Fell out of the air and you broke your wings
Like you're doing every other time
Made a new pair out of broken things
Too give it all another try
And you climb right up to the highest peaks
And reach out to the edge of the world you seek
Afraid of heights so you don't believe
You could ever be good enough
Go on then, Icarus
Take your turn
Icarus
In the time Kagome had lived – and thrived – in the world of youkai, she'd grown in many ways. One of those ways, as trite as it was, happened to be in her ability to tidy up.
She had become well adept at cleaning messes. Big messes, and small. Emotional messes. Bloody messes. Her messes. Other people's messes.
Ten years was a long time to be cleaning up messes, and so she'd thrived in that regard.
It was likely because of this that she had hardly batted an eye when Jaken had appeared in the sky above her courtyard, riding upon the back of Sesshomaru's dragon. The lord, himself, dangled haphazardly within the reins.
She'd been surprised, certainly, but she'd gone into autopilot, knowing what needed to be done.
Jaken, at least, had seemed downright reverent when she took charge. To be fair, the poor kappa barely had his wits about him at the time, he was so worried for his master.
And rightly so, Kagome thought as she dabbed at a black blotch staining her floor.
She'd never seen Sesshomaru so close to giving up the ghost.
Her hand slowed as memories assaulted her.
Jaken screeching his lords name in unmitigated terror. Ah-Un flying around uncertainly overhead, as if trying to spot a safe place to land.
And Sesshomaru.
As if he'd held on just long enough to make it to her, Sesshomaru's body slipped from the dragons saddle.
Kagome watched in horror as the unconscious daiyoukai plummeted fifty feet before plunging into her pond, scattering the koi fish living within.
She dived in after him immediately, only hesitating long enough to ascertain his location. The water wasn't murky, but it was by no means clear, so finding him would have been harder had his hair not been gliding through the water like a brilliant silver banner.
She hooked her arms beneath each of his and kicked off the bottom of the pond. It was hard to swim to shore with his added weight and she was thanking her lucky stars when Inuyasha was suddenly there, pulling his brother from the water and from her arms.
There was so much blood on the daiyoukai, she hadn't been sure where to look first.
Jaken had landed by then and had directed her to the poison tipped arrow protruding from the right side of his chest, just above his armor.
"There's a lot of blood here, Jaken. Is this his only injury?"
The kappa's wide eyes were filled with tears as he nodded.
"I thought he was immune to poisons," Inuyasha said, eyeing his brother gravely.
"Those dirty, no-good, lying backstabbers. They must have designed the poison especially for my lord!" Jaken screeched before staring beseechingly up at Kagome. He clutched a handful of her hakama. "Please miko, please save him! I'm begging you."
Jaken fell to his knees, head bowed, and Kagome acquiesced to cleaning up another mess.
This one, though, she didn't mind taking care of. She'd save Sesshomaru – if it was the last thing she did.
"You have heavy thoughts."
Sesshomaru's voice brought her out of her reverie, and she blinked up at him, watching her from where he slumped on the futon.
His skin still held a sickly pallor but he'd gotten some color back. His hair could use a deep scrubbing, there were flakes of blood covering his chest, arms and neck. She could smell him from where she sat several feet away. Old blood, sweat and bile.
She stifled a sigh. She'd done what she could to wipe away the worst of it, but sponge baths could only go so far.
"Would you like to take a bath?" She asked him softly. "You could use one."
He lifted a brow, a rare smirk barely curling a corner of his mouth.
"Are you trying to tell me something, miko?"
Getting to her feet, she tossed the rag on the desk and nodded at him. "Yes; that you could use a bath. Inuyasha can help; he should be right back."
"No. I can handle a bath on my own."
She looked at him skeptically. "Can you even stand on your own?"
He pushed back the quilt, moving with care. Rolling to his knees, he pressed his palms into the futon in an attempt to push himself to standing.
Kagome sprang forward to grab him around the waist when it looked like he might lose his balance, pointedly ignoring his irritation.
"Glare all you like, you clearly need assistance still."
And he did, it seemed. He'd never felt so heavy, so useless. Not even when he'd lost his arm.
Sesshomaru tried not to lean too heavily upon the miko, knowing he was easily twice her weight, but she helped him without complaint as she guided him toward her bathing facilities.
His wretched scent crossed his mind when he noticed her cycle between breathing only through her mouth or holding her breath entirely. He might have found humor in it had he not felt so impotent.
Thankfully, they didn't have to go far.
Through the open doors, onto the veranda and one door down. She toed the door open, revealing a partially enclosed hot spring.
Kagome directed him to a stool, helping him as he sat. When she was certain he wasn't going to fall over, she crossed the room to collect towels and other bathing supplies, all while wondering how she was possibly going to manage this particular mess.
She was torn between believing herself lucky and being certain she was cursed.
Withholding a sigh, she grabbed the bar of orange scented rice water soap and the bar of conditioner to compliment it. Her body bar held subtle floral notes, but he'd just have to deal with it.
If she had to suffer through helping him bathe then he'd have to suffer through using her lady soaps.
Piling the supplies next to the spring, she began to disrobe.
"What exactly are you doing?"
His voice held an undertone of suspicion, which she chose to ignore as she pulled off her kosode and hung it on a hook.
"I'm helping you bathe," she said, glancing at him over her shoulder. "Unless you can wash your own hair with only one good arm."
She realized how insensitive her comment was once it was half way out of her mouth, but there was no going back now so she gave a mental shrug.
"I have done so before, miko."
"Has your hair ever been in less than pristine condition before? Because right now, you're looking pretty rough." He narrowed his eyes at her but she sighed softly and turned to face him, noting his eyes landing briefly on her loosely bound breasts. "Look, if you really want to do this on your own, I respect that and will leave you to it, but I'm offering my assistance."
She looked him up and down, head cocked. "To be honest, Sesshomaru, I'm not entirely convinced you won't pass out in my hot spring. I'd have to save you from drowning twice." With a smirk, she put her hand on her hip. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not against a little mouth-to-mouth to ensure your survival. Perhaps I should let you bathe yourself."
Her attempt to lighten the mood was met with furrowed brows.
"What do you mean twice?"
She shrugged before leaning against the wall across from him, her arms folded beneath her breasts. "You fell off your dragon and into my pond. I went in after you."
Sesshomaru's face was carefully blank. His throat bobbed as he swallowed before he sighed heavily, bringing his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"My debt to you continues to grow, it would seem."
Kagome laughed, pushing off the wall to join him beside his stool. "Don't look so horrified. Dramatic entrances are kind of your thing. It was fitting, really."
Sighing again, he lowered his hand and examined her, and for a fleeting moment she wondered what it was he saw.
"I am grateful," he finally said, his voice surprisingly soft.
She placed two soft pats on his knee before standing. "You said that already." She gestured to his pants. "Let's get those off."
To her relief, Sesshomaru didn't argue further.
She helped him rinse his hair and body before assisting him into the spring itself and she watched him for signs of distress while his thoughts wandered, not noticing as she removed her hakama and hung them beside her kosode.
"I'll wash your hair," she said from the ledge behind him.
"Hn."
"It's citrus scented. Hope you don't mind."
He waved a hand in dismissal but said nothing of his opinion on the matter.
He'd expected her hands in his hair, and so was surprised when he felt her gather the length of it, pile it in her lap and begin brushing out the tangles.
She was gentle, liberal and hospitable. A proper lady amongst humans. Though Sesshomaru had witnessed her fiery temperament. Brazen and audacious.
Qualities often frowned upon within human circles.
Qualities respected among youkai.
She dipped the soap in the water, distracting him from his thoughts, and then her hands were in his hair, massaging soap into his scalp.
The pressure from her fingertips helped to relieve his mild headache and he breathed softly, further relaxing into the hot water.
A bath was a good idea. He was beginning to feel normal again.
He needed to feel normal. He had much work to do. Someone had framed him for his mothers murder. His mother was… dead.
With his mother gone, he was truly on his own now.
He hid his trembling hands deeper in the water; focused on regulating his breathing.
He would not be bothered by this revelation – he had too much to do. He'd need Jaken's eyes and ears over the coming weeks.
Speaking of the kappa… he'd yet to make an appearance before his lord.
Sesshomaru flared his youki, almost menacingly, and Kagome yelped, knocking the bar of conditioner into the spring.
"Shit! It'll melt!" The miko panicked, standing quickly. "It'll take days to make a new one."
Without thought, Kagome slipped into the spring after the conditioner, nearly as naked as the day she was born.