Small Needed Warnings (SNW): This takes place a few days after the final episode of the series, so it's gonna be a bit of a spoiler if you haven't seen the end. There are also Limes, Lemons, and a Lemonade or two through-out the story. Characters are a bit OOC.

PS- If you see (~*Then something inside.*~), it's me talking

Breathe (With Me Sesshomaru)- A Lost Heart

The day came early for Inuyasha's group. Everyone was up at dawn, and ready to head out to look for more jewel shards. After packing everything up, and saying good-bye to Lady Kaede, the group headed out to the east.

The decision to go this way came from two known facts: 1.) They hadn't searched in this direction in a long time; and 2.) East is opposite of west and that means getting farther away from Sesshomaru, Kagome's main source of pain.

So they continued their journey east, hoping to also hatch a plan to finally defeat Naraku.

(~*Yay! Off on journey…again!*~)

(~*Sesshomaru-sama?*~)

The Western Lord also knew something for sure: he was NOT under ANY circumstances going home anytime soon. After the little run in with his mother, her attendants would come downstairs asking for him multiple times a day. He'd go up there, and just get the same lecture over, and over again.

This is when he decided to leave and go searching for Naraku again. He brought along Jaken, Rin, and Ah-Un, as usual; mostly to keep Rin and Jaken out of his mother's displeasure.

And most of that was for Rin's safety.

The three continued on, heading in the polar opposite direction of where they started.

'The farther I get from my mother,' Sesshomaru thought. 'The more of my sanity I'll retain.'

(~*Do we BLAME him? =P*)

(~*Switch back!*~)

Three days had passed, and still no sign of the sacred jewel, or the half-demon Naraku. The four young travelers, along with their demon companions, were wondering if they were going to get any leads on this trip out.

Kagome had not sensed any sacred jewel shards, but they had exorcised a demon from a wealthy family's home. This had allowed them to sleep under a roof and receive two meals as payment. They were also given the opportunity to bathe.

After thanking the family for taking care of them for the night, the group set off again, continuing east on their search for Naraku.

"Anything yet Kagome?" Inuyasha asked the spacey miko.

She jumped and shook her head. "No, nothing at all," she answered him in a low voice. "I haven't felt any shards except for the one around my neck." The miko then proceeded to twiddle the little jar between her fingers. The shard hit the glass and made different little sounds that distracted her.

Inuyasha noticed that she had become distant over the last two days. She didn't talk much, raise her head for too long, or make any suggestions. Kagome still walked at her normal pace, but stayed back from Miroku, Sango, and Shippo. But the weird thing was, if Inuyasha pulled her into an embrace, she'd just stand there. Sometimes she would say "Shouldn't we be going?" or "What are you doing?", but that was even rare to hear. The half-demon was worried. She was so spacey and distant, that he was worrying that she was being eaten up from the inside out. And that she would become an easy target in an attack from Naraku.

Inuyasha reached over and took her hand away from the vile. He held onto her hand tightly, squeezing hard enough to get her attention.

Kagome looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. She came towards him and wrapped her arm behind his. He smiled back and they continued to follow their friends.

(~*Lalaalalaaa. =] Cutsie*~)

Little Rin skipped ahead of Sesshomaru as their small group walked on towards the east. She hummed little songs and picked up flowers as she went. Soon, the girl had a small bouquet of flowers from everywhere they had passed. She ran up to Jaken and pushed them in his face.

"Look Master Jaken!" she said happily. "Aren't they beautiful!"

Jaken sneezed. He looked up at the human girl with an annoyed expression. "How dare you do that, girl! I can't believe that you would think shoving flowers in my face was a good idea!"

She jumped back, holding the flowers to her chest. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it girl," the imp snapped. "I don't appreciate you not thinking before you act." He walked up to her as he spoke and smacked the flowers from her hands.

Rin was startled. Jaken normally wouldn't get so upset with her. She was scared, which was unusual, because she was usually quick to snap back at Jaken and then skip to take a spot next to Sesshomaru. Today though, she was quiet and really sad. She just stood there as Jaken turned to leave with Sesshomaru.

When the little girl didn't move, Ah-Un went back to check on her. It tapped her with one of its heads, trying to get her to move, but she wouldn't budge. Sesshomaru was quite a deal in front of her when he smelt the salt of her tears.

He immediately turned around to see her so far behind him and hunched into a little ball. The Western Lord started his way back to her, as Jaken (not knowing Sesshomaru had turned around) continued walking.

The Demon Lord stopped in front of Rin and looked around for the source of this sudden wash of tears. He saw the flowers that she had collected, scattered over the ground; some with petals torn, other squished from when Jaken had stepped on them as he left.

Sesshomaru was a little clueless of what to do. He didn't want her to cry, but he didn't know how to calm her. He didn't want to ruin his reputation as the Demon Lord of the Western Lands by holding her, but he didn't want her to think that he didn't care.

He did care; and a great deal at that. He didn't want anyone to know that he saw Rin as one of his own; like an abandoned pup taken in by an adult dog. She was his responsibility, no matter what anyone said. He swore to protect her, and had even admitted his feelings of fatherly love towards her indirectly. Sesshomaru wanted to make sure that she felt safe; a feeling he knew his father had once had toward Inuyasha's human mother.

Not knowing what else to do for Rin, he swallowed his pride. He leaned down and scooped the young girl into his arms. When he had finished standing up, she wiggled. Rin moved to wrap her arms around Sesshomaru's neck, burying her little nose into his shoulder. He moved to hold her in a more comfortable position and then started back off in the direction he had before.

Rin continued to cry, but only she knew why. She knew who had come back for her and who was holding her. She was so happy that her Lord had come back for her, to make sure she was okay. Nothing could make her feel better that knowing her Lord Sesshomaru cared about her that much as to not leave her behind.

When Sesshomaru had caught up to a distraught Jaken, he opened his mouth for the first time that day.

"Do not ever leave Rin behind again," the Demon Lord said. "This Sesshomaru never wants to see tears in her eyes again for your stupid acts of anger."

Jaken was frozen. He had never heard his Lord speak so much anger towards him before. "Yes My Lord," he whispered as he followed Sesshomaru and Ah-Un.

Sesshomaru unconsciously leaned his head on Rin's. His timing was impeccable, because she just then whispered,

"Thank you Lord Sesshomaru."

The Western Lord suppressed a smile.

(~*Awwwwww. Right? Heehee *~)

(~*Back we go!*~)

The group had stopped for the night in a clearing just out of a forest. Miroku and Sango built the fire as Shippo dug the cooking utensils from Kagome's bag. Kilala stood guard for them by patrolling in a circle around where they were set-up.

Inuyasha sat next to Kagome, who was motionless and blank. She didn't speak, even when spoken to. If she did happen to speak, it was robotic and emotionless. It was like her soul was gone and nothing controlled her expressions.

The two were sitting side-by-side cross legged. Inuyasha reached over and placed his right hand on her knee. She didn't look at him; she just leaned over and placed her head on his shoulder. He positioned his head on hers and snuggled. He could feel her smile, something he hadn't seen her do in a while now.

She moved a little under the pressure of his head. "Inuyasha," she whispered kind of sadly. He jumped a bit. He hadn't heard her talk with that kind of emotion in a while.

"What is it?" he asked her, trying to keep his voice from shaking with happiness that she was returning to normal.

"You're so sweet," she said happily, but she sounded like she was going to cry.

His heart jumped in his chest; and he snuggled her head again. "What's wrong Kagome?" he asked worriedly.

"I…I feel so lost…" she said, fighting back the tears. "I-I don't know what to do…"

Sango and Miroku heard her whimper, and were instantly concerned. Shippo smelt the forming tears and was getting ready to ask her what was wrong, but Sango beat him to it.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" the demon slayer asked kindly. She walked over and crouched down in front of her, reaching her hand out for the miko's cheek.

As Sango's skin met hers, Kagome began to cry. "I'm so l-lost Sango-o," she cried. The demon slayer rubbed the tears between her fingers. She reached her other arm out. Kagome lifted herself away from Inuyasha and collapsed into her best friend's arms. Sango held her tight, the miko's face buried in her chest, her hands gripping the sides of the yukata. Sango rested her head on top of hers. She gently shushed her and rocked her back and forth.

Inuyasha was now clueless of what to do. He couldn't hold her to comfort her and now he sat there with nothing to do, but to hear her cry. He hung his head, defeated of what he could do.

Not knowing anything else he could do, he reached out and rubbed her back with his hand. Sango gave him a small smile, one that told him that he was still important in this situation. She snuggled Kagome closer to her and the miko's arms wrapped around her waist.

Miroku and Shippo began working on dinner. It was their way of staying out of the way and doing something productive. Soon the smell of grilled fish filled the campsite, and the sound of Kagome's sobs died down.

When the food was ready, Sango rubbed a finger across Kagome's cheek. "Kagome sweetheart," she said sweetly. "Are you hungry?" The young miko shook her head no, and whimpered. Sango looked up at Inuyasha, her eyes sunken. The bags under the demon slayer's eyes were very dark.

The half demon withdrew his hand and moved to sit next to Kagome and Sango. He reached to rub the back of Kagome's head.

"Kagome," he whispered. "Come here." When she shook her head again, he leaned down to her ear. "Please come with me Kagome," he mumbled, trying to keep his voice even.

As he moved away from her face, she began to sit up. She sat back on her heals and stretched. Her hands came to rub her face and she looked over at her best friend.

"Thank you Sango," she gasped out of her dry mouth.

Sango leaned over and kissed Kagome's forehead. "Of course honey. Anything for you." She gave Kagome a little squeeze, got up, and joined Miroku and Shippo for dinner.

Inuyasha sat cross legged and reached out his arms for her. She crawled over and tucked herself into his lap. He cradled her gently, but held her tightly in his arms. Seeing her in such a distressed state upseted him greatly. The half demon pulled his face down in towards hers and cuddled her.

"Inu…yasha," Kagome whispered. He jumped a little bit, but opened his ears to what she was going to say.

"Thank you…" she said, just like she had so many times before.

Inuyasha was glad to hear those words from her mouth. It meant that she was feeling better. It meant that she would start to return to normal.

"You're welcome," he told her back. Kagome's arms pushed by his shoulders. He sat up and they wrapped around his neck, her face resting in his shoulder. The half demon smiled and looped his own arms around her waist.

A/N: Alright, so I feel terrible. I forgot to post this chapter…..=[ I'm sorry that I can't remember to do one little thing…lol. *sigh* Oh well. I hope you liked it.

Please R & R!