Come What May (A sequel to Catch a Falling Star)
A/N: All characters from Inu Yasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi. All other characters belong to me.
***I highly recommend that you read Catach a Falling Star first. This is not a stand alone story.***
Chapter 1: What Happens Next?
Sesshomaru sat in his dark office, absentmindedly swirling the amber liquid in his brandy snifter. He was not sure how many of the glasses he had knocked back, but he had yet to feel its intoxicating affects. He laughed bitterly. Becoming shamefacedly plastered was just one more thing his demon blood was keeping from him. Maybe if I switched to some vodka? He rose from his chair to search through his liquor cabinet for anything to help dull the pain her decision had caused. Her words continued to tumble through his mind. 'This just won't work. We're too different. I don't want you to watch me die. I won't let you watch me die'. He waited five hundred years to be with her again and now he had lost her once more. He gave up searching and hurled the snifter at the opposite wall.
"What the hell?!" He looked up to see a very startled Inu Yasha standing in the doorway shaking off glass shards.
"Get out," was all he replied. He had successfully evaded his brother for the better part of a week. He didn't want to talk. He did not want to do much of anything.
"No," stated Inu Yasha as he came in and shut the door behind him. "We need to talk."
A few months earlier:
Julia sat in the coffee shop waiting for Kagome to show up. She said she was bringing a couple of her friends with her again. Julia shook her head and smiled as she gazed into the paper coffee cup and then raised an eyebrow at the nearly empty vessel. She would need another one before the night was out. Months earlier she told Kagome to call her if she ever needed help with her studies and Kagome had not hesitated to take her up on that offer. Now it appeared that Kagome's grades had improved in both math and English enough for others to notice the change. It was not long before Kagome's girlfriends also wanted in on Kagome's private tutor. The girls had very sweetly offered to pay for Julia's time, but the older woman could never bring herself to charge them. True, after spending a few hours with the lot of them she found the quiet solitude of her apartment to be the most heavenly thing on Earth, but she also enjoyed the time spent with them as well. When they did not have their noses in their books they talked of their high school and gossiped about the girl in the back of the class or the boy who always showed up late. She was always happy to put in her two cents and offer a bit of perspective from an older person's point of view. They were issues she felt like she could deal with and took her mind off her own troubles.
She laughed and shook her head. And what troubles were those? She asked herself that question nearly every day, sometimes twice a day. She loved her job, now that her boss treated her as a valued colleague and not one of his secretaries. The most friends she had ever had in her life resided right here in Tokyo and she saw them all on a fairly regular basis. She was in love with, and love by the most wonderful demon in creation. She sighed. But, that was it right there, the most wonderful demon…
Julia sighed as she remembered the first few weeks of her time with Sesshomaru. It had been utter bliss. The man she had fallen in love with five centuries in the past was there in her present and had waited for her all that time. She was dazzled by the love he showed her and in a haze of joy at seeing many of her friends from the past thriving in her present time. There was rarely a day that went by that she did not leave the office smiling because she knew that Sesshomaru would more than likely be at her apartment waiting for her to get home. And then, one cloudy afternoon, her happy bubble was popped when Kagome told her some wonderful news.
Kagome could not contain herself when she ran into the coffee shop to meet up with Julia for her study session.
"You'll never guess what Inu Yasha just told me," she had blurted out as she pulled out a chair and plopped unceremoniously into it. Julia smiled and shook her head.
"You're right, I'll never guess," she had replied and sipped her coffee calmly.
"At some point during the last five hundred years Myoga revealed to Inu Yasha that because he is a half demon he can choose which form he ultimately wants to be in," she had paused long enough for a breath and then continued, "which means that he and I will be able to grow old together. Isn't that great?" Kagome's smile reached her eyes as she clasped Julia's hand. Julia vigorously nodded her agreement, but Kagome's words had set her mind running at full tilt. Sesshomaru was a full demon. Sesshomaru would still live on for who knew how long. Sesshomaru would have to watch her die. Kagome must have seen something in Julia's eyes because the smile slowly subsided from her face.
"Oh, oh, Julia," Kagome had stumbled over her words, "You and Sesshomaru…I didn't think. I'm so sorry. I was just so happy."
"Hey, don't worry about it," Julia had told her and gave the younger girl's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure there is an answer out there for Sesshomaru and me. Now, let's get to that math. What is it today, trigonometric equations? All the fun of algebra and we get to do trigonometry too!"
Despite her words to Kagome, since that day, Julia could not wrap her head around a life with Sesshomaru that did not involve one of them suffering emotionally from the difference in their species. She would start to feel the strain of growing ever older while he remained beautifully youthful in appearance. He would have to watch her waste away as her human body grew older and frailer. Her chest tightened as she recalled how it felt to watch her mother slip away from her when the cancer took hold of her. Her beautiful vibrant mother gradually became a shell of her former self as the chemotherapy seemed to do more harm than good. Her heart broke as she held her mother's hand in those final hours and she could do nothing but say 'good-bye." While Julia rationally knew that mortality was not the same thing as that horrible disease, it might as well be. It was a forgone conclusion that she would die and, if Sesshomaru stayed true to her, he would be the one watching another loved one slip away. She had seen the sadness in his eyes as he had told her of how Rin's life had turned out. While he smiled as he told Julia about Rin marrying Kohaku and raising many strong children she could see that he still missed his long ago adopted daughter. How could she put him through that on her account?
For that matter, how could she put herself through that? The situation was not fair to either of them. The thought had not even occurred to her when she and Sesshomaru were first reunited. He had proposed that they get married immediately. She had laughed thinking he was kidding. Upon discovering that he was serious about it she told him that she thought it would be a good idea to get to know each other better first. After all, he had yet to properly woo her. How unexpectedly wise she had been.
During the weeks since Kagome's announcement, she had not shown any outward indication to Sesshomaru of her inner turmoil. There was nothing to be done about it, so why ruin their rapport. Julia decided that she would spend some time with him and build a lifetime of happy memories while they were both still young and then, she would end it. She felt her own heart break at the thought, but she felt that in the long run it would be less painful for both of them than the unhappy alternative.
"Julia," called three cheerful girls in unison. She looked up to see Kagome and her two friends bouncing towards her table with Inu Yasha in tow.
"Hi girls," replied Julia, "and Inu Yasha?" she added with a grin.
"Kagome said she had to study and if I wanted to spend time with her tonight I had to come study too…so here I am," replied the obviously irritated half-demon.
"Ah," was all Julia said as she turned her attention to the girls as they prattled on about the trivial rumors that she Julia loved. They would get down to business eventually.
Four hours later she unlocked the door to her apartment and let out a huge sigh.
"I don't know why you let Kagome talk you into tutoring her and all of her friends," said a calm voice. She smiled. It was a voice that she recognized, and, from the sound of it, emanated from the general vicinity of the kitchen. "You always come back drained and exhausted."
"I know," she replied and plopped herself on the couch with her head resting on one arm and her legs stretched out across its length. "But, believe it or not I do have a good time…for about the first hour or two…at least." She draped her arm over her eyes and felt him lift her feet so he could put them on his lap as he sat down. She let out a little moan of pleasure and he gently rubbed the souls of her feet. "Oh that's heavenly."
"And what did your devoted tutees have you helping them with tonight?" he asked.
"They are in the process of learning how to prove identities," she answered. "At first I remembered liking them a lot, but then it hit me that the only reason I liked them was that I knew all of the rules to get from point A to point B. I spent a bunch of time just reviewing. Now I've got sines and cosines dancing around in my head."
"Sounds riveting," he stated and then added "Your boss called me today".
"Oh, what did he have to say?" she asked rather sleepily. Her two mochas were definitely starting to wear off.
"He just wanted to let me know that he was personally overseeing the sale of my antiques," she snorted at that statement, but Sesshomaru only continued, "to your American branch and that he was not leaving it in the hands of the female foreigner."
"What?" she shrieked becoming fully aware once more, "that little pompous son-of-a-…oh that just gets on my last nerve. What did you tell him?" She propped herself up on her elbows so she could look at him, but had forgotten that she had neglected to flip on the lights.
"Well," began Sesshomaru as his massage began to travel up her leg, "I thanked him and agreed with his precaution."
"You didn't?!" she cried and left her mouth hanging open in shock.
"Oh yes," he said calmly. "We had quite a lovely chat about how women were over stepping their boundaries and that they should realize that their only place in life is in the home to take care of their husband and raise the childr-" His speech was cut short by the throw pillow she launched in his general direction.
"You're such an ass," she said with a laugh. She heard him chuckle, a sound she dearly loved, and felt him shift so that he lay between the back of the couch and her body.
"I told him that I found Ms. Pierce to be dependable, reliable, intelligent, sensible," he punctuated each word with a kiss to her arm as he inched up her body until his face was above her own, "and I was confident that she would handle the deal without any issues."
"Oh," she said, a little breathless, "really, all that? Did you list any of my other fine qualities?"
"I thought that adding unparalleled beauty and great in bed might bring unwanted attention from your employer," he commented, "otherwise I would have mentioned those as well." Julia smiled and raised her head to plant a soft kiss on his lips, though she could only make out the outline of his face in the weak light from her small living room window she knew exactly where to find his lips.
"You were right not to mention that to my boss," she murmured against his lips, "but I love hearing it." He deepened the kiss and rolled her so that she was now directly under his body. The weariness that hung about her when she walked in the door seemed to slip away as he kissed her. "I'm not so tired anymore," she said with a grin when Sesshomaru's mouth started to migrate down her neck.
"I hoped that would be the case," he stated as he began to unbutton her blouse and kissed still farther down her neck. His kisses ranged down between her breasts towards her navel. Julia let out a little moan of pleasure and arched her back in response. His hands glided up her sides to fully push open her unbuttoned blouse. He slid it off her shoulders as she rose up to meet him and let it fall to the floor. He kissed her again, so soft and tender that another moan bubbled up from her throat. He pushed her neck gently to the side and gently kissed and nipped her neck, his sharp teeth causing her skin to tingle as they grazed her. He made his way to the swell of her breasts pushed high and separated by her favorite purple bra. His tongue traced along the top of its lacy cups. She gasped as he reached the sensitive spot between her breasts. He nipped at her left nipple through her bra while the right one was treated to sensation after sensation from his talented fingers. He shifted, pulling her into an upright position. She wrapped her legs around his hips as she dragged his face to hers for another soul searing kiss. She did not even feel him undo the clasps of her bra, but suddenly it was falling off of her shoulders.
"You are wearing far too many clothes," she breathed into his ear and began un-tucking his now rumpled white shirt from his waist band. Not being as patient with buttons as he was she only got the top two undone before pulling the shirt over his head. His long silver hair came free from the loose tail he had it tied back in. Oh how she loved his hair, she thought. She ran her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck and smiled. "This is a start," she said through her grin, "But I think we can do better." She pushed him back to the couch and put her knees on either side of his hips. She wished she had flipped on a light as she came in. Her eyes had adjusted as much as they were going to in the low light and she still could not see him. So, she ran her fingers lightly over his toned, but not overly muscled, chest to feel what she was unable to take in visually. She let her fingers follow the small line of soft hair that led first to his navel and then continued to the waist line of his slacks. He let out a satisfied growl as she deftly undid his belt and sent it to the floor with the rest of their clothing. But, before she could undo the fly on his pants he rolled and stood with her wrapped about him.
"I think we should relocate," he said as he carried her towards the bedroom. She had taken the opportunity to kiss his neck and bite his earlobe. "We need to get you a more comfortable couch," he commented around a groan of pleasure.
"My couch is just fine," she replied as he laid her back on her bed and began to slide her skirt over her hips. She was pleased that the light coming in through the bedroom window allowed her to see him more clearly.
"Oh?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow. She leaned up on her elbows and watched as Sesshomaru slowly pulled her nylons over her hips and down her legs. His fingers seemed to stroke and caress every inch of her thighs and calves.
"Perfectly acceptable for quick cat naps," she continued in a breathy voice. She heard a whisper of fabric that she assumed and hoped were his pants falling to the floor.
"Uh huh," was all he said as he leaned over her and kissed her again.
Later, he collapsed beside her and pulled her close. She smiled, satisfied, and kissed the tip of his nose. She could not remember what sex was like before she was with Sesshomaru. She was not as experienced as modern times seemed to advocate, but surely it was enjoyable before him. She just did not know anymore…and how could she ever give it up? He nuzzled her and pulled her even closer and she forgot to worry about their future.