The Matchmakers

I do not own Inuyasha

Kagura's Heart

Sesshoumaru headed for his castle. He couldn't believe what he had told Kagome. He had never told anyone about his childhood. So why did he tell her. He didn't want her pity and he didn't mean to make her cry.

"You told her because you care for her and wanted her to understand you just a little."

"How can she understand me. I don't understand myself anymore."

"You haven't changed. She just opened up a few doors that you had locked in your soul."

"I don't know what you are talking about. What doors did I have locked?"

"You locked away your emotions because our father wanted you too. I knew that some day you would meet the one to open them."

"And you think she is the one?"

"Don't you? After all you have told her things that you have never told anyone else. Sesshoumaru you have to stop and go back to the girl. Something is wrong I can sense it."

Sesshoumaru stopped and turned around. His youki hadn't been wrong earlier and the closer he got to the lake he could feel the collar starting to pulse. His youki had been right. Kagome was in danger. The collar had let him know when Kouga had approached her and when she got angry with Inuyasha. Somehow his youki knew when she was in danger also. Maybe his youki senses were tied to the collar and he could get the information quicker that way. Sesshoumaru didn't care as long as he was able to save Kagome. He looked around the lake for Kagome and saw her run into the forest after firing a purification ball at Kagura. So Naraku finally found out about Kagome's transformation and now he wanted her. Well he would have to deal with me before he gets Kagome. He drew Toukijin and aimed at Kagura.

Kagura barely missed being hit by the blast from Sesshoumaru's sword. How could he get here so quick? There had been nothing to alert him to the girls danger. Had they mated and Naraku failed to receive this information. That is the only way he could have known the girl was in trouble. Well she hoped that Kohaku was ready to catch the girl because with Sesshoumaru around she had to concentrate on him.

Benten, Aizen and Gekka watched the girl run into the forest. Aizen looked to the other gods "I will go after Kagome" He raced after the girl.

Benten and Gekka watched the lord and wind sorceress fight. "We have to stop this." Benten raised her hand and the sorceress disappeared. "That should do it for now." I hope Em doesn't mind another visitor. "I am going to find out what the powder was for. I will be back in a few minutes. You keep and eye out for Sesshoumaru."

Kagura's heart
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Benten appeared in Em's palace. "Hi Em did you place my package somewhere safe?"

Em just shook his head. "You know Benten you could at least warn me before delivering any more "Packages"."

Benten laughed "Now where is the fun in that."

"Your package is in the same place as the last one was." Em jerked his head to the doors behind him.

"Thanks Em." Benten blew him a kiss and took off for the cell. She opened the door and found the wind sorceress chained to the wall. She walked up to Kagura and pulled her head up "Sorceress you will tell me what was in the powder that you used on Kagome was?"

Kagura glared at the woman "Why would I tell you anything?"

Benten smiled at the woman in front of her. "You think your master is horrible, Lady you haven't seen anything yet." With a wave of her hand Kagura was spread eagle against the wall. Her chains tightened and she had no room to move at all. "Now we can do this the easy way you help me then maybe I can help you. So how do you want to go about this?"

Kagura grimaced at the tightness of her chains. "If I tell you he will kill me."

"My dear he can't see you where you are right this minute. Now tell me what the powder was for." Benten glared at the girl. She was starting to get on her nerves.

Kagura didn't know if she could believe the lady or not. Well since she didn't get the girl her life was probably over anyway. "Naraku had the powder made to hold her miko powers in check. But he wasn't sure how long it would take for it to work. He told me it would work for two days once she was affected. He wanted me to get the girl and put her in the dungeon he had prepared for her. That is all I know."

"Why do you follow a master such as he?" Benten could tell the girl was troubled.

"He holds my sister and me prisoner. If I do not obey him he will crush my heart which he holds in a container and then he would kill my sister Kanna. I will not allow that to happen. So since I have no other choice I obey him." Kagura lowered her head. She couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face.

"So you only follow him because of your sister and the fact that he holds your heart hostage? What would you do if you were free to do what you wished?"
Benten watched the girl carefully. She had to see if the girl told her the truth.

"I would take my sister Kanna and find a quiet village someplace so she can grow up happy. I haven't seen her smile in years. I would be able to fly free and stop hurting the people I would like to make friends with. And hopefully one day find a mate and have my own children." Kagura sighed wistfully.

"If I granted you your freedom from this Naraku you would take your sister from him and flee, never to hurt anyone else." Benten smiled at Kagura.

"Yes that is what I wish to do. I would not hurt anyone unless they attacked me or my sister again." Kagura looked up at the strange lady. Why was she asking me all these questions. It's not like she could help me.

Benten walked up to Kagura and lifted her head. "If I find out you played me false you will regret ever being alive." Benten stepped back and held out her hand. She moved her right hand over her left and a golden heart appeared in her hand. "I give you this heart. Go retrieve you sister and forever more live in peace."

Kagura watched the heart float from the lady to her. With a bright light it entered her chest and she felt it beating. Tears of joy escaped her eyes "I thank you my lady."

"You can thank me by helping out the one you were sent to kidnap. She will be the one to defeat your old master but she will need help. She has a big heart and will forgive you your sins if you but ask. As soon as you free your sister take her to the miko's village. You will find peace there. Don't get me wrong it will not be easy but I believe you are up to the challenge." Benten released the sorceress from her chains and transported her back to the lake.

Kagura couldn't believe what had happened. She was finally free. Now all she had to do was find a way to get Kanna. She could do it because she was free. She pulled a feather from her hair and took to the skies.
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Aizen followed the girl. He watched as she slid to a stop. He saw a young boy and quite a few demons facing the girl. He saw her stand in a battle stance. Surely she didn't plan on fighting all those demons herself. The girl was surrounded how could she possible win. Aizen waved his hand and froze the forest around the girl. He bowed his head and called for his friend Bishamon. He could help the girl.

Bish heard Aizen call and went to see what the God of love needed the God of war for. He appeared beside Aizen and looked over the scene before him. Now he knew why he was needed. "Why should I help the girl?"

"The gods have taken her under our wing for now and we can't allow her to die and she can't face all those demons herself. There is one hitch though. You can't kill the young boy that is attacking her." Aizen pointed to Kohaku.

"I will help you know I can't turn down a good fight." He moved to stand beside the girl and drew his sword. Then he nodded at Aizen and waited for the forest to start moving again.

Kagome slid to a stop when Kohaku walked out from behind a tree. He had a lot of demons behind him. I don't think that I can take them all on by myself. At least Kagura wasn't following her. That was one less demon she had to put up with. She saw a shadow at her side and turned her head to look at who was there. Surely not more demons. A man who rivaled Sesshoumaru in looks stood at her side with his sword drawn. He smiled at her and faced the hoard of demons again. Not that she was complaining about the help but who was he. Hopefully she survived long enough to find out. She didn't have her bow so she would have to fight using her poison claws and miko powers. I hope that is enough. She formed a ball and tossed it at Kohaku. He was engulfed within the bubble and unable to move. At least he will stay safe for now. Then she and the man faced the rest of the hoard.

Bish watched the girl fight. As fighters go she was not all that talented. But she had heart and it seemed to be working for her. With a wave of his sword he took out a line of demons heading straight for the girl. Then he turned on the ones headed for him. It didn't take him long to dispatch the mindless idiots. They had a one track mind and couldn't seem to think about much else other than getting the girl. Their master needed better demons than this to get past him. Soon he saw another demon join the group but this one stood beside the demoness and helped her. Between the three of them the hoard was soon totally dispatched.

Sesshoumaru had been fighting Kagura when she suddenly disappeared. The collar on his neck still pulsed so that meant that Naraku had other demons to capture Kagome close by. Sesshoumaru followed her scent into the forest. It didn't take him long before the sounds of a huge battle reached his ears. He raced for Kagome. She couldn't fight long by herself with no weapons. He found her in the forest but someone was helping her fight the hoard of demons Naraku had sent after her. He must want her bad to send that many of his demons after her. He didn't know who was helping her but he wouldn't complain right now. Now he had to rescue Kagome. She was getting surrounded by demons. Sesshoumaru watched one raise his sword and swing at Kagome he hit her arm and Kagome held her other hand on the injury. She stopped the bleeding and purified the demon with and arrow she conjured up. He raised his arm and used his whip to dispatch those closest to her. He made it to her side and watched as she took out a few demons by purifying them. That made a few others wary of approaching her. He drew Toukijin again and blasted the remaining demons.

When the forest cleared and was silent once again Kagome turned to the stranger. "Thank you for your help my lord." She bowed to show her gratitude.

Bish watched the girl. "Your welcome. I was walking in the forest and came upon you and them. I was glad to help. I must take my leave now. I have urgent matters that need my attention." He nodded to both Kagome and Sesshoumaru. As he walked by Sesshoumaru he stopped to whisper. "If she is to fight battles like this often I would suggest training her a little more and make sure she always carries a weapon with her." Bish nodded to Sesshoumaru one last time and walked off into the forest. When he was a safe distance away he disappeared.

Kagome saw the man stop and whisper something to Sesshoumaru but even with her demon hearing she could not tell what was said. "What did he say to you?"

Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome and looked at her. She had several small cuts and a couple of deep ones but all were healing nicely. Then he looked to the bubble floating in front of them. "What do you plan on doing with him?"

Kagome had forgotten about Kohaku. Then she looked back at Sesshoumaru. "Could you help me with something? It would mean a great deal to me and to my friend Sango."

Sesshoumaru looked at her warily. What was the girl up to now. "What do you want me to do?"

Kagome walked up to him and drew Tensaiga from the scabbard at his side. "Just use this sword when I tell you too."

"The boy is not dead why would you need Tensaiga?" The girl can be really confusing at times.

Kagome sighed. "Kohaku has a shard in his back. I can remove it but it will kill him. I need you to bring him back." Kagome walked over to Sesshoumaru and used her magic to lift her so her face was level with his. She placed her arms behind his neck and brought her mouth close to his. "Please?" Then she kissed him.

Sesshoumaru was shocked. She had actually kissed him. Of her own free will.
He felt her tongue slide along his and he used his arm to crush her to his chest being sure not to impale her on his armor then he returned her kiss. When she broke the kiss he smiled down at her. "I would have helped you without you doing that."

"I know." Kagome smiled at him "But I just wanted to kiss you and it gave me a reason." She floated back down and went to turn away from him.

Sesshoumaru pulled Kagome back to him. "You don't need a reason to kiss me. Feel free to do it anytime the urge strikes." He pulled her back up against him and this time it was his turn to kiss her. It was his turn to break the kiss this time. He didn't want anyone watching when he took her as his mate. "I can't guarantee that the sword will work though. I have no control over who it works on."

"Sesshoumaru something is wrong. I don't feel right." That was all she said before she collapsed and was falling to the ground.

Sesshoumaru heard Kagome shout and ran and caught her before she hit the ground. He sat down and placed her on his lap. He could smell a bad scent coming from her body. But he didn't know what the scent was. It didn't smell like poison. One of the demons must have used something on her. Knowing Naraku it wasn't something pleasant.

Benten appeared beside her friends. "How's it going?"

Gekka turned to her. "How does it look like it is going."

Aizen too turned to look at her "She collapsed. My guess is because of the powder the wind sorceress used."

All but Benten turned when a bright light appeared beside them. Binzuru-Sonja met Benten in the forest where she had said. He turned and saw Gekka and Aizen smile at him "I will do what I can."

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Binzuru-Sonja
The Japanese god of curing and fine vision

Bishamon
The Japanese god to whom many functions are attributed, but he is mostly known as a god of war, the distributor of wealth and protector of those who worship the 'Lotus of the righteous Law'