The three girls and Jaken could do nothing but stare at Sesshomaru's body now incased completely in stone. "Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken exclaimed, nearly in tears at the despair.

Towa gasped, "No way, he wasn't actually turned to stone, was he?" She didn't want to touch him; incase her father would break. Instead, she sniffed him. He didn't smell like death or as if he were dying.

"He really was," Setsuna said anxiously. He was finally beginning to feel like an actual father to me after all this time...and now...she thought, unable to complete the sentence even in her own mind. Was she going to lose him too?

Moroha tentatively and cautiously walked up to Sesshomaru's stone body and said, "I might be able to fix this, maybe, but don't hold your breaths. This might not work." She took out an arrow and forced her spiritual energy into it. She placed the arrowhead into his side where the talisman card originally landed and watched as her pink energy pulsed across his body.

Her spiritual powers seeped into the stone and slowly cracked it open. Then, it broke the stone apart, spraying the stones everywhere and revealing Sesshomaru as unamused as ever.

"Lord Sesshomaru, you've been saved!" Jaken shouted with glee.

"Father, you're okay!" Towa said excitedly, getting back to what they had just been through together, "Your true form is a giant white fluffy dog beast!? For real?! Will Setsuna and I be able transform into magnificent giant dogs someday too? Will we!? Will we?! Huh?" She jumped up and down around him.

"No."

"Aw," she whined.

Setsuna thought, At least I didn't lose him too, then asked, "Why would you want to be able to turn into a giant dog, Towa? How would that serve you any purpose?"

"Were you asleep the entire trip over here!?" Towa asked in shock as she walked around her, "The whole time we spent in the air was awesome! How soft our father's fur is, and the wind in my face, and talk about the view! It's like being in an airplane without all that needless security! It was amazing!" She jumped back over to Sesshomaru and asked, "Can we do that again? Only this time without you turning to stone?" She smiled up at him wide.

While Sesshomaru's face didn't change from his stern demeanor. "You've lost focus," he said, glancing toward Rin sleeping in the spiritual version of the sacred tree before them.

Her face fell, she asked, "Lost focus?"

He explained, "You wielded the bakuseiga and took the lives of nearly a dozen humans mere moments ago, remember?"

"I killed them all with your sword?" she asked, "I don't remember any of that." She realized she didn't remember anything after she touched the bakusegia. One moment she was reaching for it, with Setsuna telling her not to, and then the next thing she knew her father was at her side and the barrier had completely vanished.

Jaken gasped and said, "Lady Towa has wielded the bakuseiga?! A blade forged directly from a full blooded demon's body can never be handled by a half demon! You're lucky it's own aura didn't rip you apart from the inside out!"

"Towa, you turned into a monster," Setsuna said anxiously, "and then you swung the bakusegia and killed everyone in your path instantly."

"Well..." she said nervously, "they got what they deserved." I killed them? She thought anxiously, And they were human...but they were trying to kill us and nearly killed Father! They did deserve it!

Sesshomaru almost wanted to smile at hearing that. It was then he realized he always assumed that because his daughters were half human, that they would possess the more human trait of not wanting to see anyone killed. Especially since they were Rin's daughters. The same Rin he attempted to keep out of danger and hidden away whenever he wanted to kill someone both when she was a little girl, and once she became a grown woman. He never imagined his daughters would inherit any of his more ruthless traits. They were half demon after all, and his daughters.

"Guys," Moroha asked, standing away from the rest of them, "is this lady who I think she is?" Moroha had made her way over to the spiritual side of the sacred tree and watched Rin float in it's energy.

"That is Madam Rin," Jaken answered.

"Mother!" Setsuna said, gasping at the sight of her. The silver scales had spread down her neck and now reached her left hand. It left her looking nearly half rotten and quite weak.

Towa said anxiously, "Oh no, the curse is spreading!"

Jaken explained, "The silver scales have slowly been spreading across her entire body ever since Lord Sesshomaru killed the dream butterfly. I'm afraid at this rate she doesn't have much time left."

"I see it," Setsuna said, more determined than ever, "The red string of fate tied to her pinky, linking her directly to Zero." Her blood blade pulsed once again. She knew this time she could cut it. She could cut right string and save the day. They would be a family once again.

She leveled her naginata, and felt the pulse of the red string leading out of the sacred tree. Being an artificial string Zero placed on her mother by herself, it was easier to cut than the monk's, or Rion's. She sliced through it instantly. The now smaller red strings twisted and curled back, revealing the cut she had just made and slowly broke apart.

Rin felt the vibration throughout her whole body. She opened her eyes and asked the tree of ages to release her. It slowly lowered her down to the ground with her daughters, Sesshomaru, and Jaken. She still stood a whole head taller than them, and was tall for a woman, especially from that era.

"Mother," Towa said, "you look..." she didn't want to say anything negative about her half rotten state, but she couldn't think of anything positive to mention instead. "I forgot what was I going to say."

Rin pulled them in for a hug. "Towa, Setsuna," she said happily, "I'm sorry I've missed 10 years of your lives."

"It's okay!" Setsuna assured her quickly, "We know it's not your fault." She hesitated. "Can you pet my ears like you always did when I was little?"

Rin patted her on the head and rubbed her dog ears. "I'm sorry, Setsuna," she said, "I'm the reason you don't remember much of your own early childhood." She finally let them both go and pulled a butterfly from her chest. "These are the memories I took from you when you were 4 years old."

At first Setsuna didn't understand what she was saying. How could her mother harvest her memories? All this time she figured Kohaku's theory was correct, that something so terrible had happened to her and her family she simply didn't want to remember. Before her at that moment, she watched as the dream butterfly landed on her nose and dissolved into her face. It all came rushing back in flashes. Her father, her older twin sister, Master Jaken, A and Un. She remembered them all. How they all lived in the forest, and while her father was usually gone, he would come back and spend time with them at times. The night the forest caught on fire her father was gone, and she was with Towa in the trees away from her mother. She was separated from her sister when a flaming tree fell between them, and Setsuna couldn't find Towa, not even by her scent through the smoke.

"You made me forget my own sister!" Setsuna exclaimed, pulling away from her. "I remember everything! The forest caught on fire and Towa and I tried to run away but the flames surrounded us so quickly! I let go of Towa's hand and then she disappeared! Father came not long after and knocked away all the fire, and then took me away. When we returned to you Mother, Zero was there. Then we all flew to the sacred tree together and I desperately wanted to find Towa, but you told me I shouldn't worry about her! Father tried to fight me off, but I bit him."

"You bit Father?" Towa asked, alarmed. She turned to him, but he didn't react.

"I didn't break his skin," she added. She then remembered that her father had poison claws and realized that it was a good thing he knew how to hold back, otherwise she would have been burned and melted by his aura.

Rin said, "I'm sorry, Setsuna. Your memories were so painful for you I decided to take them away. I know it's been hard for you living in the demon slayer village all this time and almost impossible for you to trust Towa without remembering her."

Setsuna nodded solemnly.

Rin turned to Towa and said, "And I'm sorry, Towa, that I couldn't be there for you as you were growing up in that strange other world. The sacred tree showed me everything you went through over there. I know all those bullies were so hurtful and how much you hated pretending to be an ordinary human girl." She rubbed her daughter's back as she hugged her tight.

"You were watching me the whole time?" Towa asked. She remembered outwardly shouting about how much she wished her father met and married a demon so she wouldn't be so weak-especially during full moon nights. She blushed.

"Of course, I didn't want to miss a moment of your life and the sacred tree was kind enough to me to show me everything," she replied.

"Wait," Towa said, pulling out the flute and transformed it into the sanseiken sword, "I think this might be able to break your curse."

She put the blade against her mother's arm gently and attempted to absorb the demon energy slowly encasing her mother's body, but nothing happened. The sword didn't glow, and the energy didn't flow. It didn't work.

Towa whimpered, "I'm sorry, Mother." After seeing Setsuna do something to help their mother she hoped she could do something too. Instead it ended in failure, making her feel like a failure too.

Rin didn't hold a grudge against her. "It's okay, Towa," she replied, hugging her tight, "you'll find a way to break this curse eventually. I know you will." She smiled at her.

Sesshomaru stepped forward and extended his left hand. He wanted her to hand over the cursed sword, she but pulled away. "No," she said, hiding it from him, "I think if I practice on a few demons first I'll figure out how it works, and I'll come back and try again!"

Irritated, he didn't say anything. Jaken stepped forward and said, "Lady Towa, that sword appears to have a nasty curse on it. It would be best if you destroyed it right away!"

"Then I'll learn how to use it before it's curse takes over my body," she insisted.

"Do with it whatever you want," Sesshomaru said hastily, not interested in arguing with her anymore.

Rin said, "Girls, I'm so happy I've had this chance to see you two again." She smiled at them painfully, trying not to show it. "And you must be Moroha, Kagome's daughter. It's nice to see you."

"You know about me?" she asked.

"Kagome told me what she was going to name you if you ended up being a girl," Rin replied, "And now look at how big and strong you are now." She hugged her too.

"We'll come back again soon, Mother," Setsuna said sadly, wondering just how soon that would be, "I promise." Stay strong, she added in her head. She couldn't bring herself to say it out loud.

With Jaken, the girls left the sacred tree and waited outside in the long grass. Meanwhile, still inside, Rin collapsed backwards from exhaustion and Sesshomaru caught her in mid-air, holding her close to his body.

"What happened to your hand?" she asked. She had noticed the intense burns as soon as he was broken out of stone, but she didn't want to say anything in front of the girls.

"It'll heal within a day," Sesshomaru assured her.

"That's not what I asked," Rin replied, managing to look up at him, "humans did that to you, didn't they? I'm sorry."

He asked, "What are you sorry for?"

She explained, "It was a human who hurt you, and I'm human same as them. I guess not all of us can see a demon as I do." She reached out to touch his burnt fingers currently holding up her thighs in his arms. She could tell it was hurting him, but he didn't dare say a word.

Sesshomaru said, "I'll have to go separately from our daughters once again. Zero is still out on the rampage and is more likely to attack me than them. I'll find a way to break the silver scale curse and fulfill the promise I made to you." He slowly placed her back inside the tree of ages spiritual tree and watched as he grew unconcious once again.

If she ends up dying after all this, what will I do? He asked himself sadly, unable to come up with an answer.

He turned and stepped outside of the tree of ages, and saw everyone waiting impaitently for him. Setsuna could barely look him in the eyes.

"We're splitting up," he said, "Jaken, stay behind and look after Rin."

"Yes my lord."

"But why are we separating now after everything we just did together?" Towa asked, "We were doing do well! We actually felt like a real family for once." She frowned and tried to keep her tears away.

He explained, "Zero is still angry and she's more likely to attack me than the three of you."

Moroha stepped in front of him, "Wait, Sesshomaru...before you go away again..." she didn't dare call him uncle, despite them being related, "do you still have the black pearl?"

Towa and Setsuna gave each other a confused look. Neither of them knew what she was alluding to.

Moroha continued, "The barrier at Mount Musubi told me you put my parents inside of a black pearl Hosenki's son made for my dad. You sent them to a strange place called the border between this land and the next. The barrier let me see my parents standing together next to a massive set of dog demon bones over there."

"Do you have point?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Well, can you take them out of there now?" she asked, "Setsuna cut the red string of fate between Zero and Rin. That means even if Zero dies, Rin will be safe. Now my parents can help kill Zero and Kirinmaru. My dad is also your dad's descendent, maybe he's the one who kills Kirinmaru in the end."

Sesshomaru smirked, "When the time is right I'll help them escape. For now I need Inuyasha to stay angry." He took to the skies and disappeared among the passing clouds.

Stay angry? Moroha thought, I wonder what he means by that.

Towa looked at the ground sadly and whimpered, "He didn't even say goodbye."

"He's always been that way," Setsuna said, still bitter, "but maybe it's different for him."

Moroha asked, "What do you mean 'different?'"

"Well he's ancient, right?" she replied, "We already know he's definitely over 600 years old, he's probably way older than that, maybe he's already lived 1,000 years by now. So, 10 years probably doesn't feel like anything to him."

Towa said, "I never thought of it like that. If he really is that old, then 10 years to him probably feels more like a week to us."

Unbeknownst to them, as he flew away, he heard what they were saying to each other. They're wrong, he thought, these last 10 years have felt longer than a century in the worst way.

Setsuna looked longingly at the sky in the direction Sesshomaru flew away. Now with her memories intact, she felt so torn inside. When she was little she did always prefer her mother, but when her father visited the forest, she always went to see him alongside her sister and sleep on his fluff. Her mother had kept those memories all to herself and away from Setsuna. Sadness overwhelmed her.

"Why do you guys seem so mopey all of a sudden?" Moroha asked.

Towa answered, "Because we have to go our separate ways again. Who knows when we'll all be together again, the four of us and Master Jaken."

"I've said some really rude things to our father over the years," Setsuna confessed, "but now I remember how things used to be before the forest fire..." she blushed, "there's so much I shouldn't have said."

Towa felt the same way, but about their mother instead. There were many times she walked up to the sacred tree and demanded it take her back to her original home. She'd cry and yell about having to pretend to be human, and how much she wished her mother were a demon. Afterwards she always felt guilty, but secretly she told herself it was alright because no one heard her. Apparently her mother had seen and heard everything.

"All that time I was living in the other world with the Higarashis," Towa confessed, "sometimes I'd say terrible things about Mother."

Moroha said hastily, "At least you two got to see your parents again and actually spent some time with your father! Sesshomaru's still apparently waiting for the right moment to release my parents. I'd do anything to see them again!" She pouted.

Towa hugged her tight, "I'm sorry, Moroha!" Meanwhile Setsuna made sure to dodge her advances. Towa added, "Maybe we should focus on finding your parents now."

"No," Setsuna said, "I'm sorry Moroha, but our mother is inching closer to death. We have to find a way to break her curse first, and then we can focus on getting to your parents."

"You're right," Towa said, "the only one who can probably break the curse is Zero, but we'll never get through to her. What if we find Rion first, and have her ask her aunt to break it, they are aunt and niece. Maybe she'll actually listen to her. We can get there on-" She gasped. "Oh no we left A-Un behind!"

Moroha exclaimed, "We did! No! On foot it'll take us forever to go back and get him."

Towa asked, "Do you think he's okay?"

"He's a two headed lightning breathing dragon demon," Setsuna replied, "he probably hasn't even noticed we left him behind."

Unknown to the girls, Sesshomaru had remembered that they had all left A-Un behind. He went back to collect him up himself. Ah and Un were still grazing in the long grass. The tether Towa had tied to a tree branch had long since been undone. The twin headed dragon demon followed behind him loyaly in the skies, happy to be left behind at the sacred tree once the girls were gone.

Before they left, Towa asked, "Should we double back to get him?"

"There's no time," Setsuna said, "It'll be quicker if we get back to the demon slaying village and use Kirara, she flies faster than him anyways. And this time we're not taking any needless detours!" She glared at Moroha.

"Okay, okay!"

"Once we have Kirara," Towa said, "where should we go from there?"

"I was thinking we could go straight to Kirinmaru," Setsuna answered, "he sees and hears everything Riku does, and we know he's traveling with Rion. Maybe he'll tell us where she is."

Moroha asked, "You really think he'll just give us that information?"

Towa said, "We have to at least try."