A/N: And here's the next chapter - time for some more drama. By the way, if any of you have any smart ideas concerning names for Lillia's swords, let me know in the commets - I hate having to come up with names for characters and whatnot, and I don't speak Japanese, so - any help would be very welcome.

Too Late

With another burst of speed, Lillia accellerated, her feet barely touching down at all. Step-leap-land-step. A constant rhythm, never breaking stride. Lillia was using what they referred to as the "high road" – instead of running, she was leaping from one tree to the next, using the branches as footholds.

Seeing that one branch was too far away for her to land upon didn't slow her down, either – she jumped, and, as she fell past the branch, she threw her arms out, grabbing the branch, digging her nails into it, making the wood splinter. Swinging forwards, she released the branch, flying through the air feet-first. Landing on the ground in a crouch, she was up and running the next moment and, as soon as she spotted a suitable tree, she was up and away once again, darting from one branch to the next.

Sesshomaru had advised against using too much of her youki on this trip – who knew what she might run into, and it was better to preserve her energy.

Reaching the crest of a smaller mountain, Lillia stopped for a moment in order to determine where she had to go from here on. She had never been to that place before, she was following the instructions given to her by the youkai whose arrival had caused her to embark on this quest.

Izayoi had died. Ten years had passed since that day she left the western fortress, and Lillia had been counting on the fact that she would come to them for help, once she found that InuYasha's demonic side was too much for her to handle. However, they had not heard a word from her in all the time – and, after her demise, her relatives hadn't seen the need to inform them of the fact she no longer dwelt among the living.

A loyal subject had heard of her death, and left immediately to inform his lord and lady. While angry at the humans for disregarding their duties, both Lillia and Sesshomaru had agreed that now, with Izayoi dead, no-one could stop them from claiming InuYasha. Sesshomaru was his closest living relative, and he was a Prince of the West. It was, therefore, decided that Lillia should go retrieve the pup.

She allowed herself a brief smile. This time, no-one would stop her. He was going to be hers, she would raise him along with the twins. He would be educated properly, and Lillia would teach him how to deal with both his human and youkai instincts – being something akin to a hanyou, she knew how to do that, and her pups would have to learn it, too. InuYasha would receive all the attention and education one of his standing deserved, and Lillia would shower him with love and affection – since his parents were no longer around to do that.

That decided, she leapt into the air again and continued on her way – a sudden feeling that something was wrong urging her to run even faster. She didn't know what it was, but now, every second that passed seemed wasted.

Finally, the castle that was her destination appeared on the horizon, and Lillia quickened her steps once more. Jumping right on top of the wall, she stood there for a moment, taking in the scene below. Not being able to spot anything remotely close to a threat, she jumped off the wall and landed right in the middle of the busy courtyard.

"Youkai!", someone screamed, and moments later, she was surrounded.

Not that any of them could have harmed her – years of training and practise had turned her into a strong and dauntless warrior – not only was she an excellent swordfighter and archer, but her ability to control her youki was perfect as well. She was not an opponent to be underestimated.

The soldiers surrounding her eyed her warily, taking in her appearance. Lillia's hakama and haori were made from the finest silk, clearly indicating that she wasn't just a normal traveller, and anyone knowing anything about swords would realise hers were of the finest quality.

Lillia stood still, not moving, not blinking, and waited until she had their full attention. They were hesitant to attack first, probably realising they would not survive the attempt.

"I am Lillia, Lady of the West! I seek an audience with your lord, now."

"The lord is busy, you cannot see him now!", one of the men replied.

Turning on the spot, she moved towards him in a slow, yet deliberately threatening manner.

"Tell me, soldier, which part of 'now' did you not understand? I have no time to waste on the likes of you, and you will bring me before your lord. As soon as possible."

The man had started to back away as she had closed in on him, not even trying to hide his fear. Lillia smiled her fangs at him for emphasis.

"R-right away, Lillia-sama", he rasped, before hurrying away. "Please wait here!"

"Thank you", she said.

Strolling over to one of the pillars carrying the roof of the palace, she leaned against it, ignoring the remaining soldiers. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight onto her right leg, tapping the ground with the tip of her left one. The soldiers eyed her warily for a while, before resuming to do whatever it was they had done before. Lillia didn't really care.

After a while, a servant came out, spotted her and approached her, tense and apprehensive.

"The lord is ready to receive you now, if you would please follow me."

"Certainly", she replied, pushing herself away from the pillar. "Lead the way."

The lord – she believed him to be Izayoi's father – was waiting for her in the throne room, surrounded by what appeared to be the strongest warriors he had been able to muster in such a short time. A man standing by his side kept whispering into his ear – not that this prevented her from hearing it – and she guessed he was an adviser.

Stopping in the middle of the room, she looked the lord squarely in the eye – she was his equal, after all.

Lillia tried her best to ignore the fluttering pulses, rapidly beating hearts and unsettling emotions the humans were emitting – it was distracting, to say the least. She was, after all, not here to eat them.

"Greetings", she said to the lord. "Thank you for receiving me on such short notice. I am Lillia, mate of Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, and I have come in his stead to retrieve his brother."

The lord gave his adviser a somewhat confused look before asking her, "Who?"

Lillia resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"InuYasha. Izayoi's pup."

His eyes widened slightly at that.

"You somehow forgot to notify us that she had died", Lillia went on. "Being his closest relatives, we claim custody. Summon him, I intend to leave as soon as possible."

She felt his panic increase at that, and frowned. She had no idea what could make him so panicky, after all, she hadn't said she was planning on killing the pup.

"He – he's not here anymore. He – ran away."

Lillia stared at him for a heartbeat, then, her eyes bled red.

"How dare you lie to me!", she snarled, moving closer taking long strides. "How dare you even think you could fool me! What have you done with him? Out with it!"

The lord looked terrified, but kept his mouth shut. Growling angrily, Lillia bared her fangs.

"Don't waste my time any more than you already have, human. I will ask you one last time: where is InuYasha?"

"Gone", the man whispered. "But I don't know where to – we – chased him away."

Her eyes widened in shock.

"Why."

"Because - "

"Why?!"

"Because he's a hanyou! We didn't want him around", he said defensively.

Lillia snarled.

"Because he's hanyou! He's your blood, dammit! If you didn't want to take care of him, all you needed to do was notify us – had you waited just a little while longer, I would have taken this 'problem' off your hands. But no, you had to chase away a ten-year-old child! You heartless monster!"

The lord cringed, but one of his men suddenly found his courage.

"How dare you speak to our lord in such a respectless manner, demon!", he shouted, drawing his blade and running at her.

Lillia neatly sidestepped him and grabbed him from behind. Yanking his head back by his hair, she placed the claw-tips of her right hand on his throat, applying just enough pressure for his mind to register it as a threat.

"Tell me, do you want to die?", she whispered in his ear.

The man was trembling, and Lillia got the feeling that, if she pushed him too far, he was going to wet himself. Not something she wanted to experience.

Releasing him while taking a step backwards, she landed a precise kick on his bottom, sending him sprawling on the ground.

"Let this be a warning to you lot", she said coolly. "The next idiot coming at me with a blade – or any other kind of weapon – will die."

Stalking past the humiliated man, she moved closer to the lord.

"Now, you will tell me everything. And I mean everything. As soon as I sense that you are hiding something, I will keep asking questions until you fess up the whole, nasty truth. And don't even attempt to lie to me again, or I swear, I will be killing something."

Backed into a corner with nowhere to run, the lord slowly began his tale. How Izayoi had returned with her son, and how she had been shamed and shunned by everyone. To them, she was a woman without honour, having thrown herself into the arms of a beast, and now she had the audacity to return with that demon's spawn. They had not been interested in her story, or her pain. Therefore, it was not too surprising they hadn't been able to place Lillia – they had never cared for their side of the family at all.

InuYasha hadn't been off much better than his mother – the humans had been disgusted by him, and, though they had never physically harmed him, the lord confessed they had given him quite an amount of verbal scars to remember them by. Lillia listened, her ire rising, as he listed all the wrongs they had done to the little boy and his mother as she kept digging, making him confess all his sins and wrongdoings to her.

She could hardly believe her ears. She knew that the humans from this time had some disturbing habits – such as killing unwanted children – but she would have never thought they would hold InuYasha's heritage against him – well, actually, she should have expected this. Humans had, after all, a nasty tendency to dislike anything out of the ordinary, anything that didn't fit into their neat little world. Humans would kill other humans because of that, or do worse things.

Damn. I should have never allowed her to leave.

But now, it was too late. InuYasha was gone, chased away by his own relatives. People who had done nothing but hurt him, and make him feel unwanted. The growl that had been building inside her chest made its way out, and Lillia let her youki loose, let it whip the men in the faces, forcing them to move backwards and shield themselves from her fury.

"Monsters", Lillia hissed, her voice venomous. "I am at a loss for words, and that doesn't normally happen. How dare you. How dare you treat a child in such a manner! I can, to some extend, understand why you would be cross with Izayoi, but she chose that path. InuYasha didn't – and you blamed him for something he had no control over. You truly are the worst."

She didn't even have to raise her voice – flaring her powers sufficed to drain her fury, and it was more intimidating than shouting at them at the top of her lungs. Lillia was pretty certain she had gotten her message across. Once she felt less furious – and was positive she wouldn't go on a killing spree – she reined her youki in, much to the relief of the humans.

"I would love to kill you, the whole lot", she told them conversationally. "However... I will not. I have more pressing matters to attend to, besides, I wouldn't want your blood on my claws. Bring me something that belonged to InuYasha – anything that has his scent on it. I will leave your punishment up to my mate. I am certain he will enjoy himself to the fullest."

The lord paled, and the men's fear spiked. Lillia was unimpressed.

"No, please, Lillia-sama, we beg of you", the lord pleaded.

"Spare me", she spat. "You reap what you sow. And quit wasting my time – if InuYasha should come to harm because of what you have done, kami help me, you will pay for that, too."

A servant arrived shortly after that, bringing her some pieces of clothing. Snatching them from his hands, Lillia deeply inhaled the hanyou's unmistakable scent before stuffing the fabric into her haori. Turning on her heel, she strode out of the throne room, not even sparing the assembled men a glance.

Picking up InuYasha's trail turned out to be a challenge – she could not detect his scent near the castle, since too many people had come that way in the meantime, and Lillia wasn't particularly skilled at tracking – she hadn't done it very often. So, she started to circle the castle, increasing the radius until, finally, she picked up her little brother's scent.

However, her heart sank when she realised the trail was already cold – they hadn't told her when InuYasha had left, but he must be several days ahead of her – a little boy, all alone out in the wild... Lillia shuddered at the thought of what might have already happened to the poor boy, and took off, her feet barely touching the ground as she tore through the forest.

Motoi barrelled through the woods, the men following him just as silent and tense as him. With an annoyed growl, he cut down a sapling that happened to be in his path, before re-focusing his attention on the trail they were following.

When the inukimi hadn't returned home after two days, Sesshomaru had ordered a search party to look for her. Regardless of how skilled she was, this was the first time she was travelling on her own, and something might have happened to her. And the Lord of the Western Lands wasn't willing to take any risks when his mate was concerned.

They had easily tracked Lillia to the fortress where Izayoi's family lived, but, surprisingly enough, she had not returned – though she had left the castle again, it took them a while to realise she must have been attempting to track something, since she had been running around in circles. However, they were unable to pick up the scent of her quarry, and had no idea what their lady was hunting. The trail she had left behind led them nowhere, and it followed no discernible pattern – it was as if whatever it was had just taken off, without giving the whole matter too much thought.

Motoi was worried, however, that he could not detect the hanyou's scent at all – he was supposed to be with Lillia, but – why would she go hunting with the pup in tow? That would be highly irresponsible, and Lillia, being a mother herself, just didn't strike him as the kind of person who would do something like that.

Suddenly, Motoi noticed something that disturbed him greatly – Lillia's scent had changed by nuances – she was apparently distraught. The longer they kept following her, the more pronounced it became. Motoi grit his teeth.

"Hurry!", he rasped at his companions. "Something is wrong here!"

Her trail ended at a river, and Motoi realised she must have jumped across. Using youki to boost his jump, he leapt the distance, and, after a while, managed to pick up her trail again. Her scent was strong now – she had to be close.

She had apparently searched the riverbanks for whatever it was she was tracking, and that was where they found her – cowering on the ground, clutching a small piece of clothing to her chest.

Motoi had not been prepared for this. Her hair was a total mess, her eyes bloodshot and she looked and smelled as if she hadn't seen a bath in days. But what was worst was the emotions she let out – despair, pain, and hopelessness.

"Lillia-sama", Motoi breathed.

Her eyes snapped to his, and he realised she was crying.

"It's you", she whispered. "Did Sesshomaru send you?"

"Hai."

"I failed." Her voice was barely audible. "They chased him off, and I tried to find him... but – I couldn't. I lost him on this side of the river, he's gone – I can't find him, I've failed... I can't keep my promise... I can't find him."

She seemed delirious, but the fact that she kept repeating that one phrase filled Motoi with dread.

"You have been tracking InuYasha-sama", he whispered.

She nodded her head ever so slightly.

One of his men swore colourfully.

"The humans chased him away?", Motoi asked, fury entering his voice.

"Yes. I left immediately, trying to find him, but – when I reached this shore, I could no longer pick up his scent..."

"No ten-year-old could jump across a river this size, so he either tried to swim across, or he fell in when he tried to jump across. Either way, the current would have borne him away – he might be very far away from this place. He – may already be dead, inukimi-sama."

Lillia let out a gut-wrenching, keening wail.

"Noooo... he can't be dead, please, tell me that's not true..."

Clutching the piece of fabric even closer to her chest, she bent over, her forehead almost touching the muddy ground. It was painful to watch.

"Well, we can't know for sure until we find him", Motoi admitted. "However... he doesn't know how to hunt, find shelter or protect himself against enemies. Chances of him still being alive are small – you must realise that it might be too late to save him, even if we should find him."

"I know... I know that. But it's still hard to accept... I promised to look after him, to care for him... I don't want to have to break this promise..."

"Inukimi-sama, we have been instructed to take you back to the fortress immediately – as soon as I am able, I will round up some men and go look for InuYasha-sama. We will find him, I promise you. But please – think of your own pups. They need their mother. Please, you must return with us."

She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes again. She got to her feet, swaying slightly, blinking with unseeing eyes at the world. She followed them silently as they chose the shortest route back – crying silent tears all the way.

Sensing his mate approaching, Sesshomaru abandoned his duties and made his way to the courtyard to greet her. She had been gone for too long, and, though he would never admit that out loud, he had been worried about her.

The twins had missed their mother as well – they were by now big enough to explore the castle on their own, and Lillia somehow had a knack for keeping them in control. Sesshomaru was always busy with work, and simply didn't have the time to chase after his pups. And unfortunately, the servants weren't as efficient as Lillia.

The gates were pulled open and the inu came running into the courtyard. Sesshomaru almost didn't believe his eyes – General Motoi had Lillia cradled against his chest, and InuYasha was nowhere to be seen. His beast roared and revolted at the sight of another male daring to touch their mate in such a manner, but Sesshomaru quickly subdued it, realising Lillia was in no shape to be walking on her own.

He met them halfway, placing a hand on Lillia's forehead. Her eyelids fluttered, and she looked up at him, her eyes reddened.

He could see the trails the tears had left on her face – because they had washed the dust and dirt away. Lillia was not only extremely filthy, but also mentally and emotionally unstable – not a good combination.

"You need a bath", he observed, holding out his arms so Motoi could hand her over.

"Yes", Lillia whispered, her voice hoarse.

"Sesshomaru-sama, with your permission, I will conduct a search for InuYasha-sama – we might yet be able to find him."

"Go", he replied. "I will hear the report from my mate."

The General bowed and started barking orders. Sesshomaru turned and made his way to the bathing house where he quickly undressed Lillia before placing her in the steaming water. He followed soon after, grabbing a sponge and beginning to wash the dirt and tears from her body and face. She was still apathetic, and didn't respond to his touch. Sesshomaru did his best to comfort her, to assure her that everything was fine – while knowing very well that something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong. She had been supposed to retrieve his younger brother – the fact that she had been unable to do so didn't bode well.

After washing her hair, Sesshomaru began grooming it, and finally, she started to relax. As soon as he was done, Sesshomaru pulled her against his chest, resting his chin atop her head, his arms wrapped around her waist. Lillia took a shuddering breath.

"Thank you", she breathed.

"No need to thank me. I hate it when you are distressed."

"Trust me, I don't like it particularly, either."

"Do you feel like telling me what happened? How did InuYasha go missing?"

"It was them humans", she whispered, her voice suddenly full of hatred – not something that was normal. "They drove him away, left him to fend for himself. They seemed surprised I would want him – to them, he was just something unwanted. They abused him – verbally. And apparently, Izayoi never stopped them – I don't know if she even tried, or just gave up eventually... as soon as she had been buried, they made InuYasha leave. They didn't care about what would happen to him... if he would live or die... I got angry, really angry, but decided that finding InuYasha should be the top priority – they gave me some of his clothes, and I started to track him – but – I lost him. At a river. Motoi believes he might have drowned... I – I failed. I broke my promise... I couldn't protect him."

Sesshomaru's hold on her tightened when he heard her tale.

"This is not your fault", he growled. "You did all you could, no-one could have done more. General Motoi is a very skilled hunter, I am sure he and his men will be able to find InuYasha."

However – the question was if they would find him alive, but he thought it better not to point that little detail out to her.

"I take it you did not punish the humans for their transgressions against a Prince of the West?"

"No – I thought I'd leave that to you."

"Hn."

"Besides, I was hoping I could find InuYasha if I left right away – wasting time punishing them didn't strike me as clever."

"I agree. It is not like they can escape from us. Did you tell them?"

"Yes. I expect they are quivering with fear at this very moment – they are only brave as long as they can pick on someone weaker than themselves."

"Despicable."

"Indeed. Poor InuYasha – his life must have been dreadful. And this is no improvement – I so hope he's all right..."

"He will be fine, Lillia. He, too, is the son of the greatest demon to ever walk the earth. I promise you he will be fine."

She let out a sigh and relaxed in his arms, her eyes sliding shut. Sesshomaru decided to stay like this for a while – she wouldn't be cold, and he would most likely wake her if he attempted to move her.

He let his thought wander to more unpleasant things – making himself a mental note to go and visit Izayoi's family at the earliest convenience. They would pay – not only for abusing his helpless little brother, but also for causing his mate so much distress. Oh, they would pay. Dearly.