After the short rest ended.
Sakura practiced her sword in the woods.
She closed her eyes and swung, stroke by stroke.
Very slowly.
Far slower than usual.
She was feeling.
Feeling the weight of the sword, feeling the flow of the wind, feeling the voice within her own heart.
The will to protect...
She did not swing her sword to kill.
She swung it to protect.
She remembered what Saku had said.
"Your sword already has meaning, Sister."
The corner of her mouth pressed into a faint line.
Then she continued swinging her sword.
Saku sat beside the campfire, hugging her doll, her eyes closed.
She did not use her perception ability to sense the outside world.
Instead, she did as Totosai had said and tried to sense her own heart.
Inside her heart...
What was there?
There was fear.
Fear of demons, fear of losing her sister and brother, fear that she was not useful enough.
There was longing.
A longing to grow stronger, a longing to protect her sister and brother, a longing to be needed.
And also...
Her brows furrowed slightly.
There was also something small and vague.
She could not say what it was.
But it was there, hidden in the deepest part of her heart.
In the distance, Sesshomaru stood atop the crown of a great tree. Moonlight shone over him, and his silver-white long hair drifted gently in the night wind.
Jaken lay sprawled at his feet and yawned.
"Lord Sesshomaru, do you think those three young lords can do it?"
"I don't know."
Sesshomaru's answer was very brief.
"If they can't even do this..."
His voice paused.
He did not say the rest.
Jaken nodded meaningfully, then shook his head again.
"Lord Sesshomaru, you actually care about them quite a bit, don't you?"