Now What?


Lori

We got back to my friends. I was at least partly right, Kagome was starting to get worried about me.

"So…" Miroku asked slowly, "now what?"

That silenced all of us for a full minute. I was fighting a strong urge to giggle. We'd been so focused on getting my voice back that we hadn't thought about what would happen next!

Then Kagome stated, "Her parents think she's dead."

"How'd she pull that off?" Sango asked.

I shrugged. "Ran away, leaving behind some sappy note about a boy I could never have – and who doesn't exist," I added hurriedly, glancing at Sesshomaru. "I just figured that was a tried-and-true story my parents would believe. I didn't fit in with everyone anymore, and I couldn't accept my voice being gone." I was babbling. It had been so long since I'd last been able to talk, that now I was babbling. I felt my face getting hot. Still, there was one last thing I had to say. "And…even now that my voice is back…I don't want to go back."

"Don't want to?" Kagome, Inuyasha, and Sesshomaru had all spoken at the same time; Kagome was pure question, Inuyasha sounded disbelieving, and Sesshomaru sounded…some mix between stunned and excited.

I just shook my head. "I don't…want to explain to my parents why I pretended suicide, or how my voice mysteriously disappeared and just as mysteriously came back. At best, they wouldn't believe me; at worst, they'd think I'd gone mad."

"And what other option is there, anyway?" Kagome asked. "I mean, you can't stay here, you're not used to this kind of life!"

"Oh…" I shrugged again. "Give me a couple weeks worth of instruction, and I can manage."

"You're sure about that? There are demons here, after all, and I can count the ones that actually like humans as something other than a snack on one hand."

I sighed and stared at the sky. "If I can't manage to find some method of survival that's unorthodox, yet effective, then my name isn't Lorinda."

"I thought your name was Lori," Miroku sounded confused.

"No, that's my nickname."

"Lorinda," Sesshomaru said out loud, almost as if trying out the taste of the name.

I was actually displaying an unusual amount of bravado with that line; I didn't have any idea how I would avoid the man-eating demons.

Well…I had one. The only problem with it was…no, there were two problems with it. One, I was so out of practice with using words to ask people – and I hadn't been that good at it even before I lost my voice – that I couldn't ask, and two…

The idea was having Sesshomaru look out for me. And he's…I barely know him!

Then Sesshomaru surprised all of us. "I…suppose I could watch out for you."

I stared at him. So did everyone else.

I suppose next he's going to propose marriage to me in front of Inuyasha. That'd just tear it for his acting like anyone else is expecting. I sincerely doubted that he'd actually propose; he barely knew me, either.

"If you really want to," I said slowly, "then you could watch out for me while I stay here. Though…that's generally an easier task…if we had the same house." I felt like an idiot right after I finished speaking – I almost sounded like Miroku, in his vaguest attempt at seduction!

He just…looked at me. And there was something about his eyes…

He didn't think I was an idiot for my statement! More than that, I think he agreed with me!

"I don't see how that would be a problem," Sesshomaru finally said.

Kagome choked, and Inuyasha made a rude noise that sounded suspiciously like he was trying not to laugh.

I stared at him for a minute. I just…couldn't think of anything to say to that. Finally, I asked, "Do you have a place you stay? I mean, it's not like I have a place as such here, and, um…"

The dog-demon set a claw gently against my lips, silencing me. "Let us say, I know of a place you can stay. You can receive training on how to survive in this world, and by that point, I'll have found a…" Then he seemed at a loss for the correct words.

I moved his hand away from my mouth and suggested, "Home for us both?"

"Love nest?" Inuyasha suggested snidely.

"Inuyasha," Kagome glared at him, "sit!"

I giggled as the half-demon crashed into the ground. That was the first time, amazingly, that I'd seen that!

Sesshomaru played up wounded dignity for a second. Then he said, in a voice so quiet I almost didn't hear it (not an actual whisper, but very close), "That was actually in part what I had in mind."

I whispered back, barely able to believe it, "His comment?"

His only answer was a barely-perceptible nod.

Then I wondered, as my face got hot, why I'd had trouble believing that was in his thoughts. He was a demon, for crying out loud – they probably, um, get laid on a regular basis!

"I'm…" I finally managed to get out, "not sure…um. How did we even get on this subject?"

Kagome started laughing, and so did Inuyasha from the floor. By now, I was probably a beautiful shade of scarlet.

"If you need time to think," Sesshomaru said quickly, finally noticing my discomfort, "you can have all the time you need."

"I don't mind sharing the same house," I answered, just as quickly. "Just…" I glanced at Miroku, and decided to borrow and alter the line he'd used on me on the road before we ran into the tentacle demon. "I'd rather…bear the child…of someone I was married to." Then I stared at my shoes, hoping I hadn't blown something.

As of right now, the only thing bursting was my eardrums: Shippo and Sango were laughing, too. Well, that was almost exactly the same thing I'd written on the last of my paper to Miroku in answer to his question.

Sesshomaru's clawed hand reached into my line of vision and took hold of one of my hands. "I'll need some time to think myself…but Lorinda…"

I looked up at his use of my full name.

"If you're willing to wait, would you even consider marrying me?"

This isn't happening. I stared at him. By now, everyone had stopped laughing, in shock that the human-hater had just all but proposed to me.

I took a deep breath and met his yellow eyes. "At the risk of sounding absolutely sappy…I'd wait forever if I had to."

In the whole time he'd been standing here, I'd never seen him look so happy. Then he got his composure back and…ordered, I suppose the word is…my friends, "Take her to Kaede's, and see to it that she's taught well." Then he leaped off, a smile creeping onto his face again.

I waved after him, feeling happier than I'd ever been in my life.


A/N: The End? Well...not quite.