A girl darted through the underbrush, her petite, bare feet pushing her as quickly as they could through the twilight-muted forest. The sun was already sinking below the horizon, each subsequent step heavier than the last. Her breaths were ragged, her feet were marred with gashes, and sweat beaded on her face, but she persisted. The silhouette of the village was just discernible through the trees ahead.

'Sesshoumaru-sama! Please hang on!'


In the modest hut she shared with Inuyasha, Kagome busied herself with folding laundry. She carefully placed shirts on one shelf and trousers on another. Five years had passed since they'd vanquished Naraku, and she'd decided to stay with Inuyasha in the feudal era. Still, she occasionally longed for her home and family in the future. Despite her love for her husband, the prospect of living without modern conveniences like detergent sometimes gave her pause.

A commotion at the doorway snapped Kagome's attention from her domestic tasks.

"Oh, Rin-chan, you're back."

A panting Rin, now on the cusp of adolescence, fell to her knees at the entrance. Her hair was damp and disheveled, her eyes peering out from behind sweat-soaked locks.

"P-please… Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin took a strenuous breath, "help him!"

Immediately abandoning her chores, Kagome rushed to Rin's side, placing a firm, reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Slow down, Rin-chan. Tell me what happened."

Rin obeyed Kagome's soothing command, drawing shaky breaths through her nose. She fought back the tears welling in her eyes, but Kagome's calming touch soon led to an emotional release.

"S-S-Sesshoumaru-sama went hunting. T-there were men, e-evil men." Rin paused, composing herself. She wiped her runny nose and continued, "It was terrible, Kagome-chan. They attacked him. He was defenseless. I-I…" All of Rin's efforts to contain her emotions were undone by her next sentence. "I think he's dying, Kagome!" She sobbed, covering her face with her hands.

Kagome squeezed Rin's shoulder with determination before rising to retrieve her old bow and arrows from a dusty closet in the back of the room. Her gaze lingered on the weapons — relics of a past time — for a moment. It had been years since she'd needed them. Recently, she had been focusing on her miko training, and the weapons had become obsolete. Inuyasha had taken up the mantle of the hunter, and the protector against demons. Especially since they were trying to have a child, Kagome had placed her fighting days behind her.

Shaking off the memories, Kagome returned to Rin. Kneeling down, she met Rin's gaze with a firm resolve.

"It seems we don't have much time to waste. Will you take me to him?"


With the assistance of Kirara, Kagome and Rin set out to find Sesshoumaru. Rin tried to guide them as best she could from Kirara's back, but the descending night made navigation difficult. They soared above the forest for what felt like hours, Rin's anxiety mounting with each passing moment.

While Rin directed Kirara, Kagome pondered what could have so gravely injured Sesshoumaru. He was one of the strongest, if not the strongest, demon Kagome had ever known. Even when he'd lost an arm in battle with Inuyasha, he'd shown little concern. What could possibly be worse now?

"Rin-chan," Kagome gently tapped her back. "Given our time constraint, I'll search on foot while you and Kirara continue from above."

After receiving Rin's nod of agreement and safely disembarking, Kagome watched as Kirara and Rin ascended back into the night sky. Securing her bow and arrows, she ventured deeper into the shadowy forest. Using her priestly powers as a guide, she sought out the distinctive demonic aura of Sesshoumaru. Despite the darkness, she knew his power would be unmistakable.

Only thing that worried her where the other creatures that lurked in the shadows. Years ago, she had ceased fighting demons and instead concentrated on her knowledge of medicine. Her skills in combat had gone unattended for a long time. Nowadays her days were spent doing house chores and helping the villagers with ailments while Inuyasha was the one who took upon him to continue the battle against evil. Fortunately, their time in the Sengoku era had been peaceful ever since Naraku was demolished. Inuyasha mainly did small pest control in nearby villages that were bothered by weaker demons. He concentrated on providing income for him and Kagome since as of few months ago she had stopped using the medicine that prevented pregnancy.

They had yet not been able to conceive, but that was mainly because Inuyasha had been away from home more than usual. The demon activity had slowly increased during the last few months, but Kagome had thought nothing of it until Rin had come to her.

Kagome's attention was eventually drawn to a familiar aura, though it was shockingly weak. Drawing her bow and arrow in caution, she jogged towards the source, a large tree at the center of the ancient forest. She circled around the tree and discovered a silver-white figure slumped against its bark. It was Sesshoumaru.

Kagome threw her weapons on the ground and pulled out bandages and a knife from a small pouch she had tied to her waist. She kneeled next to the wounded dog demon and reached her arm out to him.

Sesshoumaru forcefully clutched her shoulder, piercing her clothing and skin. He acted out on his instincts, not recognizing the priestess. His face was dripping with blood, obscuring his vision. The great dog demon had been severely wounded. His clothes had been torn to bloody shreds and his breathing was rugged, he might have suffered damage to his chest and lungs.

Kagome took a reassuring grip on the fist that seized her shoulder.

"It's all right now. You're safe." Her soft voice hushed and Sesshoumaru slowly let go of her.

Kagome didn't dally and cut straight through Sesshoumaru's clothing. Woman of weaker mind might have fainted at the sight of intestines and body fluids dripping out of gaping wounds. Even Kagome had to admit that she had seen such injuries only on a few other occasions. None of those mortal men had lived through them.

But Sesshoumaru had a fighting chance. He was still conscious, and his demon body would heal itself once Kagome gave it a little help. She sorted out her tools and began stitching up his maimed torso. The dog demon didn't let out a sound during Kagome's tending. She suspected that his mind had gone to a place that was beyond pain.

Kagome stopped her ministrations for a moment to check up on his state of consciousness. He sat still and his eyes were glazed over, looking straight at her but seeing nothing.

That moment Kagome didn't see him as godlike creature she had been used to. She simply saw a hurt man, stripped naked of his strength and pompousness. She grazed his forehead and muttered to herself.

"Who could have done this to you?"

When she was nearly done with bandaging him, she heard a roar from above. She looked up and saw Kirara and Rin. The latter looked terrified and relieved to see Kagome. They descended and Rin ran to her old warden.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" She sobbed. "You can't die. We'll make you better! Please, don't die! Pleeeeeeaseeeee." Her last word was stretched out by a long whimper that shook her whole body.

Kagome took Rin in for a motherly hug and softly promised her that Sesshoumaru would be fine. Rin sniffled and buried her face to Kagome's shoulder. After Rin had calmed down a little, the two young women got the unconscious body of the demon lord up on Kirara's back. Kagome hopped behind Sesshoumaru and tried to keep him in an upward position. After Rin had settled behind Kagome, they took off to Sesshoumaru's castle. Kagome asked Kirara to fly as smoothly as possible. She held Sesshoumaru in her arms and prayed for the sake of Rin that he would pull trough.


Upon their arrival at Sesshoumaru's fortress, they were immediately accosted by a distraught Jaken.

"WHAT IS THIS! WHAT HAVE YOU FOOLS DONE TO MY BELOVED SESSHOUMARU-SAMA!" He approached, brandishing his cane, before halting abruptly. "Rin-sama, is that you?" Jaken gasped.

It had been a long time since Jaken had seen his lord's young protégé. Once Naraku had been destroyed, Sesshoumaru had sent Rin living with Kaede, for Rin to have a chance at living a normal human life. Occasionally, Sesshoumaru visited Rin, bringing her gifts, but Jaken had not seen that little human child for years.

Rin dismounted Kirara, tears tracing down her flushed cheeks.

"Sesshoumaru-sama... he went to... W-we were in the forest but... then those men came."

Kagome, who was supporting Sesshoumaru's body, looked on in surprise. Who was Rin talking about?


A/N: I've rewritten the story to polish out the language, but this is the same story originally published on ffnet. Also, I WROTE ALL THE CHAPTERS SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT 15 YEARS FOR THE STORY TO BE COMPLETED. :D (Long time readers will tell you that 15 years of update time is unfortunately not a joke…) This will be 15 chapters + an epilogue. Buckle up buckaroos!

And on another note, this story compeletely ignores Yashahime. Aaand I've retconned the part where Sesshoumaru actually gets his arm back in the original series. (What do you mean I forgot he got his arm back?! YOU forgot he got his arm back!)