Summary: A grim fairytale of love and hate. Two people find one another in the dead of night, knowing that this chance meeting was the beginning of an extraordinarily… deadly game. Sess/Kag; AU

Author's Note: I've always wanted to write a story like this… I hope you guys will like it. Try to guess which fairy tale it's based off! This is my first fic, so please be honest about it in your reviews.

Happily Never After

Chapter One: And So They Meet...

Once upon a time…

The king was at full power, his control knew no bounds and his might knew no limit. He was heartless, he was cruel, he was everything in the world that was damnable. Even with his own incarnations, his own flesh and blood, he was abhorrent. To assure their loyalty and thwart any conspiracy, he held their hearts. Their real, beating, and life-giving hearts always laid within arms reach of this dark king. Because of these strange rituals, seemingly mystical control and spells, some people called him a wizard and others, a demon. Naraku, lord and king, sometimes seemed like a god among his people or, to be more precise, he was like the devil among his subjects. The people were his minions, dispensable, worthless, and unimportant, used to conduct his wars for more land and wealth. These people died in vain. The resulting despondency spread through the kingdom like a miasma, disgusting, suffocating, and fatal. His incarnations, sometimes referred to as sisters, hated him, despised him. If it weren't for the fact that he literally held their lives in his long, clawed hands, they would attack him, kill him, they would do anything to retaliate with the same pain and suffering he inflicted on them. The older sister, darkly beautiful and eerily captivating, was an ardent adversary to her brother, but her opposition was in secret. She worked slowly and sluggishly, making sure that his plans for complete domination was foiled or delayed.

Kagura, this strange and gothic princess, supposedly controlled the winds. Some people have claimed to have seen her flying above the villages with a look of contentment and mirth plastered onto her face. Others have claimed that with her every appearance, the winds seemed to grow stronger, almost enfolding her into a warm and invisible embrace. But, when they laid eyes on this woman, they dismissed all thoughts, thinking that she was just another helpless woman, a face for the public to see, a spectacle.

Naraku often laughed at the ignorance his kingdom seemed to possess, but did nothing to alleviate it. He found their ignorance and stupidity strangely hilarious, stating that he would definitely use this to his advantage, and he really did. He was able to suppress rebellions under the pretense that his rule, his kingdom was the most powerful and the wealthiest kingdom in the world. There were, however, a group of rebels that he could not suppress. Why? Because they were not ignorant and they were not weak, they were, instead, very intelligent and powerful. The only problem with their rebellion was the fact that Naraku had minions, millions of them.

"Damn…"

Her voice traveled sensuously through the night breeze. Her voice was so soft, so low and provocative, the hard word marring the gentle roll of her voice. Her bright red lips hung open as she struggled to regain her breath, trying desperately to get her breathing under control. She did it, she finally did it. Clutching the small cloth wrapped package, she cradled it against her bosom. The gentle beating of the package warmed her body, making her feel almost whole, almost living. She slowly pulled the package away from her breast and placed her pale hand upon her chest. The hollowness she felt caused her to shiver violently, to convulse in the growing emptiness and disgust she felt. Pulling the package to her body once more, Kagura rushed to her feet and continued her venture through the dark forest. The full moon hung overhead, gently lighting the way.

Cold dark eyes watched as Kagura's small silhouette disappear into the forest. These dark eyes, so like a demon's, were empty. The circular mirror clasped against her stomach gleamed gently when it was struck with the moon light, slowly disappeared as the clouds moved and covered the moon. The small body melted into the darkness and soon any trace of the young girl who stood there disappeared. It was strange, for any onlooker that happened across this event, because there was a hint of hesitation in the little girl's movements, as if she didn't want to leave, as if she wanted to continue watching. What was unknown was the reason for her wanting to stay and watch. Did she want to know if Kagura got away safely? Did she want to know if she got caught? The biggest question appearing in her mind was did she want her to escape? Even though Kana seemed emotionless, sometimes even cruel, she did care for her sister to some extent.

The days slowly passed by, each one filled with a sort of regret and fear as Kagura tried to live out each day, avoiding any casualties with the villagers as she lived in a small hut nearly eight miles outside their village. Sure it was far, on foot, but it was still within their radius, meaning that if someone got as far as her hut they would immediately alert the others and she would soon have a pack of angry, blood-thirsty humans outside her window. Kagura was no fool. Even though she had no direct link to the oppression and cruelty imposed upon them, Kagura was related to the dark king himself. This, of course, would cause people to hate her, to despise her. Kagura slowly inched out of her hut, needing to go out and gather food.

It was so hard living on her own, but Kagura loved it. She cherished every moment she had alone, enjoying the solitude she had lacked when she was still living with Naraku. Slowly turning around to give one last glance around her hut before she took off, Kagura saw a small bundle of cloth in the corner of the square room. This bundle was important, extremely important. It was the only possession she had that meant anything to her at all. Stepping back into the hut, Kagura snatched up the bundle and cradled it to her chest, enjoying the feel of warm beating against her bosom, the feeling that would one day be within her instead of on her. Her heart, the one thing she would not let Naraku have, she one thing she was able to steal from him. When she stole her heart, she knew that she had stolen her freedom. Because she now had her heart, she had obtained her freedom. Tying a sash around her shoulders, she carefully cradled the heart in the folds of the sash, not really trusting her surroundings to leave it unattended.

With one last look, she left the hut without a word, knowing deep down that she would not return to this one and would soon have to set up a new home. Kagura whipped out her feather from her hair. She watched it as it grew and finally, determining that it was a good size, positioned herself upon it, pulling her heart into her lap, being as gentle as she could with the small package.

Kagura knew that she had no friends. She knew that everyone hated her. She knew that she could not turn to the people because a few of them adored Naraku and would turn her in immediately, and the other half would probably kill her on sight. There would be no explaining that she hated Naraku as much as they did and she knew she would have no chance fighting against his supporters if they grouped up together. Sure, she was powerful, but numbers (and millions of them) could easily overcome her.

Kagura was caught in between a small war. It seemed that she would have to face off the whole world by herself because of her heritage, the damned way she was born. She was nothing but a severed attachment, directly born from the body, the being she hated most. Suddenly feeling very disgusted with herself, Kagura lifted her hands to her face and stared at them. These were the same hands that did his will, followed his orders so blindly and ignorantly. These hands slaughtered hundreds, thousands because of her mindless executions of his orders. She had never given her actions, his words a second thought, until now. She was as free as the wind and would do just as she pleased. She would no longer allow him to control her. Shifting her hands away from her face, Kagura stared at the bundle of cloth in her lap. It was her heart, her real, true, and beating heart. Kagura didn't know what should be done with her heart, she didn't know how to place the beating organ in her body and was afraid of what might happened if she attempted it without knowledge.

The feeling of disgust slowly crept back into her whole being as she began to contemplate the man who was both her father and her brother. She was his daughter, his sister, his spawn. She was his own flesh and blood, literally. Kagura pulled at her skin, watching as it grew red from the constant pinching. Kagura couldn't take it anymore. If only she could rid herself of his stench, his skin. If only she could peel the skin from her body and somehow grow her own skin. Kagura's feather was soon spiraling down the earth, reaching unimaginable speeds. She abruptly stopped at the foot of the lake she had spotted from above. Quickly clamoring out of her soiled clothes, Kagura dived into the cold water, ignoring the freezing prickle against her skin. She rubbed her arms, as if to scrub off the skin that she detested so much. Kagura stayed as long as she could within the water, not bothering to go up for air till her lungs yelled, screamed for the life-giving oxygen from above. When she could feel the faint darkness of unconsciousness edging onto her body, she lifted herself out of the water, taking the big gulp of air required to relax her body. She flipped her head back, her breast jutting forwards as she reveled in the moonlight.

That was when she heard it. The unmistaken sound of someone else's presence. The laugh, the chuckle caught Kagura's immediate attention, causing her to turn her head to the source. The man, seeing no point in hiding any more, stepped out of the shadow.

Kagura crossed her arms over her heaving bosom, glaring at the man, who she could now see under the moonlight. He was beautiful. Like the moon that shone down upon him, he was mysterious and lovely. His silver hair blew lightly out his face to revel the almost feminine features, but the masculinity was also glaringly obvious. "How long were you there!" Kagura barked as she turned her back at him, looking over her shoulder to keep him in sight.

"Long enough," was his calm reply. He seemed vaguely amused by her, but Kagura couldn't really tell.

Kagura gave an unwomanly snort as she glared at him, finally realizing that her cloths were at his feet. Refusing to back down from the internal war within her, she would not ask him to look away. She would not ask him for anything.

"What do you want? Who are you?" She snarled.

The man stayed silent, as if he was unsure of the answer. "I am of no importance, I am just a citizen of this large nation."

Kagura snorted once again at his answer. She waited if he would continue, but he didn't seem to intend to.

"What do you want? Who are you?" Kagura reiterated her questions, wanting an immediate straightforward answer.

"I am a hunter," he stated, "and as of today, Kagura, there is a bounty out for your head. You better be more careful or you will be prey of this Sesshoumaru."

With that last statement, Sesshoumaru disappeared into the darkness, leaving Kagura alone and afraid. There was a bounty out for her. Naraku was out to kill her? It almost seemed unfathomable, but considering the character of her creator she should hardly be surprised. Kagura shivered as the wind blew against her bare skin.

"Damn…"

Sesshoumaru watched as Kagura gingerly got out of the water. Her lithe body seemed to shimmer under the unique moonlight. Sesshoumaru's stoic mask witnessed Kagura's departure with indifference but, just as he was about to leave, he saw something on the ground. It was a big bundle of blue cloth. Sesshoumaru carefully picked it up, mildly surprised to feel an ethereal beating emit from the package. Somewhat hesitant, Sesshoumaru lifted the loose cloth and revealed a human heart, beating and living. Sesshoumaru looked down with a sparkle of shock and amusement in his eyes, he knew that Kagura had dropped this heart and he knew that she would do anything to get it back.

And so began their story.

…to be continued…

So, this is actually a kind of test run for this pairing and story plot. I wasn't sure if it sounded interesting… Oh well, if you liked it, review saying you did. If you hated the whole thing, please review saying why you did. Please don't flame unless you're willing to offer creative criticism. Okay, I know that everything in this first chapter isn't really that well written, but trust me I'll go back and edit this chapter when I get the chance. Also, I'm going to try and update monthly… So, you can expect a chapter next month!

Toejora

Review please.