"What takes us back to the past are the memories. What brings us forward is our dreams."

-Jeremy Irons

Countless Times

Sesshomaru situated himself in his bed, trying his best not to disturb the sleeping malamute at the foot of it, his back comfortable against the hard mattress and he crossed his arms across his chest, his hands meeting in the center. It was rigid, but it was generally comfortable for the doctor, and he knew exactly what he needed for a goodnight sleep. Two cups of coffee had not been smart for that particular list, but at least he had helped the woman open up to him. Of course, now, he was regretting letting her into his home in the first place, the list of dangers she brought to his home were endless. If it hadn't been for Rin, he wouldn't have been nearly as concerned, but his daughter was the number one priority. The surgeon knew better, yakuza members freely roamed the streets consistently without consequence; if anyone had seen… They probably would've attacked them right there and then. The young man tossed onto his side, resting his hands next to his face, trying to use logic to define safety, not for him, but for his family. His eyes peeled up to a nightstand, where he could barely see in the dark the picture that Rin gave to him within a week of her stay. It was poorly drawn, obviously, at the hands of a three year old with a couple of crayons, but it was distinctly the two of them, Sesshomaru was perceived with a serious glare, whereas the little girl was shown with a beaming smile, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the poorly drawn Jaken scowling in the background, nothing more than a mere mixture of scribbles. He reached out for the frame, holding it docilely in his hand as his fingers traced over the image.

The surgeon's mind was filled with different thoughts, surging in his brain all at once: the concern for his daughter and his lifelong friend, but also the concern for the woman sleeping on his couch, not of. What was more concerning was his familiarity with her, almost as if he already knew her, which was impossible. He never forgot a face in his life, the young man was always known for his intellect and professionalism. In an abrupt motion, Sesshomaru threw the blankets off of his body and calmly tiptoed down the hallway to check on the stranger, partly, because he was concerned with her morality and wanted to be sure that she was asleep and not robbing him, but also because he wanted to see if he could try to recognize her.

As he peeked around the corner, he was relieved to find that she was asleep on the couch, snug as could be, facing the couch and comfortable under the blankets, only her shoulders exposed. The woman certainly was not reluctant to make herself at home, but Sesshomaru also figured that the last time she had sleep on a padded surface was years ago—that is, unless, her story was a lie, but Sesshomaru didn't doubt it, there had been a history with human trafficking in the country's modern times and her frantic behavior didn't appear to be an act. Furthermore, with even the small fraction of her back exposed, Sesshomaru could see the burn she elaborately explained earlier curling along her left shoulder blade, just underneath the strap of her dress and then hiding beneath the rest of the blanket and he had noticed earlier when he convinced her to get off of that ledge.

Sesshomaru had been in the hallway for barely a second before the woman stirred in her sleep, tossing over onto her other side and draping her hand over the end of the couch. He prepared to apologize for disturbing her and cursed himself for waking her: she wasn't going to rob him if she was sleeping, and now that she was awake, how could he sleep soundlessly? He caught himself before speaking, noticing that the young woman was still breathing quietly, the rise and fall of her chest following the calm pattern that sleep brings with a soft face and closed eyes. With his eyes straining, the man focused on the details of her face: round cheeks; swollen, red lips; the dark hair, cut with a sharp fineness across her forehead while the rest cascaded down in waves; there was something increasingly familiar about the young woman, he was certain that he knew her. The drive for this thought process came from deep inside his chest, as if it were a hollow hole that would consume any of his other tribulations to gather more attention to the howling question: where had he seen her before? His eyes traveled to the floor in thought as his mind searched through the faces that he knew at some point or another, yet her face never revealed itself in the banks of his memory. For a few more moments, he allowed himself to be calmed by her serenity as she dreamed, trying his best to erode any thoughts that meant he knew her, but the haunting feeling lingered in his gut.

As swiftly as he entered, the young surgeon exited, taking care not to be too loud as he walked past his daughter's room, who was, hopefully, sleeping soundly tonight. As a father, it was nerve-racking that such a young girl had so many nightmares, but none of them seem to be riddled with any subconscious tendencies or repeated. If her nightmares escalated any further, he was certain that he would take her to a doctor, but perhaps he was just anxious since she wasn't in his care for her first years. Of course, Jaken told him that she would get over it, she was still young and would probably forget whatever it was that was straining the little girl, but still… Sesshomaru wanted to make sure that Rin had a good life, starting with a healthy mind. It seemed that as he passed her room, though, that there were nothing besides the faint little breaths that were associated with the calm brought about by pleasant dreams. Upon entering his own room, he found that A-Un had claimed the bed as his own, asleep on his back in the center of it, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. The man's generally flat face seemed to widen the frown that hung there. As gently as he could, he pushed the dog to the right side of the queen sized bed, and the dog made an audible groan as it fell over onto its left side.

Settling into bed, he couldn't muster the strength to look at the clock, it was early in the morning and dawn was approaching, and he was anything but sure that he'd be able to sleep in. Still, sleep seemed to run away from his grasp like a child trying to catch birds on the beach. Insomnia hadn't been a stranger to Sesshomaru in the past; it was almost as if he barely needed to sleep, just as long as he rested every now and then. Yet, he knew the core cause of his sleepless rest this time, the surgeon couldn't figure out where he had met the woman before. Even her name seemed familiar on his tongue, as if he had been saying it all his life. Resting his eyes for a moment, he stopped to stare up at the ceiling, seeming like a void in the darkness of the night. Silently, his fingers tapped against the sides of the bed, he heard A-Un snort in his sleep, he listened as cars passed by in the streets below every now and again, the chortling of young people's laughter that were just getting in for the night. Not even the lull of the city could drive Sesshomaru to sleep, so he picked out the oldest trick in the book. By the time the long-haired man had counted seventy-three sheep, the mask of sleep had drifted over him, and he peacefully fell into the unconcerned slumber.

The feeling of the wind against his body seemed to be weak and impartial to his movements through the sky. Whatever force was driving him was pumping with rage, fear, and fervor. For whatever reason, he couldn't fly fast enough. Clenching his jaw, his brows furrowed and he bent forward, hoping that the change in position would increase the aerodynamics and bring him closer to his target. A fragrance was the source of his ambition, the curdling scent of blood: a life to save. The monster's words were ringing through his head like an undying echo, piercing his ear drums and ripping at him inside.

"She'll have died in vain."

An animalistic growl grew in his throat, he felt the rage surge through him each time that sentence repeated in his head, propelling him forward as fast as he could. Countless times, he could've saved her, countless times, this could've been prevented, but now that the thought of it was staring him dead in the eye, he realized the dismay of it. But there was still a chance, he could still save her. The scent grew stronger with the wind as he neared his destination. He straightened his body preparing for descent. Nothing was fast enough, nothing was strong enough, nothing was good enough. Every inch of him surged with a storm of desperation, something he wasn't accustomed to, but he would make it. Her scent was still there, he could get to her; she still had a chance. As his feet pressed to the ground, he gathered his surroundings.

The aroma of nectar and blood filled Sesshomaru's nostrils: a strange combination, but there was no questioning that those were the two enveloping him. The scent of nectar was understandable as he stood in the middle of a strange meadow, covered as far as the eye could see in a blanket of white flowers. The crunches beneath his feet were ever so subtle as he looked around at his surroundings. A clear sky, really, it was a beautiful day. Nothing was better than days like this, barely a cloud in sight. The meadow was walled by the tallest trees he had ever seen, filled with hints of greens and yellows as the light from the sun bounced off of them. Suddenly, his mind returned to the task at hand, locating the source of the scent of blood. A small voice murmured near him, he couldn't catch what it said, but his eyes shot down to the ground in front of him to the epicenter of the voice: A woman, a woman he was trying to save.

He couldn't see her face, not really, he was focused on seeing who he was trying to save, but, when she looked up at him, her face remained in the shadows. The traditional garb she wore, bright pink and white, was drenched in blood, pale skin roughened by dirt, fingernails muddied by the dried blood that crust beneath them. One of her hands gracefully was held to the open wound, which seemed to be the center of a pulse that reeked of decay. What seemed to be in the form of ash was the same scent encased her, as if she were eroding away.

Without question, Sesshomaru involuntarily reached for the hilt of the sword that clung to his side. A sadness rushed over him, not strong enough to show in his face, but he tightened his grip on the hilt, as if that would somehow be of help; he felt it deep in his core, trying to plunder through, like an alien entity trying to escape his body. As quickly as he felt the emotion, he also masked it under the façade of an expressionless face. The woman below him fidgeted, her body bowing slightly, and a wave of ash seemed to fall from her body into the air around them. She was hopeless. His fingertips daintily removed themselves from the hilt of the sword and he returned it to his side. The woman below him either refused to look at him or didn't have the strength to crane herself up.

"Are you leaving?" the words escaped his lips without the realization that he was the one speaking.

"Yes," the hoarse voice responded, the sound resonating in his ears with its recognizable tone. "It's enough. I…" her words cut off as she mustered the strength to stare up at him. Her round face, swollen red lips stretched up into a smile, straight cut bangs across her forehead, dark hair cascading back into her elaborate up do: Kagura. The wind picked up as she fell backwards, disintegrating into nothing as she disappeared before his eyes. The wind ran through his hair like waves, feeling it along his back and face. His eyes shut tight for a second, cursing himself for his inability to save her, to prove that monster wrong.

The name hung on his lips.

Kagura.

Sesshomaru jilted awake with a gasp, heart beating in his chest. Immediately, he realized that he was safe in his own bed. The eggshell colored walls around him fenced him in, the window open with a breeze blowing in through the screen as the curtains, the sounds of car horns as traffic tried to move with ease through the city (failing, as it normally did), his familiar nightstand, his photos of home, his paintings hung on the walls in his room illuminated by the natural light seeping in, his home. Kagura's dying face still etched in his mind, where had that dream come from? He pressed his hands into his forehead as his elbows rested on his knee caps, eyes closed as finger tips massaged against his skin. It was a rough night, he drank coffee before he slept, and he was trying to figure out where he'd seen her before: that was all. Logic could only explain the brain, it was a machine just like a computer, inputting and outputting random integers all day. The reason he saw her in traditional garb was because they had been talking about a story from eons ago, and imagining the sword was because he had the mended one next to his bed side. Nothing other than the logic could be used to explain the dream.

Could've saved her countless times… He pressed the thought away, back into the corners of his mind where it belonged. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on his current location. Turning to face the clock, he realized that it was quite late, it was 10:30, and somehow, Jaken had managed to keep Rin quiet enough to allow him to sleep.

That's when the high-pitched scream resonated through the hallway; he listened as it grew closer, followed by the grumblings of an old man. Summer had been treating the housekeeper quite roughly as he helped with taking care of the child. He watched as his daughter speeded by, holding a blanket above her head as she raced through the hallway. Jaken was hunched over, attempting to keep up, hissing at her to quiet down. When Rin had made her round through the hallway, she turned around and headed back, stopping in front of Sesshomaru's room as she noticed the figure that was no longer lying down in bed, but upright and awake. A small smile crawled on his face when she tossed the blanket down and sprinted to the bed.

"Papa!" she squealed as she jumped on next to him. "You're up!" her tiny arms wrapped around his torso, and he placed one hand on her back for support.

"Yes, I am. Did you eat breakfast, yet?" Sesshomaru pushed the hair on her forehead back. She needed a haircut, soon, at least her bangs. He'd have to take care of that later. The little girl shook her head no.

"I said to wait for you. But I eated some fruit. I'm sorry."

Four years olds weren't supposed to have any sense of selflessness, which was what surprised Sesshomaru about the young girl the most. She felt him curl up between the space of his arm and armpit, resting her head on his chest, her tiny hands pressed up against her knees.

"Sesshomaru, sir!" Jaken's voice called out as he entered the room, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "Good morning! Did you sleep well?" Sesshomaru puckered his lips as he cast a glance over at Jaken.

"Well enough. Is Kagura still here?" Sesshomaru questioned, looking down at Rin who was sporadically making silly faces up at her father. Another smile was brought to his face, it couldn't be help. Other parents were right when they described their children as bundles of joy. Children could also be a pain, difficult to manage, and they brought a whole second set of anxieties to the playing field, but for the most part, they brought happiness.

"Who?" Jaken asked as he finally straightened out his body. Sesshomaru glared at the housekeeper, his mouth flat in a line while his eyes bore into the housekeeper as he leaned back on his hand in agitation.

"The woman. The woman I brought home. The reason I asked you to stay here," Sesshomaru bluntly articulated. It was always a hindrance that Jaken would forget important details, but there was his age to account for, and the fact that at times the man could be plain stupid; he still kept him around though. For the most part, the old man did a good job.

"Oh, yes! She's actually still asleep. I don't know how she did it with the ruckus. I'm not sure exactly how you slept through all that noise, sir, but she's still here. Should I wake her…?"

"No," Sesshomaru remained still for a moment, his eyes pinpointed on the foot of his bed before he vacated his bed. "I'm going to change now. I'll see you both out in a moment." Jaken hustled Rin out of the room, who was still grinning ear to ear. The second that the two were outside, Rin's high pitch squealing and the sound of the taps that her feet made when she ran moved up and down the hallways again.

Sesshomaru walked over to his dresser and opened the top drawer, revealing a well organized section of dress shirts, all ironed and folded in a meticulous manner. He picked out one from the top layer, a plain white button up (he had about ten in the drawer). He shifted down to the second drawer, picked out pair of pressed khakis and headed over to the shower to begin his daily routine. Generally, Sesshomaru took brisk showers in order to save time for his family; minutes that he spent in his own self-indulgence, no matter how many, still took away time that could've been well spent walking A-Un, taking Rin to see whatever children's movie was out now, or ordering Jaken around. Work consumed a great deal of his time, so he rationed out his time as well as possible. Today though, his shower was far more hurried than normal, he wanted to be out in the main room of his apartment before Kagura woke up so that he could prepare for her departure, which was a nice way of saying he was planning to kick her out.

Countless times, he could've saved her countless times.

"WEEEEEEE-WOOOOOOOO," Rin screeched as she passed by her father as he exited the room. Sesshomaru stopped for a second, almost running into the little girl, her arms outstretched as if she were an airplane, her blanket tied around her neck. After realizing what had happened (which didn't take too long, since this was usually part of his morning routine) he waltzed out toward the living room to find Jaken with his head in his hands in defeat, A-Un lying down on the ground, his ears lowered in annoyance, and the young woman still sleeping, or at least pretending to be. But by the movement of her chest, she seemed to remain in a deep slumber.

"Rin," Sesshomaru called out, and the little girl came sprinting back, running right into the arm of the chair, using it to stop her momentum.

"Yes, Papa?"

"What do you want for breakfast?" Sesshomaru asked, heading over to the kitchen in a manner of grace. Rin pattered behind him, when they both reached the kitchen, the father patiently stood in front of the sink waiting for the young girl to respond. She tugged on his dress shirt, and he looked down at her.

"Can we have miso soup? I want an egg, too," her eyes were big and pleading. It was typical for them to have such a breakfast, Sesshomaru never understood why he always felt as though the little girl was begging to be fed, but he always figured it had to deal with her life before she was adopted. Sesshomaru ruffled his daughter's hair.

"Of course, do you want it fried? Or do you want it with rice?" She began to jump in place.

"Fry it! Fry it!" she giggled. "I like the sound it makes when it hits the pan. Woooosshhhh." Her arms flew out in front of her as if she were trying to mimic a witch casting a spell. She certainly had the energy associated with children her age, as Sesshomaru began to remove all the proper materials to make the meal in question, he noticed that Rin had stopped and was looking over at Kagura. "Are you going to make her food, too, Papa?"

"Yes, it's only polite since she's our guest, Rin," Sesshomaru assured, he turned the heat on the stove as to start heating up both the frying pan and the dashi stock in the pot for the soup. He felt the small tug of his daughter's pull on his shirt again and looked down to find her with her arms up in the air, her head held into her chin with her eyes turned up. Without question, Sesshomaru knelt down and picked her up so that she hung at his side. She outstretched her hands to the counter; once again, Sesshomaru knew what she wanted without asking and sat her down on the marble. She kicked her legs, pounding her feet in rhythm against the wood of the cabinets below as she watched her father prepare their first meal of the day. The scent of the broth brought A-Un over to the kitchen as well, and he sat directly behind Sesshomaru as he began to cut up the ingredients for the soup.

"I dreamed about Ms. Kagura yesterday," Rin piped up. Sesshomaru stopped his actions for a second, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh?" he returned to the task at the cutting board.

"I don't 'member what happened, but I know she was in it," the little girl hummed. "I like her, she's nice."

"You didn't talk to her that long," Sesshomaru addressed Rin with soothing tone in his voice.

"She's nice," Rin badgered, before reaching over to sneak a carrot behind her back and then quickly passing it down to the dog that sat below them whimpering.

"You shouldn't give the dog scraps, Rin," Sesshomaru lectured, resulting in a sigh from the little girl.

"If you were a doggy, would you want to only eat kibble?" Rin questioned, Sesshomaru began to mix the ingredients into the stock and he looked over at the young girl pouting her lip with a hand on his hip.

"No, I don't think I would like that. But if you want to give A-Un food, you have to make sure that he can eat it first, otherwise he could get sick. And you have to ask me, too, okay?" Sesshomaru raised both his eyebrows to reiterate the statement and waited for Rin to nod before he went back to making breakfast. As Sesshomaru began to fry the egg, hoping to give Rin something to eat before the soup was ready; a knock interrupted the warm aura in the apartment. No one ever could come in unless they were buzzed in, and Sesshomaru certainly hadn't buzzed anyone up to his apartment, and he wasn't expecting any guests. He reached over and placed Rin down on the floor as he nudged her out of the kitchen.

"Rin, go to your room and close the door, this is work stuff. Remember to stay quiet, since I'm working," Sesshomaru lied under his breath as to not worry his daughter. She nodded before scuttling off to her room. Sesshomaru motioned for Jaken to follow him and when he looked in through the peephole, there were two young men standing in front of the door, discussing something. He pressed his ear to the door, trying to catch whatever any part of their conversation: he could only catch fragments.

"Listen, Naraku said 62,000 yen for her alive and only 12,400 for her dead, so we best make damn sure that we bring her back alive, you big lug, you hear me? Or I'll make you sorry," the first voice was high pitched and hoarse, reminding Sesshomaru very of a weasel or a rat. Immediately, Sesshomaru was certain that they were referring to Kagura. Only a person as vicious as the one she described would put a price so low on someone's life.

"How do we know it's her?" a second booming voice questioned, Sesshomaru held a finger up to Jaken as to make sure he didn't say a word.

"Well, we don't. He doesn't have a damn idea where she is. We just know that she was somewhere in this area last night. My guess is that she's gone by now."

They were going on a wild goose chase; there was no reason for them to suspect that Kagura was in his home. Sesshomaru reluctantly unchained the lock, but didn't unhook it as he opened the door.

"Hello? Can I help you?" Sesshomaru questioned. Jaken stood behind him, clearly nervous by the situation. Sesshomaru almost wanted to send him back with Rin, but at this point, he didn't want to alert to the strangers that there was a child in the house.

"Hi, we're with the police. We heard last night that you were seen with a woman? About 160 cm, she has dark hair, rather thin," the first man spoke; he had a certain gleam in his eye that Sesshomaru immediately disliked.

"Can I see your badges?" Sesshomaru questioned. The two men shared a confused look, as if they hadn't encountered a scenario where they were questioned on their authority. "Unless I see your badges, you have no right to be asking me anything." Sesshomaru began to close the door on the two, but the first speaker placed his hand in the doorway. He had a skeleton like appearance, with a suit on that was far too large for him frame. If he was trying to make himself appear larger, he was doing the opposite. Sesshomaru's indifference to the thought of taking off the man's fingers by slamming the door was overwhelming, but at the same time, he was concerned about his carpeting. The glare that Sesshomaru cast to the gaunt man was enough to go through his bony body, and he saw the larger man behind him take a step back in intimidation.

"Listen, we just want to ask you a few questions," the first speaker recited. The tone in his voice seemed as that he had regurgitated the same information several times before, and was trying to make the same trick work once more. It was more than obvious that these two were not members of any sort of police force and now it was Sesshomaru's goal to get them away from his home and keep it that way.

"Listen, you just described half the women in Japan. I want you to leave, now," Sesshomaru growled in his lowest octave, his head down turned so that the level of intimidation he evoked increased. The man swallowed nervously before he smiled again with a chuckle.

"Who's that lady on your couch?" Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder; they did have a clear view of Kagura. Nerves immediately coursed through him as he quickly came up with a lie to protect his household and the woman who lay on the couch.

Countless times, he could've saved her countless times.

"That's my wife," Sesshomaru hissed at the man. The man's grin grew wider with maliciousness; Sesshomaru wanted to reach over and pierce both his eyes with his fingers and feel nothing from the action. It was possible, the man was being completely rude and Sesshomaru's tolerance for rudeness and any sort of annoying behavior was limited, if anything, it was nonexistent.

"Had a fight then, huh? You've got balls making her sleep on the couch," the man smirked. "Listen, let me just for little bit of time. We won't be any trouble."

"She came home late last night, she's a hard worker," Sesshomaru explained calmly. Although his tone seemed as cool as an ocean breeze, his eyes were filled with contention, his brows furrowed in a rough line in between his eyes. "I want you to leave. Now."

"Can we please just-?"

"Leave now or I'm going to call the authorities, and give them very descriptive details of your identities and let them know that you're impersonating police men. How dare you come into my home and question me. You're lucky that I haven't alerted them already. How do you expect to pass as police officers without badges? You stay away from my home or I'll make you sorry you ever came with passing distance of it," Sesshomaru smacked his hand on the wall, which rattled the scrawny thug to retract his hand and gave Sesshomaru the room to slam the door in his face. Promptly, Sesshomaru pressed his ear up against the door once more to see if he could listen in on the rest of their conversation.

"Gee, what a piece of shit," the second speaker muttered, his voice low and brawny.

"Yeah, you're telling me," the scrawny guy remarked. The sound of his foot as it pounded on the door shook him, and riled him. "Hey, ASSHOLE, we were just going to ask if you saw ANYONE ELSE with the bitch. Well, fuck you and your wife!" Sesshomaru balled his hand into a fist, fingernails digging into his skin. A wave of calm came over him, the expression on his face changed from ire to a blank one, and the housekeeper who was watching over the situation was completely unsure as to which face rooted him in fear more.

"C'mon, let's get out of here. We'll find her, 'kay?" the lug muttered. There was a pause, Sesshomaru couldn't help but wonder if they were still standing outside of his door and staring in or if they had walked away.

"Yeah, let's bounce," the scrawny parasite concluded. Sesshomaru peered up to look through the peep-hole, the two men were gone and he could breathe easy. Although, he certainly wouldn't have minded put those two back in their place. He gave out a restful exhale and turned to Jaken.

"They're gone," he complied before brushing past the housekeeper.

"Sesshomaru, sir! What on earth was that about? Why… Were they looking for her?" Jaken questioned as he turned around to look at Sesshomaru who stood over the couch, looking down at Kagura.

She wasn't sleeping anymore, her eyes wide and filled to the brim with tears, clutching at her heart, her body curled up with her mouth agape.

"You… You didn't have to do that," her whisper was discordant with a taste of panic. Sesshomaru bowed his head and closed his eyes: that wasn't all together true. He opened his eyes to look down at her, she was smiling. "…Thank you," she whispered, turned her head away, closing her eyes, as if doing so would hide the frantic tears that were there. "I'm grateful, thank you." He remained above her as she shuddered, the fight to hold back her chortling tears was one she was losing, and part of him felt as though he had to stay calm by her side, as if somehow it would help in the slightest bit.

"I'm making breakfast, would you like some?" he finally choked the silence out of the room. Kagura didn't speak, she nodded her head. He could see her struggle, between trying to put up a front and be serious and brave and falling apart, there was no room for him to judge her. He headed back to the kitchen and listened to her quiet dry heaving.

Jaken stood aghast by the door, "You're going to let her stay? After all of that?" he plundered over to Sesshomaru, preparing some sort of speech as to lecture Sesshomaru on matters he already was well aware of.

"I never said I'd let her stay," Sesshomaru stated as he placed Rin's fried egg on a plate for her and stirred the soup. He paused, staring out the window to the skyscrapers that were in his view. It was almost as if déjà vu had hit him again, all because of that stupid dream. "She'll have breakfast and she'll leave. It's only what's right."

"Good, because she's a threat to all of us," her quiet sobs seemed to become louder at that statement before they refined themselves again. "She needs to leave as soon as possible. It's not our fault if anything happens to her and you know it. Obviously, this is a situation she got herself into—"

"And so she can get herself out. But you're speaking of things you know nothing about, Jaken. I already said that she would leave. If you continue to tell me things I already know about, I have no use for you and you can go home," Sesshomaru threatened, he turned to look over at the couch where Kagura laid, wondering what was running through her mind. Was it relief? Was it terror? A strange cocktail of the two? The surgeon knew he didn't owe her anything, Jaken was correct, she was nothing but a hindrance to his family, but still, that dream's voice echoed quietly in the corner of his mind.

Countless times, he could've saved her countless times.