Yay! New story! I took Unbeatable off, and I added this. I hope you enjoy, and let me know whether I should extend this from a one shot. I have more chaps, but I don't want to upload them if you don't like it...

EDIT: I'm really trying to make an effort to revise this, because I know that it could definitely be a bit better than what I wrote all those years ago…

Tranquility

Chapter 1: The kiss

Sesshoumaru sniffed, his nose taking in the various scents about him and distinguishing between them, one by one. It was the girl; she was coming this way yet again. He didn't know why the mortal girl fascinated him so and certainly didn't understand why she came that way, his way, to pick herbs every morning. Even more puzzling was, try as he might he did not understand why he had taken an interest in watching the girl in the first place.

He, Sesshoumaru, Lord of the western lands, had been reduced to spying on a mortal. Anything could've been happening at that moment; a demon could have been attacking Jakken and Rin, despite the fact that Naraku had been destroyed, some unknown person could be attacking his castle, raiding his lands—and yet instead of checking on these matters, he still watched her.

"That damn Inuyasha," he heard Kagome say, snatching herbs violently from bushes and trees. "He could've—after all we've been through, after defeating Naraku together, he could've at least—" the girl dropped to her knees, tears springing to her eyes. "—he could've told me that he chose Kikyou. He could've…" she burst into sobs, her words becoming jumbled.

Sesshoumaru still watched her in silence. That wasn't the first time that she'd come into the forest crying or complaining about his brother, Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru didn't know or understand why she had taken such an interest in him. He scowled. He hadn't forgotten all of the run-ins that he'd had with his brother and his group over the years. Why his companions would follow such a rash, inexperienced and inconsiderate hanyou was lost on him. It had been the combined effort of Inuyasha and his party that had slain the beast Naraku, and therefore Inuyasha as a leader and not a companion or a comrade made no sense. Sesshoumaru would have killed him out of frustration by now.

The girl's basket of herbs lay forgotten by her as she cried. "That—that stupid Inuyasha." She whispered.

Sesshoumaru couldn't stand it; the scent gave him the vague sensation that his eyes were watering, and it was tiresome. The teary stench clung to the air as he made the decision to walk into open view of the girl. This had to stop. Her emotional breakdowns oft reminded him of little Rin, who did almost nothing but cry after he had found her. She needed to be stronger, or she would be just as easily consumed by her fears and her doubts as she would a demon. He studied her silently. She was indeed very beautiful. Her hair had grown from the last time they'd met—he couldn't remember how long ago that had been. Her cheeks were flushed from crying, and despite her internal turmoil it rosier cheeks made her appear a bit more attractive. She was still wearing her usual strange, mortal clothing however, and to Sesshoumaru it was awkward and strange.

Kagome heard the padding of grass as the youkai stepped forward, head turning to see who had disturbed her solitude. She was startled, to say the very least; Sesshoumaru had appeared before her very eyes, as though out of thin air. "Se-Sesshoumaru…" her eyes grew large with fear. Her bow and arrow were back in Kaede's hut, and she couldn't call to Inuyasha—he was probably with his dead girlfriend anyway. She was not in the mood to fight, not after crying and moping. She didn't know why Sesshoumaru would be in this area. It was far from the castle that he had taken up from as his residence, but at the same time, it was not as though the youkai was fond of Inuyasha, or that Sesshoumaru would venture here to speak casually to one of them. He must have wanted a fight, or some sort of item that they'd found that was of great importance. She thought about opening her mouth to ask him about his business, but the words wouldn't come. There was a lump in her throat, formed from her crying, and the youkai's name had been the only thing that she could push past it. Sesshoumaru ventured closer, taking small casual steps as though he had nothing to lose and all the time in the world, and Kagome began to contemplate death. Would it really be so bad? Inuyasha had dumped her anyway…-no. She was being silly. If Sesshoumaru had wanted to kill an unarmed girl, she would still put up a fight, even if it was a weak one.

The silver-haired demon knelt on one knee, as noble as ever, and peered into Kagome's eyes. Despite her earlier thoughts, she found herself overwhelmed by self-loathing, by all of the unspoken issues that had remained in her mind about Inuyasha; there was no reason to live anymore, she thought, and she didn't have the strength to stop a full-fledged demon. There was no Inuyasha. She couldn't even gather the Shikon no Tama without him. Everyone now knew that the strain of defeating Naraku shattered the jewel for a second time. Maybe he'll bring that damned priestess back to life with it…

Sesshoumaru wasn't really aware of what he was doing, but he couldn't stand the smell of her tears. There was a musky scent in the air, and he was beginning to feel unpleasantly uncomfortable. He was beginning to follow his instinct, and therefore he did not open his mouth to speak to her. He could only contemplate her strange, exotic beauty and the annoyance of her tears, her foolhardy nature for sticking by a lout such as Inuyasha for so long. He had listened to her complain to herself about him for so long, he felt that now was the time for him to do something about it. Kagome was treated as a wasted resource where she was; Inuyasha did not respect her. He felt that he could. She was a priestess after all, and aside from her beauty she was very powerful. Her potential, if she was as much like Kikyou as Inuyasha professed, was limitless. She was a fool for trying to win over Inuyasha, and an even bigger one for allowing him to approach her, but he wouldn't hurt her. He would never hurt her. She had proven himself to her, over the course of her adventure with Inuyasha. She was loyal, intelligent, brave, and several other qualities that his brother lacked and was truly stupid to throw away.

He cupped the girl's face in his hands, staring into her brown eyes for several moments before shifting again, and began to catch her falling tears on his tongue, licking them away in smooth, slow movements.

Kagome's eyes somehow widened even more as the youkai's tongue touched her cheek slightly, her tear melting at the touch. "Wh-what?" Kagome didn't understand, and her words were still catching in her throat.

"Why do you cry? The smell of salt surrounds you…" Sesshoumaru said in his deep voice, her face still in his hands.

The smell of salt…? Kagome thought. Inuyasha…had always come to me while I was crying…he always said they smelled of salt and bitterness…but he never stopped them. He ever even…cared… "In-Inu…yasha…" she whispered, sobbing, not even able to say that he'd hurt her or that he made her cry. She couldn't possibly ask Sesshoumaru to do anything about it, in any case. His brother was none of his concern, even if he seemed to be doting on her a bit. She was trying to keep herself calm, to deny the truth of what was happening to her at the moment; but it was not as though she could stop seeing him in front of her or undo his rough tongue lightly touching her cheek. All of that was real, she was sure—there was only so much denial she could put herself through.

"Yes," Sesshoumaru said. "That wretched filth…he…hurt what you mortals call…feelings, yes? Rin has told me. She has them, too…" Rin had taken up the habit of informing him about the doings of Humans, although he had never imagined telling another soul about it. It was a weakness to care for humans, for creatures that were as delicate as silk and had their lives snuffed out as easily as candles. Kagome nodded numbly. There was no turning from the truth; it would just hurt more. Sesshoumaru licked away another tear, and brushed fresh tears from her dark lashes with a dainty claw. "There is no point in tears; they simply serve as a reminder of pain. They serve no purpose," he said.

"Why are you…being so nice?" Kagome asked. "You don't care about me at all."

Sesshoumaru didn't address her statement. "All that I do," he replied, "is but my affair. I am doing this because I am. That is the only explanation you need." All humans were like that, he supposed; pestering, always meddling in things that did not concern them. It was like meat, tempting a pack of dogs with no training. The mysteries of the world always had to be explored, and they did not know when to leave well enough alone. But, Sesshoumaru thought with a smirk, bad dogs must be punished severely…

Kagome's mind raced as the youkai smirked. Although it was unlikely at this point, she found herself wondering, was he going to kill her? Even Kagome couldn't make out what her fate was at this point. Sesshoumaru was being so different than usual. It was puzzling. But she still fell limply into his hands. Whatever was going to happen to her, she was resigned to it. Her duty had been done here in the feudal era, and Inuyasha had a new priestess.

"Do not waste your tears on that mongrel," Sesshoumaru said.

"What does it matter?" Kagome said slowly. "He…he…" Sesshoumaru looked into Kagome's chocolate brown eyes, and drew her lips to his. Kagome was startled. What was he doing? Does it matter what he's doing? A part of her said. Inuyasha's gone anyway. Inuyasha doesn't care. Sesshoumaru does. He's showing you he does right now. Has Inuyasha ever done that? Has he ever? Has Inuyasha ever kissed you? Kagome decided that the voice was right, leaning into the kiss, and was thoroughly surprised when Sesshoumaru's tongue slipped through her lips. He wrapped her arms around his neck instinctively, swallowing to hold back the sensation to cough; no one had ever frenched her before, and she wasn't used to it at all. She shifted a bit, trying to move into a more comfortable position, and tentatively pushed her tongue out to meet the youkai's.

Sesshoumaru's tongue danced with Kagome's, setting his throat on fire with a sensation that he had never felt before in the presence of a human, at least. He was no fool—he was aware of why he was here and of his purpose, but he had not expected Kagome to be the woman who caught his eye after their numerous confrontations. He had not expected to be attracted to her in this manner, and even though he continued to kiss her he felt ashamed. All of these years, he had done nothing but ridicule Inuyasha's father for settling for a human queen, and now he found himself doing the same. No matter. He would take responsibility for his error, as that is what a ruler did. He would not mourn over his mistakes and impress them onto the present, as Inuyasha did. He grazed his canines lightly over Kagome's tongue and she jumped, breaking the kiss; Sesshoumaru's mouth traveled almost instantly to her neck as he fell onto both knees, pulling her body closer to him. Now that he was closer, within range of her, he could drink in her smell—it was, surprisingly, not the smell of a worn traveler such as herself. She smelled like bellflowers, a soft scent that pulled him in and made him want to close the distance between them even more. Kagome's breath hitched, and she ran her fingers through the youkai's glorious silver hair. Sesshoumaru responded by peppering her neck with kisses, still drinking in that scent. It was divine, and there was nothing that caught the demon's attention more than a beautiful scent.

"Sess…Sesshoumaru…" Kagome said faintly, still not fully grasping the situation transpiring between them. The demon captured her lips again, more roughly this time. Kagome had learned her lesson from the first kiss and leaned forward, pushing herself into the youkai. He kissed her hungrily, his hands moving to her back, trying to pull her closer to deepen their embrace. The brunette decided to take a leaf from the youkai's book, and nibbled slightly on the demon's tongue. A deep groan sounded from the back of his throat, and his grip on her back tightened, almost painfully. Why was he so drawn to her?

Did Inuyasha know what he was missing? Kikyou could not live on forever. Despite the souls she consumed, he could feel Kagome's from her close proximity; the young reincarnation was taking her soul back, piece by piece. And he would help her. He would not let Inuyasha and his newly resurrected bride gain any control over Kagome. No one would ever hurt her again, and he would see to it. She would be his queen instead, a force to be reckoned with, an asset to his kingdom and to the realm.

Kagome's lungs begged for air, but she didn't want to let go of Sesshoumaru. He'd come to her just when she'd felt alone and heartbroken. He'd done everything that Inuyasha never could in that one kiss, and she was not yet at the moment where she would question the demon's motivation. She broke the kiss hesitantly, panting, and leaned her head against Sesshoumaru's chest, for there was nothing else nearby. "Sesshoumaru…" she said, realizing what she had just done, "I have to—"

The youkai shook his head, silencing her. "Just…stay here." He said.

"But—"

"Stay." He said, looking into her eyes.

And Kagome obeyed.

EDIT 6/8/10: Wow. It's been some years since I've visited this. I revised it ^^ It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. There were quite a few holes in terms of hinting to the plot with this, but I think that I did a good job of filling them in. I like this, honestly, and it was a good one-shot that turned into a wonderfully long series. I'm hoping that revamping this story will give me some motivation to go into the third portion that I was supposed to write but lost the fire for. Even for back then, I did a good job of writing this, I think. More detail was needed, and now the chapter is twice as long as before.

I'm definitely not a fan of Inuyasha the series anymore, but I still like these two characters together. I'm very glad that all of you readers could take the time to appreciate my potential for writing as opposed to my skill. Thank you so much, readers old and new, and as I continue to revise chapters I hope that you can get even more enjoyment out of this than I did back then all those years ago ^^

OLD COMMENTARY:

Hi again! I just wanted to say, yes, I did get the whole 'licked her tears away' from Utena, and I had to put it in there. I hope you liked it. Let me know if I should continue. I already have this story written out, so you won't have to worry about me not updating (I am so sorry to all of those people who had to wait for VR)

"I will return, for I am the darkness..."