The Way the Sword Falls

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha, the idea probably isn't very original either, and my inspiration for this particular fic comes from the fic To Tame a Wild Heart by Merith, and which is probably my favorite youkai Inu fic ever. If you haven't already read it, I definitely suggest that you do.

A/N: Well, sorry if the characters are a little OOC but it's a different sort of Inuyasha fic than I've ever written before, so I'm expecting some flames =) don't worry, though, cause I've got my fire extinguisher right next to me ;) so flame away! Yeah, like I said before, the inspiration came from that fic and others I've read, but I wanted to do it a little differently. So here goes.

Kagome looked up suddenly from her bowl of thin soup, the only thing she had been able to cook. "Inuyasha!" she whispered, trying not to wake Miroku and Shippou, who had both taken a thorough beating during the last fight. Both Sango and Inuyasha looked back at her, their gazes intense. "Shards. North."

The hanyou growled quietly. Hadn't they been through enough the last time they had tracked down shards? "How close?"

"Pretty close. And it's a strong feeling too, at least more than one shard."

Sango looked from one to the other, felt and saw Inuyasha visibly tense with the urge to fight, and made a decision. "I'll stay here and watch over these two. Besides, I wouldn't be any use to you guys anyway, not in the shape I'm in. You go and come back safely with those shards."

Inuyasha seemed startled with the offer, he had thought she would want to fight, want to be a part of the fray, or at least put up some resistance to them leaving. "Are you sure?" he asked, wary.

Kagome, however, stood up. She had seen the determination in Sango's eyes, along with the mixed regret and relief. And she had also seen the demon slayer's wounds, and knew that it would be a strain to lift her heavy weapon, much less throw it. At least here she had supplies and shelter, scant as it might be. "I'll set a barrier for you. Thank you, Sango."

"No, I should be thanking you. The barrier will do wonders to keeping us safe." She smiled, and then grimaced as her side, with its deep gashes, pinged in protest to a particularly deep breath.

Inuyasha nodded to her as a way of thanks and then strode out the door of the small hut. The girls watched as darkness fell upon him, muting the strong color of his fire rat, while making his hair seem to glow in the moonlight. Kagome followed after retrieving her bow and arrows, and some supplies, both food and medical. She took three large strides away from the hut and moved to one corner, shoved an arrow in the ground, walked to the next corner, repeated the process, and did the same for the third and forth corners as well. Imagining a bubble enclosing the hut, she called on her powers to form a barrier, feeling the strain of such a large one. When it was done she was panting, but knew it would hold, with the arrows as the cornerstones of the glowing pink barrier.

"Oi, you ready to leave yet?" the hanyou called out, impatient to go before the trace faded.

"Yeah, just finished." She grabbed her bag and walked over to him.

"Get on," he snapped, impatience and nerves making him demanding.

She obeyed without comment, just as eager as he was to be done with their errand. "It's still north," she told him and then he took off.

They arrived at the scene, conveniently located in a clearing in a forest, an hour later, and all of a sudden she wished she had never sensed the shards in the first place. They slowly made their way to the clearing where the action was, and she had to swallow the urge to throw up. Armies of youkai of all shapes and sizes were fighting each other, fighting themselves, and the gore was horrible. Dead, decaying corpses lay on the ground, some still with a snarl on their faces, if they had faces at all. The shrieks of the not-quite-dead rang over the battle cries, the ring of steel on steel, of flesh on flesh. Some humans were in the middle of the fray as well, wielding weapons with a multitude of different skill levels, and they could clearly see where some were fighting for their lives, armed with only the tools from their farm or ranch. It was disgusting to watch.

Kagome slipped from Inuyasha's back and turned her face away, tears falling out of frustration and sorrow. They had to do something. The silver-haired hanyou growled lowly, just as frustrated as she was, and the fighting, incredibly, stopped. Everyone turned to look at the pair with angry eyes, some with blood dripping down their faces, some with eyes missing altogether. He motioned for her to drop her bag and ready her bow, and as though that was the signal, all of the youkai and humans rushed at them.

Inuyasha whipped out Tetsusaiga, which quickly transformed and soon Wind Scars were flying everywhere, cutting down youkai and humans alike. Kagome stuck near the tree line, knowing that she stood a better chance with her back protected by the ancient trees. She tried not to aim at the humans, knowing her conscience would plague her for the rest of her life if she killed one of them for no reason. So she fired up her arrows with her miko powers and let them fly, many reaching the heart or another vital organ and vaporizing a much-needed part of whatever youkai it hit, others vaporizing arms, legs, or other body parts.

It was only a few minutes into the battle when she realized that she was all out of arrows. Her heart sank as she looked and still saw a much larger mass of youkai than Inuyasha could take on by himself. She tried to fire off an "arrow" of nothing but spiritual power, but the strain was enormous and it fizzed out before it hit anything. So she gathered her courage, gripped her bow tightly, and ran out into the bloody massacre.

Inuyasha felt warmth at his back and whipped around, ready to attack whatever it was, and he saw a bow crash down on a youkai, a bow that was glowing pink. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?" he yelled, anger and concern warring inside him.

"Ran out of arrows!" she shouted back, not looking at him.

He growled and faced forwards again. He wanted to pick her up and dump her somewhere safe, somewhere away from this bloody, gory fight, but knew that she would just come back to fight beside him. And he couldn't bear her being anywhere in this fight but where she was, where he could guard over her. And she was, after all, watching his back.

It was only a few minutes later when they realized that their position was fairly hopeless. The youkai seemed to never end, never tire. Kagome was breathing heavily, not used to this sort of combat, and had many scratches and cuts that bled slowly but that loss was weakening her and she knew it. Inuyasha was no better. His main sword arm had been gashed deeply, his torso had many cuts, as did his face. If it hadn't been for Kagome, he was sure he would have fallen by now. As it was, anger was his overwhelming emotion. He had smelled her blood, had heard her cry out in pain as she was hurt, and she just kept fighting. And so did he, because he knew that he had to protect her. And so protect her he did.

A youkai, realizing that Inuyasha's strongest attacks were with the Tetsusaiga, managed to knock it out of his hand. With a vicious victory scream, it moved towards his heart… and then a wave of youki sent it flying. The white-haired hanyou was no longer a hanyou. Red eyes and a vicious grin greeted the youkai and sent them taking a step back. Kagome turned and looked at him, looked at where the Tetsusaiga had fallen on the other side of the clearing. With determination in her eyes she began to make her way towards it…

A youkai, realizing the opening, came up behind the girl and attacked her back. Claws quickly ripped through clothes, through skin and into muscle. She cried out in pain and whipped around, her bow once more glowing pink and hitting the youkai on the head, vaporizing it and killing him.

Inuyasha turned to see her fall and his anger overwhelmed everything else. They had hurt her, the person he knew, without a doubt, was his mate. She had been standing behind him, had protected his weak side while he had done the same to her. He made his way over to her, whining for her to get up, to stay awake. But she merely closed her eyes, the pain overtaking her.

He stood up, his youki once more flaring and giving him strength. Many of the humans that had survived, seeing the murderous glee in his eyes and in his smile, turned and ran for their lives. The youkai, however, attacked. They were quickly ripped and torn and thrown aside, their lives ending in a wave of pain. Blood dripped over his claws, his hands, and he felt the satisfaction of murder filling him. One youkai, however, managed to sneak up behind him and sink fangs into his shoulder. Inuyasha howled in pain and killed that youkai as well, but the damage was done. The rest of the youkai were quickly vanquished.

He knelt over Kagome and whined, but she didn't open her eyes. He picked her up and left the clearing the way that they entered it. She stirred a bit and whispered, "My bag… Inu-Inuyahsa…" and then once more passed out cold.

He understood what she wanted, even if the words themselves made no sense to him. So he picked up the bag, and the quiver as well, once he realized that it smelled like her as well. The smell of her blood was strong in his nose, so instead of following their scent back where it led he went deeper into the forest, the need to keep her safe incredibly strong now.

Kagome wearily opened her eyes as Inuyasha stepped into the cave. It was small, but secure and, well, almost cozy. She looked at him and realized that he was still in youkai form. But for some reason that didn't scare her. She raised her hand to touch his face and his startled eyes looked into hers. He set her gently down and, with a groan, collapsed on the floor.

She cried out and tried to catch him, but all she could do was cushion his head as it landed on the floor. All of her muscles protest the action, but especially her back. Groaning, stood up and found her bag and the medical supplies that she had stored there earlier. And realized that she had not grabbed the Shikon shards that they had gotten hurt for in the first place. Cursing quietly, she knew that she had to go and get them, but she had no idea where they were. So she took off her ruined shirt and bra and tried to look at the wounds that screamed with every movement but couldn't. So they would have to go unattended. She knew that they would probably fester, so she took an antibiotic and hoped it would help.

Kagome then turned to her companion and sighed. She knew that his wounds had to be rather nasty for him to have just collapsed like that. So she went about stripping off his shirt and, blushing, examined his torso for wounds. And there were a lot of them. She sighed once more and went to work.

She cleaned and bandaged his wounds, and knew that she would have to give him something that would prevent infection as soon as he was awake. She once more examined the bite mark on his shoulder and frowned. There was something wrong with it, but she didn't know what. And there was nothing she could do about it at the moment.

She saw the firewood stacked in the back and quickly had a small fire going. It would have to be enough for him at the moment, because she couldn't move him and she was too exhausted to try and wrap him in her sleeping bag. But she felt the tingle of the shards on her senses again and made up her mind. She had to get them.

Inuyasha woke again, his body aching everywhere, but the most intense pain was in his shoulder. Red eyes looked around, and the empty cave sent worry through him. His mate should be here, should be with him. Something must have happened to make it not the way it should be. He got up, ignoring the pain, and sniffed for her scent. It led outside of the small shelter, into the rain. Where the trail stopped and was washed away by the rain. He whined in worry. He didn't know where she was, didn't know where she had gone.

He couldn't chance going the wrong way and not finding her, especially if she collapsed again. Neither one of them was in a good enough state to fight, and the rain would only make it worse. So he whined again, paced for a bit, and then headed away from the cave in a straight line. Maybe she had left the cave to go back for something, something that she needed. It was the only thing he could think of.

He had made it halfway back to the clearing when a frightened cry drew his attention. He had to rely on his ears more than anything else, and knew that they would not fail him. So he strayed to the right and snarled when he smelled fear, fear and lust.

He saw Kagome up against a tree, her face wet with the rain and something else, fear and anger in her eyes, her lip bleeding and her cheek swollen. Surrounding her were three men, their odors combining with the smell of their lust to form a putrid scent in his nose. He growled but no one heard it. He started forward and felt the anger rise within his gut. They would pay.

Kagome gripped the Shikon shards and Tetsusaiga as she tried to remember the way she had come. It had been easy to find her way back to the clearing with the shards guiding her way, but finding a path back to the cave was a lot harder. She looked up at the gloomy sky and shivered. Soon it would storm, and then she would freeze. She had to be back in the cave by that time. And besides, Inuyasha would be waking up soon, and she had to be there to tend to his wounds.

She tried to hurry but knew that she was only attracting more bad luck because of the noise she was making, and sure enough, three men stumbled onto her path. She could smell the stale sake on their breath and from their entire beings and immediately wished that she was somewhere else, or at least with someone. Even Shippo would have been nice. She was not a stupid woman, and knew what they wanted as their eyes roamed over her tattered clothes. Suddenly she was very glad that she had thought to wear one of Inuyasha's inner shirts, however, for they showed less than her own shirt had, even when it was fully intact. But she knew that it would not stop them. She tried to go around them, but felt a tinge of fear when they started to follow her, laughing amongst themselves.

She wished she had waited until Inuyasha had woken up, but knew that she never could have. So she tried to act braver than she felt and started to hurry her pace. If she could just make it to the cave she would be safe. Because she knew that Inuyasha would make sure of it.

"Hey there, Darlin'," one of them said, just managing not to slur his words. The other two laughed, hyena-like in their sound and its ability to instill fear.

Kagome was no different, and felt another chill go up her spine at the noise. There was no way that this could end well. She wished she had at least thought to bring her bow, because at least she could do physical harm with it, and the solid wood made her feel safer, unlike now, when she was feeling very exposed. So she ignored the men and concentrated on reaching her goal alive and unhurt.

Too bad that Fate had other ideas. One of the men, catching up to her, pulled on the shirt and made her stumble, but not fall. But they all found this extremely funny, even when Kagome stood back up and turned around quickly, knocking the hand away from her with her own hand. They just took a few steps back and taunted her some more. Each time they reached for her they were brushed aside, though they were slowing down the girl at each turn.

Finally one of the men tired of the game. He wrapped a hand around her neck and pushed her into a nearby tree, grinning as she cried out. The rough bark hurt the wounds on her back, reminding her with a fiery pain that they were there to stay. She glared defiantly at them as she tried to pull the fingers around her throat away, to no avail.

"Hey there pretty lady," one in the back leered. "Wanna have some fun?"

She spat. "Not on your life!"

The one in charge reached out and smacked her cheek. The force of it stung and sent black dots to dance in front of her eyes. "You'll do as we say, and we'll be your best friends," he murmured, loud enough for only her to hear. Though his friends slurred their words, he didn't seem to be that drunk, which worried her more than anything.

She sent a quick mental call for help before she remembered that this wasn't a story in one of her books. This was for real, and these men wanted to steal from her the one thing she valued more than anything: her virginity. Panic suddenly set in and she scratched at the man's face, using all the dirty tricks she could think of. She stepped on his instep, clawed at the hand that was holding her, and wriggled relentlessly until she was free, and then she took off running.

They were after her in a few seconds, once the realization sank in that they had lost their prey. The leader shouted, the drunk ones laughed, and Kagome ran, her fear giving her more energy than she thought she had left.

The men had longer legs and soon caught up to her, grabbing her once more and tumbling with her to the ground. They pushed her upright against a second tree, ignoring the blood that was seeping from her back through the thin shirt. This time she was too pumped on adrenaline to feel the pain, her fight or flight instinct kicking in. Since flight hadn't worked, well, she would have to try fight. She brought up her legs to try and attack their most delicate spots, but they had already thought of the possibility, and moved so that she hit their shins or thighs instead.

Once more her fear took over, but she refused to be cowed. So she spat and tried to calm her heavy breathing.

They took her sudden good behavior as a change of heart, and laughed once more. "See, boss, she wasn't nuthin' too tough."

The second man agreed. "They're always better when they've got some fight."

But the leader just stared at her. "Why not use that fancy sword you've got there? Is it because you've accepted?"

Kagome spat at him again. Her aim was improving, she noted, as the spittle landed on the leader's cheek. Shippou would be so proud.

The leader raised his hand when a growl reached them. All four humans turned to look at the source, and only Kagome did not feel fear at the sight. Her hanyou was now a demon. His eyes raged red with blue stripes on his cheeks, and an aura that even drunk and stupid humans understood. The message was clear. Back off my woman.

But drunk and stupid humans rarely used their good common sense. The leader let go of her to step forward to face Inuyasha. "Back off, demon, we found her first."

Kagome took the opportunity to creep around the tree and out of the men's reach. Neither of the drunks noticed, which was a stroke of luck that had otherwise been missing. When she was safe enough away to risk running she did, happy when she finally was behind Inuyasha.

The demon grinned, and called with a rusty voice. "She's mine, you pathetic excuses for humans. You're not even worth wetting my claws with your blood."

The leader was clearly insulted, but the men behind him looked about ready to break and run. Kagome wished they would hurry up and do it so she could be on her way back to the relative safety of the cave. Now that she was with Inuyasha, she had begun to calm down and take in their states. Neither of them had fared well in the battle before, and now the cold rain would just worsen it. They faced hypothermia as well as infection, never a good mix.

"Boss, they's demons or something. We'll find other women if we leave now…" The two men exchanged looks behind their leader's back. They were debating if it was worth running now, before things got messy, when the other man turned to them.

"Pah, that girl isn't worth a fight!" he said, and then the men were gone.

Inuyasha turned to Kagome, and saw that she had calmed, though she appeared not to notice that she had been crying. He cupped her bruised cheek in a gentle hand, mindful of his over-long claws, and whined.

She smiled at him, or tried to, and asked, "Can we leave now?"

He picked her up and set off for the cave at a run.

Kagome tended to the fire as soon as Inuyasha put her down. The embers still burned hot enough for new flames, and the cave was soon illuminated and warmed by the fire. She was shivering, but refused to acknowledge it. She put the shards with the others around her neck, and smiled a bit at the chunk of jewel she had. Then she looked at the person who had saved her life and her innocence. "Inuyasha, come here," she called. His eyes found hers, and he did as she asked. He cocked his head to one side, and she had to fight the urge to smile. "I need to look and see if you re-opened any wounds," she explained, and began to take off his shirt.

The demon froze, his eyes going wide with shock. Then he relaxed, and reached for hers as well. Her shriek stopped him. He was confused. They were mates, and if she was taking off his clothes, it was only right that he would take off hers as well. Why else shed the coverings? He closed his eyes and breathed deeply of her scent, and had the answer. Because they had not yet mated. He wracked his mind for the reason, and was disappointed.

Meanwhile, Kagome was whistling in appreciation. "You've healed up nicely, Inuyasha. All except for that bite on your shoulder…" She took a closer look and frowned. She had never seen anything like it. Habit had her calling on her miko powers when she realized what she was doing. Instead of trying to purify it, she settled for a compress and herbs to try and speed his natural healing along. By now she had warmed up a bit, and after explaining everything to the demon, she began to settle for bed. She laid a barrier at the mouth of the cave, frowning as the simple exercise left her shaking and exhausted. Then she pulled out the sleeping bag and blushed.

They had only one bag, which was their only covering. Kagome was too much a healer to even think that they would do well enough without warmth that night, but she was too much a woman to pretend that she could come away unscathed from a night in close quarters with the man she loved, even if he did not love her back. So she put on her bravest face and told him of their quandary. And then she remembered that she still had Tetsusaiga, and handed it back to him.

He took the blade, and changed back to hanyou. Then he immediately started to grumble. "I don't know why I have to carry around this damn sword…"

Kagome smiled in relief. He was back to normal, all except for that bite, so she let him gripe for a bit while she got settled in the sleeping bag. "Inuyasha?" she finally called.

"Yeah, wench?" he answered, not looking at her.

She blushed and forced the words out. "Are you c-coming to bed?"

He instantly turned red and was thankful that she was turned towards the fire instead of him. "I'll take first watch," was all he said.

She stared at the flames until she fell asleep.

Something was wrong. She knew it the moment she woke up, shivering. The fire was out, but that wasn't it. She looked around for the hanyou and jumped when she noticed that he was curled up as small as possible, also shivering. The first thing she did was tend to the fire, making sure it was as large as was safe, in order to warm the small cave.

The next thing she did was what any sane person would do, she told herself. She was not just trying to get Inuyasha into her bed, no she was not. They were both cold, and the safest, and warmest, option for them was to share the sleeping bag. She thought that he would protest more than he did, but when she woke him and guided him to the bag, he did not make a sound.

Sleep came to neither person fast as they lay wrapped in the cloth, too cold to focus on much else, but too aware of the other to focus only on the cold. Inuyasha tried to memorize every detail of her body as it lay, stiff and shaking, next to his own. It was probably the only time she would get this close, he thought sadly. No one wanted to take a hanyou for a mate, not even his gentle Kagome.

As for the woman in question, her every nerve was on fire. Had she not been shivering from the cold, she would have been shivering in excitement. His very scent did crazy things to her, made her pulse race and her nerves tingle. She did not want to sleep, but exhaustion crept up on her, much as it did to her companion.

Somehow, while they slept, Inuyasha's hand had crept between the ties of her shirt, through the shreds of her bra, and to one of her breasts. He noticed this when he woke, but couldn't find the strength to pull away. Instead he let his hand explore, already steeling himself against the pain of the worst 'sit' he'd had, ever. Her skin was soft and delicate, the nipple already hard against his palm. He was curious as to what they looked like, but decided against giving into that specific temptation. He did not want to chance her temper any more than he had to.

Instead he amused himself with the changes in her scent as he fondled her wonderful flesh. He almost understood why Miroku did what he did, though he imagined no woman could ever be the equal of Kagome. Her scent changed from its normal light, delicate smell, to a heavier, darker one, one that sent twinges down his entire body. He pulled his hand away, only to find it drifting down her body, over her wonderfully flat belly, down beyond her navel, to the secret place guarded by a patch of soft hair.

This time her scent was richer, and much huskier. He breathed it in deeply, and felt the response in his throbbing manhood. He knew that he should stop, should skirt this disaster before he did something stupid, but then his hand found a hard node and she gasped, eyes opening blindly. He drew his hand away quickly, and was astonished when she cried out her disappointment.

When he would have tucked his hand safely against her side, she reached out and grabbed it. Kagome rested it lightly against her stomach, which she viewed as a neutral area. She refused to look at him, and her cheeks were bright red. "Why?" she asked, kicking herself all the while.

He knew that he couldn't lie to her now, not when she was so vulnerable. Not when he was driven half mad by the smell of her arousal. The need to mate was strong, and all his instincts were yelling at him to give in. "I don't know," he whispered.

She flinched away from the words, and felt her heart ripping in two. The blood pounded in her ears, ice in her veins, as her stomach dropped. She should have known that his feelings weren't the same. She had known, but denied them anyway. Tears rose unbidden to blur her vision as she fought with the zipper on the sleeping bag. She had to get out, now, before she lost it completely.

But he foiled her plans, smelling immediately the change in her mood. He softly grabbed her chin and pulled it so that she turned to face him. "Look at me," he said. She did so, her brown eyes sad and deep. It punched a hole in his gut. "I don't know what this feeling I have for you is, Kagome. It's strong, and it's there. I can't give you a stable future, or any of the things it is customary for a mate to offer. I can only give you that feeling."

This time a different sort of tears filled her eyes. She looked at him, really looked, and realized that he was as lost as she was. "I don't care about any of that, Inuyasha. I only want you. I only need you."

And they both knew it was true. He slowly guided his head to hers, watching as her eyes fluttered shut, until his lips pressed against hers. She gave a secret little sigh before relaxing into the kiss. When they drew away, there was only love in their eyes. "Now go back to sleep, wench."

This time, when she woke up to find his hand on her breast, she pressed herself into it, feeling the fire that raced down secret nerves to join a pool of quivering fire between her legs. She pressed herself back against him, and was astonished to feel his hardness brushing against the curve of her bottom. She uttered a breathy sigh, and relaxed against him.

His hand turned her once more to face him, so he could look into her eyes and see the effect he had on her with his own eyes. She wanted to close them, but found his amber eyes had caught and held her own. So she blushed instead, and undid the ties of his shirt to reveal skin. Her hand brushed against his chest lightly, fingers covering skin she knew well, searching out the hidden scars he had from his worst wounds. The change in his breathing was reward enough for anything, and she had to smile at him.

The smile was turned into a breath when he kissed her, hard, passionately, and pulled her flush against him. The soft feelings she'd had changed, intensified, filling her with a fire she had not known existed. She pushed against him, molding herself to his stronger frame, giving as good as she got.

Then he growled low in his throat and rolled on top of her. He pushed away the remnants of her clothing and looked at the flesh that had so often given him nightmares. She was pale and soft, with steely muscles that gave her figure form. Her curves were exquisite, her rounded breasts leading into a trim stomach that gave way to small, flaring hips. The pleasure in his eyes beat away her urge to cover herself, though she did blush. He dropped down to her throat, where he nuzzled against her soft skin and whispered, for her ears alone, "Perfect. You are perfect, Kagome."

She moaned as his hands found their way back to her breasts, the nipples achingly hard. She threw her head back and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensations running through her body. She gasped and cried out when his mouth closed down over one dark peak, writhing below him, feeling an aching hollow between her legs. She rubbed them together unconsciously, trying to fill a need she didn't even know she had.

His hand obliged. It had made its way down to her core, the soft, wet flesh just waiting for the touch. Her legs clamped shut, but she relaxed soon enough, his kisses on every inch of skin that he could touch doing the trick. Then his hand was free, and he once again touched the bundle of nerves, reveling in her reaction, the breathy pants and moans, the intensity of her scent, the dark, musky smell that drove him crazy. One finger dipped down to test her depths, and she froze, eyes blind, every muscle clenched. She let out a soundless scream, and collapsed in on herself.

When she was thinking and aware once more, she felt Inuyasha holding her against his chest, stroking her hair. "Is it always that intense?" he asked, curious.

She blushed once more. "I wouldn't know," she said softly. "That was my first…" she trailed off, but he understood what she meant.

His hands cupped her cheeks, and he softly kissed her. "Thank you, Kagome."

She decided that she'd had enough talk, and pushed him down to the ground. "We're not done yet, mister," she grinned mercilessly in his face. And then she kissed him, hard, while her hands explored his body, once more taking in the smooth tissues of his muscles, hardened and toned from daily use, his scars, and the soft skin that was his alone. When her hands dipped teasingly below his waistline, he drew in a sharp breath. She was satisfied by his reaction, and repeated the exercise, grinning wickedly.

"Tease," he managed.

"Always," she returned, and then let her hands slide down a little lower, to the hair that guarded his manhood. Suddenly shy, she hid her face in her hair and rested her hands on his chest.

Inuyasha didn't understand what was wrong. He knew what he wanted, what they both wanted, and drew her hands back down to the ties of his pants. He whined anxiously, confused.

Kagome drew up her courage and undid the ties, aware of the consequences of her decision. Dog-demons mated for life, and if she was to go through with his, they would be tied together forever. They would share a lifespan, share a heartbeat, share everything. If he died, she died. She would outlive all her friends, in this time frame and in the next. But as she looked at the man who desperately wanted her, needed her, she realized that she would not want it any other way. She loved him in a way that she could not describe, with so strong a feeling it brought tears to her eyes. She knew that she would not regret this decision, no matter how long they lived.

So she smiled at him, and reached for his hot, throbbing rod. As he groaned and lay back, she took her time exploring him. The skin was soft, but he was hard, very, very hard. Enough to give her a big head, she giggled soundlessly. She trailed fingertips up and down his length, and watched as he shivered in reaction. Suddenly inspired, she put her mouth around the tip, eyes watching his face. He moaned throatily, and watched her with hungry eyes. As she took him in deeper, faster, his body jerked and tightened. He pushed her away and then pulled her up towards his face, kissing her passionately. They frantically removed the rest of their clothes, touching as much skin as they could.

It didn't take long before he was pushing inside her, slowly, inch by inch, until they were as close as it was physically possible for two people to be. He had watched her face, and was aware of her discomfort. She tried to smile for him, but instead winced. He kissed her face, her neck, controlling himself until she relaxed enough around him that he could move. Slowly at first, to let her get used to the intrusion, his thrusts soon became faster and more wild, like a beast let out of a cage. Sweat glimmered over them both. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, her hips raised at an angle that allowed him deeper access. He cushioned her head on his arms, so when the speed and force increased, she did not get hurt.

He dropped his head down to her neck, biting lightly. It wasn't long until they were both at the edge, shaking. "My mate," he whispered, and they dropped over the edge into the white ecstasy. When they came back down to earth, he said it again, and again, with a reverence in his eyes that made her blush.

She laughed and hugged him close, rubbing his delicate ears while he rested on top of her. They both dozed off again, and woke to the sound of rain. Once more Kagome tended to the fire, while Inuyasha had gone off to see if he could catch any small game. They both knew that after the rain let up they would have to go back to Sango, Miroku, and Shippou. After that, it was probably back to the village for more rest. That had been their original plan, before the shards got in the way.

So the couple enjoyed the peace while they could, spending that night cuddled together next to the wall, watching the flames with happy eyes. The next morning brought sun, and they resigned themselves to the presence of other people for the time being, once they reached the small hut where their friends were.

They started the journey back hand-in-hand, and it wasn't until they reached the hut that they let go of each other. She quickly banished the barrier and laughed when Shippou ran to her, demanding a hug and an explanation of where she had been all this time. Then he stopped and took a deep breath, his eyes widening. He jumped down from her arms and ran to Inuyasha. Kagome held her breath and felt her eyes water when the young Kitsune bowed lowly to the hanyou.

Miroku and Sango were observing all of the commotion with confusion until they saw what Kagome was wearing, and how relaxed the two of them looked. Then they put two and two together and came to the right conclusion. Smiles were exchanged, and Sango hugged her friend. "What will Kaede say?"

So, that's the end. I didn't really know how to write any more of it without making it another ten pages long or so, so I just decided to end it there.

Thanks for reading!

Meako