A/N: Not sure why I go into so much detail on the first paragraph...

Bright morning light trickled down through tiny clouds that littered the bright blue sky. The leaves soaked up every ray of sun gratefully, and in response let off a beautiful emerald sheen that made the tree look studded in jewels. Kagome sat outside her hut leaning against the door and breathing in the crisp smell that the tiny blades of grass threw at her as they rustled against her pants in the breeze. She wished she could spend more time meditating like this, drifting off into her own little world with no one around to demand her attention or make her snap out of her dreamy state. She plucked a tiny blade of grass from the ground at her feet and examined it close up before bringing it to her lips. The blade rested there, cool against her sun warmed mouth, and she blew hard on it, earning a sharp whistle from the tiny make-shift instrument.

"Is this how it's always going to be? InuYasha away on jobs, and me, here, waiting for his return...?" She whispered to the blade of grass, disappointed that it did not respond and tell her that she was being silly and that of course he would return and stay by her side.

She rested her head against her shoulder and dropped the grass, watching it drift down to rejoin it's fellow blades of grass. She raked her hand gently through her hair, pulling it back away from her face and enjoying the tickle that it brought to her cheek as it bounced back into it's original place stubbornly.

From atop the hill on which her house was perched Kagome could see the entire village. She watched the outskirts, waiting to see a little dot of red peek up from over the horizon, signaling that the wait for his return was over.

"InuYasha, you've been awfully quiet. Are you plotting something?" Miroku asked, taking a break from counting the coins he had so graciously accepted from the overly naive young Lord.

Ignoring the monk completely, InuYasha continued to walk behind him with his eyes closed in his usual, 'I don't care about anything, and my hands stuffed into my Kimono sleeves mean I'm thinking so stand back' manner. His head was spinning as he knew they were nearing the village. He could feel the ring in his haori, taunting him, and he very much resented it. He had yet to look Kagome in the eye and tell her he loved her, why would she say yes to marriage? Again his mind screamed at him as if it were fed up with his constant whining, "Because she already agreed to spend eternity with you. She loves you! Idiot!"

"InuYasha, stop moping. She hasn't even said no yet!" Miroku jested, his attempt to invoke a reaction from his counterpart successful. He rubbed his head idly, undeterred in his quest to toy with the half demon, "What's the worse that can happen? She can say she doesn't want to be bound to you, and you make a fool of yourself. So what? You're used to that by now, aren't you?"

"Alright Miroku, give it a rest. He won't keep going easy on you." He said, annoyed at the Monk's persistence as he watched said holy man rub a second lump forming on his head from another punishment.

"Yeah. You keep runnin' your mouth Miroku, and you'll be flying home." He said, cracking his knuckles which were balled into an intimidating fist. Both Shippo and Miroku gulped, knowing that InuYasha's punch literally could send him airborne into the village.

"No need for that! I was only kidding! Just trying to snap you out of your melancholy mood-" Miroku began, but cut his begging for mercy off short as he saw InuYasha freeze and stand up straight looking alert like a hunting dog. "What is it?"

"Blood. A demon's blood. A lot of it. Coming from the village." He began, his eyes widening as a look of fear flashed across his growingly contorted face, "Kagome's blood. Faint... and recently shed." He explained curtly as he began sprinting off at lightening fast speeds in the direction of the village.

"Quick Miroku!" Shippo shouted, though it was unnecessary for the Monk had already started running in an attempt to catch up to their counterpart.

He couldn't have been moving fast enough, for even the fact that his feet barely touched the ground as he raced towards her, InuYasha felt he was still miles from Kagome. "Please be safe."

Kagome's eyes flashed open as she heard a heavy rustling and she turned her head to the path that led up to her hut. From behind Miroku's home a red flash appeared and in a split second InuYasha was in front of her, kneeling down and grabbing her shoulders to crush her to his chest. "InuYasha!" She said, her arms dangling limply by her sides, confusion obvious on her flushed face.

"I smelled your blood. Are you okay? What happened?" InuYasha demanded urgently, checking her for injuries. He raised her bandaged arm to his eye level and noticed the faint pink traces of blood in around 6 locations up her arm and left sides. Anger, though not at her, worry and protectiveness swirled in his golden eyes as he stared into her own deep brown orbs.

Kagome nodded her head, assuring him that she was alright. She smiled up at him and replied, "Last night a demon attacked. A centipede demon, to be exact. My bow snapped and the demon struck me with his tail. But I'm okay, Sesshomaru came and saved us."

"Sesshomaru?" InuYasha asked incredulously, shocked to hear that the person that had come to her rescue was his supposedly human loathing half brother. "I'm just glad you're alright." He said, a strange light coming into his eyes.

He held her hand firmly, and pulled her against him so that she lay nestled in his arms. The closeness of him sparked her body into alertness. She could feel every beat of his heart, and smell the unique scent that he gave off; rich cloth, musk, and freshly stripped bark from an oak tree. She looked up into his eyes, and found herself unable to look away. He moved closer to her, dipping his head down so close that his breath tickled her skin. She raised her free hand and held it against his chest, as his came up to cup her cheek.

With one swift movement his lips were against hers, moving soft and slow as if he thought she was made of paper. She felt butterflies flutter through her stomach as his tongue traced the tiny gap between her lips, encouraging her to part her mouth for him. She obliged instantaneously and was overwhelmed by the sensation of his exploration. She felt his fangs, dangerous and sharp, brush lightly against her lips as he deepened the kiss. When he moved his tongue against hers it felt like electric waves coursed through every nerve beneath her skin. Her heart hammered in her chest so loudly that she was sure that it could be heard several villages over. Lost in the sensation, she barely felt her hand moving without her willing it to do so.

Kagome's fingertips traced the creases of his haori, letting him feel her caress through the cloth, before dipping between the opening and placing her cool hand against his hard chest. She moved her hand down in a way that he could only describe as torture, her long nails scraping gently down his torso. Just as swiftly as he had initiated the kiss, though, he ended it. He grabbed her hand, attempting in vein not to be rough with her, and removed it from his shirt. He jerked his haori closed and tightened the belt around his middle before standing, leaving her gaping up at him in shock.

"What?" He asked, turning towards her with a mixture of pain and longing in his eyes that he had cleverly disguised as indifference.

"I-..." She began, unsure of what had caused him to pull away from her so suddenly, "Nothing. I... I'm sorry." She finally said, taking the blame for her boldness. Surely, she decided, she had scared him away by trying to taking it a step further than he wanted her to.

"Don't." InuYasha said, turning away from her, "Don't apologize. Ignorance isn't a crime." He responded, sighing as he made his way down the hill towards Miroku's hut.

"Ignorance..." Kagome repeated as a blind rage boiled up inside her, replacing the ache she had felt from his proximity, "Ignorance?" She said, louder, "You're the one who's ignorant! InuYasha! You hear me? Idiot!" She called so loudly the birds in the trees above her fluttered up and flew away to safety. She stomped, frustrated and damp from the sweat that had pooled around the base of her neck from the heat of him, and turned back inside her hut, marching to her room to slam the sliding door shut.

InuYasha sat with his legs folded and his head propped up by his elbow that rested on his knee. Even the girls had steered clear of him, for his foul mood radiated off of him in such thickness that it was nearly visible. He grumbled, though more in annoyance than anger, as if the girls were in fact tugging at his ears.

"What's his problem? He's been in that corner sulking for hours now." Sango noted, tucking the children in as they yawned and curled up beside each other. She kissed each child on the head, and they smiled in their sleep at the familiar bedtime ritual.

"I have this funny feeling it has something to do with Kagome." Miroku answered wisely, "Though when doesn't it?" He added, sighing as he realized the only way to get him to leave was to aid him.

"What a good man you are." Sango teased, kissing him lovingly on the lips, and taking her place under the covers of their futon.

Miroku exhaled slowly, and stood from his spot to make his way over to his fuming friend. "InuYasha...," The monk began, "Let's take a walk."

The half demon turned a one eyed glance at the monk and grunted, using his Tessaiga to help himself into a standing position. "Don't really have a choice, do I? I think I've overstayed my welcome anyway." He added, eying Sango who was glaring at him as if to say, 'Yes. Now get out so I can sleep.'

The two men sat outside Kaede's hut at the base of the tree that loomed over it. Miroku turned to him then, ever persistent in his effort to have InuYasha's wall be broken down so he would just come out and say what he felt. If the half demon would just suck up his pride, him and Kagome wouldn't fight half as often as they did, and the Monk wouldn't have to coach him back on track.

"What did you do this time." Miroku asked, turning to the half demon who sat up and glared at him.

"Why do you always assume I did something wrong?" InuYasha grumbled, his temper flaring dangerously for a moment before flickering down into submission, something Miroku rarely saw happen. "It's not that I did something. It's that I didn't do something. And I didn't do it for the right reasons. But I wanted to. And she wanted to. She definitely wanted to. But I couldn't let her. Miroku, Kagome is pure. She is a priestess. I can't."

Miroku, shell shocked by the bombardment of information, stared at him in stunned silence. He had wished for InuYasha to just say what he was feeling, but he hadn't actually expected it to happen. Maybe a shooting star had gone by and he'd subconsciously wished on it; they say you should be careful what you wish for for a good reason. "You had sex with her?" He drawled, prodding the half demon for more information.

"No. I just said that we didn't. Pay attention... but... we both wanted to." InuYasha began, squinting his eyes as he stared into the distance, "I could smell it on her. The desire. We aren't married. And even if we were... how could I? I would taint her purity... I had to stop her. She doesn't understand the consequences of loving, marrying... and, " He gulped, "mating with a half demon. Or even a full demon. When I stopped her, though, she looked so hurt. Like I had slapped her." He turned to Miroku, who could see the raw desperation in his eyes. He had not looked so vulnerable since the day he had sent Kagome back to her own time for what he thought would be forever.

"Listen. Everyone in this village cares for you and Lady Kagome. They all respect you. No one would judge you, nor would they judge your children. Kagome is pure at heart, and nothing will ever taint that. She loves you, and you love her. Just marry her and have a baby already. Stop making things up to worry about. Don't you think she's thought this over? She's made her decision. She wants you. Go show her you want her too." The monk droned, clearly annoyed that the so called 'problem' was another one of InuYasha's self created, self loathing misunderstandings. It seemed that every problem the two ever faced in their relationship was due to InuYasha's self consciousness, which stopped him from seeing himself as a person. For the longest time he viewed himself as "a worthless half breed" instead of just being InuYasha; but he failed to realize that Kagome loved him, everything about him, and everything that came with him.

When Miroku turned to InuYasha after a long moment of silence he realized that the half demon was gone. "That guy is such an imbecile sometimes." He said, watching a blur of red make it's way past his hut and up to where Kagome was no doubt locked in her room breaking something that she was pretending was InuYasha's face. "Love makes people crazy." He murmured, standing up with the help of his staff as he made his way back to his own home where he fully intended to curl up next to his sleeping wife.

Kagome lay with her face down in her pillow, breathing heavily into it as angry sobs racked her body. She had been in her room, pacing back and forth furiously for what seemed like days, waiting for InuYasha to come back and explain his strange behavior. When he didn't, she couldn't even describe the amount of agony that replaced all the blood flowing into her heart. She punched the pillow beside her, mumbling a string of profanities. He had caused her to look stupid and had pushed away her advances, making her feel unwanted and as if she had been trying to seduce him against his will. She couldn't believe she had done that, but she didn't think InuYasha would have rejected her so harshly.

Her head snapped up from the pillow and swiveled towards the door as it slid open to reveal a very nervous looking InuYasha. She wiggled around onto her back and swung her legs over the side of the bed to stand before him. Her eyes looked troubled, and they were blotchy from tears that she didn't deserve to have been shedding.

"Kagome...," InuYasha murmured, eying her form across from him, taunting him like a siren. She wore a very thin light pink silk night gown that stopped half way down her thighs, showing a lengthy expanse of creamy white skin. "I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. You did nothing wrong." He said, unable to find the exact words he knew she had to hear to understand his reasoning.

"No. I was just ignorant. Stupid. Right?" She asked, her voice weak and cracking as if she had been crying for hours.

"Not stupid. I didn't mean stupid. I meant... I thought... you couldn't understand what you were doing." The half demon rambled, trying desperately to form a coherent thought when faced with the aftermath of his mistake. "Kagome. I want you. I do. I really do. But... I can't have you."

Kagome, thinking he had finished, cut in, "InuYasha I am right here. I will always be here. How many times do I have to tell you I want to be with you forever no matter what for you to finally get it through your thick skull? I want you. The way you are. Not just parts of you. All of you." She said, her voice shaking as she spilled her heart out to him. "I love you. You know that."

"You didn't let me finish. I can't have you... that way... until we are married. I will keep you pure if it's the last thing I do. Kagome," He gulped, a red coloring rushing to his face that made his cloth of the fire rat seem pale, "Marry me." He said, fishing in his haori for the ring he had received albeit unwillingly from the Young Lord. "This is your custom. From your time. Right?" He asked, handing it to her as if it were literally just a rock.

"InuYasha... how did you..." She started, tears forming in her eyes as she touched the ring gently, taking it from his extended hand and slipping it onto her finger. "Yes. Yes. Yes. I will marry you." She said, running towards him and wrapping her arms tightly around him.

He looked down at her, stroking her hair tenderly, and kissed the top of her head so lightly that she barely felt it. His claws stroked down her back, relishing in the silk against his the sharp nails as shivers traveled down his spine from the feeling. "Kagome...," He breathed, his entire body pulsing with desire for her.

Kagome silenced him as she stood up on her toes and pressed her mouth onto his, initiating a rough kiss filled with a thirst for each other that had not yet been quenched. A tiny sound of pleasure escaped her lips, and she felt herself being dropped onto the bed under his weight. "I love you." She murmured again against his lips, before he silenced her in return.

"I know."

Oh with the switching back and forth of POV's! How do you guys put up with me? And the constant separation of our hero and heroine? I'm a mean, mean author. Teehee.

Hope you guys enjoyed this, thanks so much for your feed back from the last chapter. Every review I get fuels me to work harder and faster on the next chapter. Am I bribing you to review? Yes. Yes I am. Till next time!-

Ja~