Prompt: Island
Rating: T
Genre: Humor
Summary: Viva la Difference!

Laughing too hard to stand, she sat instead, rocking back and forth on the riverbank holding her stomach. Sesshoumaru stood nearby, fastidiously running his fingers through his soggy silver tresses, combing out any knots that dared entangle his hair. He was not pleased to be soaked and reeking of river water.

"I fail to see anything humorous in the situation."

This sent her off again, the tone and the words were just too much. He huffed his annoyance; really… what was wrong with the girl?

"Kagome, you could have been swept away, dashed on rocks, severely injured or even killed. How is this lack of good judgment on your part a point of hilarity?"

Gasping to catch her breath, she wiped the corners of her eyes with edge of her hands and did her best to stifle the giggles that threatened to bubble up once more. Regaining her feet, she faced him with a mirth-filled smile.

"Oh please! I was never in any real danger; you just had your protectiveness in overdrive again. I could have made that island easily, if you hadn't…" here she began to lose it again, "swum out… *snort*… to save me." She managed to choke back the most of the guffaws, but she failed to keep a straight face. Quite unlike her highly put-out Daiyoukai, who managed to convey his complete annoyance, irritation, and boredom without moving a muscle.

"It is not an island, Kagome, it is a mere sandbar," he stated with extreme patience. "You did not enter the river far enough upstream before striking out into the water. The current is swift enough to have carried you past; you never would have made it. You might show a little gratitude."

"I was doing just fine until you decided I needed to be 'rescued'! I have been swimming since I was five; I am proficient in all the swimming strokes, except perhaps the butterfly, which is a stupid stroke to begin with… but I never imagined you didn't know how to swim!"

"What are you speaking of, woman? Did not this Sesshoumaru just pull you from the raging torrent and save your life? How am I to do that if I cannot swim?" He glared at her now, molten gold daring her to deny it.

She softened her voice a little, thinking she should placate him somewhat. It was still hard for him to laugh at himself. "Ok, you did come out to get me, but give me a break, this is not a 'raging torrent' and what you were doing is not really considered swimming."

He made a derisive grunt, but within it was a slight acknowledgement that perhaps she hadn't been in mortal danger.

"I would enjoy teaching you how to swim properly," she said coyly, as her hand slipped up his chest.

"I already know how to swim. I was born with the knowledge," he said as he clasped her hand and stepped nearer to her.

"Sesshoumaru, using the dog-paddle to propel yourself through the water when you aren't in your true form, isn't considered swimming." The giggles threatened to erupt again as she pictured him splashing through the water to her aid.

He moved in to kiss her passionately, knowing it was one way to get her mind onto a better subject.

"Next time I'll transform and carry you out in my jaws," he growled softly into her ear, on his way to nibbling her neck and collarbone.

A/N: Posted Mar. 26, 2009. The image of him dog-paddling as an adult cracks me up. (I'm silly like that.) Thanks for reading! :)