Chapter Ten – Sweet Dreams

Kagome's eyes flickered open slowly. She yawned and pulled herself up into a sitting position. Light was streaming in through loose boards around her and it was…silent.

Wait, it was silent? Kagome blinked and stood up shakily, shuffling over to the window. She yawned again, still half-asleep. As she peered through a hole in a termite-eaten wall, she was surprised to see that it was completely silent and bright outside. The sunlight sent rainbows dancing off of the ice and snow on the ground.

Kagome smiled to herself. She loved snow. It was like an artist laying out a clean sheet of paper over the earth. She stretched and looked over her shoulder. Inuyasha was leaning against the wall, his head hung over. He was asleep, or so she assumed from the light snoring coming from him.

He looks so cute. Kagome bit her bottom lip, trying to hold back a giggle.

As quietly as she could, Kagome tip-toed over to him. She was still wearing his red kimono robe, and its warmth made her feel happy. Over the night it had lost his smell and acquired hers. She frowned at that.

He didn't move or even twitch, so she guessed that he was deeply asleep. She crouched in front of him and tilted her head to the side, trying to see his face.

So cute…

Kagome lifted her hand up to gently caress his cheek with the tips of her fingers. She gasped as his hand flew up to grab her wrist in an iron grip. His eyes didn't open, but instead he leaned forward until his nose touched hers.

"Kagome…"

She swallowed, a blush starting to stain her cheeks. Was he…still asleep? Inuyasha sighed and moved his face to where his cheek was touching the side of hers. She listened as he softly inhaled.

"W-what are you doing?"

"You smell so wonderful…you always smell wonderful."

Kagome breathed in shakily. Her heart sped up as his warm breath tickled her neck.

"Tastes like strawberries…"

He's talking nonsense! What on earth…!?

The half-demon brushed his lips over her neck. Kagome stopped breathing. Why was he doing this? Could it be possible that he was dreaming about Kikyo? No, wait; he had said 'Kagome', right?

"Inuyasha…"

"So enticing…love that smell…"

She should stop this. It wasn't a good idea to let him be doing this and most definitely it was making her chest ache to think about how he would react if he woke up. Yes, she loved him. Yes, she didn't want to make him stop. And yes, she was going to dream about this for nights to come. But it would hurt if he yelled at her later.

"I-Inuyasha, you need to wake up. Wake up, now."

He didn't respond, but instead his lips started a trail from her ear, down her jaw-line, and to her chin.

I need to stop this right now, but can I?

"Inuyasha, wake up!"

Suddenly his eyes jerked open. She felt her heart sink as the fog cleared from the gold pupils.

"K-Kagome?" He whispered against her chin.

"Yes?"

"What…what happened?"

She shivered as his lips moved against her face. That would also be in her dreams later…

"You were asleep, and I came over here to wake you up. The storm stopped."

"Yes, I hear the silence, but why are we this close?"

I wish we could always be this close…

"You started talking in your sleep, and you fell forward when I poked you."

Lying would put off yelling. That wasn't the right thing to do, she knew, but it would save her the heartache.

"Oh…I see…"

Why hadn't he pulled himself up yet? Why was he hesitating? Sure, it felt nice, but she was wondering why he hadn't stood up like he normally would.

Inuyasha sat there in the awkward position, trying to find the courage to say something. Moments like this, when they were completely alone with each other and not fighting, were few and far between. On top of that, she was right here and he was touching her. She wasn't yelling at him or nervous about this fact, either. So he felt like a complete idiot for not being able to say something, anything.

"Kagome, I…"

"Yes?"

Her voice was so soft that it confused him. She almost sounded…breathless? But he didn't dare pull back to look at her face. This was too pleasant.

"…how…how will we get back? What do you want to do?" He finally managed to get out. Alright, not the original words he had in mind, but at least it was something.

"Uh…I don't know. Can you catch the scent of our campsite from here?"

"No. The snow erased all traces of scent from yesterday. I would end up getting us even more lost."

That is shocking, Kagome thought, considering that Inuyasha is normally full of himself. Since when does he admit a weakness?

"Well, so do we just wait it out? They will come looking for us eventually…"

The half-demon was silent for a moment, and she wondered if he was thinking or trying to figure out whether it would be bearable or not. Finally, after a moment of complete stillness, besides the sounds of their breathing, of course, Inuyasha pulled himself up. Their noses weren't touching, but they were still close, nonetheless.

"I guess, but would you want to stay here that long?"

"I…I have some crackers in my bag, I think."

"There is more ninja food?"

Kagome took and moment to steady her thoughts, "Yes."

"Alright, but afterwards we will go outside and wait so that they will see us."

"Okay."

Inuyasha paused for a moment then leaned back, not breaking eye contact.

Thank you all for reading so far! I still have a chapter or two left for this story, but I just wanted to express all of my gratitude to everyone for sticking around and reviewing. Thanks for your support. I don't think I could keep writing if no one let me know that they liked it or even read it. So, I'll keep writing, and you please keep reading. I plan on writing more after this story is done. Thanks again! ^.^

~ My undying gratitude, most of all, to Rumiko Takahashi. If not for her astounding skills, I would not be able to write this story.