Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and plot ideas that are formed in this demented mind of mine. Thanks to all those who have been reviewing, I love to hear from you.

Note: The next chapter is going to be another explanation chapter provided you guys ask for it. Please put your questions in the review section, you can also vote for who you want to do the explaining. Thanks.

That Special One

It was a toss up to say which group was more surprised. The mass of demon lords Lord Treize had managed to round up in their absence or Lord Sesshoumaru's group at finding all these demons there when they arrived. Quickly explaining their purpose the group was shown to a separate room at their insistence where they waited while Tomoyo was summoned to them. The other demons weren't exactly happy about their seclusion from seeing this vision but they quit their requests once Lord Sesshoumaru made it quite clear he didn't appreciate their complaints at all. He was giving off such dangerous vibes everyone with any sense was afraid to breath wrong in his presence and was glad to see him go into the next room. Of course there was a lot of talk about him being chained to that human, many of his enemies noting that this would leave him at a distinct disadvantage. Especially since that left only the Lord's bad arm to fight with. Of course they waited till he was out of the room before they began discussing it amongst themselves with Manta doing plenty of the stirring up about it. Unfortunately for them Sesshoumaru and some of the others weren't so stupid that they hadn't noticed. Not to mention the fact that half of them were dog demons. Their hearing was quite excellent.

"Looks to me like they think you won't be much of a threat..because of me." Sango noted while they waited, her eyes looking up at Sesshoumaru questioningly. Those conversations were making her really nervous, like a cornered mouse with no where to go but into the cat's mouth. She wouldn't be going down it alone either, she silently added, looking at Sesshoumaru as she absently chewed on her bottom lip. He would go down with her and it would be her fault for slowing him down.

"I apparently survived it once, I see no reason I can't do it again." Sesshoumaru pointed out though he was slightly worried. She was definitely worried since it was nearly written on her face, Sesshoumaru thought with faint amusement. The way he was now, tied to the slayer, with his good arm immobilized by the chain...it was a serious problem. Or it would be if the others hadn't been there, he thought, reluctantly admitting, if only to himself, that some of his current companions weren't complete wastes of air and space.

"Geez, I can hear them plotting from here." Inu yasha said in disgust, crossing his arms in front of him as he scowled in the general direction of the main hall where all the demons were gathered. "And of course that idiot Manta is shooting his mouth off, as usual."

"What I don't get is how he managed to even live this long. I mean in our time it's just because all the extreme demon lovers prefer him to Kouga. Killing him would lead to a lot of warfare between the wolf clan." Kyou said from his spot beside the closed door with Andrea on the other side. It didn't hurt to be cautious.

"What do you mean, extreme demon lovers?" Kouga wanted to know. After all it wasn't like he was anti demon, far from it.

"Well you didn't take a demon as your mate so a lot of Manta's supporters claim that's a reflection on your abilities to lead. You know, being weak enough not to be able to get a "real" mate. Of course the real reason is that they're really all just afraid of her. That's why they want Manta to take over. They figure if they can get him elected top wolf you'll go peacefully to prevent any bloodshed. Then she won't be able to justify killing them all for being the selfish, vicious bastards that they are." Kyou explained, rocking on his heels impatiently. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all.

"Is she really that bad?" Kouga wanted to know. He was all for a mate that could defend herself but she was coming off as being a rather big handful. Possibly more of a handful then he could handle for that matter.

"Well she can be but she's also beautiful so when you look at her you sorta forget everything including your name sometimes." Kyou said with a wink in his uncle's direction. "You're a lucky man, trust me on this."

"Right..." Was Kouga's dry response before turning his head sharply. "She's coming."

As soon as Tomoyo was in the room Andrea explained the present circumstances and gained Tomoyo's assurance that she would do her best to help them. Using Kyou this time for a medium she was able to lock onto Sora and soon they were once again looking into a screen but for some strange reason Sora was looking unusually small and about five, complete with pigtails and chubby cheeks.

"Stupid, damn test." Sora muttered, looking around at what seemed to her to be a deserted valley in the middle of nowhere. "And what the hell does making me look like I'm five have to do with anything?" Looking around her again she frowned, absently chewing on her bottom lip. "Okay..the others did this, so can I. Now the clue was to find someone who you love and trust, that you believe would never let you down. Only problem is..I can think of a lot of people that fit that description and I don't see even one of them." Walking around aimlessly Sora looked all over but couldn't find a single person anywhere. She couldn't even see any signs that anyone had been there recently. Finally giving up she sat on a rock to ponder. "Lets see...they made me a child..maybe that's a hint? Someone who as a child you'd always expect to fit those requirements and was old enough to do it? Well my brothers and Rin were old enough but if I was in real trouble the person I'd want is my father." As if on cue her father suddenly appeared before her, startling her so much she fell off the rock and over the other side. Laying on her back Sora stared up at her father who stared back at her from above. "Well you aren't my real father." Sora decided after looking him carefully in the eye. "But I guess you're just supposed to represent him." Getting to her feet Sora dusted herself off then walking around the rock moved to stand at the replication's side. "Show me the way out, please." Following him out she grew back to her normal self and soon saw a sort of doorway open up in front of them. After thanking him for his help Sora walked through the doorway to find the others lounging around, waiting.

"You got through okay!" Dare announced, hurrying over to give her a hug and a once over, feeling unusually affectionate towards his little sister now that he'd almost lost her in the past of all places. Of course she was still going back but he was hoping to join her shortly. "And you haven't disappeared back into the past yet either. All is good."

"Yeah, looks like you guys all made it...but where's Ren?" Sora wanted to know, her eyes looking around, a faint hint of concern coming into her pale eyes. "He went before me."

"No he...he did?" Mina repeated, a worried look coming into her eyes as she walked over to Sora. "He hasn't..he hasn't come out yet. But that means..it means he isn't coming out period..doesn't it?" Looking from Sora to Dare Mina's face lost color before looking over their shoulders at the mountain wall. Like the other side it only showed an opening when someone was going through it.

"Oh no." Hermione said, tears welling up in her eyes. "Not Ren, not Ren!"

"Of all of us..he would have been the one most out to sea.. who to get help from, who would love him enough to qualify." Triton pointed out from where he sat, meditating on the ground. He on the other hand had had no question as to who's hand to reach out for. His wife's had already been there, waiting to take his. "He whose family ties are the weakest, without the confidence to depend on those who live around him."

"But there might still be a chance, right?" Hermione said as she looked toward the mountain. "Maybe..maybe he can still make it out of there somehow."

Stepping into the portal now that Sora was through Mika was more then a little displeased to find herself shrinking until she was about the size of a six year old. Stamping her foot in annoyance she blinked rapidly when before her eyes the dim darkness of the room changed, becoming the busy and crowded streets of the city. In fact she'd often patrolled this area when she was a rookie cop, Mika realized, spinning around in a circle to get a better sense where she was, which wasn't easy since there were people everywhere, pretty much all of them bigger then she was. She didn't recognize any of them either which didn't exactly go with the clue they'd been given before entering. She needed to find someone to take her out, someone she apparently loved and trusted above all others. Well that wasn't brain surgery. Elbowing her way through the crowd Mika struggled up a flight of stairs, up to a walk in front of a run down apartment building. Standing there on tippy toes she tried to take advantage of the added height but she couldn't see her father anywhere. Where is he, Mika wondered, her bottom lip sticking out in a pout. She didn't like to be kept waiting after all. Since she knew there was a time limit Mika drew in her breath then began hollering for her father, her voice rising over the traffic which was no small feat. After doing it for what seemed like forever Mika saw the crowd begin to part, her father coming over to stand in front of her. Holding out her arms Mika wrapped her arms around her father's neck as he picked her up. "I need to get out of here, Daddy." Mika informed her father a little hoarsely.

"Then we better get you out of here." Inu yasha agreed as he carried his daughter through the crowd, everyone parting to let them through.

Looking around now that she knew she didn't have to worry about getting out Mika was about to ask her father what had taken him so long when her eyes were caught and held by the sight of a small boy, sitting on a nearby bench. He looked to be a kid too with black hair and if she wasn't mistaken he was wearing wolf demon clothing. What was a wolf demon kid be doing in the middle of a Japanese city block? Unless...squirming Mika demanded her father put her down and ignoring his arguments got away and pushed, shoved and kicked her way through the crowd to get over to the boy. He was curled up, his knees pressed against his chest, his head lowered so that his face was hidden from her. Following her instincts, something she tended to do more then was wise, she reached out and grabbed the boy's hand. Yanking him towards her she pulled him right off the bench and forced him to come with her to where her father was waiting. The boy following along like a lifeless shadow, his head staying down, shoulders slumped in defeat. Taking her father's hand again Mika kept a firm grip on both of them. "Lets go."

Nodding Inu yasha continued to walk and this time Mika found herself slowly beginning to age, getting taller and taller as she reached her former size, shape and she assumed age. Turning to smile at her father she suddenly realized that the other hand she'd been holding had gone from a child's to a mans hand too. Turning her head Mika stared as she realized who's hand she was holding. Ren's.

"What the hell..." Mika muttered, staring into his blank eyes. It was like he was sleep walking or something. He'd gone in before her..was it possible..he'd gotten stuck in here somehow? But then why'd he end up in her test? Why hadn't he been sucked into some dark place to never be seen or heard from again?

"He cannot hear you." She was informed by the man who was standing in for her real dad.

"But it is Ren, right? My stupid, barely useful in any way, shape or form Ren?" Mika demanded to know. If it wasn't then she could probably let him go. Probably was supposed to but her mind kept rejecting that idea for some stupid reason. For some reason all her hand seemed to want to do was hold the idiot's tighter.

"Yes, he didn't know who's hand to reach out for and so he couldn't pass on in the allotted time."

"Then how come he ended up in my test, currently being dragged by me?" Mika wanted to know as she looked back and forth between the two. "I mean if he failed then I shouldn't be able to get him out of here."

"There are some things more powerful then even those that control these tests." Was the cryptic response.

"Okay...boy is everyone gonna rag my ass about this." Mika muttered as she turned to glare at Ren as she let go of Inu yasha's hand and dragged the still silent Ren to the portal's entrance. "And don't think you aren't going to owe me for this either because your ass is mine now and believe me when I say I'm gonna be kicking it plenty. Do you have any idea how much you weigh? If we get stuck in here because I had to drag you I am so gonna see you pay in hell. Your father is going to seem like a loving nurturer when I get through with you. You can bet on it!" Mika snarled at him as they stepped out of the imaginary reality and into their real one.

"Ren!" Hermione cried, rushing forward with a huge smile on her face, only to come to a sudden stop at the look on Ren's face. "Ren? Is he okay? Did you do something to him?" Hermione demanded to know.

"The only thing I did was save his scrawny ass from being stuck in there forever." Mika said with a dark look in her cousin's direction. Sure, blame it on her. Figures.

"Give him time to heal, I can sense his mind has been put under a great deal of stress and pain." Triton said as he came forward to look the boy over. "He's had to face truths no one wants to face, especially a man like him. Simply set him down somewhere and let him recover at his own pace. Mika might have brought him out of that place physically but emotionally he is still there, fighting to get out."

"What do you mean, emotional strain?" Dare wanted to know, wondering what could have happened to the guy in there. His own test had been as easy as finding his mother in a crowd, no big deal.

"What would it be like, do you think, to be surrounded by the people you know and care for and yet not be able to say for certain that any of them return those feelings. To have it shoved in your face that you can't place your trust in the people who should love and care for you." Aiden said quietly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "That test wasn't hard for any of us because we all had plenty of people to chose in our lives that fit the criteria of someone we love with all our heart and who we would trust above all others. I don't know about you...but I can't begin to imagine what it must be like...to have it shoved in my face that I don't have anyone like that. I don't know if I'd be able to handle it."

"That poor boy." Kagome whispered as she watched her daughter lead Ren over to a rock, forcing him to sit on the ground so that he was leaning against it, Hermione and Mina hovering over him anxiously.

"What sort of tests are these? Why are they even going through them?" Was what Miroku wanted to know, worried about his son since apparently Aiden wasn't much in the ways of a fighter. If there were more tests after this and the enemy could create such powerful illusions... Well from where he was standing there was cause for worry.

"Oh boy...look who's next for this little game." Inu yasha muttered, giving his brother a slightly worried look out of the corner of his eye before he turned to watch his older brother on the screen walk through the portal and begin to shrink. If being able to love and trust were the criteria..how likely was Sesshoumaru to get through whatever the hell this was?

Sesshoumaru stepped into the portal and when he came out of it found himself to be a lot shorter then he'd been previously and in a hallway he'd hoped never to see again. A hallway he himself had destroyed before leaving it, never to return to even the ruins ever again. It was the hallway to his mother's rooms and he was once again the small boy from his past, defenseless against the woman who should have been his greatest protector. His fingers clenching and unclenching out of habit Sesshoumaru blinked when he felt the familiar cool metal rubbing against his flesh. Holding up his left hand to his face he stared at the simple gold ring that had shrunk with him, a symbol he never took off. His wedding ring. Of course it had no meaning in his world. A tradition from Kagome's era that Sango had decided to use as a way of giving him a visible symbol of her promise to him and him to her. Two halves of a whole, together until their lives ended. That she would never leave his side or betray him for any other. She was waiting for him and whatever he faced down this hallway he had to get through it. For them as well as for himself. Taking a deep breath he started forward, his footsteps echoing in the startling silence of the room. When the door to his mother's room opened and she stepped out he wasn't even surprised. Bracing for what he knew was coming he, for the first time to his knowledge, stood defiantly, his head high and his gaze direct. Perhaps his body was that of the boy he'd been but that boy had died along with the woman before him a long time ago.