:NOTICE: This story is a sequel. Its predecessor is called Midwinter Dream, which is the sequel to Spring Fever. If you don't mind being a tad confused, then by all means continue reading. Otherwise, the story order is Spring Fever, Midwinter Dream, then Requiem of Time, and I pray to anyone who loves me that there is not going to be a forth...

Disclaimer: I don't own the Inuyasha series, as it is copyrighted to Rumiko Takahashi, and her original characters are hers as well.

A/N: ... It's a trilogy... No one should ever have so much time on their hands as to have a trilogy fanfic... ... Well, at least it's fun! And if anyone asks for a forth part it means that, deep down, you hate me and desire that I go completely insane. Truthfully, I thought this story was going to be ten chapters when I first started, but nooooooooooooooo... Instead, my mind latched onto this story and so far refuses to let go, so thusly we have part number three, which is going to be OH so much fun!

Also, in case some of you are hoping, YES, these two are getting hitched big time in this story. There will be lemons and limes everywhere, I can smell the citrus already. ... By the way, why are they called limes and lemons?? I mean, get some club soda in the mix and you've got yourself Sprite or 7Up, which is wrong in so many ways. And if you add tequila, well, then things get funky and Sheng would have to stop by. :D Anyway, I have NEVER heard of someone EVER having limes or lemons present during sex. That's right, I said it. I don't care how old you are, you can read ratings just as well as I can set them. -points finger at you in accusatory manner- And if you are underage, looking for lemons to read online... Then I must say you are completely normal (society just doesn't want you to know that). Just read though, don't practice, because sex (I said it again!) is usually very disappointing and painful, so don't be a bad girl for nothing. :D Then again, if you're a guy reading this fic, then by all means, take notes!

Anyway, for those of you who don't know, this part of the story is indeed open point of view! I tried to avoid it for this story, in case you couldn't tell by the first two parts, but I digress that I also hate at times just doing one POV. It's hard not knowing what the other person is thinking, and I had enjoyed that element because it forced me to actually think and be creative on how the portray the other's thoughts without being too out of character. I think I've already done too much damage to their characters though, in certain regards, so please, if you're a new reader, I highly recommend that you read the other stories as well.

Alright, last thing. I'll say this again for when I actually do start school, but updates will start to be more spread out. I know, I don't want it to take that long either. I'm thinking perhaps one per week, rather than one every three(ish) days, but we'll see.

So, what are you reading this for? The chapter's down there. :D Enjoy! And I still love reviews!

Chapter 1

Life

Sesshomaru found himself staring at the spot where Kagome had disappeared under the horizon of the hovering o-shiro. She was gone from his life again, and it left him itching to go and retrieve her. It always bugged him of late to be without her. She needed some time to herself though, so that kept him rooted to where he was. It happened to be a good place to stand and think things through.

He heard the nearby rustle of fabrics before a slight weight descended on his upper arm. Glancing over, he saw the usually infuriating woman who gave him life.

His mother didn't smile, but she was happy over this. "Well done."

She gave the side of his arm a slight squeeze and then walked away, heading for her quarters. It was through watching her leave that he acknowledged the true mass of onlookers which had gathered, everyone from no longer sleepy servant children to humbled council members, and Sheng was approaching like it was his turn for a comment.

The old yōkai came to stand at his side, and for the time being said nothing. He was stargazing.

...

... ...

"Young love is not always pretty," the elder finally stated, clapping Sesshomaru's shoulder very sportsman like. "Come. We have some things to discuss."

"This Sesshomaru does not-"

"I know," Sheng interrupted rudely, waving it off with his hand. "You are coming regardless, least you wish to be hauled away by your ear."

Sesshomaru spared the man a glare, but knowing the old geezer probably could and would follow through with it he followed.

"Um, my lord?" Jaken asked, running up as Sesshomaru passed. The little toad fell back and to his side, completely out of his peripheral where he belonged. "Did I miss something while I was gone? I don't understand. You hugged a miko. I didn't hear anything verbally exchanged between the two of you, but... She cried on you!"

Sesshomaru ignored the squat yōkai and continued forward. Soon, one of the servant brats tried to yank the Staff of Two Heads away, and that gave Jaken something better to do than bite at Sesshomaru's ankle-level patience.

"Now then," Sheng sighed as they sat in a room always prepared for the counselor's visits, two sake cups being filled to appropriate levels. Sesshomaru was impressed that, despite the resilience of their race, Sheng never had a liver failure. The old yōkai lifted his cup and held it aloft. "Here's to a splendid future."

Sesshomaru quirked his brow at the old fool, pinching the ceramic container between his thumb and fingers.

"Do not leave me hanging," Sheng almost growled. "Do you want a good future, or not?"

... Sesshomaru lifted his own cup, and Sheng clicked them together and drank. Sesshomaru finished the dose without even wincing. He was quite proud of himself, though he couldn't remove an odd burdening weight from his spirits.

"Alright," Sheng stated, setting his cup aside. "That is all. Good night."

Sesshomaru blinked. "That is it?"

"Yes," was the reply. "Unless you wish to drink to a hundred other things life has to offer."

Sesshomaru shook his head, and stood to leave.

"By the way," Sheng began, sounding carefree. Sesshomaru knew that couldn't be it, and waited to hear the rest of this meeting. "I suggest you set honor aside, and do what needs to be done about Chiro. Your mother's creativity should not restrict your options."

"Such is already on the agenda," Sesshomaru commented, leaving. When he entered his own room he was greeted with the smell of lovemaking and a hit of boastfulness. It sickened him.

"How did things go?" Chiro asked, sounding merrier than usual. The woman had played a game with Kagome?

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at her. She was happy about this. "You are dismissed. Permanently."

The female was clearly shocked, and she sat up quickly from her sensual lounge on his bed. "What??"

"I will have my mother assign you to another duty here at the o-shiro, unless you wish to be transferred to China in order to continue your current profession."

He pitied the girl who surrendered her reproductive life for four years of pleasing him, but such an emotion was one he extremely rarely ever heeded. Chiro was removed, and he slept alone that night. Sesshomaru needed the rest to free his mind from the uncertainties it had been plunged into.

He glanced sideways and stared at the door. He could see her, the lovely woman who made him laugh. He could see her skin pale and her muscles slack. He heard both her breathing and her heart stop at the same time, and he watched her turn and land numbly against another man.

Sesshomaru rubbed his eyes with a hand and looked away. He felt like a fool. A complete and utter fool. He should have known this would happen. He should have done everything he could to avoid it, such as remove Chiro from his life or verbally tell Kagome how he felt since her senses were dull compared to his. At the very least, he should have gotten out of bed and gone to her that night, before she screamed; a sound which represented something dying and yet was slowly killing him. Everything he should have done... But for the first time he had found himself frozen. He had never been unable to move before. Impending doom made him act whereas it fixated others, and immense fear and shock were not factors in his life. Then, the one time he wanted to move, so desperately that it made his muscles clench, and he couldn't. He just stared at her as some silly relief lit her face for a brief gap in time, and then he remained staring when Chiro stirred and rolled at his side to stare at their visitor.

The goal was to sleep, but Sesshomaru found that to be quite evasive. He hadn't slept for two days already, and after four years of conditioning himself to sleep every other night going this long left him feeling heavy and drained the next day.

"You look like hell," Sheng commented, sharing the room with Sesshomaru as they waited for more council members to arrive. This topic was going to be interesting, because basically what everyone saw was him letting the Shikon no Tama leave.

Sesshomaru gave the man a flat look. "What did you say was not always pretty last night?"

Sheng smirked, and the third person arrived.

"Hello, Chao-san," Shu Fang greeted. "I see that sleep has evaded you?"

Sesshomaru just stared at her. He was too weary to frown.

She smiled warmly at him. "For four years you retreated into your thoughts and began to sleep more. Today you cannot sleep and you wear your emotions on your sleeve."

Now he frowned at her. Confounded wench.

"Shu Fang, now is not the time for your charming sense of humor," Sheng informed.

"Of course," she replied, taking her seat. "My apologies. I will try again in... What was it, two weeks?"

... Sesshomaru was in the middle of deciding whether or not he hated that woman when Tao entered the room.

"Sesshomaru!" the jolly fat man greeted happily, shocking everyone for the lack of the nickname. "You have warmed my heart! It is good to see you finally falling for a girl worthy of your time."

"Do not kill him," Sheng mildly ordered Sesshomaru, who had merely twitched his fingers. Everyone there was getting on his nerves...

"Good morning!" his mother practically chirped. "Today is a great day, no?"

Everyone looked when Sesshomaru stood and walked for the back door. He had a toad to kick.

"And where do you think you are going?" his mother inquired scornfully.

"Wherever I choose," he supplied. "Have the meeting without me."

"He just needs some sleep," Sheng supplied before Sesshomaru turned and walked off. He eventually resigned himself to his room once more, and lay in bed in the completely wrong direction to try and get comfortable. He needed to sleep. He needed to be embraced by a miko and be told that everything was alright and that he hadn't done too much damage to someone who only acted as emotionally stable as himself. He needed it, but he knew that ample effort would need to be made in order to receive it.

The next three nights proved to be devoid of rest as well, and by that time Sheng was actually taking Sesshomaru from the o-shiro to lounge in nature. His excuse was that Sesshomaru was beginning to scare the servants.

"I need to see her," Sesshomaru finally admitted, digging another rock from under the snow and skipping it across the unfrozen river. It skipped three times, then shot into a tree trunk.

"Patience is a virtue," Sheng quoted from somewhere, skipping stones with Sesshomaru. "Let her think and heal. You should be reassured by her saying you could visit her in two weeks rather than in a month."

Sesshomaru threw the next stone hard enough for it to skip once, then just disappear. "That is not enough."

Sheng sighed. "You have to learn otherwise, no matter how hard it is."

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes up to the sky, giving a weary and drawn out hum. "Is this normal?"

"Your relationship?" Sheng asked, lighthearted. "Not in the least. This circumstance can almost be called expectable though."

"Really?" Sesshomaru inquired, throwing another rock. This one didn't even touch the water, it just hit the upper part of a mostly severed tree and made it fall with a loud and crackling crash.

"Truly," Sheng informed. "Now accept it for fact before you begin a deforestation act."

Sesshomaru stopped, but he continued thinking. He was exhausted, and his mind was on thought loop. She wouldn't leave his head, whether he was awake or taking a brief nap. It was just like before, except now there was the very real possibility that he had messed up.

"If anything," Sheng began, acting like the father figure in Sesshomaru's recently messed up life, "she will appreciate the fact that you are willing to wait for her."

... That actually made this circumstance sound like a good thing. And it wasn't good at all, it was horrible. Wretched, deprived, and completely devoid of necessity in his life.

Sesshomaru returned to the o-shiro, keeping the thought of her being appreciative and even happy in his head, and life began to get a little better.

She missed him... She missed his presence, his sense of humor, his touch, everything. And yet thinking of him still hurt when day faded to night. Kagome had spoken with no one about what had happened at the o-shiro, but became an active member of everyone's lives. She trained with her friends, enjoyed having them with her, and sought ways to help in the village. She had a job there, and thusly got paid as well, though there was nothing she wished to buy. She lived there, despite her scars, and her friends supported her even without knowing the facts. That's what made them such good friends...

Kagome, for the forth morning an a row, woke up with blurry vision. She had too much sleep in her eyes after sleeping, and she knew that it was because she had been shedding tears. Since leaving the o-shiro, she had lost the ability to remember her dreams upon waking, and sometimes brief flashes would come back to her during the day, if she was bored enough to think about such a thing.

"Aren't you awake yet?" Inuyasha asked, sounding irritated as he nudged her back with his foot again.

"I will be in a few hours," she groaned at him. It was probably around four in the morning, by the way she felt. Lifting her arm revealed daylight though, and she let the limb drop over her temple once more. "Now, walk five feet away so I can S-I-T you."

She wouldn't be surprised if that was the one word he ever learned how to spell, thanks to her spelling it for him in a threatening manner... He was waking her up because everyone needed an early start to get to a village in need by noon. Kagome had been automatically accepted into the slayer squad, and she was excited to go because only her, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara would be doing the mission. Just like old times. She had asked Sango what the sudden exception was to allow her to go with them, and she explained in front of everyone that Hiroko, despite how young he was, was beginning to reject nursing, and had been gumming dried meat strips and rice for a whole week now and was perfectly healthy and happy about it. Kagome had seen as much over the last few days, with the mess the boy made especially, but she didn't know he had fully been weened. It still seemed so early... Drinking water was a bit of a problem for him, since he couldn't hold a bowl, but other than that everything was fine for Sango and her family. Miroku seemed quite happy to share a seat on Kirara with his wife again, and by his actions he didn't mind the idea of expanding their family anytime soon. Kagome was quite amused to see him get slapped.

The only difference she noticed as they continued on their way was Shippo, who was now able to provide himself with transportation rather than rely on everyone. Kagome was impressed that his transformations had dramatically changed from big, sloppy animals which looked to come from a toddler's art class, to things which were actually recognizable. Such as a hawk, which InuYasha hated. Birds had a tendency to relieve themselves every ten minutes, and to compliment the fact, they also had very precise aim. Inuyasha was lucky that he had a passenger...

Riding on his back was no longer awkward, even as Kagome rested her chin on his shoulder and her head against his. It was odd to not feel drawn to him as a crush, or even an ex-crush. He was just Inuyasha, her friend, and he seemed to be quite fine with that.

"Still tired?" he asked.

"A little," she admitted. Still, she wondered how her interactions with his brother would smooth out... She was pretty sure he would have picked up on the man's scent coming off her clothes.

"If you can fall asleep, then go ahead," he invited. "We'll be moving for a few more hours, with Kirara resting so much."

Kirara growled halfheartedly at Inuyasha, and he happily growled back, making the cat's ears twitch at him. Kagome giggled, thinking of all the sits and how Inuyasha would chase a stick if she threw it and over how much he enjoyed having his ears rubbed. He was such a dog, no matter how much he'd deny it.

She managed to get some sleep in, which she should have won a gold medal for. His jostling usually woke her up, so she would say that, at most, she got forty minutes down for the whole trip. The final time she woke up though was from him telling her to.

"Are we here?" she asked, yawning until her jaw shifted with a small crack. That felt good...

"Almost," he replied. "I figured you'd like to be a tad more presentable."

"Well, well, well. Look who learned to speak..." she teased him. Another dog trick?

"Hey!" he barked at her. "You may be a girl, but-"

Before he could finish threatening her she tweaked one of his ears and he practically landed on his face rather than on his feet.

"Will you quit doing that when I'm carrying you?!" he demanded, straightening and letting her down.

"I'll consider it," was her reply. After two months, in total, of dealing with her friend's stoic older brother, Inuyasha's temper tantrums were nothing she couldn't handle. She could actually brush him yelling at her completely off. It made her wonder what her pubescent mind was thinking to ever have a crush on her short-fused friend. "So, where are we?"

"About three hundred paces from the village," Inuyasha stated, their friends landing and dismounting.

Paces? Kagome turned to face the village and listened, wondering vaguely if she could sharpen her hearing if she channeled some energy through her. She tried, but it didn't work. There was a clink in the distance though. And another. It was a very unfamiliar noise, yet she had a good idea of what it was from.

"A blacksmith?" she asked, still pondering over it.

"Yep!" Shippo affirmed, landing on her back and making her step forward from the sudden weight.

"Shippo, you know you're not a little kid anymore," Kagome scolded him halfheartedly. "Here, get up and sit with your legs over my shoulders. It's easier that way."

Shippo paused for a second, clinging to the fabric on her back, then did just as she said and hunched unstably over her head. "Yeah, I know I'm not a kid. I'm going to swipe myself a blade while I'm here."

Kagome felt her eyes widen considerably and she looked up at the never-truly-innocent Shippo. "Really? What for?"

He puffed his chest proudly.

"He wants a dagger," Sango explained, finished with checking Kirara's joints. Kirara transformed to her kitten self and Sango picked her up, petting her big eared head. She didn't look it, but Kirara was quite old for a minor demoness. Kagome hoped that her legs weren't hurting her. "He told his family that he wasn't coming back to them unless he had one."

Kagome blinked, then looked to Shippo again, who was a bit more confident in his stability on her shoulders. "Why did you go and do that?"

The boy had a really toothy grin. "Simple. I want Miroku and you to bless the metal, and then I'm going to Tōtōsai to have it enhanced with this!"

Inuyasha's ears quirked when Shippo pulled out a baby tooth, which he was losing of late. The little fox glared at the inu before words could be exchanged. "And yes, I know it's not very powerful and a baby tooth! I'll just get it reforged later."

Kagome was impressed that Inuyasha merely nodded before turning to walk for the village, which was actually quite well off.

Sango went into their patron's very expensive house with Miroku to discuss matters, some servants greeting them and walking away.

She could almost see the servants, wearing white, some of them with ears atop their heads...

"Kagome, they'll feel weird if you keep staring at them."

She blinked, and glanced up at Shippo. She wasn't up there anymore. She was here, and they were free to roam around the city now.

Kagome must have been quite the sight, being dressed as a miko with a yōkai fox riding her shoulders and a yōkai twin tailed cat on her head in the fox's arms. She waved merrily at anyone who wished to stare. It was a big village and very well off. Actually, with cobbled main streets lined with little shops, she had the impression that this was an actual town. It was weird to have to distinguish between village, town, and city. In her time, everywhere she went was a city...

"Hey, Kagome?" Shippo began eagerly, hunkering down closer to her ear. "You think we could visit the blacksmith?"

"You know stealing's bad, Shippo," she commented.

He shifted. "I know. But I don't have any money humans would accept, and I can't get a job because of what I am. Besides, I'm a fox, we do this sort of thing."

She giggled. "Alright, klepto-kun. Inuyasha! We're going to see what weapons the blacksmith has crafted!"

"Kay!" was his reply. He was watching from under a colorful hanging awning as something was done, and by the smell Kagome was pretty sure it was ramen being cooked. She wondered if the man in the shop knew that Inuyasha was a hanyō. The ears were a dead giveaway, but Inuyasha asking Sango for some money could most likely be explained by this desire for food. Hm... Humans may fear hanyō, but she supposed that a paying customer was a paying customer.

Kagome grinned and began walking once more. "Shippo, we can look now, but please keep all the options in mind and take what you want after the demon is slain. I don't want the blacksmith looking all over for us and complaining to Sango's patron before we can collect for our work."

Shippo sighed, a puff of frost gracing the air, the blacksmith clinking beginning anew. "Alright..."

"Promise?" she asked happily, ice crackling underfoot in the cracks of the cobblestones.

"Yeah," he replied, putting an elbow on her head to rest his face in his hand. "Darn..."

She was humored, and then pulled the solid wood doors aside to reveal the dim interior of the place. She closed it quickly to keep the heat of the store in, and then felt free to walk around. There was a variety of glimmering blades mounted on the walls, decent duplicates kept in iron-rimmed barrels for swords and in wooden boxes for smaller weapons.

Shippo pointed at what daggers he liked, and she'd lift their container up and rummage. Of course, the best was on display, and she was pretty sure that something wouldn't be on that wall by nightfall. Upon handling the fifth blade the clinking stopped, and when she held up the sixth she heard a door open.

"A woman?" came a voice made rough from heat and labor. Kagome turned to regard the man who came into the shop from another glowing room, a double thick leather apron draped over his front. He was pulling his gloves off to tuck them in the cord which held the apron tight against his front.

"A miko," she supplied, noting how permanently burnt his face was and where tiny scars from flying molten metal remained. These people needed to invent masks... "I am searching for a dagger that can live up to a life of hard and constant use, and I do not care how 'pretty' it is."

The middle aged man looked humored. "That is good, because my blades are crafted for combat, not house work. Anything pretty here will be from sheen alone."

She nodded, and moved to another wall. Shippo had a slight grip on her ears, and had asked her to turn right by tugging her right lobe slightly.

More daggers...

"What style are you interested in?"

She was silent. Style? Um...

"Shippo, you know the finer points," she began. "Would you speak with him while I browse? You know how I never buy anything if I can't look." She felt like a bitch for saying that, but it opened the conversation to maker and taker. She was just there for parental control, in a manner of speaking.

"Well then," the man began, having listened to thirty seconds of ideals. "I have a variety of daggers which fulfill your needs in one way or another-"

"All of them," Kagome told him, meeting his gaze. "I have traveled long and far, and going to the next village is nothing for me. I need all of those requirements fulfilled, or I am leaving."

The man, now having his arms crossed, pursed his lips in amused thought. Really, he was dealing with a young woman bearing a fox on her head, she probably wasn't one to be taken too seriously on appearances alone. "Well, I have something, but I doubt that you have the coin for it."

"Coin is easy to come by for someone who works in a rare field," she challenged him in turn. "Show it to me, and I will consider whether or not it is worth the effort."

The man fixed his stare on her, and after a few seconds he nodded and walked back and through the door to the glowing room.

"Shippo, if you like what he brings out, go outside with Kirara and find a way into that room," Kagome told him, having a good feeling about this. "That way, when he goes to put it back, you can see where it is."

The fox grinned widely at her, hugging her head.

The man returned after a minute, bearing a box. He removed a huge array of keys from his waist and deftly selected one to undo the lock on the front of the wooden container. Apparently, this blade was very important to him. The lid lifted and the box was turned towards them.

Kagome was positively stunned. There wasn't one, but two daggers, and they glistened from being polished and well protected.

"First set I have ever made," the blacksmith began, taking one of the blades out and offering her the hilt. "Perfect balance, lightweight, and easy to throw. I have yet to match their perfection in anything else."

She accepted the straight dagger, and was really quite impressed. The hilt was bound in braided, sturdy leather, which crest over itself for good grip yet was polished for a smooth throwing release. There was a hole in the center right above the hilt, tear shaped as both sides dipped in the middle in the form of a blood let towards the gap, making it aerodynamic in her opinion. It was sharpened on both ends, and was a total length of two and a half hands with the hilt included.

The man let her look the blades over, watching as she tested both of them and felt them out. She handed one to Shippo for 'demon testing' as she called it, and astonishingly enough the blacksmith accepted it. Hah! Idiot...

"These are nice," she told him. "What metal did you use?"

"Folded Damascus steel, traded from China and very rare in these parts," he informed. "It is an impressively durable blend of iron and carbon and will not be quick to lose its edge."

She was nodding, letting herself be lost in thought, and the complimentary blade was handed down to her. When she had it, Shippo clambered off, Kirara following, and he walked outside. The blacksmith watched.

"Where did your friends go?" he asked.

"The cat was making her nigh-silent mewls, so Shippo took her outside to relieve herself. I presume that you can live without urine spots on your floor."

She handled the blades for a few more minutes, giving Shippo time, then commented that they should have returned by then and needed to leave, but that she would keep the weapons in mind.

The blacksmith nodded and she left. She saw no little footprints around the building, and she wasn't going to make any suspicious ones by looking around for Shippo.

"So it was ramen," Kagome stated, having a seat by Inuyasha as he brought the bowl from his mouth. He had been taking a drink of the meat broth, and was now back to the diminished amount of noodles and vegetables. Meat from livestock and farms was rare, as far as she recalled from her history courses, and wouldn't really become popular for a few more hundred years until the population rose. "What meat did you get?"

"Deer," Inuyasha replied, moving through the noodles and finding a piece. "Want some?"

Yum... Venison... "Um..."

"Come on, I'm not holding it out for ever, it'll get cold," he stated.

She leaned forward and opened her mouth to accept the bite. Well, at least it was cooked all the way through, not that raw meat wasn't a delicacy in Japan. There were sanitation protocols she required when it came to 'fine cuisine' though. It was tender, and really good in the soy sauce mixed broth. She was quite surprised.

"Well, this was unexpected..."

Kagome lifted her face from her own bowl of ramen and looked back to see Sango. Her mouth was full, so she offered the food with one hand, the chopsticks with her other, and nodded encouragingly that her friend try that ramen. She accepted, tried it, and passed it on to Miroku.

"Yeah, but I didn't eat," Kagome commented after swallowing.

"Where are Kirara and Shippo?" Sango asked, wiping her mouth as Miroku slurped some noodles.

"Shippo is browsing..." Kagome stated. "And Kirara's with him. They've only been gone for about seven minutes."

It had taken the whole summer to get her friends to understand the meanings of minutes and hours, and seven minutes to them was identified as the general time between five minutes and ten minutes...

"Well, we got everything worked out with the lord of this town. Looks like the demons are attacking at night and focusing on the farm not far from here," Sango explained, taking the bowl back from Miroku and consuming a few more bites before taking a drink and handing it back to Kagome. "The lord needs that meat, since it's a valuable trade item for this village."

That was probably one of the reasons why that place was so prosperous... "That's good. Do we wait for nightfall then?"

That was a 'no'. They corralled their tiny companions, who were busy 'scrounging up' their own food, and took to the air to hunt the demons down via their tracks, and while they were airborne and bored Kagome asked Shippo about his new family.

"They're alright," he supplied, in the form of a little hawk again to get a great visual of the ground, flying near them. It was odd to see a beak move and words come out... "I'm the second oldest of the kids. The oldest is a girl..."

She couldn't really tell through the plumage, but she thought he was blushing. "Aw... Is she cute?"

"No!" Shippo yelled, practically losing feathers over how flustered he was. "She's mean! And she's got red hair!"

Kagome giggled at him, heart rising as Inuyasha dropped about ten feet for the next treetop. "You're a redhead too, Shippo."

"My hair is BROWN compared to hers!" he yelled. "And she's got freckles and brown eyes! She's ugly!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. Children... "Now, now. Maybe she's just mean because she likes you."

She got stared at.

"That's dumb," Shippo said.

"I can smell them," Inuyasha announced, catching everyone's ears. He was frowning.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked.

"Hm... This is going to be tricky..." he said aloud to himself.

"What kinds of demons are they?" Sango asked.

"Wolves," Inuyasha supplied. "A whole pack of them. They're eating a cow now."

For some wretched reason, Kagome was struck with the thought of a family dinner, clean and mannerly. To walk through the naked trees and see a pool of red that had melted the snow, organs and the slit open series of four stomachs which gave way to the long and bloody trail of intestine... It was a tad unexpected.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she replied as Inuyasha was saying 'alright', before she could gag. She was already dreading the meat she had eaten. "I'll be fine..." Family dinner was now replaced with an inverted cow body in her mind, various limbs everywhere, and imagining a pack of faces digging into it was dreadful.

They located the wolves, and since Sango had requested to be the speaker everyone else stayed back a ways while she and the pack leader discussed matters. The younger man's grave and pale face was bloody, as were his hands and various streaks on his front. Kagome didn't turn away, but she made a note to not look at him. His pack members looked to be in the same condition as him, if not worse. Tight skin, frizzled hair from bad nourishment, sunken eyes, a look of desperation and eternal hunger...

They were starving...

"I don't like this..." Inuyasha began, whispering very low. "Something's wrong."

Miroku's grip on his staff tightened, Shippo shifted, and Inuyasha was already tense. Kagome was beginning to think that this was all very unnecessary, but upon seeing the eyes of those still feasting, looking at all of them, she deemed it good to know exactly where her bow was slung, shifting her shoulders to verify the fact.

She couldn't put her finger on it, but something truly was wrong here. Not the circumstance, or the grounds for their being there. Something was just... Off...

A woman, looking to be either a few months pregnant or ghastly full, stepped away from the disemboweled corpse.

"That's the leader's mate," Inuyasha commented. "Miroku, get up there."

"Inuyasha, isn't all of this more serious than need be?" Kagome asked as the father of three stepped forward. "What's going on, anyway?"

"It's a dog thing," Inuyasha commented. "When it comes to my species, there's two leaders, the alphas. It's a bad thing to get both alphas against one human female. Having Miroku there sends a message..."

... Alright... She supposed that had great potential to make some sense...

"So, what feel off here?" she tried again.

"These yōkai are close to the brink," Inuyasha supplied. "We didn't tell you this last time, but thanks to the general lack of food and the absurd flow of wolves from the north, many yōkai are beginning to lose their sanity."

Kagome swallowed hard. She had seen crazy people in movies and read about them in books, but to have obscenely strong packs of them together and starving... "Are they just running out of food?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha stated, not taking his eyes off of what was happening ahead. "When you can't even eat, it's hard to think about being sane. At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if this pack reverted into true wolves within the year."

Kagome was absolutely shocked. "That can happen??"

"It happens all the time," Inuyasha replied. "Why else do you think Ginta and Hakaku stayed with the wolves when Koga would run ahead? Those were their family members. ... It can happen from taking too many injuries and getting a permanent defect that weakens them, or just from age even. Yōkai aren't demons, they're spiritual manifestations of nature. With time or too much weakness, they go back to the basics. It's a survival tactic, and it uses less energy."

She had never known that... "Can they... Can they ever change back?"

Inuyasha shook his head, and she was surprised by a low growl reverberating from him and looked forward. No one was eating anymore. All of them were standing, and staring.

Kagome didn't know why, but her energy flared wildly at them, and their eyes, even the alpha's, went to her.

Inuyasha unsheathed Tetsusaiga, putting an arm out in front of her like he was used to. She pushed it down though and stepped forward.

"Who are you?" the alpha male demanded.

"A friend," she informed. "Of Koga's, at least."

"You know Koga?" the alpha female asked. She didn't sound as insane as she looked.

Kagome offered a warm smile. "Yes, I do. His pack is now quite large, but I'm sure you can go there and find refuge and food under him until the spring."

The leader scoffed. "We have asked already, and he said it was unfathomable."

Kagome giggled, which set off the mood there. "Well, things become more considerable when you tell him that a certain miko named Kagome will kick his ass if he refuses to let you in."

"We cannot travel that distance," the female stated.

Kagome surveyed them. "I don't see why not. Your energies are high, your health hasn't deteriorated dramatically..."

"You are telling us to leave?" one of the beta males demanded.

"No," she replied. "I am merely encouraging it. All there is for you here is hunters, slayers, and isolation from everyone but yourselves."

"We can handle that!" the beta yelled.

"Silent!" the alpha barked, making the younger man quell. Kagome knew that these people must hate the idea of being relocated, by a miko no less, but she knew that the leader had a mate and an upcoming child to think of. He returned his weary gaze to Kagome. "How can you expect me to make a decision like that because you say everything will be fine? After traveling that far, we will be famished, and in the territory of a pack so large that it will consume any food we can track."

Kagome thought for a second. "I completely understand that," she told them, "but if we let you be, another group of slayers will not be so lenient. Do you smell a lie on me?"

All of their eyes narrowed. She knew they didn't.

There was a shift, a flash of metal, and Kagome acted out of instinct. Her energy reached out and ensnared the wrist which was aiming a blade for her, and her touch burnt the displeased beta man who didn't agree with her.

That started it. Her action was seen as an attack, the wolves became vicious, and everyone began fighting. It was short, and bloody, and thanks to their immense amount of experience they were left standing without a scratch. The wolves were as well off as the cow though...

Kagome blinked when Sango's hand settled on her shoulder. "It happens."

"Does it?" she asked. This was such a horrible sight...

"Sadly, yes. It does," Sango repeated. "Inuyasha, why don't you head on home with her? We'll finish with things here."

Kagome had tried to protest that she didn't have to go, but when she was on Inuyasha's back and returning for the village he explained to her that Sango didn't want Kagome to see the decapitations. It was sickening to consider, but Sango was payed for each head she brought back as proof of the 'demons' having been slain. There had been seven... That meant a lot of money, food, and items for 'slaying the beasts of the forests'.

It was deranged, and depressing to think about, but it was a way of making a living... It was like slaughtering the servants of the o-shiro for stealing rice... And she still didn't know if that one woman had been pregnant. Inuyasha said she wasn't, but Kagome had a feeling that he was covering up to make her feel better.

Shippo came home with the blacksmith's prized daggers, box and all, and showed Kagome that there had been sheaths hidden in another layer of the box. She said she was happy for him, and tried to be, but if she wasn't depressed over one thing, it was another.

Miroku showed her how to bless metal, which wasn't hard since it was just channeling some energy into the blade, and that night Shippo yanked out another canine tooth for Tōtōsai to use.

"We got another request to be somewhere within two days," Sango commented later that night in the hot spring. "Want to come?"

Kagome offered her friend a smile. "Thanks, but no. I think I'll take Ah-Un and Shippo and go see Tōtōsai instead."

Kirara took them back to the village, and Kagome was left to toss and turn on her futon worthy mat, troubled. She wasn't thinking about the wolves though. She was thinking about what she and Sesshomaru were going to do when they saw one another again in a week and a few days. A part of her was desperate to see him again, and another part wanted to shelter itself from him. She couldn't live with that second opinion in her though. She'd be nervous upon seeing him, but she'd be strong, and she was going to find out how it was to be courted by someone she already loved.

A/N: Well, the third and final part of this series... I'm still trying to get used to the idea of that... Sorry the comments and author note in the beginning were so long, I was talkative. :P

So, yes! An insight into Sesshomaru's thoughts (finally!) and how Kagome's handling what happened. I tried several ways of her meeting Chiro in that light, but none of them seemed appropriate. Besides, I think it's a tad necessary that Sesshomaru handle it himself. -shrugs-

Anyway, I still love reviews! XD Thanks for sticking with me through so much reading, and I'm glad I can keep everyone entertained. Thanks for reading, and I'll update the second chapter of the final story ASAP!