The First Night Together...a very long chapter...I like to throw these two together and I just keep writing! I hope someone likes this! Oh, I own nothing!
Sylvannastar
Part 10
The First Night Together
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She knew I was here all along. I should have known. She never was as stupid as other humans. He found himself glad that she was observent. Pissed that he didn't get the reaction he wanted. He wanted her afraid. He wanted her begging. Damn it! He wanted her to appreciate the good fortune of being in his company until he tired of her!
Kagome was content to remain quiet and enjoy the night. She had little time to do such things anymore. That Sesshoumaru had not yet made any threats or moves to take her life since that afternoon when she realized that he was there, was a good sign. He might not kill her after all. Kagome relaxed and waited to see just how the Youkai Lord intended to procede.
A good fifteen minutes passed before she realized that he had no intention of making things easy for her.
The silence had started to get annoying when she decided to turn her back on the arrogant jerk of a Lord and stalk back to camp.
Needless to say, the arrogant jerk was not amused. "I did not give you permission to leave." His voice was soft and sent shivers down Kagome's spine.
"I don't recall asking for it." She continued walking. "Besides, the children are more important than letting you prove to yourself that you are the top dog. " She smiled in the dark. "I had believed that you were already secure in your superiority over everyone and everything. Guess I was wrong."
Her sacrcasm did not go unnoticed. A low growl was all that proceeded the clawed hand that suddenly wrapped itself around her neck and jerked her back.
"Know your place, human." His eyes flashed dangerously in the dark, in the face of icy calm.
"Don't you try to bully me, Sesshoumaru. I know my place and it is not under your heel." Kagome made no move to free herself. "Don't think that I am like others you have met. I am myself. I answer to myself." She was thinking of Inuyasha and his constant comparisons to Kikyo.
Sesshoumaru tightened his grip and enjoyed watching her struggle for breathe. That she did not struggle in any other way quickly took that joy away. She has a stronger spirit than anyone I have ever met. Jaken has been around me for decades and he still cowers away if I look at him with displeasure. Why is she not afaid?
He won't kill me. He won't kill me. He won't kill me. Kagome was chanting in her head, trying to convince herself.
"You will never-" She coughed and stopped.
With narrowed eyes, he loosened his grip and waited for her to insult him some more so that he would feel no guilt when Rin found her gone tomorrow. He had reconsidered and killing her wasn't going to be so hard after all.
"You will never learn to understand and grow with others if you insist on standing above them. If you refuse to listen, how will you learn?" She took a deep breath. "I see that you have things to ask me. It is in your eyes."
He was curious. That she could read that in him was unexpected. He released her. Damn it! She intrigued him.
Kagome refused to rub the bruises that she knew were forming on her throat. She was not going to give him the pleasure of seeing her hurt.
His eyes searched her face. She held nothing back in her gaze. Every change of emotion was there for him to see. Her honesty with herself was astounding. He couldn't understand how she survived as long as she had. She dose nothing to hide her reactions or her emotions. Yet she seems strong....confident.
What is he thinking? Kagome was starting to question her sanity at standing up to Sesshoumaru. His face remained free of any expression and his stubborn silence kept her guessing about the eventual outcome of these events. She could only hope that he was curious enough to speak with her.
Slowly he relaxed. She was no threat to him after all. She didn't have any weapons. He motioned for her to follow him and began to walk away. When she did not imediately follow behind him, he stopped but refused to look back at her.
"I need to che-"
"They are both fine. I can hear their breathing and their heartbeats from here."
Kagome couldn't argue with that and shrugged. Well, at least he is willing to talk. He led her to a fallen tree some distance away from the camp and she sat beside him.
A soft breeze whispered around them and blew the silky strand of his silver hair around them. Her own ebony locks contrasted sharply with the glowing light of the moon on his hair and fur. Lord, he's beautiful! Its so unfair...
Sesshoumaru turned his amber eyes on her and saw the look of appreciation in her eyes. Finally. If he could have sat up any straighter he would have. Then he saw amusement. This he didn't understand.
Kagome closed her eyes, lifted her head, and allowed the wind to blow through her hair and calm her wandering thoughts. A look of peace and contentments glowed across her features. The night was perfect. She would not waste every moment to worry.
"What are you thinking?" Sesshoumaru was facinated. What would I give to feel so tuned to this world? She is happy. When was I last so innocent and content? He looked up at the stars he had admired earlier.
"Just that moments like this are why we live. A random point in time that we are content to simply enjoy being alive in." Kagome opened her dark eyes and turned to face him. "When I am faced with hard times, these types of memories make me remember that life is worth living."
"Only a fool would not be glad to be alive." He sounded digusted.
Kagome chuckled. The husky sound made him turn his focus to her softly smiling mouth. "Living and being alive are not the same thing."
Her smile faded as he continued to stare at her. "What is it that you wish to ask me?" She decided to be direct.
A multitude of questions swirled though his head. "What is the name of the flower you carry on your scent?" Why the hell did I ask her that?! "It is distracting." True enough, but why would I say that? He was temped to scowl at his own lapse in sanity that seemed to be ruling his mouth. Incomplete thoughts were tumbling end over end in his mind and only her scent seemed to remain constant. It was driving him crazy.
Kagome was properly shocked. The serious and lifechanging conversation she was expecting to have was going to start with a question about her perfume.
"Dis-Distracting?"
He said nothing.
"It's a combination of Ylang-Ylang and Myrrh. And I used a Lavender shampoo today."
She peeked up at him, perplexed by his question.
Still he said nothing.
Kagome sighed impatiently. So much for conversation.
"Look," she said, "why don't we try switching off. You ask one question then I ask one. Then perhaps we will get somewhere before morning."
"Ask your question then, human."
His abrupt acceptance suprized her but she wasn't going to pass over the chance to learn what she could while he still found her interesting enough to keep alive. "Mmm," she began, "Where did Rin come from?"
Sesshoumaru thought back to when Rin first found him wounded and stranded near her village. The child had not been discouraged by anything he said to her and was persistant in her attemps to help him. "I found her after her village was attacked by wolves."
"So now she follows you?"
"It is my turn to question you."
Kagome frowned at him. So arrogant! Grrr...
"Why do you, a human, care for the Kitsune?"
"He was a child that needed me. I could not have left him behind after we, Inuyasha and I, found him trying to get revenge for his father's death. Shippo is a part of my family here. Being human or youkai has nothing to do with it. I can not explain..."Kagome paused. "I love him and so will do anything I can for him so that he can be all that he has the potential to be when he grows."
"I know that you care nothing for humans. You made that clear the very first time I ever saw you. You still call me 'Human' as if it were a curse. I do have a name you know. But, Rin loves you...she has seen something in you, Sesshoumaru, that allows her to look past that. My question is to know why do you now care for a human child?"
"I, Sesshoumaru, have not changed. Humans will always be inferior to youkai. Rin chooses to follow me. That is a question you should ask her." Sesshoumaru was desperate not to let this woman know that he had no idea why he had taken the child in. A question...Distract her with a question..."Do you care for Rin?"
"Yes." Kagome did not explain why. If he was going to be so difficult, then so was she. She noticed how he had not really answered her last question. "Do you?"
He looked at her from the corner of his eye. It was beneath him to lie. "She is my responsibility."
"That is not what I asked you, though. Do you care for her?"
He looked away. Care? Do I care for anything? Kagome shifted and pulled her knees up to her chest where she then rested her chin. She does not seem any weaker for her admission...can I care with out it weakening me? He could feel every movement that the woman made. When Sesshoumaru looked down at her again she was looking up at him with the starlight shimmering in her eyes and on her hair. He stared.
She stared right back. With the moon light streaming behind him, he looks like an angel. She contemplated the mystery before her. Are you and angel of death or an angel of mercy?
"Yes."
"Huh?" Kagome had lost her train of thought.
"Is that your question?"
He's teasing me! Kagome was suprized. She smiled at him and felt a weight lift from her shoulders. "No that wasn't. It was your turn and sinse I have just answered it...now its my turn."
She asked the one thing that had been worrying her sinse his arrival. "What are you intending to do with us now?"
"You will become Rin's mother." Sesshoumaru was amused by her confusion and shock. "I, Sesshoumaru, have already decided."
Kagome felt her face grow hot. "You-I-You decided?! I can't be anyone's mother! That is ridiculous." Kagome frowned at him uncaring that he seemed unperturbed by her outburst.
"Rin needs a mother." was all he said back.
The long silence that followed was broken only by the wind that was whistling through the giant trees around them.
Finally Kagome got herself under control. "That may be, but she would be unwilling to leave your side to come with me. And I am not-"
"She will not be leaving me." He snarled in an uncharacteristic show of emotion. Kagome shrank back and eyed him with distrust. "You will be joining her."
"WHAT?"
Sesshoumaru winced at her screetch and stood up. He looked down his perfect nose at her and let her see his displeasure. Then he began to walk away. "I will return by this time tomorrow. Be here."
Kagome watched him vanish into the dark. She knew she looked stupid with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wider than normal but she was having difficulty with just breathing much less ordering her features into a more acceptable expression. I think I'm gonna faint...Oh Kami! He said-I need-Oh, Kami! She gulped in air and felt her anger at him and herself growing. What do I do now? She could think of only one thing to say in response. "Shit."
Sesshoumaru felt himself purring in pleasure for the way he had left the human woman. He had little fear that she would not be there the next day. If she dared try to defy him he would simply go after her. Either way, he now had his problem with Rin solved. He didn't need to take a mate. And now he could focus on the important matter of keeping the Western Lands safe. The news the council gave me was not good. It is time I went looking for the evidence that the Demon is free from the land of the dead. If it is so, then how? How did it get free from my father's seal? And who has it taken possession of now?
Contrary to Kagome, Sesshoumaru determined that he must put their meeting into the past where it would hold little importance amongst his other memories. He had other, more important things, than those two humans to think about. Vastly more important...Like if the demon intends to search out my family for revenge now that father is dead. Or how I am to defeat the creature if I do not yet know who it resides in. Or where Jaken has gone to. I can still smell her...damn her. He did his best to resist the urge to turn back and kept walking. After all, the barrier he had just set up around the camp would not be easily broken down. No one could get in. No one could get out. He just wished he could see her face when she discovered how easily he could keep her. She now belonged to him.
