Lady of the West, Daughter of the East

By Angel Dust
It's a SesshomaruxOC, InuyashaxKagome, KougaxSango fic!

You have been warned!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Inuyasha or any of the other characters or the original story line. I DO own my characters, they're as obvious as the nose on your face.

A few months after the Compass Ball, Lord Nishi of the Western Lands has called in the other lords for help fixing his rebellion issues. This will pull Lord Higashi and all five of his sons from the palace, leaving Lady Mai in charge of both kingdom and their daughter. Nikki has yet to show interest in any males, to her mother's great displeasure at the ball, though is secretly writing Sesshomaru as he is fighting by his father's side. Mai is anxious and willing to do anything to get Nikki to mate, and now that her only barrier (Higashi) is out of the picture temporarily there is nothing to stop her from having her way. Can Nikki survive her father's absence, or will there be one less member of the family at the dinner table from now on?

Chapter 5

For several days Nikki remained confined to her room, the prisoners Higashi threw into the dungeons waited for the princess to point out who had done what to her, and all the while Sesshomaru didn't leave the castle until he was permitted to see her. The healer and several maids were in and out of the room constantly, dealing with the issues created upon her capture.

"How is she?" Higashi demanded as the healer checked in with him, as she did daily.

"Her wounds are healing, my lord," the healer said as he nodded and listened, "but she is afflicted other ways. She was traumatized while locked in that hole of a dungeon. Despite all of our work, I am concerned that the princess will undo it all."

"What do you mean?" Higashi asked concerned.

"Your daughter was captured, locked in a dungeon for no reason, beaten, and I suspect more," the healer said as Higashi grew a dark look. "Her mind is not well, she has doubts and blames herself for what happened to her. None of it was her fault, but she has no one else to blame in her own mind, to the point she'd sacrifice herself to stop both thoughts and pain." Higashi nodded as he sighed and thought.

"When can I see her?" Higashi asked exhausted with this news.

"When she is ready, we are not the ones keeping you all at bay, though I must say that Lord Sesshomaru is getting to be quite persistant." The healer answere just as exhausted. "She is the one demanding we keep you back."

Several more days passed, Nikki refusing to see anyone claiming she is a disgrace to her family for her failures. Sesshomaru was barely being held back by her brothers as he attempted to see the female he was waiting what felt a lifetime for. They were still writing as if they were kingdoms apart and he could see the depression filling her letters. The less she wrote, the more he worried.

"We must check on her," Sesshomaru said angrily as Higashi looked at him wearily. "She is on a self destructive path." He put her latest, shortest, letter down on the desk and waited as her father read it. Higashi looked at him surprised.

"Where did you get this?" Higashi asked him curiously.

"Nikki's maid," Sesshomaru replied bitterly, "she will not allow this Sesshomaru in to see her but she will permit her maid to deliver letters between us like we were not in the same castle." Higashi sighed and nodded as he thought, he'd been trying to come up with ideas to get Nikki out of the room but most plans had a very forseeable future of failure.

"I fear forcing her to face us would force her hand into harming herself," Higashi admitted as Sesshomaru looked at him and thought. "But at this point, she's going to anyway if we don't do something." Sesshomaru turned and left the office, doing what Higahsi knew was more dangerous than facing an entire army of well trained soldiers.

Sesshomaru walked up to Nikki's door to find one of her brothers standing there, at attention as if he were merely a guard of the castle. The boys didn't know what was going on, they only knew what their sister wanted, and they couldn't do anything more than respect her wishes.

"Sesshomaru," Jiro said as he looked towards the older male. "You know I can't let you in."

"Your father agrees, we must force her to face us," Sesshomaru replied as Jiro sighed as he thought. "Your sister is on a path of self destruction in her shame of what was done to her. We cannot punish those responsible for this without her facing us and eventually them. This Sesshomaru will not take no once more, so either you move or you will be removed." Jiro looked at him challengingly and sighed as he thought about it, there was no fighting the stubborn youkai before him.

"I'll stay close by, call if you need me to help," Jiro said as he stood to the side. Sesshomaru nodded and opened the door, the scent of cherry blossoms hit him square in the face as he entered and closed the door behind him. He figured if he were going to piss her off, he didn't need an audience.

"You disobeyed my request," Nikki said from a corner behind him. Sesshomaru stood still and didn't look around, figuring he'd allow her to come to him.

"You have been hidden away for far too long," Sesshomaru replied, "I came all this way to see you as I wished to discuss much with you."

"I fear your trip was wasted," she whispered softly, "I'm sorry." Sesshomaru turned around to where her voice came from. She was huddled in the corner, her black silky kimono clung to her tiny, obviously malnurished frame. Her hair was pulled up and revealed her beautiful features as her large green eyes were full of misery and haunted looking. He wanted to pull her out of her corner, to shake her, and force the vibrant personality out of her.

"Why? There is no reason to be sorry," Sesshomaru said as he sat in front of her. She looked at him almost blankly. "From what I understand, what your father told me, everything that has led to now is not your fault."

"I was weak," she whispered, her voice cracking as Sesshomaru shook his head.

"I'm positive that is not correct," Sesshomaru said as she looked at him confused. "You are anything but weak, ever. You even stood up to me when we both were angry." He noticed her smirk a little before looking down. "Nikki, your father is worried about you. I threatened your brother to get in here because I was worried."

"I tried to hold them off..." Nikki said as tears started to stream down her face. Sesshomaru gathered her in his arms and leaned against the wall as he held her tightly. Supporting her silently as she cried, Sesshomaru really wanted to go into the dungeon and rip apart each person down there. As she calmed down and started to doze her maid and the healer came in, both surprised to see him.

"Go and get her something hearty to eat," Sesshomaru ordered the maid, he didn't like the feel of this emanciated Nikki. It was obvious she hasn't eaten since before she was captured. The maid left as the healer watched them.

"She is very fragile," the healer said to him.

"She is going to heal," Sesshomaru said confidently, "though this Sesshomaru fears what reliving the events will do to her." The healer nodded in agreement as she sighed and thought about what she could do for her lord's youngest kitten. Someone who should have been treated as gold was tarnished beyond recognition.

Happy New Year! Sorry it took so long to get you the next chapter! Between moving, fighting to get my internet up, the holidays (Yule, Christmas, and New Years) I've been super busy! But Chapter 6 isn't far behind! Enjoy and please, leave a review if you liked/hated/wanted something different and let me know what you think!