Hey guys! Sorry for the delay on the update, I moved out from my country, so I really didn't had time to write. I'll not drop this story, as I really want to write it.

Hope you all like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

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Chapter 2

The beginning was hard, or should he say the first century? He didn't even remember that clearly now, it's been too long for it. Still, the same voice called for him in every single time he walked near the well, on his way home.

Home.

What a once foreign word, now something trivial. Everyday there was a battle, death and war. It has been their life for centuries, but the youkais remembered more than most humans. After all, their lifespan was too short… and that was also a problem, just because now there were many hanyous and less dai-youkais. Almost every youkai felt in love with a human, but not him.

He'd never.

Never forget her. The well was making sure of it, calling his name time after time, day after day, saying the same things for centuries. Sometimes he even stopped to look inside of it, just to be sure that he hasn't gone crazy, but although he still heard the voice, there was no light; only wind and the scent of death. As the small village grew up, there was no place to bury the bodies of the ones that died inside of their protected place, so the humans started to do what once was made with youkai bones: throw it inside the well. And surprising enough the bodies would vanish after a few days. Only that for his sensitive nose, the death scent was always present and strong.

Sesshoumaru.

Closing his eyes he got a few steps away from the well, this time he didn't even notice he got closer to it once more. He started to head back to his home, he did need to sleep whenever he got the chance after all but stopped when a voice reached his ears.

"Phew, I really don't know how the others climb these stairs so fast." It was the girl that seemed to pursue him since she was born fifteen years ago. They were similar but yet not the same. "I have to ask, Sesshoumaru-sama, what makes the well so attractive to you? You're always close to it." She smiled, but as always, no answer came. Instead a roll of yellow eyes made itself present. She sighed.

For as long as she can remember this lord amazes her. In the few occasions her eyes found him, there was this bond on her heart that made her sure he was the one she'd ever love, but it seemed that to him her presence wasn't the same. Although he never really imposed his personal space to her, so to make a point to let him alone, the youkai didn't make her too comfortable either. She took a deep breath, as if to encourage herself.

"Did you get hurt on the battlefield today?" Her tone was preoccupied, and he could sense her sincerity. But this didn't mean he'd, or could, answer her.

Instead he turned around and started to walk towards his house once more, only to make an abrupt stop when a very familiar voice came to his ears, stronger than every day and with a name he didn't really hear for ages.

Kagome.

With slightly widened eyes he turned to the well, only to see the girl that was talking to him not too long ago walking near the wooden edge of it.

Kagome.

At every step the girl made forward, stronger the voice got. The scene that came to his mind was one of centuries ago, when he wasn't able to save the one that the deepness of the well was calling. In an instinct he moved towards the girl, that was stopped so abruptly and with such force being made on her wrist, that she screamed.

"It hurts!" Looking up with tears on her eyes she kept yelling at the youkai with changing eyes. It was as if he lost himself in a slip of seconds. "Sesshoumaru-sama, you're hurting me, please!" She wasn't scared, not of him; but of this person she seemed to have never seen before.

Her yelling brought him back to his senses, and immediately released her wrist; not to mention that another youkai went to them as soon as he could. The fox youkai descended from the sky, landing right at their side. Worried eyes went from her, to the lord – that was looking him straight in the eyes since the moment he touched the ground.

"Are you alright, Kagome?" Green eyes looked over her figure, and she nodded.

"I'm fine, thank you Shippou." Kagome smiled kindly. Sesshoumaru's eyes stayed on her smile.

They were similar, but not the same.

Holding back a sigh, the daiyokai decided to once and for all go home. This night was getting extremely exhaustive, and no one could predict when a new attack would come. Although Sesshoumaru could sense every single attack before they happened, he still wasn't fast enough to get to the borders of the barrier around their place to prevent it to handle a hit at on it. And that was another strange thing that happened since the miko vanished that day.

And speaking of her, was she even alive? Sesshoumaru kept wondering about that since the girl with the same name was born fifteen years ago; he could only find two options and none of them were good, and he sure didn't want her to be any of them. Why? He could always see, clearly as a day, how that day changed him. How her vanishing self did a strike on him, not only because she was gone and no miko that followed was as annoying (and strong) as her, but because all he could think was…

Was she even real? He could remember all her features, her voice, her touch (on the rarest occasions such a thing happened against his will) and her yelling his name while she vanished into the pink glowing well. It was absurd, how could he, after so many centuries develop any feelings for someone that, for the whole world, didn't even exist?

But she did, for him, and that was all that matters in the end. Even if he was crazy, he didn't care. In the past that would be an absurd thought, but now the inu dai-youkai couldn't care less about what others thought of him. He had left his pride aside centuries ago, as he noticed this present hell wouldn't change soon; at least he was sure that she was the key in defeating the hanyou, so he was waiting.

And waiting.

"Have a nice sleep, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Kagome yelled at him from near the well. He didn't stop or even answered her, all he wanted was his home. But life isn't about what we want, is it? Not in the present time he was living in.

The buzzing sensation came to him in waves, subtle at first, rashly right after, and then his right side warmed up. There was an attack coming, at the west side of the barrier. He sighed as he changed to his inu form, making Shippou notice immediately that something was going to happen; as did Kagome, but the girl didn't even had time to wish them good luck as both vanished from her side in a second.

And in the following one a massive strike was made at the west.

It seemed worse than it really was, the sound of the blow full of miasma as it hit the barrier with an enormous amount of force made the ground around it shaken strongly and dust raise all way up. People run away from the border as fast as they should, and they couldn't stop themselves of cheering Sesshoumaru as he passed by them. He really didn't care about them, the dai youkai was only protecting the place due his duty; to fulfill unspoken promises he made a long time ago… to the well (absurd!) And to her.

She'd come back, he knew it, so he had to protect the place so the miko could have somewhere to belong to... Sesshoumaru dodged an attack at the right time, as soon as he got outside the barrier, making him focus on the battle and not on his thoughts of a particular human. The miasma was strong even for him to handle, but after centuries in fight around it he got some resistance. But this time something was different.

The attacker wasn't some corrupted youkai, like his mother once was. He could feel the pressure of the power given by the jewel, the smell of pure evil and the errand movement around him. As if to answer his question, an evil laugh started to grow and only stopped so the owner of it could speak.

"Long time no see, Sesshoumaru!"

Gritting his teeth, the inu youkai looked around, his ears trying to pinpoint the exactly location of the voice, but it was impossible as there were too many natural alarms of danger.

"Oh yeah, you can't talk! I always forget about that. My bad!"

And then he saw the owner of the voice, right in front of his own eyes. He was casualty walking to Sesshoumaru, his black hair loose, his kimono partly open and a grin glued on his face.

Naraku always made the lord of the west despite him. The hanyou always talked big, as if he was perfect – or rather complete – since the beginning. Sesshoumaru, for once, wasn't getting a hold at his opponent's intentions this time; aside from the first's attacks at the wall, he did nothing more.

"You can change to your other form if you wish. I've just come to talk." Naraku told him while sitting in a nearby rock. "I've made the miasma stronger near the barrier, so your friend doesn't ruin our little chat. I know that he would not understand it anyway!" He looked amused and noticing that he didn't had a way out of it, Sesshoumaru turned back to his human form.

He glared at Naraku.

"What? I'm bored of these fights. I miss the old excitement of the hunting days! Your brother was such a nuisance!" Sesshoumaru frowned and narrowed his eyes at this comment; he knew what was coming next. "And that miko! Not Kikyo, but the one called Kagome!"

And here they were again. As much as Sesshoumaru hated to be the only one to remember her inside their protected place, outside of it was a different matter. If it was due to the jewel's power he wouldn't know, but Naraku remembered her as well.

And even used that against Sesshoumaru when he had the chance.

"Don't give me that look." Naraku told him as soon as he saw the death glare the inu dai youkai was giving him. "I came here today exactly because of her. I now you've noticed it too."

'The well.' Was what Sesshoumaru thought; could it be that the hanyou sensed it too?

"I've felt her presence today, didn't you? For all those years I've been thinking, wondering, what happened to her and why only you and I remember about her. Didn't you too?" Naraku summoned a bottle of sake and started to drink of it.

Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes. If this was what he wanted to talk about, he'd rather go back inside to get some sleep; so, he turned his back to Naraku and started to walk away.

"How rude." The youkai sitting on the rock said serious. "I was going to show you something but since you're leaving…" He took another sip of his sake and smiled as he saw Sesshoumaru stop his walk.

The dai youkai sighed. He wasn't curious, but he knew that if he didn't stay something worse could happen; so, he turned around, but what he saw made his fury rise and his eyes turn red.

'Again with this shit!' Was all he could think at the time.

"I did a remarkable job again, didn't I?" at his side there was a woman, a youkai, with a resemblance – truth be told it was almost a copy – of Kagome; starting with the black hair, clothes and even the scent. "Although I'm sure that the first one was the best, because, you know, it was how I first injured you." His smirk widened, while Sesshoumaru tried to suppress his angry.

With a motion of his arm the youkai woman went to Sesshoumaru who had his mouth distorted almost turning into his true form out of rage. He wanted to kill both, but he couldn't. One due to his strength, the other because of her looks.

Since when did he get so weak for a woman? And this one he knew wasn't her!

As if he was paralyzed, he let the youkai get closer to him, her hands went all up to his face. He glared at her, and she just smiled; it was so much alike hers than the new human inside the barrier, and his heart trembled at that; her arms now went to his torso, hugging him. He closed his eyes in a fool attempt to control – or to prepare – himself for what was surely going to happen; but it was foolish. The girl looked up and smiled so sweetly at him that it almost fooled him; but the youkai always knew what would happen. The false Kagome got a little bit away from the hug, put her hands on his chest – his armors were gone a long time ago, as they couldn't repair it inside the barrier – and smiled again.

"I hope it hurts." And then her hands pierced through his chest, blood spattered around them, laugh came from both Naraku and the woman in front of him; and he could hear the people of the barrier yelling his name.

Turning his head a little so he could see the place behind him, he noticed that the miasma that Naraku put there wasn't so strong anymore, and all he could do was curse the hanyou. With a bit of a struggle he turned into his inu form after tossing the woman aside; if the people saw her, he couldn't know, and he really didn't care as she was going to die anyway. It has always been like this: Naraku would make a copy of her, Sesshoumaru knew it wasn't her but couldn't move a muscle… only until she hurts him, and the unspoken spell was broken and then he'd kill her. And that was exactly what he did; turned her to pieces with his mouth.

As soon as he finished, he turned back into his human form and spattered the blood out of his mouth; her taste was awful. Naraku only laughed more and more, even clapped while at it.

"Priceless, as always! Did she not taste well?" He was indeed having his fun, while Sesshoumaru dashed to him.

He knew it was futile, he knew that even if his swords could cut the hanyou in thousands of pieces the bastard would just regrow again and again; but Sesshoumaru always hated to kill the copies, they were a reminder of her, of his failure to protect her from a simple well, and even though they weren't her, it still seemed that he was, in fact, killing her. Naraku smiled as he saw the hurt inside his enemy's eyes, the urge to land a hit; and laughed when it wasn't the sword that he pulled off, but his venom whip. Both knew it didn't work, at least not as it used to be, but they still fought all along.

This time, Naraku wasn't just in the mood to keep up the fight, as he was just there to make a point to the dai youkai; that he was going to destroy everything, once and for all. So, as soon as Sesshoumaru got closer to him, Naraku used his spider webs to throw him back inside the barrier. The blow was so strong that Sesshoumaru rolled over a few times, blood coming out of his mouth as his injuries got worse and deeper, his vision a blur, his hearing only catching the glimpse of worried voices followed by despair.

"Sorry mate, I just wasn't in the mood for that today." It was Naraku's voice, but it was too close for Sesshoumaru's comfort.

Looking up after his sights got better, he couldn't hide his surprise; after all, Naraku was inside the barrier. But his body started to evaporate right after.

"Well, it's so… pure in here. It explains why no youkai of mine could come inside. I wonder why only my people are affected… it just has to be because of…"

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" His speech was cut in half as a woman called in the middle of the crowd that was as speechless as Sesshoumaru.

Youkai that now was looking at the woman with red eyes.

'Idiot!' Was all that came into his mind while the girl rushed to his side.

"Now, now, Sesshoumaru. You've never told me about this. If you have her…" He pointed at Kagome, that now was crouched by the inu youkai' side, and then to what remained of the youkai woman outside. "Why did you fall for that?" Naraku smiled widely, it was as if he just got a gift he wanted for a long time.

Sesshoumaru got up as fast he managed to, and walked ahead, but Kagome held him back.

"No! If you go now, you'll die!" She was desperate, never in her short life she saw her protector in such a state; but Sesshoumaru just shoved her aside with rage, causing her to fall on the ground.

No one dared to move a muscle. Naraku laughed.

"I see. They're indeed similar, but not quite the same. Oh, I can't wait for this drama!" He looked at his own hands as the pain intensified, there was barely any skin left. "It seems I have to go. Don't worry, old friend, I'll let you heal and… deal with your affairs." A sadistic smile meets Sesshoumaru's red eyes, and in a smoke their enemy was off.

And no one dared to say a word.

-x-

That's it! Hope you guys liked it! Please let a review, and see you next time!