Disclaimer: I do not own this series or claim to own it. If I did, I wouldn't bother writing this message.

Thanks for the wonderfully encouraging reviews, everyone. And to answer Jtwsnw20's question; Yes, I was planning on it. I'm just trying to figure out where it would fit. I really want to write it though, but I don't want it to be too soon.

Now, on with this story!

Kagome woke up feeling warmer than she normally would in winter times. It wasn't only due to the fact that she was asleep next to Sesshomaru. No, it was because she happened to wake up finding herself clutching onto Sesshomaru, which made her warmer because of the red blush that was currently making it's way into her shirt.

"Heh...Uh...Good...morning?" Kagome mumbled as she finally summoned up the courage to look up at him in the eyes. She knew she moved around alot in her sleep, so at the moment, she was wondering exactly how much she had moved this time.

Ohh, if Inuyasha were here, he would definitely think this was more than a simple infatuation, and he probably wouldn't talk to her for just how long? She was partially thankful that she hadn't asked Inuyasha to spend the night as well.

And back to the present, Kagome was staring at gold eyes that stared back blankly.

Oh, how she wished he'd just say something-ANYTHING!

Kagome blush even deepened, if possible. You could hardly blame her, she had never been in bed with another male, even if it was for nothing more than sleeping. Embarrassed by even her own blush, she buried her face on the mattress and shook her head.

Finally, she gathered up courage to look back up to see him smiling softly at her. Though she really didn't want to smile back, some force made her lips crack a smile which eventually broke into giggles. She didn't want to smile to begin with, but when she saw his smile, it was like she could not stop her lips from cheerfully turning up.

"Er...we need to, uh, go to town today to, ummm...get you some clothing soon from the market"

He nodded as if understanding her and agreeing.

She sat up from the bed and realized, just now, that she had slept in her day clothes instead of sleep garments. Oh well...she'd need to change...she felt she had slept very well, seeing as she didn't wake up at all during the night from the cold, and she was too awfully comfortable to wake up early for a morning walk.

Kagome was still blushing but it had faded some, so it only looked like a pink flush from the cold weather, although it was much more than that. She didn't want to look like a tomato if Kikyo or Souta saw her.

"See you later" Kagome said without turning around, she knew if she did now, she'd be all red all over again. She wordlessly opened the door to the guestroom and left, she knew Sesshomaru was smart enough to know this was time to get ready now.

Kagome walked through the halls, not running today. She stopped by the first guestroom she put Sesshomaru in which ended up destroyed by the battle that Sesshomaru and Inuyasha got themselves into.

When she finally reached the room, she opened the door and peaked inside. A few servants were still working about. Everything was in place. Good...her father should be returning soon...

Deciding to start getting ready for the day, she made her way back to her room to take a bath. She was rather quick about it and finished in fifteen minutes, then quickly slipped on a simple green and white kimono, skipping the layers, she didn't need those, they always made it harder to walk in.

Kagome stared at herself in the mirror and smiled at her reflection, turning in different angles to see how she looked, she fixed her hair a little, and when she decided that she looked pretty enough, she skipped out of the room.

Before she could walk down the stairs, she heard Kikyo's voice "Father, you've returned" her voice sounded warmer than usual.

A bright and pretty smile lit up on Kagome's face. Father was back!

Her father, Lord Higurashi, was a thin and tall, rather good looking man in his middle-ages. He had shoulder length black hair like his children, but he kept it in a topknot ponytail, and he also brown eyes like them too.

She ran down the stairs "FATHER!" she yelled happily, running at top speed. Another reason to not obey the walking slow rules. Her father looked at her and he smiled warmly, opening his arms. Kagome ran straight in "You're back!" she laughed.

"I am back" Her father said, laughing with her.

"DADDY!" A new voice called and Rin was seen running down, giggling, as she went to Lord Higurashi. Kagome pulled away from her dad as he knelt down and outstretched his arms, Rin ran straight into them. He picked her up and twirled her around, causing the little princess to laugh.

"So, little lady, how have you been?" He asked her.

Rin giggled again "Oh wonderful! You know, Kagome had saved a strange man yesterday! He looks like an angel, daddy!" she was talking very fast "But he doesn't talk, Rin think it's because of the tongue of angels, you know? That's probably why, maybe he really is an angel!"

Lord Higurashi laughed, then raised an eyebrow at Kagome "A strange man, huh?"

Kagome blushed brightly, but replied with a nod "He was wounded, I brought him in here to heal him. I think, perhaps he may be a youkai."

"I see..."

"Father, you've returned!" Another voice said. Souta came running and stood in front of his dad "How was your trip, Father?"

"...Good, son" He replied, and ruffled his son's hair, but his hesitance made Kagome frown thoughtfully.

"So, did you get the peace treaty with Lord Naraku?"

"Well, yes" Lord Higurashi replied "We shall discuss this at breakfast"

"Ummm...Discuss?" Kagome asked curiously, but didn't receive an answer.

Footsteps sounded and the family looked up and saw Sesshomaru casually walking down the high staircase with his head down, staring at the floor, silent as always. He finally made it down and stared expressionlessly at the father and siblings.

"Oh, you must be the strange man Rin was telling me about" Lord Higurashi greeted "A pleasure to meet you" he held out his hand.

Sesshomaru stared at the hand, but didn't shake it as he was meant to, and instead sent a rather questioning glance at Lord Higurashi.

"Hnn..." The Lord frowned, then turned away "Won't you come join us for breakfast, young man?" he looked over at Kagome and quietly asked "Does he have a name?"

Kagome nodded slightly "Sesshomaru."

"Sesshomaru" Her dad repeated "Alright then, Sesshomaru, come join us."

Sesshomaru smiled faintly, using the smile as a substitute for a thank you, and followed them.

At the low table, they were again sitting on the red mats as they ate.

"So...Are you going to tell us about your meeting with Lord Naraku?" Kikyo asked.

"Ah, yes" Their father cleared his throat "Kagome..."

Kagome looked up with curiousity "Um yes?"

"Kagome, when I had asked to call it truce with Lord Naraku, he agreed, but only if..." The father waited for a few seconds.

Kagome felt slightly nervous as ideas of what Naraku had asked floated around her head, it had something to do with her, that she knew, considering her father had said her name with such seriousness "If...?"

"If you become his queen"

Silence...

Then:

"WHAT?" Kagome cried in disbelief, almost spitting out her food "Why can't he marry Kikyo? She's older, stronger, and more...ugh...more prettier!" she had wanted to marry Inuyasha, not Naraku, now it felt like her dreams were falling apart!

"Because," Her father began "For reasons he chose to keep to himself, he had wanted to marry you instead of Kikyo. Now, we need this alliance, did you not see what happened last time Naraku attacked? The castle had almost been overthrown. The place was overwhelmed with demons, Naraku is too strong. I fear if we reject this now, he would only attack even more"

Kagome shoulders slumped in shock, she couldn't believe this! It was all so sudden! Now that she had to get married to Naraku, she couldn't even look forward to a future with Inuyasha! It was terrible...She was going to marry someone that she felt nothing for. Her dreams shattered, she felt like screaming. But she just sat in place, her eyes wide with disbelief.

She glanced around the table to study everyone's reactions. Her father had suddenly paid very much attention to how delicious the food was, Souta looked down, not really knowing what to say, Kikyo glanced at her but then started eating in silence, Rin offered Kagome a weak smile that was obviously showing her big sister how sad she felt for her. Finally, Kagome looked over at Sesshomaru, he was staring back at her as if that was what he was doing the entire time. He most likely was. There was an unreadable emotion in his eyes.

With a sigh, Kagome turned back to her food. She didn't feel like she had much of an appetite any longer.

"May I be excused?" She asked with monotoned politeness.

"You may" Lord Higurashi replied, granting her wish.

Kagome sat up and left the table to go to her room. Now, she wished more than ever that she didn't have to be a princess, she wished to be just a normal village person who did something important like Sango. But then again, she could be wrong about Naraku too, he could actually be a good person. She hadn't had the time to figure him out since the only encounters they had, she had seen him from afar, trying to kill her father's army. He was really very handsome, but a strange type of handsome-ness. A type of handsome that strangely creeped her out. Most of the time, he was wearing this hideous white and blue baboon pelt.

It was so damn ugly.

No sane person in their right mind would want to wear something like that. Odd as it was, that thought was supposed to make her laugh to herself, but instead it made her more sad and freaked out.

Kagome had simply laid down in her bed and stared at the canopy above her for what seemed like hours. It couldn't have been more than half an hour, though. Her eyes darted towards the window and she watched the snow softly fall outside.

"Maiorita Tenshi tachi me wo samashite, tatoe tsubasa wo nakushite mo, donna sugata ni natte kakureta tte, ai musubu kodou ga kikoeru, mune ga koko ga itai no wa ushinatte, ai no akashi ima tamesareteiru no yo" Kagome sang softly. It was a song she heard her mother sing sometimes when she put her to bed or when she walked in the gardens. It was a beautiful song. But her mother was gone now. Passed away two years ago in the winter for some terrible sickness. It was hard for everyone. Although they had all tried to put behind them, the sadness still seemed to linger there. The castle wasn't as cheery as it once was.

A knock was heard on the door.

"Enter" Kagome said quietly without taking her eyes off the canopy above her.

She heard the sound of the door creaking open and heard footsteps. She failed to hear any words as she expected, so she immediately sat up to see Sesshomaru standing by her bedside, staring at her, somewhat curiously. There was something in his eyes...

"Oh hello, Sesshomaru" Kagome greeted "We still need to go to town to get you some clothing. I mean you can't always stay walking around the house in that" she gestured to his plain and simple white kimono that seemed to be extra baggy and the sleeves were just a little long.

"Hm"

"Say...would you like to go now?" She suggested "I mean, there's nothing better to do, so..." she let her voice trail off 'I need to see Sango and Miroku, they always cheer me up'.

"Hn" He nodded faintly, and Kagome forced a smile, it didn't reach her eyes though.

"Alright, let's go then"

And that's all for now.

The song Kagome was singing is Tenshi by Kokia again. The translation is: "Open your eyes, Angels come down to earth, even if you lost your wings, no matter what you look like or how you hide, I can hear your heartbeat and it binds me with love, now you are testing me, the pain in my heart is proof that I lost a love"

I'm tired and it's 12:00 AM, school again tomorrow, or rather, later on today. At least it will be saturday soon. And Christmas is in eight days! Yay!

I was out of ideas on this chapter, so I just put things from the top of my mind together. Hopefully, it is good. I mean, right now I think it's fine, but later I sometimes think it is just stupid and pointless and corney. Well, oh well...

-Katherine