After InuTaisho left the library to find and talk to Inukimi. He was walking down the hallway when he thought...

"Does that woman think she could hide from me?"

His beast piped in. "Ha! She probably didn't think about it."

His beast whined a little.

"I could feel her guilt. It's overwhelming."

"Yes, I know."

He closed his eyes and focused on her unique scent. It didn't take long for him. Although, he was surprised where he found her at. He walked straight to the place where her scent was coming from.

The place where he found her at was their favorite place to go to when they, themselves, were pups. The place was a garden that one of his ancestors created. It became so sacred to their inu clan. The garden was filled with floral plants and trees that were native to the land. Hell, it even had plants and trees that weren't native to the land there. The only problem with this place that no inu could sense or smell another presence. It was impossible because of all the floral scents throughout the garden. It smelt heavenly, that one would think that it was the Garden of Eden. The beauty of the garden is indescribable. There was a gazebo in the middle of the garden that had *Halliana and *Jacclam growing in and around its structure. The Jacclam was blooming double salmon-pick blooms, while the other had finished with its blooming season.

InuTaisho walked toward the gazebo until he was a foot away when he heard Inukimi's sorrowful voice.

"Have you come to kill me?"

"Why would you believe that I would kill you?"

"Because I tried to kill our daughter; not once, but twice. I wouldn't blame you. I had to live with the guilt that I had done to our daughter. I'd regret the day I neglect our daughter. I should had been proud that she was as powerful as the both of us, if not more. I was the reason she could resist this damn blood curse. She will die because I let my emotions got the best of me. The jealousy; the sorrow; the rage; all of those emotions were consuming me. They were all thrown at Inuhime. I'd blamed her for your downfall. I'd blamed her for pairing you with Izayoi. I'd blamed her for every pain that I'd felt then. If I could, I would go back in time and kick my own ass for treating Inuhime that way. Will she ever forgive me, Taisho?"

She turned and saw him standing at the edge of the gazebo.

"Kimiko told me everything what happened after I died. She told me that the council sealed your beast. So, she wouldn't get in the way in killing her. Kimi, they took advantage of your emotional state. They manipulated you by wanting you to kill her. They had seen her as a threat."

"I know. I realized that after a century after you'd died. Will you forgive me of my sins?"

He walked up to her, then he embraced her.

"If I were alive, then. I would had said 'no' and walked away from you. I came close once. The second time when I'd have you imprisoned when you attacked Inuki after her sibling battle. I wanted to kill you so badly. I was going to, too, but she stopped me. You know what she told me, Kimi."

Inukimi shook her head 'no'.

"She told me that you were only hurting because of what she did. She introduced me to Izayoi. She told me that she wanted you to be neglected like you neglected her many times before. However, she said that having such hatred towards someone wore her down much more than that battle would ever had. She couldn't bear it any longer. She also said that she deserved what she did to you. She had seen it as being even with you. She'd always wanted a relationship with you, Kimi. However, she knew that she couldn't push herself on you and expected you to embrace her with open arms. She knew it would take time for you to forgive her and want a mother/daughter relationship with her. So, Kimi, she'd had forgiven you. Even though, there were times that you didn't see it. She did, though, because she'd loved you and had always did."

While Inukimi heard that, she starting to cry, silently. However, he knew that she was crying because he had smelled the salt of her tears. He, then, embraced her more. He'd put his soft lips near her ear and whispered...

"I forgave you, then, too."

She stepped back from him with eyes wide open.

"You did?"

Then he pulled her back into an embrace.

"I did. I'd always loved you, Kimi. My beast and I were in turmoil, then. He didn't want to take Izayoi as our second mate, but I did. I was so hurt by the fact that you tried to kill one of our pups and then neglected her over and over again. It broke my heart so much so that I hadn't seen you as a mate any longer. I was sexually turned off by you. However, at the same time, I knew that you were a great mother to Sesshomaru. I loved you for it, but it wasn't the same kind of love that I'd did felt for you. I remembered every time that you turned your back on Inuki. I'd became even more heartbroken because I had seen the pain of negligence in her eyes. She would cry for you, but it was only I, who came to her aid whenever she had a nightmare. However, despite of all that, I knew that one day you would get over your negative emotions towards her. Like now that I had returned from the Afterlife. That's when I'd realized that my mate, the one who I'd fell so hard in love with, then, had, finally, returned to me."

Then, she looked into his molten golden eyes searching for... well she really didn't know what she was searching for because she heard the sincerity and the love in his voice. Then she'd seen what she was searching for. It was the passion that he once held for her. It was there, his intense stare in his eyes turned somewhat yellowish-red. His beast has made his appearance to her. For the first time in more than two centuries, she'd felt the love; the passion that was missing all of those years. What was the hard and worst truth that she came to realize that she'd never lost him to begin with and that it was all her fault. She was the one, who pushed him away because of something so stupid and so selfish.

He leaned down to kiss her fully on the lips, which shocked the hell out of her. He, then, broke the kiss.

He whispered in her ear, "My love, you must let go all the hurt that you felt inside your heart. Then, you must forgive yourself. Spill no more tears because I am here to stay, if you still have me as your mate."

When she heard that, her heart skipped a beat and then started to beat rapidly.

She said as tears still rolled down her red, flushed cheeks, "I had always wanted you as my mate, Taisho. You had always been my mate. I saw no other, but you. You were... ARE MY EVERYTHING. MY PROTECTOR; THE FATHER OF MY PUPS; MY LOVE; MY HEART; MY LIFE; AND MY LIFE MATE. I'd NEVER replaced you with no one else. NO ONE ELSE COULD OR WOULD EVER FILL THAT PLACE IN MY HEART AND MY LIFE. I HAD ALWAYS LOVED YOU AND I'LL ALWAYS WILL, TAISHO."

He gave her his smile that she'd loved and missed after all those years. He leaned down to kiss her passionately. That time, however, he didn't break the kiss. He instead deepen it. He coaxed her to part her lips. She complied to his wishes. Oh, he so missed her taste and her sweet scent that had always drove him insane in the past, as it still does now. She moaned. Oh, how she missed his sweet kisses, his taste, and his musky male scent of his that drove her to a point of insanity.

He kissed alongside her jawline until he reached the crook of her neck. He gently grazed his fangs on her fair, delicate skin.

She spoke seductively, "Make love to me, Taisho. I want you. I want... no need all of you."

InuTaisho smirked against the crook of her neck. "As you wish, my love."

Kagome had just woken up from her faint-induced slumber. She had goosebumps throughout her body. She was also shaking like she'd been at Antarctica.

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru was laying beside her. Her heartbeats dramatically increased. Her breathe became heavy and then she woke up gasping for air.

"Kagome, are you alright?"

Kagome was rocking back and forth with her legs bend closed to her chest. Sesshomaru repeated the question.

Silence. She was in her little own world shocked as hell of what she had just seen in her vision. Sesshomaru, once again, repeated the question.

Silence. Sesshomaru knew that there was something wrong. He'd never seen her like that before. He was afraid. Yes, the Great Sesshomaru, the Killing Perfection, the Aristocratic Assassin, was afraid. He sat on his knees, in front of her. She had her eyes wide-opened. He looked in her eyes. It was like she wasn't seeing him. He hoped that if he was facing her face-to-face she would had snapped out of it, but no avail. He then began to grab her shoulders; not too hard, but hard enough to get anyone's attention. He repeated the question.

Still silence. He growled in frustration and impatience. He shook her as he repeated her name over and over again. Every time he said her name his voice got higher until finally he roared her name.

Kagome finally snapped out of whatever world she was in. She blinked several times and looked at Sesshomaru. His beast made his appearance. She noticed that his demonic markings on his cheeks were jagged. She looked into his eyes. She didn't see any anger and anything, but... worry in his eyes.

"Sesshomaru, are you alright?"

He looked at her like she grew a second head. He shook his head.

"No, I was worried about you."

"Worried? Why were you worried?"

He noticed that she was confused as he was. He could smell it in her.

"Kagome, do you remember what happened?"

"Do I... Wait. I remembered now. There were a lot of arguing. I was getting tired of it. I was going to tell everyone to shut it when..."

"You fainted." She nodded.

There were a few moments in silence until she started to whisper, while having her head down.

"I'd seen her, you know."

"Who did you saw, Kagome?" He said in a soft, gentle tone.

"I saw Inuki in my dream. At first, she was laying down on the floor in a fetal position. She wanted to tell me something. I don't remember much, but she told me to go to an ikkiyoukai, who lives in the center of the Western Lands. She said that he has something for me that she wanted to give, but she didn't tell me what it was... *she paused for a moment.*... She also told me where she was, but she wasn't being specific. She said, 'the south of the lands.'"

Sesshomaru furrowed his eyebrows.

"Kagome, did she happened to tell you who had abducted her?"

She said as she shook her head, "No, but she tried to show me, but when I didn't saw anyone. The room was dark, yet there was moonlight throughout the room. There was just enough light to see your way around. What was so strange is that there were no windows, whatsoever. Then she told me that she was in my dream world. She also told me that she didn't have much time before the darkness could take over her. Sesshomaru?"

"Hn."

"I am scared. I am afraid for her."

"Kagome, omae, there's no need to be afraid for her. She's been through a lot in her years. She'd been through more trials than I had. You must believe in her. Have faith in her. She's strong."

"I know, but you said yourself that she's in trouble. You felt her pain."

"Yes, I did, but she..."

-

Meanwhile, at the Southern Palace, in Inuhime's room, Naraku was laying beside her. He was smirking because he knew that this part of his plan was working; working quite well. Now, however, was a perfect time to manipulate her and her emotions. When he bit her neck, he saw darkness that was being held at bay because Inuhime knew if she gave into to her emotions, unpleasant things will happen. That was what he was looking for.

Unbeknownst to Naraku, Inuhime was making one last desperate psychic connections to Sesshomaru, her mother and father, and Inuyasha.

"Sesshou... mother... father... Inuyasha... please... can... you... hear... me?"

Sesshomaru stopped talking when he heard his twin.

"Yes, Inuki."

Her mother and father stopped their love-making once they both heard their daughter's voice. After they heard Sesshomaru respond, they respond in unison.

Inuyasha was asleep because it gave up looking for answers. He got a gut-feeling that whatever they need wouldn't be put into writing. When he heard Inuhime's voice, he quickly opened his eyes.

"Yes, sister."

Once Inuhime heard the voices of her family, she was relieved. Now, she could say her farewells, before the darkness took over completely.

"Thank Kami, that I could psychically contact you. Listen... and listen carefully, because I won't be able to repeat myself even if I wanted to. SO, PLEASE DON'T INTERRUPT ME. I can't fight it anymore. It hurts. My strength has nearly depleted. It seems the more I fought it the more strength I loose. Please try to find my son, he's somewhere near here. I can feel him. He's the only light that shines inside of me, but if HE finds out. HE might kill him, so HE could control me better. PLEASE FIND MY SON BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. He's my gift to you when death finally takes me. I could almost feel the darkness. I AM SORRY THAT I AM WEAK. I LOVE YOU."

Sesshomaru spoke up before she could vanish before him. "Inuki, you are not weak. You are strong. DON'T GIVE UP! CONTINUE FIGHTING HIM WHOEVER HE IS. I KNOW THAT YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR SON; TO WATCH HIM GROW UP AND BECOMING A GREAT DAIYOUKAI LIKE ME, HIS GRANDFATHER, HIS GREAT-GRANDFATHER BEFORE HIM. YOU NEED TO BE THERE. HE WILL NEED YOU, INUKI. PLEASE, SISTER, DON'T GIVE UP; DON'T GIVE IN TO HIM. FIGHT HIM! REMEMBER YOUR SON! HE WILL NEED HIS MOTHER."

Inuyasha said, "YEAH, WHAT THE ICE BASTARD SAID! DON'T GIVE UP. I NEED YOU. KEH, WE ALL NEED YOU. SHIPPO, RIN, ME, KAGOME, THE ICE BASTARD, DAD, YOUR MOM, AND YOUR SON. We all need you, sis. Don't give up. Keep fighting! I believe in you, sis. Fight him. Break free from the bastard who took you."

InuTaisho said, "Inuki, I'd never once saw you giving up or giving in to anything. I am so proud to have such a strong daughter; not just strong, but wise. I once was told by an intelligent young woman, when I was down because of the wars that I'd fought, that 'where there is darkness; there is hope.' You are and always been my ray of hope. If you'll let us, let us be your ray of hope, Inuki."

Inukimi said with tears flowing down. "Inuki, I am and always have been proud to call you, my daughter. I love you, my Inuki. Please don't leave us. Fight it! Fight the curse! You are one of the strong-willed people that I'd known. You'd never gave up on me, even though, I had always turned my back on you. Fight for us! Fight for your son! Fight for yourself! I believe in you. I know you can win this struggle no matter how weak you think you are. By the Kami, Inuki, YOU ARE NOT WEAK!"

Sesshomaru spoke up again. "If you don't fight this, then you'd let your enemy win. DON'T LET HIM WIN!"

Inuhime was very happy and touched what she had just heard her family say.

"Inuki, sis, kick that bastard's ass."

Inuhime had a tear rolling down her cheek. She smiled at them. She mouthed 'thank you' and then she vanished from their sight.

-

Kagome was getting very worried. She'd called out to her mate several times, but he didn't respond or even blinked his eyelids. She was touching his cheeks ever so softly.

"Sesshomaru, please, love, answer me."

When Sesshomaru came back to himself, he heard his mate calling him. He smirked inwardly. He just got an evil idea. He sat still and kept himself from blinking his eyelids. He waited until Kagome was face to face to him.

Suddenly in the blink of an eye, he had her on her back on their futon; kissing her senselessly. When he did that, Kagome squealed in surprise and delight. She started giggling because he was kissing her sensitive neck.

"Sesshomaru stop! I want to know what happened to you. Please tell me."

"I have a feeling that my sister will be fine. Like I said before, she's strong. Whoever abducted her will live to regret it."

Then Sesshomaru started kissing her again. After he untied her obi, he started to kiss her from her lips to her stomach.

Suddenly, he stopped. He smelled something different with his mate's scent. It wasn't bad. It became more intoxicating than her original scent. He put his nose on her belly. He inhaled. Then he exhaled. He did that a few more times.

"Sesshomaru, stop that tickles!"

He did the same thing a several times. Kagome didn't know what the hell he was doing. At first, it tickled, but now it became unnerving. Now she was paranoid about her smell. She knew that he doesn't like unpleasant smells. She was confused. Then she couldn't take it anymore.

"Sesshomaru, would you please stop that?! Do I smell bad or something?!"

He took a final sniff. He called to his beast. He has his suspicions, but he wanted his beast to confirm it.

"Beast?"

"Yes, master." Beast said that in a sarcastic tone.

Sesshomaru growled. "What's this scent coming from our mate?"

"What?! You don't know! What kind of dog demon are you?"

Sesshomaru growled again. "Just answer the damn question!"

"It's nothing to worry about. She's with pup. If you haven't been so busy, you would had noticed."

"Why you didn't tell me?"

"Because you'd never asked."

Sesshomaru growled. "You're the most infuriating beast that I have the displeasure of having."

"Now... now master. You know you love me."

"Hm."

In the background, Kagome was getting very angry. She raised her voice.

"Sesshomaru, are you ignoring me?!"

His beast said, "Master, our mate is calling for us."

"Hm."

"Sesshomaru, you pompous ass, answer me, dam..."

Sesshomaru gave her a deep, passionate kiss.

"Now, my Kagome, listen to me. We need to see Naomi."

"Why? I am fine."

"I know, but I know, there's something she must tells us. I remembered that she'd tried, but we were arguing after you'd fainted."

"Oh."

Kagome retied her obi around her waist. They left their room to go to see Naomi.

Inuyasha (c) Rumiko Takahashi

Fanfiction & OCs (c) ladytari