Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.
Chapter 1
Breakdown
His heart constricted and an outraged growl escaped his throat, his mate had disappeared! Sesshomaru looked around the hut and observed the teary eyes of the Taijiya and the kit crying because of the disappearance of the miko. He knew where she had gone, she had told him this might happen and that she would search for him on the other side. 'If I am still alive.' he thought while remembering that youkai were thought to be creatures of myth in her time. There was one thing he knew, he did not want to be in this hut with his mate's human friends so with that thought he stood gracefully in one motion and exited the hut.
Inuyasha watched his brother leave the hut; he had seen the look in his eyes. He recognized it immediately, for it was the same look he held when learned of Kikyo's death. Without much thought he stood intent on following his half brother to speak with him. Once he caught up with his elder brother "Sesshomaru."
Stopping mid step Sesshomaru slightly turned his head to look at Inuyasha through the corner of his eye.
"Five hundred years is not long for a youkai, just don't die until then." was the only consolation he offered his older brother. He knew it was not much, but he also knew what type of youkai Sesshomaru was as well.
With a slight nod Sesshomaru turned and walked into the tree line seemingly disappearing within the forest.
That was the last day he even felt any kind of peace or happiness. He retreated back into himself to control his pain; he even went so far as to blame Kagome for his misery even though he knew she was not at fault. He spent his days alone with his entourage behind him, but he was still alone, so very alone.
Rin was twelve when Kagome had left the feudal era for good. Nearly five years later Rin had grown into a lovely young woman, she started to take interest in the opposite sex. It was not long after she married and had children of her own leaving him with just Jaken for company once again. Rin had five children; three boys and two girls, Sesshou was her eldest then Kagome, followed by her twin boys Hideo and Jiro and last, her baby girl Aika. She wanted to name her children after the only two people who meant so much to her, except she would not name any child 'Jaken'. She could not do that because she thought the name was wretched. Sesshomaru had visited his ward once a year to see how she was managing until the day she died and he attended her funeral having her buried within the castle cemetery. Rin died at the age of sixty-four which is very old for a human of that time.
Shortly after Rin's death he turned colder then before, all the light in his life had gone. Why did the kami hate him so much? What had he done in a past life to deserve the pain he was now feeling? All this and more he asked himself since the death of the only remaining light in the darkness of his life. Rin was the only reason why after fifty-two years he was not insane with grief since his mate's absence. It was only inevitable that once his light left him he would once again descend into darkness.
And descend he did. It was only one hundred years since Kagome had left his life that he had lost all resemblance to the youkai he once was. He was reborn into a creature who lived on grief and enjoyed the pain of others just to make himself feel less. He killed mercilessly for fifty years before he was finally brought to an end.
Bringing an end to the fifty years of killing beings mercilessly Sesshomaru was being pursued. That in itself was not strange, what was strange was that he was taken down by a collection of holy men and women. It was during the holy war he was approached during the rain, he had sought out shelter in a cave. He sensed the ningen coming but paid them no heed, while their numbers were indeed great he did not fear that they could defeat him.
Sesshomaru stood in the back of the cave as a miko and a monk first walked into his haven from the rain. He watched as the miko aimed her arrow at him but he did not care. Even as he watched the arrow approach him he was not worried. When the arrow pierced his left shoulder through his pelt into the stone behind him and as he stood pinned to the cave he did not fear. He reached to pull the arrow out of his shoulder and kill the ningen that dared to attack his person when he realized something was wrong.
The monk whispered incantation after incantation, he was immobilized firstly. As the last of the incantation left the lips of the monk Sesshomaru's heart took its last beat and his eyes closed for the last time.
0ooo0
Alone broken and sobbing her heart out, she sat at the bottom of the well. Kagome knew what her being there meant; she was never going to see her mate again so she cried. She cried for the love she had then lost to time. She cried because she was never able to see her mate again. And this was how she was found, broken and crying like everyone in the world she had ever loved had died.
Souta was on his way to school when he walked past the well house, he thought he heard his sister crying. He approached the well house and slide open the door, the sounds got louder. He slowly walked down the steps towards the well then peered down; he saw his sister and she did not look so good. "Hold on Kagome I'll go and get mom!" he said in a rushed tone before turning and running back out of the well house towards the family home. He ran across past the storage shed that his grandfather was currently in but paid him no mind and continued to run even after he thought he heard him speak.
"Souta my boy what is wrong?" Jii-chan yelled after his rushing grandson. He looked back from where he had seen him come from and his eyes fell on the well house. The old man then looked towards the family home where the boy undoubtedly ran to get his mother 'What is going on?' he thought as he looked at the well house again. He decided he did not like to be left in the dark and walked towards the well determined to find out what all the excitement was about 'Was Kagome home?' he could not help but think.
"Momma! Momma!" he yelled as he yanked the front door open and ran inside his home.
Mrs. Higurashi was in the kitchen when she heard her son calling for her "Souta what's wrong?" her motherly concerned voice asked while looking at her youngest child.
"It's Kagome something is wrong, she is sitting at the bottom of the well crying. I don't know why but I think it is bad!" he said before turning to head back towards the well house with his mother following closely behind him.
Kagome had not been home in such a long time they had begun to get worried. She had never before spent so long away from this era, because she had to restock supplies, Mrs. Higurashi was worried.
When Jii-chan had reached the well house he heard the light sobs of a familiar female voice, he knew who it was "Kagome?" he asked attentively as he peered over the edge of the well and looked down at her sobbing form curled into a fetal position. He had never seen his granddaughter look so broken before 'What could have happened on the other side?' he worried as he turned towards the hut door as Souta and Mrs. Higurashi just walked through.
"Jii-chan is Kagome ok?" Mrs. Higurashi asked looking at her father in-law hoping he would know if she was at least hurt. He did not.
"I can't tell." was all he was able to say before he moved aside to allow Kagome's mother to see the now broken girl.
"Oh my!" she breathed looking down; she could tell there was something wrong with her dear daughter. She could not take seeing her little Kagome the way she was right then, so she began to climb down the ladder to meet her on the bottom. "Oh darling." she whispered as she reached out.
It was like she did not even notice her; Kagome was so submerged in her pain that the outside world dimmed around her. She had no will to live, she wanted to die. "Oh mamma!" Kagome reached for her mother as her mother embraced her whole heartedly trying to comfort her distressed daughter.
"Honey tell me what's wrong, what happened on the other side?" her mother asked cautiously there were a million things that could have happened to make her daughter in the condition she was in.
"Momma, I met someone. He was the most wonderful male that I had ever known. Even with all his less then admirable quirks." she started with a faint laugh at the end of her statement.
Her mother listened to the story with open ears "Go ahead honey I will understand." she encouraged her daughter to continue with her story.
"We fell in love, we mated shortly after." she said and when she noticed the confusion on her mothers face she corrected herself "Mated means marry momma. I mated a youkai lord, the Lord of the Western Lands, Inuyasha's older half brother. I was kidnapped by Naraku when he saved me and we fell in love.”