I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted on this. Over three years. Honestly, it feels like just a few months. I'm so sorry I've been away for such a ridiculously long time. I could give a long list of reasons why it's been so long, but I'll spare you. Just enjoy this chapter, and know that I'm back to writing a little more regularly now.

Thank you to everyone who has liked, followed and reviewed this chapter in the time I've been away. I really appreciate you reading my story.

Now, onwards!

Kagome Kagome

Scroll 28

Cold dread shot through me, like ice down my spine.

No.

I rushed forwards, eyes on the man sat at the edge of the cliff, stumbling as I passed Rin and Jaken, who were sat together whispering to each other. Hardly aware of my own stumble, I hurried forwards still, Sesshomaru in my sights, even as my vision began to blur with building tears.

He was... I'd never seen him so injured.

"Sesshomaru!"

His head turned, vivid eyes catching mine over his shoulder, then widened some.

I dropped to my knees beside him, reaching out with a shaky hand to wipe a smear of blood from his cheek. "What- What happened?" My voice was as shaky as my hands. "What happened to you?"

In all his time leaving us behind, I'd guessed that whatever he had been doing could have been dangerous. I'd seen some of that danger myself in the months we'd been travelling together, and yet, I'd guessed - quite correctly from the looks of the man in front of me - that what I had seen was only a fraction of the danger that he really saw. Still, I'd always foolishly seen Sesshomaru as nearly invincible. I'd witnessed his skill, seen him against enemies. I knew he was as mortal as anyone else, but being protected by him so well as I had been over the months, it was easy to forget that. It was easy to see him as a truly powerful being.

He blinked, slowly, and turned his attention out to sea.

"Sesshomaru!" My hand curled into a fist against his shoulder, where it had dropped after I'd wiped away his blood.

"Moryomaru."

Who? I'd never heard the name before. It widened the rift between what really happened in Sesshomaru's life, and what he allowed Rin and I to witness. He'd protected us too much, hidden us away from very real dangers, and worst of all he'd faced them without our support. He'd been hurt.

I hadn't even been there for his return.

My shoulders shook and more tears soaked my cheeks.

I hadn't even been there.

Weighed down by my fear and grief, my head dropped forwards, forehead resting on his shoulder. There was a long moment where we both sat like that, silent beside my sobs. Then he raised his hand, resting it tenderly on the crown of my head.

"Mio?"

I didn't immediately recognise the voice that called out my name. It wasn't Sesshomaru's deep rumble, or Jaken's squawk, or Rin's sweet chirp. Oh. Oh. Tahei. I felt a little guilty, forgetting about him. I'd been so focussed on Sesshomaru the moment I'd seen him injured that the world had just melted away.

I hesitated for a moment, debating with myself, before eventually pulling away from Sesshomaru. I wiped my wet cheeks with the sleeve of my kosode and shuffled around so I could look back over my shoulder. Tahei was stood at the edge of the tree-line, looking on in fear, confusion and hurt. The guilt rankled at me some more. What must he feel, after kissing me then watching me run to another man? Not a man I was dating, but Tahei couldn't know that. We hadn't talked about my situation at all in the short time we'd been reunited, beyond me demanding to return to Rin.

"Tahei, I-" Words fell short.

What could I say?

Nothing I could possibly say would be good enough, I realised, when his body tensed in anger, and he turned swiftly back into the treeline.

Oh, Tahei. I'm sorry.

I rose to my feet and chewed on my scarred lip.

Should I go after him? Try to make things right?

Could I make things right?

Tahei clearly wanted something more than I could give him. Maybe, in another place, another time, I could have given him what he wanted. I'd been so close before the wolves. But so much had happened since then. I was a different person. I'd been through a lifetime of new experiences since we'd last met. I'd found-

I turned my eyes to Sesshomaru, and hesitated before taking off after Tahei.

I couldn't give him what he wanted, but I couldn't let it end on such terrible terms. I couldn't let him run away, hurt like he was, no matter what I could or couldn't give him.

"Tahei! Tahei, wait."

He was merciful.

I caught up to him in just a few hobbled steps when he slowed to a stop. He didn't turn to face me, even when I grasped his shoulder. "Tahei-"

"I thought-" He cut himself off, hands clenching at his sides. "You and I- We should have- There was just-"

I waited, letting him cycle through all the sentenced that hadn't quite formed in his head. Interrupting him would just make him angry, and push him away further. We needed to talk about this. I couldn't let this go unfettered.

Tahei span around, tearing himself away from me. All the hurt and anger I'd expected was twisting his face. "He's a demon. You're in love with a demon?"

In love with.

I thought he'd be upset about me travelling with a demon. Four of them, in fact. He, and the rest of the little band, had proved to be incredibly superstitious, and more than a little racist against all demons in my time with them. Demons were dangerous. I'd witnessed that first-hand. The wolves, Naraku, Takemaru, even Sesshomaru. They were all dangerous. Travelling like this had been a real detriment to my health.

But that wasn't why he was upset.

He thought I was in love with Sesshomaru. In the seconds he had spent at our camp, he'd come to that conclusion.

Of course. He had kissed me, and I had run off crying to another man. A demon man. I knew why he was upset. He was hurt, confused, and maybe even a little bit worried for me. Demons had a bad reputation as it was. Demons as lovers to humans? Well, demons were usually as racist as humans were, in my meagre experience, and they had even more strength to fight their racist views.

"Tahei-"

"Stop!" I did, eyes downcast. "A demon, Mio? How could you-?"

No. That was enough. Letting him vent was one thing, but I was done being quiet. "Because he is an amazing man." Our eyes met again, and I held his gaze even as he recoiled. "In the past few months, he's done so much for me. He's protected me, helped me raise Rin, shown me friends, and been a support." However standoffish and awkward he was in those times, he'd still been that support for me.

Sesshomaru had kept me on my feet.

"He's a demon!"

"And you're a human!" I yelled back. "In my life, humans have been the ones to torture me the most. I've been raped, abused, had my sons killed. All by humans. Sesshomaru - demons - haven't done half to me that humans have."

I'd once silently accused Rin of having this mindset, thinking humans were evil, and demons weren't, because of all she'd suffered at the hands of humans. I'd tried to dispel that in her. Humans weren't evil. Not all of them, at least. Look at me now. Here I was, though, wholeheartedly agreeing with her. I couldn't just listen to Tahei's fear get hold of him. I couldn't let him sweep under the rug everything humans had done to me, just because he was scared of demons and not of humans.

"If you think you could have a life with a demon, over me-"

It was my turn to stop him now. "Don't. Don't do this." I forced my voice quiet. Screaming back and forth wouldn't help either of us. "Tahei, listen to me. Don't do this."

He wasn't taking my suggestion to heart. "What can he give you? A demon cock and a short lifespan? You'll never have what you can with me, with him!"

"I'm not even fucking with him, Tahei!" Quiet and calm wasn't winning this argument, but that admission hurt me bad. My eyes welled up with more tears. "I travel with them, with him. I look after my daughter and the dragons, and the imp." I travelled with them and looked after them when I needed to. That was it. That was all.

"So why are we even having this argument? Come back with me. Bring the girl, and can have a good life together." He was desperate.

It hurt me knowing that there was no way I could stop this from hurting him. "Oh, Tahei. I can't." Rin would never leave Sesshomaru. Not now. He was too much her father now. She was staying here, and I was staying with her. "I'm sorry, Tahei. I belong with them. We can't... have what you want us to have."

His face twisted with all that hurt again.

I didn't stop him as he turned away this time.

I'm sorry, Tahei.

I stayed there, between the trees, trying to make sense of what had just happened, what was going through my mind, what I'd said. I stood between those trees until well after dark, before I could really drag myself together and return to camp.

When I did stumble through the trees again, everyone was where they'd been when I'd left. Sesshomaru was sat on the rocky clifftop, and the others were huddled around the fire to my left. I made a beeline to the pile of A-Un's tack on the ground. I couldn't attest to the others, but I hadn't eaten yet. I needed something in me. I'm sure we had plenty of nuts stored away in A-Un's bags. I'd prefer to be cooking now. I'd spent years throwing myself into cooking when I was emotional. Saburo had always eaten best when something had happened between us.

"Lady Mio, you came back!" Rin jumped up to follow me to A-Un's tack, kneeling beside me as I rifled through it. "Jaken said you would go with him and leave me alone!"

Jaken did, did he? I turned my gaze to the imp, who sprang up in indignation. "I said no such thing, Rin. Why would you lie so?"

A deep sigh escaped me. "I thought about it." I had thought about it, no matter how small the thought was. Tahei and the band were familiar. Not so much as this band of misfits, lately, but they'd been the first people I had known here in this era. The four of them had helped me through the most difficult part of coming here, had treated me like family. I couldn't forget that.

So yes, upon seeing Gen and Tahei, I had wanted to join them again. I'd spent weeks, not all that long ago, thinking about them in every moment, wanting to get back to them. I'd dismissed it quickly, knowing I couldn't leave Rin, Jaken or Sesshomaru now. Then, when Tahei walked away, and I'd stood alone in the woods, I'd thought about running after him. Again, Rin had won out. She always won out.

Both Rin and Jaken recoiled, though, not expecting me to give that answer. I hadn't expected myself to tell them the truth, either, but I was raw right now. I didn't know what to do with myself.

"Ah." I pulled the cloth that we kept the nuts in out of the satchel and untied the knot. It wasn't as full as I'd hoped it would be, but it'd have to do. I'd just have a few. Enough to tide me over. Rin and I would go foraging tomorrow morning before we set out again. We could at least try and find something substantial.

I picked through the debris, bits of nuts and slivers of skin, tossing them onto the floor. I needed to give myself something to do. I didn't want to think any more tonight. I wanted sleep and pick through what happened better in the morning.

I need to not think.

Don't think.

My breathing was coming quicker. My heart pounded in my ear.

I couldn't slow them down.

Everything was too loud. The cracking on the fire, Rin and Jaken whispering back and forth between themselves. A-Un's scales grating against each other as they moved.

My eyes squeezed shut.

Calm. Calm down.

Sesshomaru moved. His broken armour made more noise than it usually did.

The fire was crackling in my head.

I couldn't. Why couldn't I breathe?

"Lady Mio?!" Rins worried voice pierced through my skull. Too loud. It was too loud.

I needed to breathe.

I-

It was a panic attack. I had suffered them before. I needed to- I needed to-

Breathe.

I needed to breathe. I could breathe. This was-

I swallowed thickly, then tried to steady my breathing. In. Pause. Out.

In- I couldn't breathe!

No. No. I could breathe. I just needed to calm down. In. Pause. Out. In. Pause. Out.

In.

Pause.

Out.

I was shaking, I realised, when my breathing was back under control. Hunched over, holding myself up with my hands. The nuts I had been holding were scattered beneath me, and the ground was wet. I was crying.

I was always crying.

Boots skirted the edge of my blurry vision. Broken armour rattled.

"Mio." I looked up, up into his golden eyes. "Go to your human man."

What?

"No!" I shot to my feet, standing toe-to-toe with the injured demon. "No. Why would you say that? I'm not going anywhere!"

Fear was the dominant emotion. He wanted me to leave? I didn't want to. Of course I didn't want to. My life was here. Rin, Jaken, Sesshomaru. I couldn't live without them. But... if he wanted me gone, could I stay? This was Lord Sesshomaru's pack. He had final say over what happened, who travelled with him, and who had to leave.

But I didn't want to leave.

I couldn't be without A-Un keeping me company. I couldn't be without Rin's bright smiles and childish sass. I couldn't be without Jaken's squawks or his intelligent conversation.

I couldn't be without Sesshomaru's warmth.

"This is the second time you've wandered away to be around humans. You'd rather be with them, so go." His voice was as cold as his eyes.

"That's not true!" I didn't... want to be around humans.

Did I... just think that?

I didn't want to be around humans? I didn't... hate them. I'd spent my life around humans. Until recently I hadn't known any different. And, I supposed, a small amount of me missed human interaction. I did miss being around so many people. I was a teacher. I spent my life around people. I did miss that.

Not enough to give up this, though.

Never enough to give up this.

"Leave."

"No!" He couldn't make me leave without a fight.

His lips curled into a snarl. "Why?"

Why? "Because I love you, you idiot!" Couldn't he see that? All these months of back and forth, all the feelings that were shared between us? We'd been tiptoeing around each other since the war for So'unga. There were clearly feelings there. Strong feelings. He couldn't tell me he didn't see that. We'd both been hurt by them, my our own stubbornness and fear for the emotions there.

But I couldn't pussyfoot around them any more. I couldn't. It was making us all miserable, and in the face of leaving, I just couldn't let this go unsaid.

His eyes widened, the cold melting away, and emotions churning beneath the surface.

His lips were warm. Hot.

My eyes fluttered shut, and I leaned into the kiss, into the clawed hand that cupped my cheek.

This felt- right. Good.

Perfect.

I clung to his tattered furisode, fingers twisting in the torn white silky cloth.

Our lips moved together clumsily. It had been a long time since I'd really kissed someone, and, from the feeling of it, longer still for Sesshomaru. Still, it was perfect. Clumsy and little a little bit awkward, but warm and brimming with emotion, and everything a kiss should be.

Jaken squawked behind me, dragging Rin away as Sesshomaru moved, herding me backwards towards the trees.

My back hit rough bark, and I gasped, breaking away from the kiss. My breath came in soft pants, warming the air between us, as our eyes found each other. Silence stretched for a long moment.

"I'm not leaving." He could move Heaven and Earth, and still wouldn't be able to turn me away now.

His answer was another, deeper kiss.

Review Corner

Masqkurade - Better late than never, I suppose. I'm so sorry it's been so long. I'm glad this story was one of your favourites. I hope it can start to live up to that again.

So much has happened in this chapter, yet so little, really.

There was a nod towards The Little Mermaid in this chapter. Could you spot it?

And a lot was revealed about Mio's past. I've hinted at it before in previous chapters. Did anyone pick up on it before it was revealed?

Two arguments in a row, though. Poor Mio can't catch a break. Though she finally got what we've set out for twenty-eight chapters ago. Mio's finally got Sesshomaru. Now, can she keep him? Or stay alive long enough to enjoy him?

Let's find out together.