A/N: You know, I seriously deserve a punishment like execution at dawn. I let this story sit for three weeks-three whole weeks! I'm sorry and I won't even waste your eyesight with my excuses, though they were quite numerous. Anyway, I'm back to writing this so I hope you enjoy. This chapter's shorter than my other recent ones, but it's all I had time for- better a little than none at all I say.

Chapter 13

Sesshomaru continued to carry his mate in his arms until he reached the open castle infirmary door. He stepped into the room startling an old woman, a greyish brown inuyoukai. She had been dozing at her desk over a book. She hastened to bow to her lord, nearly toppling over her chair as she stood up from it, wiping some drool from her face and trying to pretend she wasn't sleeping on the job.

"Milord, it has been so long since you last returned. We were beginning to fear that..." the nurse trailed off and her eyes widened as she noticed that he was carrying a young woman in his arms-ARMS- as in two of them. "Milord, your arms...you have two of them...sir."

"A fact I had not overlooked," replied the Lord coolly, setting Kagome down on one of the infirmary beds.

"Oh don't be that mean to her. It was just a surprise. After all, not many people, demon or not manage to grow back arms. In fact, none except you," scolded Kagome almost as if she were a parent scolding a misbehaving child. The demon-nurse took in the human girl's appearance. She was more of a woman than a girl, or somewhere right in between, probably around 18 years old. She had long black hair, dark brown eyes, a young demon fox perched on her shoulder, and Sesshomaru's crescent moon on her forehead. The nurse was now confused, if the girl had that mark, then it must mean that she was Sesshomaru's. "Impossible," thought the nurse, "Sesshomaru would never take a human as a mate. There must be some sort of misunderstanding here."

Sesshomaru startled her from his thoughts answering the young human, "Indeed it was. So if you, Nurse Akame, are finished being surprised, I would like to ask you to do everything within your power to cure this rash."

"Rash? Where?" asked the demon-nurse, surprised once again by the courtesy in Sesshomaru's voice as he spoke to her. Usually he was just cure this or forfeit your life- never had he requested her healing abilities.

Kagome held out her arm, pulling up her sleeve and showing the red bumps, "It's just a little poison ivy, but I would appreciate anything you could do for it."

Akame, the nurse, nodded dumbly. The human girl before her was so polite, and nice, and warm with emotion. The complete opposite of lord Sesshomaru, but the nurse could already see why the demon lord had fallen for the girl. She had an irresistible personality.

The nurse disappeared into a back room and returned with a jar. "This is a paste made from the Erucall plant. It is very effective at clearing up most human rashes and it should work wonders for this poison ivy. But are you sure you want me to use it on the girl?"

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Sesshomaru suspiciously.

"Well, while humans don't suffer any ill effects from it, it is extremely poisonous to demons. It can be absorbed through the skin. If she uses this, then you won't be able to touch her all night, milord."

Kagome began to blush red at what Akame was implying they were going to do that night. She just hoped that the inferred meaning would be missed by the young kitsune's ears. Sesshomaru seemed to think for a few. He also caught what Akame was suggesting, and quite understood her point, but decided that one night without touching Kagome would be worth it if she got better.

"Use the paste. We have matters to discus anyway that won't require touching," consented Sesshomaru.

It was then that Shippo decided to speak up, "But I thought you two left last night to discus things.

If it was possible to be a darker shade of red, then Kagome would've found it. She just petted the young demon on the head before saying, "There's a lot of things to discuss Shippo."

The nurse gave a knowing smile before holding the jar out to Kagome. "I'm afraid you'll have to spread it on yourself seeing as how everyone else here is a demon. Just a light coat will do and the rash should be gone by morning."

Kagome nodded and was about to dive her hand into the paste jar when her wrist was caught by a clawed hand. She looked up the arm to its owner and met Sesshomaru's golden eyes. He pulled her close and they shared a long kiss as a startled Shippo jumped off of his adoptive mother shoulder. The two's bodies seemed to melt together, each craving the other's touch. The nurse didn't even try to hide her surprise as she met the concrete proof that Sesshomaru had indeed mated a human. Her mouth hung open as she watch them, noticing how Sesshomaru didn't seem to want to let go of her.

Part of Akame surprise was logical. See, she had always believed Sesshomaru to have an icy heart. Many women, demon and human alike, had lusted after him and would have willingly thrown themselves down at his feet and begged to become his mate. Yet Sesshomaru had never showed any interest, no recognition of other's affections towards him, and a seemingly empty desire for the pleasures of the opposite sex. Apparently, something drastically had changed within her lord, and it probably had something to do with this girl before her, lips still glued to Sesshomaru's.

The couple eventually broke apart, breathing heavily and Kagome began to rub the cream on herself. Once satisfied with its cool coverage, she put the top back on and sniffed the paste on her arm. She laughed, barely managing to get out, "Aha, ha, ha, it smells, ha, like salty limes, hee hee."

A smile caught on Sesshomaru's lips as he understood the humor. He led the way out of the infirmary and towards his own private guest rooms. Shippo was clueless as to why the paste shouldn't smell like salty limes, but he followed his mother nevertheless. The nurse however, was not so naive. She had seen Sesshomaru's smile- a smile that normally meant nothing positive for anyone's life, and yet now, it seemed innocent and heart-felt. "Love can change even the most stubborn of souls," she thought to herself.

The dog- demon brought them to a staircase and then down a hallway. At the end of which were three carved doors, one on either side of the hallway facing each other, and the third on the wall at the end of the hallway.

Sesshomaru pointed at one of the doors on the side walls, the one towards the front of the castle, "That is where Rin resides. She, like the castle servants, is currently sleeping" He walked to the opposite door and opened it, "This will be your room, Shippo. I hope you find it desirable."

Shippo showed child-like excitement over the room, running into the room to inspect his new things. He was too caught up in his exploring to thank the demon-lord properly so Kagome took it upon himself, "I think he likes it. Thank you Sesshomaru..for everything."

Sesshomaru gave her a small smile as she went into the room to tuck Shippo in without touching him. It was quite a sight to see her trying to lull the hyper boy into a blissful sleep. The demon lord waited patiently for his mate. When she returned, he led her to the door at the very end of the hallway.

"This," he said, "is our room." He easily swung the heavy wooden door open and revealed the cozy room. It had a rare western style bed, an imposing clothes armoire, and a chair and some cushions around a cheerily burning fireplace. The room seemed both warm and cold at the same time, which Kagome thought was rather fitting being the room of a certain unpredictable dog demon.

Sesshomaru motioned for the girl to sit in the only chair in the room, and a rather comfortable chair at that. He himself took a cushion and sat Indian style in front of her. Several minutes passed in silence, but not an awkward silence. Rather it was one of contentment- a brief period in time when no words were needed to explain what each person in the room was feeling or thinking.

Kagome gazed into the dog demon's eyes, her dog demon, her mate. His eyes were not the cold and emotionless ones she remembered, but rather, they seemed deep and warm, almost as if she was peering into his actual soul. Even thinking that she thought that she was beginning to sound like a romance novel-she hoped not a cheap one. She was lost in his eyes, finding everything she ever wanted in life in them. She realized it like a punch in the stomach-that is, she was in love. Actual love, not just lust, not just getting caught up in the moment like she had unconsciously been thinking she was. No, this was her life, her future, her love, her Sesshomaru.

"You've changed," she said all of a sudden and with a certain bluntness that she must've picked up from Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru had apparently let down his guard, for he let his surprise show on his face. "How so?" he asked simply.

"There's something different about you. There's depth behind your eyes, emotion, and compassion. You said earlier that my humanity didn't matter to you. That's a big change for you, I know. I was there the first time we met and you tried to kill me," Kagome paused in her speech, leaning forward and dropping her voice to a whisper, as if she were getting ready to impart a deep secret, "and...you flirted with me."

Sesshomaru seemed to seriously consider this, though he let just enough of his true emotions show so that she would know that he was playing, "Flirting? I thought it was more of a verbal contest to confuse one's opponents."

Kagome narrowed her eyes slightly, playing along, "You were flirting with me mister. Don't deny it. And you better watch out for my mate- he's a strong one and will rip you limb-from-limb if he catches you flirting with me again."

"My apologies milady. I did no know that you had such a strong and handsome mate already."

"Handsome? I don't remember saying anything about him being handsome," said Kagome in a huff. She looked at the demon lord sitting before her, her gaze obviously traveling up and down, and side to side before continuing, "You're wrong. My mate's not handsome, he's drop-dead gorgeous."

"Then only he could deserve someone as utterly beautiful as you my dear."

Kagome smiled in pleasure at the compliment, "See! What did I tell you? You've changed! Why?"

"Is it a bad change?"

"No, it's wonderful, not that you were that terrible before, but this is an improvement, I would say."

"Then why does it matter how I came to be so?"

"Sesshomaru, I'm not going to be a mate you can just keep things from. I want to know. Besides, I was worried about you. You disappeared and I couldn't find your demonic aura."

"You were worried about me?"

Kagome flushed, "Well, yeah. The last time we had met, you kissed me and then disappeared. I thought you were angry and that I would never see you again."

"I was angry, but not at you. I was angry at myself for feeling such things for a human, a mere puny human. I rushed off to correct the problem."

"You tried to kill yourself?" Kagome asked awestruck, completely misunderstanding where Sesshomaru was going with this.

"Hardly, that would have been easier probably. But then, I wouldn't be the way I am now," Sesshomaru dug into the front of his Kimono and fished of the package of leaves, sacredly opening the bundle for Kagome's inspection. "I left to find the cure to humanity, to find these leaves."

Kagome carefully examined one of the beautiful leaves, scarlet on top, deep plum purple on the bottom and edged and veined in a shimmering gold. "I've never seen anything like it! Tell me more."

"They are the leaves to the Tree of Emoceba Anomede and can be used to make the drink of Anomede- a drink that can transform a human into a fully fledged demon."

"I've never heard of it."

"That is because it had nearly passed out of knowledge of existence before I discovered it. Also, the drink takes 200 years to ferment, so it is not a very useful potion...to most"

Kagome considered this and finally figured it out, "And you were planning on using the well to go to the future and get it there. Very smart, but then, how come I couldn't sense you?"

"That is because I was human."

"WHAT!"

"Yes, I was shocked too. It all began when I met a path guardian named Sasarg..." And so Sesshomaru told Kagome of his experiences as a human. She was the first and last person to ever hear that tale-anyone else who asked about it met only dumb silence with a cold glare. Sesshomaru relatively enjoyed relating the tale, much to his own surprise. He usually never told anything to anyone about himself, which added a lot to his seemingly cold and mysterious appearance. However, Kagome was a great audience, very patient, never judging, giving the occasional gasp when something shocking happened, and nodded with approval when Sesshomaru related the point that Sasarg was trying to get through the demon lord's head.

When Sesshomaru was finally done, Kagome was beaming at him for having gone through all that for her, so that they could be together. It was sweet, in a corny sort of way. She was interrupted from thoughts of how she would repay him by the feeling of being stared at. It was, of course, just Sesshomaru, yet he looked expectant.

"What?" she asked him.

"It is only fitting when one hears a story, to give one in return. Would you like to explain to me why Naraku wanted you dead so badly?"

"Ah yeah! I had forgotten that I died," laughed Kagome nervously. Sesshomaru wasn't as surprised as one might think one would be after hearing something like that. He merely waited for her to continue. Truthfully, he had expected it, Kagome being who she was. "Well, let's see. We were looking for jewel shards when Naraku lured us into this cave. The cave kept Inuyasha from using his sword's attacks, because he feared he would bring the ceiling down on us. Things were looking pretty bad, swarms of demons were attacking us, and we were getting really tired. But then Kikyo showed up and saved Sango and Miroku from Kanna. Then, Naraku attacked Kikyo and killed her, which was really bad and really good at the same time. We didn't think Naraku, or at least the Onigumo in Naraku, could hurt, or kill Kikyo. He somehow got over that and stabbed her through with a tentacle. I should be really sad that she died, but now I have a whole soul! Not just a piece of one. My powers amplified and I could see through Naraku's barrier and see the shikon jewel. I tried to purify the thing with an arrow, but Naraku was able to move just enough to get out of the way. He was hurt badly though and so retreated and about a week later we ran into Kohaku. HE was pretending to be running from Naraku but was really just there to kill me," ended Kagome, settling down. She had been getting really into her story, sitting on the edge of her seat and using her hands to demonstrate what was going on. It was quite amusing, thought the dog demon, even if it brought dark news that her life was in danger, and it was his fault. He had encouraged her to increase her priestess powers and those increased powers made her a target for Naraku. Finally rational thought caught up to him and he realized that she would've died, along with her friends, in that cave if she didn't have her new powers.

But there was one thing that could put his mind at ease, "Kagome," he said after a contemplative silence, "would you like to become stronger, to become a demon?"

She thought about it, her brow furrowed in thought and eyes serious: Should I become a demon? As a human, I'll always be as I am now, except that I will quickly grow old and die and leave Sesshomaru alone forever. Then, he'd probably turn into that cold monster he was the first time I met him. And I'm his mate, I love him. I don't want to leave him, and children! There's also our future children to consider. I know he hates hanyous, or at least he used to. Now, if I were to become a demon, would I still be who I am now? That's a stupid question. The potion wouldn't change my soul, I'll always be Kagome, just Kagome. But what if the demon blood takes over, I could hurt someone, or murder...but no! Sesshomaru would always be by my side. He would watch out for me and protect me. And I could protect him. And live with him and our family forever. Hold on, are there any negative consequences for becoming a demon? Constant youth, the ability to protect the ones I love, and I know Sesshomaru wants me to become a demon. He can accept me as a human, but as a demon there is so much more opportunity. So, human or demon? Come on girl! Pick the right one!

Kagome opened her mouth to speak only to be drowned out by Sesshomaru, "If you want to sleep on it, that is fine. But, so that you know, you are my mate, and human or demon, that will never change and it doesn't really even matter to me. Let this be your choice and yours alone and don't be..." he never got to finished for Kagome rather rudely and loudly cut him off with a clearing of her throat. She smiled at him.

"You're rambling, Sesshomaru. Besides, I've already reached my decision and you should know that I don't take crap from anyone. I choose to be," said Kagome, giving a pause for dramatic tension, "a demon."

Sesshomaru stood up and kissed her on the lips, one of the few places she didn't have that poisonous rash remedy. He looked her in the eyes, so much meaning and compassion in those golden orbs it made her heart speed up just contemplating the next time they could touch. The dog taiyoukai whispered, "Wonderful. Get some sleep for it is very late now. Tomorrow we can begin making the drink of Anomede."

Kagome nodded, snuggling into the chair by the warm fire. "Sesshomaru..." she whispered as she drifted off to her dreamland, "...I love you."

"I love you too...my Kagome," whispered Sesshomaru back, feeling in complete harmony with himself and with the rest of the world, something he had not felt since he was a pup. He had everything he could have ever hoped for, lightly snoring in the chair before him. He didn't know if she could hear his soft confession of love, but the smile on her face, even in her sleep, made him believe she had. Nevertheless, he promised himself that he would tell her tomorrow when she woke. If Sasarg had done nothing else, he had made Sesshomaru realize how precious life was- if Sesshomaru died right now, he would be happy, yet he would regret that he had never told a conscious Kagome his feelings for her. He silently watched her sleep the rest of the night.

A/N: Yeah, that's it for today. I'll start on the next chapter ASAP. I already have it sketched out. Hey, the last time I checked, the reviews were stuck on 99! That's more then I ever thought possible! Thank you for your support- it makes me feel all warm and squishy inside. Hint for what's comin' next chapter: a very shocked Jaken, a happy Rin, a trek to find ingredients for a demonic potion, a little boy with an apple, the first emergence of a river from the ground, and an encounter with a man named Dainigumo. Hmmm...interesting...