InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Second Chance At Love ❯ Puzzle Piece ( Chapter 22 )

Disclaimer:  *sigh*… I'm really beginning not to like you people…  Must you bring this up every time??

This chapter begins a little before the end of chapter 21.  Its from the others point of view of events right before Kagome reclaims her body…

~Maybe redemption has stories to tell.  Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell.~

            ~Switchfoot~ "Dare You to Move."

Chapter 22:  Puzzle Piece

Sango locked eyes with Miroku, who was straining to keep the shield protecting Kagome up since the last shreds of her own shield had finally winked out.  They shared confused looks when the Spirits seemed to be retreating.

Just like that.

They just stopped, turned and left.  No warning, no 'thanks for stopping by', no nothing,   only one seemed to not be going anywhere. They could see the Little Spirit who had stopped just behind Sesshoumaru, but they couldn't really be sure why that was because he'd been there for a few minutes and the taiyoukai had still been fighting off other Spirits that were coming at him full force.  It seemed all the Spirits had decided to focus on him.  The only time one or more came at Sango, Kirara or Kagura was when either of them tried to move to help the inu-youkai.  Then they were swarmed from all sides.  They soon learned it was better to just be still and watch; besides if truth were to be told the taiyoukai didn't really require any help.  He was doing perfectly fine slaughtering Spirits all on his own.

This led Sango to believe that the attacks had nothing to do with the demon personally, and all to do with the opening he was shielding.

They both looked over to Kirara, who had reverted to her smaller self seeing that the threat had retreated, and saw that she was staring at Sesshoumaru… or seemed to be.

Exchanging telling looks once more, they both looked to Sesshoumaru, but he was staring at the Little Spirit who was directly in front of him now.  However, he didn't look to be angry with the Spirit; on the contrary, he looked as if he was exasperated… and not just a little bored.

~*~

Sesshoumaru was loosing his patience… and he didn't have a whole lot left to lose.  Kagome's energy was fading fast, but for some reason unknown to him she hadn't moved to get back in her body.  He could still sense her aura behind him.   He didn't understand why she wasn't returning now that she had the chance to. 

He froze as a small chill went through him.

Sesshoumaru watched as the spirit of the Little Man seemed to emerge from the middle of his chest, pause for a moment, then float up into the sky.  He watched impassively as the bald headed man disappeared.  Feeling Kagome's energy moving away from him he quickly returned Tokijin to his side, but did not turn around.

There was no point in doing so; it wasn't as if he could see her anyway.

He could feel the other's eyes on him, as they had been for a while, but did not return any of their gazes.  It didn't escape his notice that the Spirits had begun to focus all their attention on him towards the end of the battle.  He figured it was because he was the one directly in front of their only access to the miko's body, which was what he'd been counting on.  It was the whole reason why he'd chosen to stand there.

Besides, he welcomed the added attention.  It was a step up from what they were doing, and even though the Spirits hadn't proven to be a worthy adversary (the y really weren't battle material) he had to appreciate their tenacity.  They did not give up easily.

Sesshoumaru silently crossed his arms over his chest as he gazed up at the darkening sky.  He noted that the sun had set as he realized that more then an hour had passed since they'd come out there to find Kagura lying unconscious on the ground.   He focused his bright gaze on the castle as he regarded it and all that it held.  He could sense a power there that was not unlike the magic found on his own ancestral home, but there was something different on the castle he was looking at.  Something more.  Something that didn't rightly belong there, but was hard to distinguish, because it felt as if it, whatever it was, had been there for a very long time.

It didn't feel threatening or even evil really, it felt… wrong.

He didn't like it.  If he was any other person other then himself he would have frowned at the offending place before him.

He released a silent breath as he heard the silent pop from behind him.  The monk had released his shield.  He knew Kagome would be waking up soon, he could sense her heartbeat slowing as she came closer to consciousness.   He could also sense Inuyasha returning.

Now, he would get some questions answered.

Miroku knelt down next to his friend and placed the back of his hand to her cheek.  He smiled slightly as he felt the warmth returned to the miko's face and body.  He had been a bit concerned, for a moment there he didn't think she was going to make it back on time.

Miroku didn't know how he would have explained it to Inuyasha if that had happened.  For all the hanyou's faults, he did truly love the miko… he was just too slow to realize when it was time to move on.  And though that slowness had cost him everything, he knew Inuyasha still loved Kagome and if she died he wasn't sure how well their friend would take it. 

It just might send him over the proverbial edge and Miroku would rather avoid that at all costs.  As for the taiyoukai… he would rather not even imagine what he would do had Kagome not made it back in time.

He looked up when he felt a hand rest lightly on his shoulder and smiled at a very familiar pair of chocolate brown eyes.

"Is she alright, Miroku?"

"She'll be fine Sango-chan.  I imagine she'll be waking up soon."

"Hmm," she looked over to where Inuyasha was just beginning to move from his prone position on the ground.  "What do you think went on in there?"

"I don't know," sighed Miroku as he looked down at the young girl lying on the ground beside him.  "But whatever it was it nearly cost both their lives.  I wonder if either of them will tell us."

"Why would they not tell us?" said Sango as she turned a confused look to the top of his dark head.

"She was inside Inuyasha's mind Sango-chan.  Kagome now knows more about him then he probably would have ever told us.  Probably even things, he himself, had long since forgotten.  It will not be easy for either of them for a while, I would imagine."

"Oh," she blinked.  She'd never thought of that. 

They all knew that there were a few topics Inuyasha did not talk about.  His mother and Sesshoumaru were among those.  Ask him about his dad and he would tell you as much as he could remember which wasn't very much, since his father had been killed when he was too young to remember much of him.  But ask him about Sesshoumaru and his mother and he'd clam up tight as a shell and if there were any trees around he'd leap to the top of one of them until you dropped the subject. 

Could it be possible that Kagome now knew the answers to those questions?  And if so, how did Inuyasha feel about that?  Did he even know?  If Kagome did have those answers Sango sort of hoped that somehow Inuyasha didn't know it.  She knew he wouldn't be happy about it and would probably react violently and loudly the moment he got a chance to.

"Yes," replied Miroku quietly, "oh."

They both focused their attention on their friend when they heard a low moan.  They watched as Kagome's eyes moved below her closed eyelids before they blinked a couple of times and then opened completely. 

Chocolate orbs focused slowly.

Kagome smiled as two pair of eyes, one brown and one almost purple, connected with her own.

"Hi guys," she said softly.

They both gave her a little smile but when they opened there mouths to respond they immediately shut them again as a look of surprise came over their friend's face when a pair of arms gently, but swiftly, lifted her from the ground.

Kagome turned her head to look into a familiar pair of golden eyes.

"Sesshoumaru…" she sighed and leaned into him.

Sesshoumaru looked down on his precious cargo for a moment in contemplation.  "Grab the hanyou," he addressed the taijiya and monk, not taking his eyes off Kagome, before turning and heading back to the castle.

He made swift eye contact with the wind witch, who had, so far, been standing quietly to the side observing. He looked at her only long enough to pass on the message before moving on.

Kagura watched the taiyoukai walk back into the castle with the miko secure in his arms.  She caught the look which she knew was a silent command for her to follow him as well.  She sighed to herself.  She would follow him this time, but she hoped the Lord of the Western Lands didn't get any ideas that she was his slave.  For she had no intentions of trading in one master for another one no matter what.

Kagura was free and she intended to remain that way until she died.

But, she knew she owed them for what they had done and the least she could do was contribute what little she knew to help them.  Besides, she had to find Kanna before she could go anywhere.

She watched impassively as the monk and the female exterminator passed her with the hanyou being held between them and the neko youkai walking in front of them before she moved to follow.

Kagura really didn't want to enter the castle again.  There was something about it that set her on edge.  She also didn't care for a structure that looked as if it was ready to collapse any minute on the outside (and only in front) but, as if nothing was wrong with it what-so-ever on the inside.  It spoke of a magic she knew nothing of and she didn't like being around what she didn't know and also surrounded by a group of people whom she'd tried to kill on many occasions and who could now care less if she lived or died.  And probably preferred the latter if they were given a choice. 

'Except for the miko,' thought Kagura ruefully. 

She doubted that one would ever wish for someone's death.  It just wasn't in her nature.  That was actually what made Kagura fear the miko so much.  Even more than she feared the taiyoukai or the other dead miko, Kikyo, that Naraku had once feared.   A lot of a miko's power came from the pureness of their soul.  And she had a feeling that Kagome's soul was probably as pure as one could get.

She sighed as she shut the door to the outside world behind her after taking one last glance.  She wondered idly if she would ever see the outside world again… other then through the windows in the castle.

*~*~*

Sesshoumaru headed towards a lounge room he remembered seeing earlier as everyone followed behind him.  He didn't look down at Kagome, because he knew that if he did he'd only get even more angry then he already was at seeing her as weak as he could very well sense her to be.  It was a stupid move she did and he didn't care for her putting herself in danger to save the hanyou.  Every time he thought about how close she'd come to dying his anger surged all over again, so he took strains to not think of it at all.  At least not yet.

There were more troubling things to address first.  One being; exactly what happened while she was inside Inuyasha's head?

Kagome looked up at the demon holding her and sighed at the light in his eyes.  She could feel the anger in the tension in his arms as he carried her.  She wanted to tell him to put her down, but she didn't think that it was a good time to do so.  In fact, she didn't think it was a good time for her to say anything at all if the tension in his body was anything to go by. 

He wasn't hurting her, though.  Actually his grip was quite gentle; belying the anger she knew was lurking just below the surface.  

Kagome sighed once more as she snuggled closer to the fierce taiyoukai.  She figured she might as well borrow some heat now while the opportunity was being presented to her because with his state of mind now, she doubted she would get the chance again in the near future.

Her eyes half closed, she watched from beneath her eyelashes as they entered a sitting room that looked to be decorated in fabrics of a deep red color and wood.  It seemed the cushions and the drapes were all of the same soft material while the base of the furniture all around the room seemed to be carved out of smooth wood.  She imagined it was probably a very nice place to just sit and think and be alone.

Too bad she wasn't about to get the chance to do either of those things.

Kagome watched as the others slowly entered the room.  Kirara came ambling in first yawning as she found a spot on the floor to curl up and have a nap, next entered Miroku and Sango as they gave assistance to Inuyasha who was between them, and Kagura quietly brought up the rear as she found a spot against the wall near the door.  In hopes of being the first one out no doubt, thought Kagome sourly.

Her eyes fell on her three friends as they all found seats.  Sango sat down not too far from Kirara then pulled the sleeping neko into her lap.  Kirara twitched for a moment as she rearranged herself to her liking before drifting back off to the feel of her mistress's hand rubbing lightly against her fur.  She figured her friend needed something to do with her hands as well as to keep her busy so she wouldn't get nervous with her worrying.  She took note that Miroku had taken up the space beside the taijiya and gave a half hearted smile at that.

She could see the questions written on both their faces and knew she owed them an explanation.  But what did she say?  How did she tell them everything was fine when everything wasn't?  How did she tell them that 'yeah, they'd finally gotten rid of Naraku, but now they had something even more deadly to think about'?  Should she even tell them that?

Then her eyes fell on Inuyasha.

Her heart jumped at the forlorn image he presented sitting there in his customary position of arms and legs crossed and head bowed to cover his eyes with his hair.  She had a feeling that he would give up anything right about now, even the Tetsusaiga, just to have a large oak tree he could hop to the top of and brood for a while.

And she knew why.

He wouldn't even look at her.  Kagome could feel the tears prickling behind her eyes, but refused to let them fall.  Did he think she would betray him and tell the others what she'd seen in his memories?  Though for the life of her, she couldn't understand what the problem was.  What did he fear?  Was it them knowing?  Or was it Sesshoumaru?

Kagome felt like crying.  She doubted she'd seen all of his memories, she was in too much of a rush to do that, but from what she saw she was even more confused over what had driven the two Inu-brothers to hate each other so much.  It was obvious that it had not always been that way.   She thought of one image she remembered seeing that had clearly been of Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's mother and she couldn't recall seeing any anger or hatred for the woman in the eyes of the younger taiyoukai.

What had caused things to change?

Inuyasha sat quietly as everything that had happened in the last hour flitted through his mind.  He still had a slight headache after all the excitement, but that wasn't what was bothering him.  He'd worked long and hard to put a lot of things behind him.  Things that he knew he would never have again.  And her stroll down his memory lane brought all those things crashing back down on him.  It was already bad enough that having his brother around so much was already doing a number on him.  That talk that he'd had with Kagome on the roof not so long ago had also brought up things he'd rather not think about, and now he couldn't get the images out of his head.

And just when he was finally convincing himself that he'd truly forgotten it all.

He couldn't go through it again.  Finding and falling in love with Kikyo had gotten him through it the first time; he doubted that he could get through it again, especially if he had to do it on his own.

"Well," said Miroku cutting into his thoughts quietly, "I think its time we talked."

Everybody in the room exchanged looks, except for Sesshoumaru who'd looked at no one at all, before they all gave small nods of agreement.

"Hmm, Lady Kagome, why don't you start?" he gave her a meaningful look.  He knew he didn't have to elaborate.  It's why they were all sitting there in the first place.

"I… uh… well, where do I start?" Kagome asked quietly as she looked back at the houshi.

"As Sango-chan once advised me," answered Miroku with a wink, "the beginning is always a good place,"

"Well, yes alright," began Kagome hesitantly.  "Really you know the beginning so how about I start with Inuyasha.  I had figured out that Naraku was going after Inuyasha, as we all did, but when I entered his head I was not where Naraku was.  I was some place else."

"How frightening that must have been for you Kagome," replied Miroku with a twinkle in his eye as he gave a nod towards Inuyasha, "to be lost in there."

"I heard that," came a hard voice from everyone's left.  "And just what the hell are you implying Miroku!!"

"Nothing at all, Inuyasha," smiled Miroku as he blinked his eyes innocently to give off the full effect.

"Feh."

Kagome stifled a smile at the familiar word muttered from her friend.  She was just thinking that perhaps he was going to be alright a little sooner then she expected when he lowered his head back down and resumed the same position he'd been in since the moment he sat down.

She sighed in defeat.

"Well anyway.  After sending out my senses to locate Inuyasha since I knew that if I found his inner self I'd find Naraku, I began to look for them.  When I found them, Naraku had Inuyasha tied down to the ground.  It seemed as if he'd grown miraculously in strength and power and was going to use that to take control of Inuyasha."

"He had."

Kagome's head swiveled to look at the taiyoukai, but he did not look as if he planned to say anymore.

"What Sesshoumaru-sama is saying Kagome, is that Naraku had grown in power.  But it would not have lasted long.  The power was rapidly growing smaller."

"What?" she looked from one to the other until she'd looked at them all.  "What do you mean?"

"They mean that from the moment Naraku left the mirror his power had begun to leave him," now it was Kagura who answered.  She desperately wanted to see the look on the miko's face when she realized she'd risked her own life for nothing.  "You see miko, since Naraku had used whatever power he had left to enter the mirror, he had none left to leave it later.  While inside the mirror he could be as strong and as powerful as he dreamed, outside of it he was just what he was; a hanyou who had given everything he had for an imaginary world."

"So what you're saying…"

"The outcome would have been no different with or without your help," supplied Kagura with a gleam in her crimson orbs.

Kagome digested this for a moment as she looked around her.  All eyes were on her as she came to terms with the fact she almost died for nothing.  It could not be helped now.

"No matter," she shrugged; making light of it.  What could she do about it now? "I didn't know that and I wouldn't leave Inuyasha's life up to chance.  I could help so I did." She gave an uncommon smirk as she remembered her battle with Naraku.  "And I'm glad that I am the last face Naraku will remember for eternity."

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow at the look on her face, but said nothing.

"Anyway, after I finished with Naraku I helped Inuyasha to return then headed back.  I'm sorry I took so long."

"So Naraku is gone and now we can get the Shikon no Tama back, you can purify it, and we can leave this place."

"Not… exactly…" hedged Kagome as she turned her gaze to Sango's.

Sango tilted her head thoughtfully as she eyed her friend. 

"Why?"

"Because, I don't know where the jewel is," she offered softly.  While that explanation was true, she didn't know where it was, it wasn't what held them there.  Truth was; besides what the Little Spirit had told her, it still wasn't possible for them to leave.  Something or someone was still keeping them in.

Whatever it was allowed them to go outside earlier, but she doubted it would let them do so again without reason.

She lowered her eyes to her lap as she let the silence surround her.

Miroku and Sango exchanged identical looks before returning their gaze to their younger friend.  It went without saying that Kagome was not a very good liar.  They had all remarked on her lack of ability in that department on numerous occasions.  They wondered what would make the miko think that her ability… or lack there of, had changed.  Miroku didn't mind it so much, because he didn't think it was an ability one should strive to be good at anyway and while Sango agreed with this, they both found it just a bit exasperating when the miko attempted to lie as she was attempting to do now.

"There is something you're not telling us Kagome-chan," spoke Sango quietly.

"No… I …"

"Yes."

Kagome looked up at the taiyoukai when his quiet yet commanding voice cut her off.  She locked eyes with him and immediately regretted it.  There was no way she could lie to him when he looked at her accusingly like that.  She couldn't lie to any of them.

"What I told you guys when you'd first arrived at the castle was true.  There is something else within the castle other then us."

"Does it have anything to do with why the castle looks as it does to Miroku and different to us?"

Kagome thought about this for a moment.  "There are still some loose pieces on that, but no, I don't think one has anything to do with the other."

She turned to look at the wind witch as a thought came into her head.

"Kagura?" she waited for the demoness to look at her before she continued, "You once said to me, and I quote; 'pay close attention, for every building tells a story, even this castle…'.  I didn't understand what you meant then, but I think I do now.  You've seen the visions also, haven't you?"

Kagura didn't even bother to pretend she didn't understand.  She'd come in here to tell what she knew and that's exactly what she was going to do.

"Yes," she replied.  "I have heard of old homes such as this one having a magic within them and that that magic was known to do things when the place it protects has gone a long time without life in it.  I thought nothing of them at first."

"But, you changed your mind later, didn't you?  That's why you warned me to pay attention."

"Yes," she shrugged, "the visions seemed to be of certain events… as if the castle was trying to tell me something.  This seemed odd to me.  I would have thought in a situation like this that the building would be showing random events of its past.  These seemed to be more… specific."

"Hmm," hummed Kagome in total agreement.

"What visions, Kagome-chan?" asked Sango as she looked from her to Kagura and back.

Kagome quickly explained the two visions she'd seen and how she felt something bad had happened in the Takashi family. But, she still had no idea what they meant.

"All I know for sure is that the Twins held a secret that had to do with a girl that they did not want their father or grandfather finding out about." She ticked them off one by one on her fingers as she spoke. "That Niesa, the Twins mother, did not get along with her husband's father and that she had every reason to believe the former Taiyoukai feared her mother who happened to be a well-known witch.  What all this adds up to?  I don't know."

"And how does Onigumo fit into all this?" asked Sango.

Inuyasha's head shot up at the sound of that name.  His eyes darted immediately to Kagome.

Kagome saw the look Inuyasha was giving her but, chose to pretend she didn't by not looking at him.  What could she tell him?  She had no proof to support what she thought.  She really wished Sango hadn't brought that part of their earlier conversation up.

"I don't know," she gave Sango a slight frown.

Sango, seeing the frown, decided not to say anything more.

Sesshoumaru, Miroku and Inuyasha did not miss the silent exchange between the two women, but chose not to comment on it just then.

"So there are two mysteries here as we suspected.  What is it that we don't know and you are not saying, Lady Kagome?" 

"I don't know what it is exactly that we are up against," she said quietly as she made eye contact with everyone but Inuyasha who still had his head bowed. "All I know is that it's here for me."

Kagome saw Inuyasha's ears flicker in her direction, but other then that small movement no one else moved or said a word.  She'd never seen a room go so quiet so quickly.  Even Kagura appeared to be just a bit disturbed by the revelation.

"How do you know?"

Kagome turned to look at Sesshoumaru for a moment.  She was scared.  She was up against something that held a lot of power at its fingertips.  Kagome wasn't sure if she could beat something like that, but she knew she would die trying.  She couldn't help thinking it was pretty sad that now that she'd found a love that was just for her she had the fear of losing her life before she could even start to enjoy it.

For a moment Sesshoumaru thought she wasn't going to answer his question when he heard the whispered reply.

"I was told."

At their confused and questioning looks Kagome began to tell them what the Spirit had said to her.

***Four hours later***

Kagome had been up walking around for almost a half hour now.  They had all finished their talk about three and a half hours ago.  Everyone had retreated to their rooms silently, Kagura had stayed with both her and Sango as the men went to the room they'd been using.  She'd tried to sleep, but there was no way she could sleep with all the words and thoughts running through her head.  So after only a few hours of restless sleep she'd gotten up to walk off her excess energy.

She turned a corner and found herself standing in front of a large pair of double doors.  She knew where these led.  She'd seen them when she'd explored the castle before.  It was the courtroom of the Lord and Lady of the house.  Kagome remembered it was a very lovely room as it was draped in the Takashi family colors of dark purple and orange.

She didn't feel like going in there though.

Kagome turned to go back the way she came.  She didn't know what possessed her come this way in the first place.   As she began to walk a way she came to complete stop when a sound caught her attention.

Kagome stood still as she tried to listen for the sound again.

"whimper!!"

She sucked in her breath as she heard the sound again.  It sounded as if someone was crying… but, who?  She doubted it was any of the guys and she knew she'd left Sango, Kirara, and Kagura in the room.  And she very much doubted it was Kanna.  Kagome didn't think that girl bothered with making useless sounds.

"whimper!!"

It sounded as if it was coming from behind the double doors.

Kagome moved cautiously towards the door and placed her hands on the panels as she quietly slid them open.  She peered carefully inside and gasped at what she saw:

There was a woman kneeling on the floor, head bowed and long dark hair hanging haphazardly around her, over her shoulders, and down her back.

Kagome moved swiftly into the room as she trotted over to her, before something made her stop.

Something wasn't right.

The woman… she was… see through?!  Kagome tilted her head in thought.  She couldn't help thinking that the woman looked sad and broken kneeling on the floor like that.  She wondered idly who she was?  Or used to be?

Then Kagome gasped as the woman suddenly threw her head up.  Long hair flying away from her as flashing green eyes became visible.  She could see the anger and malice that flickered in those green orbs, but with an under current of pain.  Pain so deep that the woman's body shook from the effects of the emotion.

With a start Kagome realized just what she was seeing… and who.  It was another vision with Niesa in it.  'Why is she so sad?'

The whites of Niesa's eyes were red, letting Kagome know that the lady had been crying recently. 

Kagome's eyes darted up as the image of a male youkai with long dark hair and crimson colored eyes shimmered into the vision.   Kagome frowned as the familiar figure of Takashi Sano took shape.

"I should have known…" she whispered silently as she took a couple of steps backwards.

She grimaced as she involuntarily watched the visions.  Kagome had a feeling that she needed to pay close attention because she would most likely be retelling it.  She noted that both Sano and Niesa seemed to be more corporeal then what the other visions were.

She wondered why that was.

"Look what you've done!" said the woman as she stared at the man a few paces in front of her.  Hatred coated her eyes as she continued, "You've destroyed your entire family! There's no one left!"

"Hmm," the man scoffed at the kneeling woman in accusation.  "You did this Niesa. Not I!  You brought that thing into my home!"

"That 'thing' as you call her, was my daughter-in-law!  Your grandson's mate!" she fumed.

"Yes," he hissed, "and easily replaced."

Niesa gave a short and bitter laugh in answer to his arrogance.

"Replaced? You call that 'replaced'?! Replaced with what, Sano?" she shook her head incredulously. "They're all gone!  Dead!"

She flung her arm out to her side and pointed at something over to her right.

Kagome's eyes followed the direction of her pointed finger and that's when she saw it. 

A body.

She had no idea when the other image came into the vision, but the picture of a male with long dark hair lay not to far away from them on the ground.  Face down.   He wore the same house colors as Niesa and Sano and with the white stripes in his hair he looked a lot like Sano. 

She wondered who he was and what had happened to him because he was obviously dead.

"Look Sano and see what your prejudices have wrought!" continued Niesa bitterly.  "There lies my husband, your son; dead.  And his heirs, my beautiful boys, gone as well.  And it is all because of you!"

"Me!?" he responded in angry indignation.  "This is not my doing!"

Kagome could hear the anger, disbelief, sorrow, and even fear in his voice as each fought for dominance in the patriarch. 

"Yes you did. You were the one who got rid of Sage and the child she carried.  You were the one who pitted brothers against one another and then sent one on a wild goose chase to find a wife and child that you knew he would not find!" she yelled in a mixture of pain and anger. "Shueran died out there!  And Shonin destroyed because of it! You did this!!"

Kagome watched as tears streamed down the broken lady's face.  She could feel her own tears pricking at the back of her eyes for the second time in twenty-four hours as her heart went out to the woman who was no longer a wife or mother.

"He brought that on himself!," yelled Sano in a booming voice; face reddening.  "He was an idiot!"

"HE WAS IN LOVE!"

Kagome watched as Niesa's aura began to glow with a bright red light around her.  There was dark electricity surrounding her, like black lightening, as she glared at Takashi Sano. 

Kagome took a precautionary step back as she felt a shift in the room.

She'd only known dark energy to surround someone like that for one reason; when that person was about to do something bad… or even evil.

But, the woman did not look as if she had the strength to do anything.  She could barely kneel she was shaking so much.  Kagome's eyes widened as she saw for the first time the blood on Niesa's hands.

Somewhere she was wounded.  And by the amount of blood on her hands Kagome knew it was bad.  She wondered if the great Takashi Sano could see what she saw.  Or even if he had seen it when this scene really took place?

"Love?  Love is a weakness," he sneered.  "Love is for fools!"

"You loved Tsunami.  Do not deny it, for I know the truth," she said very quietly as she continued to stare daggers at him.  "I love Tomoe, as do you, I might add.  Am I a fool?  Are you?"

He frowned at her distastefully as he could not dispute the truth of her words.  Still he held to his first thought when he responded.  "Tsunami is no longer here and I am no longer foolish.  I woke up.  Perhaps you will too, now."

"No, you didn't," she screamed in contradiction.  "You placed it in this pile of stone and dirt and gave none to your family.  Destroying us all, in the end."

A heavy silence fell between them as the seconds seemed to tick away like minutes.

Kagome wondered if that was the end of the vision and if they were about to fade away to where ever it is they come from.

Then Niesa broke the silence once more.

"But, you will not get away with it Sano.  I promise you that.  You destroyed all that I hold dear.  Tomoe and my sons are gone.  Sage and the child she carried may also be gone, for Shueran could not tell me before he died.  Now, I shall take what you hold most dear and you shall know the pain you have inflicted upon me and mine."

Sano's eyes widened with shock and fear as he moved to take a step back.  Then, as if realizing what he was doing, he straightened his spine and stood his ground.

He looked down his nose at the kneeling female youkai a few paces away from him and gave her a sneer.

"You do not hold power enough for such a trick.  Witch or not, you are not your mother and you are dying."

Kagome could see the fear beneath the anger in his eyes.  He didn't completely believe his own words.

"You think not?" she asked softly.  The first time she'd sounded so calm during the entire vision.  "We shall see, hmm.  Do not under-estimate me Sano.  It never did you any good before and it won't now."

The woman turned her head to look at her dead husband.  She began to crawl, on unstable knees, over to him.  When she finally made it to her destination she placed a bloody and trembling hand to his cheek that held two orange colored slashes across them in the direction of his mouth.

"Oh, my Tomoe," she breathed quietly but still loudly enough to be heard.  "You turned a blind eye to him for so long.  And now, when you finally decided to see and stand for us, it was too late.  It did not do your sons or us any good."

She rubbed his cheek as silent tears fell down her own.  She shook from the pain that was becoming more and more difficult to ignore.

"But," she lowered her voice to a bare whisper, "know all is not lost for Shonin still lives as do Sage and the child Shueran sired."

Kagome sucked in her breath as she froze.  Did she hear right?  Could a Takashi still live?  She wondered if Sano had heard the lady's whisper.

Kagome had no idea why she was able to hear so clearly since the woman had moved further away from her to go to her husband's body.  And she had obviously lowered her voice.  She could only guess that she was meant to hear it.

 Kagome looked over to see if Takashi Sano had heard what Niesa whispered.  She visibly flinched when she saw him.

He was looking right at her.

Or it looked as if he were…. Was he?

Kagome glanced behind her, but this time there was nothing there.  She turned back and brown locked with red.  She would have sworn he was looking at her.  She tilted her head thoughtfully.

"I bind you Takashi Sano from all you hold dear."

Kagome's head swiveled around as she heard the lady's words.  She shivered as a chill went down her spine as Niesa's eyes began to glow with a piercing emerald light.  She nearly collapsed when the green changed to a deep black that glowed with power.

Kagome could actually feel the power emanating off of her.  She listened as the youkai continued.

"Anger and fear brought this to be.  Destruction is what you sought, so destruction is all they shall see.  Only it shall hold what happened this night.  And only the eyes of your blood shall see it right.  Your redemption will have a story to tell.  But, after forgiveness where you once fell.  Only then, shall blood of your blood admit you here."

Kagome watched, mesmerized, as the woman's eyes slowly reverted to the normal green.   She stood transfixed while the image of the woman collapsed slowly, as if in slow motion, to lie half atop her husband's body.  Her face quietly came to rest on top of her husband's.  Cheek to cheek.  She used the last of her energy to curse Sano.

"I curse thee Takashi Sano.  May you remember a forgotten lesson.  As I will, so mote it be."

Kagome watched quietly as the forms of Niesa and her husband faded away with her dying breath.  A silent tear rolled down her cheek for the tragic loss of the family.

Kagome started as she looked up to see the non-corporeal body of Sano Takashi was still there.  His eyes trained on the spot that had held the bodies of Takashi Tomoe and Niesa.

'Why hadn't he faded away too?'

Kagome's eyes widened when he suddenly turned and looked right at her.  Crimson locked on to chocolate and held. 

'He's…'

Her eyes glazed over in shock when Takashi began to speak.

"I found her and the child, you know?" he began with a rhetorical question. "I had no idea they lived, but none the less there they were. Living in a small village not all that far from here.  A mere week's journey, were I to walk as slow as a human, but one that I could not enter as a youkai.  It was a novel experience for me.  I had never been denied entrance somewhere, because of the youkai blood that flows through me."  He shrugged it off with a some what curious look on his face.  "She could not purify his blood for it would have killed him, but she could and did suppress it.  I doubt he knew what he truly was as he grew up, but he later learned."

Kagome stood transfixed as the image-if she could even call him that-kept talking.

"But I am Taiyoukai here," he swept back his bangs to reveal the picture of a royal blue, almost purple, sun on his forehead. "And even though she suppressed the blood she could not hide my own blood from me.  It was disappointing to watch him become a thief and I blame her entirely for it.  All she cared about was poisoning his mind against those he would have called family.  I could not get close enough to her to find out why she allowed him to become so dishonorable for she never left the village.  Now, that I look back, I wonder if she even could leave."

Kagome arched her brow at this last part.  There was something pushing at the back of her mind as she listened to what he said, but she was too shocked to see he was actually talking to her.  She wondered if he was speaking of Sage and the child she carried.  And if he was, did that mean he found Takashi Shonin as well?

If it was Sage he was speaking of, she couldn't fathom why a mother would feed her child with hate against his family, but under these circumstances she could understand it?  Kagome wondered what exactly did Takashi Sano do to Sage?

And wait!  Did he say she could purify?  So does that mean Sage is the miko-youkai in the portraits?  So, the miko-youkai, Sage, was Shueran's mate!  Which means her son… would have been more then just a youkai, but heir to the Seat of Eastern Lands.

Kagome snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Takashi Sano moving closer to her.

"He died by fire you know," he confided as he watched this woman who was his last hope… maybe.  Maybe there was no hope left.  "I thought it ironic that he died by the one power his father held dominion of and which he would have held if she had allowed him to.  Ironic, ne?"

Kagome was too stunned to respond, though she had a fleeting thought about his sense of irony.  She had a sickening feeling in her gut that she knew who he was talking about.  There was only one thief she knew of who was to have died by fire.  And then what he'd said about the village he grew up in and what they'd learned not too long ago about a similar village…  What were the odds of there being two villages like that? 

There was just one problem.  Onigumo did not die from his burns. 

Kagome tuned back in when she realized he was speaking again.

"He returned somehow as that abomination you and your companions killed.  Though I would like to hate you for this, for taking away my last chance, I can not.  Naraku was not a Takashi.  I would not have it!" his eyes darkened with anger and disgust before a look of …sadness? ...came over him before he could hide it.

"Now this place will never be restored to me."

That brought an audible reaction from Kagome where previously nothing else he said could.

"Even after all this time, all that you've been through, you still only care about rocks and stone?" she asked with a frown and no small trace of sadness.  She may not like him, but she could still feel sorry for him.

"No." He watched her eyes flash with some fleeting emotion before he continued, "But it is all that is left of the Takashis."

"But," Kagome began with a question, "what about your granddaughter? She-"

"A girl?!" he asked with an incredulous look on his face.  He gave her a questioning look,

"What could she have accomplished?  A worthless female.  A girl cannot continue the family line."

Kagome frowned at this, but said nothing.  She wanted to yell at him out of righteous indignation, but she knew from her history classes that that was the attitude of many men of royalty and worth.  He wasn't saying anything she hadn't read before.

"Are you sure?"

Sano gave her a curious look.  He did not respond though, because he didn't have much time left. It took a lot of power to hold this form and it could only be achieved for a short amount of time.  His time was almost up and he didn't want to waist what was left on useless dreams.

"I do not have much time priestess.  Lets not waste it on trivial matters, hmm?" he began in earnest.  "I've come to warn you that you are not alone within the castle.  It was attracted by the innate power within the walls of the castle and the anger that still lingers within here.  But, it cannot get to that power and would have left, but has found something new."

"The Shikon no Tama," breathed Kagome quietly.  She could still feel the jewels presence in the castle, even if she couldn't find it.

"Yes, but it can not do it alone, miko.  It needs you," he said gravely.  "It wants you."

"Needs me for what?" she asked bewildered.  "What does it want to do?  Who or what is 'it'?"

"A choice is coming Priestess.  You are the Guardian.  You will have to choose even if neither option is appealing."

"What?"

Kagome was scared and confused.  This was the second time in one day someone was telling her she would have to make a decision.  A decision about what?  For what?  And for whom?  She couldn't decide whether to scream or cry.  And if she couldn't even make a simple choice like that what made them think she could make an important decision like the one they were telling her she was going to have to make?  What was going on?  How could she fight if she had no clue what she was fighting?

Sano could feel his body receding.  He could no longer hold the connection. But, he had to give the miko one last piece of advice since leaving was no longer an option for her or the others.

"Tell me, my Lady.  Are you foolish too?" he asked as he began to fade with the vision of himself, "Because, only those foolish enough to try can win.  Perhaps."

Kagome stood alone, staring at nothing, as Takashi Sano faded into thin air.  His words kept playing over in her head and bringing up new questions instead of answering old ones.  Somewhere in the back of her mind she realized that with the vision and his words that some things had been answered, but at the moment those things wouldn't make themselves known as she contemplated an unseen enemy.

She stared quietly into thin air as she stood stone still near the middle of the room.

That was how Sesshoumaru found her fifteen minutes later.

         &nb sp;                         &nb sp;            

         &nb sp;                         &nb sp;                          ~*~