Snowfall
by Kayla Chavi
Rating: G
Email: kaylachavi@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.envy.nu/kaylachavi/index.htm

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This story was inspired from a beautiful fanart that I saw of Inuyasha and Kagome. And yes, it is really rated G ^___^

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The wind howled with a frightening and shuddering growl. It threatened to kill anyone foolish enough to brave its path.

Well, it was either that or the numerous amounts of youkai that were in the cold wood. The girl who was riding on the back of a silver-haired boy, was almost certain that it was the latter. What else could make such a horrible noise?

"Inuyasha, we need to find someplace soon," she called over the wind.

"No really?" he grumbled under his breath. His hand clenched hers as he continued to pull her up the steep, snow covered mountain. "I think there is an old hermit's home over this ridge. We'll stop there." The rapidly falling slow had nearly covered all of them by the time they bumped into the structure.

And bump into it, they did. The snow was so deep that they had to crawl in through a window to reach the inside. Luckily, there was no occupant in residence, but there was still firewood and flint. Soon he had a warm fire started and began looking around for blankets. His clothes were waterproof, so the melting snow didn't affect him much, but he knew that Kagome would need dry clothes.

He pulled several of her belongings from underneath his robe and tossed them at her. They had learned the more difficult way that plastic covered food stayed dry, but clothing didn't during the last snowfall. Kagome had ended up with a nasty cold that left the hanyou worried and frustrated. He knew that he was worthless when it came to battling sickness. His sword could do nothing to protect her.

"Here," he grumbled at her as she caught the bundle haphazardly in her arms. "You can change in the corner."

Kagome blinked and him and tilted her head to the side. She seemed to be studying him closely, her nose wrinkled in concentration.

"What?" he snapped. The cold weather had made him more irritable then normal.

"I didn't know that tonight was the new moon," she said quietly. "Usually I remember."

Inuyasha blinked and looked down at his hands. He sighed as he realized that the sharp claws were no longer there. He knew that if he looked up, his damp hair would be black instead of silver. It was odd that he hadn't felt the change overcome him like it usually did. The cold wind and snow must have frozen him more then he thought.

"Wonderful. Good thing we're nearly snowed it." The black-haired boy slumped himself in front of the warm fire and glared at it. Kagome couldn't help but smile at his attitude as she quickly changed into the warmest set of clothes she had brought with her. She should have known that he would get even more irritable with the appearance of human self.

Pulling a piece of string out of her bag she made a make shift clothes line to hang their wet things on. Once erected and near the fire, Kagome sat down and attempted to warm her toes a little more. After a while, the silence between them began to annoy her. They were always arguing about something and couldn't stay quiet until they were asleep, (although Miroku and Sango insisted that even asleep they still managed to fight).

She opened her mouth to say something to him but he spoke first. "You should get some sleep. Is your futon dry?"

"No," she looked over at her sleeping bag and sighed dejectedly. Tomorrow he would have to carry it so it wouldn't get ruined. Inuyasha stood and took off the top of his fire-rat robe. He tossed it at her and she caught it, her face betraying her confusion.

"I don't want you getting sick. I'll be fine, I wasn't wet like you were."

"Aren't you going to sleep?" she asked as she situated herself on the floor. She stayed as close to the fire as she could without the fear of getting burned by a stray flare.

"In a little while," he muttered and sat down near her. "I'm not really tired."

"Alright then," she closed her eyes and fell asleep quickly. She was exhausted from their trek up the mountain side, even though all she had done was ride on his back most of the way. The fire had died down when she awoke to the sound of soft crying. The sound was so foreign that it made her sit up in confusion.

Her confusion deepened when she noticed that the whimpering was coming from Inuyasha. The dark-haired boy had curled himself into a ball and was shivering from the slight chill in the shack. Kagome frowned and slowly crawled over towards him. He seemed to be asleep and didn't even notice her presence as he continued to cry.

She bit her lower lip in apprehension and then tentatively pushed his hair away from his face. He stilled for a moment and when he didn't wake up, she continued to stroke his hair. It comforted him for a few minutes but he started to cry again.

Kagome closed her eyes sadly and as carefully as possible she gently placed his head in her lap. With gentle fingers she continued to play with his hair and murmur comforting sounds at him. She was perplexed as to what dream could be so horrifying that he would actually be shedding tears over it.

"Ka-Kagome..."

The sudden sound made the dark-haired girl blink and she looked down at him. His eyes were still closed so he had to be dreaming. She became even more perplexed when she could make out more of his words.

"Kagome....don't go....don't...you can't...."

Don't go.

Her eyes widened in realization. He had be dreaming about the time when he thought she was dead. He had said those same words and grabbed her hand. The memory always made her smile; it was funny how upset he had seemed to be. However it now seemed that the memory wasn't as humorous for him as it was for her.

"Oh, Inuyasha," she murmured sadly and leaned down to kiss his forehead softly. She wouldn't have dared to do that when he was awake, but now it didn't seem so dangerous. "I'm so sorry."

A yawn broke through her thoughts and she smiled sheepishly even though there was no one to see her. Gently she set his head back on the ground and took the robe from her shoulders. With a little trepidation, she laid down next to him and placed it over the two of them. If she woke up first then nothing had to be said. If he woke up first then he could decide to comment on their sleeping arrangements.

Kagome stayed a small distance away from him and as she was falling asleep, she felt him stir and the robe shifted as he sat up. She kept her eyes closed and her breathing even. Her heart was pounding however and she didn't know if it was in anticipation or fear.

Inuyasha was motionless as he looked down at her sleeping form. He didn't remember laying that close to her, but it was entirely possible that he had unconsciously moved to lay next to her during his nightmare.

Inuyasha sighed and reached down to touch the curve of her jaw and to place a stray tendril of hair behind her ear. He laid back down next to her on his side and rested his head on his arm to watch her sleep. He couldn't help but smile as he touched her face.

As the wind continued to beat against the old shack he made a decision. He laid back down and pulled her completely into his arms. For a moment he thought he heard her squeak in surprise but dismissed it when she didn't make anymore noises. Tonight he would sleep next to her, holding her, and maybe the morning would stay away long enough for him to spend eternity like this. As long as they stayed here, he wouldn't lose her, she wouldn't be in danger, they would simply just be together.

With that thought firmly in his mind, he kissed her forehead and went back to sleep. That night, no more nightmares plagued him, however he left one very confused Kagome.

The next morning, she woke up alone and a little disappointed. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes as she looked for the confusing hanyou. He was standing near the window, his hair back to silver and his ears twitching slightly on his head as he listened to the air around him. Kagome smiled slightly and stood. She winced as her body protested moving from the hard floor.

Inuyasha turned around and blinked at her, "You should stay asleep," he said quickly, "We can't get out of here for another few days at least."

"Not tired," she said and went over to the fireplace. "Want breakfast?"

"Sure," he walked over and sat down next to her. "Is it that noodle thingy?"

She laughed quietly, "Yeah, I have some of that. Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yeah," he occupied himself with restarting the banked fire. "Thank you," he muttered.

Kagome blinked, "For what? I haven't even made it yet."

"It was cold last night. Thanks for sharing the robe," he looked at the flames intently and refused to look at her. Kagome couldn't help but smile.

"So was I," she handed him the noodles. "If it's cold tonight we could try it again?" she suggested with a hushed voice.

Inuyasha slowly looked at her and the barest of smiles crossed his features. He nodded once before turning back to the flames. "Okay." He paused for a moment, "But only if you don't steal it all for yourself."

Kagome rolled her eyes and calmly took the noodles away from him. Inuyasha blinked at her and his eyes widened.

"Kago--"

"Osuwari."