"Kagome! Kagome I'm so glad you're back!"
Jumping onto the bed, Shippo tackled the still drowsy woman, his arms settling comfortably around her neck and his tail wagging happily.
"Shippo," she laughed, holding his little body close. "I'm glad I'm back too." Sitting up, she finger combed her hair back, letting it tumble freely behind her. "But I was only gone for one day!"
"One day is one day too many," he told her, releasing her in favour of sitting down. "Why did you leave?" he asked seriously, eyes wide as he gazed up at her.
"Do you know what?" she answered, ruffling his hair and smiling, "It doesn't even matter anymore, because it doesn't seem all the important right now. I'm just happy Captain Sesshoumaru came and got me."
Shippo grinned. "Good, because Cap'n asked me to give you this." Scrambling off the bed, he scurried over to the table and picked up a brown package, bringing it back over to Kagome.
"What is it?" she asked, feeling it in her hands. I can squeeze it and it conforms to my fingers, and it's really light, she thought, weighing it gently.
"Just open it," Shippo demanded excitedly, fairly bouncing in his seat.
"Okay, okay!" she laughed, ripping the covering paper away. When she'd gotten rid of the covering Kagome pulled out a simple, plain blue dress, and it was the most beautiful thing she'd every seen.
"Shippo," she breathed, standing and shaking the dress out, "where did you get this?"
"Cap'n bought it in the market two days ago," he told her solemnly. Kagome turned from admiring the way the dress would swirl about her legs in a way pants never could to stare at the fox kit in awe.
"He bought it…for me?" That would mean he bought it on the day…the day I left the cabin to see Inuyasha. And then he got so mad…was he going to give this to me then? She fingered the dress and then slowly smiled. No matter what happened before, he's giving it to me now. Like a fresh start. That is what I'll treat this as.
"Yep," Shippo confirmed, pulling her from her musings. "Can't have you running around the island in a bed sheet."
"The island?" she asked, confused.
"Yeah. I guess Cap'n didn't tell you, but we're going home!" Shippo grinned, obviously excited. "Cap'n has an island where we go to rest, and more of the crew lives there. I can't wait for you to see it Kagome!"
"How long will it take us to get there?" she wondered, the dress falling limp in her grasp and her gaze wandering over to the chair Sesshoumaru had occupied while she slept. I wonder why Sesshoumaru suddenly wants to go there. Not that I mind, since I want to go wherever the Western Moon goes, but…I thought we'd be sailing the sea more. Maybe…he just wants to go home?
"About a week and a half," he answered after a few minutes calculations. Kagome was silent, lost in her thoughts, until she finally smiled and walked over to where Shippo was still sitting on the bed.
"Thank you for bringing the dress to me, Shippo." Draping said dress over the bed, she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his cheek, giggling when it immediately reddened. "You can leave the bed to me, I'll make it today," she offered, picking up the dress again to press it to her chest and twirl around the cabin.
"Okay," he agreed easily, leaping up off the bed. "I'll see you later, then, Kagome!"
Nodding an affirmative, Kagome waited until the kit had gone before flinging off her sheet with a flourish and donning the dress.
Kagome hadn't realized just how much she missed wearing a dress until it was on, the long skirts falling perfectly around her legs. She had enjoyed wearing pants, but they had occasionally ridden up into her crotch and sat uncomfortably there, forcing her to always shift it away. To be back in a dress just felt right. She would have to thank Sesshoumaru when she saw him next.
With quick work Kagome made the bed like she had promised, and then simply sat on it, admiring the view of the ocean from her window. Kagome couldn't see any land behind them, and she figured that they must have set sail some time during the night.
Kagome freely admitted she was very curious about the island, and giggled to herself when she found that she was looking intently on the horizon, as if willing the land mass to appear. From the way Shippo so easily called it 'home', they must have been travelling to and from the island for a long time – maybe longer even than she had been alive, considering Shippo had admitted to her he was half a century old!
I wonder how old Sesshoumaru is… Blinking, Kagome sat up straight and shook her head, willing thoughts of the captain away. After her horrible phrasing last night, Kagome knew the captain held no interest in her, so it would be prudent to simply put all thought of him from her mind.
He was showing her a side that she had never thought to see in a demon, much less a pirate: by asking her if she wanted to stay in his cabin the night before, he was showing consideration for her feelings; by rescuing her numerous times from situations that could lead to her injury, he looked out for her well-being; and through her new dress, he indulged her, all while managing to keep face among his crew. These weren't the actions of a captain to a prisoner, though, and Kagome wondered where she stood in the captain's graces.
If he really wasn't interested in her, then Kagome didn't understand why he had come to get her, and hoped she would suck up the courage to ask him, because it weighed heavily on her feelings for the stoic man.
What was she to him? By all accounts, he should have gotten rid of her when it was revealed that she was not Kikyou. Kikyou was the woman Inuyasha wanted – other than being related to her, Kagome had no connection to anyone on the ship, and yet Sesshoumaru had simply holed her up in his cabin, rather than tossing her overboard. And when he could have simply forgotten about her, he came and got her from jail, returning her to her place on his ship.
And what was her place? Though Kagome had decided she wanted to remain on the ship with him, she had no idea what her role was. Was she a member of the crew now, or was she something else all together? Did she matter to Sesshoumaru, or did he feel responsibility for her because his brother was the reason for her presence on the ship? Was she a duty to him, or was it something more?
Sesshoumaru was turning out to be a puzzle of a man. Just when she thought she understood him, he did something that threw her for a loop – often, she thought with a blush of shame, in the wrong direction. He had done everything with the intention of making the crew believe she was being punished, and unfortunately, that was all Kagome had seen as well, because it was what she had wanted to see. She hadn't wanted to be on the ship in the first place, and hadn't liked her attraction to him, and so had taken everything he had done as an offence to her.
Some of it still hadn't been necessary, though, she thought with a huff, remembering how he had made her crawl for her dinner, and taken her clothing away. Unbidden, her lips twitched up into a smile, and she couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of it all. Thankfully, Sesshoumaru seemed to have gotten to the root of their problem on his own; Kagome wouldn't follow his orders, but would be willing to listen to his requests.
Now all he had to do was show her, in some way, just what her place was to be.
Knocking at the door had her turning her head, and with a shout of joy Kagome leapt up and into Inuyasha's arms, squeezing him in a tight hug.
Chuckling, Inuyasha spun her slightly as he closed the door behind him and Miroku. "Good to see you too, Kagome."
"I'm sorry," she smiled, letting go, "it's just that I'm so happy to see you up! And Mr. Miroku, I'm so happy to see you too," she added with a giggle when the Boatswain pouted.
"Said I'd be better in no time," the inu-hanyou gloated.
"And I said I'd bring him to visit you when he was," Miroku butted in.
"So you both did," Kagome confirmed. Looking around the room, she frowned slightly. "I'm afraid I don't have enough chairs to offer you both seats."
"S'all right," Inuyasha said quickly, knowing what Miroku would suggest to 'accommodate' them, "you take the chair, and we'll stand."
"Okay," Kagome easily accepted, smoothing her dress over her bottom as she sat down.
"That is a lovely dress, Miss Kagome," Miroku commented off-hand, glancing up at the ceiling slyly.
"Oh, it is!" she agreed, smiling. "Captain Sesshoumaru bought it for me in town," she explained, unable to stop herself from blushing slightly, missing Miroku's smug expression and Inuyasha's dumfounded one.
"Sesshoumaru…my brother Sesshoumaru…bought you something," Inuyasha repeated slowly, unsure that he had heard correctly.
Kagome blushed more and wordlessly nodded. There's was no reason to explain further, because there was no hidden motive behind the captain's actions, she thought ruefully. He had simply bought her a dress.
"Well, at least you'll have something better to wear on the island than my clothes, now."
"Shippo mentioned that too," Kagome told them eagerly. "What is it like there?"
"The island boasts a beautiful forest, a large villa for the Captain, and a village for the crew!" Miroku expounded cheerfully. "Not to mention there are many beautiful women!"
Many beautiful women? Kagome thought somewhat grouchily. Could there be another reason why Sesshoumaru wants to go back all of a sudden, and why he is so hesitant to share his room with me? Not that it matters! She quickly tried to assure herself. Her feelings were extremely conflicted, and she felt worse for not completely understanding them.
"Does Sesshoumaru have…you know…someone waiting for him?" she asked softly.
Inuyasha's eyes sharpened on her, staring intently for a minute before he answered. "No, he doesn't. Sesshoumaru hasn't shown any interest in the village women. Most of them are the wives of the crew, anyway."
"Oh," Kagome breathed, unsure why she was relieved, but pleased nonetheless. "Shippo mentioned that some of the crew lives there."
"Yeah, we take turns," Inuyasha explained. "Sesshoumaru has a large crew, though some of it is inherited from our dad. We can't all sail at the same time, so some of the crew stays on the island to protect it, and whenever we come back the men switch, so everyone has the chance to relax a bit."
"So you two will stay behind when we leave again?" Kagome asked, hoping she understood.
"We?" Miroku repeated. "Miss Kagome, you will be remaining on the island, though yes, we will stay behind as well."
"What?" Kagome was outraged. Didn't she get a choice? What if she didn't want to stay behind? She had finally realized that she wanted to be with them all on the ship, and now she was going to be left on an island?
"Miss Kagome, it is for your protection—"
"Everything is for my protection!" she retorted, angry for some reason. "Maybe instead of trying to protect me, it would be wiser to teach me how to take care of myself."
Miroku looked away, unsure what he should say, but Inuyasha's gaze was thoughtful. Finally, the hanyou nodded. "Okay, Kagome. On the island, I'll teach you a little self-defence."
Kagome smiled disarmingly. "Truly?"
"Yeah," he confirmed. "There's even someone on the island that could help out," Inuyasha put in slyly, casting a sidelong glance to the silent Miroku.
"Who?" Kagome asked, also noticing Miroku's sudden uneasiness.
"There's a girl we're holding there named Sango," Inuyasha began, stopping when he saw Kagome's cheeks puff up in outrage.
"A girl that you're holding…against her will?" she pried.
"Hey, it ain't like it sounds!" Inuyasha protested. "We take good care of her and her sister!"
"Why do you even have her?" she wanted to know.
"She and her sister are wards of the surgeon on board," Miroku explained, feeling better that Kagome was laying in on Inuyasha. "In return for her services, we protect her wards until she is no longer needed."
"That seems pretty underhanded," Kagome muttered, though slightly consoled.
Inuyasha sneered, gesturing to himself with one swoop of his hand. "Pirate."
"Well, get out of here, you pirate," Kagome demanded, the smile on her lips lightening the order as she shooed them out. "I tire of your presence."
"Keh, whatever," Inuyasha said, smirking as he left, Miroku following behind.
Kagome was still smiling as she closed the door, leaning up against it. Looking around the cabin, she slowly deflated and walked over to the bed to make it, knowing it would be another long, lonely day in the cabin, but looking forward to the evening. Shippo would surely be joining her for dinner, a thought that should have cheered her up, but didn't, because Shippo's presence would mean the Sesshoumaru wouldn't join her, something Kagome found she desperately wanted.