Sorry this is late. I've had a bunch of sickies in my house. Please let me know how I'm doing.

Sesshomaru sat upon his flying cloud, the unconscious priestess cradled in his arms. She had managed to keep up with him for quite a while before she had passed out. They had been traveling on foot, but now that he was closer, he could smell the blood on her. She had gotten out of bed too soon after what had happened to her. He pulled apart her kimono just enough to see blood slowly leaking down her thighs. He would have to get her home as quickly as possible if she was to survive.

He pulled her kimono further apart to see the wound he'd left on her chest. He cringed slightly at the sight of the deep gouges left by his claws but immediately shook off the feeling. Why should he feel guilty? She had allowed Naraku to use her. If he hadn't struck her, Naraku might still be controlling her. His eyes flicked to her stomach. The skin was still loose from her pregnancy, but her stomach was flat. His actions might have saved her, but they had undoubtedly killed her unborn child. He had tried to save the child with his Tenseiga, but she hadn't responded. Her attachment to this world had not been strong enough. Maybe if the child had been born and met her mother, he could have saved her, but that wasn't the reality. The poison that had coursed through her body should have killed the priestess too, but apparently, she was made of tougher stuff.

His eyes roamed over the rest of her body. She was athletic, her toned physique indicating she had trained before facing him. He noticed her flared hips that accentuated her narrow waist. She was a foreigner, evident not just in her body, but her hair and eye color. Her eyes. For a moment, he was taken back to before Naraku took her, replacing her eye color with his own. Her eyes had been the blue of a clear summer sky. They had momentarily stunned him with their brilliance, to the point where all he could do was stare.

His gaze continued to her breasts, which were round and full, with soft, pink nipples that perfectly complimented the rest of her figure. A sudden itch coursed through his body to touch her; to run his fingers along the smoothness of her skin or feel the fullness of her breasts in his hands.

The thought made his blood heat, stirring something in him that hadn't been awakened in a long time. The sensation was shocking and revolting. Sesshomaru almost threw the priestess from the cloud, but reminded himself why that would be a terrible idea. He quickly covered her bare body with her clothes and continued to hold her. Self-loathing setting in.

"I'm just as bad as my father," he grumbled. He glanced down at her pale face and then looked ahead. "Remember why you are here," he thought. "I must become better than my father."

Ann woke in more comfort than she'd felt in a long time. The futon she lay on was thick and the blankets were warm. She was still in some pain, but it was nowhere near as bad as before. She allowed her heavy eyelids to crack open and take in her surroundings. The room she was in was similar to the one she'd had at her Uncle Yoshio's home, except that it felt grander. The walls in her old room had been made from a warm toned sort of wood and had been roughhewn. These walls looked to be made from the same wood but seemed to have a lacquered finish. She'd never seen walls like that, only floors and furniture.

She carefully pushed herself into a sitting position. There was nothing else in the room, not even decorations on the walls. There was a window on one wall with the shoji screens cracked open just enough to see the sky beyond and a set of shoji screen doors on the opposite wall.

"So where am I?" she thought. "What happened last?" She began to sift through her memories, a sigh escaping her lips at the realization that she had been doing this a lot lately. A fresh surge of sadness swept through Ann when she recalled her losses. She wrapped her arms around herself tightly, wishing she could hold either Ichiro or her baby. Why did she have to lose them both? She squeezed herself tighter, digging her nails into her arms as the sadness was followed by a hot wave of anger.

"Naraku, you fucking piece of shit," she growled through gritted teeth. "I can't wait to rip you to shreds."

The door suddenly slid open, and to Ann's surprise, Sesshomaru was on the other side. The rest of what happened came back to her as she took in the angelic demon. A mixture of feelings swirled around her insides. Anger for Sesshomaru's part in the death of her infant, regret for even facing him in the first place and a touch of fear of how this was all going to turn out. After a lengthy moment of silence, she said,

"So, this is your house?"

"It is." He hadn't moved, but just stood in the doorway watching her with malevolent eyes.

"And I'm here because," Ann drew out the last word, returning a little of his glare.

"It seems you are a liability," he said tonelessly, causing Ann to full on scowl. "Until Naraku is defeated, you will be staying here."

"You don't need to do this," Ann muttered, compulsively smoothing her blankets. "In fact, I can tell you don't want to do this, so why don't I go back to Inuyasha and Kagome. They don't mind me being around."

"That is no longer an option. That half-breed has shown that he is barely capable of protecting his own. If Naraku gets his hands on you, he wins. I am not interested in that happening."

"So, I'm your prisoner?" Ann countered hotly.

"If that is how you want to view it." Ann gripped the blanket tightly, a wave of anger rolling over her at his audacity.

"He doesn't even care," she thought. "He doesn't care that I lost everything and now I'm a pawn."

"I have brought a healer," he continued, unperturbed by her obvious anger. "You were bleeding when I brought you here, so she is here to check on that." He stepped aside to allow a woman to enter the room. It felt like a bucket of ice dumped down Ann's insides when she realized the woman was a demon. With deeply tanned skin, bright, green hair, and caramel-colored eyes, she was beautiful but untrustworthy in Ann's eyes.

She threw her blankets off and struggled to her feet, backing towards the window. The woman froze, concerned and confused, but Sesshomaru quickly entered the room and advanced towards Ann.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"No, demons," blurted Ann, gesturing wildly towards the female demon. "I've had enough of demons. They only hurt me. I don't want her touching me." Sesshomaru growled impatiently.

"You were fine with my brother and you seem to be fine with me. What's the difference with her?"

"Inuyasha has proven to me that's he's good. I'm honestly still not sure about you." she said pointedly, making him glare. "If you need somebody to look at me, find a human. I don't want to be touched by demons anymore."

"That is not an option," Sesshomaru said coldly. "While you may not like demons touching you, I hate humans in my home. I find this situation less than ideal, but I will manage, because I do not want Naraku to win. You should have the same mindset, or have you forgotten your revenge already?"

"Of course not," Ann cried angerly, taking a wobbly step forward. "I will be the one to see the light leave Naraku's eyes, but you better remember that I'm not a fucking pawn. I will stay here until I'm healed and then I'm going after the bastard. I want this all done, so I can rest."

"Rest?" Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes.

"You think I'm going to live after what happened?" Ann spat. "I want my husband. I want my child."

"So, you think killing yourself will put you by their sides?" Ann shrugged, frustrated. Sesshomaru moved closer to her until he was so close that Ann could feel the heat off of him. She could smell traces of the forest on him, cedarwood with a touch of mint. There was another scent too, one that took Ann a moment to recognize, ozone. It was similar to the smell of a breeze on a muggy, overcast day right before the lightning storm.

"Such a strange smell," she thought as she pressed against the wall.

"I have seen Hell," he said, his gaze intense. "It is multilayered and one of those layers is reserved for those that commit suicide. They are forever trapped there, forced to kill themselves over and over again until the end of time. They will never know rest."

The fire in Ann cooled. She slumped against the wall, feeling weak.

"It's not fair," she whispered. "Why do I have to live the rest of my life with this pain?"

"I can't answer that," Sesshomaru answered, never taking his eyes off her. "Come lay down and allow Kai to check you." Ann's gaze flicked to the female demon who hadn't moved but watched them intensely.

"Fine," Ann grumbled. She took a step and fell as her legs gave way. Sesshomaru caught her and lifted her into his arms. He glared at her.

"Once more, you are out of bed too early. Don't let it happen again." His golden gaze bore into her until she finally relented.

"Okay." He laid her in bed and promptly left the room, leaving Ann alone with the female demon. As he left, Ann couldn't help but think he was rushing.

"Of course he would," she thought. "He doesn't want to be around me." The thought depressed her a little. Being in his arms had felt surprisingly good. He exuded strength and security, and in her uncertain life, she craved those qualities. A surge of painful guilt hit her when she realized she enjoyed being in another man's arms.

"I'm the worst," she thought. "Is this why I lost them? I am so easily swayed by another male that I didn't deserve Ichiro and our child in the first place." She wrapped her arms around herself again, allowing the darkness to well up, when Kai kneeled next to her. Ann froze, fear replacing the darkness.

Ichiro and Uncle Yoshio had taught her to fear demons. She'd heard stories of the horrible things demons had done to humans, leading their village to become demon slayers. They had wanted an end to demon kind. Ann was beginning to understand that was a harsh stance - Inuyasha and his friends were good examples - but her experiences had taught her that bad demon were devious and powerful, usually doing whatever they wanted with humans.

Ann shrunk away from the demoness, instintively pulling her blankets up around her body. The demoness smiled faintly and sat down next to her, careful to leave space between them.

"My name is Kai," she said, her voice soft and melodious. "I'm sorry you don't want me here, but I promise I have your best intentions at heart." Ann scowled, her emotions warring over whether to trust this demoness. Kai continued,

"I have served Lord Sesshomaru for many years. He wants you healthy, so I want you healthy. Besides that, I'm not the kind of demon that takes pleasure in causing suffering. My tribe has always been healers. We really can't help ourselves." She chuckled and went on, "That's probably why my people are mostly gone now. We couldn't stop ourselves from helping even when we were being destroyed."

Ann listened quietly while Kai rambled on and found herself relaxing. Kai reminded her of one of her friends from her time who had been bubbly and chatty. It was a sudden reminder of how that had been another life. She was no longer that girl and she had to wonder if her friend would even recognize her. Slowly she lowered the blanket and swallowed her fear. Kai leaned forward and raised a green eyebrow as she asked,

"Are you ready for me to examine you?" Ann nodded her head, trying hard not to shake as she lowered her blanket a little and parted her kimono. Kai's attention immediately went to the scar on her chest.

"What happened here?" she asked as her graceful fingers grazed over the roughened skin. Ann took her eyes off of Kai long enough to look at the mess of wounds that marred up her flesh.

"These parts here," she indicated the rumply patches of skin, hard to see now with the wound from Sesshomaru, "was given to me by Naraku when he first captured me. He touched me and it burned." She shivered at the memory of being under water with the corpse. For some reason, it felt more real now than it had for a while.

"He was able to control you, too," Kai stated matter-of-factedly.

"Yes," Ann agreed monotonously. "I could see everything but had no control over my body."

"And this is where Lord Sesshomaru struck you?" Kai continued.

"Yes," Ann laid her head back down. She didn't need to look at the damage anymore.

"It's amazing you survived," Kai said as she gently prodded the wounds. "My lords poison is incredibly potent. I have seen powerful demons brought to their knees by it." Ann didn't respond, but a dark wish rose in her heart, if only she hadn't survived.

"You know you'll make it through this, right?" Kai broke through her morbid thoughts. "We've all lost somebody, but we must continue on. It is the right thing to do."

"Why?" asked Ann.

"I suppose we all have a purpose," Kai said, her eyes twinkling at the thought. "Isn't that nice to know? I believe I am here to save lives, and I think you are too."

"I don't care anymore about the Soul of the Shikon," Ann muttered. "I just want revenge. After that, it doesn't matter." Kai suddenly took both of Ann's hands in hers. Ann tried to flinch away, but Kai held firm.

"I know you are full of anger right now and you have a right to be, but you will need to find a way to let it go. As a demon, I can feel your feelings tainting the Shikon. If Naraku finishes the Shikon as it is currently, then he wins. Please promise you'll try to find some kind of happiness." Kai was so sincere and earnest, that Ann finally released a sigh and nodded her head.

"Thank you," Kai smiled warmly. "Now let's finish your examination."

Ann tensed as Kai's hands moved to her injuries, her instinct to pull away barely held her in check. The demoness worked with a gentle efficiency, her touch light and careful. Ann watched her warily, every muscle in her body coiled tightly, ready to spring back at the slightest hint of danger.

Kai continued her examination, her hands steady and soothing.

"You're healing well," she said softly, not looking up. "But you need to rest and allow your body time to recover."

Ann nodded stiffly, her heart still racing. She couldn't shake her fear, but Kai's sincerity was starting to chip away at her defenses. She didn't trust her, not fully, but she could see that Kai meant no harm.

"You should get some sleep," Kai advised, standing up. "I'll be nearby if you need anything."

Ann swallowed hard, her throat tight.

"Okay," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Kai gave her a small, reassuring smile before turning to leave. Ann watched her go, her body gradually relaxing once the demoness was out of sight. She let out a long, shaky breath and pulled the blankets tighter around herself, the lingering warmth from Kai's touch a stark contrast to her fear.

As she lay back down, the weight of her loss began to press upon her again. The faces of her husband and child filled her mind, their memories interwoven with her rage and sorrow. She clenched her fists, feeling the familiar surge of hatred.

"Naraku will pay," she vowed silently, her eyes burning with unshed tears. "I'll make sure of it. And once it's over... I will find peace."

Her thoughts darkened as she stared at the ceiling, exhaustion tugging at her but unable to pull her fully into sleep. The pain of her loss was a constant, gnawing ache that overshadowed any glimmers of hope. She was still afraid, but also full of seething hatred.

With a final, shuddering breath, she allowed herself to sink into the bed, her body finally succumbing to the need for rest. She knew what she needed to do, although how she'd achieve her goal was uncertain, but for now, all she could do was survive. And that would have to be enough.