Disclaimer - I don't own InuYasha. If I did, I wouldn't be sitting here at the computer dreaming, I would be back in the bedroom . . . ahem, never mind that last thought. I don't own InuYasha, okay?





Author's Notes - WRITER'S BLOCK IS GONE! Yes, there is much rejoicing in the land at this point. I found out what my problem was . . . I had too many ideas running around in my head all trying to get out at once. So, I took a week to just write whatever came into my head, sort of cleared out the snarls, and off we go again : ) Which reminds me . . . if you are a fan of Final Fantasy 7 . . . and especially of Sephiroth, I now have a fic over in that section called "Behind the Mask". It's a fic about Seph, Zack and Cloud before the Nibelhiem incident. If you are into that kind of thing, go read it . . . I think you'll find it worthwhile. And no, it is not Yaoi, you pervs, get that thought out of your head : )







Chapter 9 - Understandings (Part 2)

InuYasha sat up abruptly as he caught wind of a familiar scent.

"Sesshoumaru," he growled. Rising quickly, he grabbed his hakama and dragged them on over his still wet skin. Grabbing Tetsusiaga, he stood waiting, knowing his brother was near, but surprised that he wasn't trying to conceal himself.

It wasn't long before a familiar aristocratic figure stepped into the clearing, amber eyes narrowed in thought.

"Well, well, little brother. Not as completely unaware as I thought you were." His smooth, cultured voice carried no emotion at all. As usual.

"What do you want, Sesshoumaru? I know this isn't a social visit." Unconsciously, his hands tightened their grip on his sword.

"Just to talk this time, little brother." He glanced around calmly. "I'm surprised to find you alone, InuYasha. Where is that intriguing young woman who is always with you?"

"Recovering," InuYasha growled. What game was his brother playing now? He watched warily as his brother settled on a rock near the hot springs, and dipped a graceful hand into the water's surface, calmly gazing at the ripples he created.

"Funny . . ." he murmured, "how a body of water can be so still, serene . . . happy with it's current state of affairs . . . and one tiny action can set it all into motion." InuYasha's eyes narrowed in speculation. He suspected his brother wasn't just talking about water.

Identical amber eyes met and locked in unwavering regard. "We may not get a long, InuYasha, but we have a common enemy now. So, for my sake as well as your own, I am putting aside our differences until Naraku is destroyed."

InuYasha nearly stumbled in shock. What the hell was going on here? Sesshoumaru . . . was calling a truce?! His attention was distracted as a crackling in the underbrush behind his brother drew his eyes to the sound. His eyes widened as a young human girl charged from the underbrush . . . straight to his brother. 'Okay . . . this just went from weird to out right bizarre!' he thought. The little girl was perched happily on the rock near Sesshoumaru, chatting energetically as she played with his tail . . . and was his brother . . . smiling?! It was a very small one, but the fact that his stoic, emotionless, human-hating brother was smiling at and tolerating a small girl to play with his tail was just too much. 'I have to be sleeping,' he decided. 'This is just too abnormal for me to be awake.'

Distracted by the very odd sight before him, InuYasha nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his arm. He spun to see who was so close to him.

"Kagome!" he breathed. Momentarily forgetting his visitor and his state of undress, he wrapped her in a tight embrace, burying his face in her hair and basking in her scent.

Kagome, for the most part, tried very hard to keep her wits about her as she found herself hugged against InuYasha's warm, wet, and very BARE chest. She wrapped her arms around him in a brief hug, then turned her addled wits to their unexpected witness, squirming slightly till InuYasha released her. She was just as surprised as InuYasha had been, but found her attention centered on a pair of amber eyes that were regarding them with what Kagome could only label as . . . amusement.

"I see you got your arm back," she said finally.

He raised the limb in question, clenching and unclenching his fist. "I had to resort to a healer, of sorts, but yes, I have both arms once again. And I see you have finally come into your full potential as a miko." Suddenly, the girl next to him jumped off the rock and rushed over to stand in front of Kagome.

"I'm Rin," she said sweetly, tugging on Kagome's pants.

Kagome dropped lightly to her knees to smile gently at the girl. "Hello Rin. I'm Kagome."

"Rin is happy to meet you, Kagome. Are you a friend of Sesshoumaru?"

"Umm . . . yes, I guess you could say that," Kagome answered. What was this delightful child doing with a human hating demon like Sesshoumaru?

Several minutes and much chatter later, Kagome had her answer . . . and then some. 'So, Sesshoumaru brought her back to life and has been protecting her since . . . Naraku kidnaped her and he rescued her . . . this just gets more and more complicated. Now, why is he here?'

Sango and Miroku had come and gone while she chatted with Rin. InuYasha and the couple had engaged in a brief discussion before they went back to the village, casting wary glances at the youkai lord the entire time.

"Rin, where is Jakken?" Sesshoumaru asked suddenly, breaking up Kagome's thoughts. Kagome grimace in distaste. She absolutely loathed that little toad. She watched Rin skip merrily back to the aristocratic youkai, scrambling up to perch happily on his knee.

"Rin lost Jakken in the woods. Jakken is not very good at hide-and-seek." Sesshoumaru sighed and glared off in the direction he had come from. Kagome took the opportunity to stand. InuYasha still stood cautiously nearby, Tetsusiaga strapped tightly to his waist, watching his brother through narrowed, thoughtful eyes.

They both jumped as Sesshoumaru stood abruptly, setting Rin gently on the ground first. "I will return at a later date. There are . . . problems . . . I must first attend to. Come Rin." Rin trotted happily after him, waving goodbye until they were swallowed up by the woodland shadows.

Kagome sagged suddenly, her energy drained by the effect of maintaining a strong facade towards the volatile youkai lord who had just left. Before her knees ever neared ground, InuYasha was beside her, wrapping one slim, muscled arm around her waist to help support her.

"You shouldn't be up yet. You're still not fully recovered," he growled softly in her ear.

"I was worried about you," she replied weakly. "You were off somewhere and I sensed Sesshoumaru nearby. I wanted to be sure you were alright." She glance towards where the youkai had been. "What was that all about?"

"Surprisingly enough, he wanted to call a truce between us until Naraku is dead." Kagome nearly keeled over in surprise.

"He what?!" InuYasha just smiled and nodded his head as he set Kagome down on a tree stump near the spring. Bending down swiftly, he retrieved his inner and outer yukata, and quickly finished getting dressed.

"That was pretty much my reaction."

Kagome watched the play of muscles across his back as he shrugged into his yukata, and found herself wanting to run her hands over them. 'I wonder if they would feel the same as they did in that dream I had . . .'she found herself musing. She was still unsure as to how that whole dream had come about . . . she normally didn't EVER dream about such things. 'And if felt so real . . . gah! What am I thinking!? It can't have been real . . . can it?'

Coming out of her thoughts, she found herself under the gaze of warm golden eyes, and her cheeks heated abruptly. 'What would HE think if he knew about that dream?'

InuYasha watched as she ducked her head, her cheeks bright flags of color. 'Is she thinking about the dream?' he found himself wondering. 'Does she remember?' He hoped with all his heart that she did. Bending down, he swung her onto his back and took off towards the village at a run. These new developments needed to be discussed with the others . . . and Kagome still needed rest. 'Everything else . . . will just have to wait.'



To be Continued



AN- TADA! Yep, there's another chapter for you all : ) Sorry there was no action . . . I just couldn't do the Sesshoumaru bad guy thing . . . eventually he has to wise up and realize he's not gonna get that damn sword. So, anyway, there's another chapter : ) Read, review, tell me what you think, and I'll be back to update again soon.