Update January 2015: This is a revised chapter. I believe my english is better now than back in 2011-2012... or at least now I can read this fic in english and say: "That doesn't sound right..." hehehe...

Author Notes: Thanks again for your alerts and reviews ^^ someone told me that the majority of my mistakes are typos and grammatical mistakes. I responded that I don't have a beta reader (I know them as proofreader) and I do all by myself so it doesn't hurt to ask. Is someone willing to help me and be my beta reader? Anyway, here's the third chapter. I know, Christmas isn't going to be in here until two more months but when I first wrote this story in spanish it was December 24th, so anyway, I hope you like this episode ^^ thank you again for all your lectures and alerts! X3

Disclaimer: Besides the plot line, I don't own anything. Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Yomiuri TV Corporation. I'm not getting any profit from this story; this was just made for fun.

Warning: Once in a while there will be cursing. I'm not familiarized with the english dub of this series, but I don't think it's so much, because I honestly don't like bad words but sometimes they happen. You understand me, right? :3

Thanks to: petpeeves12 and A.B. Plasencia for your help when I was uploading this fic, for your corrections and beta work!

Slavery.
Author: MikoAucarod

Chapter 3. Christmas

The young hanyou was resting on the branches of one of the biggest trees nearest the departments building. To anyone who didn't know him, he appeared to be sleeping. However, Inuyasha was alert to every single noise… especially the one he had just heard.

Inuyasha quickly jumped to the floor, to avoid the snowball aimed at him. He stood there listening to Kagome complain. The teenage boy couldn't help but smirk and bend down to response to the assault. If she wanted to play like that, then it was war!

"Hey! I didn't throw them that hard!" Exclaimed the young girl, shaking off the remnants of snow from her face, which had reddened from the impact, and the coldness of the snow.

"You started it."

"And you always have to ruin the fun for everything." Growled Kagome, kneeling and forming another snow ball. "Can't you ever be quiet for a moment so I can hit you? It isn't fun if I can't hit you!"

"Fun for you. I don't pretend having all my clothes wet because of the snow."

The both of them began their snowball war, which Kagome ended up loosing. The hanyou had good reflexes and since the woods were like his second home he knew precisely where to hide, or from which trees to throw his next attack from, long before Kagome could even blink.

They had been living together for almost a week now. Since Kagome had found him dead near the forest, and let him decide over his life, Inuyasha had changed a lot, at least with her and her mother.

He kept acting distant and cold when strangers got near him, especially if they were women, even with Sango, but when they were alone at her house, and being with just 'her family' as Kagome liked to call them, he acted less arrogant and more open to them. The young woman could tell that he had good feelings inside him, it was just that life hadn't been all that easy for him… especially since his death…

"But at least, you're here…" whispered the young girl, smiling when she remembered that day at dinner. He had entered the kitchen saying that he was very hungry, she had thrown herself into his arms, crying with happiness seeing him unharmed. That had caused a big commotion inside Inuyasha, who hadn't known what to do.

"Did you say something? You give up already?" yelled Inuyasha from atop one of the trees, seeing how Kagome had just stopped.

"Actually, we shouldn't be doing this. Mom told me that dinner was rea-"

"Why didn't you said that before? You want me to starve to death!" Yelled the young man, with fake anger, and an arrogant smirk on his face. Then he ran to the house.

Kagome couldn't help but smile. If she had learned anything about him it was that, despite it all he was like that, a mixture between arrogance, aggressiveness and rudeness, but she could over look that. He had some good qualities too, like… hmm… like… um… oh well, she could think about it later, right now she just wanted to enjoy dinner alongside her family.

"… And I was thinking that we could start to place the decorations for Christmas, Kagome. We haven't even got a pine."

"Christmas?" Asked Inuyasha, surprised. It was already that time of the year?

"Christmas?" Exclaimed Shippo with a big smile on his face.

"You want to place a pine inside this tiny apartment?" asked Kagome.

"Well, not a big one, but yes. We could place it in the living room."

"It will block the TV."

"Kagome, you never watch TV so don't complain about it."

So they had started to put up the holiday decorations… and for Inuyasha, it had been the most boring time of his entire life.

At first he had been lively and willing to help out but the only thing he had been able to do was cut down a pine tree from the forest and place it in the living room, since his claws made it impossible for him to touch any of the ornaments without breaking them completely. They had found that out when they started to place the ornaments on the tree. Inuyasha had picked up a sphere and the next moment it laid on the floor, broken. The wire had being completely cut off thanks to his claws.

And if he wasn't careful, the spheres were broken under the pressure of his fingers. That had made them laugh at first but now Inuyasha was sitting on the couch looking at Kagome and her mother doing everything. Even Shippo was jumping all over the house placing ornaments everywhere. There was no other way to describe it, it was boring and frustrating!

The hanyou quietly stood and went to his room. Inside was the bed that had once belonged to Kagome, now it was Shippo's, and in the other corner the bunk bed shared by Inuyasha and Kagome. They always fought over who would sleep on the top bunk. Inuyasha then went to the small balcony and looked over at the forest and the mountain that could be seen at a distance.

He sighed, releasing some tension. He felt useless and that bothered him. He couldn't believe that in the few days he had been there he had grow used to the needing to do something for Kagome and her mother. He always made sure they were well, and that they didn't need anything. It was like he was watching over them 24 hours at day. It was unbelievable.

Releasing another sigh, he leaned against the concrete railings of the balcony and started to count the stars in the sky, despite it barely being sunset, a few of them could already be seen.

He couldn't help but remember his own time, even after centuries since then, he couldn't forget how beautiful the nights of his time were. Without a trace of contamination, all the stars were brilliant and beautiful. They shined in all their glory.

Before he could stop himself he began to remember that night, the one when he had died. That evil witch, Tsubaki, had tried everything, to have him, and he had refused. What did he get? Guards from the castle hunting for his head, under the false information, that he had attacked Tsubaki and now she demanded to see him dead.

It hadn't been difficult to kill a few of the guards, those fool enough to dare attack him, and escape into the forest. However, Tsubaki had been more astute and after throwing a curse at him, she had poisoned him. The last thing he saw was the silhouette of that woman among the trees, with a mulishness grin on her face, and at the next moment he was in her arms, with the shackle around his neck. She was staring at him with triumph, as if she had just won the best trophy of all.

He had never expected to become a Slave once he died. Usually that only happened to full youkais for their rarity, but him, being a hanyou, someone unimportant and without any race to belong, couldn't believe that fate had given him this new punishment, full of humiliation. In that moment he hadn't felt like he had a new chance at life. At that time he had lost it all, his life, his dignity, his pride… his freedom.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed, shaking him vigorously. Just then he snapped out of his thoughts. He was still on the balcony, but now he was kneeling beside the railing. "Are you okay?"

"What?" he asked, confused, looking at Kagome. When had she arrived?

"I came to call you for dinner, but you were thinking of something, like daydreaming or something. You didn't answer me and then you started to complain, of pain, and fell to your knees…"

"I never complain about little things like pain." He spoke arrogantly but then he noticed the serious look on the teenage girl's face, just then he realized that his hand was holding tightly to his clothes right over his chest. Kagome's hand rested on his own and he could tell how tense she was.

"You were complaining about a pain in your chest…"

"Well, I don't feel any pain, I'm perfectly fine."

"That is the place where your heart is…"

Inuyasha froze at those words. Wasn't he supposed to be immortal with that disgusting thing on his neck?

"Sometimes," Kagome spoke softly "we're not injured or sick…. It just hurts."

"That shouldn't be normal." Said Inuyasha while standing up releasing from the grip of Kagome's hands. Then he headed back into the bedroom and sat on the lower bunk.

"It isn't normal. It happens when you're sad, very sad." Kagome looked at him, feeling sad herself. "It's like when you think of someone you loved a lot, and lost."

That's when Inuyasha smiled bitterly.

"If that's the case then the only thing that would be able to ease this pain would be to go back to my old life, get rid of that despicable witch and never die in the first place."

Kagome didn't have anything to say to that, there was nothing to say. She couldn't know how Inuyasha felt and even less since she had never experienced any of the things that had happened to him. She could understand and imagine it, but she didn't know how to comfort him.

"Today I call for the top bunk" was all he said and left the room, leaving behind the girl frozen with her thoughts.

"Merry Christmas!" Yelled Shippo, jumping from one place to other without any control, all over the house, making Inuyasha's nerves, that were already in a not, clench into anger.

"Shippo, stop jumping! You're not letting me hear the TV!"

"You're not even paying attention to it, stupid dog."

"How did you called me?"

Kagome let out a tired sigh, while watching them run for all over the house, Inuyasha was chasing Shippo. She was surprised to see that, despite their rush they never broke anything or bumped into any furniture.

At that moment someone knocked on the door, she went to answer it. It was Sango and Miroku baring gifts and some food.

"Merry Christmas, Sango!" Shouted Shippo, passing by her side quickly, followed closely by Inuyasha, who only gave a 'Keh!' when he saw them.

"Same to you, Shippo, Inuyasha!" both creatures disappeared upstairs. "I don't understand how your neighbors never complain about the noise, Kagome."

"Well, it's fortunate that not many people live in this building. I think we only have three neighbors. If it wasn't for the mail, I would think that we live alone in this place."

"That smells good" said Miroku "May I?"

"Sure, in the kitchen" smiled Kagome, allowing the young monk to go to the kitchen, were Ms. Higurashi was preparing the Christmas dinner. "That Miroku is truly a gentleman" she noted while walking to the living room with Sango, both of them watching how the man quickly helped Ms. Higurashi with the work.

"Hah, yeah right. Only when we're talking about old ladies and married woman. But when it comes to young girls or college girls…"

"Don't tell me that he's still a pervert?"

"You should see him, Kagome. We had to put a lock on his bedroom door. He kept walking into my room in the middle of the night. When my father found him he claimed to be a sleepwalker and that his instincts ordered him to be beside his owner all the time."

Kagome laugh out loud at that. Sango smiled a bit, with guilt.

"My father told me that if I ordered him to stop that, he would obey, but…" Sango looked towards the kitchen again, noticing how Miroku was cutting the vegetables, with amazing ability. "I don't know. I wouldn't like to make him angry by giving him orders. I know I can but…"

"Don't worry, I understand. The only order I have given to Inuyasha and Shippo gives them almost complete freedom."

"Maybe you should try to control them a little bit more, don't you think?"

Kagome smiled at her friend's comment. Maybe she was right but she couldn't. She didn't dare. Somehow, the way they acted gave her so much joy. They brought that 'spark' of life to the house, that when it was just her and her mother, it had seemed like something like that could never exist.

Sometime latter, they were all at the table, eating. Inuyasha was devouring a piece of turkey and so was Shippo. The others just smiled while watching them, those two looked like little children.

"Your manners, Inuyasha" Kagome tried to suggest, but the only response she got was another 'Keh!' from the hanyou, who kept eating as if he had never eaten in his whole life.

"Done, I'm finished! Presents!" yelled Shippo, running out of the kitchen to the living room.

"You can't open them until we're all in the living room!"

"I'll separate the ones that are mine!"

They all smiled, tenderly. Shippo had told them that because of the constant travels, with Kei, they hadn't celebrated Christmas properly. Sometimes they would dine in some restaurant and others they would be able to exchange a gift between them, but nothing more. Sometimes they even had dinner on a plane. Kei was right, Shippo needed to live in a stable home, and of course the happiness of the little boy was endless. The energy wouldn't drain out from him at all.

Inuyasha finished eating and picked up his and Shippo's plates. He left them in the sink and started to go upstairs.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going, Inuyasha?" called Miroku. "The party's not over."

Inuyasha watched them, confused.

"Shouldn't I go to my room so you can talk freely?"

Sango, Kagome and Ms. Higurashi stared at him in confusion, not understanding. Miroku shook his head and stood up.

"This isn't Lady Kaede's house. If she asked us to leave it was because you and Kouga couldn't spend some time together without fighting and old people tend to get tired easily. But this is a new place and the situation is different, besides, don't you want to open your first Christmas present?"

Kagome felt her heart sink to her feet. Hadn't they ever celebrated Christmas, as it should be? Being with family, sharing gifts, with carols, with any of that?

"I don't think I will receive-"

"Inuyasha, it's not fair, you have more presents than me!" yelled Shippo, sobbing from the living room, and everyone went to him.

Shippo had three gifts besides him and a small tower of four gifts in front of him, all for Inuyasha. The little child couldn't believe it. Ms. Higurashi smiled tenderly and went to the gifts for Inuyasha, taking one from the pile.

"Shippo, this gift is yours and Inuyasha's, see?" the woman showed him the label that read: "For Inuyasha and Shippo" so the smile returned to the kid's face.

"Then we both have four presents!"

Inuyasha was in shock, there was a present for him? With Lady Kaede they just wished each other a Merry Christmas, got dinner and left to their rooms. This was so weird! He felt like something inside of him exploded, he didn't know what, it was such a small thing, that was against all his beliefs. He suddenly felt like crying a little, but of course he wouldn't, he was a man.

Sango approached the gifts Shippo had already separated and, taking the ones that were for her, started to opening them. Shippo went along.

Ms. Higurashi asked them to keep hers and went to the kitchen to clean.

"Here, Inuyasha. These are yours." Kagome said as she pointed besides herself asking him to sit besides her, and he, still a bit surprised, obeyed. "This one is from Sango, this one from Miroku and one from Mr. Kei." She said, passing him the three packages, which Inuyasha took very carefully, trying not to damage them.

"What is this supposed to-?"

"A spinning top!" yelled Shippo, speaking of the toy, his present, from Kei. "I can't believe he remembered it! He had promised to give me one this year!"

It was happiness. In that moment, Inuyasha understood the feeling that was filling him completely inside. He was happy. The hanyou looked at the pine, and at Sango kneeling besides it, with Miroku sitting next to her, both of them opening their own gifts and talking about who-knows-what. Then to Shippo, who was sitting in front of the nativity decoration, exclaiming with happiness each new present he opened. Kagome was sitting beside him she was calm while opening her own presents, and still he found himself unable to entirely react.

"Inuyasha, aren't you going to open them?"

He awoke from his trance and looked at Kagome who was studying him, worried. He smiled and began to rip the wrapping of the first one, discovering with surprise that the present from Sango was a small and fluffy cap ideal for those cold weather days. He looked completely confused at the young girl who smiled at him.

"Miroku told me that your ears are very sensitive. I thought that if you wore a cap you wouldn't have much trouble with the cold or wind. It's made of a thick fabric, and it's very soft, that way it's comfortable and keeps you warm."

Inuyasha couldn't help but smile, and immediately placed the cap, which was red like his clothes, on his head, covering his ears. Sango was right, it was comfortable.

"Thank you, Sango" he said, his eyes softening. She smiled in response and continued chatting with Miroku. Kagome couldn't help but feel excited. Inuyasha had finally lost that irrational hate he used to feel towards Sango. Maybe, with time, the young man would be able to learn to forgive.

Miroku's present was a book about the Sengoku and the gift from Kei was a white, fluffy scarf.

After that they talked for a while, Sango and Miroku left for their house sometime past midnight. Shippo had fallen asleep in the living room, in the middle of his presents (the spinning top from Kei, a toy riding horse from Miroku and a cap similar to the one Inuyasha had, with a variety of cartoons as its pattern, giving it a nice and fun look, from Sango). Ms. Higurashi's present for Inuyasha and Shippo was a pair of hand-knit sweaters. One for each one.

Inuyasha was once again in the room, looking at the sky from the balcony. His presents were placed on the top bunk of the bed, except for his hat, which he still had on his head. This time he was calm and quiet, looking up at the starry in the night.

Kagome entered the room a bit later, carrying her presents. She also left them on the bed. The girl was a bit worried seeing him there again in that spot. A few days ago she had found him on the balcony, and things hadn't gone very well. At that moment, Inuyasha decided to enter the room and close the balcony's glass doors behind him. It had started snowing and he didn't want the room to get cold.

"My mom already went to sleep and Shippo didn't want to wake up, so I left him some blankets so he can sleep comfortably."

"Keh, that runt can sleep anywhere… his energy finally abandoned him, right?"

Kagome smiled and nodded. It was natural that, after so many emotions, the little kid would just pass out like that.

"By the way," The girl stood up and got a small black box from her drawer. "Don't let Shippo know about this, otherwise he'll kill me" she joked.

She held the packet out to Inuyasha, who took it not understanding.

"It's a present, from me… to you."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome intently then glanced at the package in his hands. She would just never cease to amaze him.

"Can I open it?"

"Of course" she said nodding her head. Inuyasha sat down on the bed and opened the box.
Inside was a necklace made with purple beads and something that resembled white fangs. It looked ancient and strong, yet it seemed to shine under the moon's light, as if it were made of crystals or something like that.

"This necklace belonged to my father. He liked to wear it, he used to say that it was ancient, that's why we always took good care of it… I thought you would like it."

"I can't accept it."

"What?"

"This object is a memory of your father, Kagome. I can't accept it." Said the young hanyou, attempting to return the box to her.

Kagome shook her head and pushed the package back to Inuyasha.

"This is a gift that I want to give you. It's from me to you. You will accept it because you will accept it." She said, not really knowing what else to say.

Inuyasha took the necklace carefully from the box. He was surprised at the strength of the beads and finally he looked over at the girl sitting next to him again.

"Are you sure it's ok?"

"Of course." Kagome took the necklace from Inuyasha's hands and, carefully, pulled it over his head, finally letting it rest on Inuyasha's neck. She then took his hair and pulled it off of the necklace. When Inuyasha felt her hands touch him, he had remained still, feeling Kagome as she was pacing then fixing the necklace, always being very carefully, as if she were afraid of hurting him.

That was impossible, she would never hurt him. He had finally understood that.

"Merry Christmas, Inuyasha" she said, hugging him at the end. That action alone made him feel awkward again, just like that day when she had resurrected him, and hugged him in the kitchen when he had entered. She was glad that he was okay. What was he supposed to do now? Just then, he remembered his mother. When he was very young his mother used to hug him that way. And what had he done then?

"Merry Christmas… Kagome" He finally whispered, shaking himself out of his shock and wrapping his arms around the girl, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. When he didn't feel rejection from her he laid his own head over hers and held that position for a while. It felt so good, he felt calm, as if he didn't needed anything anymore. Now he could tell. He was truly happy. He allowed a couple of tears to escape in the middle of the darkness, making sure that Kagome wouldn't notice.

Fine, ok, maybe a man was allowed to cry, even more so when what they were given was vastly superior to anything they had expected in their whole life.

"Shippo will kill me once he finds out that I got more presents than him, right?" Kagome laughed at that comment from Inuyasha.