A/N: This is one of my first fan fictions, so please give good critics! Also, I am going to try and keep the characters as you know and love them but sometimes there will be OOC moments. Otherwise, the story just wouldn't work! So enjoy!

He is my mate and yet I don't know him. They are our children and yet I don't know them. This is my life and yet I don't know it. Who am I?

Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I do not own Inuyasha and company!

Chapter 1: The Dream

My entire body went rigid as a cold feeling of dread shot down my spine. A youkai was attempting to break through the barrier I had set up around the castle. Two deep, rumbling growls reverberated from both my mate and his half-brother. Sesshomaru disappeared in the blink of an eye, most likely off to find Rin.

"Inuyasha, something is trying to get through my barrier," I said softly, cradling Tomo against my chest.

"It's those damn dragons," my mate snarled. "Fucking bastards are trying to take the castle," I could see his eyes darting toward the doorway that his brother had vanished through every few seconds and I knew that his instinct to remain and protect us was warring with the one to go and annihilate the threat.

"They will do no such thing," Sesshomaru said coldly, returning with Rin in his arms. The child was sleeping soundly and he wordlessly placed her beside Chitose. The two unconsciously shifted closer to one another for extra warmth. "Come, brother. Your mate is more than capable of defending herself and your pups,"

"I'm going to take down the barrier around the castle and set up a stronger one around this room," I told him, knowing that that would be more effective in getting him to go.

"You'd better not die on me, wench," he growled, planting a heated kiss on my lips before following his brother out.

For a moment, panic overtook me because of the three precious lives now in my hands but I quickly regained control of myself. I gently placed Tomo in his cradle, careful not to wake him. Once my hands were free, I set about shrinking the barrier from around the castle to the size of the nursery. I could feel my spiritual powers swirling around me as I poured it into the shrunken barrier.

Underneath my feet, the castle shook from the force of the dragons' attacks and Sesshomaru and Inuyasha defending our home. I fought the growing feeling of dread that we wouldn't be able to withstand this attack and focused all my energy into protecting my children and Rin.

My control nearly shattered, however, when Chitose suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, lurching into a sitting position, her eyes locked onto the shut door. I barely had any time to gather myself before a youkai began attacking in that location. Chitose continued to scream, waking both Rin and her brother. Tomo began wailing while Rin and my daughter clung tightly to one another. It was in that moment that I desperately wished I had a bow and arrows within reach.

"Chitose, Rin, quiet yourselves," I ordered harshly, wrapping what little spiritual power I could spare around the three children in an attempt to comfort them. The girls stilled and with them no longer making any noise, I was able to lull Tomo back to sleep. Unfortunately, the youkai outside the room had already heard the telltale sounds of children.

"Mama, what's going on?" Chitose whimpered.

"The dragons are trying to take the castle," I said coldly, looking at her.

"But Lord Sesshomaru will stop them," Rin said confidently.

"And Papa!" Chitose added, a smile faintly gracing her lips. It disappeared quickly as she looked at me longer. "Why are you using your powers, Mama?"

"In case any youkai make it past the guards, I am here,"

"Lord Sesshomaru would never allow anything past him," Rin said indignantly.

"Still, this makes both Sesshomaru and Inuyasha more confident knowing that you are safe," I explained, eyes now trained on the door again. I could feel a dangerously strong amount of power building on the other side of my barrier and it was raising the hairs on the back of my neck.

"Chitose, I want you to get your brother and be prepared to run should I tell you to," I whispered, not liking the feeling one bit. I could feel my daughter's terror filling the air but she did as I instructed. The ever growing power was straining my barrier to its limits and I feared I wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. Gathering myself, I lashed out savagely, intent on maiming the perpetrator as much as possible and perhaps even finishing him off.

Luck was not on my side tonight.

With my spiritual powers now nearly exhausted, the youkai blasted its way into the room, causing both girls to shriek with terror and surprise.

"Run!" I shouted, holding this mysterious youkai in place with what little power I had left. It roared at me but the children sprinted past, Chitose in the lead. "You will not harm what is mine!" I snarled, refusing to give up.

However, my grip on it was not strong enough to prevent it from whipping one of its many tentacles around and catching me in the chest. I went flying and crashed through what remained of the nursery wall and into Inuyasha and mine's personal chambers. The youkai followed, his power hanging in the air. I knew without a doubt that unless Inuyasha or Sesshomaru returned, I would not survive this encounter.

"This is retribution, Kikyo," the youkai hissed. "You chose that dog over me and now you will be forced to watch as I destroy everything that you hold dear,"

"Onigumo," I spat.

"I am Naraku, Kikyo," the youkai said, power humming behind his words. "Onigumo is no more. He sold his soul to a thousand demons at the chance of winning your heart,"

"Inuyasha will crush you," I growled, spitting out the blood pooling in my mouth. "You will not leave this castle alive.

"Perhaps," Naraku said softly, his eyes boring into me. "but neither will you," I had only mere seconds to gaze at him with pure fury before one of his tentacles drove its way through my body. The last thing I saw was Inuyasha bursting into the room, his eyes blood red.

My eyes snapped open, my heart pounding. I was drenched in sweat and my chest rose and fell rapidly with my racing heartbeat. I could almost feel the tentacle from my dream burrowing its way through my chest. This latest nightmare left me speechless and I barely had any time to collect myself before the door to my chambers was flung open and a maid stumbled in.

"Lady Kagome, youkai are attacking the castle," she managed to get out between gasping for breath. "Your lord father wishes for you to join the rest of your family in the protected chamber,"

I scrambled up off my bed, already feeling the castle shaking beneath my feet now that I knew what was happening. I followed the maid through the winding halls and was practically tackled by Souta the instant we arrived.

My poor little brother was putting on a brave face for Mama but I knew how terrified he really was. I wrapped my arms around him in an attempt to offer what little support I could. We both jumped as a great tremor shook the house. Around us, some of the maids shrieked as the barrier around our house flared brightly in the night. Mama was clinging to Father's arm and his mouth was set in a grim line.

"Do you know what they want?" I whispered, my eyes darting outside every time a youkai attempted to get inside.

"They have made no claims," Father said gruffly.

"Then they seek only blood," I replied, the words slipping off my tongue without my consent. Father gave me a surprised look but his attention was abruptly pulled away as I watched in horror while the barrier surrounding our home vanished without a trace.

"The barrier has been destroyed!" a voice shouted from below, causing every female in the room save for myself to scream. My blood chilled at the primitive snarls and roars that now filled the night.

"Heaven help us," I whimpered, my knees threatening to buckle underneath me. Down the hall, I could hear the telltale signs that the youkai were approaching the room by the volume of the servants' screams. I wrapped myself protectively around my little brother as the door was blasted away, showering us all with splinters of wood.

"Where is the priestess?" a deep voice snarled from the lead youkai.

"We have no priestesses here," Father said, his chin held high even in this dire situation.

"Lies. This place smells of a powerful priestess," the youkai growled, his eyes sweeping around the room. Dread settled in my bones as he settled his gaze on me and a greedy smile spread across his lips.

"The priestess!" more voices shouted as the lead youkai advanced toward me. I shoved Souta over to where Mama and Father were without even realizing it. The youkai didn't even bother attempting to do anything to him. All of their gazes were on me. I meant them all dead on, a grim determination in my eyes.

"You will not harm what is mine!" I roared, raising my hands and to my utter amazement, a brilliant pink light shot from them and incinerated the youkai before me. I stood there with my mouth agape, not entirely sure what I had just done.

"Priestess! You will pay for killing our brethren!"

I was just about to scream when something red flew into the room, resulting in quite a few of the youkai being killed. As the red blur stilled in front of me and my family, I felt my breath catch in my throat.

Silver hair hung to the figure's waist, shimmering in the moonlight while equally colored dog-like ears twitched on top of their head. Molten amber eyes assessed the situation while their lips were pulled up in a fang-revealing smug grin. A red hakama covered their body while a large blade rested on their right shoulder with practiced ease.

"Inuyasha," I whispered hoarsely, sinking to the ground. One of his ears swiveled briefly in my direction but he never removed his eyes from the threat before him.

"Oi, what do you lot think you're doing attacking a human home?" he inquired, shifting ever so slightly. I noticed that it placed him more in front of me than the rest of my family. "Or are you too stupid to even consider what that bastard brother of mine might do knowing the problem you've causing in his territory?"

Among the youkai, I amazingly saw glances of uneasiness, as though they hadn't considered this before. If any of my dreams were correct, then they had every right to be worried. However, I was only slightly sure of this fact.

"We were told a powerful priestess resided here," one hissed. "and that she had been the one to destroy our home in the east," Inuyasha snorted, clearly amused about something.

"Yeah, and I'm the fucking king of the world," he taunted. "If this female was the priestess you claim her to be, you'd all be dead right now, fucking idiots," His noise twitched and he swung his gaze to the window where a boy who looked no older than perhaps five or six years of air was now perched.

"Oi, runt, get over here," Inuyasha growled. The boy narrowed his glowing amber eyes at the hanyou, but did as he was told. His silver hair was pulled back, revealing ears similar to Lord Sesshomaru from my dreams.

"Uncle is getting impatient and wants you to hurry up this little detour," he said, glancing repeatedly at me. He didn't seem at all alarmed by the group of youkai huddled in the doorway.

"Guard her while I finish off the rest of the trash," the hanyou instructed. The boy's nostrils flared and I saw a flash of defiance in his expression.

"Why?" he demanded.

"Use your nose, pup, and then you'll understand," Inuyasha snapped, glancing my way again. "Anything happens to her and I'll let Chitose loose on you,"

The boy's lips curled away from his teeth as a low growl rumbled in his chest but Inuyasha whacked him upside the head.

"Do as I say and this'll be over soon," he said shortly. The boy huffed but took a casual stance in front of me, satisfactory for Inuyasha. He disappeared faster than I could blink, killing every youkai that stood in his path.

"Uncle is not going to be pleased," the boy muttered, crossing his arms in annoyance at being put on guard duty. He looked over his shoulder at me and I saw his nose twitch ever so slightly. His eyes snapped wide open and he whirled around to face me head on, his expression torn between amazement and disbelief. I squirmed uncomfortably underneath his heavy gaze.

"Is something the matter?" I finally managed to ask softly. My voice shook him out of his daze but he now regarded me with a new aura about him, as if he no longer minded the guard duty. His stance became steadier and I could almost see the tensing of his muscles as something came sprinting down the hall. A feral snarl erupted from him but came to an abrupt halt as Inuyasha regarded him with an annoyed expression.

"Go tell your uncle what happened," Inuyasha ordered.

"I am not leaving," the boy snapped.

"We're gonna need the bastard to do something about this," Inuyasha growled, gesturing to me. "The quicker you bring him here to sorts things out, the quicker we leave and can discuss this better,"

"So it is her?" he asked softly, raw hope leaking into his voice.

"My nose ain't been wrong once and neither has yours," the hanyou huffed, giving the child an odd expression. "Now get,"

The boy bowed slightly and then proceeded to jump out our second story window. I stifled a shriek behind my hand, eyes wide in horror.

"The kid ain't gonna die that easily," our savior said sharply, drawing my attention back to him. "He's got a quarter of youkai blood in him,"

"Was that Tomo?" I whispered almost hesitantly. Inuyasha's eyebrows shot into his bangs at this statement, shock evident on his face. "That was Tomo!" I gasped, realizing how alike the child and the man before me appeared.

"Sis, he never said his name," Souta said softly to my right, reminding me that the two of us weren't as alone as I had thought.

"But that was Tomo!" I cried, rounding to look expectantly at Inuyasha. "He looks just like Chitose!"

"You know about them?" the hanyou managed to choke out.

"I see them in my dreams," I replied, dropping my gaze as my cheeks flushed bright red. "Tomo, Chitose, Lord Sesshomaru, even Rin. But they're mostly about you, Inuyasha,"