Yukimi observed as her mother put everyone under the spell, her eyes fixed on the demigod's expression. Something was not right, Hikari's behaviour was off and that unnerved Yukimi to the core. Last time she's seen her mother like this, half of her-

Tac-tac-tac-tac

… of her family-

Tac-tac-tac-tac

She glared to her left, where Kouga was rhythmically tapping his claws onto the table, his chin propped on his other hand. He did it again. And a fourth time. And a fifth.

"Will you stop it?" She asked briskly, not in the mood for fidgety impatience. Kouga didn't even look at her.

"They are taking too long!" He complained.

"They literally just went under it," Yukimi said with annoyance and Kouga sighed, equally annoyed. Patience was not his forte, especially when he was left in the dark like this. He had way too many questions for his taste: why was Kagome with Sesshomaru, what were they settling through memories, why did Kikyou send that letter to him?

His claws tapped again and Yukimi held a groan in her throat, wishing for her mother to get on with it before she caused a war against the east.

The room remained silent for a long moment, the only sound being Kouga and his annoying tapping.

"How long does it usually take?" He asked after leaving visible dents on the table, finally looking at the sorceress, who hummed as she inspected her claws.

"They'll be free any time now. Memory exchanges are a quick deal, our minds work faster than our-" Someone growled and they looked at Sesshomaru, who now had his stripes jagged and fangs elongating.

"What the… ?" Everyone shifted in their sit and Yukimi narrowed her eyes at her mother.

What have you done?

The smell of salt invaded the room and their eyes shifted to Kagome, who had brought her hands to her head as if she was in pain.

"They are not sharing memories anymore," Yukimi stated and stood, walking towards the Lady of the West. A sharp inhale came from Hikari and the sorceress frowned, looking from one female to the other. Whatever was happening, it wasn't good.

Out of the blue, the five of them blinked out of their trance, Sesshomaru immediately standing, an eerie calm emanating from him.

"Sess, wait!" Kagome tried reaching for his hand but he was already on his way to the door. The miko groaned, cradling her head between her hands once again.

She breathed deeply to calm down, standing up. She opened one eye and looked at Kouga, her features a nervous mess, "Kouga, we need to find Aihara and get her out of here as fast as we can."

"Aihara? But what-"

"Come on!" She said, bolting to the door and pulling him with her. They skidded to a halt on the balcony and searched for either red or silver. Nothing.

"I think I saw her on the way here, there was a carriage being guarded on the secondary road," Kouga said and Kagome's eyes snapped to the gates, and then to the road headed east, the one that avoided the village. She jumped down to the grounds and made a run for it.

She was out of the gates already when she squeaked in surprise; a huge snout poked the back of her knees, making her sit on it and throwing her up to land with a grunt on a brown wolf's back.

She wanted to protest but the speed in which the wolf began running made her fist the fur and duck to not to get thrown off. She tried feeling where Sesshomaru was through their mark and noticed he was blocking her.

She tsked in frustration and gambled a peek forward, but she couldn't see much over the wolf's head. How far could Sesshomaru travel in such little time?! Not much later after she thought that, Kouga skid to a halt. She wasted no time in jumping down from his back and sprinting forward.

Good thing she did too because she had barely enough time to take the sheathed Tenseiga from Sesshomaru's waist and block the blow he was aiming at the redhead, who was cowering against her carriage while all the servants watched from far away, terrified.

His red eyes widened and he removed his sword, snarling at her, "Mate, what are you doing?!"

"Stopping you from doing something really, really stupid." She let her aura engulf him, the red receding as he snarled at the forced calm being put upon him. He lowered Bakusaiga and took a step closer, towering over her.

"She threatened my daughter. Under my own roof."

"I know." Tenseiga pulsed inside its sheath. Kagome noticed but didn't take her eyes off of Sesshomaru.

"You were going to leave in the middle of a storm because of the lies she's spread," Sesshomaru continued, his words icy.

"I was."

"Then why are you protecting her?!"

"Because she's not worth it! Her death brings no benefit other than personal satisfaction and will bring many problems our way," She reached up, stroking his stripes, "You just got a lot of memories back, don't act on impulse over them."

Sesshomaru inhaled deeply to sigh, his nose wrinkling at that, making her remove her hand, "I've been meaning to ask since you arrived. Why do you reek of wolf?" He asked in a calm voice. Too calm.

Whoops.

"That's just-" Aihara scoffed behind her.

"Not a whole day mated and already proved to be unfaithful. Typical human garbage," she sneered down at Kagome, now standing. The miko turned to look at her, her stripes jagged as she narrowed her eyes at the demoness.

"You know what?" She took a step to the side, effectively removing herself from in between her mate and the wolf, "I was wrong," She stated and Sesshomaru smirked maliciously, already lifting Bakusaiga back up, "The personal satisfaction is worth it."

"Whoa, whoa!" Kouga jumped between them, shoving Aihara back inside the carriage, "Aihara has a has a bit of a mental impairment going on, you know, she doesn't know when to shut up." He snarled at his cousin, who just scoffed, pointing her snobby nose up, "Let's not get too ahead of ourselves and do something we'll regret, eh?" Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at Kouga as he sheathed his sword.

"She is, from today forward, banished from the West. If she ever shows her face here again…"

"We will kill her." Kagome finished for him, her voice so cold it made Sesshomaru proud. Aihara began protesting but Kouga was already ordering the servants to begin moving again, effectively overpowering her voice before she said anything that would end up with her head rolling.

The servants made quick work of making the carriage move again to take the Eastern princess away from the enraged couple.

"When did you become so hot-headed? Not that you weren't before… you're just more deadly now," Kouga said, and she just shrugged.

"Probably because of Sess' youki. He is quite hot-headed and naturally a bite before bark dog," She grinned at her mate, who mentally rolled his eyes at her, "Also, your cousin needs some discipline. Have someone check that behaviour of hers."

"Oh, it's on my to-do list… So, Kagome smells like me because I brought her here on my back so we'd stop another war from happening. Good thing I came, since my cousin is a complete idiot," He complimented, making another mental note to inform his uncle of her behaviour, "Anyway, now can I know what the fuck is going on?" He questioned after a moment.

Sesshomaru and Kagome glanced at each other, "That is a very long story," She said and Kouga huffed.

"Sum it up," he said simply and Kagome sighed, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms in an attempt to make her brain work faster.

She told him about what she was, how she found that out, what the north did and why she was currently with Sesshomaru. Kouga listened to everything with concealed anxiousness growing within him. A war was bad enough, but having a demigod in the Western palace because of the Lady of the West meant anything could happen.

When Kagome finished talking, she walked over to him, "Did you happen to bring the letter with you? The one Kikyou sent," Kouga snarled low and nodded, reaching inside his clothes.

"Here. She sent a strand of hair from her and from the mutt for me to know it's from them," He handed the rolled letter to Kagome and she reached for it. As soon as her fingertips touched the scroll, it burst into flames. Both Kagome and Koga hissed in pain, pulling their hands back quickly.

"What in the world…" Kouga mumbled as he looked at the ashes descending towards the ground.

"She did not want me anywhere near it, huh," Kagome said, looking as her burnt fingers as they began healing. She looked at Kouga again, "Ok, we'll head back to the palace since we left an unsupervised Hikari behind. Oh, and Kouga," He tilted his head at her, "I think we'll be getting in touch again… soon."

The wolf nodded, understanding that things weren't exactly peaceful between lands anymore. He bid them farewell and took off, leaving a cloud of dust behind him.

Not long after, Kagome felt two arms snaking around her waist, pulling her back as Sesshomaru buried his face on the crook of her neck. She sighed, relishing the comfort of his warmth against her. Until he began rubbing his face up and down her neck.

"Sess, what the hell are you doing?" She asked, weirded out as he repeated the motion on the other side.

"Scent marking you," He said simply and Kagome chuckled, turning her head to face his neck.

"As if I didn't obviously belong to you already," she mumbled, skimming her lips over his mating mark and he growled against her neck, making a shiver run down her spine.

"You were going to leave me…" He said after a moment and Kagome felt her eyes sting with tears.

"I was… I did," she turned in his arms, making him straighten himself, "But I couldn't go through it all again, I-" he crashed his lips against hers, swallowing her words.

"I know," he told her. Kagome sighed, relieved.

"You wanted me to stay..." She said and he brought his lips to her forehead before pulling her to his chest.

"Yes."

"Why?" She asked in a whisper. She knew why, she had seen it and felt it, but she wanted him to say it. Sesshomaru tightened his hold on her.

"For the same reason you were going to leave in the middle of a storm…" She blushed slightly, deciding that it was confirmation enough and feeling warm. A thought made a smile tug at her lips.

"I'm so glad you decided to tease me in that clearing," She said, chuckling. He smirked.

"I'm glad I did that, too," She moved to smile at him and after a moment, her smile upgraded to a mischievous grin. He tilted his head at her in question.

"I can't believe you gave me a bottle of your spit!" She snorted, trying to hold her laughter down, "Why would you walk around with a flask of your own-" He brought her face to his chest, muffling her giggles as he stroked her hair lovingly.

"Some things are better left unknown," He told her in a deadpan tone, and he could feel her laughter intensify against him. He couldn't really get mad at her, he loved hearing her laugh so much. After calming down she looked up, a smile still on her lips.

"No, but seriously, I'm curious. Why do you walk around with your 'homemade' healing salve in a flask?" He rolled his eyes behind his lids and stroked her cheek.

"You'd show up injured now and then to our sessions. I wasn't about to lick your wounds shut," He told her and her eyes darkened a shade.

"That's a shame, I wouldn't have minded having your tongue all over me," She whispered to him and he growled in turn, pressing his lips against hers. She laced her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

His tongue traced her bottom lip, coaxing her lips open and she gladly obliged. His taste filled her mouth and she let and appreciative groan out. Kagome felt that familiar heat pool in her lower abdomen and she pulled back to look at him, breathless, "Ok, let's stop this here before we eat each other out in the woods."

Sesshomaru straightened himself and looked at the forest, then to the palace. They had travelled quite far to catch up with the wolf. That was convenient.

"Hn… This Sesshomaru isn't against the idea," he smirked down at her, making her cheeks blush prettily. She was just too cute. He took her in his arms, flashing towards a secluded clearing in the forest.

"So basically, what you are asking me to do is pretend to be the Lord of the West for four months?" Isamu asked, incredulous.

"Five," Hikari corrected him.

Inukimi straight out laughed, her sleeve covering her mouth, "Out of all the nonsense that leaves your mouth, this one has to take the prize. Sesshomaru would never allow that. It matters not that he now knows of our past."

"Well, it's not like he has a choice. This isn't a situation he can melt his way out of." Hikari said, looking at the window, to the direction where she knew the lovebirds were. Her eyes shifted back to the female Inu when she spoke again.

"Well, I can try and reason with him." Hikari snorted.

"You? The demoness that tried to kill his mate before she had her breakfast?" The demoness scowled to her but the demigod dismissed her, "No, we don't have the time for this kind of conflicts."

At that Yukimi entered the room, tossing an iron key towards Hikari, who caught it, "Try not to destroy the place,"

"Don't worry, I'll have adult supervision," Yukimi lifted her brows in mild surprise.

"Oh, really?" She asked and Hikari grinned.

"Yep, you are coming with us," The sorceress scowled, but before she could say anything, Hikari strode towards the meeting room's door like someone with a purpose, "The two of them should be back in a while. Maybe sooner because I'm here. When they do, would you please inform me, Kimi?"

"Which one?" The demoness and sorceress said at the same time. Hikari stopped in her tracks, turning and raising a brow at them.

"I suppose either of you is fine, but the preference is for Yukimi since you," she pointed at the Inu, "need to practice for your temporary return to the throne as the new Lady of the West, beside her Lord."

The demoness blushed slightly, glancing at Isamu for a millisecond. Hikari's eyes were on the ceiling as she resumed her way towards her daughter's library.

She expected them to be all over each other, like Kagome and Sesshomaru, since she rekindled, what? A millennium or two of pent up lust? Yeah, that's about right. She shrugged to herself, they'd be having a good time by themselves soon enough.

That made her look at the key in her hand.

This on the other hand… is going to suck.

But as she took another step, she stopped, furrowing her brows. She looked back, to the courtyard's direction, and saw Yukimi walk over, glance at her with the same furrowed brows before she made her way to the courtyard. Hikari followed.

For the first time, she had no idea what to make of someone's presence.

Sesshomaru grunted, thrusting his hips up to meet his mate's as she reached her climax on top of him, screaming his name and carving her claws on his forearms. Her muscles contracted around his cock, milking him greedily and he let his control slip, joining her in bliss.

As they came down from their high, he sat up, bringing his mouth to hers. Sesshomaru couldn't get enough of her. He would never get enough of her.

He pulled out of the kiss to leave a trail nips and kisses up and down her neck and licked her mating mark, loving the feeling her moan brought to him.

"Sess…" She called, her voice hoarse.

"Hm…" It was almost a purr.

"We have to go back," He couldn't hold his displeased growl back.

"No we don't," Kagome laughed, gently pushing him away from her to look at him.

"Yeah, we do. Last time I checked we were on the verge of war and-" He kissed her, making her chuckle against his mouth before pulling away, "You can't shut me up with a kiss every time I-" He kissed her again and she giggled, "Sesshomaru!"

"They can survive without us for a couple of hours more," He told her, resuming his assault on her neck and sliding a hand up her waist to cup her breast, pinching the hardened peak between his fingers. Kagome hummed in pleasure, feeling heat course through her and making his cock twitch inside of her at the sound.

"I agree with you and would gladly stay… but I'd kill for some food right now," He stopped to look at her, a scowl on his face.

"When did you last eat?" Kagome blushed guiltily.

"At the feast?" A sheepish smile covered her face and Sesshomaru bristled.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?!" He hissed, furious with her lack of care for herself. She had coupled with him, tried killing his mother, stopped him from killing a wolf and coupled some more before even thinking about feeding herself. She blushed harder.

"I forgot, it's not like my mind was anywhere near my stomach!" She protested. So much had happened in one morning, how did he expect her to remember to eat when she was trying to kill his mother?!

"Kagome!" he growled in warning.

"I'm sorry! Geez, I'm not going to die from a day without food. Don't make me regret teaching you human biology!" Before Kagome knew it, she hit the soft grass with her back, a small whine escaping her throat at the loss of his presence inside her. Sesshomaru hovered over her, anger emanating from him.

"You will not behave as you did in Edo!" He growled at her and she sighed, reaching up to his cheek.

"Ok," she gave him a quick kiss, "I promise you I'll take better care of myself," She grinned when he huffed and stood, bringing her with him.

"Let's get my Lady something to eat then," It was his turn to grin at her growing blush. It would pop up every time he'd say something like this.

They made quick work of dressing themselves and Sesshomaru took her in his arms to fly back to the castle. As they got closer, Kagome noticed Sesshomaru's irritation spike up and it took her a second to understand why. Then Ryuji's scent hit her square in the face as they descended in front of the gates.

Kagome groaned low, she had completely forgotten about the monk challenging Sesshomaru.

Just one more headache for us to…

"- a person and their reincarnation are not the same people!" She heard him arguing and she couldn't hold it in. She smirked.

I don't even care what they are talking about, someone give that man a medal!

She thought as she walked past the gates behind Sesshomaru. Ryuji looked their way and blushed furiously, before turning to look at Hikari again.

"It's still pretty freaky to want to mate your mother's reincarnation." The demigod argued back.

That made the couple stop in their tracks. Kagome's eyes were as wide as saucers as she looked at Ryuji with a whole new perception and a whole new pack of questions on her mind to ask Hikari.

"Again, I didn't know!" Ryuji protested back. Yukimi's eyebrow twitched in irritation before she walked towards the Hanyou, turning him by his shoulders and pushing him towards the gate.

"Yes yes, it's all very confusing and extremely frustrating but we are going to skip the discussion about your questionable morality and get your ass out of here so we can actually get some progress done," She said as she pushed him past the Lord and Lady and came to a halt right outside of the gates.

"Still as charming as I remember, Yukimi," Ryuji commented, and the sorceress lifted an eyebrow to him.

"I aim to please," And then she ordered for the gates to be closed.

They all watched in stunned silence as Yukimi walked up to her mother with determination, "If you want my help in this mess things will be done under my terms and my conditions. No wasting time, no nonsense, no pranks and no bets." She seethed at the demigod, who lifted both her hands and eyebrows in a sign of peace, taking a step back.

"Whatever my lovely daughter demands," She said with an overly sweet voice before skipping to the gate and jumping over it to talk to the monk.

Yukimi bit back a scowl and went over to both rulers, who watched everything silently. With a respectful bow, she spoke, "Lord Sesshomaru, it seems that some things need to be set straight before we can take any other course of action. I'd like to request that you head back over to the meeting room so we can discuss things properly."

Sesshomaru grunted affirmatively and Kagome furrowed her brows, her mind racing with possibilities of what Yukimi meant and from where they knew Ryuji. They followed the sorceress up the stairs and when they reached the corridor, she caught sight of the demon she so kindly relieved of the weight of an arm. The guy seemed traumatized… more than she remembered anyway. He was looking frantically towards every direction as the guards dragged him towards the dungeons.

"What happened to the spy?" Kagome asked and Hikari walked past her already answering.

"I did. Come, we have a lot to discuss," She said as she led the way back to the meeting room.

"What about Ryuji?" Kagome asked and Hikari turned to her as someone who was trying to keep some laughter from escaping her.

"Before you bombard me with questions, I must tell you that will explain everything once we come to an agreement. As for Ryuji… he needs some time to assess what he describes as 'the most confused boner' he's ever had," Hikari explained and Kagome blushed deeply, regretting ever asking while Sesshomaru sneered internally at the statement. He offered his arm to his mate, who gladly took it to return to the meeting room.

"No," Was the simultaneous answer from Kagome and Sesshomaru to Hikari's 'request'. The demigod pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration as Kagome went back to nibbling on her fourth stuffed Onigiri. She had been starving.

"I don't remember giving you a choice in the matter," She said nonchalantly as Isamu and Takeshi glanced between the rulers and the demigod. If you gave them popcorn they'd be unconsciously munching on it. Inukimi just chuckled and Yukimi, leaning against the wall farthest from her mother, sighed silently. Kagome spoke once she finished swallowing.

"Hikari, we are not leaving for the next five months. Are you out of your mind?! Sesshomaru's a Lord, he can't simply disappear, especially when we're on the verge of war! What about Shippo and Rin?!" At that Hikari shrugged.

"We can take the kids with us. But I warn you that I'm not a good babysitter."

"Of that I don't doubt," Isamu mumbled, making Kagome nod in agreement and Hikari roll her eyes at them.

"Look, I got some information from that spy your soldiers dragged here and something fishy is going on with the north. The twins that rule it are getting cocky, just out of the blue decided to make some bold moves on other lands. Which leads me to believe something bigger is behind this and we need you ready for it, Kagome. Your power has grown and you need to understand it better, and that goes for you too," She pointed at Sesshomaru, who raised a brow at her.

Someone scoffed and everyone turned to Inukimi.

"Are you telling us something is manipulating the northern siblings, two full-fledged daiyoukai and this girl can stop it?" She pointed at Kagome, an incredulous sneer stamped on her face. Sesshomaru growled in warning and Hikari snarled at the female Inu, surprising everyone.

"Why are daiyoukai so offended by the notion of a human being important in any way? Yes! This 'girl' can stop it because she can single-handedly kill everyone in this room without sweating if she fucking wants to!" She exploded, her eyes tinting red as she glared at Inukimi, getting tired of demons and their fragile egos.

Said Inu paled considerably and everyone held their breaths. Yukimi was by her mother in an instant, pulling the demigod back. Her eyes widened considerably when she noticed she was shaking.

"Hikari, are you okay?" Kagome asked, what was said about her missing her fully as she furrowed her brows at the tone she never heard from her mentor before.

Sesshomaru didn't miss it though. Hikari said everyone in the room, not 'all of you'. She included herself. A demigod. He looked at his mate with his eyes slightly wide as he regarded her with renewed curiosity.

The demigod blinked back the tint in her eyes, patting Yukimi's hand on her shoulder to signal she was calmer.

"I'm fine. Just tired of useless questioning," she said, eyeing Inukimi icely. Yukimi sighed.

"Ok, we don't have time for this because Kagome can't really do that right now. She needs further guidance and we are squeezing years of training into five months," She looked at Sesshomaru and spoke again, "Milord, I highly advise for you to accompany your Lady. I assure you it will be worth your time and risk."

Sesshomaru didn't doubt that one bit.

"Plus, Isamu knows the ropes around here, I've refreshed his memory and everything! The West will survive," Hikari complemented, back to her usual self and everyone waited with bated breath for Sesshomaru's answer.

The Lord was, to say the least, overwhelmed by the quantity of information he had just received. But he had learnt to tone down his questioning of things when around Kagome, because there was just so much to uncover that to question everything brought him no benefit whatsoever. In fact, it slowed the answers from coming to him.

But five months away?

He looked at Kagome, who looked as stunned as everyone else. Their bind told him how anxious, distraught and nervous she was with all of this. Her bicoloured eyes met his and he felt just how much she saw him as her safe haven in all this mess. This was what she's been missing for so long, someone to be there with her.

"Very well," he agreed and Takeshi said his first word ever since he entered the meeting room.

"But milord! You can't simply leave in the middle of such events!"

"Oh, relax, general. He's not 'simply leaving', or weren't you paying attention to the whole conversation?" Hikari questioned and the Inu blushed, still hesitant on dropping the issue. Kagome took pity on the general's worries.

"Hikari, can't we at least come back once a week or two to see how things are faring?" She asked and Hikari looked at Yukimi, lifting her brow. The sorceress nodded.

"Sure, once every two weeks you can come and take a look to see if your reign stands, the reports from the village will be sent to us through Inukimi. Does that soothe everyone's needs?" When greeted with silence, Hikari clapped her hands once, "Good, shall we get to business then? You two are coming with me while Yukimi takes care of the rest of the preparations."

Sesshomaru and Kagome glanced at each other before leaving the room. She felt her Lord sending his aura out somewhere and glanced at him in curiosity, but he remained as impassive as ever. They reached the steps to Yukimi's library and descended.

There was a space in the centre of the room, books were piled against the uneven walls to create the space currently available. In the open spot, there were three cushions evenly spaced. Hikari plopped onto the farthest one and gestured for them to sit. Sesshomaru moved, but Kagome remained still for a moment, looking wearily at the cushion.

"Are we breaking the next seal?" She asked.

Hikari cleared her throat subtly, "Yeah, we need to get that out of the way."

The western Lord, still standing next to his cushion, tilted his head at his mate in curiosity. Wasn't this something she should look forward to? A step in the right direction? Why did he feel such weariness coming from her?

Kagome took a deep breath and sat down on her designated cushion, aka the one no one took. She positioned herself and looked at Sesshomaru, who had sat across from her. Hikari cleared her throat.

"Ok, so I'm going to give you a summary of what's going to happen: Kagome will begin the process of destroying the seal or releasing the fissure, whatever you wanna call it, and her reiki will react violently, trying to stop her," The Lord stared at the demigod, mildly concerned while Kagome just sighed, "You seem awfully unsurprised with that tidbit of information," Hikari observed, looking at her student and Kagome shrugged.

"I kind of guessed, since I've felt it twice now," She explained and Hikari opened her mouth to say something, but closed it. She looked at Sesshomaru.

"Killing Perfection, your role is basically to stop Kagome's power from kicking her out once she begins tearing the seal apart. The presence of your youki within her is what makes it possible for her to even begin doing this, and you'll have to actually fight her power to keep it from interfering." She concluded and Kagome hummed.

"I just have one question: why is my power so against me?" Both Sesshomaru and Hikari stared at her, "I mean, think about it... My aura, that even though helped me get closer to Sess again, was still making me miserable. The seals I broke all put weight after weight on my shoulders and my depression would get progressively worse," Kagome glared at Hikari in a silent warning before continuing, "And finally there's this last 'tidbit' that I just found out. So, I repeat my question: why does my power hate me?" Hikari ran her hand through her hair, a sigh escaping her.

"It's not your power on its own, it's your soul… kind of," Kagome scoffed.

"Oh, pardon my confusion," she said sarcastically.

"Kagome, you'll understand soon enough, have a little patience," Hikari said and the miko pouted, feeling frustrated and angry, among other things. "Can we get this over with?" She asked, clearly irritated.

The demigod made a gesture indicating she was just waiting for her, and Kagome immediately sat straighter to meditate. Blocking everything out, the miko almost gasped when her power showed itself to her.

It was huge. And bright. It was this pearlescent white mist with silver whisps around it. The miko felt herself reaching for it, but stopped when she felt a somewhat familiar pressure. She stopped blocking Sesshomaru from entering and watched as a silver mist with green whisps made its way to her, followed by Sesshomaru himself. Well, a representation of him, she supposed.

It was kind of weird seeing him on a dark void walking towards her, but her mind was quickly drawn away from it as his power went through her, making her skin tingle and erupting some quiet giggles from her.

Sesshomaru opened his arms for her and she didn't hesitate, running and slamming herself against him. This felt very, very intimate and she absorbed every good sensation that came with it. Kami knew she needed it.

They both felt their power mixing once again and Kagome turned to see the mists dancing with one another in a mesmerizing fashion. She tightened her hold on Sesshomaru, anxiety taking over her. He ran his clawed fingers through her hair, making her look at him again. What she saw in his eyes gave her a sense of security, she felt it in her core that he was telling her he was there for her. That he'd always be there for her. The miko sighed.

Ok, let's get this over with.

Kagome thought with determination and left the embrace of her mate to walk over to the fissures. She went with logic and reached for the smaller one. She looked back to Sesshomaru and he nodded, indicating he was ready.

As soon as Kagome 'touched' the fissure, her power reacted. She hissed in pain as she received a lot of pressure, but wasn't moved. She spied back and watched as her mist tried to reach her, but Sesshomaru's wasn't letting it. When Kagome heard him grunting from exertion, she began moving faster, hurrying the process to liberate the fissure.

A few torturous moments later, the seal broke and all the both of them could see was white.

-x-

AN: Hmm, you guys hear that? It's the plot engine FINALLY moving again.

I'll do something I thought I wouldn't do... Mostly because it's risky and raises some expectations. But fuck it.

I'll respond directly to a review. I would DM but you can't DM guests, so:

Bryne: Agree with you one hundred percent on the focus on the OCs. But Lord almighty, OUCH! Can you tell I'm not used to this shit yet?

But yeah, I have read all reviews, including the criticism, and I actually welcome those. You don't need to hide behind the guest mask though, I don't bite… too hard.

Anyway, I feel like I need to put this out there… because it's bothering me. It took way too long to write the last chapter for three reasons (or excuses, depending on what kind of image you have of me):

1) I was hating the relationship between the two of them, EVERYTHING I wrote sounded forced to me since their mating, so not wanting to stop posting chapters, I changed the focus.

Big mistake, l noticed, since it was getting hard to head back to the main plot, but that's where my reason number 2 lies.

2) this actually is my very first fanfic, and as much as it hurts to admit, I know very little of what I'm doing ._.

But hey, living and learning, am I right?

3) When I noticed what I was doing, I spent 3 months banging my head against a wall to find out how to make this fic writeable for me again. I didn't want to abandon it. So no, I'm not trying to make the plot more complicated, I'm just trying to find a way to like my own story again since I actually know how it ends basically… so, sorry I took so long? I mean, I have other things going on and stuff so the priority for this was kind of neglected. But I still want to finish it and it still bothered me daily, and I gave it a lot of thought, trying to write something to see if it worked. (ended up with like, 10 new ideas for fics I'm never going to write lol).

A huge thanks to Kijzar, since I was reading Heated Betrayal and the memory bit gave me a push to the solution I got. Loving it, btw, keep up the awesome work!

For those who hate Hikari: I'm sorry (not really) to inform you but she is not going anywhere anytime soon, since I made her part of the main plot and I've committed. But the good news is, I intend to keep the focus on Sess and Kagome again since now I can write without fucking cringing at everything they do and I realized the obvious fact that I can leave you guys in the dark with the stuff the other characters are doing.

...

-plots murder-

Anyway, I'm responding to this review in particular because it brought up something I was trying to fix already, only didn't know how because I'm just a potato with an overactive imagination :D

And finally, I'd like to thank EVERYONE that reviews and reads my silly story. It actually drives me forward and helps me grow as a storyteller… and as a person too 'cause the sting is real and you gotta learn to deal with it in a productive way.

Thank you all so much for reading my fic!

Els