A slave's story

"What? Who is coming for Kagome, Sango?" Inuyasha asked, not
supressing the growl. "I think they said that his name was Ryu."
Sango answered. "He claims you took what was his and now he is
coming to take her back." Sango recounted. "Like hell he is."
Inuyasha answered. He turned to walk out of the room.
"Inuyasha, wait!" Sango called after him, making him stop
in his tracks. He turned to look at her. "Nani?" she could
sense how annoyed he was. "What are you going to do now?"
she asked. "Keh, what do you think I'm gonna do? I sure as
hell am not lettin' that asshole get ahold of Kagome and
hurting her again." Inuyasha said, quickly leaving the room
before Sango could say another word. She hated to say it,
but Ryu had the rights to Kagome....she was his servant,
despite how he had treated her.

Inuyasha found Kagome out in the garden by the pond, which
seemed to be her favorite place to pass the time. "Oi." Inuyasha
said,causing Kagome to turn her head to see who had just
addressed her. "Hai?" Kagome said quietly, giving Inuyasha
permissionto continue and confirm that she acknowledged his
presence."What are you doin' out here anyway?" he asked in a
normal tone, actually just starting conversation. "Nothing,
my Lord. Just admiring the flowers." Kagome said quietly.
Inuyasha didn't respond but came to sit by her but careful
not to sit too close. "Inuyasha-sama?" Kagome asked quietly.
She was going out on a limb here, speaking to a superior
when she was not spoken to first, but she tried anyway.
"Hmm?" he hummed, giving her permission to continue. "If I
may ask you ...why do you have so many flowers? Do you really
like them?" she asked. "Well, you see......they kinda remind
me of my mother. See, when I was growing up, my mother had this
little garden of flowers that she took care of all by herself.
She loved that more than anything in the world. Sometimes,
as a child, when she would get upset and I wanted to cheer
her up, I'd bring her flowers. She loved flowers." Inuyasha
explained. Kagome gave the smallest hint of a smile. "Don't
tell anyone else that, ok Kagome? Our secret." Kagome's
smile got a little bigger and she nodded. "Your mother
sounds nice, my Lord." Kagome said quietly. "She was."
Inuyasha answered quietly. "You mean she's...I'm so sorry,
my Lord." Kagome said apologetically, bowing in apology.
"It's ok, you didn't know. Besides, she died when I was
young, anyway." Inuyasha answered. Nothing was said for a
minute until Inuyasha broke the silence. "What about your
family?" he asked. "I don't remember much about them. I was
sold as a slave when I was really young, so I don't remember
much about them." she answered. He sensed the faint smell
of her tears. She was trying not to cry. Inuyasha hated
it when women cried. He noticed a single tear roll down
her cheek. Then another. Inuyasha moved toward Kagome
slowly, not to startle the young girl, and when he
reached her, he wrapped his arms around her, and he
felt the girl stiffen in shock, and then eventually she
relaxed and rested her head against his chest, now sobbing.
She was crying for many things....she was crying for the
loss of her family at such a young age, she was crying for
the humiliation and pain she suffered under Naraku, the
beatings she endured under her first master, the humiliation
and fear she had under Ryu, for the kindness of Inuyasha,
the first kindness of any kind she had been shown in her
life. Now that she started crying and letting out the
sorrow of her life, she found she couldn't stop. She buried
her face in Inuyasha's haiori and cried, and Inuyasha
didn't seem to mind. Eventually, the girl's sobs were
starting to quiet as she was calmed by the sound of
Inuyasha's beating heart and his scent. Something about
it was oddly calming. Eventually, the girl's sobs subsided
to cries and they subsided to small hiccups. He just sat
like that with the girl, and eventually, her shallow
heartbeat and shallow breathing indicated that she must
have been asleep. He moved her face gently to look at it,
and her eyes, swollen and red from crying, were shut and
sure enough, the girl was asleep. He gently got up and
carried her to her room and placed her on the bed and
went to eat dinner and take care of last minute things
before bed, including having guards watch out for Ryu.

That night, as usual, the girl's screams had gotten
Inuyasha into her room. As Inuyasha lay there awake, he
looked at the girl and just sat there taking in her
features and just looking for her. He absently started
to play with her hair as he took in her scent. Her hair
was soft like silk. Her scent was getting familiar and
comforting to him, as was sleeping with her curled up
next to him. He was not going to let that bastard Ryu
or anyone else take Kagome from him. He just wasn't.
"I'll protect you, Kagome." Inuyasha whispered to the
girl's sleeping form. Her response was to snuggle closer
to him in her sleep.

The next morning, the two were still asleep when Sango
came rushing in with Miroku. Inuyasha started, causing
Kagome to stir but go back to sleep. "Miroku? Sango? What
is it?" Inuyasha asked groggily. "Sorry Inuyasha, but
Ryu will be here within four hours, we can't waste any
time." "You're sure?" Inuyasha asked. "Yes, Inuyasha."
Sango answered. Inuyasha started to move to get out of
the bed and as he got out of the bed, Kagome woke. She
immediately noted the look of worry on everyone's faces.
"Inu..yasha? Sango?" she asked groggily. "Kagome, listen,
you need to stay here with Sango, okay?" Inuyasha said,
nervousness lacing his voice. "Inuyasha? What's happening?"
Kagome asked, now frightened. Inuyasha moved closer to her.
"Listen, Ryu is coming. He is coming to take you back."
Inuyasha answered. Kagome's eyes widened and she visibly
started to tense, her body shaking. "No....no...I don't
want to go back with him!" Kagome said, her voice rising
in fear. "Kagome, calm down," Inuyasha said, sitting next
to her on the bed. He pulled her body closer to his. "Listen,
I want you to go with Sango. She will take you to a small
fortess that I have a good ride from here. Listen, you
hide there with Sango. I have food, water, blankets,
everything that you'll need. I'll come back for you when
I've taken care of Ryu, do you understand?" Inuyasha
asked. "What about you?" Kagome asked so quietly it almost
wasn't heard. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You
just go with Sango. Do you understand?" Kagome obediently
nodded against Inuyasha's chest.

There was no time for food or anything. The girls got
packed and Inuyasha and Miroku got ready to go after Ryu.

Sango got Kirara, her demon cat, who turned into her large
demon cat foem. Inuyasha lifted Kagome onto Kirara's back.
"Kagome, promise me you'll be safe." Inuyasha said. Kagome
nodded. Inuyasha then turned to Sango and said quietly so
that only Sango could hear, "I'm counting on you, Sango.
Keep her safe." Inuyasha said. Sango nodded and hopped on
Kirara behind Kagome. With that, Inuyasha watched Kagome
and Sango leave until he couldn't see them anymore.

Time passed and Inuyasha and Miroku had little luck.

Sango and Kagome were being quiet, this time Kirara was
on the ground instead of in the air so that they were
as hidden as possible. Kagome was thinking about Inuyasha
when suddenly, arrows started flying from all sides. Kagome
gave a start."Sango!" she yelped. "Kagome, hold on." Sango
said, and they took to the sky. Sure enough, there was an
army followingthem. "Damn it." Sango cursed, urging Kirara
on. Suddenly, Kirara got hit with an arrow in her abdomen,
and she let out a pained cry and started to fall. "No! Kirara!"
Sango cried out. Sango grabbed hold of Kagome and she braced
for when they hit the ground. Kagome let out a cry of fear
and held on tighter to Kirara, feeling Sango grab hold of her.
They heard the cries of joy from the army underneath them.
Before anyone could do anything about it, or focus on what
was going on, they hit the ground, sending the girls flying.
Sango still had a grip on Kagome, and unfortunately, Sango
was the one who took the brunt of the hit as they got sent
to a nearby tree, knocking Sango unconscious. Kagome lay still
for a minute in shock registering in her mind what had just
happened until she was pulled out of her thoughts when she
heard someone coming closer. She risked looking up to see
Ryu coming closer with her old slave's chain that goes around
your neck in his hand. He was smirking triumphantly. "Now,
girl, you come with me."

**No, I won't end there**

Kagome didn't say anything but moved away from him as quickly
as she could. Suddenly she felt two sets of hands grab her arms
and hold her still and someone held her head still despite her
thrashing as he attached the collar around her neck, then
the men released her. Ryu gave a harsh tug pulling her forward
roughly as she was dragged back to his home.