Luka frowned. "I can help! I can sense him better than you can!"

"No. You'll only slow us down. Stay here!" Akai ordered.

All Luka could do is watch as the other three went out into the forest in search of her brother, She stood there until she could no longer see the lantern Bouya carried. Akai thought perhaps it was not the wisest thing to do, but she couldn't forsake her brother. She took out a small knife and cut a notch in the trees every so often so she could find her way back.

They search through the night but found nothing. No sign of Kimi at all! Akai looked at the other children -- they were exhausted. She had to take them back to the farmhouse.  Maybe Kimi had made his way back there and would be waiting for them.  If not, she'll have to continue to search on her own.

It was nearly noon when they reached the farmhouse.  Just as they reached the edge of the woods, Akai stopped them and motioned them to hide.  Soldiers! There were soldiers at their farmhouse! Akai told Bouya and Buru to stay put and keep quiet.  She crept closer so she could overhear them.

A tall uniformed man was speaking to one of the soldiers. "My brother would not abandon his farm. We were suppose to meet three days ago at the market to buy seed, but he never arrived. I came here to investigate his absence.  His entire family is gone!"

"Well, it looks like somebody's been living here recently."

"So where are they? My brother has a wife and four children.  My sister-in-law would not leave their farm unattended.  The animals and their crops where their livelihood. They would die without constant care. Something has to have happened to them!"

"Hey, look what I found!' a solder cried out. In his arms was a kicking and screaming Luka. "Is this one of your brother's kids?"

"No, she isn't." The tall man walked to the soldier and grabbed Luka's face. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here. Let me go!!"

"That's a lie! Where's the family that lives here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. This is our house! Let me go!" Luka cried.

"She can't be here alone.  We'll do a thorough search of the area.  Hey, you don't think she's one of the missing children we've been searching for, do you? " The soldier asked.

"I'll take this one to the Castle, just in case. Maybe they can get more information out of her." He mounted a horse with Luka and rode off.

"Where are we going? I'm hungry." Buru complained.

"There is a stream just a little farther up. Remember, we stopped there yesterday. Let's go there and you can rest."

"But I'm hungry!"

"I know, dear.  But you saw the solders.  We need to lay low until I figure out what is going on.  Maybe I can find some berries or nuts along the way for you.  Come on, let's go."

"Why were there soldiers at our house?  Why did they carry Luka away with them?" Bouya asked.

"I don't know." Akai answered.  Her mind kept going over their words -- why didn't the description of occupants of the farm match?  What was going on?  And even more important, where was Kimi?

Kenshin paled at her words and rushed to the dojo.  Kaede followed the distressed man.  

"Kaoru, you must eat.  You must live!  We are so close to finding Kenji.  If you don't eat you'll leave him motherless.  Please eat something, for me?"

"Kenshin, she is dying."

Kenshin looked at the mage.  "I know... Isn't there something you can do?"

"I gave her all the strength I could, but she needs to use it.  She has to want to live." Kaiba said gently.  "She needs her son."

"I know that!  But I can't find him!"  Kenshin said in complete despair.  The tears he always managed to hide before, rolled silently down his cheeks  "I can't lose her!  Please do something!"  he pleaded.

"I'll do all that I can, but she's fading a little more every day." Kaiba squeezed Kenshin's shoulder lightly.  "I'll come back in two days.  Until then, try to get her to eat something."

Kenshin nodded mutely.  Tears continued to fall down his face -- Kaoru was everything to him.  If he lost her, life would not be worth living.

Kenshin asked if Niiro would mind meeting his wife, explaining that she was on death's door due to grief for their missing son. Perhaps seeing the young man fully grown and healthy will give her hope. Niiro immediately agreed.  He went with Kenshin to the dojo. On the way, the boy asked Kenshin if he would train him to fight so that he could become a Protector.

"Your parents are two of the best fighters there are in Otherworld. Don't let the fact that your father is a monk make you think he is not a fighter.  He is one of the best."  A small smile came to Kenshin's lips.  "He's just not a very good monk!  Your mother, Sango, is a deadly demon exterminator.  Before they were mated, they traveled throughout Otherworld fighting evil demons as they worked to gather the jewel shards with Kagome and InuYasha.  I'll gladly give you pointers in sword play but they can show you much more."

Niiro was still surprised by the respect and admiration that his parents kept receiving.  They were mere humans living among powerful demons, yet humans and demons respected them alike.

When they reached the dojo, Niiro quietly waited for Kenshin's signal, then went into the room. The woman on the bed looked terrible.  She looked like she might die at any minute. This was caused by the grief of her son being stolen?  Children mean so much?  There was still much he had to learn!

Kaoru looked at the boy and he smiled at her. "Nice to meet you." Niiro said politely.

"Thank you for seeing me." Kaoru whispered. Then she closed her eyes and lapsed into silence.

Looking at his wife, Kenshin couldn't tell if the visit did any good.  He thanked Niiro for coming and escorted him home.

At home, Niiro was given Mirago's old room.  It had been converted into a guest room years ago.  Miroku told his son that he could decorate it to his liking. As his son checked out his room, Miroku suddenly realized that Niiro had no clothes other than what he was wearing.  He called to his son and they went looking for Sango.

They found her sitting on the porch with Kagome and Kamara. Miroku introduced Niiro to them.  Niiro learned that Kamara had also lost a child to the evil creature that he partially sucked into his air void.

"I'm beginning to not feel so bad about hurting it." Niiro admitted.

"Harming someone is never good, but sometimes, in our world of deadly demons and pure evil, it is occasionally necessary. That creature is the purest evil I've ever felt." Miroku told him. He brought up the subject of clothes for Niiro.

"Oh! Tekku has tons of clothes that he's out grown. I bet they would fit Niiro perfectly. Come over tomorrow and I'll introduce you to Tekku.  The two of you can have a great time going through the clothes. Tekku is quite the fashions man.  He goes to the Human World all the time and buys out the stores."  Kamara said quickly.

"The Human World?"

"I will give you a geography lesson later on, Son. Suffice it to say that you and Tekku should become great friends." Miroku told him.

"Of course!" Sango called out the cat's name and an adorable little two-tailed cat came bounding onto the porch. Sango picked her up and hugged her.  Kirara gave out a little chirping mew.

"That's Kirara?" Niiro said dismayed. He was supposed to ride this little bitty thing?

"Yes, would you like to hold her?" Sango put him in Niiro's reluctant arms. The cat nuzzled the boy and mewed at him. "She wants to be petted."

Miroku could barely hold back his laughter, for he knew what the boy had been expecting. Finally he could stand the stricken look on his son's face no longer and plucked the cat out of his arms. "Come on, Kirara, let's show him your fighting form." He set the cat down and moved aside.

Kirara looked up at the monk and mewed. "Come on. Change." Miroku encouraged, backing up a couple of steps.

A blast of flame appeared, but it had no heat -- it was demon power disguised as flame. When it faded, Kirara was changed to the size of a small horse with twelve inch fangs.

Niiro could not contain his delight. "She's wonderful! Can I ride her?" The boy stroked the huge cat and Kirara nuzzled him gently.

Niiro nodded. Tomorrow was going to be a full one! First clothes with Tekku and then riding his very own demon cat. After dinner, he undressed and put on the nightshirt that his father gave him. He was so excited he didn't think he would ever go to sleep, but the tired boy was asleep almost the moment his head hit the pillow.  Kiara had followed him into the room and now lay curled up at the foot of his bed, fortunately once again in her smaller form.

Sango came into to say goodnight and found him fast asleep. She kissed his forehead and tucked him in. "Good night, my son, sweet dreams." Then left him to join Miroku who was already in bed.

"How is he?"

"Sound asleep."

"I sort of promised him Kirara as his pet." Miroku admitted.

"And it looks like Kirara has already chosen him. She was sleeping on his bed.  She will protect him and he will keep her busy.  She needs the exercise!" Sango commented as she climbed into bed next to him and curled into his arms.  "I still have trouble believing that he is my son. I mean, I still feel our connection, but he suppose to be a baby. We lost all that time watching him grow up, teaching him everything."

"Well, at least we still have him. He's healthy and safe with us.  Just losing him for that hour gave me a healthy dose of what the others are going through."  Miroku kissed her forehead.

"I slipped away from the party and saw Kaoru." Sango said.  A tear slipped down her cheek.  Miroku caught and brushed it away as she continued. "She's barely hanging on.  If we can't find the children soon, she won't make it.  At least Isabo seemed to be doing better by the time we left. Who would have guessed about her and Shinjou?  It's like one of those Human World fairytales that Kagome use to tell us."

"Yes, but she's still grieving for her missing daughter.  I pray that the other children are found soon. Especially for Kaoru's sake." Miroku said.