You Don't Know What You Have Until It's Gone by Striking Falcon

Stolen/Truth Hurts!

Chapter One: Stolen!/ Truth Hurts

Sango strolled to the hot spring, happier than she'd been since this whole mess with Naraku started. They were almost finished with the jewel, and were getting closer to Naraku and finding his weak point. 'The only thing that would make it great,' she thought with a sigh. 'Is if Inuyasha and Kagome could get along. She's been so quiet lately. I wonder why.' She heard a choked sob in front of her. Sango quickened her pace to the spring and stood by its edge. Kagome sat emerged to her waist in the water, her back turned to Sango as she cried against a rock. Her arms were crossed under her head, shoulders heaving with each attempt to keep quiet. Sango stepped inside and patted her back gingerly.

"Kagome, are you ok?"

Kagome stiffened and wiped the tears from her face before turning around. She stared into Sango's worried face for a moment before bursting into tears again, leaning back against the rock as she did so.

"Kagome, what's wr-"

"I can't take this anymore."

Sango stared for a moment, confused. 'What can't she take anymore?' she asked herself as Kagome struggled to get herself under control. The sobs stopped, but the tears still flowed down her cheeks.

"Kagome, what can't you take?"

Kagome sighed and stared in the direction of camp.

"I can't take him anymore."

Sango leaned back, relieved. 'This can't be serious,' she told herself. 'She and Inuyasha do fight a lot. That must be what she's tired of.'

"He and Kikyou kissed by the well."

Sango shot up, her face the picture of utter disbelief as she stared at the younger girl. Kagome's somber face let her know that she wasn't making it up.

"He promised to protect her. To follow her. No matter what. He forgot all about me."

Kagome shoved angrily at the water as she talked, her frustrated tears mixing in with the splashed water on her face.

"I can't take it anymore. Seeing them together, knowing that all she wants to do is drag him to hell with her, is killing me. Knowing that, in his eyes, I'll never be more than a shard detector. Another Kikyou when the real one isn't around. It hurts so much, Sango."

Her knees weakened, and she slowly slid under. Sango caught her just before her nose submerged, holding her above the water. Kagome continued to weep.

"I have to stay here, though. You guys need me. Not Inuyasha, but Miroku, you, and Shippou. I'm the only one who can sense the shards. I may not be good in a fight, but at least I make the search faster."

She wiped her eyes again and stared into Sango's dark ones, searching for something to hold on to.

"You guys do need me, don't you?"

Sango stared in the direction of camp, willing her anger to reach her target and knock him over where the insensitive half demon stood. 'How can he be so stupid?' she asked herself as Kagome went back to her side of the spring, under the waterfall, to wash her hair. 'Kagome stays here to help him, us, find the shards. She doesn't have a real vendetta against Naraku; she helps us because she cares for us. Especially him.' The realization of that fact alerted her to another.

'Kagome shouldn't be here.'

Sango lowered her head, the sadness from that fact swirling around her as solid as the water she bathed in. 'She shouldn't. She is a help, but Inuyasha is hurting her. Kagome is too good of a person to go through this. If it continues, she'll never be the same. She has to go home.' Sango raised her head to meet Kagome's eyes as they searched her face. Sango shook her head, not liking what she was about to say.

"You are too selfless. We do need you, Kagome, but we could do it without you. The houshi, Shippou, we all will miss you, but you don't deserve to hurt like this. Think of yourself, Kagome, and go home."

Kagome stared at her a moment, not sure if it was really Sango who said those words, or what to think of them. She finally nodded and resumed washing.

"I don't want to leave you all."

"If you don't, you'll only allow Inuyasha to hurt you. You can always come back to visit us, remember?"

Kagome hugged her, tears streaming from her face. Sango hugged her back, tears flowing from her eyes as well.

"You should go now, and I'll tell the others."

"You're right, huntress, it is time for her to go."

A clawed hand suddenly fisted itself in Kagome's hair, yanking her from Sango and into the air. Kagome dangled, 9 feet above the spring, in front of the last face she expected to see.

"Sesshoumaru?!"

Sango stood, unafraid, watching the demon lord's every move.

"Put her down, demon."

Sesshoumaru glanced at her, then draped Kagome over his shoulder. Sango expected Kagome to scream bloody murder at any minute. When she didn't, Sango and Sesshoumaru both exchanged surprised and confused glances before he bounded away with Kagome in his grasp. Sango dashed after them, grabbing her boomerang and wrapping one of Kagome's towels around her body.

"Bring her back here, Sesshoumaru!"

"My brother knows what I want. I will send for it shortly."

Sesshoumaru disappeared into the woods around them. Sango skidded to a halt, gasping for breath as she glared at the place he occupied. She listened intently for any sign of anyone around her. Cursing her bad luck, and praying that Kagome was gifted with an ounce of good, she turned around. Breathing in deeply, she called the only name she could think of to help her get Kagome back.

"INUYASHA!!!!!!"

++++++++++

"Just fucking great, Sango!" Inuyasha groaned as they walked through the woods. They'd been searching for Kagome for the past three hours, finding nothing that would resemble Sesshoumaru's trail. Sango stopped in her tracks, feeling the anger she felt toward him before Sesshoumaru kidnapped Kagome come back full force.

"How in the hell do you let Kagome get kidnapped? How did Kagome let herself get kidnapped? You two are just too fucking stupid to be believed. Especially Kagome. She should know better by now. That stupid girl doesn't have the preservation sense of a rabbit."

Sango's low growl startled Miroku and Shippou. Stopping inches between her and Inuyasha, they silently agreed to move out of the way of the impending storm.

"That girl is going to be the death of me yet. When we find her, she's going home. If Sesshoumaru doesn't kill her first."

"She was going home anyway, you stupid bastard."

Inuyasha turned on his heels, glancing at Shippou and Miroku first to see if it was them who interrupted him. Seeing the surprise on their faces, he followed their eyes to Sango, who stood motionless. Her teeth were clinched together, and her fists were opening and closing as if at any moment she would haul off and slug him at any minute. Inuyasha's mouth snapped shut, waiting for Sango to continue.

"You finally did it this time, you idiot. Kagome saw you and Kikyou by the well."

"So?"

Sango inhaled deeply, willing back the urge to knock the half breed into the next month.

"So, you hurt her. Bad. Kagome cares for you, and you continue to slap her in the face with that undead miko you're so obsessed with. When you don't play with her head and confuse her for Kikyou, I mean."

Inuyasha wrapped his hand around Sango's throat and pinned her to a nearby tree.

"Shut up, Sango. You don't know what you're talking about."

Sango struggled to pry his hands from her neck, her eyes boring into his as her anger started to flow from her very being. Miroku and Shippou struggled with Inuyasha to release her. Inuyasha growled and opened his hand, letting Sango slide to the ground. Sango glared up at him, her hand clasped to her bruised throat as Inuyasha walked away.

"Kikyou is dead, and for some reason you think its you're fault. It's not. You were as much of a victim of Naraku's trick as she was. But because of you're stupidly, you're heartlessness, Kagome may be dead as well. And so help me, you'll pay for it for the rest of your life."

Inuyasha stiffened, frozen by the threat. Finally getting a hold of himself, he lowered to all fours and continued to search for Kagome as the others helped Sango to her feet.

++++++++

WHAM!

Sesshoumaru was starting to tire of this game, and the little human he was currently playing with. Since taking her out of that spring with the demon huntress and bringing her to his castle, he began interrogating her. Sesshoumaru slammed the girl against the stone walls hard, enough to rattle her nerves, but not enough to break any bones. He asked her repeatedly about the Tetsusaiga, where it and his half brother were at the time. The entire time she remained quiet, even when he resorted to slapping her. Sesshoumaru kept one hand wrapped around her wrists, her arms above her body as he swung her into every wall in the room. She grunted, but refused to speak one word.

Sesshoumaru stopped, finally satisfied that this wasn't getting him anywhere. He gazed down at his victim, searching for some other way to get the information he wanted. He noticed her state of undress, her hair cascading over her shoulders covering her breasts and shielding her face from his eyes. Sesshoumaru jerked her head up. He wasn't surprised to find her crying softly, but her scent wasn't what it should be. He watched as each tear trickled down her cheek to her chin before descending to the floor. She trembled slightly. He inhaled her scent, trying to read what it was that was making her cry. 'She's not afraid, but indifferent.' She raised her eyes to him suddenly, capturing his with her stormy grays.

"You may as well kill me now and get it over with. Inuyasha won't come for me."

Sesshoumaru growled, slamming her back against another wall. She grimaced, but kept her eyes locked with his.

"Why won't he? Are you not his mate?" he demanded. She lowered her head, the tears fresh in her eyes.

"I'm not his mate. I'm just a shard detector."

Sesshoumaru watched as the tears rolled down her cheeks again. 'What has Inuyasha done to get such a reaction from her?' he wondered, another tear falling from her chin. Sesshoumaru caught it in the palm of his hand, watching it roll and flatten in it. 'Its like she no longer cares if she lives or dies. Like her very spirit is broken. She suffers. My brother must have some kind of power over her to make her feel so. I must know what it is.' He stepped away from the wall and walked out of the room, Kagome still dangling by her wrists in front of him. He moved down the hallway, passing many rooms before coming to a door on the far right. He yanked it open and walked in, tossing the naked girl on the futon. She trembled violently, becoming as pale as one of the many swan feathers in the futon's stuffing.

"I'm not going to touch you more than I have to."

The girl visibly relaxed, but her nervousness didn't leave her. Sesshoumaru sighed and walked out the door.

"Sleep," he commanded, closing the door behind him and leaving her in the room by herself.

"That was close," Kagome muttered as she looked around the room. Opposite the futon were a cabinet and a vanity. She stood and approached the largest window in the room. Peering over the sill, she found herself a few dozen feet above the ground. 'Can't jump that,' she decided. Kagome turned around and grabbed the door. A shimmer of energy flared against her hand. She tried again to open the door, but it didn't budge. Kagome sighed and sat back down on the futon. She yawned and pulled one of the furs around herself before drifting into a dreamless sleep.

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Sango: SF put up all the chapters up to fourteen, I think. If you don't mind, please proceed to get what you need.