"[her] reflection of the soul
deep down in my heart
filling a hole
created by hate
the fact - the fact that I'm alone
her face has turned to stone
Feel the rhythm, feel the soul."

-Lords of Acid 'Take Control'-


Sesshomaru could not fully admit that he enjoyed this change in Kagome, couldn't even consider it totally truthful. Yes, her bubbly and emotional outlook had rubbed him raw in many ways all those years ago, but yet, he seemed to miss it. It had been who she was, and all those smiles she gave, was what made her shine the most. True that she was a calm and educated young woman now, he knew that keeping all of one's emotions hidden was not healthy. This collected and silent miko in front of him, gave him reasons to mentally fidget. He was used to being the controlled one, to being the one who could read everyone's emotions, and yet her strangely beautiful face remained a mask in front of him.

'This will not do at all.. Oh, what are you saying, of course it will do! Her petty emotions no longer taint her scent..'

"Feh..."

He waved a hand in front of his face, earning a strange glance from Kagome, who had been content to eat her rice in silence. He returned the look, though his could be considered a glare. To replace his dignity, and to not look an absolute fool, he growled.

"A day is not satisfactory. You shall be ready by tomorrow morning. This Sesshomaru does not wait for a ningen's need to prepare. You will be ready, and that is the simple fact."

He leaned away from the low table, trying to look menacing at best. His usual motion of crossing his arms over his chest of course could not be taken into consideration. Turning his head to the side, as if he was dismissing her, he waited for some sort of angry reaction from the woman seated across from him, finally the silence was too much, and he turned just to see if she was still in the room.

Sure enough, the miko was still present, continueing to eat softly from the white bowl in front of her. It seemed that not even anger could break through as easily as it had years ago.

"Have you not even the respect to listen to me when I speak in your direction? I sai-"

"I know what you said Lord Sesshomaru. If you wish for me to attempt it as early as tomorrow, than I shall. It would be unwise to rush such things but...."

His slender eyebrow rose up, and if Kagome knew no better, she would assume that this had angered the great Sesshomaru. She remained impassive as she continued to eat the rice in front of her.

"You would say that this Sesshomaru is unwise? That is a mistake miko, one that you will pay for dearly."

He heard her chopsticks being set down on the table lightly, as she brushed her hands on the napkin that sat in her lap. She took a few moments to completely chew what was left in her mouth before she cleared her throat. Her blue gaze seemed ignited with what he could only call irritation. 'How dare she be irritated at this Sesshomaru! I am not some child, I am a demon that should be feared!'

"Lord Sesshomaru, this miko is saying nothing of the like. I just wish to press the fact that in order to restore your arm to your being, I must use my miko powers, and if I am not fully prepared, something could happen to jeopardize your health. This miko meant no respect in her words."

Now, his jaw was loose from it's position and sagging open at such open shock. Was this woman not angered by his words? Could she not break her mask enough just for one small emotion to slip through? It was truly unnerving to see her so stoic with everything she said and did. 'Kagome, what has happened to you?'

"I care not, you will be prepared by the next sunrise. I have waited many years for my arm to be restored, I will wait no longer. If something does happen in error, I trust you understand that it will be taken out on you."

His head was tilted down, as if he would give his table more attention than the miko, but he could not help to stare out through his pale lashes at the miko before him. Her only reaction to his further words, was to stand from her position and walk towards the doors. 'She is leaving without permission, you must stop her and reprimand her in the upmost manner. She must learn her position!'

Sesshomaru did not ignore this voice, but instead slammed his hand on the table as he jerked to his feet. Dashing towards the door, he slammed it back shut with a loud growl reverberating through the halls.

"I have not given you permission to leave miko, you presume to much relaxiation when you are in my home. I command respect, and leaving without my word is a direct insult to my being."

Instead of her cheeks flushing with indignation, instead of screaming her head off, she just slowly rotated till she met his gaze, having to tilt her head back lightly, but not as much as she had too years ago.

"Gomen Lord Sesshomaru, but I must prepare myself if you really wish to be healed of your current state tomorrow."

With that she turned back towards the door and left, since his hold on the door had slackened with her words. What was it with him? Had he truly weakened that much since Rin had come and gone from his life? He noticed his reactions were unfair, and rather arrogant, he noticed how she held nothing but respect from her end, and yet he continued to disrespect her. Why did he feel the need to respect her, and yet deny her of it? Because she was a human miko and he was supposed to hate her kind?

With a sigh, he slapped his palm against the door and growled in anger before he swung himself out of the dining area and stalked down the corridors, making his way to his private chambers.

----------

"What was that move that they taught in self-defense, where you block the killer's knife? Move with some confidence,
the signal when you're trapped inside a moving car,
I wonder if he'll drive real far. What a day, you should've stayed home shootin' the breeze all day, you should think next time before you start to play, I wonder what will happen today."

-Nonpoint 'What a Day'-

Kagome's night had not gone well, she had spent most of it in deep meditation, to ready her body and mind for the task that she had ahead of herself. Not even a fully-trained miko would be able to do something as returning a demon's arm without problems among the way. Her biggest one, was to find a way to protect Sesshomaru while she worked, and yet leave enough opening so that her miko powers could set to work. While she found Sesshomaru to be oddly irritating at times, she did not wish for his life to be terminated early for her mistakes, or even hurt for that matter.

Even more so, she did not wish to give him a reason to particularly hate her at the moment, she was human, that was bad enough. Lord forbid if she was a human that had hurt him from her mistakes.

Getting only a few hours of peaceful sleep, she would have to take extra care she was precise with her every move during the "procedure". She bathed quickly, clothing herself with a kimono of harsher fabric, one that was meant to be worn during travel and more things besides pleasing one's host. She kept her hair flowing though, a difference from her appearance earlier. The servant from the previous day was waiting outside of her doors when she walked through, her feet once again covered with her boots.

"Lord Sesshomaru awaits you in his office."

Instead of being lead there by the servant, she left after her message was relayed, though it did not bother the miko much. She knew her way quite well around Sesshomaru's abode by now, using his scent as a guide. She would not tell him of this new developement, but instead kept it her own secret. She had many things that she kept from her host. Calmly making her way to his office, she did not even have to knock upon the large door, before she heard his smooth voice call to her from his desk no doubt.

She walked in without a seconds passing, standing quietly in front of his desk.

"I hope you are ready. I require that you do this quickly, I have many things to do today."

With a bow of her dark head, feeling a few strands fall over her shoulder and brush across her cheek, she did not dare restrain it at the moment. She looked towards the taiyoukai, as if expecting him to move from his position at the desk, when he did not, she tapped her foot on the floor before she crossed her arms over her chest, her voice remaining the same.

"Lord Sesshomaru, I would reccommend that we do this outside in one of the gardens. I have taken as many precautions as I can, but still, in case something does go wrong then I would not wish to destroy your study or any part of your home."

Surprisingly, the demon stood up then, and walked out of the study, expecting her to follow close behind him as he walked from his home and into the lesser gardens, with little to no significance. Already there was a blanket laid out on the grass, with a pillow, no doubt for the demon to place his head upon so that he might relax. Kagome was the first to kneel upon the fabric, letting her legs fold under her weight.

"If you would, please lay upon the blanket so that you may be as comfortable as possible while I do this. It will hurt by nature, no need to be in any discomfort more than you have to be."

She watched as he stared at the blanket as if it might bite him should he lay upon it, but with a stern glare from the miko, he seated himself, before letting his upper body fall upon the ground. He looked towards the miko, who was kneeling tightly against his left side. She placed her right hand upon his chest, almost jumping back when he snatched at her hand and almost flung it from his person.

"Lord Sesshomaru! I am not going to hurt you, i only wish to place a ward of protection on your being, just in case my powers rage out of control. Trust me when I say that this miko would never intentionally harm you."

Their gazes locked over the air between them, golden orbs staring deep into the dark blue orbs. He didn't know how to explain it, but he did trust her, it had just been instinct to snatch at the human that dared touch him. He was surprised that she had taken both his health, and the state of his home into consideration when she prepared for this. He gave a final nod of his head, to signal that he was ready for her to begin.

They both watched as a lavender glow flowed from out of her hand and surronded his entire form, though it didn't seem to reach to his stump, was it because she did not want her protection ward to throw off the power she would use to restore his arm? He waited, till he looked towards the morning sky. He was aware of all that was going on, but he could feel his senses dull slightly. 'She is trying to blind-side you! She's going to kill you, or run from her duties!' He lazily slsapped at the voice. 'Nonsense, she is just trying to keep me from feeling the brunt of the force.' Wait, why was he defending this miko from his youkai voice?

He turned his eyes to watch as she finally cupped both of her hands around the end of his stump, her eyes closing as she focused on the power within her, so that she could manipulate it. She was rather prett like that, with her loose dark hair flowing behind her, her face calm and smooth in her concentration. Her scent was just as calming, making Sesshomaru's eyes close as he let her administer to him as she saw fit.

Kagome, all the while, was forcing her power to calm under her stroking hand. Sometimes she thought it did have a mind of it's own, and it didn't seem to enjoy the idea of helping a demon, not one bit. She was glad that she had placed that protective ward around Sesshomaru, for now it seemed that it wouldn't be such an easy task. Slowly, but surely it started to calm as she mentally caressed it now, molding it in mental hands as she softly pushed it towards the stump that was being held by her physical hands. In her memories, she brought to mind the exact vision of what it would look like. The muscular tone, the length, the skin hue. Down to the very youkai marks near his wrist. The long claws, it all had to be perfect. And slowly, like she was a seamstress, she worked her hands down the air in front of the stump, starting to feel warm skin below as his arm started to take shape.

She could feel that his heart was still beating in a regular repetition. All his vitals seemed to be normal, and his thoughts were not that worried, though what she heard in his mind was slightly confusing...

'She is not so bad for a human. She can keep her emotions under control now, but I wish she would smile, at least once, I feel at a lose.... SHUT UP!! Stop whimpering over the miko. She's a human, should be destroyed... But how could I destroy such a beauty...'

She reeled back from his thoughts, but did not lose her concentration as her powers continued to work down his arm. Now his fingers were in her hands and she only had the claws to finish. Neither Sesshomaru or her sensed the quick arrival of Jaken, the annoying toad. He assumed the worst of course that the miko was trying to kill his master. With an agility that Kagome would have thought the toad was bereft of, he swung his two headed staff and let it connect against the back of cranium before she could react. Her concentration slipped, just as the left arm was completely finished. With her mind suddenly surronded by two youkai, her power lashed out, no longer under her control. She tried to mentally hug it wth her arms, and swallow it back into her body, but it's effects had already been acheived. Jaken had been thrown across the garden, slamming against a tree.

With a gasp she looked down to Sesshomaru. He was still breathing, his body was still intact, but he wasn't waking up from his semi-sleep like she had thought. She grabbed at his shoulders, shaking them harshly as she tried to awaken the taiyoukai.

"SESSHOMARU!!"

Something had gone wrong, those few seconds where her power had been out of control, her protection ward must have slipped. 'This can't be happening, this can't be happening.' She pulled her hand back and slapped her palm against his cheek, hoping that the disrespectful reaction would awaken him, but when it did not work, her breathing turned ragged. For a second, the old Kagome came back full-force. Her face was contorted in frustration and anger towards herself for letting her concentration slip.

Finally she decided what it was that she would have to do. With a sigh, something seemed to change about the woman as she stood, pulling at the youkai's arms till he was dragging on the ground, pulling one of his arms across her shoulders, her other arm around his waist, as she limped from his weight into his home. Once inside she was screaming for anyone to help her, just her luck the neko youkai was the first to reply. The woman got under his otherside and helped Kagome drag him to his private chambers, where he was laid on the bed. Once he was down, Kagome was sitting on the bed, pushing away the female demon with a determination.

"Leave us, do not let anyone disturb me. If my concentration is broken once again, it could very well kill your master this time.... Thank you for your help though."

As the woman exited, Kagome looked down to Sesshomaru. He looked so peaceful, it was hard to believe that something was gravely wrong with him. Why was he not waking up?

----------

Authors Note: I am well aware that a human would not be able to begin to support a demon such as Sesshomaru. There is a secret that Kagome is hiding, and I'm sure some of you might be able to guess what it is.

Confusion of course.

The Shikon No Tama is in Kagome..... but was it wished upon?