The Rescue

Inuyasha was running damn near as fast as he possibly could. The runt on his back didn't seem to mind, uttering the occasional "oof" since the hanyou rather lacked finesse. It didn't take much time to get to the village.

The boy hopped off Inuyasha's back, running straight into one of the little houses. A few people milled around, staring at him and raising a pitchfork or two in threatened defense. Murmurs and whispers... he was used to those.

The kid came back with a woman in tow. She'd been pretty at one point, but age and fatigue and too many bad days had caught up with her. He could tell before she got remotely close to him that she was Kagome's mother. A distinctive scent... probably just because he'd been around Kagome too long... yeah, that was it.

Kagome's mother came closer, a small smile on her face in response to her son's excitement. Inuyasha saw the scar on her neck right before she opened her mouth and wheezed. Souta pulled on her hand.

"Don't, mom. You can't," he implored, and she glared at him. Inuyasha, trying not to look too grumpy, jerked his head towards her.

"Yo," he greeted. She blinked, looking stunned and thoughtful. Then she smiled, bowing. He glanced around at the other villagers.

"Where did that bastard take Kagome? I want answers yesterday!" The people stared at him and at each other, with expressions that screamed, should we tell the demon? Kagome's mother gave them a look, gesturing to him with an air of exasperation. They shuffled.

"They went North," one woman said. She was holding her teenaged daughter, who was looking at Inuyasha with rapture. The father was trying to make her stop. "A few days ago."

"Good luck!" the girl shrieked, grinning. The father grunted and dragged her back into the hut. With a small, nervous smile, the woman nodded and followed her mate and their child. The rest of the people acknowledged the information, adding comments like "Go kick his ass!" and "Bring Kagome-sama back to us!"

Inuyasha turned his gaze back to the mute woman and her son. Their sad, brave eyes urged him onward.

With renewed vigor, and a little more hope blossoming within his chest, Inuyasha ran.

Kagome came slowly to herself, moaning and groaning as her muscles growled in protest when she sat up. Her eyes instantly fell on Naraku, writhing and pinned inside the bolt of light. Looking up, she saw that it had actually made a hole in the ceiling.

"Interesting," she said, and attempted to stand. Wobbling, she made her way over to the light. Naraku didn't seem to be aware of her. It was more as though he were sleeping, floating inside a pillar of water. The only way she could tell he was alive was by the grimace on his face as he flinched in pain from time to time.

Kagome crawled back to where she'd been, moving toward Kouga and laying near him. He was beaten and bruised, and one leg looked to be pointing in the wrong direction. But he was healing, she could tell. He'd be perfectly fine in a few days in any case. She brushed some of the hair off his face and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. He'd been brave; he deserved something for that. With one last look at Naraku, she smiled and decided to take a tiny nap.

And, it seemed to her, was awoken almost immediately after she closed her eyes. There was a footfall, a ridiculous squeaky sound, and suddenly she was vertical.

"Kagome!" the squeak continued. Attempting to rebuff advances made on her person, she inhaled fabric.

"Mmmrrrfff," she mumbled. The grip on her tightened and then released abruptly, and she sagged against Inuyasha's chest.

"I saw the light," he panted. "It... I thought..." and then he hugged her again. She smiled and sighed with intense relief, managing to snake her arms around his middle and hold tight. His lips brushed her neck, the barest hint of a kiss, and her heart pounded a little harder in her tired, aching chest. She wondered briefly if he could hear it when his lips made more definite contact.

"Kagome," he whispered. She leaned back a little, looking awkwardly into his face. It was clouded and hesitant. "I'm not," he whispered, his eyes flashing gold briefly. "I can't... speak," he finished, his face asking for help without his actually having to ask for any.

"That's alright," she said, and laid her head on his chest. "It's easier this way."

"But..." He sighed. One hand felt for the little orb in his pocket. Inuyasha was surprised it wasn't worn out from his handling. Are words needed? he wondered.

Sadly, he figured they probably were. Damn Kikyo...

"Can we go home?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha looked over the top of her head at the beam of light and gently pushed her behind him.

"In a bit," he growled, and took a stance, flexing his claws. His face became a little darker as he growled at Naraku.

"Inuyasha– "

"He did it." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, but– "

"Then let me kill him, damn it!"

Before he could actually take a step forward, another hole was blasted into the wall, a little to the left of Naraku himself.

Kagome eyed the figure standing in the debris. Tall and impressive, he wore a very bland expression on a ridiculously pretty face. She was in the middle of mentally debating his actual sex when a startled Inuyasha exploded with curses.

"Inuyasha!" she reprimanded, staring at him in awe and dismay, bordering on humor. He had no eyes for her, but stared at the newly arrived demon. He, however, looked at Kagome.

"You," he said, very commanding. "You were a captive?" Not really knowing how to respond, she nodded once. He blinked. "Where?" he asked.

Kagome stared at him, gauging the amount of possible damage he could inflict on her. She took a look at Inuyasha as he fumed and his fingers were snapping and crackling. Trying to hide a smile she walked toward and past the demon, directing him to a small trap door in another part of the castle.

"Down there," she said, unnecessarily, and he nodded and vanished into the depths. As she was walking back to her hanyou she heard a small squeal and a muffled laugh coming from the trap door. Curious, she turned back around.

The demon – Sesshoumaru, she gained from Inuyasha's angry snarls – had a small girl tucked under an arm like a small puppy, and she was laughing and giggling in delight. His face remained quite stoic despite her wriggling glee. Following behind the pair was a teenage boy, and Kagome smiled as she recognized him from before.

"Kohaku?" Apparently, so did Inuyasha. Startled, the freckled boy looked at the hanyou and gasped.

"What happened to you?" he asked, and Inuyasha blanched. Kagome's eyebrows lifted.

"Indeed, little brother. What has happened to you?" the demon asked, seemingly without a trace of humor.

Kagome was lost.

"Shut up," Inuyasha spat. "Why are you here?"

Sesshoumaru seemed stumped by this question. He glanced down at the girl he carried and made the smallest of shrugs.

"Taking back what is mine," he said. Inuyasha glared at Kohaku.

"And how do you know him?"

Sesshoumaru didn't even look at the boy. "I don't," he said.

"I do!" the girl cried. She tried to turn to look at Kohaku and the demon had to put her down.

"Rin," Kohaku said reproachfully, blushing as she ran into arms that were opened for her anyway. Kagome smiled. Cute.

"Oi." Kagome turned to look at Inuyasha and his face softened for a moment at the smile on her face. Then he shook his head and pointed at Naraku.

"What do we do with him?"

A/N: Hello out there! Life stinks, lemme tell ya. My family is nuts... I graduated from high school - finally! - and am consumed by what it takes to enter "the real world" as my family dubs life after high school. Acquired a new parrot and a nephew (little animals, everywhere!) and... well, boys as a gender tend to fail me. Sigh. But not my nephews. They're too young to be douche-bags...

Well... anyway... I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I know it's an odd end for a chapter... but when Sesshy and Co. barged in, I went "What?" and didn't know where to go with them. Yikes. Totally threw off what I had written in my notes waves notes emphatically so you get what you got. And I only just realized... Shippo has disappeared. So... umm... look for the little guy, I'll be sticking him in real sneaky-like. :)And thanks for all the reviews... they make me very happy. And just to let you all know, I'm not basing this off Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Read some of the original masterpieces, if not for your sakes then for mine. They are fun to read, and quite engaging. There are many Beauty and the Beastinterpretations out there if you look, and I'm drawing inspiration from a few of them.

And to answer inuyasharbd15fan09: Thanks for all those wonderful compliments! My head swelled at least a few inches. But I really don't concentrate too keenly at all (I thought that was rather obvious) but it depends on how I'm feeling. Sometimes I won't write at all for months until I'm feeling in a certain mood and... it's unpredictable. Music is good, though... And I listen to everything, so I wouldn't recommend any certain genre... but I try to listen to music with words so that I'm distracted, and therefore don't think about what I'm writing and let my subconscious do it. Weird, but it seems to work.

This went on really long, but I'd like to thank everyone for reading and reviewing... Please review again:) -Ariana