Author's Note: Due to a couple of injuries, I haven't been able to type at the computer for a few months. I was finally able to boot up an old laptop and have begun, slowly, to write again. I appreciate your patience.

Chapter 14 Kai-awase/ Memory revisited

"Sesshoumaru! Where are you? You said you would be here if I got sent home. Why haven't you found me?"

Kagome's voice swirled around Sesshoumaru's head, ethereal and dampened, as if coming from down a long hallway.

"Miko?" he called back. "It is not yet your time. I gave my word, but it hasn't even been a year since you left. There are many long years left before our paths may cross again."

"Not even a year? Sesshoumaru, what do you mean? It's only been a few hours since I came out of the meido and appeared in the bottom of the well. Yes, I'm impatient and whiney, but I honestly didn't think you would be here yet."

"Mere hours since you emerged from the meido? It was Midsummer when Inuyasha returned from the meido. It is now in the Spring after that here."

"Spring? I'm still at Midsummer. That's so weird. The days and seasons always used to be the same for me regardless of which side of the well I was on. Now it's not. Maybe that's why I can't get through. I've been trying to, over and over again with no luck. Yet you heard me complaining and answered me. Where are you? Maybe there's another link to the past where you are now?"

"Miko, I am... asleep. I am hearing you in my dreams. I am not even sure your voice is real or conjured from my imagination. Physically, I am at my mother's castle. I doubt there is a portal in time here. Where are you, precisely? Perhaps that is the key to our ability to converse."

"I'm at my family shrine, sitting under Goshinbuko. I'm not asleep. I don't think I'm a dream. How would I know? Argh! This is just too weird. Maybe I'm losing it to avoid doing my calculus homework? Oh, no! What if this is a dream and I'm still in the medeo? Definitely losing it!"

"Now this one is convinced that this is NOT merely a dream. Your words and phrasing are peculiar to yourself alone. I could never dream such odd words. Bokuseno said that Goshinbuko could tell you had been safely returned to your own time, but that the stream of time was difficult to read. Perhaps the tree is the method by which you speak to me in dreams. I can only hope that you may continue to do so."

"I can try. I'll come out to the tree and talk as often as I can. I won't know when you will be asleep. I know youkai don't sleep as much as humans. Sessho..."

Whatever Kagome was about to say was lost, as Sesshoumaru woke up.

Sesshoumaru strained with all his senses, but whatever connection he had had to Kagome was gone.

Slowly he dressed and flicked his hair into place, lightly clawing through its length, while pondering the significance of his dream. As he had conveyed to Kagome in that state, he was certain that he had actually conversed with the miko, however improbable it seemed. After months without her presence, even a short conversation pleased him. Yet so little of consequence had been exchanged. He wanted her to know of his efforts to make sure of the future. Surely she would also want news of her friends, her kit. Perhaps even a more personal conversation. Still, it was hopeful that they might have more interactions in the fullness of time.

With that thought, Sesshoumaru emerged from his chamber, heading out to the gardens of his mother's floating castle.

Judging from the barely lightened skies, it was still quite early in the morning. The pearl grey sky of pre-dawn glowed slightly, but with none of the color of sunrise staining the clouds that swirl the castle walls. There, sitting on an engawa, was his mother. The building and its walkway are high enough that one can see over the walls to the land far below.

His mother began speaking before he even had a chance to greet her.

"It's so easy to forget that the world continues in its tribulations and conflicts even when one is no longer actively participating in its antics. Perhaps I have lingered from afar for too long, content to allow those still confined to the surface muddle along without any need to know about it or react to it."

"Mother?" Sesshoumaru queried, unsure if she addressed him or herself.

Inukimi removed a sheaf of papers from her lap and held it up to him. "You will need these in order to continue on the path you have chosen. I have no more need to review them." She sighed, before continuing, as he took the bundle from her hand. "Loathe as I am to admit it, you are correct, my son. From my reading and from my own scrying, I agree, I will have - must have - dealings with these humans in the future. Without it, our future ceases to exist in a relatively short time. With it, there is a chance, but only a chance."

"Mother, what have you seen? What have you discovered? You must tell me!"

"I must? No, my son. This Inukimi must not. Not unless this one can see no other way to avoid tragedy." She puffed a breath of air, too decisive to be a sigh. ""Suffice it to say that I have seen multiple possibilities. Several of them just closed due to my decision to join with you and your proposed solution. Now, to change the subject, did you sleep well?" Inukimi's amber eyes looked intently at his face, as if this question was the most important thing in the moment.

Sesshoumaru could not remember a time when his mother had enquired as to his sleeping experience. The question was not an idle one. Nothing his mother did was without purpose. Carefully, he responded, "My rest was acceptable." His eyes narrowed, "why do you ask?"

"Tell me about your dream, Sesshoumaru. This is important."

That startled him. How did she know? However, he needed to trust her, just as he needed to trust Inuyasha. All of them together, or none of them would survive. With as few words as possible, he told her about his dream encounter with Kagome. He even shared his thoughts on what to tell her about his plans the next time she appeared in his dreams.

"Absolutely not!" snapped InuKimi. "You must refrain from telling her anything about it. Giving her that knowledge could change the results. If she mentions that things have changed, that she has detected youkai in her time, then you may be able to share. Until that happens, you must protect the future you are creating. It is indeed fortunate for you that this one has decided to join your proposed merchant venture. You would surely stumble without this Silver Dog in your pack. At least it should be entertaining over the next few centuries."

That was another surprise. Sesshoumaru had believed the silver dogs would be himself and Inuyasha. True, the company name did not specify the number of silver dogs. Today was a day of surprising revelations, all positive.

Inukimi reached to a box lying at her feet and opened it. "I assume you will be leaving soon to continue your recruitment efforts. The next time you come by, bring the little human and the kitsune kit with you. They should learn to play Kai-awase in its original form before they only know the simplified version made of hardened paper."

Sesshoumaru could see that inside the box were clam shells, painted with beautiful renderings of classic scenes from literature and folk stories. This was the game the nobles played. The one that 'Memory' would emulate at some point in the future. The game that had caused the fight with the miko months ago in the cave. Which, in turn, had led to his purpose.

"This Sesshoumaru will be certain to do so, Mother. Farewell until we next meet."

With that, he strode out of the garden and out into the brightening morning.

Author's after note: I will continue to write on the laptop, but I may need to make several shorter chapters instead of one larger chapter as I'd hoped to do per my outline (yes, this story has an outline). I've had a lot of time to think about the story, even if I couldn't write them down. Hopefully that will mean a smoother flow ongoing.