's trust.

"In the mean time maybe you could pick some flowers for your sister?" she asked as sweet as she could. Rin knew that this lady was pretending but it really didn't matter to her. The thought of giving some of those beautiful flowers to her Oneesa was over whelming. Skipping from one spot to another, she created a little bouquet. What she did not see, however, was the purple liquid being added to her tea. Therefore, when Asuko called her for lunch she happily sat down on the blanket and started to eat some of the rice balls. Finally reaching for the cup, she tried to take a sip but found that her mouths were blocked by something smooth. Looking down Rin saw the tail of her sisters' pet wrapped around her head. The snake hissed a few times and then drank the entire cup laced poison. The demoness was looking with something between shock and anger on her face. Finally registering what just happened she cursed under her breath.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked grabbing Rin by the shoulders and shaking her violently. As quickly as she reached, she pulled back because of the barrier that surrounded the little one.

"Why won't you just die!" she was ready to launch another attack when something caught her wrist. Looking, she saw a whip of green light and following its trail, she locked her own eyes with the most deadly glare she ever saw.

"You…" she hissed. Kagome now did not pay any attention to her. She looked at Rin who was running to her. The little girl hugged her leg tightly and started to sob.

"I remember now Oneesa. This lady tried to kill Rin before." Kagome felt a burning within like a fury torch. Kneeling on one knee, she kissed the little girl cheek. Bringing her in a tight embrace, Kagome took a few steps to Lady Saya and handed her the still crying Rin.

"Take good care of her." The Inu female just nodded. She knew what was going to happen in a few minutes and she had no intentions in stopping the mikoness from doing it. If she were in her place, the Inu Lady would probably react in the same way.

"So, I was right. You tried to kill her before didn't you?" Kagome hissed.

"I did. What are you going to do about it?" Asuko smirked which made the raven-haired female even more furious, if that was possible. Her beast was demanding to be release, but she tried to control it. 'Just a little big longer' the miko thought to herself.

"I'm…. Going…. To….. Kill…. You…" she said through gritted teeth.

"Even if you did manage to take my life, your own will not be spared. My people in the palace will tell Sesshomaru that you tricked him by manipulating the little girls mind and then killed her slowly and painfully." Kagome thought about it for a moment. 'Would Sesshomaru really believe something like that? I doubt it, he's not that stupid' smirking, she turned her head slightly to the two people behind her.

"Rin" said the young miko gaining back her little one's attention.

"Yes Oneesa?"

"Scream." Now even Lady Saya looked at her confused.

"What?" the little one asked not sure if she heard properly. Kagome was still smirking.

"Scream. As loud as you can" There was a short silence and then a piercing sound filled the air.

--

The Lord of the Western Lands was working, as usual, in his office when a not so loud scream rang in his ears. 'Rin' he thought to himself and dashed from the palace in the direction of the sound. Coming closer and closer, with abnormal speed, the sound was louder and louder. His ears were hurting but something so trivial was not going to stop the great taiyoukai.

Finally, after what seemed like forever to him, which was in reality maybe two minutes, the dog demon entered the clearing. There they were, his mother holding Rin, who stopped screaming the second he showed up. However, that was not what caught his attention. A little further, his mate to be was immobilized by a whip.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked in a demanding tone.

"My love" Asuko said in a fake, sad voice "This woman tried to kill your ward but fortunately me and Milady came in time to save her" He looked with narrowed eyes at his mother who frowned at the last statement, then his gaze came upon the young miko standing still with her back to him. There was no doubt in his mind.

"Ridiculous" he said reaching to draw his Tokijin when a small hand stopped him. The taiyoukai looked at his mother who was shaking her head lightly.

"Are you finished?" asked the more than irritated Kagome. She wanted nothing more, then to rip her apart and send her to hell via the express train. However, something must be done first.

"Since you insulted me without any proof, I believe it is only fair to return the favor." Her beast growl, seeing its future victim shocked expression.

"Let's see" Kagome continued, ignoring everything around her "How about we start with who ordered you to kill my baby?" Asuko frowned.

"I will never tell you!" Kagome raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Oh? You won't?" her smirk grew wider "Well, you really don't have to. Tell me; are you the old or the new one?" Sesshomaru had no idea what was going on and he did not like to be the one left without answers.

"Miko, what is your purpose in doing such?" his voice was dripping in a tone that said 'I want answers'

"Patience Milord. I was just getting to the point" With one flick of her wrist, she wrapped her whip around Asuko legs and hands.

"Now, let us see your right side" with her other hand, Kagome slashed the other female kimono and of course left a little scratch.

"Oh? Only skin? Then how about your back?" she repeated her movements and looked at Sesshomaru with a hard glare which he returned to her. The young miko then smirked, grabbed the almost naked demoness and tossed her to the ground with her back facing the stoic lord.

Sesshomaru immediately growl when he saw a burnt spider scar.

"Now do you understand Milord? She is the off spring of Naraku, hidden very well, I must admit." Then she stepped to face her "Too bad you will not live to tell him it was very foolish, coming to this castle, knowing that I'm here and can easily sense his presence"

If Sesshomaru was confused earlier now he was totally lost. This, however did not concern him. All he wanted to do was to kill the traitor who he had been keeping under his roof for far too long. Reaching for his sword, the taiyoukai was stopped, again, by his mother.

"Don't. This is her fight" the demon Lord raised an eyebrow.

"Explain yourself" Saya sighed.

"Come now, my son, you must have noticed that the relationship between Rin and Kagome is not like sister to sister. To this young woman, her so call sister is in reality like a daughter. Somewhere along the way, she has grown to love her like her own pup. What surprises me the most is the fact, that her beast approved her choice so easily and now it is trying to protect and avenge everything that had happened to this little one. Besides" she smirked and looked at him with mischievous in her eyes "when she kills her, and I am sure she will, you, my son will not have any reason to doubt in my decision" Sesshomaru was silent. If what his mother said is true, then that would explain her over protective behavior. 'Yes, this miko will know how to protect her own pups.' Shaking this thought, the taiyoukai focused his attention back towards the two females who were now clashing their swords.

"Why did Naraku send you here?" Kagome pushed her weapon a little.

"Why would I tell you that?" Asuko, too, pushed her own sword forcing the young miko to back away. Within seconds, the demoness was once again in front of her opponent clashing swords. Then an idea stuck her. Coming closer and closer to her, she kept her blade in one hand. Just when she was mere inches from her, the second hand glowed green, then pierced right through her body and went outside the chest, receiving a scream of pain from Asuko.

"You're exposing your back to the enemy." Kagome hissed.

Sesshomaru smirked mentally at this view. He remembered how he had done the same thing to his half-brother while fighting for Tessusaiga. 'The miko is a good watcher, indeed'

On the other side of the clearing, the demoness was kneeling and clutching her chest tightly.

"You. You will pay for this" And with that her eyes turned completely black, a black smoke surrounded her silhouette and her white skin was now a light color of green. Turning into a small dark ball of smoke, she reappeared a few second later as a big dark green dragon with bat wings and long tail ending with two black spikes.

Saya stiffened a little. This was definitely something she did not expect. Sesshomaru felt her nervousness and was ready to kill the creature right here and now but his mother spoke, as if she was hearing his thoughts.

"We will interfere only when necessary." Rin was worried to death. If what this Lady and her protector were saying, she was like a daughter to her Oneesa. That alone made her very happy, but the thought of losing a second mother was scaring her.

Kagome on the other hand was doing a fine job. She managed to slash a few deeper wound on this filthy dragon and in return received only a few bruises on her arms and legs. She knew what she had to do, she read about it in one of the books.

--

In order to kill a dragon you must pierce right through its heart.

--

'Whoever wrote it must have never fought one by himself' she thought sarcastically.

Again, she jumped in the air with her sword, ready to attack and went straight at the creature chest. Just a few seconds later she heard Rin's scream and looked behind to see one of the spikes pierced right through her left shoulder and the second one slashed her back with a very deep wound. She had fallen to the ground with wide eyes.

Sesshomaru looked at his mother, wanting to know if this was the right time to attack. She ignored him and kept her eyes on the battlefield. Rin on the other hand was crying her heart out and tossing, demanding to be release. The taiyoukai did not want his ward in such a state so he draw Tokijin and took a step forward right when the dragon attacked the almost unconscious miko with a poisonous gas. Rin was now running to her, when a strong arm caught her and kept her tightly to the stoic Lord chest.

"Okaasan!" Rin screamed on top of her little lungs. Sesshomaru was ready to strike but his mother, again, interrupted him.

"Wait. Look." She said pointing at the mikoness pulsing body.

Kagome was lying on the ground, loosing her conscious quickly. Her wounds hurt like hell and she was ready to die just to be free from it. Just then, she heard a familiar voice calling to her mother. 'I know that voice' she thought 'It's Rin. She called me her… mother?' Her senses were returning to her slowly. 'Rin. I need to see you once more' and with that a loud howl was heard from her chest along with demonic energy pulsing from her body in waves. Raven hairs were floating behind her; eyes with a bloody red color were staring straight at their opponent. Her cheeks were, again presented with two magenta stripes. That, however, was not what caught the attention of the two Inu demons. There, on Kagome's forehead was barely visible the shape of the moon. No colors, just shape. Lady Saya smiled at this sign, knowing now fully, that she made the right choice biting her shoulder that faithful day.

Kagome, dropped every barrier covering her presence and Sesshomaru was hit by an over whelming smell of cherries, jasmine and an incredibly strong demonic aura.

"Can you feel it my son?" asked the Inu female. "This is the power of her love for this little girl. Her beast wants them to survive. It desire to be with her" she said looking at the raven-haired girl in the taiyoukai's embrace. The demon lord was speechless. 'This is the power of love? The weak feeling that made people looses their minds. This Sesshomaru do not understand' His thoughts were interrupted, when another wave of her power washed over him, making his hair on the neck stand still.

On the other side, Kagome was still not moving, only looking at the creature in front of her. After dropping her barriers, the dragon shrinks itself a little. Now after another and another wave of power it disappeared into the black smoke again and turned into the demoness, Asuko who was looking at Kagome with wide eyes and utter shock on her face.

"You… who are you? How could you so easily scare the shit out of my true form?" The young miko just smirked and in a flash, the green haired female was laying on the ground with the sword in the left side of her chest.

"I am a mother protecting my child" she growled and pierce her heart with her black blade.

After that, everything went silent for a long moment. Finally, Kagome turned to face her three companions, still with bloody red eyes. She sheathed her sword back on her left hip and starts moving to Rin. When Sesshomaru saw this, he quickly shields his ward with his body and tightens his grip on Tokijin. Kagome growled and stopped for a moment. Turning her head slightly to the right, she started to walk again.

"My son let the girl go" Saya knew what was going on here. So when Rin launched herself, still crying at her new mother, the young miko wrapped her wounded arms around her little daughter's body. She knew, her beast too, wanted to make sure the little girl was save, so she willingly allow it to take control over her body for a little while longer. After all, it was thanks to it that she could hold Rin now.

The little girl felt a wet tongue on her left cheek and giggled looking in her mother still blood red eyes. Just then, Kagome nuzzled her neck making soft purrs, trying to calm and comfort the girl. Making sure that her pup was indeed save, Kagome felt the demonic power in her slowly fading. With her own, brown eyes she looked at Rin, kissed her forehead and with one last whispered 'you are save now' she fell to the ground unconscious.

--

"Mother, this Sesshomaru does not understand" he said looking at the still unconscious miko in her bed. It has been two days since the fight. Rin was by her side almost all the time, excluding the night. Right now, she was sleeping peacefully in her room and the two Inu demons were standing in Kagome's room.

"What is it that you don't understand?" Silence. Saya sighed. Her son was difficult sometimes.

"My theory is that Kagome, after hearing Rin calling her mother, wanted nothing more in the world than to see her again. The beast seemed to feel the same way. Rin accepted Kagome for who she is, along with her inner self. This is why the beast reacted to her calling and this is also, why Kagome let it take control over her body. She knew all along how both of them felt toward the little girl, though she just realized it right then. And after that, when the beast wanted to make sure that Rin was safe…" her voice cracked a little and one tears escape down her cheek "That was the most touching scene I have ever seen" Sesshomaru was a little confused.

"Why are you crying?" he asked calmly. Saya just smiled.

"Oh you would never understand. It is a mother thing" she wiped the tears away and looked at him.

"So, do you still have any objections about my decision?" The taiyoukai shook his head once.

"Good." And with that, she left the room. The demon Lord looked at the miko again. She was so fragile, so simple, and so emotional and yet held such strong powers deep within her. Yes, the Lord of the Western Lands was looking at her in the new light. 'She proved herself to this Sesshomaru and earned his respect.'

Just then, a sound of stirring broke him from his thoughts. Kagome slowly opened her eyes. She looked at someone standing above, though she did not know who it was because her vision was a little blurry. After a few minutes, she managed to sit.

"Good morning Sesshomaru" she said. He only raised his eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, sorry. Lord Sesshomaru" she sighed.

"More like good night" he replied for a moment later to the miko surprise. 'Was that supposed to be a joke?'

"Ok, so it is night then. How long I've been out?"

"Two days" he stated simply. She only nodded and started to get up from the bed but a hand pushed her back.

"You are staying here"

"I need to see Rin" and with that she shook his hand from her shoulder, got up and left the room. Sesshomaru was following her with a look of amusement in his eyes. It was clear that the Miko was in great pain because of her two wounds. Yet, she kept on going.

After a long while, Kagome was finally in front of Rin's room. Sliding the door and stepping in quietly, she sat on the chair near her bed. A soft smile appear on her face when she saw her little baby sleeping peacefully with her pet placed on top of her body. The snake seemed to notice the presence of its lady, because a moment after she sat down it opened the ruby eyes and crawled itself a little to lick her cheek. Kagome smiled in return and stroke its head, placing a small kiss on top of it.

"Okaasan?" a sleepy voice asked,

"Yes, Rin I'm here" the young miko replied softly.

"Are you ok? Does it hurt?"

"I'm okay and no it did not hurt me anymore" 'Liar. It hurt as hell' Kagome scowled herself in her head. Just then, a pair of small arms wrapped themselves around her neck and hugged her tightly. Kagome return the hug trying not to let the girl know that it gave her great pain.

"Go back to sleep. I'll see you in the morning" with that and a good night kiss, she left the room. Sesshomaru of course watched the whole scene and was now following the girl back to her room. Something however, was not right. The Miko was walking much slower, helping herself with walls to stand up. Seeing that over working herself will do her no good, he sigh mentally and put his arm around her waist. Immediately she leaned into his chest for support, looked up at him and whispered softly 'thank you.' A few moments later, they were back in her room, but instead of going to bed, Kagome went straight to the bathroom. Sesshomaru followed.

"What are you intending to do?" he asked simply. Kagome frowned.

"I am in a bathroom am I not?" he did not answer.

"Do you mind? I would like to take a bath in case you didn't notice" The Dog demon kept on looking at her with a blank expression. The Miko was now angry.

"What is your problem? Seriously, you and…"

"I will send your servant here." He cut in and left, closing the door. Kagome sighed and got to the spring.

"What is his problem anyway? I was just about to say that he and…" she stopped when a thought struck her like lighting. 'Inuyasha' she thought. 'Why did I forget? No. How could I forget? He is the main reason why I am here. It was because of him that I left the group. Sango, Miroku, I wonder how they are doing. Did they finally admit their feelings for each other? Oh and Shippo. How much has he grown up during this time? Did he miss me? Did all of them miss me just a little bit?' She was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice that Akita was calling her.

"Kagome! Are you all right?"

"Huh? Ah, yes, I'm fine"

"Do you want me to help you with your back" Kagome nodded.

"Where is Lord Sesshomaru?" she asked after dressing in a long, light green kimono with pink blossom flowers and a yellow obi.

"I believe Milord is in his chamber" the miko sighed. There was no way in hell she would go on that damned first floor and entered his room without being killed in the next second.

Seeing that it was nearly dawn, Kagome decided to relax a little in the garden.

Sitting on her favorite bench, she stretched her legs and put her head back, closing her eyes and inhaling a sweet scent of flowers. It was not long after that when she felt another scent. It was spicy like paprika but in the same time refreshing like the air after rain. Taking one last breath, Kagome opened her eyes to see the Demon Lord himself next to her. Immediately she cursed herself for thinking that about his scent. She was ready to get up when he finally spoke.

"How?" his tone was not as cold as usual. The girl looked at him and blinked a couple of times in confusion.

"Rin" Sesshomaru add seeing her expression.

"How did I know that Asuko was the one behind it? Well, at first it was just the fact that when Rin saw her back then in your office, she was scared to death. I talked with Akita about how things are in the palace and she told me about your mate to be." Seeing his expression, she quickly adds "Don't punish her. I forced her to tell me. No offence but the thought alone, about you taking a mate is surprisingly enough. Anyway, she told me about how things changed here since Asuko appeared. And from what the other servants told me, it was during your night patrol that Rin escaped. Putting the pieces together, it makes some sense, but my suspicions were confirmed in the night before I killed her. She was talking with someone who ordered her to kill Rin" by now, Kagome was out of breath. Sesshomaru repeated in his head what she said. Yes, this and all that his mother told him made perfect sense. For a second there was this crazy thought in his head to bring his ex- mate back to life with Tenseiga only to kill her again by himself.

"Who was she talking to?" Silence.

"Miko" he growled "This Sesshomaru will not repeat himself" Kagome took a deep breath.

"Naraku"

"Ridiculous"

"Yes, I know it may sound stupid but think about it. When we first met, I was battling a demon with the tainted jewel shard and a burnt scar on his right side. Then, I felt this presence of the jewel again in your castle and Asuko was one of Narakus offspring, which I proved by showing the spider on her back. On top of that, only he can taint the jewel with so much hatred"

After that, there was a long, but not uncomfortable silence. Both of them were drifting into their own thoughts. Finally, when the sun started to raise Kagome broke it.

"I want to see him" She knew, she did not have to tell who it was.

"No"

"Why not?"

"You are not ready" Now she was pissed. Not ready? She killed the goddamn dragon, did she not?

"So tell me oh the Greatest of the Greatest what I must do to prove that I am ready? Kill you? Your army? You know as well as I do that I'm here only because of Rin and I can leave whenever…" she was stopped by a hand on her throat, pinching her to the ground.

"You will cease your talking. If this Sesshomaru says you are not ready it means you are not" Kagome was scared. She never saw him looking at her with so much hatred in his eyes. She actually never saw him held any emotions in his eyes, which were now turning slightly red. Immediately after feeling his grip tighten around her neck, she turned her head to the right, meaning for him that she got the message. Sesshomaru regain himself, stood up and left without a word. The young miko sat on the ground still shaking a little.

'What did I said to upset him so much? Moreover why was I able to smell his scent?'

With that thought in her mind, she made her way to Rin's room.

So how was it? I hope that everyone who did not like Asuko are happy about her death hm? :D

As usuall here is preview for the next chapter!

--

Sesshomaru woke up early in the morning because of the noises coming from the outside. Just as he was about to look outside the window one of the guards run to his room.

"Forgive me for interrupting you, Milord" he breathed heavily "But the young Lady has gone crazy"

--

Yep, the young lady is Kagome. Why has she gone crazy? What happened? How will it end? Stay tuned! :D The next chapter will answer the most wanted question. What is the meaning of the bite mark!?