The Path of Forgiveness

Disclaimer: Really, I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the anime. All of the original characters however are mine.

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. My loving hubby desided to share the cold he drug home with him from work last week. As always big hugs for all of my reviewrs and please, more reviews are always nice. Enjoy!

A warm breeze blew in off the ocean causing Sesshomaru’s silver white hair to swirl around his knees. His cold amber eyes watched the slight woman still kneeling on the damp sand. She coughed again, more sea water escaping her lungs and stomach.

“Watch your tone when addressing me,” the Taiyoukai stated curtly.

She peered up at him through her wet, sandy hair, breathing heavily from the exertion of the last coughing fit. Slowly she stood up, testing to make sure nothing was broken or twisted too badly. Satisfied that everything was in its proper place, she spoke.

“Is that really necessary?” she asked referring to the sword, Tokijin, he had leveled at her.

“You will refrain from using your scent to try and seduce me, Naomi.” He hissed after another whiff of pheromones caused his blood to warm again.

The woman’s eyes narrowed and her upper lip twitched in annoyance.

Sesshomaru’s amber orbs widened slightly. He knew that look, and it wasn’t one he associated with the happier moments from childhood. He moved quickly to his right to avoid the attack he knew was coming.

Perhaps it was the fact that his blood was screaming for him to take her, not fight her, or he had underestimated her abilities, but a sharp pain shot down his arm, causing it to go numb. Tokijin dropped from his hand landing with a hollow thud on the wet sand.

She turned on her heal, causing bits of sea plants and water to fly off her hair. The spray splattered across Sesshomaru’s white silks. “I would think you would, at least, still be able to tell us apart,” she snapped angrily. Her agitated pace lead her to what was left of the ships hull.

Sesshomaru waited for the feeling to slowly return to his arm. He had insulted her. The demon lord had a hard time being angry at her for the attack, he would have done the same thing in her position, but she had slung sea muck on his person. Accident or not, that infuriated him. Picking up his sword and returning it to his side, he jumped and landed in front of the object of his annoyance.

“You will not turn your back on this Sesshomaru,” he growled lowly, poison dripping from his claws.

Takara sighed, frustrated with the stubborn demon in front of her. “You may be the Lord of the Western Lands, but you are in no way *my* lord. You made that abundantly clear the day you dismissed my clan from your service. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to put my parents to rest at the clan shrine,” she brushed by Sesshomaru, the hurt in her voice clear to even him.

He watched her walk over to the busted hull of the strange ship. “Your clan shrine is located on my lands. You will need my permission to enter,” he smirked inwardly. Some times the best way to win a fight was not with force, but with words. He knew her clan valued the honoring of ancestors highly. Forcing her to swallow her pride and ask for permission to enter his lands would appease his ire. There was, of course, the off chance she would choose to try and fight him. He knew Takara much better than he did her twin Naomi. Takara would choose duty over pride. That was why she had traveled back to Japan, not her twin or her other two older sisters.

She looked down at the beach then over her shoulder at Sesshomaru. “My parents requested that I return their ashes to my father’s homeland, to rest at the clan shrine. Lord Sesshomaru, may I have permission to travel on your lands to fulfill their final request?”

He wanted to be vindictive and say no, but Tenseiga, seeming to read his thoughts, pulsed in protest. “You may, but after you have done this, if you linger on my lands I will kill you.”

“Thank you,” she replied softly, finishing her trek to the hull.

The Taiyoukai watched as the woman searched through the rubble, her hunt becoming more and more frantic with every pile she dug at. ‘Some things never change.’ He thought to himself. His verbal victory some how felt hollow. She had been one of the few he had called friend as a child. As a young adult he had decided that he didn’t need anyone. He had distanced himself from her. After his father’s death he had turned her and her clan away. He had no need for spies or assassins. All he needed was power.

Takara picked up a soggy burlap sack. This one felt like it was the right weight. The others had been filled with grains and other provisions. This one sounded like it contained pottery. Carefully, she opened the bag. Inside with only the glazing a bit chipped, were the two in tacked sealed urns. Taking the bag, she stumbled over to a log and sat down, clutching it to her chest in relief. She took them out to make sure the pitch sealing the lids hadn’t come loose.

Sesshomaru walked over to where she sat, and looked at the urns. All that remained of his parents in this realm was two memorial markers. He was puzzled. “What happened to your mother? I was under the impression that your species did not ever truly die.”

Takara touched the kanji for ‘mother’ on one of the urns. “She didn’t last long after my father died. The Gods allowed her to die as a mortal, so that they both could return to the Great Wheel.”

Sesshomaru nodded, remembering the first time he had been on the receiving end of ‘the look’. Her family had just been assigned to his father. Her father was human and her mother some strange European demon he had never heard of before. Naturally he had called her a hanyuo, and paid for it for the next few moments. He didn’t know she had been trained in various hand to hand fighting styles and was very accomplished in them. Give them both swords and he was far superior. Let her get close enough to strike with a hand or foot, she had the advantage. Humans trained the way she was hardly posed a problem. They were too slow. She had the advantages of demonic speed and strength. At the time he hadn’t known that her species had to mate with humans to procreate. All the males born were human, the females full demons.

“Naomi made both of the urns, I painted them. Father only lived another twenty-five years after we left for Europe. Mother a decade longer. It took me the better part of a century and a half to make back here.”

Sorrow crossed her delicate features. Sesshomaru buried the urge to comfort once again in the back of his mind. This time it was harder. She had once been a friend, and those long dead feelings tried to poke out of their graves.

She looked up at him, her inhumanly green blue eyes, the only hint at her demonic nature, studied him for a moment. “I need to be going.”

Sesshomaru nodded. “Remember my warning.”

Takara headed into the low brush at the edge of the beach. “I will. Tell me one thing though, Lord Sesshomaru, have you attained ultimate power yet?”

He ignored the question and headed to where he left the others. He would lead them to Inuyasha’s forest, instead of the manor for now. He wanted nothing to do will the female traveling in that direction at the moment. Inuyasha would surly provide him with a fight to blow off some steam. There was also a deep hot spring near by. Takara had not only briefly numbed his arm, but had set the muscles in his left shoulder to a dull ache reminding the nerves that the limb was missing, as a hidden gift. He had also forgotten that she could be vindictive when provoked.

************************

The Taiyoukai of the southern lands read the scroll in front of him for what seemed to be the hundredth time. The kanji were starting to bleed together. He was getting to old for this, yet his son refused to take over. It appeared that he would be lord of the south until the day he died.

He rubbed his eyes and stood up to open the window to his study. The recent storm had done nothing to ease the humidity in the air, and now the temperature was even higher. Breathing in the fresh air deeply, the bear youkai started to relax. He looked out over the peaceful moonlit court yard to ponder his newest challenge. Two of the human shoguns on his lands had taken to fighting. Normally he wouldn’t bother himself with human squabbles, but this one hinted at a problem for him. The loosing shogun was a demon sympathizer and had lived in relative peace with the youkai he ruled over. The other shogun was new to his title and was proving to be a never ending thorn in the side.

A bit of movement out of the corner of his eye down in the court yard caught his attention. A tall black figure walked right by his guard followed by two shadow- like figures unnoticed. As if it sensed him watching it, the creature looked up at him and grinned.

The Taiyoukai slammed the window shut and retrieved his armor and nodachi. He had a feeling the creature was headed to his study. The thing had no scent and could walk right past his guards. No demon he had knowledge of could do this.

“Who are you? Wait! You can’t go in there!” The voice of his personal body guard drifted past the door. Next the sound of cracking bone and ripping skin assaulted his ears. The door slid open to reveal the tall humanoid creature sucking on the heart of the youkai’s former body guard. The body was being torn apart by the two trailing shadows. The scent of blood was overwhelming.

A pair of dark purple eyes landed on the stunned southern lord. “Forgive my manners, would you like a taste? There is nothing like the heart of a true warrior as a late night snack.” A purple tongue darted out of his mouth and licked a trail of blood trickling down his arm.

The bear youkai leveled his nodachi at the intruder. “What is the meaning of this intrusion?”

“My manners really are escaping me tonight. My name is Katakai. The other two are my brothers, Katoukai and Kakaosu. We need a body. Yours specifically.”

The southern lord struck out at Katakai with the nodachi. The intruder stood there, disinterested in the blade. It struck solidly on his left shoulder. The blade cracked with an audible pop.

The lord stared at the fractured blade in disbelief. This had been the finest folded blade ever created by his master weapon smith.

The creature smirked at him, uninjured. “Did you think a simple metal blade would harm me?”

The Taiyoukai backed up, slowly making his way to the window. The jump to the court yard would be nothing. At least there he would have the room to transform into his youkai form.

One of the shadows flew up to him and started talking, its voice incomprehensible and other worldly. He reached out to swat at it. The thing hissed and struck him back with lightning quick movements, leaving three stinging shallow scratches on each cheek.

“Katoukai didn’t appreciate that. Now be still, he needs your body. You see, being trapped in that cursed gem for so long, only my body survived. My brothers need a host. Are you not honored to be picked as a host for one of the most powerful gods that ever existed?” Katakai smiled wickedly. “Not that it matters. Do not worry, you won’t die. You will be aware of everything Katoukai does.”

The shadow being drew to its full height in front of the bear youkai. Several shadow hooks shot out and embedded themselves in his skin. He opened his mouth to roar with rage, but nothing came out. The shadow thing poured its self into his mouth. His golden brown eyes turned solid black, then back to their normal color.

Katoukai flexed his fingers, watching in fascination as the joints moved. “It has been far too long, brother.”

“Indeed. Does the bear possess the information we need?” Katakai asked.

Katoukai looked thoughtful for a moment. “Yes, he does.”

“Good, with Kakunou in place all we need now is to head north and replace the northern lord with Kakaosu.”

Katoukai nodded. “I will begin with our plans here immediately.”

Katakai smiled and headed to the door. “And I have another body to find.”

************************

It was late when the group landed at Kaede’s hut. Inuyasha had slipped in and out of consciousness the entire trip. His demon blood had managed to keep the worst of the poison at bay, but he was still out of action for a while. Thanks to some of Kaede’s herbs he was sleeping peacefully.

Kagome sighed. She was tired and in desperate need of a bath. Her clothing was stiff with Inuyasha’s dried blood. Sango and Shippo were already asleep, as was Kaede. She blinked back tears. This was all her fault. If she wasn’t so darn helpless. “Well, I’m not going to bed covered in blood,” she whispered to herself. She dug around in her backpack for a clean change of clothes, towel, and her soaps. She had been venturing to the near by hot springs alone for a while now, but Inuyasha had always been near by to help if there was trouble. Tonight, she would just have to deal with it on her own. After gathering her things she headed to the hot spring.

***********************

Sesshomaru stopped the group outside of the village for the night. He could smell the sulfurous hot spring from there. They were close enough for the night. Rin had nodded off several times already. There was no reason to rile up everyone by approaching his half brother’s pack tonight, it could wait till morning. Besides, the ache in his shoulder had only increased. Unless Takara had become especially vindictive, she was not the cause of his discomfort. The young Miko of Inuyasha’s had asked him once if he ever had phantom pain from his lost limb. He was uncertain of what she had meant at the time, but now he understood.

“Jaken, watch Rin. Make sure she eats something as well. She hasn’t had anything all day.”

“Yes my lord,” Jaken responded, making a small fire for the group.

Sesshomaru headed to the hot spring, his eyebrows drawn slightly together with worry. Rin usually ate several times a day. Had the Monk’s death affected her that much?

He stepped out from the thick bushes and stopped. Already sitting in the spring was the young Miko. Resisting the urge to growl in frustration, he began to strip of his silk clothing. Miko or not, he was going to soak his aching shoulder. She probably wouldn’t notice him any way. She had her head cradled in her arms on the rocky bank of the spring. ‘Foolish girl. It wouldn’t take much for a stray demon to come by and kill her, she’s being inattentive to her surroundings,’ he thought to himself.

After hanging the silks in a near by tree, he slipped his long, lean frame into the deep hot waters across from the inattentive Miko. If she noticed the slight rippling of the water, she gave no indication. He was close enough now to smell her salty tears over the sulfur of the water.

Sesshomaru sunk up to his neck in the soothing water, his hair fanning out around him. He rotated the shoulder a bit to relieve the tightness. A few more moments passed and she still didn’t look up from her arms. Her negligence to her surroundings finally got to him.

“Miko, the Monk is dead. Your tears are a waste of energy.” His voice was soft, but still carried an edge to it.

Kagome jumped and turned around to face the demon bathing with her. “I’m not crying over that! I’m crying over- Oh! Gods!” Her blush spread to her face quickly as she tried to figure out how to cover herself up at the same time she covered her eyes. After much flustered splashing she turned to face the rocky bank. Much to her relief, and perhaps disappointment, and Sesshomaru’s hair hid most of his nudity. Had she become so accustomed to his aura that she didn’t notice it anymore?

Sesshomaru’s lips twitched in an amused smirk so brief, Kagome thought she had imagined it. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Miko. Turn around, relax. I am not here to bother you.” He closed his own eyes and tilted his head back against the rocks.

Not sure how to take the demon lord’s last statement, she slowly turned around. Her own hair was long enough to hide most everything, and it was dark out. Besides she had been here first. It should be him that was uncomfortable with this, not her. She closed her eyes and tried not to let the guilt of Inuyasha’s wound wash over her.

Sesshomaru opened his eyes when he caught a whiff of tears again. The sight of her with her head tilted back bathed in moonlit water droplets caused his breath to catch. He had always thought the Miko attractive, but in this moment of pure vulnerability, she was beyond words. The urge to swim across to her and run his fingertips lightly down the exposed milky skin of her neck was almost to much to resist. ‘Damn Takara and her pheromones,’ he hissed to himself mentally. He took the urge and shoved it to the back of his mind. While he had no problem admitting when he thought a human female attractive, touching one was out of the question. Especially this one, she was a Miko.

“If your tears are not for the Monk, then what are they for?” He asked breaking the spell over the hot spring.

Kagome reached up and wiped the tears off her face. “Inuyasha was injured today, and it was my fault. The poison, if it wasn’t for his demon blood, would have killed him.”

“How did you manage to accidentally poison Inuyasha?” Sesshomaru asked, betting this was going to be interesting. At times it seemed this pack could cause more damage to themselves than most demons did.

“We were fighting some sort of demonic plant thing. It threw some poisonous quills at me. Inuyasha pushed me out of the way and ended up with one in his shoulder.” Fresh tears started to fall.

“I fail to see how that was your fault.”

Kagome smacked the water in frustration. “Why does everyone keep insisting that is wasn’t my fault?”

“He was protecting you. It stands to reason at some point he would be injured. This, however, does not make it your fault,” Sesshomaru tried to explain. He would never understand the human need to feel guilt over things out of their control.

“If I hadn’t been in need of protection, he wouldn’t have been hurt.” Her shoulders slumped. “I feel so useless most of the time. Sure, I can shoot purifying arrows, but what happens if I run out? What can I do then? I don’t even know how to dodge right. I freeze up.”

‘Ah, so that is the true heart of the matter,’ he thought to himself. “I can see where this could be a liability in a fight. Have the others offered to train you?”

Kagome rolled her eyes. “Inuyasha doesn’t have the patience. Sango tries. But we never seem to have enough time.”

Sesshomaru was silent for a while. It would be necessary for the Miko to be in the heart of the final battle with Naraku. If she could not defend herself, this could prove to be their weak link. Much like his half brother he lacked the patience to teach her himself. It would require removing her from Inuyasha’s influence as well until she had the confidence she lacked built up.

He forced her to make eye contact with him. Her gentle brown eyes held no fear of him. “I know of someone who may be able to teach you, under one condition. Inuyasha stays here until I feel you have progressed far enough that his barbed insults will not crush you.”

Kagome opened her mouth to protest, but Sesshomaru was right. The demon lord had seen enough of their fights over the years to know that she was sensitive to Inuyasha’s insults. Even thought they usually ended with the hanyuo being sat, and a weak apology a bit later, they still hurt. It was just something Inuyasha did when he was angry about something. He had done it to all of them, but because at one point she had actually been in love with him, it always stung.

The Miko nodded.

“We will leave in the morning, then.” Sesshomaru settled back into the water. The pain in his shoulder was almost gone.

************************

She could feel his soft lips as they trailed a line of kisses from behind her ear to her collarbone and back again.

Sango sighed as he repeated the kisses on the other side. His strong hands were gently caressing the bare skin of her sides and stomach.

She ran her fingers through his messy dark hair, but felt nothing. Startled she opened her eyes, only to realize she had been dreaming. The light from the dieing fire glinted off the prayer beads wrapped around her hand. She could still feel his lips lingering on her skin. It had seemed so real.

Sango sat up hoping she hadn’t disturbed the others. Kagome wasn’t in the hut, but she had said something about a bath before the slayer had fallen asleep. The others were still sleeping soundly.

Quietly, she got up and left the hut. She knew after that dream, she wouldn’t get back to sleep any time soon. She had intended to find Kagome at the spring, but her feet led her in another direction. Soon she found herself looking at Miroku’s staff.

She reached out to touch the rings, causing them to jingle a bit. She closed her eyes and let her head drop. This time the tears never came.

“My sweet Sango, what does a man have to do to get a smile to grace your beautiful face?”

The slayer’s head snapped up, hearing a familiar voice. Was she still dreaming? Slowly she turned around expecting to see nothing or at the very least a ghost.

Standing only a few feet away from her was Miroku, a bandage wrapped around his head and another one around his hand. Plastered on his face was the same goofy grin she had fallen in love with.

Not believing her eyes, Sango rushed him, flinging her arms around his neck, desperate to prove that he was really standing there. “Miroku,” she managed to choke out before the tears of relief rendered her speechless.

Miroku wrapped his arms around the sobbing slayer as she buried her head in his shoulder.

A sadistic smirk crept across his handsome features. His violet eyes swirled to solid black for a brief moment before settling back into their normal color.

“My sweet Sango, everything will be fine now.”