Disclaimer. I own nothing, just the plot :)

Despterately Hoping

A heart was as fragile as glasses. Just one too strong kick or push or whatever and it will break into thousand of pieces. And it would take a long time before they would be put together again. You have to glue the right pieces together, to form them in the right way and it needs a lot of glue.

I was never one to patiently pick up the broken fragments and glue them together again and tell myself the mended whole is as good as the old one. What is broken is broken and I'd rather remember it as it was at its best than mend it and see the broken places as long as I lived.

Kagome smiled and closed the book she read. The more times she read it, the more she fell in love with the book and Scarlett. She felt with Scarlett. As selfish as she had been, she lost a child and her soulmate. For Kagome, nothing could be more terrible than that.

Her mother always chastised her for getting all too emotional with the fictions, stating she lived too much in her fantasy, but Kagome found it easy to understand them and their actions. Especially when it was a love tragedy like that. It was indeed weird in a way, to feel so much compassion, when it was only fiction, but she couldn't help it. For her, it was real, the hurt, the pain and the disappointment.

She looked up to the sky and realized that it was getting late. It was time for her to go back to the camp before Inuyasha would make a fuss again. She sighed. Damn, that boy was frustrating and so irritating. She reached out for her towel and wrapped it around her body, before stepping out of the hot spring. Suddenly, she felt an aura behind her.

"Who is it? she asked and turned around. She could only see the darkness, created by the shadow from the closely placed trees. She couldn't see anything, but she was sure that there was something. Nervously, she touched on her belongings, not wavering her eyes from her surrounding. When she still found nothing, she realized that she left her arrow and bow in the camp.

She was in deep trouble.

"Lani?" she asked in vain hope.

"Lani?" A deep voice answered her. Sadly, it was not the deep feminine voice, but one belonging to a male.

"Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked and turned around. It was him, but she had yet to decide whether this was a good thing. After all, the last time she had seen him, he had tried to kill her... somehow. "What are you doing here?"

"You are treating on my lands, so it should be me who ask you that."

"So, still, what are you doing here, with me, I mean. Do you..." she gulped. "...want to kill me?" she asked. She may have gotten stronger, but not this strong. She knew that she wouldn't be able to take him down, maybe never. And she was smart enough not to try.

"No." A sigh of relief escaped her. Great, this meant that she still had the chance of marrying and having children and dying at a ripe age like 80. "Wait a moment! If you were not here to kill me, then what is the reason why you are here. Is it because of Inuyasha, do you want the sword, -" Thousand possible moments flashed through her eyes, maybe he still sought the Tessaiga? What should she do?

"And... and what other reason do you have to come here?" she asked.

"I..." Was this nervousness she traced in his voice? Surely, she was hallucinating. "I have a few questions. It seems you are the only one who can give me the answers."

"Well." Lucky me, again, she thought. "I will help you as much as I can." she smiled.

"I take you won't need long to change your attire or are you going to be clad in this?" he asked and raised his eyebrow at her, looking up and down her body. Kagome pressed the towel even tighter around her body. If it had not been Sesshomaru, if it had been anyone else, she would have put him right there and then to his place, but alas, it was Sesshomaru, the Lord of the Western Lands, she would shut her mouth up.

"Can you please turn around? I-"

"I will meet you here again, tonight, when your companions are sleeping." he simply said and left, leaving Kagome stunned. She stood there for a few minutes, unsure how to react. This was quite the most weirdest encouters in her life, especially considering it was Sesshomaru. The cold and distand Lord who detested humanity and not to forget the demon who tried to kill her. No, she remembered, there was one time, their last encounter, he did not want to kill her. She remembered it very well. It had been weird. When she flew away, she could feel his eyes pierce through her. And when she did turn around, she saw him look at her. Nothing else, he just looked at her.

That day had been different, their encounter was different, aside from the fact that he did not try to kill her. It was something else. She knew, she would be going out on a limb, when she claimed that she saw emotions in his eyes, but Kagome was sure she was right. If to be specific, she would say that... there was desperation in his eyes.

Absurd! She knew how laughable this sounded ridiculous, but she couldn't help but believe it. The expression he had worn, she had seen many times. The time their father left to go overboard and looked at their mother, when Inuyasha watched Kikyou leave and it was the same look Miroku always gave Sango, when he thought she wasn't looking. The look you have, when you leave something unsaid.

Regret.

Kagome shook her head. No, this wasn't possible. What could it be that Sesshomaru regretted? And if at all, it would surely not concern her. She was just a mere human girl, someone of no importance of him. She smiled and changed into her clothes. But all the time, she couldn't figure out why her heart seemed heavier than usually. As if something was squeezing her heart.

And so, finally she made her way back to the camp.

She was amazed at how easy she could find her way back. There was once a time where she could not even take a step without getting lost in the forst, but now, it seemed as if she knew it like the back of her hand. But either way, Kagome loved the forest.

It was so different from what she knew and grew up with. In Tokyo, she knew of no place that could compare to the beauty of this forest. No clearing, no gases destryoing the flora, just the nature in her truest form, untouched by mankind, like the way it was meant to be. Kagome couldn't believe how her ancestors could have turned their eyes from such a beauty, she would never be able to understand them. But maybe, it was her who was different. Most of the kids always felt more comfortable with streets, buildings and the typical city look, but somehow, Kaogme had always been the outdoor type, the free spirit.

In the nature, she felt like she was at home, more than even in her real home.

Kagome stopped for a moment to watch her environment. It always succeeded in taking her breath away. To her, it seemed as if the forest was filled with magic from the smallest plant to the greatest tree, filling every corner and every hole. She kneed down and touched the flower. It was blooming in all of her glory, but Kagome knew, it was about to die. The was the cycle of life and sadly, flowers were never meant for a long life. Carefully, she stroked the blossom of the flower.

Kagome always had a weak spot for flowers, for all kind of plants. As a child, she would touch everything in her reach that was green and appeared like some portayal from the nature. With every touch she could feel the life flowing from flower in her hands, the energy would begin with a small prickle in her fingertips and end with a fire in the ver core of her heart. It was the most magical she could come in touch with.

She smiled and finally stood up. It was late and she should get back, this time with no distraction and straight ahead to her friends.

The darkness spread across the sky, turning the babyblue sky into a royal blue sea of stars. Kagome looked up, seeing the night approach. Even the moon was now shining on the firmament. Slowly, she turned around and saw everyone sleeping peacefully. Inuyasha had disappeared a long time ago, she had waited carefully to make sure that she wouldn't be caught by him. In the meantime she contempleted whether she should really go and meet him. After all, she had no reason to. One one hand, it would be risky, but on the other, if he had wanted to kill her, he would have surely done that when they were alone.

But there was more to it.

The fact was, she wanted to go and meet him there. Her gut told her to go for this shot. All of her feelings pointed to that direction and Kagome had never been the one to deny her feelings. Maybe it was the way, his eyes looked like on their encounter, maybe it was the sad aura she imagined to have surrounded him or the bitterness. But she knew there was more to him than what meets the eye. And she wanted to be the first to see what it was.

She made up her mind.

Kagome slipped out from her sleepig bag and stuffed the same bag with some of her clothes, so it would appear as if there was someone lying in it. With one last look, she checked the camp. They were all asleep.

What would await her? She didn't know, but she wanted to. With precaution, Kagome made her way into the forest directly heading to the direction. But she didn't hurry up. One reason was, because she didn't want to arouse the attention from beasts or even worse demons and second, she was still uncertain at what she was doing. The slower she went, the more was her chance at changing her mind and turning around. She could still go back into her sleeping bag and pretend this never happened. That she didn't sneak out to meet the demon lord who tried to kill her and her friends at many occasions. Well, actually just Inuyasha, but that was another matter. He was still her friend and she was meeting her friend's brother, the hated brother and sworn enemy, not to forget.

Was this a betrayal? It sure felt like it.

"Miko?" She gasped.

Okay, this is the first act, I hope it wasn't too short. How do you like this so far? Nex time it will be from his point of view or rather, it shows a lot of insight from his perspective and we finally get to know what his thoughts concerning her are.

I will update soon

xoxo