Disclaimer: We all know that nobody on owns Inuyasha. That includes me.

Chapter 3

She had the sense that she was being watched. Of course I'm being watched. Whoever has shelled out this much money will want to know I am safe. She berated herself.

But she knew that wasn't it. There was someone in the room with her. Someone who wanted to approach her but seemed hesitant to do so.

She sipped on her champagne. She heard footsteps approach. They stopped in front of her.

She took a deep breath. She heard the person in front her do the same.

"Kagome, would you care to dance?" a familiar male voice asked.

She could hardly believe her ears. She had to have fallen asleep. It sounded like… but he had asked too politely.

She mutely nodded. Warm hands removed the cool glass from her own. Afterwards they took hold of her hands and helped her up. She ran her fingers across his finding only human nails, not claws like she secretly hoped.

He stopped several steps away from her chair. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her waist. As she placed her arms on his shoulders, she brushed his hair aside feeling rounded human ears. Again she felt disappointed.

They started dancing. Kagome found it amazingly easy to follow his lead. They danced in silence through the first song.

Into the next song, he whispered, "You look beautiful tonight."

Kagome felt herself blush. She also felt him pull her closer. This had to be a dream because she felt safe in this man's arms. Everything felt so right in this moment. She laid her head on his shoulder.

Again they danced in a comfortable silence. They danced like that for a long while. Kagome felt that her date was trying to find the courage for something. He had danced her around what must have been a ballroom at least once.

At the end of the song he stopped. Slowly he brushed his fingers across her cheek. She leaned into the touch.

"Kagome…" he whispered. Her heart raced. Again he caressed her cheek. When he reached her chin, he gently lifted her face to his.

She felt his nose touch hers for a split second before his lips were on hers. It was a soft and gentle kiss. It almost reminded her of the night in Kaguya's mirror castle when her love had decided not to become a full demon.

She was waiting to wake up. After all, isn't that what happens in dreams? One wakes up just before the kiss or in the middle of it.

She felt him untie the blindfold and the silk fluttered from her face. She kept her eyes closed.

When the kiss ended, her eyes remained closed. She hadn't been dreaming. The kiss was real. In a strange sort of way she felt like she had cheated on … him. She didn't want to open her eyes. What if it wasn't the man that she had been hoping for these past two years?

She took a deep breath to steady herself and opened her eyes. She was greeted by two beautiful violet eyes. She stared into those eyes for a long moment before taking in the rest of the man.

He looked the same but different. The violet eyes still held his intense look, but they were also full of love. His midnight black hair was pulled back, however his forelocks still hung loosely around his face. Instead of his normal firerat outfit, he was dressed in a western style tuxedo complete with tails. Bet even though he now looked like he was from the twenty-first century, he was still her …

"Inuyasha!"

She threw her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder. Her tears fell on to his jacket. This was a different Inuyasha. Instead of trying to stop her tears, he just put his arms around her and held her close.

Her fingers brushed across his rosary. Why didn't she think of that earlier? She halfway wondered if it still worked. But she just held on to him. It had been too long. She felt his hand caress her back. Slowly his hand traveled down until he came to her bottom. He gave it a light squeeze.

Kagome's eyes widened in shock. She stepped back from him.

"Inuyasha! … Sit!"

Her earlier thought was answered as the rosary brought the man to the floor.

After a few moments, Inuyasha lifted his head. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Miroku was right. It is worth the pain."

Kagome stood there. If she had any doubts, the command and the mentioning of Miroku erased them. Before she could speak, Inuyasha was back on his feet and had crossed to her.

"I apologize, Kagome. I should not have done that. I will not touch you inappropriately again this evening with out your permission."

He took her arm and led her back to the table. He straightened his jacket.

"By the way, please try not to 'sit' me again. This is a very expensive suit." He flashed her a gorgeous smile and she laughed.

She gazed at him for a long while. "You've changed."

He nodded. "Four hundred years will have a tendency to do that." He took her hand in his. "The one thing that hasn't changed is my love for you."

She sat there speechless. He had just admitted… She tried to talk but her mouth wouldn't form any words.

Inuyasha gazed into her eyes and gently squeezed her hand. "Yes, I loved you then as well. I was just too headstrong to admit it. That's why I pushed you into the well. I couldn't bear to see you hurt. It killed me when I couldn't get to you."

He tried to come for me. But the well wouldn't let him, just like it wouldn't let me.

"I tried to get back to you, too. But there was something wrong with the well." She spoke softly.

He nodded. A server came out with the meal and placed it in front of them.

Inuyasha inhaled deeply. "Ah, dinner. I hope you are hungry. I designed the menu myself."

Kagome blinked at what he had said. "So are we going to have ramen tonight?" she said with a laugh.

Inuyasha feigned rejection. "I am hurt, Kagome. You think that ramen is all I can make?" She giggled. He continued, "Sorry to disappoint you, but we will not be having ramen this evening. Besides, I said that I designed the menu, not that I cooked it. I would have liked to, but there was no time."

Kagome froze with her chopsticks halfway to her mouth. "You… cook?"

He nodded. "Very well if I may say so. I have a culinary degree."

Kagome almost choked. "You have a degree?"

He smiled. "I have quite a few actually. Most of them are duplicates of the same disciplines."

Kagome raised her eyebrow.

"Culinary, World Cultures and Business." Kagome stared at him. "What? I had to do something while I waited for you."

Kagome took a sip of her tea. "Speaking of waiting, I've been home for two years. Why have you just now come for me?"

He was quiet for a moment. He looked deeply into her eyes.

"I considered being there when you came out the well." He laughed. "Seeing the looks on your family's faces would have been priceless. Especially with me is a suit." He sighed and looked away.

"Then I remembered how inconsiderate I was four hundred years ago. I hated it when you would leave me to come here for your exams. I didn't understand then how important school was for you. Now after having worked for my own degrees, I understand. I didn't want to interfere with your studies."

Kagome's eyes filled with tears. It took him four hundred years to leave her alone to do her schoolwork, and all she wanted was to see him. She turned away from him so he wouldn't see her cry.

When she looked back at him, he gave her a small smile. "So… how is the math grade?"

She broke into tears. He didn't yell for her to stop. Instead he got out of his chair and wrapped his arms around her. He just held her close and let her cry.

After a few moments her tears subsided. He continued to hold her. She felt so embarrassed for crying in front of all these people…

She glanced around the ballroom. They were the only ones in there with the exception of the band.

"Don't worry, they work for me. After all, this is my restaurant," he whispered.

She smiled as she pulled back. She dried her eyes with his handkerchief. She laughed.

"The math grade is better than it was, but not as good as it could be. I'm better at literature and history."

He nodded. "I'm not a big math person either." He smiled evilly. "I also have an antiques shop…" He returned to his seat.

Kagome blinked. She sipped her tea. "What kind of antiques?"

"Oh, those dealing with the Warring States Era."

She smiled at him. Of course. After a few minutes she looked straight at him.

"The Cloak of Heaven," she stated.

He shrugged. "It was only right to give it back to the guardian family."

She shook her head. Kagome was bursting with questions about the past.

She leaned forward. "So what happened after I left? What about Miroku and Sango and Shippo? How in the world did you get all this money? How did we - ?"

Inuyasha held up his hand. "Later. Some of this should not be discussed over dinner."

He rose from his seat and held out his hand. "Care to dance some more?"

She accepted and he led her in something like a waltz.

"Where did you learn to dance?" she giggled.

"Rin gave me my first lessons. Then I took various classes through the years."

Kagome blinked at him. "Rin?"

Inuyasha laughed as he spun the love of his life. "Yep. She lived with Sesshomaru. After a while so did Shippo and I."

Kagome stopped dancing and stared at him. "You… lived with… Sesshomaru? How did that come about?"

Inuyasha sheepishly laughed. "Actually I still live with him." Before Kagome could say anything, he stated, "Ah, dessert."

He started to guide her back to the table. She gave him a look that stated, 'I'm not going to let this drop.'

He pulled out her chair and she continued to glare at him as she sat. Taking his own chair he sighed.

"Alright, I'll explain. My brother and I are on better terms now. But it did take a while to get to that point. There was a lot of fighting and we both killed each other more times than I can count."

He paused to sip his tea. Kagome blinked at him. "K-k-killed? So how -?"

Inuyasha stopped her. "Tensaiga. Apparently he felt empty without me to fight, so he would revive me just to do the cycle all over again. However about half the time I took him out of commission. His sword would save him and he would lick his wounds and a week and a half later we were fighting again. And this was before I went home."

Kagome was trying to process everything that she had been told. She absently took a bite of the dessert in front of her.

"Wow, this is good!" The cherries were at the right sweetness with just a touch of honey. She closed her eyes and savored the flavor.

Inuyasha smiled at her. "Now this I did make."

She giggled at him. She had to admit it was delicious. Dessert was finished quietly in pleasant company.

A/N: Wow this was a long chapter. I hope it was worth the wait. It was just a matter of getting it typed up. I have a computer in my apartment now! With internet access! Yea! Which means hopefully more updates.

Animeinsomniac: Sorry, I didn't mean to cause you problems in the library. I'm glad you like the story.

Thank you to all my reviewers.