Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or locations in either The Vampire Diaries or Inuyasha.

CHAPTER 1

Damon Salvatore watched the scene before him with a dull ache in his heart. Elena and his brother, star crossed doppelgängers extraordinaire, chatted and laughed breezily, their easy companionship driving that thorn of uncertainty ever deeper into his tired heart. Everything about them, Stefan and Elena, just seemed to be so easy. Their romance, their friendship, their camaraderie, it all just seemed to click into place as if their very souls had been made to fit together in all ways. And perhaps they had, doppelgänger magic not withstanding.

Damon had never had that easiness with her. No matter how hard he tried, how desperately he loved and wanted her, anything between them had always been heavy and complicated. There seemed to always be some hurdle or obstacle or something there to leap or climb over. He'd thought her becoming a vampire would alleviate some of the inescapable tension between them but boy had he been wrong on that score. The sire bond had only served to make him feel worse, and Elena was still no closer to understanding him than she had been before. She had only ever reluctantly loved him, reluctantly tied herself to him, always an arm's length away. She couldn't accept all of him, he had been too monsterish at points of his life for her to feel truly comfortable and at ease with him.

Perhaps it was mostly his unwillingness to apologize for his past that had finally pushed her back into the younger Salvatore's arms. He had accepted himself, mostly, so why couldn't she if she loved him so much? Maybe that was why it was so much easier between her and Stefan. Stefan surely couldn't claim to have been a saint for all of his adult vampire life, but he seemed to do everything he could to punish himself for it, to make himself some vampiric martyr of humanity, ever sorry for just existing as he was. Maybe that's what tied them together so strongly. None of that doppelgänger stuff, they just hated themselves together. Damon wasn't willing to do that.

A surge of immense power entering the area drew his attention outward, halting his dark introspection as he tried to identify what could be causing such a powerful disturbance. If the originals had returned, though it didn't feel like them, then they could be in trouble.

"Hey Brother," he called, drawing his brother's attention away from whatever conversation he and the girl who caused so much strife between them were having. "we've got company."

Kagome pretended not to notice the scene before her as she busied herself with stacking a couple of the boxes packed with her things. It made her feel mild irritation, and sent a phantom throb through her soul that she knew had less to do with the state of her heart than some people in particular were willing to believe. Kikyo made sure to glance her way every so often, to ensure she was watching them. She'd tried to tell Kikyo that she was no longer bothered by the relationship between her and Inuyasha, that any echoes she felt coming from her were the effects of the soul severing she'd endured all those years ago, and NOT due to whatever romantic feelings she believed Kagome to still be harboring towards Inuyasha, but Kikyo hadn't believed her. While things between her and her pre-incarnation weren't quite as volatile as they had been, she and Kikyo still were not friends, and she still believed Kagome to be vying for her mate's affections.

Well, Kagome had done her best to dispel such thoughts and now it was none of her concern. What was her concern, was that Kikyo was distracting Inuyasha from helping her move. She'd been asked by Sesshoumaru to investigate this area. There was a strong magical miasma covering this entire town, and he wanted to ensure that no one living here was attempting to cause any trouble for the jewel. This was her job anyway, and she'd trained mercilessly for it for years. She'd agreed to be the jewel's permanent protector, and had been joined irrevocably with it for the rest of time. If someone wanted the jewel, it was mostly up to her to ensure its safety. Which brought her here, to Mystic Falls. This was, by all accounts, a very boring, sleepy, typical American town. But the ever increasing presence of supernatural beings had pinged Sesshoumaru's radar, and as the most powerful of all living supernatural beings, he had taken it upon himself to protect her, and ensure that a situation like Naraku never happened again. She glanced around at the neighborhood she'd moved into and took it all in with a deep, cleansing breath. It was quiet and quaint, a stark change from the bustling shiro she usually lived in with the rest of the pack she'd been adopted into. She hoped she wouldn't be too lonely out here, and was thankful that Shippo had elected to move with her. Koga's brash voice shattered her peaceful contemplation as he walked out of her new house and loudly complained about Inuyasha's lack of assistance in their current task.

"Oi, dog shit! Quit flirtin' and pick up a box, will ya? I don't want to be doing this all day!"

She could see Inuyasha gearing up for a fight, he and the wolf were no further in their relationship than she and Kikyo were. She opened her mouth to squash the conflict before it started when an approaching, magical presence washed over her, causing her to stiffen and gasp in slight alarm. Everyone in the yard turned to her in concern, Shippo hearing her from inside and poking his head out of the door. She met all there eyes before she responded to their silent entreaty.

"Hey guys, we've got company."

A.N.: Hello! And welcome to my first endeavor into chapter fics! This is mostly going to be a fluff fest, though there will be touches of angst here and there. I'm hoping that this will not drag on for too long, but I also don't want to rush any romance and make it awkward. You may have some questions about some things, I assure they will be answered in time! Also, I'll be employing some typical IY fandom tropes into this and I'm not sorry about it. I like the "mating extends a human's life" thing and also the idea of cloaking or concealing spells so they will feature in this story as well. And I just really love Inuyasha crossovers. I think they're super fun. The name of this fic is actually the name of a song that inspired me to write this story in the fist place. It's called Sea Meets Earth by Fever Fever if you want to give it a listen, it's lovely. Thank you for reading and stay tuned! I'm hoping to keep this updated once a week at least, though earlier updates are not out of the question.