Title: To the Promise of Meeting Once More…

Author: Celestial Seraphim

Warning: angst, OOCness, Kagome'ness, tear-jerker, drama, etc.

Pairing: SesshomaruxKagome

Side Pairings: SangoxMiroku, InuyashaxKagome (onesided), (SURPRISE PAIRING), (SURPRISE PAIRING)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters those go to their prospective owners but I'm currently in negotiations for a Sesshomaru plushie :3

Summary: She'd failed and broken her promise to him. She had all this knowledge of what would happen and yet somehow fate found it funny to give her no options but to play it out. However, after some unexpected twists there's hope to be had…if only fate didn't find it so fun to throw monkey wrenches into her path. Can she find a way of keeping her promise? Or will she unknowingly shatter his heart completely?

To the Promise of Meeting Once More…

*1*

Kagome hummed softly as she gathered an array of herbs for the village. It'd been a year and a half since her return to the past and she still felt hollow. She now understood everything Sesshomaru said about her past self but at times certain things did not mix. She did not have the jewel necklace to cry over, the timing for certain things were off and neither did Rin look like she was getting any sicker. Inuyasha appeared to be at ease with having Kagome around Sesshomaru and even seemed to encourage her.

He gruffly stated at one point, "If he can get you to stop blubbering and so long as he doesn't try to poison you let 'em deal with your odd ways."

Kagome vaguely remembered a time where Inuyasha couldn't stand her being anywhere near his half-brother in the beginning. However, the hanyo seemed to almost welcome it now. A part of her felt guilty for the relief she felt during the long times Inuyasha was away. However that was always forgotten when her eyes fell upon the Lord of the West and they warmed slightly. He might not have been her Sesshomaru but he was still Sesshomaru. A shadow fell over her, breaking her from her thoughts and she looked up to see Sesshomaru holding a yukata. Kagome blinked before smiling warmly up at the lord, a jolt of pain shooting through her.

"Sesshomaru-sama! Are you looking for Rin-chan?"

He watched her for a moment before letting out a soft, "hn."

Causing her lips to tilt in a semi-amused smile in the process as she remembered all the times her Sesshomaru had done that just to annoy her. Standing up and brushing off her Miko garb she slapped on a large smile.

"She is playing in the fields with Shippo but I will take you to them."

Sesshomaru gestured for her to show the way and a knot that had slowly been tightening loosened a bit. As they walked Kagome asked curiously, "Sesshomaru-sama...what do youkai believe in?"

Sesshomaru blinked his surprise and gave her a side long glance that was slightly expectant. She grinned and thought of a way to word her question before asking again, "When it comes to things like soul mates...what do youkai believe?"

He was quiet for a while and Kagome thought he wouldn't answer but suddenly he began to speak. "There is a story...of the first youkai and his mate."

Kagome looked at the taiyoukai in astonishment just as two voices cried out.

"Sesshomaru-sama!"

"Mama!"

They both looked straight to see both children rushing up to them and the little kit jumped into her arms while Rin stopped just before colliding with the Lord's legs. She bowed politely before latching on to his hakama and he patted her head gently while handing her the new yukata. A grin lit her face and Kagome chuckled as the little girl showed it off. Rin grinned at her and said happily, "Isn't it grand Kagome-hahaue?! Sesshomaru-sama always knows what looks best!"

Kagome hummed approvingly before she said, "I do believe you're quite right, Rin-chan. I'm even a little jealous at how pretty it looks."

She watched as the Lord raised a disbelieving brow and laughed softly as she said looking straight at him, "Sesshomaru-sama is always very handsome."

He watched her for a moment before looking away with a soft "hn" and the two girls giggled while Shippo looked on in confusion.

"Mama are you done collecting herbs yet? You promised to spend time with us today."

The young woman made a thoughtful sound before she gave the two children an indulgent smile.

"I suppose it can't hurt to take a break."

Both children cheered and dragged her over a tree with shade as Rin made a suggestion.

"We should make flower crowns!" Shippo made a face as he said, "Only girls wear flower crowns."

Kagome frowned lightly ready to reprimand the kit when Rin pouted as she exclaimed, "Not true! Sesshomaru-sama lets me put flowers in his hair!"

One pair of blue and one pair of emerald eyes looked at the taiyoukai and the look he gave them dared them to say something. Kagome felt her lips twitch as she tried to keep her amusement at bay before she pulled the little girl in her lap. "Then flower crowns it will be. Secretly between you and mw, Shippo likes flowers too. He used to collect them for me."

The kit blushed lightly and grumbled that at least he didn't make crowns from them and she laughed lightly. Nudging them both Kagome gently told them to collect the flowers and watched as they ran around the field, giggling as they tried to get more flowers than the other. She glanced at the inu youkai and saw that he'd sat nearer to her after the children moved away causing her to smile a little sadly. A part of her yearned to reach out and touch him but she was well aware this Sesshomaru would not appreciate it, at least not completely. He was much more subtle with his emotions than her Sesshomaru.

"The first youkai never found need for a humanoid form."

Kagome blinked before looking at Sesshomaru before realizing he was continuing what he'd started earlier. "What kind of youkai was he?"

Sesshomaru tilted his head slightly in a way she recognized as him being both thoughtful and curious. "There are many different speculations. However, many agree that he was definitely canine."

The miko smiled slightly as she watched over the children and said, "I bet he was an inu youkai."

For a split second Kagome thought she saw a ghost of a smile on Sesshomaru's lips before he looked out over the field. However, it was gone before she could really be sure.

"Perhaps…"

That sat in silence as they watched Shippo and Rin chase each other before he finally continued. "He roamed the lands and left a healthy amount of offerings to Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi as well as Susanoo. He was unchallenged in all the land and the ningen worshipped him."

He gave a little pause as Shippo raced up to Kagome and handed her a morning glory before rushing back to Rin. Kagome looked at the flower as her smile turned up in mild amusement as she said, "I think they've forgotten about the flower crowns."

"They are content with your presence…Rin has been saying you no longer watch them play."

Kagome glanced sharply at the youkai but this time his face gave nothing away and her heart ached. She could remember his older self's words about how she would die and it'd been plaguing her as of late. As though reading her thoughts he said bluntly, "You have not been resting as of late."

She was quiet for a while as though contemplating something before she spoke. Aware that it would not answer his silent question and that she was avoiding talking about her not sleeping.

"Ne, Sesshomaru-sama?"

Gold irises slowly slid to the side and took in the petite form of the miko beside him. She looked out across the plain at the two children playing and wondered if what she wanted to ask was a stupid question. She had a small wistful smile on her face as she continued to watch but there was something almost unseeing about it as she thought about her past and his future.

"Do you believe in hitsuzen?"

The taiyoukai looked back out across the field and watched the children, taking in her scent of sadness and melancholy. "This Sesshomaru makes his own fate, ningen."

A small painful laugh escaped the woman and she looked at him with love and longing, knowing maybe he wouldn't understand the look or even know what it was until it was already too late. "I should have known you'd say that…"

She looked away finding it too painful to continue looking at this Sesshomaru while remembering her own future Sesshomaru. However, she could feel his eyes still on her until they suddenly weren't anymore. "A ningen woman challenged him."

Blue eyes fond gold before Sesshomaru turned away as Rin shyly came up to him and he allowed her to place a few flowers in his hair. Kagome smiled at the sight before she asked, "What did he do?"

He straightened slightly and watched Rin run off, grinning at the kit proudly as he gaped at her. "At first he was enraged by the ningen's audacity. However, when she brought up a valid point he grew curious about this ningen that saw reason."

"What did she say?"

Sesshomaru shook his head slightly as he said, "No one quite knows that…Many believe however that she questioned the wisdom of allowing oneself to be worshipped when one worships the true kami's."

Kagome smiled slightly and said softly. "Ah. So it was the wisdom of a woman."

He gave her a side long glance that seemed to say he wouldn't entirely agree with that and Kagome remembered Nala and his relationship. Not for the first time she yearned to ask of her one time friend to see how the demonness was but knew it would be folly to. Some things were not to be messed with when it came to time paradoxes.

"Intrigued by the woman he continued to visit her. He watched her for many days to try to understand her and on one of these visits she came to him. She told him his great form scared the villagers and trampled over necessary plants around her home. So for several days he stayed away as he thought of how to prevent this until finally he decided to try humanoid form."

Kagome listened with rapt attention to the story, finding it curious and beautiful.

"The ningen woman taught him speech and writing as he visited her every day, going every night to hunt to calm his raging beast inside his humanoid form. They talked for hours at a time and one day, he realized his beast was quiet around the young woman. Curious about this he stayed around other village woman but his beast was not quiet around them. It was also around that time he realized he saw her differently."

The little miko's nose scrunched up in confusion at the way he said 'saw' and asked, "What do you mean?"

The lord of the west huffed softly and she nearly grinned at the clear exasperation in that sound before he answered her question. "To us most ningen look the same. However, for a select few of us who grow fond of certain ones their appearance changes slightly. They seem to…glow and certain attributes sharpen."

Kagome thought about this before she gestured for him to continue, smiling sheepishly at his annoyed look. "The first youkai slowly began to court the ningen woman and soon enough she admitted to having loved him from the first moment she'd seen his true form out in the fields. Since then youkai have found that their beast will only ever quiet around one other ningen or youkai."

There was a thoughtful pause before he said slowly, "Perhaps this is what you meant by soul mate for our beasts are our soul and sometimes we go many millenniums if not forever without ever finding the one that quiets our beast."

Kagome knew it was cruel but she could not stop herself from asking in a voice that was barely above a whisper, "Have you ever found the one that quieted your beast?"

She remembered his older version's words in that moment.

"You ningen might not understand the seriousness of this but…she let my beast sleep."

Without actually telling her he'd said she was his soul mate and she hadn't even realized until now. As she looked at the quiet younger version of her Sesshomaru she was not surprised when all she got out of him was a soft, "Hn."

She let out a sad chuckle and looked out towards the children once more as they ran towards them. Wishing she'd spent more time with Sesshomaru and hadn't been so damn stubborn. For the umpteenth time she cradled the pain in her heart and soothed it with the knowledge that at least she had this Sesshomaru and she could spend time with him. Even if he was not her Sesshomaru, he still loved her though he would never act upon it because of his pride and stature as Lord of the West. However, she was content with the fact that he wished to be near her and let it soothe the ache within.

TBC…