A/N: ok… just to let everyone know this is NOT a lemon… although it is pretty…err… lemony at the end. But like I said NOT A LEMON!!! But either way, if LEMONISH stuff bothers you – please don't read the last few paragraphs. Enjoy!

- Snow -

She had never been more terrified – not once like this for a single day in her life. Kagome could feel her lower lip trembling, but it wasn't just from the cold. Her entire body shuddered ruthlessly as she took a step back, the snow burning against the sensitive pale skin of her bare legs. It was ironic – how the coldest thing on earth could burn you like fire, set you aflame as though you were nothing but a dry, fragile piece of wood. It told you your existence was for the sole purpose of being shattered, and ignited to burn… burn until there was nothing left at all – nothing, but ash, and dust. Unrecognizable is what you would become.

And at that moment, Kagome felt unrecognizable. She was stumbling backwards, hoping that with each step she might catch herself – but it never worked that way for her. She knew that once you tripped, once you began to stumble without seeing where you were falling – you'd never regain your footing again. With her left hand she held the priestess' kimono against her chest, praying that the two ends wouldn't fly out of her grip and reveal her naked chest.

'But really…' she thought. 'What does it matter – when you've already seen my naked soul?'

She hated wearing the priestess' outfit – Kikyo's outfit. She knew that every time he looked upon her as she wore it, he saw the undead miko – and not Kagome. She could tell by the way his shoulders would drop, his eyes suddenly becoming dull and glazed over with guilt and remorse, losing their usual golden flame and will to fight. The corners of his mouth would twitch downwards, as though he were resisting the need to flinch in pain – a pain that came from deep within his wounded soul.

But today was different.

There was no sorrow, nor was there any remorse. What Kagome had seen in the hanyou's eyes was something that hadn't made her feel isolated and guilty like it usually did. Instead, it created an unmistakable, overwhelming sense of terror.

She had scrambled down the well after escaping Kaede's village where she had first borrowed the priestess' dress – quite unwillingly. Kagome could have only hoped Inuyasha wouldn't follow, however – the old bone-eater's well didn't exactly differentiate between the fuzzy-eared hanyou and his vicious demon form that greatly lacked control, and a conscience.

She could only remember changing in the hut, barely covering herself as he had suddenly walked in, frozen to the stone floor as he laid eyes upon her as if for the first time – wide, fascinated, and thirsty.

The next thing she knew she was running from him – stumbling desperately away from the well while attempting to keep what was left of the sixteenth century rags on her already hypothermic body. She willed her legs to move, willed them to work faster – but alas, the beaten down girl's mind had seemed to lose all power over her. Maybe it was because she didn't want to run? Maybe she wanted to be caught – shredded to pieces by the monster she loved so dearly. After all, better this monster than the ones waiting for her on the other side.

She gave in then, allowing herself to finally fall back into the soft fluffy cold that seemed to have infiltrated her surroundings. A tiny gasp was all that escaped her lips as the girl's small frame impacted the snow, burying her deeper into its cold, burning clutches.

And did it burn.

Kagome closed her eyes, feeling the tiny flakes land softly on her eyelids – but only for a moment. It was Inuyasha's feral growl that brought her back, reminding her exactly why she had returned. She was trying to get away – hoping that the well would protect her, and seal her in her own time.

Apparently it wanted to be stubborn today.

Feeling her entire body begin to shake again, the reincarnation of her own destruction automatically stood once more, staring the angry beast straight in his deep, chaotic eyes.

He was just as lost as she was.

Just as lost.

Just as confused.

Just as helpless.

Although her instincts told her to run, something kept her bolted where she stood. And even though the bloodthirsty demon approached, his pace slow, yet threatening – the young woman remained like a statue.

'He thinks I'm Kikyo,' she thought gravely, closing her eyes to fight back the tears that threatened to spill.

"But I'm Kagome," she said allowed, her voice more firm vocally than in her mind.

Clenching her jaw, she opened her now fierce chocolate orbs, not bothering to fight the tears, which now ran freely down her rosy, frozen cheeks. "I'm Kagome!"

Whatever came out of her mouth didn't seem to reach him. He continued towards her, completely unfazed by her words – and his growls became louder and more threatening, his unfocused gaze more predatory.

Kagome knew that in order to convince the demon of her identity, she would have to rid herself of anything and everything that reminded him of the undead priestess. With a final ounce of courage, she released the kimono she held together at her chest, and shrugged it off her slim shoulders. The material cascaded gracefully down her back, landing silently against the burning coldness that covered the ground.

"I am… Kagome," She repeated, her voice, body, and soul shaking uncontrollably. Her eyes were filled with desperation as she bore them into the hanyou, trying to reach him with her very being.

He seemed to have straightened slightly from his attacking position, only standing a few inches away from her now, their noses barely apart. And although she shook – although she froze with cold and fear – she refused to budge. This was her place, here, with Inuyasha.

'I won't let him tear us apart – not like Kikyo. Where she failed, I will succeed.'

With new determination, Kagome let herself burn. It was painful, beyond anything she had ever experienced – but she would not falter now.

Leaning forward, the demon inhaled the girl's scent. Kagome closed her eyes, and stopped breathing. She could hear the deep rumble in his chest, the growl emitting from his throat directly beside her ear – his heated breath that warmed her neck like steam.

With a rough hand he reached up, grazing his delicate claws against the girl's snowy white skin, traveling from her shoulders, down to her breast, and across her stomach until he reached her hip, leaving hot red welts that burned her like fire – only it was alive – and so very controlled.

Her body was so tense she felt as though it would crack like stone, even while it shook without control. She swallowed hard, her eyes still closed – and she knew they would stay that way, for she was afraid of what she might have seen if she were to open them. She could hear him circling her then – like a predator would before attacking his pray. The soft patting of his bare feet against the snow were barely audible – but Kagome found it impossible to focus on anything else as she stared at the blackness of her eyelids. Eventually he stopped, in front of her once again. Unsure of what the crazed demon planned next, Kagome allowed herself to tentatively open her eyes – but before she could fully see what was in front of her, she felt her naked form get yanked forward into a bone-crushing embrace.

"Ka…go…me…"

The name was strangled, choked back by a mind hazed with darkness and confusion.

Yet he still knew it was her – and that as all that mattered.

"Inuyasha," she sighed blissfully, forgetting the state her body was already in.

With a force as light as a feather, the hanyou gently pushed the young woman forward, sending her back into the freezing heaven around them. His body had already been stripped and torn of most of his usual garments, leaving him covered only around his lower half. Pushing the miko deeper into the snow, he crushed their naked torsos together, earning a gasp from beneath him.

And there it was again – that burning sensation, all over her backside. A light moan escaped her lips as the immense sensations of hot and cold fused together, creating an erotic mood beyond the registration of Kagome's mind. Everything was a haze – except the heated kisses traveling down her pale, frozen neckline. Inuyasha bared his teeth, gently nipping at her nape, drawing only the slightest fraction of blood. His right hand was beside her head, digging into the freezing white snow, numbing it to stone while the blunt claws of his left gently drew circles across her ribcage and below her naval, dipping lower each time.

When the burning sensation of numbness in his right hand became too much, Inuyasha lifted it out of the snow, using it to caress the spot where he had earlier drawn blood. The cold wet flakes mixed with the girl's heated blood, creating a cool, red substance that now flowed down her neck and shoulders, passing between her creamy breasts, and down her abdomen before pooling inside her naval, and then wandering lower.

Kagome gasped at the sensation below her hips, arching her back as the hanyou continued his fiery trail of kisses lower onto her body, following the path of her icy blood. She tangled her hands into his matted silvery hair, rubbing his ears delicately earning her a pleasurable growl from deep within Inuyasha's throat.

She closed her eyes then, choking back the emotions which threatened to ruin the moment. She had overcome Naraku and his schemes to repeat Inuyasha's fate with Kikyo – only this time it would have been Kagome lying dead on the ground.

So instead of being torn apart by her monster, she lay together with him in the icy white snow – burning like a piece of dry, brittle wood… burning, until they were both nothing but ashes, and dust.

A/N: hope you enjoyed – and I hope it wasn't too disturbing. Review!!!!