Kagome watched Sesshomaru for any signs of distraction, but the thing was….she couldn't find signs of ANY THING. Nothing seemed to faze him in the slightest. They had been walking for what seemed hours and the Inu Lord had yet to say one word to her. She was starting to get irritated.
"Where are you taking me?" Kagome asked, trying to ease the uneasy feeling she had.
Sesshomaru didn't so much as look at her when he replied, "South."
Kagome rolled her eyes, "That's the obvious-" She started but Sesshomaru interrupted her.
"Then there was no reason to ask me such an obvious question." Sesshomaru continued walking through the brush and ignored her disgusted snort.
Kagome quickly followed him and then ran up next to him, "Okay Sesshomaru, here's another question for you. Why did you take me?" This time it took Sesshomaru longer to reply, and Kagome had almost given up on him answering when, to her surprise, he spoke.
"… I'm not quite sure." Sesshomaru's face remained as expressionless as ever and yet he had a thoughtfulness about him. He tossed his hair over his shoulder and looked down at her. "None the less you are here."
Kagome frowned, "Not willingly!" She stopped in her tracks and stomped the ground.
"Surely not, why else would you ask why I took you?" Sesshomaru's cool casual words were starting to infuriate Kagome. He was acting like she were brainless!
"Oh my-GOSH you're impossible! You're worse than Inuyasha!" Kagome spat. When she looked at Sesshomaru she felt the hairs rise all over her body.
Sesshomaru's narrow eyes were even more so as he glared at Kagome with such intensity she fell back a few steps. He said nothing, but his point was made. Do NOT compare him to Inuyasha. Seesh he was scaring.
For the next hour or two, the time they spent together was silent. So Kagome tried to entertain herself with the scenery. There was more than plenty of it too. Amazingly tall trees stretched as far as the eye could see. Exotic birds that lived in them flew around singing their unique songs. They soon exited the thick forest brush to see lush valleys filled with the most beautiful wild flowers she had ever seen.
She smiled as she looked at the beautiful scene. "Oh wow! Isn't this gorgeous Sesshomaru?" She looked over to see Sesshomaru studying her. He was looking at her as if it was the first time he saw her. The way his eyes went over her made blush and suddenly self conscience. She looked away from him and looked down at the valley, once again being swept away by its beauty.
She completely forgot about Sesshomaru starring at her as she walked toward the field. She knelt down to smell the flowers and smiled when their scent tickled her nose. They were beautiful. Large blue petals that milked to a creamy white color where pink was sprinkled so very lightly.
She reached down and plucked one from the ground and instantly regretted it. She hadn't thought about how the flower would soon wither away.
"Why are you saddened?" Sesshomaru's voice interrupted her thoughts and she instantly felt embarrassed remembering he had been watching her. She looked back at him to see he had taken a seat under a large tree a few yards away. His right knee arched up while the other was lay completely stretched on the grass. His right arm rested on his knee and the other twirled his hair about his finger.
Kagome blushed and had to admit Sesshomaru was gorgeous. She quickly turned her attention to the flower. "I plucked the flower. Now it will die. I didn't think before I acted."
This puzzled Sesshomaru, "It is a simple flower. Why mourn over it? It only lives for a few months before withering on its own."
Kagome shook her head. How could she explain it to a cold hearted person such as Sesshomaru who only cared for himself? Well she was going to try.
She stood up and walked over to Sesshomaru, flower in her hand. She sat next to him and held up the flower to him and quizzed, "So all you see is a flower?"
Sesshomaru just looked at her. He had already answered this and wasn't going to repeat himself. Kagome sighed, understanding. "Well I see a life. However small it may be it is a life, and I just ended it."
Sesshomaru pursed his lips, "It's a flower."
Kagome sighed and shook her head, "Yes, it's a flower, but it has a life. It's living! Just like you and me."
"No. Not like me. Humans have shorter life spans and are weak. Flowers lack even more so of those than humans." Sesshomaru stated casually. He watched Kagome slap her forehead trying to understand what she was getting at.
"No matter how strong or how long we live Sesshomaru, we all have one thing in common. We live!" Kagome held up the flower in Sesshomaru's face so he was forced to look at it. "…and we die. It's the cycle of life. This poor flowers life wasn't over until I came along and changed that."
"Just as you say, everything dies, so why mourn when it happens? If it happens sooner rather than later, the end would have been the same had they lived years longer." Sesshomaru looked at the girl seriously puzzled why she cared so much.
Kagome was growing impatient. ~This guy is a bigger pain than Inuyasha when it comes to explaining something.~ She thought to herself.
"Okay…let me think for a minute…" Kagome closed her eyes and thought for a few minutes until she smiled when she thought of a good way to make it clear to the stubborn demon. "Okay let's compare- er say that you represent this flower- hold on! Lemme finish before you look at me like that!" Sesshomaru started to glare at her, obviously offended to being compared to a flower. Once he seemed to relax a bit she continued.
"Okay, and then one day someone plucks you away and you're dying. You didn't choose this fate. It's not fair for you to die just because someone thought of you as lower than themselves right? You want to live!" Kagome threw her hands up in a display of enthusiasm. "Why should that person decide your fate when you had done nothing to deserve such a thing?"
Sesshomaru let the girl finish before he told her exactly what he thought, "No one will ever kill me because no one is above me. I am the strongest in all Japan."
Kagome groaned and flung onto her back beside him in defeat. "I give up! You just don't get it!" She looked up into the leaves of the tree. Spots of sunlight danced around as the breeze shuffled them around. As she lay there she began to feel completely at ease and soon she drifted off to sleep not realizing how tired she was.
Sesshomaru watched the human girl sleep. She was such an odd human. Normally humans were even more careless and cruel than demons, but this girl really cared. So much that she even made a huge deal out of a plucked flower. He grew more and more puzzled about her. The more she became a mystery the more he wanted to piece her together, to make sense of her.
Sesshomaru leaned over her sleeping form and ran his fingers over her cheek. Her skin was soft to the touch. She flinched. As if even in her unconsciousness she was recoiling from him. He felt a tinge of pain in his heart. His eyes widened. Did he…care?
Him? The great Lord Sesshomaru? Care for a human girl? As much as he wanted to deny it he felt a small…attachment to her. He would never admit it aloud but he knew that he wanted to keep her around. He liked being around her. Even though he took her, she still spoke to him like a friend.
Sesshomaru wanted her to like him. So, he would try to please her. Yes. He would.
The demon lord looked at the valley that the girl had been so impressed with. As he sat there inspecting it, he took the time to really look at it. Down the rolling hills filled with those flowers Kagome found so precious, there was a small creak. It shimmered in the bright suns light and he could make out multiple colored butterflies. Every now and then a cloud would block the sun, leaving a shadow on the grassy plains. When the wind blew it would make the flowers dance around for him, almost like there were indeed alive and eager for his attention.
Sesshomaru's lips twitched in a smile. He understood now what the girl meant. She was a lot wiser than he first anticipated. He had a feeling he would learn a lot more about her in the future.
Kagome curled up to his side and murmured something about "sitting". Sesshomaru gently leaned back even more against the tree so the cuddling Kagome could get comfey on his lap. He was going to enjoy this moment.
