Author's Note: Ahhh, Chapter 10! It came so quickly! This chapter is one of my favorites. This is really where things are going to start picking up and heading in the direction I want it to go. And, if you've been following the story, you'll understand the nod in the opening paragraph. I had to put it in, it was too perfect. Thank you to all of you who have kept up and added my story as an alert and little ol' me as a favorite author !Anyways, review, my darlings!
In A Dark Dream...
She's on a beach. The sand is white, the ocean water looks almost black Storm clouds create a wall meeting with the water. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she caught a flash of a small child, with silver hair and pale skin. She looks to the spot but finds it empty. Snow is falling. Snow... She stares down at her feet. She isn't wearing shoes, she notices, as she wiggles her toes in the sand. She's wearing a lace, cream colored sundress. She watches as a snowflake falls on her shoulder, melting, yet she doesn't feel coldness.
Her eyes fall on a figure in the distance. Its' face hidden. She walks towards it and as she nears, she recognizes the red and white priestess garb. Her steps falter as she finally see's her face. Kikyo.
"So you've come." Kikyo says, lifting her face to peer at Kagome.
"You have been waiting?" Kagome says, her breath coming out in a fog.
"I have."
Kagome stays silent, not knowing what to say. She watches Kikyo, noting the ever present hardness and constant sadness warring in her eyes. But there's something else there this time. Something foreboding. A wariness.
"Why?" Kagome finally asks, a snow flake melting on her nose.
Kikyo stares at her, their chocolate brown eyes meeting. Then, Kikyo's gaze flickers past her and over her shoulder. Kagome feels the tiny hairs on he back of her neck stand up straight. She doesn't want to look, but she knows she needs to. She turns her head and see's a shadowy figure, long black hair, reddish eyes flashing. A familiar, terrifying chuckle surrounds her.
"Naraku." Kagome says, terror gripping her throat, looking around for Sesshomaru.
"He is not here. No one will be able to help you. He will find you, he will separate you from the pack like a wounded gazelle. He will drain you." Kikyo's voice rings out, a whisper here and an echo there.
"What...what do I do?" Kagome whispers, eyes never leaving Naraku's.
"Use what's inside of you. Do not forget. Or you will fail."
Kagome turns to Kikyo, confused, wanting to know more. What's inside of her? What's that supposed to mean? She turns back around and finds herself nose to nose with Naraku. She opens her mouth to scream...
Back To Reality...
Kagome's eyes fly open. Sesshomaru is standing over her, his hand clutching her, a look of concern on his face. She realizes her jaw hurts, and she can't understand why. Finally, she hears it. Her scream. She's screaming. Everyone starts to crowd around until Sesshomaru gives them an icy stare.
"Kagome."
"Yes?" She asks, her voice hoarse, breathless and barely awake.
"What did you see?"
Kagome stares at him, wondering what to say. Should she tell the truth? Would she sound insane? Would he think she was just being a weak human? Her eyes dart back and forth, searching for the answer.
"I...It was just a dream."
"I understand that but what did you see?"
"I...promise me something?" She asks in a tiny voice.
"Hn?"
"You won't think any less of me?"
"I could never." Sesshomaru says, his voice almost closing around the words, stunned at how soothing they are.
Immediately reassured, she goes into a reenactment, reciting every single thing that happened. Every detail, even the way the water looked. She leaves nothing out. Now is as good a time as any to find out just how much Sesshomaru is willing to take from her.
"Hn." Is all he says in response when she is through.
"It sounds as though Lady Kikyo had reached out to you." Miroku says from his spot by the fire.
"But why?" Kagome asks, sitting up, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up just as they did in the dream.
"It seems as though she fears for your life...as if something is going to happen-"
"Nothing of the sort will occur." Sesshomaru's icy voice says cutting Miroku off.
"Yes, but-"
"Monk..." Sesshomaru cuts him off again, glaring at him.
"Sesshomaru, please, we have to consider everything." Kagome says gently, lightly touching his arm.
Sesshomaru sits back, looking none too pleased. Kagome sighs and shakes her head.
If only he and Inuyasha knew just how similar they are. So stubborn!
The second Inuyasha enters her mind, her gut clenches in a knot. His face, his ears, his amber eyes, his red robes. This all flashes through her head in the blink of an eye, and Sesshomaru immediately senses it. He feels her frustration and hurt, and he knows where it stems from.
"You look like you're feeling better, Kagome." Sango says, cheerily changing the direction of the conversation.
"Oh, yeah, actually I am! I guess all I needed was a good night's sleep." Kagome says, grinning a bit too widely.
"Kagome." Sesshomaru's voice fills the cave.
"Yes?" She chirps out in a quick response.
"Let us take a walk, hn?"
"...Sure?" She says, weary.
Sesshomaru steps in front of Kagome, scoops her up in his arm, and takes off out of the mouth of the cave. She doesn't even have the opportunity to scream in surprise as the cold wind blasts her face and takes her breath away. Sesshomaru pulls his fur wrap around her, shielding her from the wind.
They settle near a frozen pond surrounded by sorted snow covered. Pine trees with blankets of snow covering them, bare tree branches frozen with ice. The sun is desperately trying to break through the clouds but can't quite make it this high up in the mountains. Sesshomaru settles on a large boulder and looks expectantly at Kagome. She stumbles through the snow and teeters forward, almost falling her face until Sesshomaru swiftly catches her and balances her.
"We really must work on your balance."
"I do just fine, thank you. I thought you said we were going to take a walk...not fly." She says, blowing her bangs out of her face.
"Hn." Is the only response.
They sit in silence that stretches on. It's companionable. There is a sense of completeness. Finally, Kagome breaks the silence.
"Why doesn't Inuyasha bear the mark of your house like you?" She asks, looking up at the crescent moon on his forehead.
"He never went through the trials. Every pup that reaches adolescence must train, day in and day out until he is rewarded with the honor of the mark."
"What kind of training?"
"Combat and general education. But, if you are a Lord, the training differs."
"How so?"
Sesshomaru sighs softly to himself.
This one asks too many questions. But I suppose this is the reason I brought her out here.
"My training was more in depth. More teachings on how to govern lands."
Kagome nods, soaking it all in.
"And Inuyasha never had the chance to train because his father died."
"Precisely."
"But someone else had to take over after he passed on..." Kagome prods.
"Hn, yes, and I was the one who assumed that role. I became the Lord of the Western Lands."
"So...you would have had to...enroll...Inuyasha in these lessons."
"Hn." He nods once.
"But you didn't...because you hated him."
"I was young and stubborn when I had to assume the role of ruler of my father's lands."
Kagome raises her eyebrows, stunned at his honesty.
"I don't think Inuyasha even really knew that he could have."
"Hn."
Sesshomaru thinks on that for a moment.
Had I given him that chance, his life may have turned out much differently...
"Don't beat yourself up." Kagome says, not thinking before she speaks.
Sesshomaru turns his eyes to her, cocking one brow.
"I'm sorry...I just...I had a feeling that..."
"We are connected." Sesshomaru replies.
A few more moments of silence press on but this time, it is Sesshomaru to break it.
"It is time to return. You are cold."
"I'm fine, honest." Kagome says, the tremor in her voice betraying her.
"Come." He says, beginning to stand.
"Wait! I need...I have something to give you." Kagome says, a flush of embarrassment gracing her cheeks.
Sesshomaru stays seated, a look of surprise flickering in his eyes and immediately concealed, though Kagome can still feel it.
She had been wanting to give him this for a few days now, ever since he had begun courting her. She wasn't sure how demon courting rituals go, and in fact still isn't to this very moment. She conjures up the courage and releases the breath she doesn't know she is holding.
"I'm still not clear on how demon courting goes...but...human courting probably differs. And if you don't want this you don't have to keep it. In fact, you may find it silly and worthless. If you do, believe me, I won't be afraid, you don't have-"
"Miko, you're rambling." Sesshomaru cuts in, tasting the anxiousness in her aura.
"Right. Sorry. Okay, so...in my world...well, in my time actually, when you really like someone and you want them to know, you give them something to keep of yours. So they will always have a piece of you with them wherever you go."
"Miko I already have you wherever I go." Sesshomaru says, slightly cocking his head to one side.
"I know." Kagome says, frowning and feeling idiotic.
This was such a bad idea. He thinks I'm an idiot! Did I honestly think a demon LORD would care about stupid human traditions?
"Proceed." Sesshomaru says, noticing he had somehow hurt her with his words, and feeling a slight pang of...guilt? Nonsense.
"I...I just want you to have this...as a token of my...m-my...affection." She squeaks out, shoving her fist toward him and lowering her blushed face.
Sesshomaru slowly looks down at her hand and see's a strand of something silver intertwined in her fingers. He cocks his head to the side and takes her hand in his. She immediately released her tight rip and holds her hand out straight. He is staring at the silver necklace, with a silver charm at the end. It looks like a key. He inspects it, squinting slightly and notices a symbol.
"Mike, what is this symbol?"
"It's an infinity symbol."
"What does this mean?"
"It never ends."
Sesshomaru stares at it again, his keen vision following the curves and confirms her sentence. It never ends. It continues on forever.
"What does this mean to you?"
"The key...represents...the key to my heart...and should you unlock it...my l-love..." Kagome's voice clenches for a second, but finds the resolve to finish, "My love for you will never end."
Sesshomaru is taken aback. She is professing her love? No, she is stating if he successfully the courting phase of their relationship, she will...love him? This is odd. In his world, mating and courting is done for breeding, to make sure the strongest pups are produced.
Pups...I would have half-demon pups...like my half-brother...
This was something he never considered. He puts this aside for later thought. Right now, he has to take a shivering Miko back to warmth. He takes the chain from her hand and bows his head slightly in thanks to her. She grins wildly, and he can feel her joy not only because of their connection, but because she radiates it. She is a wealth of joy and infinite patience. She is perfection.