Oh hi! Happy New Year, happy belated Christmas and Hannakuh and all that great stuff! :D Sorry it's taken me a while to update; I'm already wrestling with writer's block. Let me know if you guys have any ideas for the story or what kind of adventures you'd like to see Kaede put Sessh [& Ah-Un] through!

"The prodigal son has returned to us at last!"

Sesshomaru frowned at the lieutenant for a moment before he turned to the demons lined up, awaiting orders. He figured if he was going to show up anywhere in Hell, he might as well come to where the army was. Surely, things had fallen off in his absence. "What are the angels doing? Any word from them?"

The lieutenant, Royakan, a huge, burly wolf demon with a wide mouth, dropped his smile and the joking, a look of being deep in thought replacing it. "Michael and Raphael seem to be keeping a close eye on us for whatever reason. I think they're trying to keep their plans under wraps"

"Or God is waiting for something before he gives the order to attack" Sesshomaru murmured, "He wouldn't send his best angels into Hell. Make sure we don't send our best out. We need to prepare for war"

"Sir, yes, sir" Royakan rumbled with a sharp salute then began barking orders to the soldiers.

Sesshomaru turned on his heel and made his way to where his father's morbid garden was. That's usually where the demon spent his time when he wasn't wrecking havoc on earth. The young general found Satan, pruning his black Venus flytraps and feeding it bits of flesh, smiling proudly as they feasted.

"They do grow up so quickly, don't they?" Sesshomaru murmured, holding back his bile. Ugh, human flesh smelled so awful.

"You've been gone for quite some time" Toga murmured, not looking up from his gardening, "I was beginning to think you fell in love with some human and was trying to find a way to get out of your duties as general"

Sesshomaru quickly diverted his thoughts away from images of him falling in love with Kaede. "Never that. I was just…enjoying my little vacation"

Enjoying? Did he seriously enjoy Kaede's company? How the mighty have fallen, indeed.

"Well, now that you've graced us with your presence once more, it's time you get back on your job. God dared me to change the hearts of his most loyal subjects, to which I have no doubt will be easy because let's face it: humans are weak. I get to choose them at random and will be gone for a while. I see Michael and Raphael have been more present as of late. Keep an eye on those two; I've never liked those pricks and have liked them even less since I got here. Archangels with their stupid superiority complexes…"

Sesshomaru shifted uncomfortably as his father grumbled to himself and folded his hand behind his back. It was always better to let Satan vent than to interrupt (he learned that the hard way).

"Stupid, little…well, anyway, I'm off. Keep things copacetic and there won't be any problems when I return" Toga said in a low voice, turning his molten golden eyes on his son.

The inuyoukai nodded in understanding.

Toga's leathery black wings unfolded from his back as his forked tail whipped back and forth. "This is going to be fun" he said then grinned mischievously, horns glinting, "Don't make any babies while I'm gone"

Sesshomaru's eye twitched as his father took to the sky and his jaw clenched irritably. Make babies?! With who?!

A summoning portal appeared to his right, starting off as a little pinpoint of light then growing into a complexed, geometric, glowing circle before Inuyasha stepped through, yawning like he'd just woke up.

"You are just now returning?" Sesshomaru questioned, taking in the young man's haggard appearance. His clothes looked like they'd been stretched beyond their limits in several different directions and like someone had been using his shirt as a napkin.

Inuyasha slowly ran his tongue over his fangs, grinning mischievously. "Yeah. The women were…thoroughly entertaining on this trip"

"Please don't tell me you got one of them pregnant…" Sesshomaru murmured

"What? Eww, no! I don't like human women that much! Jeez, Sessh, gimme some credit!"

The inuyoukai huffed and flicked his wrist in an octagon to summon a looking portal to see what his troops were up to. "That is a relief"

Inuyasha stepped closer to his brother to catch a glimpse of what the army was up to. "Whatcha got them training to do today, sneaking up on the angels and slitting their throats? Personal favorite of mine. I can enjoy the bloodshed without getting dirty, ya know?"

"Hephaestus is forging The Unholy One for Father" Sesshomaru said in a low voice, frowning involuntarily as he watched his army training hard. They were strong. But would it be enough?

"The Unholy One? Well, if it ain't gonna lop God's head off, it ain't no good, no matter how cool its title is" Inuyasha huffed.

"He's forging it with steel mined from Mount Olympus, encased with vibranium and set with wurtzite boron nitride. I'm sure it will have the ability to do much more damage than lop God's head off, Inuyasha" the general said, "In Father's hands, it would be used to its greatest potential. That's not to say the war would be won easily but victory will surely be ours. My minions will be equipped with the best weapons and trained like assassins, not like they are some gorilla who just rushes head-first into battle with no plan"

The younger man narrowed his eyes on his older sibling. "That felt like a jab at me…"

"As the humans say, a ran over dog always hollers first"

"It's 'hit dog', you jackass!"

"Whatever" Sesshomaru muttered, waving a hand as he walked away. An alarm was going off in his head, warning him that he needed to check on Kaede. For the life of him he couldn't figure out why he even cared but he was past demanding answers from himself. He was just going to just let things be as they were.

He made his way over he barren landscape, past the fiery lake and the hordes of the dead screaming in agony, until he felt no one would happen to come across him. He fluttered his fingers in front of him to bring up an image of what was going on in Kaede's household. Currently, the old biddy was knitting yet again, though this time it looked more like socks as Ah-Un [currently disguised as a one headed dog though they were still as big as a Great Dane mixed with a horse] laid at her feet, the head on their paws but their ears high and on alert.

'Status report' Sesshomaru directed his thoughts to them.

Ah-Un's ears swiveled a tad to the right. 'Bored. Woman just hums and does the thing with the strings'

The general rolled his eyes. 'That is the least of my concern! How has she been holding up? Is she in pain?'

'Her knees hurt. I get things a lot for her. And her eyes are becoming cloudy'

She was becoming blind. Something about that made the inuyoukai's chest hurt. She wouldn't be able to see anymore…

'Sir?'

'That is all, Ah-Un. I will return soon'

'Sir, she's not well'

Sesshomaru focused on the image of Kaede and saw she was rubbing her chest, face pinched in pain. She began gasping, her knitting falling to the floor, her hand now clutching at her shirt. Ah-Un stood up in alarm and paced, unsure of what to do.

'Sir, I don't have thumbs! What do I do?!'

A hot, pricking sensation ghosted across the back of Sesshomaru's neck as the adrenaline in his body suddenly spiked. She was dying; that meant that was one more soul he had under his belt but that meant her soul would be in agony for the rest of eternity. She didn't deserve that. 'Take the phone and dial 911 with your claws. Just tell them "heart attack" and stay on the phone with them. They will trace your call and be there in a few minutes'

He watched Ah-Un knock the phone off the table and struggle to dial 911. Kaede was still gasping, now on her side on the floor, her eyes wide with fear.

"Stay with me, baba…" Sesshomaru whispered.

"911, what's your emergency?" the operator asked on the phone.

"Heart attack…" Ah-Un's voice sounded like a rusty bucket being dragged across gravel and they had to repeat themselves slowly several times.

"Who's having a heart attack? Is it you? Can you stay on the line with me, please? The paramedics will be there in about three minutes. Is your door unlocked?"

'Sir, her door is locked' Ah-Un's thoughts communicated.

'It isn't hard to unlock. Just use your paw' Sesshomaru commanded, feeling a sense of anxiety when he noticed Kaede's movements slowing to a stop, 'Hurry'

Ah-Uh made their way to the front door and stared at the oblong door lock for a moment before they reached up with a paw and swiped down to unlock it.

"Hello? Stay with me. Is the door unlocked?" the operator on the phone asked.

The beat trotted back over to the phone. "Yesss…"

'You sound like a snake" Sesshomaru scowled, his face contorted in disgust.

"Ok…uh, sir…? The paramedics are pulling into your driveway right now. Don't worry, they will take care of you"

At that moment, there were three firm raps at the door then it opened. "Paramedics! Where are you?"

Sesshomaru watched Ah-Un make their way to the door and bark for the paramedics to follow. They led the emergency response team to the living room where Kaede was lying still on the door, the color in her face grey. One of the paramedics called out to her and gently shook her arm and when she didn't respond, the team surrounded her, turned her on her back and began performing CPR.

"You can't die on me now, old woman" the young general said out loud to himself, resisting the urge to bite his nails. Ah-Un sat off to the side and out of the way, ears and head lowered in concern.

After a few minutes of CPR and pushing air into her lungs, Kaede gasped and began coughing though her eyes remained closed.

"Let's get her in the truck" one of the paramedics commanded and they transferred her onto a stretcher, wheeled her inside the truck and took off down the road, sirens blaring.

Sesshomaru hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until his chest began to burn and he quickly inhaled and let the air out in a rush, closing his eyes for a moment. Obviously, he wasn't the praying type but he sent a quick, "Thank you" up anyway.

'Uh…what should I do, wait?' Ah-Un asked, looking uncomfortable.

'No, come back. You've done well' Sesshomaru commanded, 'I will take it from here'

.

..

…

Kaede became aware she wasn't at home when she flexed her hand against whatever she was lying on. Obviously, she was in a bed; the mattress was thinner than the one at home and there was a painfully clean smell in the air, like she was in a hospital…

Ah, that's right. Something had caused her chest to hurt something ferocious. She slowly lifted a hand to her chest and rubbed, relieved it didn't hurt anymore. It must have been a heart attack. She prayed she never felt anything like that again.

"Glad to see you're awake"

Kaede opened her eyes and realized she didn't have her glasses on. But she'd recognize that voice anywhere. She smiled, her eyes getting hot. "Oh, Ryuk. You didn't stay with me all night, did you?"

Sesshomaru uncrossed his legs, grimacing as the blood flowed unrestricted to his foot again. "You've been asleep for three days"

"Three days?!" Kaede asked, alarmed, "Who's going to feed Rocket? Oh, my goodness, he needs to be taken outside! Ryuk, I need you to go over there and-"

"Rocket is fine, no need to worry. I took him to a neighbor's house" the inuyoukai murmured, ignoring the urge to laugh at Ah-Un being named Rocket. He could only imagine how in the world he got that nickname.

The old woman sighed, putting her hand on her forehead. "Oh, thank goodness. Thank you, Ryuk, you're such a sweet, thoughtful boy. When I come home, I will make you your favorite pie"

"No, when you come home, you will be taking it easy and relaxing with your feet up" Sesshomaru said matter-of-factly, standing and straightening out his slacks, "We can't risk you having another heart attack or worse, a stroke"

"But, Ryuk, I feel fin-"

"I don't want to hear it. You will be on bedrest by doctor orders if you insist on arguing with me"

Kaede puffed up as if that's exactly what she was about to do but was interrupted by a knock at the door and a young doctor stepping through, a genuine smile fixed on her pretty face.

"Hi, you must be Ms. Kaede's grandson. I am Dr. Pierce, I performed the surgery Ms. Kaede needed on her heart" the doctor said in a pleasant voice. Sesshomaru had to shake himself of the image of this Dr. Pierce screaming in agony as the flame of the fiery lake consumed her.

"I…yes, I go by…Ryuk. What exactly was the problem with…grandmother's heart?" the young general asked.

"Well, it seems Ms. Kaede got a clog in her arteries which caused the blood flow to and from her heart to strain" Dr. Pierce explained, "Her heart began working overtime, trying to provide the rest of her body with blood and then it got tired and that was when she had the heart attack"

Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder at his "grandmother", who looked away as if in shame. It did something to his chest to know, as sweet as she was, sometimes she still had to suffer, even when she had no control over it. "Thank you. When will I be able to take her home and put her on bedrest?"

Dr. Pierce glanced over his shoulder and grinned at something [probably Kaede making a face at him behind his back]. "We want to keep an eye on her for a few days so I'd say in able two days, you will though I'm not sure if bedrest will be necessary. She will need to be more active and take on a healthier diet though"

"No more sugar in your tea, lady" the young general murmured, turning to the old woman who heaved a great sigh.

"I guess not. Can I at least have honey?" Kaede asked.

"No" Sesshomaru responded at the same time Dr. Pierce said, "Sure"

The cardio surgeon chuckled. "Everything in moderation. No more fats or red meat anymore though and more grains"

"And bedrest" Sesshomaru piped up.

"Oh, hush, Ryuk" Kaede grumbled.

As the doctor made her exit, Sesshomaru spent a little more time with the old woman before he took his leave with no real destination in mind. Caring for humans were so stressful! He should be done with this foolishness and just snatch the soul out of her body and drag it back with him…but alas, the little voice in his head squealed, "No" so he did not. He sighed. That woman was going on bedrest when she got home, damn it. He didn't care what she said.

.