Past Mistakes and Future Changes

Sesshy's Mistress

Summary: The past is changing and causing distortions in the present. With new changes come new questions, and Usagi and Rei have to figure out what is happening and why. With only Rei's visions o guide them, the two try to figure out what is happening. Instead of answers, their curiosity lands themselves into even more trouble and confusion. INU/SM

…

...

Koga felt his heart racing as he followed the trail of the familiar scent as it weaved throughout the forest. He had been following it for three days and he felt himself grow anxious to find the source. Hope and despair warred within him at the thought of finding his sister or losing her all over again. Reaching into his armor to retrieve a pendent hidden on a thin chain of silver. Dangling at the end was a small shell and inside it held the last piece of his sister- a lock of her hair.

"Wolf!" InuYasha growled as he struggled to keep up with Koga. Even without the jewel shards the wolf was fast. InuYasha hated to admit it, but Koga was faster than InuYasha on his best days. "Slow down, already!"

"There isn't any time," Koga yelled over his shoulder while jumping over a large tree that had fallen across their path. "We have to find her!" InuYasha continued to scream at him from behind, but Koga ignored it to focus on the trail. It would take several more hours before they would find an abandoned campsite. The scent was stronger here and Koga could tell that they were gaining. This was the freshest site they had found and it looked to be less than a day old.

"We're close!" He wanted to keep going, but now that he had stopped to investigate the campsite, his body gave out and he collapsed to the cold ground. Chest heaving, he struggled to calm his racing heart which felt as if it could explode at any minute from the exertion of a constant, three day run.

"About damn time," InuYasha gasped as he collapsed nearby. "You won't be any use if you keep going like this." Sweat was pouring down InuYasha's body and he quickly removed his top, baring his chest which reflected many scars from the many battles leading to Naraku's defeat.

"Shut it, Mutt," Koga groaned while forcing himself up to a half kneeling pose. His muscles quivered under the strain and it was then that Koga admitted he needed rest. He would find her but if this was a trick, an illusion, or an imposter… he would need his strength to end them. "We rest for three hours then continue tracking them."

"You've got to be joking!" InuYasha growled but had no energy to fight with Koga.

"Rest up," Koga ordered while laying back down and trying to find a comfortable position. "I'm leaving in three hours, with or without you."

…

"I hope that I'm not interrupting anything important," grinned The Lady Mother as she casually walked through the clearing and towards her son who stood glaring in her direction. At his side stood the imp, Jaken, and playing in a nearby stream was the human child, Rin, guarded closely by Ah Un.

"Why are you here?" Sesshomaru questioned while inclining his head in her direction. Nothing good ever came from a visit from or to his Mother. The look of glee on her face made him uneasy and Sesshomaru found himself wanting to get Rin far from her and whatever trouble she may bring with her.

"I just thought you might like to know of the return of an old friend of ours," She grinned while her fingers brushed over the Miedo stone. "I was gifted a vision of her returning several moons ago."

"You are being vague," Sesshomaru growled ever so softly as his frustration with his Mother's games began to grow. "Make your point clear or leave now."

"I am still your mother," Her eyes turned sharp, like daggers. "You will show me respect! Regardless, if you are unable to figure it out, maybe you don't deserve to know." Her look of irritation was replaced by glee once more and she crossed her arms over her chest, hiding her hands in the sleeves of her kimono. "I won't be so cruel as to leave you completely clueless, however."

"Say your peace and go," Sesshomaru ordered with less bite in his tone while narrowing his eyes in irritation at the woman who birthed him. His Mother retrieved a rolled parchment and tossed it to Sesshomaru who caught it deftly and stared at it in suspicion. His mother beckoned him to open it. Upon examining it, he noted a an unbroken seal. With one last glance at his mother for confirmation, Sesshomaru broke the seal and unrolled the parchment, revealing a contract.

Sesshomaru's eyes scanned the contract and the more he read, the angrier he grew until his eyes began to turn pink. "Why am I just learning of this?" He all but growled.

"Your Father passed and soon after she disappeared, believed to have been kidnapped during the night with no trace or sent to trail," The Lady Mother shrugged.

"Then I fail to understand the need to keep this," Sesshomaru tossed the contract to the ground and turned away from his Mother who tsked at his dismissive behavior.

"It wouldn't be had she not recently returned," Her sharp eyes could see the stiffening of his shoulders and her ears just barely could make out the sharp intake in breath at her words. Oh, Sesshomaru was not happy at the moment. "As such, the contract is valid and unfulfilled."

"What benefit would this bring you?" Sesshomaru glared over his shoulder as his Mother retrieved the contract and cleared away any dirt and dust clinging to it. "Father is dead. I rule the Western lands and see no benefit of fulfilling that contract."

"Your Father clearly recognized the benefit of bringing in such a powerful and influential clan," the Lady Mother growled as her eyes flashed. "I may not have always agreed with your Father's decisions, but I agree that this is an ideal arrangement. You will fulfill the contract if you wish to inherit the Western Lands. After all, you are not his only son."

At those words, Sesshomaru spun on his heels and glared heavily at his mother. If looks could kill, the Lady Mother knew she would be joining her late Mate in the next life. "It is written as such in the contract. You have no choice. I have no choice. We must honor the contract now that she has returned or lose the Western Lands to those wolves."

…

Usagi and Rei were both exhausted from moving so frequently with such little rest. Usagi may have gained back control of her body, but the instinct was impossible to ignore. That other part, as much as Usagi hated to admit it was a part of her, knew this place and Usagi would be stupid to ignore it.

"Usagi," Rei groaned as she rubbed her aching feet. "We need to find some fresh water. We both stink and we ran out of water last night."

Make it quick, was the warning growl that echoed through Usagi's mind. Nodding slightly, Usagi found herself sniffing the air. Her ears twitched as she strained to catch any hint of running water. Neither turned up anything as it had rained the previous night and they were too far for her to hear any running water. Usagi found herself scaling a tall tree to get an overhead view of the surrounding area. Sharp eyes scanned the surroundings but she was still too low to see anything.

Jump! The other ordered and Usagi found her body moving of its own accord as she soared high into the sky. The thought that the other version had momentarily gained access was temporarily lost to the fact that she was soaring up through the air. Blue eyes noted a break in the treeline no more than two miles North of their current location. It was then Usagi felt gravity take hold and it was all she could do not to scream as her body plummeted back to the ground.

"Usagi!" Rei cried out in fear as she saw Usagi's form falling rapidly towards her. Usagi squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for a painful impact but was surprised when she managed to land safely in a crouched position. Her legs ached from the impact, but nothing was broken and that jump was higher than anything she had ever managed in her Sailor Moon form. Straightening from her crouch, Usagi pointed North. "If you can manage another two miles, there is a river up ahead we can use to clean up."

Rei's head fell at the thought of more walking but it was their only choice. Sliding back on her shoes, Rei stood and followed after Usagi. Their pace was slower than when they had first started moving due to muscle fatigue and sores on the bottom of their feet, but they made it to their destination in just a couple of hours. Rei could have cried she was so happy.

"We shouldn't linger here longer than necessary," Usagi warned as she relayed the message from her Other self. "The water may draw others here to us." Rei nodded and silently agreed but they both needed to clean up. Much longer without would result in someone smelling them before they ever saw them. After a quick scan of the area to ensure no one was nearby, both girls disrobed and slowly waded into the water.

"Oh my God, it's so cold!" Usagi shivered as she crossed her arms over her chest and made slow progress to the deeper end of the river. Goosebumps broke over her skin and she turned to see Rei had not made much more progress than she.

"Just rip the bandaid off," Rei suggested while trying to motivate not just Usagi, but herself. As the Senshi of Fire, she had never enjoyed the cold. Taking a deep breath, Rei rushed the deep end and collapsed into it. When she broke through the water, she was cold, but her body was acclimating quickly to the temperature change.

"Just get it over with," Rei called to Usagi who hesitated for just one moment before following behind Rei. Several minutes would pass until the two were able to move around the water at their leisure without teeth chattering.

"Any soap in your subspace pocket?" Rei questioned while running her fingers through her wet hair. Usagi was digging and lucky for the two of them, she found a bottle of Shampoo for them to use. Popping the lid open and pouring out some shampoo into her hand, Rei was assaulted by the smell of chemicals and she struggled not to gag. Usagi began to cough and one hand covered her nose as she glared at the bottle. "This stuff smells horrible!"

"What is this?" Rei questioned while eyeing the bottle and noting it was Garnier Fructis, a very common and popular brand of Shampoo. "Why does it smell like that?"

"I don't know but I'm not putting a drop of that on my head!" Serenity responded while tossing the bottle back into her subspace pocket. "We'll just have to do without it." Neither was happy with that thought and they did the best they could with washing off their bodies and scrubbing the dirt out of their hair.

Rei gave pause as she noted thicker strands of silver streaked through her raven locks and glittered in the sunlight as if to mock her. Quickly her mood soured and Rei turned back to Usagi requesting a mirror. A small compact was all Usagi could come up with and Rei slowly brought it up only to gasp. Much like Usagi, Rei's features were sharper and skin paler than normal. Her slim fingers were tipped with sharp claws. Her eyes though were what had her most shocked. She was used to dark eyes greeting her in the mirror, but now she had a ring of gold around the outer rim of the iris while additional small gold flecks were scattered throughout.

"What's happening to me?" Her voice cracked but Rei knew the answer. It angered her that every day caused her changes to progress.

"I know this is hard," Usagi spoke as she gestured towards herself and the most drastic changes displayed. "We will figure it out, but we can't stay here any longer. Someone or something will come along and I don't want to be here when they get here." With that said, Usagi hurried out of the river and began to squeeze out excess water from her hair. Rei followed and with the help of a couple towels from the Subspace pocket, the girls were dry and dressing shortly.

"We should follow the river," Rei suggested as she eyed the winding trail of water. "There may be a village or people nearby we can ask for help and directions."

"What if we run into something else first?" Usagi questioned while chewing her lip and ignoring the inner voice inside her head. "Should we risk it?"

"We need food and new clothes," Rei stated while staring down at her dirtied clothes.

"We will need money," Usagi stated the obvious. "I doubt they take debit cards."

"Ha-Ha…" Rei rolled her eyes but crossed her arms over her chest while huffing. As much as she hated to admit it, Usagi was right. Food and clothes require money. They didn't have any and without it the two of them stood out as obvious outsiders.

"We can follow the river, but at a distance and go from there," Rei recommended and stood to lead the way. If Usagi wanted to argue, she didn't try as she knew this was a good distraction for her friend. "We have a few hours of daylight left before we need to set up camp. Let's get started."

…

Koga and InuYasha took another day to reach the river and Koga could tell that they were gaining ground. "They can't be that far away." He scanned the area looking for any clue that may have been left behind. Nothing was out of the ordinary and only the lingering scent remained. "We should reach them by noon tomorrow if we keep this pace and don't lose the trail."

Before InuYasha could reply, Koga was running again making InuYasha follow closely behind him. Minutes turned into hours and soon daylight dimmed as night settled over the land. It wasn't until night had fully fallen that InuYasha realized what day it was.

"Koga!" InuYasha yelled as his pace slowed. InuYasha could hear his heart beating in his ears as his body began to change. Collapsing to the ground, InuYasha felt weak as his youkai half receded and left him fully human. Koga skidded to a halt and turned to find InuYasha crouched on the ground in human form.

"Woah," Koga looked wide eyed at the very human InuYasha. "So this is what happens to you on the new moon?"

"Yeah and you had best keep that trap shut about it, wolf!" InuYasha growled but he looked less intimidating in human form. "And unless you plan to carry me, we have to slow down the pace."

"Pft, like I'd carry you around," Koga huffed and turned away from him. This was a set back he wasn't expecting but there was nothing he could do about it. Taking a deep breath to help settle his nerves, Koga caught the faint scent of wood burning being carried by the wind towards them. Eyes wide, Koga quickly jumped into the air, breaking through the treeline enough to catch sight of the tower of smoke in the distance.

"Someone set up camp not far from here," Koga notified InuYasha after landing. "Even in that form we should be able to make it in just a few hours if we keep a steady pace."

"It might not be them," InuYasha argued but stood and readied himself anyway.

"It might, but the scent from the trail is the strongest yet. They can't be that far ahead of us," Koga cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders. This long journey was starting to take its toll on him, but he would be ready to fight if that is what it took. "If it isn't them, we can take a days rest, okay?"

"Feh," InuYasha shrugged before standing next to Koga. "Let's go find out!"

…

Usagi and Rei sat next to a small fire they had managed to build and, after several days of practice and trial and error, been able to light. It was a cool night so the fire afforded them warmth but also acted as a source for food. Before drifting too far from the river, the two had spent a considerable time trying to catch fish and managed to only catch two after three hours of trying. By the end of their efforts, they were both soaked and wet again.

The two fish were cooking over the fire and Usagi poked one with a stick to check if it was ready. Flaky white meat clung to the end of her stick, signally the fish was ready to eat. "I'm not sure how good this is going to be…" Usagi warned as she pulled a fish off for herself and another for Rei.

"At least you didn't burn them like you do everything else," Rei snickered while dodging Usagi's hand as it came swinging at her shoulder. "You can't cook to save your life and you know it!" Rei grinned as Usagi stuck her tongue out at her.

"Technically," Usagi spoke in a sing song voice. "I can cook, just not very well and with a limited selection!" She spoke while popping a piece of fish in her mouth. To be honest, it wasn't bad but Usagi really wished she had something to add flavor to it. "What do you think?"

"It will do," Rei stated while pulling a bone out of her mouth and tossing it over her shoulder. "It could use some seasoning."

"That's what I thought," Usagi nodded while picking around the bones of her fish. Just as the two were finishing with their catches, Usagi quickly rose and stood looking off in the distance. The wind had changed direction and she caught the smell of something. It seemed familiar but she just couldn't place that scent…. It made her feel safe and welcomed… loved…

Koga! Her other self spoke in elation but it left Usagi confused. An image of a tall male with long dark hair and sun kissed skin wrapped in armor and animal skin flashed in her mind briefly and a migraine started to form between her eyes.

"What's wrong, Usagi?" Rei was at her side, cool hands holding her shoulders and grounding her as Usagi's own hands held tightly to her head. "What's happening?"

"It hurts," Usagi groaned as she felt her knees give way. It was Rei who supported her as Usagi sat kneeling with her head in her hands while the pain continued to grow in intensity. It felt like someone was splitting her head in two and Usagi realized this was exactly like the last time. The time when that other part took control and locked her away, leaving her powerless as she caused mayhem and destruction.

"No, no, no, no, no," Usagi chanted as she focused every ounce of her will power into pushing that opposing force back down. She wasn't going to lose control. She couldn't lose control. Not now!

"Usagi, tell me what I can do to help!" Rei's voice was growing desperate as she watched her friend and Hime struggle with herself.

"I said NO!" Usagi screamed when she felt as if she would lose control. From the center of her chest a warm and bright light exploded as the Ginzuishou reacted to her distress and pain. Usagi heard the angry cry of her other self as she was pushed back and left Usagi in total control once more. The power fluctuation of the Ginzuishou washed over the immediate area, cleansing all those within the immediate vicinity and purifying any youkai with darkness in their heart. As the power returned and receded back into Usagi, her pain went away and her eyes fluttered shut. Rei felt Usagi grow heavy in her arms and gently cradled Usagi close to her. As gently as possible, Rei repositioned Usagi and laid her flat on her back on the ground with her head propped on Rei's knees. It wasn't that Rei was ignorant to their situation, but just now, everything seemed to settle over her at once, weighing her down and making worry eat at her.

This wasn't their time..

This wasn't their home…

They were alone…

Tears were burning at the edge of her vision as Rei began to feel overwhelmed. It was all too much. The changes they were going through, the fear of the unknown, being lost without anything familiar to comfort them. Rei never felt so powerless and the fact she couldn't transform or use her powers made her feel that much weaker and useless.

"The hell is this?!" Came a male voice from behind her. Rei quickly stood and turned to face the intruder only to find two men with dark hair busting through the forest and into their campsite. Rei dropped into a fighting stance, ready to defend her friend and Hime from the two newcomers.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing with my sister?!" Demanded the man with armor and animal skin for clothes. His eyes were switching from Usagi to Rei, and Rei felt her breath catch as her eyes met his dark blue ones. They were the same blue as Usagi's in this new form!

…

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Long time no see! Hope you enjoy the new chapter. I apologize for spelling errors but I have a new Chromebook and the keyboard and lack of spell check make it difficult to catch my mistakes initially.

Sesshy's Mistress

RxR