A/N: Well here you guys go, the seventh chapter of my baby. The long awaited meeting has come and I hope that it is to you guys' liking. As always, I do not own the cast nor the rights. And please leave a review for me!

Chapter 7:
Meeting Again

They stared at each other for a moment as the demons he had brought with him quickly surrounded the area, encircling her and him as they waited for the signal to attack. Thoughts ran through her mind on what she could do, but they were quickly put to a stop as he leapt forward, his weapon flashing through the clearing as it came closer and closer to her. She dodged it her survival instincts kicking in as they circled each other, one thinking about how to get to him and the other following the orders of the demon that held him in his clutches.

She knew that if she could just get to him she might be able to get into his mind and sever the connection he had with Naraku, but looking at his chain sickle she wondered how she would even do that. They danced around each other, him attacking her as she dodged and rolled around trying to get closer but failing. In a move too quick for her to see she found the sickle buried in her side and without another thought she grabbed the chain and yanked as hard as she could catching the boy off guard as he fell into her arms.

Immediately she set up a barrier as the demons rushed forward before falling into the boys mind; it was a different experience than being connected with Miroku who had his own spiritual powers, she had to follow the power of the jewel shard to find what she was looking for. She saw the taint that ensnared his mind and allowed her power to come forth and purify it as she fought to keep the boys spirit from leaving his body. She looked through his mind and drug up every good memory of his family and sister as she could telling him without words that he had someone to live for and to not give up. Slowly she felt his soul ground itself inside his body once more, leaving the shard that had housed it for so long. Once she knew that he would be okay she pulled the shard from his back and watched as he relaxed in her arms a small smile upon his face.

Shifting him she looked at the wound in her side and cursed at how much it was bleeding; there wasn't much she could do other than have one hand on it trying to put pressure on it so she didn't bleed out. She raised her eyes to meet her shimmering barrier and the red eyes that lurked beyond it; she knew that she could only hold the barrier for so long before she grew tired or faint from blood loss. She hoped that Inuyasha and her friends would make it to her before then, she wanted to see Sango meet her brother without having to worry about having to kill him; she wanted to tell her that Kohaku was going to be okay.

Closing her eyes she reinforced her barrier as much as she was able, digging deep into her power, before slumping in exhaustion at the strain of doing everything all at once. Sinking into her thoughts she almost smacked herself when she felt the connection between her and Miroku before letting her situation travel to him. She hoped he would know what she was doing and tell the others about the predicament she was in.

He knew the moment she had come back and wondered to himself why she hadn't come over to the battle yet since she would have looked for them when they didn't meet her at the well. He didn't have any more time to dwell on it when more demons swarmed from the forest and it was time to test out his new Kazanna against enemies for the first time.

"Kazanna!"

He watched as the winds ripped out and around his enemies sucking them in without pain while leaving his friends untouched as they dashed in front of him attacking the dumbstruck demons. He would have laughed if not for the sudden force slam into him from the connection between him and Kagome; he knew something was keeping her and he now knew what it was.

Looking at the others he saw Inuyasha not too far away as well as Sango and knew that they had to finish these demons off fast. He was about to yell out to Inuyasha when he saw his nose lift to the air and then a feral snarl rip across his mouth and he knew that Inuyasha had scented Kagome and what was happening to her.

With a mighty yelling howl Inuyasha finished off the demons around him before taking off towards where Kagome was at; they quickly followed after him once done with their own battles wondering what they would find when they arrived.

She felt the fang that rested against her chest grow warm and she almost cried in relief now that she knew Inuyasha and the others were on the way. She pulled Kohaku closer, ignoring the stinging in her side, and shrunk the barrier closer to them in order to make it last until her friends showed up.

"Kagome!"

Her head jerked up at the call, but she couldn't see around her because of the demons surrounding her.

"I'm here Inuyasha! I'm surrounded!"

A loud growl was her answer as she heard him draw his sword and start to fight through the horde to get to her and her precious cargo. Smiling against the throbbing in her side she looked down to said cargo and was startled to see him awake and staring at her with a confused look on his face.

"Sister?"

"You could call me that, but you'll see your real sister soon." Kagome stated smiling at him as his brow crinkled even further in confusion.

Dizziness washed over her and threatened her barriers strength as she applied more pressure to the wound in her side.

"Shit."

Movement in her lap drew her attention to Kohaku and she saw that he was trying to get up.

"What are you doing?" she asked quietly staving off the darkness by concentrating on his face as he looked up at her.

"You're bleeding a lot; I need to bind it." He stated moving to sit up and tearing a piece of his shirt. Carefully he bound her wound tightly trying to make it tight enough to allow staunch the bleeding, but loose enough to allow her to breathe. Once he was done with that he grabbed his weapon before looking at her with an expectant look on his face.

"You can't fight! I don't want you to get hurt," she whispered strongly trying to appear like she had a say in the matter.

"I have to protect you as you have protected me; I have to protect my sister." He stated solemnly but the smile in his eyes betrayed the seriousness he tried to portray; she smiled back, but couldn't help but worry about his safety once he left her barrier.

"You promise to be safe?"

"I'll be fine, promise."

Nodding, Kagome waited until he was ready before she dropped her barrier before reforming it around herself and watched as he acted immediately throwing out his sickle to give himself some space to move around in. Demons began dropping left and right around him as he cleared a path to the Inu-hanyou she could hear fighting just beyond her line of sight.

"Crap," she whispered to herself wondering how Inuyasha would react once he saw the boy and told herself that she would sit him if the need arose.

"Kohaku?" Startled out of her thoughts she saw Sango frozen on the edge of clearing her boomerang resting lax in her hand as she stared at the boy she knew she could never kill.

"Sister?" He whispered before glancing back to her; she smiled at him and waved him on telling him without words that it was okay. She watched as his eyes brightened as a smile broke across his face like the rising sun searing away any hesitancy or fear he had felt, watching as they embraced she smiled to herself letting the barrier fall as she noticed the lack of battle around her.

She let her eyes close as exhaustion raced through her and barely felt it when Inuyasha came to kneel next to her.

"Kagome…" his voice was right next to her and she could hear the worry and fear thick in his voice.

"I'm still here Inuyasha, just tired." She tried to comfort him as he tenderly prodded at the bandage, but she couldn't stop the hiss that escaped her at the pain that that poke caused. Opening her eyes she smiled at tiredly at him trying not to frown when she noticed his ears were down or that his eyes were closed in what seemed to be pain.

"It's not your fault so don't even start to think that it is." She watched as his eyes shot open and darken in guilt; she sighed before grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze as the darkness that she had been feeling swarmed over her and took her away from the land of the conscious.

Morning dawned clear and bright bringing with it the promise of new beginnings, she lay still but the feeling of being watched had her opening her eyes to see a pair of green ones staring back. The flashback of being in Maru's hut had her heart speeding up, but she held back the scream that wanted to be loosed and instead took a deep breath before she saw how was really above her.

"Shippou, you scared me."

"Sorry mama, I was just worried."

"It's okay, I'm sorry I worried you." She told him, carefully pulling him into a hug as she felt the wound in her side stretch uncomfortably.

"It's okay, I forgive you."

"Why you," tickling him she reveled in his laughter letting it bring a sense of peace to her being.

"You okay Kagome?" Sango asked when she heard Shippou's laughter and saw that she was awake.

"I'm fine Sango, where is everyone?"

"Miroku is meditating and Inuyasha is hunting. Kohaku is still sleeping and Kaede is out in the village." At the mention of Kohaku Kagome started to get up wanting to check on him to make sure he was alright.

"You need any help?"

"I'm okay Sango, I just want to check on Kohaku." She made her way over to the sleeping boy slowly and smiled when she saw that he was curled up next to a large Kilala. Sitting next to him she let her power out to encompass him checking to make sure Naraku's stain was completely gone from him. Once she was satisfied that indeed every trace of him was destroyed she turned to Sango and gave her a wide smile.

Said woman gave her a watery smile before engulfing her in a warm hug and whispering her thanks over and over. Laughing, Kagome told her that no thanks were necessary and that she would do anything in her power to make her life better.

Done crying together they got up and started to make breakfast; well Sango cooking and Kagome talking and entertaining Shippou. Soon enough the smell of food woke Kohaku and drew Miroku back to camp; after speaking with Kohaku she was happy to see that he was fine with his memories knowing that it wasn't his own actions that had cause the death of his friends and family. Looking around for Inuyasha she noticed that he wasn't back yet and let her aura out to search for his; she found that he was on his way back and drawing back she relaxed in the company of her friends.

They stayed at Kaede's for a week, letting Kagome heal before they headed off on another jewel shard rumor; Inuyasha carried her on his back for the most part not letting her out of his sight for fear of her straining herself.

The weeks passed in relative peace; Kagome and Inuyasha had started to argue again though they always made up and started to grow closer to one another.

However, this night was different; Kagome had sensed a jewel shard and as usual they had gone after it, what was different was that she had been forced to fight by herself as the others were fighting themselves. She had been able to defeat the demon that had gone after her, but after the fight was over Inuyasha had blown up at her. He told her that she didn't need to fight, that he would protect her; she had yelled back that she could do as she damn well pleased since he didn't own her.

"You're gonna get yourself killed! You're not strong enough to fight!"

Kagome grew quiet, her head bowed and her hair shielding her face from view. Her body was tensed and ridged her hands fisted at her side as she shook with restrained anger just barely being leashed by her will. When she looked up her eyes glinted in the dimming light making her appear dangerous and feral which should have alerted Inuyasha as to how he had erred against her.

"I'm not strong enough to fight, eh, Inuyasha? Do you remember me defeating that demon that left those four scars on my back? No, you don't, you were with Kikyou at the time. Do you think that Kikyou is strong enough to fight? Because I know you wouldn't be yelling at her like this. I will do what I want Inuyasha; no one will tell me otherwise, got that? I am not some porcelain doll you need to coddle.

"Now I am going to go bathe and you better leave me the hell alone if you know what's good for you." Kagome whispered dangerously as she grabbed her bag and left.

"Wow, you made mama really mad; I've never heard her curse like that." Shippou whispered eyes wide as he looked to the spot she had last been seen.

"Shit," Inuyasha cursed to himself as his ears laid flat against his hair.

"Shit is right my friend," Miroku agreed as he looked to where Kagome had stood.

Sango just shook her head before preparing dinner knowing that Kagome was going to take her time and that she might as well feed the boys while she was gone. Kohaku and Kilala just ignored Inuyasha's blunder and focused more on helping Sango with dinner, though Kilala was just there in case they wanted to feed her while they cooked. Everyone started to settle down around the fire waiting to see what would happen when Kagome returned.

As she stalked to the slow moving river she lifted Inuyasha's necklace from around her neck and threw it to the bank not wanting to where it at the moment. Quickly she undressed and walked into the cool water letting her rage wash away with the flow of the river. She let her mind go blank as she stood in the water enjoying the peacefulness of the environment around her as it soothed her soul and frayed nerves.

Eventually she sunk down into the cool water and started to wash away the remnants of battle from her skin; she got out when it got too cold to stay in any longer and dressed quickly. She grabbed the necklace from the bank and shoved it into her bag not wanting to put it back on until she felt like it wasn't a collar Inuyasha had given her.

Still angry, she headed back to camp not wanting to see Inuyasha but knowing that she had to face him sooner or later.

"Kags..." Inuyasha started as she walked back into camp, but a glare stopped him from saying anything else past that.

She thanked Sango as she was handed a bowl of food and began to eat completely ignoring the sulking hanyou. With the sun set they all settled down for the night letting sleep take them away and replenishing the energy they had used in the battle earlier.

She felt as each one of her friends fell asleep one after the other; she even felt Inuyasha struggle to stay awake but he failed and fell into a deep, healing sleep. Sighing, she turned onto her back, not able to sleep for one reason or another. Quietly she got up deciding a walk would help clear her mind; looking back to her friends she put a barrier around them just in case of anything happening before turning and heading into the woods.

She walked from camp silently disappearing into the night where she could forget who she was for a while. The stress of the journey and responsibility hung heavily over her as she moved through the dark forest. The moon hung full in the sky as the rays broke through the tree branches.

Stumbling, she found herself in a vast field of long grass that swayed back and forth in the soft breeze. As the grasses rippled, the moons rays caused it to shift colors changing them every time the wind moved through them. She stared in awe at the beauty in front of her before moving slowly into the grassed before her. She closed her eyes and let her feet carry her as her hands trailed over the top of the grass, tickling her hand. She laughed softly in delight as she started to hear the music that was being played by the wilds around her.

The serenity of nature was calming her soul and finally the little miko was able to relax. Her steps fell softly on the dried grass beneath her feet as her powers started to swell around her as she continued to walk. Peace had settled about her being as she walked and her powers were slowly coming to the surface to protect her and contribute to the music already around her. They flowed lazily about her, causing her hair to sway slightly as well as rippling the grasses about her more.

Slowly, she came to a stop near what she thought to be the middle of the field. Cautiously she opened her eyes and what she saw before her took her breath away.

There, in the dead center of the clearing, was a creature of absolute beauty; its fur gleamed the purest of white in the moonlight causing its markings to seem almost illuminated against it. Its eyes were closed and its body language was one of absolute peace; the only thing that marred the picture was the missing left leg.

Noticing this, she physically stiffened, knowing now who the creature was and what he would do to her when he noticed her presence. She started to back up slowly when she noticed that the peaceful face was one of discomfort now; as she watched his face grew more and more troubled and a slight keening sound was heard from him. Instead of leaving now, she moved forward, closer to his side.

"What do you want, little miko?" Sesshomaru asked as he cracked one of his blood red eyes open to look at her.

Startled that she could understand his beast and that he hadn't just outright eaten her or something; it took her a moment to respond.

"You're in pain; why?" She asked.

"It is none of your concern, miko; leave me be."

She watched as a spasm shook his body forcing him to lie down; she ignored his command to leave and moved closer to him. A slight growl of warning was heard as he watched her, but she ignored him and moved over to the left side of him. There she saw what was causing him so much pain; it seemed to her that his left arm was attempting to regenerate, but it was going poorly at the moment.

Her miko powers were still stirring around her, urging her to heal the one that was in pain, and she moved forward to do so.

"Miko," he warned as he turned his head to look at her, teeth bared.

She only looked at him as her hands began to glow a soft pink in the night; he watched, wary, as she moved over to his left shoulder. Delicately, her hands moved across his fur, spreading warmth through him and easing his pain. He rested his head on his only paw, his eyes trained on her as she worked on restoring his arm.

Her hair swayed slightly about her as her hands moved over his shoulder, tiny shocks of power flew through him as her hands continued to distribute her power over his skin. Her eyes had become clouded by her power; she had retreated insider herself to a place where she could be in total control.

He stared in slight amazement as his pain was almost nonexistent now; slowly he let his eyes drift close as he allowed this one moment to enjoy the feeling of her soft touches on his fur. Against his will, a soft growl started issuing from his throat as he enjoyed her ministrations. With his eyes closed he didn't see the smile that graced her lips as she continued with her work.

A heavy sigh had him opening his eyes to look at the one that had restored his arm; she stood wearily next to him, everything about her betraying her exhaustion; though the smile on her face had yet to fade as she gazed at her work. He turned his eyes from her to look at his new left arm and grinned slightly at what he saw.

He stood slowly, getting used to the feeling of having his arm back, before he moved on to walking. He tested his arms ability when he moved on to a faster gate and found that his arm was as good as his old one.

To his right, he could hear the miko struggle to stay standing, he knew of her exhaustion and moved back to her. By the time he got there, she was sitting tiredly, her eyes almost completely closed. Sighing to himself, he knew that she would not be able to make it back to her camp, and that if he left a youkai could come and kill her. If that happened, he would be blamed because his scent was all over this clearing and then he would have to deal with that hanyou brother of his.

Deciding to save himself some trouble, he lay next to the half-asleep miko and pulled her in between his two paws; nudging her closer to his body for warmth with his nose.

"Hehe, that tickles Sesshy," said miko whispered as she tried to push the wet nose away from her as she curled up next to him.

"Go to sleep miko," he barked angrily, not liking the new nickname, but not doing anything about it as he knew she was too tired to think of what she had said. Letting himself relax, they both fell asleep to the music that nature provided for them.

A/N: REVIEW AND THERE WILL BE MORE SESSHY IN THE FUTURE!