"Will." I said just as my demon self's claws were an inch from my body. I stood up and faced her. "A human is strong, through their will." I told her. She stared deep into my eyes. A light burst from within me and my human self appeared beside my demon self.

"What am I?" My human self asked me.

"You're my will...my emotions…my strength to survive." I told her. "My inner strength." She smiled at me. My demon self smiled at me.

"Through will, you can control the beast." My demon self said. I nodded. "Using your human will you can control the demon. Together we can become stronger, for as one the strength to fight yourself can become the strength to fight your true enemies."

"I accept you, both of you if you can forgive me being a fool." I said. They nodded and the world erupted into light. The world around me changed from light to the castle. It was as if I'd never left but suddenly I felt woozy and fell into the water.

I awoke, soaking wet, in the arms of Daichi. He was staring at me with his piercing…grey eyes? I sat up and took in a deep breath. I calmed myself down and took in everything around me. It was if my senses had been amplified and my body had become lighter than ever before.

"So you're alright then?" Daichi asked. "I didn't expect you to fall into the water." He laughed. "So it took me a few seconds to realize what happened. I was afraid you may have drowned when you didn't swim to the surface." He said jokingly. I stood and looked around. I truly took in everything, the scent on the wind, the feel of it on my skin, the great power I felt. My emotions had never felt so in check before. I felt…as I always wanted to feel, like a true demon but I'm not I'm also part human and as such am stronger than any demon. I may even be stronger than Naraku… "Hello?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking." I replied.

"Oh, so then you are okay." He replied with a joyful sigh. I looked deep into his eyes. They really were grey. Had I imagined his eyes being gold before?

"Do your eyes change color?" I asked him.

"My eyes are the color wish to be." He said. "What color were they to you?" He asked.

"Golden." I told him.

"Beautiful color that." He said. "I wish my eyes were golden." He joked. "They're actually…"

"Grey." I finished.

"Yeah…" He laughed. I smiled at him.

"Thank you." I said.

"For what?" He asked and started to walk away. "All I did was walk you over to the water." He said joking. "You did the rest." He said as he disappeared into his castle. I stared at where he once stood for a moment before transforming. I relaxed for a moment then I released a howl from within me so loud, so powerful it could be heard for miles.

"Totosai!" I called from the outside of his home. Minako called as well, although he probably couldn't understand her.

"Hmmm? Who's there?" He asked poking out of the house.

"Shiori! She's returned!" Myoga shouted.

"Oh Shiori..." He looked me up and down. "Still not ready I see?" He said.

"Excuse me?" I said full of anger.

"Calm down!" He shouted scared. "I was only kidding…" He paused and whispered to Myoga. "Can't anyone take a joke?"

"Not when it's your kind of joking I'm afraid." Myoga replied.

"That's a shame." He sighed. "Come inside then." He called. The two of us followed him inside. It looked just I'd imagined after meeting him the first time. A skull made into a shack full of different kinds of weapons. Basic for any blacksmith. He walked to the back of the house and picked up two weapons covered in cloth and handed them to me. I didn't unwrap them I just looked at Totosai for a moment.

"Thank you." I told him. He smiled at me.

"Not a problem. I have no problem fixing a weapon for someone like you! Unlike some people…" He said. I laughed and finally unwrapped my weapons. He had made new sheaths for them. They were beautiful. One was blue and gold and looked like a mixture of lightning and a bat wing, fitting of Raikou. The other was all black except for a yellow to red piece covering half of the sheath also very fitting of my Kasai. I put the sheaths at my side and pulled out the blades. They felt like extensions of my arm now. I put the hilts together to form the Raikasai. It was amazing light and I could sense a great power from within it.

"Marvelous work Totosai." I told him. He looked proud.

"Honestly I'm glad you finally came for them. It took you awhile." Totosai explained.

"I was only gone for about a week." I said joking with him. Suddenly Minako looked at me in surprise. "What?" I asked.

"You do realize you left here months ago." Myoga asked.

"What!" I exclaimed. "I hadn't realized I'd been gone for such a long time." I said sadly.

"Yes, and in that time you have missed quite a lot." Totosai told me.

"Please tell me everything that has happened." I said sitting in front of Totosai.

They then proceeded to tell me of Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's venture into the otherworld to get back a jewel shard and how Inuyasha then obtained the Adamant Barrage technique. Naraku had made two new Incarnations of himself Akago and Hakudoshi. Akago was believed to be Naraku's heart. Kagura, Kanna, Hakudoshi and Akago however have recently been killed. As such Naraku has regained his heart. More recently Inuyasha had gained a new power, the Dragon Scaled Tetsusaiga and that Sesshomaru's sword the Tensaiga has the ability called Meido Zangetsuha. Lady Kikyo has also perished and Kouga's shards have been taken. They explained that the last remaining jewel shard resides in Kohaku, who is Sango's younger brother's back. Naraku is still missing.

"I see…I have missed a lot." I stood. "I must be off then."

"Where are you going?" Myoga asked.

"To find Inuyasha or Sesshomaru, if I'm with one of them then sooner or later Naraku will show himself to us." I explained.

"Well, have fun with those two." Totosai said sarcastically. I smiled and laughed as I walked out of the house out to the volcano top. "Minako…" I began as we walked.

"You want me to leave you. You feel it may be too dangerous for me." She finished. "I disagree. I want to be by your side as we always have been."

"I don't want you getting hurt." I said calmly.

"No, I will stay with you." She replied.

"NO!" I exclaimed scaring her. I gave myself a moment to relax. "I don't want anything to happen to you." I looked deep into her eyes. "You're my best friend Minako. I know it's wrong of me to ask you to leave but I must." She stared at me silently.

"You won't allow me to go no matter how much I try." She said.

"I'm sorry, but you understand why. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you." I paused. "Minako, I promise after this is over, we can travel together again. It'll be just like old times." I smiled. "I will find you, no matter what." She looked into my eyes closely, probably trying to decide if I was telling the truth or not, but how could I lie to her about something like this?

"I see." Was all she could say for a few minutes. "Then I shall await the day we meet again, Shiori." I nodded not having anything to say to her. She smiled and walked away. I felt horrible for doing this to her, but it'd be easier without her with me. I wouldn't have to worry about her getting hurt. Without another thought I too, walked away.

I found Inuyasha first, they were all sitting by a fire, probably about to go to sleep. I stood atop a cliff nearby watching them. No one even noticed me watching them for awhile. Not even Inuyasha, until a light breeze brushed against me sending my scent to them. Inuyasha sniffed the air as the scent hit him.

"What's wrong Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"Shiori…"He whispered as if unsure. He stood up and looked to the cliff. His eyes slowly scaled it until his eyes locked with mine. I smiled as he relaxed staring at me as if I was a ghost. I jumped off the cliff, more like leaned forward and fell on purpose. Inuyasha apparently thought it was an accident because he ran to where I would have hit the ground had I fallen. I did a flip and landed on my feet in front of him. He stared at me for a minute calm and curious. That didn't last long.

"Where the hell have you been!" He yelled.

"I went off to train, I told you that." I told him calmly.

"No you didn't! You just disappeared!" He yelled. "Kagome said something about you leaving to find Sesshomaru or something!" It took me a minute but I finally remembered that I hadn't actually told him anything. He was right, I just told them I belonged with Sesshomaru and had to go. Only after I'd left with Minako had I decided to train.

"Actually, you're right." I said.

"Hell yes I'm right!" He yelled. "Wait…you're not even gonna argue about it?" He asked.

"No…you're right. I forgot that you ran off and I told everyone else that I was going with Sesshomaru. Then I decided it was a bad idea and went off to train." I explained. He stared at me dumbstruck. "What?" I asked annoyed a bit.

"Nothing…I was just….worried is all." He said. My eyes widened in shock.

"You were…worried about me?" I asked. He turned away from me and started walking back toward the others. I followed him naturally. He sat down by Kagome across from me. I sat next to Shippo and Sango.

"You're really back!" Shippo exclaimed hugging me.

"Where have you been all this time?" Miroku asked, Sango and Kagome looking just as curious. I sighed not really feeling like explaining.

"I've been training with a demon named Lord Daichi and a master blacksmith named Totosai." I said.

"Wait you were with Totosai?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yeah, he fixed my swords and actually taught me something really important." I said. "Do you know him Inuyasha? A flea named Myoga was with him and he knew you."

"Totosai forged the Tetsusaiga." Kagome answered.

"Really?" I said amused. "No wonder it's such an amazing weapon." I said praising Totosai's work. "Well, onto serious matters. Have any of you seen or heard anything of Naraku?" I asked.

"No, there hasn't been any sign of him or his incarnations since Kanna attacked us and died in the process." Sango explained.

"I see." I said thinking. Where could he be?

"Are you going to be traveling with us again? None of us would mind if you stayed again." Miroku said.

"Thank you for the offer Miroku, but I'm not sure what I'm doing yet. I only just finished my training and I happened to stumble upon all of you as I traveled." I lied. I'd actually been looking for either Inuyasha or Sesshomaru I just found them first. "I'll stay with you all for a few days at least if you don't mind."

"You're always welcome, Shiori." Kagome said to my surprise.

"Thanks Kagome." I replied.

After awhile of conversation everyone but Inuyasha and I had fallen asleep. Inuyasha wasn't talking to me so it was very peaceful. The fire had gone out and I was watching the stars and the full moon. I always felt at peace when I watched the moon. I was a wolf demon after all but something felt strange about it. I had this feeling that something strange was going to happen soon or that I was forgetting something. I really didn't feel like thinking about what it could be though.

"Inuyasha, do you have a strange feeling?" I asked.

"No, why do you sense a demon aura or something?" Inuyasha asked.

"No, it's just a weird feeling. I'm probably just forgetting something important." I said.

"Probably." He said.

"Heh thanks." I said. He smiled. "Inuyasha…" I said. "Do you remember the night when I…"

"Attacked Kagome?" He asked as if it was nothing when in all actuality it was a knife in my heart.

"Uhh, yeah that night." I paused. "First off, my behavior was unforgivable. I shouldn't have gotten so angry." I said looking down at my hands.

"Shiori." He said calmly making me look at him. "You were afraid. I understand that because of your fear…you lost control." This time he was looking at his own claws. He said nothing for a bit as he was lost in thought…I wonder what he did. "Shiori, why were you so afraid?" My heart skipped a beat. It was the one question I was dreading.

"Well, it's a long story." I said.

"I don't mind." He said. I sighed hoping he wouldn't feel like listening.

"I may have mentioned it before, but maybe not." I paused. "I knew your father, Inuyasha. Our fathers were close friends. They fought side by side together since they were young men." I explained. This intrigued him I guess because he was definitely listening completely. "Since they were friends, your father would visit my father and we visit him. So, I knew your brother since we were very young. He was a very different person then, not as you know him." I paused not wanting to continue.

"So what does this have to do with why you were afraid?"

"I'm getting to that..." I told him. "I loved your brother and he I." I said.

"Sesshomaru love someone?" He asked making a joke of it.

"I told you he was a different person then." I replied surprisingly not getting mad at him or upset. "Eventually we decided we wanted to be together for as long as we lived no matter what. We were…well are betrothed. Meaning…"

"I know what it means…now." He said whispering the 'now' part under his breath.

"Well, we soon were told of you, Inuyasha."

"Of me?" He asked.

"Yes, we were told that your father had fallen in love with a human woman…your mother Izayoi. That's when Sesshomaru started to become as he is now. He became angry and obsessed with having your father's sword Tetsusaiga. The night your father fought the demon Ryukotsusei was the night you were to be born. It was also the night Sesshomaru approached your father about the Tetsusaiga. Clouded by anger he gave your father the wrong answer about if he had someone to protect or not."

"The Tetsusaiga, it works when I use it to protect those I care about." Inuyasha interrupted.

"Yes, and because Sesshomaru said he had no one to protect your father felt he was not worthy of the sword Tetsusaiga but instead the Tensaiga to change his heart. Your father disappeared into the night to Izayoi. No one ever saw him again after that. He died that night fighting to protect you and Izayoi." I paused as he took in this new information. "Sesshomaru was stricken with grief for the loss of his father. I think the way your father died caused him to hate humans as he did. He wandered for a long time and I followed him worried about him. Eventually he became so angry that he attacked me because I was part human and to him it was a human's fault that his father was gone."

"So you were afraid of Sesshomaru because of what he did to you before?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yes, then I sealed myself away using a jewel I posses. It's much like the sacred jewel, but this jewel cannot be corrupted. It allows me to do anything I want. Although I don't really use it much. Anyway…I used the jewel to seal myself away because I was hurt and couldn't face Sesshomaru…or anyone else for that matter. One day, I woke up because I heard a scream. The scream of a little boy." Inuyasha's face was suddenly full of understanding. "You." I told him. "I escaped from the seal and searched for the voice I had heard. It became harder as the sun started to come down. I became a half demon but that couldn't stop me. Then, I found you scared for your life. I struck down the demons and saved you."

"You stayed with me all night. Protected me."He added.

"I took you back to Izayoi in the morning. She was grateful. She had been so worried about you." I started to get absorbed into the story now remembering the conversation with Izayoi.

"Thank you for saving him." She said tears in her eyes "Who may I ask are you?" Izayoi asked.

"My name is Shiori. I happened to know the Inutaisho when he was still alive." I told her. She became saddened. "Izayoi, you have no way of protecting him…do you?" I asked.

"No, only the Robe of the Fire Rat that my beloved left." She said.

"I see." I said.

"Inuyasha, he knows nothing of the world. I fear the day I pass on, for who will take care of him?" She asked more to herself then to me. "He has no one. The villagers reject him, as will most of the world."

"I know a place where he doesn't have to be afraid." I told her. She looked at me with gracious eyes. "I too am part human. My mother is a half demon, like Inuyasha. There's a mountain in the North called Mt. Ookami. At the base of the mountain is a village full of humans, demons, and half demons that are all treated equally." I told her. She was so grateful for the news of a place where Inuyasha could be happy. "You don't have to worry, Izayoi. Inuyasha does have family to take care of him even once you've passed."

"Shiori, who are you. To Inuyasha and I meaning." She asked understanding very quickly.

"Inuyasha has a brother, a full fledged demon named Sesshomaru. He and I are betrothed. So to you and Inuyasha I am like a sister, or a daughter." She smiled at this news. "You need not worry for him for I promise you that no matter what, I will protect him."

"Thank you Shiori, you've put my heart at ease." She said. I smiled at her.

"Live long and happy Izayoi. With no fear for Inuyasha will grow to be a strong and happy man. He will be protected and as such he will always be safe." I told her before I left her. The smile on her tear streaked face burned in my memory. After that I wandered back to the forest and like a fool returned to my unburdened slumber for fear of facing Sesshomaru. I figured I'd awaked again when you needed me for I was sealed not far from your home. I never awoke. Not until the day Naraku attacked me.

"That makes a lot of sense now." Inuyasha said when I was finished.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha. You could have had a happy life together with others like us. You wouldn't have had to be afraid and yearn to become a full fledged demon as you did."

"You don't have to be sorry. I don't regret my life. Had I not wanted power then I wouldn't have met Kikyo and in turn never have met Kagome, or Shippo, Sango, Kirara, or even Miroku." He said. "Yeah, it was hard but if it hadn't gone the way it has I wouldn't have the friends I have now and would be a totally different person. I like being who I am." He said.

"I'm glad." I said.

"Heh, that's enough storytelling. I'm going to sleep." He said as he turned over.

"Night." I said watching the moon still feeling that nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach. What was I forgetting?