Title: Don't Turn Away

Author: Dark Whispers

Rating: PG

Pairings: Sess/Kag

Summary: After a bizarre happening of events during a stormy day, Sesshomaru find himself in the debt of a human and unable to stop thinking about her. Sess/Kag

A/N: I'm back! Sorry it took so long for me to update! ^_^;;;; I had an awesome vacation-erm you guys probably just want me to get on with the story now though, right? Okay then, here it is!

"Are we there yet?"

"Not yet, Shippou."

. . .

"Are we there yet?"

"Lady Kagome just said we weren't there yet, Shippou."

"Oh, okay. . ."

. . .

"Are w-"

"SHIPPOU I'M GONNA FREAKIN KILL YOU!"

"SIT!"

THUD!

"BITCH!"

Patience was running thin and tempers were running high as the group continued the hunt for jewel shards. . .in the rain.

Shippou sniffled. "I only wanted to know if we were there yet! I'm cold and hungry and tired and wet!"

Kagome knelt down next to him and pulled him into a hug. "I know Shippou, we all feel the same way, but right now we need to just be patient and keep going, ok?"

Shippou nodded meekly and Kagome lifted him up deciding to carry him the rest of the way.

"Inuyasha, maybe it would be wise if we stopped," Miroku said. "It seems like it's starting to hail." The monk winced as hail began to pound his body mercilessly.

Inuyasha snorted. "Feh! You guys are pathetic! We're gonna keep going until we find that shard! Now come on!"

With that, they continued to walk, the weather getting considerably worse as they followed the winding path through the mountains. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru remained pretty much unaffected by the hail and wind that pounded their bodies, but Shippou and the others weren't as lucky.

Miroku and Sango were clinging to a transformed Kirara, pressing ahead through the gale as Kagome trotted on behind Sesshomaru who provided cover from the hail and rain.

'This isn't any ordinary storm: the closer we get to the lake where the demon is said to be, the worse the weather gets!' Kagome thought.

Nevertheless, the group continued on, occasionally slipping on the wet rock, taking unpleasant falls into the mud. By the time they reached the part, of the mountain that overlooked the valley with the lake in it, the humans of the group were shivering violently, and even the demons were beginning to feel fatigued from the extreme conditions. They managed to find a cave, and once it was inspected and declared abandoned, they hurried inside, eager for shelter from the rain.

The cave was relatively small, its back stretching only 10 yards into the mountain. It was also relatively small in height. Kagome was just able to stand without having her head brush against the ceiling, but Sesshomaru and Inuyasha had to walk at a crouch. Water occasionally dripped from the ceiling, but other than that, it was dry and cozy.

The moment they were all inside, Inuyasha shook the water off of him by shaking like a dog, soaking everyone around him even more. Sesshomaru scowled at him as flecks of water landed on his face, but Kagome simply giggled at his dog-like antics. She wondered for a moment why Sesshomaru didn't dry himself like that, but she figured he was too dignified. Instead, the demon simply squeezed the sleeves of his robe, causing the excess water to drip to the floor before sitting down gracefully, back completely straight.

Sango and Miroku were sitting at opposite sides of the cave after Miroku tried to 'dry her off' by using a 'squeezing method' similar to what Sesshomaru did. The poor monk just never learned his lesson. Shippou was curled up on Sango's lap, fast asleep, curled in a ball with his head buried in his tail in typical fox fashion. Miroku was looking at the kitsune sulkily, as if he was wishing he was in Sango's lap instead.

Even though they were out of the rain, they were still cold with their damp clothes and no source of heat. Luckily, Inuyasha found some paper in Kagome's backpack-"Inuyasha, that's my algebra homework! You can't burn that!" "Feh! You don't need it, wench!"-and with a few strikes of a match, they soon had a roaring fire burning.

Kagome let the heat wash over her like a warm bath, her muscles relaxing. However, the fire could only do so much to warm her up when her clothes were still so damp. Her shirt clung to her like a second skin, and she was thankful that she was wearing a bra, especially with Miroku around. She sneezed and groaned in exasperation. She was probably going to get a cold all because of the stupid rain. Inuyasha noticed she was still shivering.

"Kagome," he said, "take your shirt off."

Miroku's jaw dropped in amazement while Sango sat up abruptly to hit Inuyasha with her boomerang causing Shippou fell out of her lap though slept on obliviously. Kagome just stared blankly while Sesshomaru looked up in irritation, narrowing his eyes at Inuyasha for the audacity of his request.

"What?" Kagome asked dumbly.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Inuyasha roared, rubbing his head from where Sango hit him. "Who do I look like, Miroku?! I just meant that if you don't take that wet shirt off, you're going to catch a cold! It's not like it will make much of a difference; you can already see through it."

Kagome crossed her arms of her chest and blushed. "I'm NOT taking my shirt off."

"Feh! It was just a suggestion wench! Go ahead, get sick! See if I care. . ."

Deciding to take matters into his own hands, the forgotten Sesshomaru came up from behind Kagome and pulled the wet shirt over her head. He also slashed a claw down her skirt, causing the small piece of fabric to split in half, leaving Kagome in only her undergarments. She squeaked in surprise and tried to cover herself. Miroku seemed to be enjoying the show, and Inuyasha was growling at Sesshomaru.

Kagome was not left exposed for long. Sesshomaru quickly pulled a dry blanket from Kagome's pack and wrapped it around her snuggly before lifting her up and cradling her in his arms, ignoring her feeble protests.

"Go to sleep, all of you. Your incessant bickering is irritating me."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to retort, not wanting to take any orders from his brother, but Miroku whacked him over the head with his staff and shook his head as a sign to hold his tongue. The hanyou glared defiantly but remained silent. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting childishly. Sango also leaned against the wall, Shippou once again curled in her lap, only now joined by Kirara. Miroku was lying on the floor while Sesshomaru still had Kagome bundled in his arms. They all fell into a restless sleep while the storm continued to rage outside.

~*~*~*~*~*~

After a quick breakfast the next morning, it was decided that they would continue on despite the weather. Since Kagome was out of uniforms, she was forced to change into her spare set of clothes which was a pair of jeans, comfortable sneakers, and a long sleeved shirt with a low neckline. With her waterproof jacket, the rain didn't feel half as bad as it did yesterday.

The hail however did affect her, along with everyone else. The golf ball sized chunks of ice pounded the weary travelers' bodies hard enough to bruise. To make matters worse, lightening had begun to flash across the sky, and the rumbles of thunder that followed seemed to make the ground shake with their intensity.

Shippou shivered against her as she held him tightly under the rain coat. The poor kitsune had never been fond of thunderstorms, but after his encounter with the Thunder Brothers, he was positively terrified of them.

Everyone was extremely relieved when they reached the lake. The raindrops were bouncing off the surface of the water rapidly, but other than that the water was peaceful. There seemed to be no sign of any demon, and for a moment, Kagome was wondering if this whole trip through the mountains had just been one wild goose-chase. Her doubts were quickly wiped away when the ground beneath her started to quake and the center of the lake startled to ripple. The ripples spread to the very edge of the body of water and waves started to coat the lake's surface. From within the deepest depths of the murky water rose a giant sea serpent. The creature shrieked angrily, causing Inuyasha to cover his ears in pain. Kagome could have sworn she even saw Sesshomaru wince at the noise.

The snake was a bright blue color with shining scales that flashed silver. Waves from the where it emerged moved to the shore and lapped at the shard hunting group's feet. Everyone readied their weapons of choice before springing into action.

"The jewel shard is still underwater! It must be in its tail!" Kagome shouted, clumsily fitting an arrow into her bow.

Inuyasha raised the Tetsusaiga over his head and slashed down on the snake's neck. Surprisingly, the great sword did not even puncture the snake's scales. Instead it scraped against it with a shrill squeak, sparks flying into the water below from the friction. Kagome heard Sesshomaru snort in disdain next to her. He obviously felt that he could to better. Instead of harming the snake, Inuyasha had only made it become more irritable.

It shrieked again and opened its mouth with a shrill hiss, revealing deadly fangs at least five feet long. The snake hissed in rapid succession, and everyone paused what they were doing, wondering what was going to happen next. Sango's eyes widened in realization when the lake began to ripple and quiver.

"It's calling reinforcements!"

Sure enough, hundreds of smaller snakes appeared from all over the lake and slithered towards the shore. They were very small compared to the snake with the Shikon shard, but they were still bigger than them and filled with very deadly venom.

Sango took out five snakes with her boomerang before they even reached the shore, and Miroku was looking for an opportunity to use his wind tunnel. A transformed Kirara was guarding Shippou who would occasionally use his fox-fire to ward of the snakes, but it was an exhausting task. Kagome was just getting ready to fire an arrow when Sesshomaru stopped her.

"Save your arrows; you're going to need them for the larger one."

"Then how am I supposed to protect myself?" she asked.

Sesshomaru smirked at her. "You won't have too."

Kagome didn't have time to figure out what he meant because in the blink of an eye, Sesshomaru's tail had wrapped around her waist. He jumped up into the air, Kagome still wrapped securely.

"Climb onto my back," he commanded.

Kagome scrambled to follow his instructions. She was holding on only with her legs as she readied an arrow. Inuyasha was still trying to find the snake's weak spot. He had managed to stab the snake inside the mouth a few times, causing it to hiss in agony and thrash, but it wasn't enough to stop the mighty beast. After thinking over her choices quickly, Kagome shouted at Inuyasha to hold the snake still. He looked at her questioningly, but obeyed anyway, wrapping his arms around the snake's neck in an effort to keep it steady.

She fumbled as she pulled the arrow back, squinting in concentration. Sesshomaru was heading closer towards the snake, and if she didn't shoot now they probably wouldn't have another chance at it. The rain still poring down her face made it hard to see. The snake was starting to thrash more, and Kagome quickly released her arrow. She closed her eyes tightly and prayed for success. A second later, she heard shrieks of agony from the snake and opened her eyes hesitantly.

Her aim had been true. The arrow had pierced the eye of the snake, and a pink light was starting to spread throughout the snake's body. It gave one last hiss before crumbled to dust. Immediately, the storm clouds vanished, as if they had never been there, and all of the smaller snakes with it. She sighed in relief and Sesshomaru squeezed her leg in reassurance.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted. "Where's the shard?"

Kagome squinted down at the lake before groaning. "It's underwater!"

Inuyasha cursed, but Sesshomaru simply told Kagome to hold her breath before plunging into the water below. If Kagome was able to scream she would've for the water was freezing cold.

'I just changed my clothes too!' she thought mournfully.

She quickly put her mind back to the task at hand and pointed to where she sensed the shard coming from for Sesshomaru. He swam over to a gathering of murky green plants, and Kagome quickly saw the slightly glowing shard. She picked it up, making it shine with a bright pink light, before gesturing to Sesshomaru to swim to the surface.

Kagome gasped for air, still clutching the shard tightly in her hand. Sesshomaru pulled her to the shore and helped pull her out. The rest of the group was delighted to finally have the shard. This had been a particularly hard one to get. Shippou jumped into Kagome's arms, happy to see her safe, and she clutched the small fox to her, eager to get warm. Inuyasha draped his haori over her shoulders and she smiled thankfully at him.

It was decided that they would camp at the lake that night since the danger in the area had been rid of.

Oh how wrong they were. . .

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in awhile! ^_^;;; I kinda ran out of ideas. Hoped you liked this chapter though, and please review!