Chapter 2: The Healing Begins

Sesshoumaru's Dream

It was the same dream as usual. A garden with cherry trees, a lake, and a lone tree in the middle, it's branches drooping, almost as if weeping. He sat in one of the cherry trees, trying to understand why he was here, when he noticed someone crying on a rock. Normally, he would have cared little, yet a feeling began to make itself known, one he hadn't felt for many years. It had been so long he had forgotten its name, yet it was strong, tearing him up on the inside. Realizing that if he didn't do something, it would kill him. Moving towards the women, he sat down near her, trying to figure out what to do, he remembered a half-forgotten memory of something his mother had done when he was a child. Pulling the woman into his lap, he began to pet her hair with one hand and placed his other hand on her back, his tail encircling both of them. She cried into his chest, slowly subsiding into sniffles, as Sesshoumaru's comforting calmed her, lulling her into sleep. A warmth spreading through him, warmth he only remembered in his oldest memories. Laying his face in her hair, inhaling the woman's comforting scent penetrating his mind, numbing his senses as sleep begin to enter his mind. He closed his eyes, a slight purring emitting from his chest as he fell into a deeper sleep.

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He awoke to the singing of morning birds, the afterglow of an already forgotten dream in his heart. Rin was still asleep in his arms, Jaken in the middle of the clearing where he had knocked him out. The wench had shifted so that she no longer griped his tail like a rope. Deciding that he should take advantage of this, he slowly placed Rin on the ground, knowing she would awaken soon. He slowly shifted the wench out of his tail, laying her on the ground as well, catching her scent for just a moment as he bent over. The scent seemed familiar in some way, making his heartbeat faster. A slight purr begins to emit from his chest as he instinctively bent over to smell her scent better, wanting more of the smell. Quite sadly for all of the Sesshoumaru's fan girls, Kagome took this as a sign that she should wake up. His eyes closed and his mind in a little heaven of it's own, Sesshoumaru failed to notice the awakening woman beneath him. I shall merely say that Kagome's eyes opened to a great big surprise.

Later that morning…

They were walking down a road out in the middle of no-where, supposedly towards Sesshoumaru's Castle. In the lead was a Dog Demon, a hand-shaped red mark still apparent on his face, a bit behind him was little girl running around a little green thing that moved somehow, and farther behind was a flustered Girl in odd clothes looking down at the ground. The Girl and The Demon seemed to be especially wary of each other. The Demon suddenly stopped causing the Girl to bounce into his back. The Demon began to slightly growl at her, still angry over the incident this morning. "Hey, don't growl at me! You're the one who was stalking me this morning!" Said the girl unto the demon. The little green thing took this as a chance to defend/suck up to his lord. "It matters not what his lordship was doing! One does not slap the Western Lord, most especially a human wench!" he yelled at her. The girl became especially made at the last bit, kicking the little green thing a good 20 feet away. The girl returned her attention back to the demon. "Why did you stop anyway?" The demon grunted. "There is a demon near, wench. Can you not sense it?" "My name is Kagome! Ka-go-me. It is not wench!" she yelled at him, still feeling flustered to find him over her while she was sleeping. "No, I can't sense it. Are you sure there is a-" Kagome was interrupted as Rin screamed. Both Kagome and Sesshoumaru spun around to see a demon had nabbed Rin. As Kagome pulled out her bow, Sesshoumaru immediately leapt at the demon with his blade, yet the demon moved faster than Sesshoumaru. It jumped up into a tree, leaving behind a note before disappearing. Sesshoumaru caught the note as it floated down, reading it before dropping it. Kagome caught up, picking the note up from the ground. "You are hereby invited to the execution to the child, unless you give me the Jewel shards. Naraku" Kagome read, the other side having a map of the area, with an X on a specific location. As she looked over the note, she heard a deep growl from Sesshoumaru. Looking up, she was surprised by what she saw. His hands were clenched to the point of drawing blood, his body tense, and his eyes starting to change to a red color. She was both scared of what he would do, and surprised that he would let his cool disappear over a child, a human child all the more. "Perhaps he isn't as cold as he seems…" she thought, walking up behind him.

He was quite officially pissed. "How DARE he use my human child as bait! He will PAY!" He felt his rage overwhelm him as his protective instincts begin to overwhelm his thoughts, his blood boiling, pushing him towards a blood rage. He felt a finger tap his shoulder, so he snapped his head around, to stare at whoever would DARE to interrupt him. The wench backed up a bit, her eyes showing a bit of fear. He was snapped out of his rage by what he saw in her hands however. She was holding the Tetsusaiga. "I'll give this to you, but only if you use it to save Rin." Said the girl, as she held the blade close to her. Holding back his rage at her, he was slightly impressed that she would actually face him when he was enraged. He nodded slightly, which she took as agreement. She slowly held the blade out for him to take. He wrapped his hand around the hilt, surprised when it didn't try to burn him, especially since he did not have a human hand. The girl, apparently noticing his surprise, said, "It will only protect humans, so don't expect to kill me with it." A slight smile on her face as he placed the blade in his sash, within easy unsheathing range. He suddenly picked her up in his arms, leaping into the air. She yelped as he picked her up, throwing her hands around his neck out of instinct. "He he hey, what are you doing?!" she said, taken totally off guard. Sesshoumaru snorted before saying, "We have little time, and waiting for your weak human legs to catch up will take to long." He knew that he would need her near Naraku because of her Miko powers. No doubt that Naraku would use some underhanded trick to try to destroy him, so he would need someone to protect Rin, and despite her being human, he had seen her powers before. "The wen… no, Kagome will definitely do her best to protect Rin, which will leave me free to concentrate on the creature," thought Sesshoumaru, deciding that Kagome was worthy of at least him thinking her name. As he flew in the direction the map had marked, he knew little of what would happen, something that would change the way he thought of several people, most of all, Kagome.

"Ku Ku Ku. Soon, the Shikon no Tama will be mine, as well as Kikyo." Thought Naraku, as he looked through Kanna's mirror. As he watched the demon and the human flying towards the child's location, he thought over his plan. "Ku Ku Ku. Little does Sesshoumaru know how powerful this puppet f mine is. It will be just as interesting to see how he reacts when Inuyasha arrives, after informing him of the kidnapping of his precious reincarnate and his blade with her. And a little surprise for both the reincarnate and the hanyou, when the hanyou is forced to chose. Yes, this will be the happiest day ever. The emotions of betrayal, pain, and angst will be a wonderful feeling. He laughed maniacally as the scene shifted to where his puppet had taken the child, with a certain priestess standing nearby, her bow ready to fire. Little did Naraku realize how his plans would only help bring about his downfall.