I most certainly do not own Inuyasha.

M32

Kagura stood at the edge of a sheer drop, looking down into the valley two miles below. "Perhaps," she thought "If I jump, I would break my neck on impact."

She studied the ground below impassively. "No. I am not that brave. I wouldn't condemn myself to death. I'd catch myself before halfway." If only Naraku was dead! Damn the bastard to a thousand hells… She looked into the valley where the half demon and his companions rested, unaware of his latest scheme. Kagura shook her head. She'd be lucky if she made it out of the encounter in tact. But of course, it didn't matter much to her. She was all too aware she'd meet her end before her time, either by the enemies of Naraku, or Naraku himself.

She swept around, scarlet kimono billowing in a magical breeze as she pulled her loose hair tight behind her head. "Death is inevitable." She said aloud in somber, rich tones. "The only difference is the way you die. You experience it once, or a thousand times. Isn't that right, Lord Sesshoumaru?"

The dog demon's saffron eyes narrowed and he glided out of the shadows, a white apparition in the night. "Kagura. What are you doing here?"

She flicked her fan open. "Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?" She turned her gaze to the light of a campfire in the valley with an ironic smirk. "Of course, I don't need to ask."

Jaken popped out from behind the folds of the demon lord's robes, shaking his grotesque little stick. "Answer Lord Sesshoumaru's question!"

Kagura raised one elegant eyebrow. "And what if I decide against it?"

Jaken huffed and puffed furiously. "Then you will answer to the lord's wrath!"

Sesshoumaru's hand flickered into his robes and out again, and Kagura's veins surged with battle sense, knuckles white as they clenched around her fan and she crouched to avoid the inevitable flash of sword. But it never came.

She looked up. The youkai was all too amused. She frowned and stood, brushing the dirt from the hem of her robes and retaining as much dignity as she could. "What is that?" She asked coldly, regarding the small package in his clawed fingers.

"It is a token of esteem." He said with short regality, expressionless.

Kagura tapped her fan on the palm of her hand. She looked at him. "How do I know this isn't a trap?"

He looked straight back with eyes of amber ice that cut her faster than any blade. "What do you have to lose?"

Kagura was silent. She took the package from his outstretched hand. It was small, and wrapped crudely in plain rice paper. Perhaps Rin had done it. The Great Lord Sesshoumaru undoubtedly found himself too important for gift-wrapping.

She slit it open with the tips of her nails. A box, with the dog clan symbol embossed on the top. Kagura was impressed. "You certainly know the traditions of a pact."

"It would be foolish not to."

She once again met his eyes, unable to resist the temptation of that surge of respect and awe he always seemed to bring. He gazed right back, stoic as always, though she felt he noticed her studying of him. She also felt that he didn't care for it much. She turned her attention back to the gift and gently lifted the lid.

She caught her breath. A mirror. A beautiful mirror with a pearl handle. On the back was her name etched into the silver backing. Her fingers encircled it almost covetously in wonderment. No one had ever given her a gift before.

"…Do you like it?"

"Yes, yes I…" She stopped, blushing and remembering herself and turning her eyes to the ground. When she looked up again she had regained a sense of business. "I do. But that isn't the point. What do you want?"

He turned his head, the moonlight striking the smooth yet firm angle of his white jaw. "Naraku. Just like you."

She almost started in surprise. "Naraku? I thought you were after that half breed brother of yours?" It wasn't until after she'd spoken that she realized he'd accused her of her innermost desire. Freedom. She chose to let it slide. What was done was done.

Sesshoumaru glittered with disdainful annoyance, like a prince speaking of a disobedient servant. "He had become irksome to me, and I wish him to be over with, along with Inuyasha's business with him. One Naraku is gone, I will be free to deal with my brother as I please."

Kagura snickered. "Irksome is not a word generally applied to Naraku. I doubt he'd care for it."

Sesshoumaru's lips tweaked into some semblance of humor. "I doubt he would."

She turned from him, looking over the edge once again to view Inuyasha and his companions. "What of your brother and his friends?"

Sesshoumaru sniffed indifferently. "Who says they need to know until it's over? Inuyasha wouldn't notice a hurricane unless it affected him or his wench."

"The demon slayer might notice. That Sango. She's by far the sharpest of the bunch."

"The monk is too busy heeding the call of desire to notice a stir in the winds." Sesshoumaru added.

They looked at each other, exchanging smiles, but at such a meeting of eyes they grew uncomfortable and turned away again.

"We should prepare." Sesshoumaru said, statuesque once again.

Kagura nodded. "Let's begin."