Kagome sighed, propping her chin against a hand as she watched Goku training off to the side. She was supposed to be doing the same thing, actually; they'd gotten into a routine where she would meditate for an hour every morning while he did his own thing, and then they would spar together until lunch. After lunch she would run through the katas drilled into her by Sesshoumaru and he would work on the ones he'd learned from his grandpa, and then they would work on strength or speed or stamina depending on what they felt like that day.

That's what they'd been doing for the last six and a half months near as she could tell, and she was starting to get a bit bored of the monotony. Not that it wasn't fun - her partner seemed to have a knack for making her laugh and just enjoy life no matter what they were doing, after all. Still, she couldn't help but think that maybe...

Making up her mind, she uncrossed her legs and stood up, taking a languid stretch as Goku stopped doing his squats (with a boulder bigger than he was held over his head, the crazy kid) and shot her a curious look.

"You're already done?" He questioned, head tilted to one side like an adorable cowlick-covered puppy.

She smiled impishly. "We're going into town today."

Big black eyes grew wide, the boulder falling unsupported beside him. "Huh?"

"Come on!" The priestess declared, moving over to their campsite from the night before and collecting their things. She shot him her brightest grin and held his backpack out to him by the strap. "We never even celebrated either of our birthdays, I say we're owed a break! We can train more tomorrow - for right now, I say we just go play for a while!"

A mirroring grin slowly overcame the boy's face and he ran over to join her, accepting his bag and taking her hand in his as he pulled her into a run. "Let's go!" He laughed.

She squealed out an excited giggle of her own and evened out beside him.

xxxx

"Ooooh!" Kagome gasped happily, her blue eyes wide and innocent as they took in their surroundings. She turned to meet his gaze, a massive grin stretching her cheeks and seeming to light her up from within. "A festival, Goku! This was the perfect day for a break!"

His heart stuttered a bit, and he smiled back just as brightly.

He loved it when she was completely happy like this, all the weight falling away from her shoulders like it had never even been there in the first place. It was like watching her powers peeking out from behind the shields she kept them hidden behind, like she was glowing with that familiar silvery light despite there being no fight to rush into.

"Let's go here first!" He declared, tugging her towards a nearby vendor and trying to ignore the heat rising to his face. That had been happening a lot more lately, and he still didn't understand it - but he knew that it wasn't bad, this feeling.

It was warm and tingly all the way to his toes, and kinda bubbly in his chest, and there was a weird lightness the pit of his stomach; light, but not like hunger. It was a full sort of empty, and he didn't really understand that either. Still, he thought that he liked it. As confusing as this all was, it made him feel wonderful in a way that he'd never even imagined.

And he knew that it was because of his partner.

They tried on some of the different masks on display and laughed themselves silly, finally getting Kagome a dog one and Goku a monkey one similar to the one his grandpa had worn at Baba's Palace. The priestess even changed into one of her different outfits at one point that he hadn't seen her wear until then, looking really pretty in the blue and gold 'yukata' - and the boy found himself holding her hand just a bit tighter when some of the villagers stared at her a little too long.

He didn't understand why it made him so angry; he just didn't like the way they looked at her, like she was some juicy piece of meat and they were downright starving And anyway, it made Kagome laugh when the thirteen-year-old stuck his tongue out at the group and then dragged her back off to go find some dinner.

The pair spent all day darting from stall to stall, sampling all the food that the village had to offer and playing every game they came across. It wasn't exactly a big festival, but the sun was already setting by the time they slowed down.

The priestess gave a contented sigh, her fingers squeezing his own as they took a rest near the food cart they'd both agreed was the best out of all the others. "It was a good day," she murmured, her smile warm and a bit sleepy as she started up at the darkening sky. "I haven't had that much fun in a long time."

He just grinned and agreed with her, nodding his head happily. "Me, too!"

They both sat there for a while longer, enjoying their comfortable bubble of quiet in the sea of voices as people continued to rush place to place around them - and then there was a loud cracking noise that made him jump, and Kagome gasped in delight.

"Fireworks!" She declared excitedly, pointing up and drawing his attention to where a shower of sparks was already beginning to fade.

He gaped at the bright white and red lights, giving a soft "Oooh" of awe. "Beautiful..."

The priestess nodded in agreement, both of them watching raptly as another firework shot up into the air behind its predecessor.

Kagome explained them to him quietly, told him what fireworks were and how they were used at festivals a lot where she came from - murmured about how much people enjoyed them. Then with a somewhat wistful smile, she told him about the shrine where she'd been born. About some of the much smaller festivals that she'd grown up helping to prepare for.

He watched her animated face as the lights exploded above them, captivated by the play of colors that washed over her.

Cheeks feeling hot again, he glanced away - and almost squawked when he saw a couple hiding together in the shadow of the nearby balloon stall. They were holding each other, and kissing, and he felt like he probably shouldn't have seen that as he quickly turned his eyes back to his partner.

Unable to help it, he recalled back when he'd kissed her that once. It had already been a long time since then, and they'd never talked about it again, but he found himself thinking about how soft she had felt.

... Oh. Is that what he had been feeling?

Face burning, he curled his free hand in his shirt over his pounding heart as he looked down at his lap and the mask resting on it.

He big-liked her, didn't he?

Oh, gosh. Now what was he supposed to do about that?

xxxx

A/N: Okay, so that's the end for now! Life has been perpetually kicking my ass since my last update, and it's been really hard to sit back down and work on this story. Therefore, I've decided it would be better to go ahead and list it as 'complete', then come back to it when the dust settles again and get to work on a sequel that spans the rest of DB. I'm sorry if this disappoints people, but there it is. Thank you all so much for your patience and your support.

-Opal