Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha
The pain was excruciating. It resonated through her being, a constant emotional ache of turmoil, panic, confusion, fury, sorrow and chaos. She had always possessed a natural ability to feel for others. Now, she felt that same sensitivity unbidden, an unbreakable tether that connected her to every living being in the world.
She need only look upon a person or think of them to know instantly what they felt. Only she could handle such, she realized. Only she had been born to already understand and consider the plights and joys of others so compassionately.
Time could no longer touch her for she was, on some level, the very embodiment of death itself. Life and rebirth, creation and destruction, the forces remained balanced and poised inside of her, ready to be unleashed should her heart deem the situation worthy.
Where there was death, there was life and where there was light, there was darkness. For every pain she felt, there was pleasure to return it. For her grief, there was joy, for her sorrow, there was laughter, for all her fury there was love, enough to encompass all.
Yet, the person that was Kagome remained. Her character had not changed and it was inside the pure heart of this selfless once mortal that such power was entrusted. Only she had the eyes and heart needed to find the answers and only she could guide the life in this realm to peace.
Memories ebbed and flowed across her mind like water, clear for a moment and blurry the next, disappearing into the darkest recesses of her subconscious as her attention was pulled by another taking its place. Her mind played the images like a slow waltz, bringing them in and taking them away just as she began to get interested.
Voices she recognized from the tugging sensation in her heart alone whispered into her ears as she drifted on a warm current of warmth, her mind slowly accepting the truths to these images even as they were pulled away from her.
She looked on as she saw herself beckoning the fragmented souls of the dead, moved by their plight and suffering given her own experience with the pain of sharing her soul.
As her memories shifted, she heard softly spoken voices that slowly grew louder in her ears, as the light of a picture began to form in her mind.
"Your proximity is not uncomfortable." Sesshomaru's voice was as smooth as silk in a deep, sexy baritone. She saw herself flying in his arms, her face a brilliant shade of red.
She remembered thinking that if she just focused on a certain spot in the distance that he wouldn't notice the way her cheeks had flamed scarlet. Disconnected as she was, she felt her heart flutter as he smirked behind her, tightening his grip on her waist. He definitely knew about the blushing, she mused.
He actually seemed to enjoy the way she floundered for something appropriate to say and she could see, now, the silent laughter in his eyes as he teased her further.
"You have a uniquely appealing scent, Kagome."
His eyes sparkled with amusement as she watched her spine straighten in his grasp. She had to stop herself from giggling at the shocked expression on her own face. It had been the first time he'd used her name and to do so in such a flirtatious, familiar and...dare she say it? intimate way was more than a little surprising coming from the great, taiyoukai Sesshomaru.
She muffled a laugh at her unintelligible attempt at a thank you. The way Sesshomaru smiled behind her made her knees weaken slightly.
"And thank you for this," she heard herself manage. "I honestly didn't know what I was going to do back there..."
"It is of no consequence," his velvety voice insisted. "This one is honored that he has been given the chance to repay some of the debt I seem to keep acquiring from you."
"It's not debt!" She fell for his trap again but caught the playful look in his eyes and smiled.
"Well, you could employ me with your staff, give me a job and a place to live. Of course, that would mean putting up with my human stench, my screechy voice, the risk of being purified or-"
"I'll do it."
Kagome trembled at the serious proclamation and the way his eyes met her's hungrily. She found in those amber orbs a heart starving for affection, though he was too proud to admit his own need and she was afraid of taking the fall.
"Wh-What? No, I mean, I wasn't seriously just-"
"All the same. If you desire a home, mine is open to you."
She felt her heart grow tender in her chest. He was offering her the world and she hadn't realized it. She took it as a sort of a business proposition at the time, though she rightly acknowledged the great generosity of the offer. She had been too close to the situation to understand what he was really offering. Tears brimmed in the corners of her eyes, making soft trails down her cheeks.
"Why?" She was asking now, her expression furrowed with confusion. "Is it what I did for Rin? Your arm? Sesshomaru, you owe me nothing. Please, don't feel compelled to burden yourself with my needs."
"Quite the contrary. My fortress is well equipped and sized to accommodate fifty and two hundreds."
He tried to make it seem as though the offer were less than it was but Kagome could see, now, his true intent. By remarking on the sheer size of his stronghold, he made giving her lodging and work seem small in comparison, as though her presence would barely be noticed.
"Two hundred-fifty! That's alot!"
She scoffed at the way she had naively taken the bait and been side tracked. But Sesshomaru had a very sharp mind and it was one of the many qualities that attracted her to him.
"Indeed."
"Well, if you're positive it isn't going to bother or burden you and you swear that if you later decide it does that you'll tell me...I guess after the jewel is completed and dealt with, I'll be coming there."
The silence stretched a moment comfortably as she relaxed in his hold considerably.
Kagome's attention wavered slightly, until she was pulled in by Sesshomaru's voice ending the story about his cousin, Ponyo and her intended mate, Seiryu.
"Hnn. They never bore another pup and died soon after."
She watched herself trying to hide the fact that she was crying miserably from her counterpart. His delicate nose rose into the air momentarily at the first sign of her tears before his gaze fixated on her form, amber eyes softening just a fraction.
Her heart leapt in her throat as she watched him place a single claw under her chin and turn her face gently to look at him.
He was so beautiful, she remembered thinking. The sun was low in the sky, making the starlight silver of his hair glow ethereally. The honeycomb of his eyes filled her with warmth, while the stern jut of his jaw made her swell with appreciation for his masculine perfection.
"You would cry for this?" His voice asked her softly and Kagome heard the underlying tone of affection in his voice for the first time.
"It's just so sad, you know?"
Then, they were kissing, his lips ravaging her's while his hands touched her everywhere, roaming the curves of her body hungrily. She watched his markings thicken across his cheeks, the blue moon on his brow growing a darker and darker shade of blue.
Her aura sparkled around them as his own rose up to meet her's. She watched them merge together as one, just as the scent of her arousal hit his nose.
He was taking her hand. "You must stop," he pleaded. "Or I will take you down to the ground and rut you where ever we land, prying eyes be damned."
The memories were flickering again and she only just made out Sesshomaru's concerned face turning to her and hearing him say, "Are you well, Kagome? What ails you?" before her mind faded to black again.
The light receded and returned anew, this time bringing the form of Sesshomaru standing at the outer gates of his fortress, his widened, almond-cut eyes of amber fixed on her form and that of his ward. The worry etched into his features as he hurried towards them, ever graceful and calculating a creature, until he knelt softly by their side, as if he feared they were so delicate as to crumble to ashes in his presence. She knew, now, the way in which this gesture was executed spoke of his compassion for both.
Her eyes watched him take his child into his arms, watched him patiently console her with soft strokes of her hair and rubbing tiny circles on her back. She felt the tears coming unbidden again to slide across her cheeks at the sound of Rin's sorrowful cries.
She felt her heart swell with appreciation, surprise and love as she heard Sesshomaru call her his musume, or daughter. The following light that sprang into the child's eyes and the smile she wore across her face filled her with warmth and peace.
It was there that his eyes met her's and she saw in them a deep appreciation for saving Rin, for enlightening him, perhaps for restoring his arm. But also, there was admiration and a slight softening of his expression as he regarded her she couldn't quite pin point. When she tried, there came a delightful flutter of butterflies in her stomach and a feeling much like her belly dropping when on a roller coaster.
The picture receded and no matter how hard she tried to bring it back, it was gone, leaving only the warmth of darkness in its wake.
AN: Reviews are my fuel :)
