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An: I want to thank Shi for editing this chapter for me. You did an amazing job!
Sesshoumaru stood at the window of his home in the Western Lands, watching the ever decreasing sunlight fade across the grass. The residence was one that he scarcely used. Rin had been its primary occupant while she had lived, waiting out the winter months within its walls until it was warm enough for her to travel with him again. He felt fidgety himself, no longer in the mood for the idyllic views he left the window and went to lie down. With his hands resting comfortable at the back of his head, thoughts of the priestess and his brother constantly ran through his mind.
He had felt when the strings of his familial bond with Inuyasha had snapped five days ago. An emptiness that he had not felt since his father's passing had opened up in his heart and he had known, instinctively, that his brother had died. He had left his bed that night and had traveled to Edo knowing that humans buried their dead within two days and had witnessed Kagome crying over his brother's body through an open window in the back of their house.
The urge to go in had been nearly overpowering but he'd resisted that urge. It would've serve little purpose anyway, he and his brother had already said their goodbyes over thirty years ago and he wasn't a friend of his sister in-law, an ally from long ago they had been but nothing more. Regardless, he'd stayed observing the distraught woman from the shadows.
In the morning he'd watched as Kagome cleansed and prayed over his deceased brother's body. Later on in the day she'd sat by unhappily and observed as friends and acquaintances came by to view the corpse one final time and to say their goodbyes.
The next morning four grave diggers went on ahead to prepare Inuyasha's burial site at the base of the Tree of Ages. Around mid morning rain had started to fall lightly, and by the time the village monk, a descendant of the Tajiya and Miroku had arrived with five men to carry the casket, the steady downpour had increased into torrents.
He had followed the procession discretely, staying out of sight and suppressing his aura while respectfully watching the entire proceedings and then just as unobtrusively left, but not before sending out a smidgen of his aura to let the woman know that he had been there. Why he had done that? He wasn't quite certain. Perhaps it was his way of saying farewell to her and to let her know that she wasn't alone. Because, in truth he had no intention at that time to look after her as Inuyasha had requested. He should have just left things alone, because now he had far more than he could handle.
sksksk
The cave seemed smaller now that she had been held up in it for two days waiting on Sesshomaru's return. She began to despair as she paced the length of the cave, wondering if he had abandoned her again. She hadn't felt like eating much since Inuyasha passed away, her grief too strong. She could not claim so anymore, because now she was ravenous and her belly rumbled like thunder. It was something that she could not ignore for much longer. She had to leave; she couldn't wait on him anymore.
On her way out she remembered that she was wearing Sesshomaru's shirt and stopped. She looked around trying to locate her kimono and when she found it, it was ripped apart. She sighed and picked up a piece of the fabric, then tore off a long strip and tied it around her waist, now she felt better, before she'd felt like she had worn a deflated balloon.
Getting ready to leave again she wondered how she was going to climb back down the mountain. Climbing up was one thing but getting back down was a different matter altogether. She smiled sheepishly as she recalled the many times that Buyo, as a young cat had climbed the Tree of Ages, only to reach the top and had spend the rest of the day calling for her to get him back down. Now she understood what the poor cat must have felt like, stranded so far from the ground.
Light filtering through the mouth of the cave was a welcomed sight and she hastened her steps to get out into the open air. However, as she was about to walk into the sunshine a shadow suddenly blocked the entrance, she shrieked and fell to her bottom in fright. The shadow moved closer to her and she screamed; it stopped abruptly. She backed away on her bottom opening up a wider gap between it and her, but also realizing that whatever it was did not make an attempt to come any closer or try to harm her. When she was an acceptable distance away she got up panting harshly and nervously looked at the dark shape closely.
She shook her head in relief when she saw that it was only Ah-Un. She hadn't seen the beast in many years, not since Rin had lived in the village. It was a pleasant surprise to finally see the two-headed dragon again. Calmly she approached the creature and patted both heads; they sniffed at her face and hands, reacquainting themselves with her scent until they were satisfied. Without any prodding the dragon purposely bent low and allowed her to mount him. When she was comfortably seated on the animal's back she leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Let's fly."
Ah-Un snorted and pushed off easily, taking her away from the mountain. When she was finally zipping through the air she smiled, knowing that Sesshomaru had not abandoned her like she had thought before, and now she wouldn't have to wonder how she would make it down the hill after all. The autumn view was breathtaking from above, red, gold and brown mixing to form an exotic quilt over the land. The branches of trees fluttered like flags in the breeze as a pack of wolves ran beneath their sheltering boughs, reminding her of Kouga and the others.
She directed Ah-Un towards Edo although privately she wanted to stay airborne, the wild and untamed geographical expanse of nature made her forget all her troubles, as the sweet smelling wind blew in her face. She closed her eyes and took a long whiff of air before opening them again; all too soon she was home. With a nudge on the reigns of her ride she descended.
The house was as she had left it three days ago, nothing was out of place, the tea kettle still hung over the fire pit and the air smelled of burnt incense. She poured some water into the kettle, re-lit the fire-pit, and then retrieved tea leaves and some apples from the cupboards.
She called out to Ah-Un and he padded inside towards the kitchen where she was. She threw each head an apple that they caught and happily chewed. After she had eaten, she made sure to pack a leather bag with clothes and some toiletries so that she would be prepared when Sesshomaru came for her.
Later that night she fell into a restless sleep. The spirit of her husband still resided in the house and it made her uncomfortable. When he was dying he did not want to go and leave her all by herself, that notion worried him more than anything else. She knew that until she was safe and happy he would not move on.
Inuyasha had always been so fiercely protective of her, and even in death he watched over her still. She almost felt like crying again, but forced the sadness away by thinking on the future.
She got up the next day to another overcast morning and mechanically made breakfast for herself, ushering the dragon out of the house to go in search of his own food. She didn't have enough to feed both of them. When she was alone and had time to think her mind took her back to the cave and what had nearly transpired there. It was no secret between her and Sango in the early days that they had both admired the Daiyoukai, and they both had thought that he was handsome, pretty even, and very attractive, but both their hearts were already taken by other individuals.
At that time if they had been foolish enough to want him, the fact that he did not like their humanity, with Rin being the sole exception, and even then she did not believe that Rin was the only human that he had liked, because he was always in their company and was civil. Still, he had been curt and without any type of allure.
But nothing could prepare her for the flood of wantonness that had flared when he had kissed her, she had tasted his exotic flavor, felt the wild untamed passion of his touch, and kami forbid she had wanted him. Was she doomed to only want demon men? She was not yet ready to follow her husband into the after-life, and the time would come when she would want companionship again. Would only that species of male be sufficient?
It worried her, because she had never looked at a human man and burned for them the way that she had burned for InuYasha or his brother, had never secretly longed for their touch, even within the confines of her own mind, like she had for them. Inuyasha had been very sick for five years before he had finally succumbed to his illness, and in that time she had remained celibate.
The natural urges of her body had risen and oftentimes she would become quite frustrated, but there had been no relief for her because she would not give in as long as her husband lived; choosing to focus all of her attention on her husband rather than the needs of her own body. In all that time, despite how her eyes would occasionally wander, not one human man had caught her attention like her InuYasha.
She was a mature woman now even though she did not look it. She had her theories on what may have contributed to her youthfulness but now was not the time to worry about that. Or, at least, nothing that she thought would affect her anytime soon. No, Sesshoumaru was her only concern right now, him and this unyielding attraction they had.
They'd both had strong reservations about what they were doing that day. And whether it was good sense or some unspoken understanding that had passed between them, they had both stopped before they could do anything they would have regretted. Still, something was not adding up, she remembered Sesshomaru saying that his debt to Inuyasha had been extinguished. At the time she had been too distraught to ponder on its meaning, but now she couldn't help but to think on it.
Thinking on her time with Daiyoukai was enough to give her a headache, and still she was no closer in solving the mystery surrounding him. Kagome rested her head on the table after her long internal debate and quickly fell asleep.
sksksk
He could keep his promise to Inuyasha and still have a normal existence he thought as he flew towards Edo in search of the woman. Three days had dragged by and yet he had not reached any clear resolution on the promise that he had made. He was still undecided at this point but had asked her to wait on him with the guarantee that he would be back. And he would keep his word.
He sighed with the memory of the raw desire that he had felt for her; those feelings would undoubtedly cause some conflict between them. He would stay close but keep her at a distance. What irony. He was quite certain that she would have left the cave by now, so he wouldn't even waste time by stopping there. She needed to eat and that necessity would have forced her to leave the mountain; and he had made preparations for her to travel by summoning his dragon to assist her when he had left.
He spotted Ah-Un munching on wild melons in his brother's forest on his way to Kagome and stopped for a few moments, he scented the air and her aroma smelled strongly on the beast, he then proceeded towards her home. The house was deathly quiet as he listened and for a moment he thought that she was not in. He listened more keenly this time and heard her soft intake of breath and knew that she was asleep. He trailed into the kitchen and saw her sleeping form slumped onto the table.
He observed her for a few minutes. Her hair was washed and loose, smelling strongly of berries, the tresses long and smooth spilled forward forming a curtain around her face blocking it from his view. A tender feeling washed across his senses upon seeing her, he hissed at the annoyance and the dread that welled up inside his heart. He couldn't afford to let his heart lead him around blindly like an inexperienced mutt in spite of what it was implying.
Although asleep she felt his presence in the house and stirred awake. She saw him standing in the far corner of the kitchen. When he realized that she had awakened he walked away without saying a word. Luckily she was already packed and her belongings were by her feet, she snatched up the bag and quickly hurried after him.
As she walked behind him she remembered that the Tajiya village was close by and that she wanted to stop there, but how should she go about mentioning the subject to him. It was clear to see that he did not want to talk to her, and it made her wonder what was his reasons were for coming back if he despised her so much. She felt uncomfortable in his presence more than before, but she really needed to go to that village, she was unsure of herself, afraid to tell him what she needed to do and so she stopped walking.
He felt her unease and knew that she lagged behind; he was aware of the problem but tried to ignore it. He needed to stay clear of her less he make a mistake, the woman was trouble wrapped up in a pretty exterior, one that he did not need in his way right now.
He turned around and frowned. "We should keep going, the journey will be long."
She shut her eyes a moment at the sight of his burning golden gaze, shutting out the memory of their tryst and responded. "I need to make a quick stop at the Tajiya village."
He did not ask her for the purpose of the detour, he nodded indicating that he would wait for her.
She took that as her cue and ran off towards the path. When she got to the village some time later she was breathless. Most villagers were inside their homes worshiping, making the place as quiet as a tomb. Nevertheless she made her way to a house that belonged to one of Sango's descendants and knocked.
The door opened a short time later and a middle aged man stood in the doorway smiling brightly. "Hello Kagome san nice to see you," he said and bowed, "please come in."
She shook her head. "No I cannot, I only have time to retrieve the cat," she said hastily, apologetically.
"No worries wait here," he said and smiled, turning to go back inside.
A few minutes later he returned with a small bundle in his hand. Kagome smiled; the man had brought to her a kitten, one of the last litters Kirara birthed before she had died three months ago.
She took the kitten and hugged it close, stoking its furry head; it purred and licked her fingers.
"Thank you," she said without looking up, and then turned and left quickly.
On her way back to Sesshomaru she observed that the kitten was an exact replica of her mother, except that her markings were not as distinct, probably because she was a baby. Kagome gasped when Ah-Un unexpectedly nudged her in the back, she had not noticed his approach too caught up with her new pet to detect their presence. Sesshomaru spoke up from behind the lesser youkai.
"Mount the beast, rain will come soon."
Kagome glanced up at the sky and saw the change. Without further delay she strapped her bag to her back and mounted the animal. Sesshomaru didn't hesitate once she was seated; he flew off first keeping an even pace so that she and the dragon could follow close behind.
The first tiny raindrop fell on her hand and she glanced up, dark clouds were rolling in, and the temperature suddenly dropped around them. Her body trembled slightly in trepidation; she did not want to get caught up in another bout of rain. She had barely recovered from her illness and it wouldn't be wise to get wet again so soon.
As they flew she couldn't tell how many miles they'd put between them and Edo, all she knew was that she was feeling queasy and her bottom felt sore. How she wished they'd get to their destination soon? Alas, she did not know when that would be.
Rain started to drizzle after a time and increased steadily as they journeyed. She worried about getting wet and becoming sick again while the kitten snuggled closer to her body. Relief came when Sesshomaru descended, Ah-Un following and soon they were standing in front of a large house on a huge property with beautiful flowers and many variety of trees.
She didn't hesitate in making a quick dash out of the rain onto the dry porch where two youkai females waited.
"Welcome," they both said and bowed.
She was both surprised and cautious. Why would they be welcoming her? She was Sesshomaru's burden and not an honored guest. None of this was making any sense. Anyhow she was not as rude or impolite not to answer and so she returned their greeting.
She bowed and politely said. "Thank you."
Sesshomaru walked past them without saying a word, the maids took her bag and ushered her inside to a room which was sparsely furnished and elegant. It had in it a large bed, a vanity, a closet and a small table with two chairs in a corner. Everything clean and fresh smelt of the season and she wondered if like the new season her life would be just as fresh.