:: Damia ::
Damia stopped, eyes flitting around the dimly lit forest, balanced delicately on the balls of her feet. They must have gotten very close to Sesshoumaru by now...the blood smell, and the barest hint of the smell of death, were newer. Stronger. The rain hadn't had a chance to completely wash all trace of their passing away, though it had tried.
Distantly, a part of her mind was disappointed. The Shikon miko – the woman called Kagome-sama by Momiji and Botan – was most likely dead then. A pity. She was rumored to be a very strong miko, one Damia would have been well advised to take...
She let out a long slow breath, and glanced behind her, though the rain. Ah well. She still had Mesau, Momiji, and, when they finally rounded her up, Botan. Damia was going to have to come up with some sort of suitable punishment for Botan, after she had run off like that. Damn Sorai...
For now, though, those thoughts would be set aside. Damia concentrated on what was at hand, and delicately sniffed the air.
The blood, here, had to be less than an hour old. And something else – she could smell Sesshoumaru more strongly as well. She hadn't caught too much of his presence, not till now. A hint only – this was enough to tell her that he had been here very recently, and had stayed for some time. Stopping to lick his wounds, perhaps...?
Or, perhaps, was it to ease Kagome's passing...?
Damia smiled as she whispered instructions to Momiji and Mesau. Momiji was to stay in the cart, and Mesau would follow behind her.
Damia paused to orient herself, and then smiled as a hint of wind brought more information to her nose, despite the rain that was dampening everything. It was not a pleasant grin, not at all.
It wasn't just that Sesshoumaru had been here recently – he was still here, or if not, she was only minutes behind. She was not sure where the woman was – the trail led here, but she could not smell a body, or even a wounded human. There was nothing but the trail, and a lingering trace indicating she had spent some time here. Perhaps she had been buried already, if Damia could not smell her.
Damia frowned. If she was dead, then Sesshoumaru might be a little difficult to handle. He had cared for her, before, and he certainly bore no love for Damia. Back to that worrisome thing known as 'cornered, and desperate'...
Well, again, no help for it. And she had enough, more than enough, strength for this. Within the hour, she'd be headed to Aizu again, Sesshoumaru safely dead. Cornered and dangerous or not, the fact remained that he was wounded, tired, and she was neither of those.
Maybe, if she was very, very lucky, she would still arrive before the Southerners did.
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Tosa huffed, racing to keep up with Sorai, and with Satsuma. His wife had always been the better runner, of the two of them... Behind him the guards kept pace, one with a human miko clinging tightly to his back. There was no way a human could have kept this pace, not the ground eating lope they were going at.
It was all so...so...stupid! It had been a simple errand; to go and get Tetsusaiga, so as to find some way to use it. He'd been a bit annoyed when Sesshoumaru and Kagome had snuck off together earlier, (and had even been busily composing jokes about the two of them sneaking off into the woods alone) but now, he was worried, and for once, deadly serious.
"How far ahead is it to this clearing?"
"We are almost there - Hopefully there is a trail leading from there to follow Sesshoumaru, or Damia." Sorai called back over her shoulder.
She did not know what she would find on her return to the clearing. Damia had not followed her, clearly, or they would have met her by now – likely she had followed Sesshoumaru.
So; they would return to this clearing, and follow behind Damia, and Sesshoumaru. Sorai hoped they could catch up in time. They could move faster than either party probably could, but that was little comfort. Too much could happen in the time they were gone.
Grimly, the party pressed on, and at long last, they reached the battleground outside the well.
Botan slid off the back of the guard, knees wobbly and shaking from the long journey on youkai-back. It was not, she thought with a grimace, the best way to travel. She kept trying to put distance between herself and the youkai, and when one was having a piggy back ride, it was both difficult and straining to do so.
Kagome had never had problems, though – maybe because she'd liked Inuyasha a lot.
Sorai paused, walking over to where she remembered Sesshoumaru had exited the clearing. Tanuma went with her, and Botan watched as the two of them put their heads together, muttering. She did not pay too much attention, instead choosing to stay a careful distance away from the dead body of Kyohei, left in the clearing still.
He had been straightened out, and his eyes pulled closed, but he had not been buried, not yet. It was too disturbing to look at him, even if Tanuma had had to go and see, confirming his death.
The ground was clear of the weapons Botan vaguely remembered being dropped, and the cart she had arrived in with her sister was gone. The way the two spies were acting, clearly there was traces of its passage away from the clearing to be found.
"Come! This way – we are only a few hours behind, and the cart should slow Damia. We might be able to catch up!"
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With one ear open, Sesshoumaru stayed where he was, wrapped in warmth against the rain, and smiled into the dark. Beside him, Kagome lay with a tiny smile on her face.
The companionable silence of two who had no need for words enclosed them, for as long as the world would let them be.
...But unfortunately, such moments do not often last; The rain increased, and they moved under the trees a bit more.
Kagome shivered slightly, and Sesshoumaru's tail gave her waist a small squeeze in return. The rain brought the world with it into the isolated world they had wandered into, and with the downpour, worries for when Damia would arrive. The world insisted on intruding.
Sesshoumaru lifted his head, and tried to see if he could tell where she would be coming from, but it was rather a lost cause. "Kagome...I do not know how far behind us Damia was, but there's no doubt she will be following. I did not get that far away from her. And...Between the speed, and the blood, there's a large trail to follow." He'd been going too fast to even bother covering his trail at all... there was no question; they must have been followed.
Kagome frowned, and burrowed just a little bit deeper into the fluffy tail, miffed. Her arm still ached, but it could, gingerly, she found, be moved. She slowly clenched and unclenched her fist, noting the fingers, and how they worked, eyes awake to the rapidly blooming bruises along her forearm, and a new, closed over but still oozy, wound along her arm.
Odd. She'd heard of green, and yellow, and purple, but pasty yellow white bruises were a new one...
Kagome tore her eyes away from the sickeningly fascinating arm, and grimaced. Morbid, a little? It was time to focus. The arm was improving; that was all she really needed to know right now, and where it was at at the moment. She didn't want to try her luck facing Damia again, not when she was weaker than before. "Are you okay to take her on?" She wished she could help, but realistically...
"I...think I could try. But we need to be rid of those two miko first. You'll...have to help me, the way you wanted to deal with them before." He didn't mind asking, not now. He was too relived to have Kagome back. Just so long as she remained safe while helping him, of course...
"Before, I planned on being sneaky, wearing..." Kagome dug around in her pockets before turning up the set of beads that she wanted "...this, so they wouldn't know I was there. Then hit them over the head with a brick." She grinned, ignoring the dull throb of injuries, and the cool rain. "I think it'll work, even if its a bit sneakier than you would do."
Slowly, Sesshoumaru nodded. The idea of Kagome being invisible, (and safely out of harms way,) rather appealed to him just then.
And he wasn't, he found, quite as concerned as he had once been about honor, and dignity. Damia had no use for anything but practicality. His pride had nearly killed Kagome, against an enemy like her. Subconsciously, the rain-wet fluffy tail tightened its hold, and Sesshoumaru scanned Kagome's face, making sure she hadn't left after all. Because he'd been so proud, he had almost lost her...
What was a blow to pride set against something like another persons life, after all? They were in this together now, for better or worse. He had never heard of a blood bond dissolving with anything short of death. All or naught.
"That would be a good idea. Please, however, stay out of the way – I won't be able to see you to avoid hitting you."
Kagome smiled. "I get it. I wonder, though...just a sec."
She slipped the necklace on, wondering if Sesshoumaru would still be able to feel her there. Obviously, he would know where she was – his tail was still holding onto her. But that sense she had now, of being connected...that bond...Kagome wondered what else it could do, if she could feel a connection like this, to him, if she could share her strength, if he could. Miko intuition told her that there was a great deal more than a mixing of power that had just occurred.
For one, it was odd that she could see so well, even though it was pretty dark. And she could have sworn...well, no matter. They could explore that later, when there was time, and, perhaps, a miko who knew enough not to have to fly by the seat of her pants...
Kagome shakily put out her good arm, and levered herself up. It was hard work, but she managed to get on her feet, and circled around Sesshoumaru on velvet feet.
"Nah nah. Can't see me..." Invisibly, Kagome stuck her tongue out, a silly grin on her tired face. 'Can't hear me...see me...'
And Sesshoumaru grinned, looking right at where she was.
He could feel her in the back of his mind, the slightest little indication that she was in front of him, based off guesswork and intuition. He could also, from the slightly amused feel he was getting, guess that she was up to something..."I have no idea what you're doing – but I know you're up to something."
Kagome took the necklace off, a mock pout in place. "Good guess. What gave it away?"
Sesshoumaru frowned, slightly. "It's...hard to describe...a feeling. But I could almost tell where you might be, based on that." She had been nearly where he had thought she was – it was hard to guess exactly. But he knew he'd be able to tell how close, and in what direction, she was. He would know where she was, or at least enough to avoid hitting her with any attack while she crept around the clearing invisibly...
The thought was a comforting one. Sesshoumaru smiled slightly as Kagome wobbled over to where he was, steps steadying as she went, and sat down beside him, staring out into the night and the rain. She scooted just a bit closer to keep warm, and avoid the rain.
"That's good. I wonder if I could tell where you are..." Kagome smiled, and turned towards him, but before she was fully facing his way, Sesshoumaru stiffened ever so slightly, senses warning of danger.
There was more than rain out there...
Kagome stopped, feeling his mood, and guessing what was wrong immediately. "How far away is she?" She whispered, as low as she could.
"I think...close. It's hard to tell, but... close. I give it a few minutes, at best. I think Mesau is with her, and another, but I'm not sure." Sesshoumaru whispered back, eyes, ears, nerves straining towards the noise, and the faint scent on the wind, nearly washed out with the rain.
Beside him, Kagome nodded. "Then...I will drop out of sight. She probably thinks I'm dead. And I would be, if not for you." A bright smile filled Sesshoumaru's vision, and Kagome's hand tightened around the fluffy tail fur. "Let her think that. I'll go hit Mesau on the head with a rock, or something. Try my best. Kick her ass, got it?"
There was an answering, feral smile in return.
"With a, ah... 'steel toed black boot.'" To quote Kagome...
Kagome smiled widely at the unexpected words, and stood up, as gracefully as she could manage. Sesshoumaru continued to sit where he was, and watched as she faded from view, leaving only the rain behind. But he wasn't worried. He could see a few bits of rain that were acting strangely around the space she was in – not noticeable until you looked hard. And he could feel her, there, trying her best to support him even after all they had just come though...
The least he could do was support her in turn.
Slowly, Sesshoumaru stood up, and loosened Tetsusaiga in its sheath. He had not had Tenseiga when he had needed it most – hopefully, Tenseiga's sister blade would not fail him now that he needed it. Somehow, he doubted it. The sword pulsed gently in his hand, so differently than it had once. Before, it would have burned him unmercifully...
He wondered if the bond had anything to do with that, or simply because he was trying to help Kagome stay alive. Maybe both.
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Damia carefully motioned with a hand to stop Mesau and Momiji from moving further, leaving them behind, and advancing alone. The cart was far too bulky, and the passengers too blundering for stealth.
The rain had not let up at all, and she felt slightly drowned, and irritated with Sesshoumaru for forcing her to go trekking though the drizzling cold to find him.
She advanced into the clearing one foot at a time, eyes scanning the gloom. The thicker smell of human blood pointed towards a denser patch of trees, but Damia was not stupid enough to go wandering right up to the thicket, and see if Sesshoumaru was, in fact, there. She could tell he had been, very recently...but he was probably also aware that she was here, by now. No sense in taking chances and letting him ambush her...he might even be planning...
A slight flicker on the edge of her vision was all the warning she had, before Sesshoumaru blasted out of the trees, sword held low and menacing. Damia batted the length of steel away raggedly, dodging.
An ambush – not unexpected. But because it had been anticipated, the effectiveness had decreased. She had escaped impalement, and as she whirled to face Sesshoumaru, the calm arrogance of one sure of her own ability descended. She who brought anger to the battle usually did not leave alive...Damia knew that as well as Sesshoumaru.
A slow smile began. He wasn't nearly as fast as he would be at top form. Wounded, and with no miko in sight. Prey. If she was any judge, he would not be nearly as calm as she, might make a simple, stupid mistake. Cornered and desperate like he had to be made for strong fighters...but stupid as well.
Damia made a quick scan of her opponent. There was blood stained through Sesshoumaru's clothing, pink with rain. Most of it was not Sesshoumaru's – she could still smell that much, even through the drizzle. Most of it was Kagome's...and there was a rather large amount. The girl must be dead – nothing human could have survived that.
Deliberately, Damia drew upon both of her miko-batteries, hidden in the trees, and began the careful business of stalking, her own sword out, the edge of the blade, for now, wet with only rain.
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Kagome half dragged, half crawled forwards, leaning heavily on the trees and pausing every now and again, gasping. She hurt all over...but she had to keep going...
The bloody-minded persistence, and stubbornness she had learned over the years with Inuyasha, in their pursuit of the Shikon shards, came to her aid now, reinforced by the month of hard training Kaede had given her. If this had been the same Kagome who had first fallen through the well, she would have given up long ago. Not this time, though. There was no question of giving up, or of failure.
She had something to fight for, now. Even more than before...this was personal.
Kagome winced and looked up as Sesshoumaru finally closed with Damia, hearing the swords ring, and the sudden flare in adrenalin from him in the back of her mind. It still felt odd, new, to have a vague sense of something else there. Not alien, but...still odd. Different. She could feel, distantly, the calm, analytical frame of mind, pulled raggedly over the worry beneath. For not it was comforting, at least.
She could also tell this was a fight that would be decided very, very quickly. Already he was falling back. Unless she did something...
Grimly, Kagome picked up the pace from before, pushing as hard as she dared towards where she could just see a wooden construct looming out of the dank, dark forest.
She blinked as the inhabitants resolved out of the fog, materializing like ghosts. Momiji...so it had not been a dream after all. Though why on earth she should be here, Kagome couldn't guess. Captured, perhaps?
On the way towards the cart, moving at a shuffling run, Kagome grabbed a small, fist shaped rock.
Inelegant solution though it was, a dash and a smash might just do it...
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Momiji glared impotently at Mesau, once again weaker than an invalid at deaths door. Damia's sense of triumph through the bond scared her stiff, and left her full of anger, anger she could do nothing with. Kagome was gone, she was captured, this unknown Sesshoumaru was going to die, and on top of it all, she was cold, hungry, and miserable. And it was all Damia and Mesau's fault...
Momiji stared at the miko next to her, glaring, hating her, feeling guilty for doing so – she was a miko, she should not hate...if she only dared to pick up the sword beside her, the one that did not give out such an evil aura...what had it been called? Tenseiga?
But she did not dare, and was not sure that the compulsions lid on her would even permit her to try.
So it was rather a shock to her when Mesau, who had a concentrating sort of look on her face, half bent over her shattered leg, half intense fixation with the battle, suddenly sprouted a very surprised look, and then slumped over midway through adjusting the new bandages.
"What...?"
There was a distant sense of a pat on the shoulder, a moment of utter surprise bouncing through the bond from Damia 'Good, serves her right...' and then a white Crack! and darkness.
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Damia jerked as Mesau's flow of energy abruptly snapped, and the speed she had been going at dropped imperceptibly. Seconds later, a second recoil of energy from Momiji made her attack falter for one, crucial instant.
Sesshoumaru did not waste such a gift – he lunged forwards, and caught Damia squarely on the side, sword grating upwards and catching on the elaborate armor, metal screaming against metal, against bone.
He cursed as Tetsusaiga stuck in the amour; a quick jerk did not dislodge it.
Damia screamed, and leaped aside, tearing the blade from of Sesshoumaru's weakened grasp. A glimpse of wild eyes was all he saw as Damia leapt towards the edge of the clearing.
She was not moving nearly as fast – and it was not all because of that wound, surely. Perhaps she had lost her extra firepower...? Unfortunately, not quite enough to kill her...yet. At least now, they were about on the level in ability, both slowed up by wounds, and fatigue. Perhaps, now, Damia was even more wore off than Sesshoumaru. Kagome's sense of triumph and relief, coupled with that, led him to suspect that Kagome had succeeded in taking away Damia's source of power. Served her right. Kagome had come through for him, just as she had promised.
This was a good thing – except that now Damia was heading towards Kagome once again, invisible or no.
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Kagome sighed in relief as the two women slumped, and made as if to to hit Mesau a few more times...too bad she'd had to hit Momiji too...until the howl from Damia made her jump, a bit, rock falling from her nervous hands.
Kagome hobbled away from the two miko, pausing only to collect the knife that Mesau had kept at her side. Damia was going to come hunting down her miko, surely...she wasn't too attached to them sentimentally, but practically? Very much so. From the sounds of things, the battle had just turned in Sesshoumaru's favor, too...
She recognized the pocketed knife as the one Damia had cut open her arm with, and the skin on her arm there throbbed in sympathy. Kagome touched the blade, cleaned since she'd last seen it, and grimaced. A debt needed repaying, there...
Damia came running, jerking the blade of Tetsusaiga from her side as she came, obviously desperate to get her powerful miko batteries up and running, needing a quick fix to the fiasco she'd gotten into.
Well, Kagome wasn't having any of that. Damia has started this whole mess – but it would be Sesshoumaru, and herself, that finished it, finished Damia off. Distantly, she could see Sesshoumaru, feel him running towards them both, but he wasn't quite fast enough. Damia would get here first.
Kagome fingered the knife she had taken, and smiled. Damia had no idea she was even here...and she did, as it were, have a knife to grind.
As the traitorous youkai came to a stop beside the two unconscious miko, Kagome made her move, stepping noiselessly to the side. Damia's face was hidden from her by rain, but that didn't matter.
She took a careful swipe at the older youkai, burying the knife in Damia's arm, letting her hands and the knife glow with half seen power, bright as a small sun, burning away muscle, singeing bone. She poured everything, every last drop of power into that purifying knife she had, and this time, Damia had no defenses.
What had, before, been shrugged away, was now caught full on. Damia didn't even know what had hit her.
The battered youkai screeched in pain, and lashed out with a cry, blindly catching Kagome with the backside of her hand, sending her flying, but not before Kagome had severely crippled her. All the while her eyes were widely searching for the miko, staggering, arm hanging uselessly at her side, blackened and twisted, still disbelieving. How could a terrifying attack come from nowhere – the miko was dead, was she not?
Kagome, still winded and trembling from her brief, unexpected flight, winced but didn't do more at the sight of the deeply wounded youkai. Cautiously, she got to her feet, eyes open for any movement towards where she still lay half fallen, half upright, and scarcely able to move.
Sluggishly, Kagome's arm began to bleed – it had partially reopened simply from the force of the blood moving through her arm, and the movement of her hands – thankfully, she hadn't landed on it. Small miracles never ceased to amaze her. If she had landed on it, she might be in a lot of trouble at this point.
Actually, scratch that. She would be in trouble soon anyway. Damia had begun t move, blundering around, eyes darting. She was looking for her attacker...
'Shit.' She might find Kagome anyway...'Sesshoumaru, please hurry...'
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Sesshoumaru raced after Damia, aching all over himself, muscles protesting the abuse to which they had already been subjugated, and tissues moaning at the though of what was to come. He would, he was sure, pay for this tomorrow...
Kagome – he felt the flare of power, felt her straining past her limit, felt the wave of purifying power spreading around her like a pool. It passed him over, untouched...but not so Damia. He heard her scream again at the completely unexpected attack and sped up.
He paused only long enough to snatch the bloodied Tetsusaiga from the ground, and then, as Damia recoiled from the invisible, and quite unexpected, miko attack, drew it back, blade glinting dully...
He wasn't fancy this time – Sesshoumaru was on Damia's back before she knew it, sword low, and held straight in a thrust. Short, and to the point.
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Damia could hardly think through the pain of her arm, the feeling thankfully lost from the numbed, burning ruin of a limb. Distantly, all thoughts of winning the four domains over at Aizu crumbled, and she felt herself sway. How...? How had purifying power like that...? Where had it come from...? She turned her head, looking feverishly for the source of this new threat.
The only explanation was Kagome – but Kagome was dead. No one could have survived that...what...was...
Damia was still stunned, sluggish. She didn't notice the rush of movement from behind until it was far, far too late to move away form it. There was barely time to think, to brace, to feel anything but pain, to concentrate...
Abruptly, the hit was blossoming from her chest, and Damia gaped at the blade that had suddenly emerged from her armor, looking down wonderingly. There was a sword. Right there. Sticking out of her. Very strange.
It didn't hurt – not yet.
Possibly, she thought, strangely calm, not ever. Shock, perhaps. It had also likely severed part of her spine. Or both. Youkai took a great deal of time to recover from wounds like that...she was going to need months of time, drawing steadily on her miko...by then, the nerves would be healed and the wounds long since gone, no pain at all..
A clawed hand grasped her neck before she could fall over, legs buckling beneath her, talons unsheathed and penetrating skin. With perfect clarity, Damia could feel the hot rivulets of blood seeping down her neck.
Oh. Sesshoumaru...
Her left arm, the burned one, would not move; the nerves had been burned clear away, and there was hardly enough left to move. The right raised itself feebly, sword slipping from nerveless fingers, clawing weakly at Sesshoumaru's wrist, at his hand, trembling from the effort of holding her up off the ground in a half choke.
Sesshoumaru stared at her for a few brief seconds, eyes unreadable.
Damia looked back, and saw death.
"Goodbye, Damia." No speeches; no threats, nor reproach.
Damia said nothing in return, did not even try to force something out of her strangled throat. She had lost it, lost everything – her miko, her credibility, a chance to swing the council, lost Japan, everything...
And as the hand tightened quickly, sending poison dripping through her limp body, past her mangled arm and gaping side, her last thought was that she'd lost her life as well...
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Kagome watched numbly as Sesshoumaru held Damia up, the other youkai weakly hanging there, unable to free herself. Damia suddenly appeared small for the first time, suspended from his hand. She could see him shaking with the effort of simply holding her there, and soundlessly pushed more of her own power towards him.
Brilliantly green poison dripped from Damia's neck, and she went as limp as a rag doll, collapsing once Sesshoumaru let go of her, eyes open and seeing nothing. Those eyes could not see anything, now.
Kagome let out a breath she did not realize she had been holding, and shakily, began to breath easier, still slightly jittery from the close brush with death, by the attack, pumped full of nervous adrenalin, frozen in the position of half getting to her feet.
Sesshoumaru stumbled after he had dropped Damia a few feet away, moving slightly further away. Kagome awkwardly moved towards him as he eased down to the ground, sitting and staring at the dead, pale youkai not too far away. It was done.
Fumbling with her necklace, Kagome ripped off the beads, trying to get to Sesshoumaru.
At last she reached him, and dragged herself over, bloodied arms and mud from the rain, hair dripping – she came up behind him and held on, resting her cheek against his back. Her arms did not quite reach around his wider frame, bu they didn't have to. She simply rested, both of them spent.
Sesshoumaru moved slightly and then stilled, and for a while, neither moved. There was no energy for it, for any of it. Kagome simply held onto him, the one warm point in this cold, dark night, warmth against the rain.
She shivered every now and again, and distantly, wondered of they had Nyquill in feudal Japan. Or the equivalent. Or something.
Although right now, she'd settle for a weeks worth of sleep and hot soup...or an eight shot venti extra hot no foam no whip mocha...
After a time, Sesshoumaru put his hand up, covering one of Kagome's tiny hands with his, still staring out over the dead youkai not too far away. His eyes weren't really seeing her, though. They were fixed on something farther away than that.
She was dead, now. Rin was avenged – even if she wouldn't, he admitted privately, have cared either way. It was really for his sake that he'd done this. It had not been revenue, not purely. It had been survival. All this time and effort, everything...it had all culminated in this.
Damia was dead.
And, strangely, he was alive. More importantly...
So was Kagome.
A small smile touched his lips as the black haired, rain-wet head shifted ever so slightly against his back. Kagome was alive, and if not well, then at least in one piece.
He could feel her shifting again – he had not worn armor for the trip through the well to retrieve Tetsusaiga – he had gone looking for a sword, not a fight. Rather an oversight – but it had worked out. And, now, it meant that he could easily feel the small amount of heat radiating from her, guarding his back against sudden chill.
Sesshoumaru slowly shook his head. So much had happened in the past few hours...it was hard to take it all in. He glanced upwards towards the clouds, and guessed that the moon would be setting soon. It was , soon, going to be false dawn. Only a few hours ago, he had been in the warm circle of light that was Kagome's family...never thinking he'd be attacked so soon, would have been wounded, would have saved Kagome, and she him...
But he was still in that light, he realized. Kagome was still here, and even if he was wet, if she was injured, if they both were ready to fall over from exhaustion...they'd brought that light with them, the warmth of 'not alone.'
Slowly, Sesshoumaru turned around to face Kagome. He glanced over the eyelashes, the hair matted with mud, the blood streaked on one cheek. Burnt youkai soot. Dirt. White from shock and cloudy moonlight.
Never more beautiful.
Slowly, Sesshoumaru moved his hand towards her face, letting his fingertips travel upwards, never quite touching, never quite there. Close enough to just feel.
Kagome watched, a small smile on her face. There was a faint air of puzzlement there, not sure what the enigma named Sesshoumaru was up to now.
The back of Sesshoumaru's hand, a few knuckles, gently brushed against her cheek, washing away the rain. He barely registered that he was sitting in mud – Kagome commanded his full attention.
Sesshoumaru wasn't sure what he was doing, now. His tail looped around to settle about Kagome again, and then, abruptly, he turned his face away, not wanting her to see his eyes, slightly ashamed and not knowing quite why.
He had no idea what he was doing, or why, anymore...! The tiny miko had turned him upside down. He just knew...he knew he wanted to reassure himself that she was fine, that she would be fine, that Kagome...
He wanted her to know that he cared.
But...Sesshoumaru blinked, nervous. If he kept this up, Kagome was going to look disgusted and walk away. She'd start thinking he was like that idiotic human monk, unable to keep his hands to himself...worst case, he'd get slapped. Or walloped. Or punched in the nose – he'd seen that happen once when Sango was really mad...
Kagome let out a low, throaty laugh, and then she pulled his face back towards hers, nose to nose, eyes smiling, lips curved up in a perfect, Mona Lisa smile.
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Ack. Cough. Sweetness overload...
And yay! Ding dong, the youkai's dead! Lol. Theres still a few things to tidy up, and a vague epilogue, but I meant what I said when it was mentioned that this story was near done. (and it would be a shame not to finish, this close to...)
...I'm actually slightly scared (in a good way) by the amount of people reading this story, and commenting...more than I ever though would. (Especially considering how mean it was of me to not update for this amount of time...) One or two of you even sent me messages asking if I ever would update, too! Thank you so much for the reviews, and the support, despite my (lack of) updating habits! (huge grin) I cannot stress enough how happy that makes me.
And – now, the excuses. Hahaha. Real life, basically. Had an art festival I was part of. Brought some prints from deviantArt with me to show/sell, but mostly other things, charcoal and ink and canvases I'd been working on since April, or before...got a few things on my webby to look at, if anyone's interested(Links in my profile - way for self plugging, here...XD lol.) I like writing, but art is...art. It took a lot of work to put that together, and unfortunately for this story, art had – still has - priority. It wasn't even like my job, where I show up, smile, get paid and go home and don't really care too much outside that – it was my pet project, and was babied profusely. Lol. So I hope you understand.
Either way...as an apology, there's another chapter right on the heels of this one. Done, typed, uploading as you read, I hope...Sorry, everyone!! Hope you enjoy!! And, dare I say, review...?