Sesshomaru had returned to the little hut shortly after dark to find coals glowing in the fire pit, and Kagome passed out in the bedroom, still fully dressed. Sesshomaru stood in the doorway for several moments just observing her in her sleep. So much had changed in the short time they had known each other. Only 3 months ago they had both been alone and miserable, each in various stages of dealing with that loneliness. The way she acted now, you would hardly know that she had tried to end her own life, the only evidence left behind is the physical scars on her arms and occasional moments where she would go quiet and serious when specific names or phrases were mentioned. Right now she was sleeping so peacefully, her face smooth and free of those minute worry lines she always wore. He knew her heavy sleep was in part due to the hard work of the last several days, but he also wanted to believe that her quiet sleep was also a result of finally moving on and leaving the past behind her.

He smiled softly before moving back to stoke up the fire so that he could have some food ready for her when she wakes up.

Sesshomaru had let his Beast run free and have control for several hours, trying to ease some of the tension that had build up from putting off the consummation of their mating. His Beast had grown increasingly restless as the weeks turned into months, and now that they finally had some downtime, it was roaring at him to "just take her". The problem with his Beast's logic is that while, yes, Kagome had admitted to loving him, she was still human and had not yet fully been immersed into demonic society. She needed to make that decision. He would not push this on her.

While he ran, his Beast had apparently caught and killed a large buck. The Beast obviously didn't care that it was far too much for the two of them to eat before the meat went bad due to the medieval forms of food storage that they currently had available. He just wanted to provide for his Mate, and apparently thought that a large kill might convince her to accept him faster. Poor thing still didn't realize how different she was from a normal Inu female.

Either way, there was no point in wasting what meat they could use, so Sesshomaru put himself to work making it edible for Kagome, whose human digestive system was not equipped for processing raw meat properly.

...

Kagome woke to the rustic smell of meat roasting over an open flame. She felt much better after having rested, and now her stomach demanded she follows that smell in order to assuage the savage hunger that was eating away at her from not eating enough today.

Staggering into the common area, she found Sesshomaru turning pieces of some sort of large meat on a metal rack, which looked more like a modern grill top that you might see on the fire pit in a campsite, which had been positioned above the fire pit.

"That smells heavenly." Kagome rasped, walking up behind Sesshomaru to wrap her arms around his middle.

"Your awake"

Kagome hummed in agreement.

"How was the rest of your training?"

"Good. I managed to shoot one arrow full of purification energy. Kaede said she will help me to build my own bow the next time she comes."

"That sounds promising." He said, as he turned and returned Kagome's intimate embrace. "This will be done shortly." He mumbled into her hair, referring to the meat which was currently roasting over the flames.

"Good, 'cause I'm starving. How long have you been back?"

"Not long" he replied, "Only a couple hours."

"Why did you catch something so big, we'll never eat all that."

Sesshomaru chuckled. "You can thank my Beast for that. He wanted to get a proper gift for his Mate. He is trying to prove what a good provider he is."

Kagome laughed. "Aww! That is so sweet!"

"He is glad you think so."

"How exactly does that work by the way? Do you just have like multiple personalities or what?"

Sesshomaru frowned down at her. "Have I never explained that?"

Kagome looked up and shook her head.

"I apologize, it must have slipped my mind."He led Kagome to take a seat by the fire. " Youkai, in essence, are primal spirits. Nature at its most powerful and its most vicious. The Daiyoukai, greater demons, like me, are also primal creatures. What sets us apart from them, however, is the power and intelligence we possess. Originally, we had lived only in our true forms. It wasn't until much later that we found it necessary to adapt, to be able to interact with these small two-legged creatures which had grown in power and intelligence to rival our own. In order to accommodate both having now, two forms, our souls split, the thinking and reasoning parts of our mind from the more brutal animalistic. Eventually, as time wore on, the two parts of our souls gained their own separate thoughts and feelings. The Beast is that more primal creature. He is instinct and need. Basically, we Daiyoukai are dual-natured beings. Two physical forms, two thinking minds. We coexist, but generally, the more logical mind ends up being the more dominant of the two. The Beast is also me, but he is not the me that you know."

Kagome sat quietly for a moment, processing what she had just learned. "You told me, after our fight with Naraku, that he was not a Daiyoukai. If it is only the Daiyoukai with a human form, how did he transform the way he did?"

Sesshomaru frowned in thought before saying, "My guess is that a lesser demon got lofty ideas about being more powerful and found an equally greedy human who would easily accept his possession. From what I saw, it looks like he probably absorbed many other demons until he considered himself equal with the Daiyoukai. Having a human host, and an excess of demon flesh at his command allowed him to transform at will, but hundreds of years of that and his insides probably began to fester, which was why his Miasma seemed so off to me."

"Ah. I can see that being a problem."

"Indeed"

"So... can I ever- will I ever get to... meet your beast?"

Sesshomaru looked surprised. "I hadn't really thought of it. I suppose you could. I would have to keep control of my body as I'm not sure I can trust him to not force the Mating outright, but I could allow him to speak to you if you wished."

Kagome smiled. "I think I'd like that. He seems like a sweetie."

Sesshomaru scoffed. "You would not say that if you were the one who had to see his thoughts all day."

Kagome frowned. "Is he mean?"

"No, just very crude and not very considerate."

Kagome laughed. "I see."

About that time, the meat was finishing up, so Sesshomaru rose to remove it from the fire, placing large chunks of it in the Ice chest he'd asked his father to deliver a few hours ago, and the rest on a platter which he presented to Kagome.

"If you want to meet him now you can."

Kagome smiled brightly at him. "Sure."

Sesshomaru took a seat on a pillow, strategically placed several feet away from Kagome so that he had enough time to take back controle, should he need to. Calling his Beast from the recesses of his mind where he slept after his long run, he handed over control of his mouth and voice.

"Hello, Mate! Is Mate pleased with my gift?"

AN. Yay! another chapter. I'm doing so good. *Pats self on back* I'll be back later with more, but I hope you all liked this latest chapter in the meantime. Chiao!