A wind beckoned her dreary eyes to open.

Shabiya winced at a sky, the faded afterglow of day. Its washed out complexion of evening a dreary welcome from what felt like two days of sleep. The dreary sky made her want to fall back against the grass, but every muscle cried and ached and she had no clear memory as to why. A rising bud of unease spread through the core of her stomach, and she was careful to explore every troubling inch of the sentiment, trying to unearth what it was trying to tell her.

It was of little use. She couldn't recall a thing. She knew no cause of what was troubling her.

Finally she stood, and at this point realized that her backside was extremely moist, a matted down wetness on the gradual verge of drying.

"Why am I wet?" she asked herself.

Taking one distracted step down the incline of the hill...two... a few steps more... then she stopped. A hex of dizziness seeped over her and she threw out her arms to steady herself. Shaking her head, she turned her concentration to the stream that lay below.

I'm sure I just need a drink of water...

Soon she was at the stream, gulping down water in hasty handfuls. How good the water felt between her fingers, how good it felt to be free. Free? Shabiya flinched as it all came back to her in a fresh sequence of memories. A nearly-tragic escape. The shard in her wrist, saving her. Letting the sleeping wolves lie. Master, and her variable time on this planet. The wolf demon… and those people.

The last memory hit the hardest, and she almost lost balance. The jewel glowed with a provoking pain like the lasting note on a duet. Shabiya remembered everything. But how long was I asleep? The wolves have disappeared... She kneeled in the grass beside the stream, staring at the horizon. It wasn't long until she sensed his presence. His shadow loomed over her figure.

"Shabiya," said the harsh voice, voice tight, but forcefully sweet.

It was too hot, hard to breathe. Her breath rose and fell harshly and she rose to her feet, twisting to meet the angry eyes of her hunter. Master smiled a smile of someone without a care in the world. Definitely not a care for the young girl in front of him.

"Are you ready to return to me?" his voice was as sweet as salt and he held his arms out to her.

She gulped, her eyes dropping to the ground.

'Face him, Shabiya. Hold your head up and speak.' She demanded herself.

Determined, she furrowed her brow as matched his smirk.

"Yes, my Lord."

His smile fell. She had defied him for goodness sakes. The wench should be on her filthy knees, bowing her head into the dirt and begging his forgiveness. But the look on her face showed no such interest. It clearly whispered just how bad she wanted to slowly strangle him. Of course, the Sen's arrogance would not allow him to perceive this, so he just bore disapproving holes at her state of unkempt.

"You are a mess."

"I am always like so."

"Not so much as I would be embarrassed to go to a proper inn with your presence lingering behind me."

"You have never attended a proper inn. You haven't the money."

"Enough!" he nearly roared.

'What's the matter? She too much for you, scum?' A deep, proud voice asked.

Shabiya gasped. Where had that come from? She took in her surroundings, seeing nothing that should actually speak.

'Over here, kid. I'm in his head. Of course the walls are too thick for anyone to actually see anything in here but...'

"Will you keep your mouth shut for half a second?" Tomoshibi hissed.

Then Shabiya understood. That voice was of the leader of the demon wolf tribe. And it was apparently coming from within the Sen himself.

'Why am she able to hear it?' she wondered.

"Shabiya! We are done here. It is time to return to the castle and make preparations. I expect you be there before I feel the urge to break anything. Ah. Too late."

At that he turned away from the child, already out of sight what the speed his jewel shards provided, but definitely slower. She sighed and debated going as far away as possible. She fought with herself not to run the other way and seek that thing...what was it again? Ah, freedom.

To be free.

But she had a new objective for sticking with the Sen. The closer she was to him, the easier it would be to break him. Running away would not defeat the Sen. It was getting close enough to touch him that made it semi-possible to crush him.

And besides, she suspected that she was needed there. Call it Witch's instinct, but she was needed at the castle. Deciding that she would return, she raked her ragged dress for the pouch that would contain the means to get home before Tomoshibi could complain. It was nothing you would expect to transport a young witch to a castle. There was no special powder, potion, or spell to be found in the pouch. In fact, there was nothing magical about the object that lay in the young girl's palm.

In her hand was a silver piece of metal in a shape of a heart. And within that tiny silver heart was an engraved message meant for Shabiya alone. She sighed as she read the message, again and again.

The war we fight is in ourselves.

That was all the assurance she needed. In the next instant she vanished, leaving the faint scent of her pending tears behind her.

"Kagome?"

Digging her fingernails into Inuyasha's arms, she lifted her head to meet his eyes.

"Kagome, why are you looking at me like that? And that hurts, stop it."

She scrambled out of the Inuyasha's arms, wobbling before the Hanyou.

The world was silent slow motion as Kagome shouted Kouga's name.

Her lover's name. Falling...falling...landing on...

I...can't move. ...can't speak.

She blinked hard.

Where am I? Why is it so cold?

She was lying on her back in a field of white, trembling and cold. Snow drifted around her, pulling cold wind around her body. It is times like these when I wish I had some proper clothing. If I tremble one more time, my brain is going to fall out through my ears. In fact, my brain is already numbing.

Then she heard it approaching. The sound of soft footsteps could be heard traveling swiftly through the thick soft snow. Very swiftly. Kagome scanned the area as best she could until her eyes caught sight of a figure. Tall, tanned, beautiful. Her heart skipped a beat. A couple of beats, in fact.

Kouga was coming.

Now that her heart was up and running again, it beat fast, hard, anxiously.

"Kouga..." she tried to call, but she had no voice.

She tried two more times before finally giving up and waiting for him to be at her side. She didn't have to speak for she could still see. She could still absorb his warm presence amongst the cold.

Oh, how she adored this man..

The curve of one of his strong eyebrows was slightly raised with resolve. Looking heroic as ever, even from the distance. Amusement was clearly present on his lips as he smiled his loving, enchanting grin. And those eyes pierced against the white world, a velvet ocean of blue. Kagome sink even deeper into the snow, clutching the freezing fluff in her hands. Anticipation, need, him.

He was a passionate man. His love for others shone when he tended to an injured pack member. When he found obsessively to avenge those who had fallen before him. He was committed, determined, he was all a girl needed in a changing world. Another blink and his ocean blues were inches from Kagome. He crouched over her, his body shielding her from the cold, making the world all about Kagome and Kouga. They were silent, though Kagome had no choose, until finally he parted those lips to speak.

"Love," he said, never tearing his eyes from her.

She stared, softening her gaze onto his. Kouga's hand stroked her arm, back and forth, rough hands working creamy skin. She blushed first lightly then fiercely as he ran his other hand up and down her thighs. He changed position, locking his knees around her body. She colored to strawberry.

He chuckled at her timid face, running hands down her arms.

"You are freezing." His brow puckered, obviously upset by this fact.

He created friction between his hands and her arms until he was satisfied with their warmth.

"And your lips," he said. "They look cold as ice, love. Let me warm them for you."

From the burning look in his eyes, she knew his resolve went beyond keeping frostbite at bay. her heart picked up speed as he slowly lowered his lips. She closed them swiftly, welcoming his mouth, trusting his taste to take her to new heights.

The kiss was shocking, the mix of heat and chill. Kagome was not as frozen as she thought. Her mouth moved against his, hungry, never satisfied. And he shared the same passion, groaning as her cold tongue brushed his lips. But he wouldn't allow domination, smiling against her mouth as his tongue gently caught hers and his body shifted to deepen the kiss.

The kiss was reaching new heights when Kouga broke apart. His eyes held something soft and longing and Kagome wondered why he was depriving himself when his lips could have their way with hers again. He came forward, but this time his lips curled against her ear. His sweet warm breath felt good against her numb ears.

"Kagome," he mumbled.

Kagome tried to look into his eyes but he wouldn't meet her gaze, too afraid, feeling darkness touch her heart.

"Kagome," he started again, this time drawing the words out.

His next words were few, but enough to thaw Kagome's heart into a puddle of sadness, regret, pain.

"I'm dead, you stupid Miko."