Story will be edited at a later date

Title: Trepidation

Author: Priestess Skye

Rating: G

Genre: Romance

Word Prompt: Trepidation (Thanks to Yabou for providing it)

Word Count: 1,124

Pairing: Sess/Kag

Notes: Continuation to the Candidacy series

Sighing, Sesshoumaru opened another door to another room, knowing he wasn't quite there yet, but getting closer. The building was large, but there still weren't very many places one could hide from him. But it was precisely what she was doing. His knack for finding people who didn't want to be found was an endless source of amusement for him at times. It did much to clean up any supposed secrets the staffers had thought to keep from him. Between his supreme hearing and his superb sense of smell, his staffers were quite frankly scared shitless of him.

It was just like the old days.

However today it was different. It was an irritation. The often times stubborn and irrational woman wasn't letting do his job as he was forced to seek her out instead. He understood her position and knew his transition into the White House was hard on her. He couldn't well employ her knowing it would cause some sort of a scandal, and more so, a conflict of interest. And she couldn't employ herself in her chosen field, as it was once again, a conflict of interest. Any campaign she chose to work on would be given an unofficial endorsement of the presidency, as the world knew she was his lover.

At first it had been a source of contention. But he thought she was past all that. It was strange that he had been wrong, as he had become fairly adept at reading her moods. Which was what had brought him to this moment as he opened the door to another room and frowned.

He was getting closer. Her confusion and distress was steadily increasing.

The salty scent of her tears suddenly hit him, causing him to turn left down the next corridor. Perhaps she wasn't really hiding him, Sesshoumaru thought as he zeroed in on the room he knew he'd find her in. He found it strange that she chose this room over all of her typical haunts. Perhaps she wasn't trying to hide at all.

Opening the door, he walked into his office, immediately knowing she was there, but he couldn't see her.

But he could hear her. Her quiet sniffs echoed in his ears. Pressing his lips in a thin line, all was not well. Kneeling down, he glanced under his desk to see her sitting there, curled in a ball, her face pressed into her arm.

"They all hate me out there," Kagome murmured when she opened her eyes and spotted him before her. "In the beginning they were okay with this. Now they all hate me."

"It shouldn't matter," he replied as he realized that their troubles weren't over yet. He had seen the media reports, read the newspaper and had been briefed by Miroku on the public's opinion of their relationship. In the beginning there was support. Now that support was beginning to fade. The people didn't want the president to have a lover. They wanted a wife, one that was suitable for the position.

Which Kagome was not, according to public opinion.

She was Japanese, and though she was working toward her citizenship, she wasn't quite an American citizen yet.

"You don't hear everything they say," she said, wiping her eyes. "You weren't out there with me this morning. You weren't there when the ladies at the hair salon were snickering at me behind my back, just loud enough so they knew I would hear. How inappropriate I was for you. How a 'mongrel' like me should return to where I came from. You didn't hear the obscenities.

"And I know it's all just petty jealousies," she continued as his low growl echoed through the room, clearly displeased. "On a rational level I know that. But sometimes, when I look around me, I can see why it's true."

This was yet another thing that was just like the old days, he realized. Women would constantly find ways to demean and belittle others of their gender because somebody else had something they wanted. Fighting the rage he could feel building up from within when he heard the word mongrel, he knew he would have to push past that right now. There was a bigger issue they had to resolve before he could figure out how to deal with the women in question, though he made a mental note later to get Miroku to find out where Kagome got her hair done.

She was having second thoughts, and that, at the moment, was no good. Not if he wanted to push forward with their relationship and remain on schedule as planned.

Or as he had planned, he should say. She knew nothing of it yet.

"These women know nothing of which they speak," he muttered, wishing he could spit on that very thought, though it was beneath him to do so. "Does it not occur to you that public opinion does not dictate every aspect of my life?"

"Of course," she vehemently replied, her eyes flashing at the insinuation behind that statement. Inwardly pleased at overcoming the first obstacle, her tears, he raised a brow to let her speak. "I know you're not a puppet. But look at me. I'm not American."

"That can, and will be rectified."

"Fine," she snapped. "I'm unemployed."

"Again, that can, and will be rectified if you so choose."

"If I remain unemployed, I will be out of house and home as I will no longer be able to afford to pay the rent. How would you like that, Sesshoumaru? A Japanese, unemployed, and homeless lover."

The fire had returned to her eyes as they were blazing at him, full of fury and indignation. This was the Kagome he knew. Standing up, he reached down to pull her from underneath the desk. "Why were you under my desk?"

The startled look on her face was the only indication that she had not expected that question. "Honestly? The office smelled like you. It was the only place I could think of going to sort this all out."

"So," he murmured, pulling her close, crowing inside as she unwittingly took another step in the destination he had mind. Her admission spoke volumes, even if she didn't realize it. "Why don't I be the judge of what I believe is appropriate or inappropriate." His lips settled over hers, not so much for her benefit, but for his own. A reaffirmation of what he knew to be true. He knew she would understand it as such. "Besides," he continued as he moved closer, his mouth a breath away from ear. "I wouldn't worry about your lack of an apartment. If I recall, you haven't spent one night in it since you arrived here."

Title: Second Thoughts

Author: Priestess Skye

Rating: G

Genre: Romance:

Word Prompt: Test – From Ebony Silks

Word Count: 770

Pairing: Sess/Kag

Notes: This is the second installment to Presidency, the continuation of Candidacy.

To say she was nervous would be an understatement. Kagome was terrified to the point of feeling nauseous. She had done this so many times already throughout the campaign, but this would be the first time she would stand next to him as the president. If she had her way, she'd stay hidden behind the scenes, still upset over the words spoken about her by those at the salon the other day.

The support still wasn't there, and she was beginning to think it never would be. Oh she had Sesshoumaru's support. She wasn't the least bit concerned about that, and Miroku and Shippou would always stand by his decisions, but the people in the room where those who could hold some influence over him, and she wondered if they would survive their criticism.

A state dinner, Kagome sighed as she allowed the personal stylist to pin her hair up. Not just a dinner with friends, or colleagues, or other politicians he was familiar with. It was a state dinner with foreign dignitaries, white collar, the whole nine yards.

Posing in front of the large mirror in her room, she took a moment to twirl and giggle. In many ways, she was still so much like the young child she once was, full of life, dreams and courage. For some reason two of the three were lacking and she didn't know why. Had politics jaded her that much? He would love the dress, she knew. He already loved it as she pulled out the white silk garment that she wore to the Arctic Nights ball a few months ago, and matched it with the silver and citrine pieces he had taken care to purchase for her. Fingering the necklace, she jumped when she heard the loud, echoing knock on her door. Dropping her hand to her side, she strengthened her resolve.

This was it. "Come in," she called, instinctively knowing it was him who stood on the other side.

And it was no surprise her throat went dry when Sesshoumaru stepped into one of the spare bedrooms. The man had an excellent sense of style, she thought, wishing she had a fan, but there was something about him in a tuxedo, white gloves and all. He lived up to his name in every way and for all of one moment, she was jealous.

She would have to share him tonight and right now she wanted nothing more than to keep him all for herself.

Her own private dinner and dessert all rolled into one.

The predatory gleam in his eye told her precisely what he thought of dress and she inwardly grinned as he stalked across the room toward her, pushing her back until he had her pinned to the wall. "Woman, you tempt me too much," he murmured, crushing his mouth to hers, his hands running up and down her sides, as if he were trying to feel the heat of her through the cool silk fabric. Forgetting to breath, she held on tightly to him as he pulled back, his eyes never leaving her body.

"Good evening to you, too!" Pressing against him, she began to pout as he pulled back. "Hey."

"We'll be late," he stated, extending his hand out to hers, though the intensity of his gaze on her didn't change.

It didn't matter as everything washed away from her except for the fear and anxiety. Feeling the lump rise in her throat once more, she looked up at him, her arm only halfway extended. "Do I really need to do this? Can't I just stay back tonight and attend the next one?"

"You can do what you like," he replied easily. "You have never done otherwise."

Seeing the out she wanted and was desperately looking for, Kagome very nearly took him up on it until she took note of his demeanor. No longer relaxed and confident, Sesshoumaru looked tense, as if he were afraid of what her answer would be.

Where was her sense of adventure, she wondered idly.

Courage. Honour. Love.

The words meant so much to her growing up, so where were they now?

Taking a step forward, she placed her hand in his and squeezed it, pleased when she saw his stance relax just a little.

They would either like her or hate her

But for now, as long as Sesshoumaru stood next to her, she would survive.

After all, they were just hoity toity dignitaries, weren't they? In the grand scheme of things they were only the small fish she would have to fry. They were nothing in comparison to Sesshoumaru.

She smiled. He was everything.

DISCLAIMER: These characters do not belong to me. They, and all characters pertaining to Inuyasha, belongs to Rumiko Takahashi