Chapter I

Sesshomaru was in his study going through troublesome missives that plague his desk nearly everyday. They were from mating proposals to treaties. He was reading one of them when a female Inudaiyoukai walking into the study like she owned the place. She had pigtails and her bangs were also pulled back in the middle. She had what seemed to be magenta eye shadow, a magenta stripe on each side of her delicate cheeks, that were a little jagged. She also bore a crescent moon on her forehead much like the Lord of the West, himself. She wore a simple red kimono with her customized moko-moko shawl, that wrapped around her body.

Sesshomaru paused his reading and looked at his mother with a bored expression on his face. "Mother, what are you doing here?"

His mother gasped dramatically, "Can a mother visit her son?"

Sesshomaru leaned back in his chair, "Not without reason. Tell me, why are you here?"

His mother's shoulders slumped, which he hadn't seen her done in a very long time. "Sesshomaru, I came to tell you about your twin." Sesshomaru blinked and looked at her as if he was saying, 'and your point is'. "Sesshomaru, she's dieing."

"That's impossible, mother. Youkai don't die like humans do."

"She's not dieing of an illness. It's unnatural. My own healers couldn't figure out what's wrong with her. I, even, went as far as to bring human healers there, but no
avail. I fear, we are losing her." A pause. "Please son, she wants to see you."

"Why should I?"

"She's your sister; your twin at that!"

"Oh? I guess that slipped her mind when she betrayed me... us."

His mother sighed. "She was just supporting her father, Sesshomaru. Please, Sesshomaru, she's..."

Sesshomaru doesn't know why he said it, but he said, "I'll go. When shall I leave?"

"Now!" Sesshomaru noted the urgency in his mother's voice. So it must be serious than he previously thought.

"I won't leave Rin here, mother." She nodded in understanding.

"Come on, son. Time is wasting."

Sesshomaru was going to summon Jaken to get Rin, but he thought against it. He walked quickly to where Rin was, which she was currently studying. He barged in the library and without an explanation to anyone he picked up Rin and left. Jaken was shocked and ran after his lord.

"Wait, milord!" Sesshomaru stopped abruptly, which made Jaken ran into the back of his legs.

Sesshomaru said in his usual cold tone, "Jaken, get Ah-Un and go to mother's palace. Understand?"

"Yes, milord." Once Jaken said, 'yes', Sesshomaru walked outside and formed his youkai cloud. He noted that his mother must had left whenever he left the study.

Rin was confused. She couldn't help, but to ask. "Lord Sesshomaru, where are we going?" She wasn't really expecting for him to answer, but it surprised her when he actually did.

"To my mother's palace." Rin nodded and wrapped her arms around her lord's neck to shelter herself from the cool wind.

Meanwhile, in Edo...

Inuyasha was pacing by the Bone-Eater's Well. Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara were there watching him pacing. They followed him with either their eyes or their heads. Inuyasha, as of late, has been irritable than usual.

Inuyasha said while pacing, "Damn, what's taking her so long?!"

"Inuyasha, why don't you go after Kagome like you always do," Miroku asked curiously.

"Feh, you don't think that I'd done that already! Kagome must have seal the well on her side."

Miroku nodded and said, "You must have really made her mad for her to seal the well, my friend." Shippo pulled on Miroku's robes to get his attention. Once Miroku looked down at Shippo, he saw Shippo's unshed tears. He knew the unasked question in those emerald eyes of the kit. He smiled at him reassuringly and said, "Don't worry, my young friend, Lady Kagome will return." Shippo just nodded at his assurance.

"Keh, I told her not to be gone no more than three days. She's been gone for almost five."

"Inuyasha, I am sure that she has her reasons. Maybe something unexpected happened," Sango reasoned. "I just hope it was nothing bad. She has enough on her shoulders as it is." Miroku nodded in agreement.

Inuyasha stilled his pacing. No, he wasn't tired or anything. He just thought of something. "Kagome's time is a lot safer than ours, but there still has it's dangers."

"Inuyasha, I think you underestimate Kagome and her abilities. She has grown in both since our quest has begun. Also Kagome's may not had known the dangers in this time, but I am confident that she could take care of herself there."

"Keh, whatever. When... whenever she returns I am giving her a piece of my mind! I am going to go hunt." They nodded.

10 minutes later...

Shippo sensed that Kagome was returning and told Sango and Miroku. They got on Kirara and went straight to the well. Once they landed, they saw Kagome climbing out of it. They welcomed her with opened arms.

"Hey guys, I am sorry that I'd took longer than expected but something came up."

"Oh, that's alright Kagome. We know that you have a life there, too," Sango said to her.

Kagome smiled at their understanding. She noticed a very loud and obnoxious hanyou wasn't around giving her hell. "Hey, where's Inuyasha?"

Shippo answered before the others did, "He went hunting, but he said whenever you return that you will get a piece of his mind. I miss you Kagome. When you didn't come back like you said you would, I was so worried that you wouldn't come back to us at all." He let his tears flow out of his eyes, now.

Kagome went to him and pulled him into a hug and said, "I am so sorry, Shippo. I didn't mean to make you worry about me." She took a moment to comfort Shippo. "Hey, I know what will cheer you up," she said in an excited tone. She dropped her overly huge, yellow backpack and went through it until she found what she was looking for. "Ah ha, there you are! I got pocky."

Shippo yelled in excitement, "Thanks, Kagome!" He opened the box and pulled one out and started to munch on it.

"Now, don't eat it all at once, okay," Kagome said in a motherly tone. Shippo nodded.

Not long afterwards, Inuyasha came with a deer over his shoulders. "So, the wench decided to return, huh?"

Sango said in warning, "Inuyasha..." but she was interrupted by Kagome. "No, Sango. Let him vent out whatever it is."

Miroku, Sango, Kirara, and Shippo were surprised at her calmness. It was unnerving to say the least.

"Keh, let me? Wench, I was going to tell you; whether you like it or not!" Kagome didn't say anything as usual. The on-lookers watched on with interest. They'd never seen Kagome act like this before. Usually, she would yell and sit him a many times before it's over. Something is definitely going on. "What took you so damn long to return, huh? I told you only three days. Were you back? Hell no! You were still gone! You even sealed the well to prevent me from coming to drag your ass back here!"

Kagome knew beforehand that Inuyasha would yell at her. He was predictable like that. He would yell at her until he finished. Usually, she would yell back. Yes, he still frustrates the living hell out of her. He still pisses her off in no time flat, however, this time was different. She knew that she was at fault, but what she would tell them would change a lot of things from now on.

Inuyasha (c) Rumiko Takahashi

Fanfiction & OCs (c) ladytari