WARNING: RAPE AND VIOLENCE, READER BEWARE.

After a great soak in the onsen, Inuhime was surprisingly relaxed. She dressed in her night kimono and walked to her futon. She was definitely fatigue due to that blasted curse. She knew that Naraku could do whatever he wanted to her; wherever and whenever he wanted. It was really disturbing at say the least. Naraku was always an unpredictable male.

"How ironic," she thought. "For me being in a coma for a little over a month, that I still had to rest. That bastard will pay for this, but first thing's first. I need a good night's sleep."

At sunrise, Inuhime was beginning to wake. She felt something around her waist. First, she put her hand on whatever was on her waist. When she felt that it was an arm, she woke up suddenly. She saw who the arm belong to. It was no other than that vile bastard, Naraku. She quickly jumped out of bed. Naraku woke up then.

"What's the matter, love?"

"What the hell are you doing in my room?!"

He chuckled. "Oh love, this isn't just YOUR room. It is OURS. After all, we are mates."

"I don't know what game you are playing, but I am NOT playing it."

She quickly tried to get out of the room, but she felt a barrier there. It was a strong one at that. She knew that she don't have the energy to break it. However, she didn't let that stop her. Every time she struck the barrier, it shocked her. It also made her weak.

Naraku was amused by her antics trying to escape from him.

"Inuhime, my dear, you must stop or you end up killing yourself."

"Death is much better fate than being here with you."

He smirked. "You had never lost your fierceness." He got out of the futon and walked toward her.

"Stop! Stay where you are, Naraku!"

"Or what? You purified me. Highly unlikely. You know what they said, my love, that once a youkai or an hanyou mated with a miko or in your case a miko-youkai. The purification of one's mate can not do any harm to her mate. No matter what. So, your threats are futile, Inuhime. YOU ARE MINE! THE FASTER YOU WOULD ACCEPT THAT; THE BETTER IT IS FOR YOU!"

"Bastard! I AM NO ONE'S MATE! NOT YOURS OR ANYBODY ELSE'S!"

"That's where you are wrong, my love. You see, once I had you, I marked you as mine. Therefore, there's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You are mine."

"I am not your mate! You RAPED me! I'd NEVER willingly gave myself to you."

"It matters not. The proof, that would prove you to be my mate, is on your stomach."

He smirked as she looked on the stomach. The mating mark looked at a spider. Her face paled suddenly. It's true. She was indeed his mate. She started to get nauseous.

She shook her head.

"This may be your mark, but that horrendous mark wasn't there before. It wasn't even there after you raped me. If I'd ever was your mate, which I am not, it would had been there all of this time. You actually thought that I would fall into your traps. I am no fool, baka."

He smirked and clapped his hands sarcastically. "Bravo. Bravo. Indeed, you hadn't fallen into my trap. However...*He walked around her like a shark stalking his prey*... You had forgotten one very important detail."

"And what the hell is that?"

"You are my prisoner, Inu-hi-me. No one knows who'd had abducted you. No one knows that I'd returned from the dead, courtesy of our son. He's such a good son. You see, he was the one who killed Inuyasha for his beloved fable sword, Tetsusaiga, since our son is of the Great Dog General's blood. He had no problem wielding it. It was as if it knew who he was. The fang chosen a new wielder worthy and strong enough to wield it."

When she heard that, her heart sank down to a bottomless abyss. It was true. No one knows who had taken her and that Naraku returned from the Underworld. She could see now, how he returned and who had helped him. Apparently, not only him, but Kagura and Kanna as well. However, something doesn't make any sense, their son shouldn't be a full grown adult male; not even an adolescent male. He would be about the same age as Shippo.

"What happened to my real son, Naraku," she asked with an icy tone of voice.

He slapped her face so hard that it dislocated her jawbone. He narrowed his red eyes and snarled, "Bitch, don't speak to me in that tone! ...*He paused for a moment*... So you want to know what happened to OUR son. It seems that you figured it out."

She was going to speak up, but she couldn't because of her dislocated jaw. So, she gave him her cruelest death glare that she could mustered. He chuckled at her glare. He put his clawed hand on her jawbone to put her jawbone back into it's place. As he was doing that with her jawbone, she screamed.

He was suddenly aroused by the sound of her scream.

She thought, "Fuck! It hurts."

Her tears were starting to overflow, but she willed them back. She didn't want to give him any satisfaction. However, no matter how hard she tried to hold them back, the pain was so overwhelming. She was so weak in her strength that she can't even fight if he wanted to hit her some more. Under any other circumstances, she would have block and kick the leaving hell out of him and back and back again. She would still have the strength to do it a hundred or more times over and wouldn't be exhausted. She came to the conclusion that this was the reason behind of the loathsome curse.

"Oh Kami, if I am too weak to protect myself from him, then I couldn't protect those whom I'd have hold dear to my heart...*She paused*... Father, mother, Rin, Shippo, Nanami, grandmama*, Naomi, Gina, Zoku, Inuyasha, Kagome...*she gave another paused*... Sesshou*, brother..."

At the Western Palace, Sesshomaru, suddenly, heard his twin's voice calling his name. However, he wasn't the only one who heard her calling out to them. Anyone with a deep bond with Inuhime could hear her calling them in a melancholic voice. They had never once in their lives heard her sound so depressed. Kagome, Rin, and Shippo, who hadn't known her very long. They heard her, too. It was heartbreaking to hear her sound so weak and ...heartbroken. It was just wasn't her.

Inukimi found another reason not to give up, after she heard her daughter calling out to her. Her beast whined because how sad that she had sounded. She and her beast wanted so desperately to comfort and give her strength with her maternal voice. InuTaisho, Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and even Shippo were angry beyond reason. They and their beasts (yes, even Inuyasha's beast) desperately wanted to find and protect her from whatever evil force who's currently holding her as a prisoner.

Like Inukimi, the other females wanted to help however they could. As if a divine force was leading them they all, excluding Gina and Zokushi, were in the library going through the sacred books.

Hell, even Miroku, Sango, Kouga, and Ayame wanted to help. They had heard the commotion of many people walking briskly down the hallway. Whenever they found out what happened to motivate them so. They wanted to help as well. The more people looking for a solution; the merrier, right?

Meanwhile, at the Southern Palace, Naraku grabbed her wrists and pulled her against him, roughly.

"No matter, my dear, whether or not you are my mate. I'll still have you."

He touched her cheek with his index finger. She quickly move her head away. He chuckled darkly. He pushed her on their futon. He pounced on her like a lion attempting to kill his prey. He shredded her night kimono as well as disrobing his. He started kissing her roughly and dominantly.

She quickly had flashbacks of the first time that he had raped her. She couldn't even yell for help. All there were tears streaming down her red, tear-stained cheeks. She'd NEVER felt so hopeless, helpless since the first time he had done this to her.

She tried to fight him, but again her strength had failed her once more. He forced his way inside her. She just gave up fighting as he kept on plumping in and out of her until he finally released. He panted heavily like he just sprinted ten miles and back. She just laid there like she was dead. He didn't even noticed or cared, which that was not unexpected coming from him. He laid by her fondling her breast. He smirked because he knew that he was breaking her fighting spirit.

He thought, "It won't be long, now. I will have her where I want her."

He spoke out loud, "Don't worry my dear. If you behave like a good bitch behaves then I promise that I'll show you where our REAL son is."

She turned to look at him. She gave him a blank stare, then she turned back to look at the ceiling. She was so tired. She was physically, mentally, and emotionally tired. The only thing that hadn't been tainted by this curse was her spirit; her inner being. If it wasn't for her inner being, she was certain that she would succumb to the darkness, indefinitely. She heard Naraku passed out. He still had his vile hand on her delicate, perked breast. She tried to move it, but her arms wasn't following her mind's orders. She had to replenish her strength that she still had without her concealed youki and reiki.

Inuhime could feel the fatigue throughout her body. Her eyes wanted to close, but she was fighting to not fall asleep. She intuition was telling her that if she goes to sleep. She would not be the same person as she was right then. She could feel her heavy heart that was fill with negative emotions. The sense of worthlessness and helplessness were slowly, but surely conquering her heart.

"Oh, the pain. It hurts," Inuhime thought before she finally succumb to the dark slumber.

Meanwhile, at the Western Palace, Sesshomaru and the others were at the library looking through some ancient scrolls and books. Suddenly, Sesshomaru winced as he grabbed his heart, but he acted as if he wasn't hurting.

He thought, "Inuki."

His beast said with a whine, "Twin is hurting. She's breaking apart."

The pain in his heart made him hissed that he collapsed down on his knees. Kagome saw that in the corner of her eye. She instantly ran up and fell on her knees to look at her mate with concern eyes.

"Anata, are you alright?"

"Yes, I am, but Inuki is not."

That got Inukimi's attention.

She asked, "What do you mean 'Inuki isn't alright'?"

"Son, what are you feeling right now,"

asked InuTaisho.

"She's not dead, is she?"

They, except for Kagome, continued to ask many questions to Sesshomaru about Inuhime. They were giving him a major headache.

He roared, "SILENCE!"

He was rubbing his temples as he continued, "No, she isn't dead. She's broken. Whoever abducted her has broken her spirit. I fear that she had given up. It's a given that she didn't have any strength because that...that blood curse. What I felt from her was she felt heartbroken, uselessness, worthlessness, and helplessness. I also felt shame coming from her."

Inukimi sniffed. She felt so guilty so what she'd done after her mate died. For the first time in a very long time, she'd felt tears flowing down her fair and delicate cheeks.

She whispered, "It's all my fault."

InuTaisho heard what she said and asked, "What's your fault, Inukimi?"

Inukimi looking up at him as those salty tears rolling down her cheeks. InuTaisho was really shocked at what he was witnessing. He had never heard her cry or show any emotion at all. He repeated the question.

She shook her head because she knew that he will NOT like to hear what has happened to their daughter, after his death. She knew he would be displeased. She continued to shake her head as she ran out of the library. InuTaisho was going to go after her, but Kimiko stopped him as she shook her head, as if, she was saying 'leave her alone'.

Kimiko sighed.

"Inukimi feels guilty about what she'd done to Inuhime after you died."

InuTaisho thought, "I remember that Inukimi had always have animosity toward our daughter. If I knew my mate, then, she would automatically blamed her for my death. My beast knew that her beast really loved our daughter, but her logical side was unreasonably jealous of their pup. It doesn't make any sense why would she act the way she did."

His beast said, "It was because you'd never returned her feelings."

"I didn't had any romantic feelings towards her, then."

"Then? Are you telling me that you are having romantic feelings towards our mate?"

"Possibly, but..."

"You are a baka. You had always been in denial about your feelings towards our mate. I, on the other hand, had never denied her beast of my feelings towards her."

"Ok, tell me this, beast. Why did she tried to kill our daughter after she was born?"

"You know as well as I do that it was only in defense. Her life was in danger, remember? Inuhime has reiki. If it wasn't for our eldest son, our mate would had died."

"You don't think I had known that."

"Then why you even mentioned that, anyway."

"Ok, what about after Inuhime's and Sesshomaru's duel when we were there? She attacked her, beast. She nearly killed her."

"Yes, I know. I wasn't happy about that. Her beast told me that she wasn't in control like she had been before. Do you remember when that bastard ryu-youkai, who we had sealed with one of our fangs?"

"Yes. Why?"

"And that it was a diversion to let that bastard weak human, Takemaru, to abduct Izayoi. Whenever we returned Inuhime was fatally wounded, Inukimi was very concern about her. Her beast told me that she was starting to realize that she was in the wrong. Even Kimiko had told her what she was doing was wrong. Then her beast told me that after we died, the stupid court manipulated her. They used her to punish our pup because they felt that she betrayed the West. They wanted to kill her, but Kimiko wouldn't allowed that. So they opted to seal half of her powers; mainly her offensive powers. They thought that since she was a female that she didn't have any other way to defend herself and fought off attacks...

*InuTaisho snorted at that*...Her beast also said that her logical side was emotionally unstable. She said that it took a century after we died for her to realize what she has done. Every since then she tried to have the court to reverse her punishment and to pardon her from all of her so-called crimes, but no avail."

"Until now, that is."

Then he remembered what Kimiko said yesterday morning.

"Also, as of now, Princess Inuhime, is now pardoned of what she did or should I say didn't do. You deemed her as a traitor, but in reality she wasn't. Her punishment as such is now to be lifted. We shall release the seal and restore her powers to her. This is final. It won't be reversed."

He also remember what the goddess, Amaterasu had told him before they were resurrected.

"Soon, my child, things in the mortal realm will be in chaos once again. Your daughter, her twin, and his mate will be the keys to their defeat. However, your daughter will suffer an illness, then she'll vanish. You will see her again, but she will be dark. You'll need to save her from the darkness. You'll need to return her full power before the darkness takes full control of her heart. If not...well...you will be defeated and the world will come into chaos."

"Full power? What do you mean? How am I suppose to help her if I am here?"

"Soon, your questions will be answered."

He looked at Kimiko. He said, "Kimiko, yesterday, you said that Inuhime would be pardon. Pardon for what?"

Kimiko looked to where her granddaughter ran out of the library, and then sighed. "Right after you died, a little over 200 years ago, that the Western Court and my granddaughter tried her for treason. Treason was either punishable by exile or death, but I hated the thought of killing an innocent. I knew that she was innocent, but I was out voted. Fortunately, Sesshômaru came to her rescue by suggesting that she should be under house arrest. Instead of exile or death, the court decided to seal only half of her power. Therefore, half of reiki and half of youki were sealed. They sealed her offensive powers except her whip, healing abilities, barrier spells, or anything that she used for defense. They imprisoned her in her rooms for about a year, but only the court members excluding myself wanted her dead. They knew that Sesshômaru wouldn't go through their murder plot. So they went through the next best thing; the Lady Mother. Inukimi, at that time, was consumed by grief. They used her emotions against her. I'd tried to stop it, but I was...well...they completely ignored me. When I told Sesshômaru of what they had been up to, he, immediately, took action. He knew his mother wouldn't kill Inuhime because of that her beast wouldn't allow it. After what she did when she attacked Inuhime after her duel with Sesshômaru, her beast take complete control when it came to her pups; maternal instinct and all..."

Sesshômaru added by interrupting his great-grandmother, "But, they sealed her beast to keep it from interfering with their plans. They manipulated her by using her jealousy towards Inuhime to do what they'd wanted. It worked too because after I confronted her about the whereabouts of the Tetsusaiga, Tenseiga, and Soûga. Mother interrupted us by saying that it was her job to kill her; not mine. I knew, then, that what great-grandmother said was true. Mother told me where to find Father's fangs that became a wild goose chase. I regret that I was only concentrating on getting more power, that I fell into their diversion to keep me away from her."

Kimiko interrupted her great-grandson, "I heard what Inukimi said to Sesshomaru. I knew that she trying to get him out of the way so that he would not interfere with their evil plan. When I'd seen him coming from his mother's sitting room, I'd pulled him to the side and told him what the court was planning to do. He told me to handle it and that he would had my back if I got caught. So I'd taken her to one of the sacred caves. I told her what they were planning. Inuhime collapsed down sobbing as I knelt down to comfort her. Inuhime was heartbroken when she found out. Afterwards, I'd put up a barrier that only those who had no ill-will towards her to go inside, but I'd have to seal her inside the cave for her safety. I'd told so and she understood my intentions. That was the last time I had seen her before now."

"Well, I will go and talk to her about all if this," said InuTaisho.

"Taisho, be gentle. She really has change."

"Yes, I know. I will."

He smiled and left the library to go find Inukimi.

Inuyasha (c) Rumiko Takahashi

Fanfiction & OCs (c) ladytari