Yeah, chapter 6, mmhmm. Things are going to be explained now; well, sorta. I suppose.

Disclaimer: Oh guess. Do you honestly think that I might own Inu-Yasha? Ha.

Reflection

Chapter 6-Into the Labyrinth

"I'm aware of that," he spat with distaste.

Kagome's eyes, wide with fear and frustration, slowly settled to a calm as she realized with immense relief that her horrible nightmare-vision had finally ended. "Ohh..." Her tense muscles relaxed, and she placed a shaky hand on her forehead. "I-I think that..." An uneasy feeling clung to her, and she felt her world spinning.

Sesshomaru said nothing; observing her quietly . Kagome was an unhealthy pale, and her hair was damply plastered to her head.

After a few moments, he draped an arm across her lithe form, lifted her back from the ground, and began guiding her to the pond, just feet away.

She responded well, giving in to his comforting gesture cooperatively, "Why are you here..?' She mumbled.

"It's my garden," And he helped her bend over the water. In actuality, he had heard her faint screams as she was dreaming while in the hall, and had mistaken her for Rin. But Kagome didn't have the strength to pursue the subject, nor could she, as she was suddenly found herself emptying the contents of her stomach.

Her embarrassment for this in front of the demon lord was only slight, her mind was thinking of other things. Like, for example, why this latest vision had stirred her to such a point that she wanted to throw up.

Fireflies danced across the surface of the pond. Many hours had passed since Kagome had slipped out of consciousness, and night had fallen.

Despite the fact that her bout of sickness had ended, the young girl remained hunched over, trying to regain her composure. Eventually, Kagome began to splash icy handfuls of water onto her face, pausing only to scrub a bit. Sesshomaru only watched.

Her fingers trailed over her face slowly as she swept the last remnants of sleep from her eyes. Suddenly, however, her back straightened quickly, and she stared at the pond in a brief second of shock. "Sesshomaru," she began gently, gaze never leaving the water, "Who is Tenshik?"

It was then Sesshomaru's turn to look surprised, though he still kept up his manner of indifference. "What business is it of yours?"

Kagome merely pointed at the surface with what seemed like a hint of annoyance. "That," She said dryly.

Hesitantly, he moved his stare to the pond, and immediately suppressed a gasp.

"How much you want to bet only you and I can see it?" Kagome was hardly irked. Rather, she was taking it quite nicely; which was hardly believable, because staring back at her in the water where her reflection should have been, was a woman with cascading golden hair.

'Tenshik,' the name echoed in his mind as Sesshomaru looked at the woman he thought had left the earth long ago.

"You gonna tell me or what?" Kagome muttered, eyes unmoving. "Because I think by now I have a right to know."

The demon swallowed and closed his eyes silently. "She and I..." His voice trailed off.

"Yes?" Kagome urged.

"She was my mate." Kagome couldn't pretend that it was a surprise. She had suspected as much , the way the subject of the woman with gold hair had been so fragile the last time she had questioned him.

"Tenshik was a spirit, not in anyway a demon like myself." His hand twisted around the grass. "She was a spirit of the earth and of life."

The brilliant sun had been replaced with the moon many hours ago, and it hung above the two like an omen.

"A demigod," Sesshomaru continued, "She brought light and joy wherever she went." Kagome imagined them for a moment, and wondered how someone as icy and impenetrable could be mate to one so pure. Absently, she was reminded of a moth drawn to a flame.

"I took her to mate, but there were those who opposed us; demons not unlike Naraku who recognized the power that was held between us." His hands clenched tighter. Kagome could just barely make out the dark streaks of blood that flowed from his palm out of the force pressed upon his skin. "The feared that strength, and thus tried to destroy our bond, and they succeeded, even with betrayal bourn of common trickery." His head suddenly shot up to face her and she almost backed away out of instinct.

"In the end, they murdered Tenshik, by any means necessary. By possessing all that she loved and lived for, and turning her world against her." There was a heavy silence, and then: "Tenshik was not a warrior, she didn't have the heart to destroy what she cherished, and she didn't realize the demons and the part they played in it all."

At his next words, Sesshomaru wrenched the grass form its roots forcefully. "I was not at her side when it happened." Kagome could feel his anger, "I managed to reach her, and shatter the spell just as she took her last breaths. When she died, I held her in my arms, That is what you saw."

He seemed to have regained his calm, but Kagome couldn't be sure, so she phrased her next question as delicately as possible. "What did she say to you when she died?"

As if remembering something, a flash of surprise and shock flew across his features, and he made to say something to her, but stopped just as his mouth began to form the words. "You needn't know that." It was a hurried response, so brief and quick that Kagome could see through him easily, he didn't want her to know, it was a matter of importance or privacy, he was keeping it from her.

She shrugged in spite of his secrecy, and moved to the most pressing mystery. Kagome was nearly speechless, she had been profoundly moved by this woman's tragic history, and a touch relieved that she hadn't yet experienced her death in a vision. 'It must have been so horrible...' she thought. But there was still a piece of the puzzle missing, sure it was clearer now, but something remained unanswered.

"Why is she haunting me?" She said it as if Sesshomaru might know, but of course, he was just as confused. His precious, his lost mate, more dear to him than any sword, more dear to him than his own life, why did she return now as a ghostly specter? He was just as troubled by it as Kagome, but he wasn't about to show that to her.

"I shall escort you back to my brother now." He said sharply, choosing to deny her an adequate response to her question altogether.

"Oh no!" Kagome exclaimed, "please don't!"

He fixed her with a stare that obviously urged her to elaborate. Kagome blushed deeply, she knew she wasn't going to enjoy sharing this with him, of all people. "Inu-Yasha sort of said that he... Loved me, which is why I came running here in the first place. I, um, panicked."

Sesshomaru didn't move an inch, "Do you love him?" He asked patiently.

Kagome faded into an even deeper scarlet, "I don't know." Her words were meek and shy, barely audible.

"You will need to speak to him of it."

She nodded, a little taken back by what resembled concern being found in Sesshomaru, "Not tonight."

Neither of them spoke for a few heartbeats, and then: "Come, I will show you to your own room."

Kagome's relief was clearly evident, and she released her breath deeply and slowly as she rose with the demon lord and they walked silently through the shadowy trees. She followed him into the complex halls, and together, they journeyed into the depths of the palace. After a long trek across brightly polished floors, they came to a halt before a particular door. Sesshomaru slid it open, and the entered. Like everything else, it was shrouded in blackness but he managed to lead her to her bed.

"Thanks..." Kagome murmured. Characteristically, Sesshomaru said nothing, and turned to depart. "Goodnight," she called softly to his retreating form.

When she was certain that he had left, Kagome slipped into her futon carefully, and laid her had upon the pillow. Dimly, she amused herself with the thought that her bag was out there somewhere, probably in the garden at the entrance to the castle, where she had absently left it in her haste to see Inu-Yasha. But it was only a passing thing, and she was soon left to stew over the grim situation at hand. Sleep wasn't going to come easy tonight.



Kagome woke to sunlight falling upon her eyelids; much to early as well, for out of fear of dreaming of Tenshik, Kagome hadn't accepted rest for but a few hours.

Her blurry eyes flicked about her room momentarily, looking around curiously. The sun illuminated her surroundings efficiently, and it was filtered through a large door to her left, which she had mistaken for a wall the night before; it was tough, but transparent. There was a stately wardrobe in a corner and standing tall and formal on the opposite side was a mirror.

She skittered away a bit at the sight of the mirror, suddenly fearful of the looking glass, and not in the least forgetting her most recent vision.

They were the most prominent pieces of the room, although various valuables like pieces of art were scattered about decoratively.

All in all, it was the room of a person that was obviously very wealthy and powerful. 'Well yeah,' Kagome thought, 'It is Sesshomaru.' But then again, the chamber did seem to hold a particular uniqueness.

The girl could only assume that the door which filtered the sunlight led out to a courtyard or something, perhaps like the garden, but near the mirror, there was a second, smaller door.

In the end, curiosity got the better of her again, and Kagome got up to inspect it. Patting down her rumpled uniform, her feet moved softly to the door cross the smooth floor. Her hand grasped the handle, and she pulled back...

...Only to shut it as quickly as possible.

"It's Sesshomaru's room!" She cried. At once, she slumped down onto the floor, panting. Her heart raced as she tried to at least be relieved that Sesshomaru himself hadn't been there when she peeked. In fact, her only hint that it was his room at all was that she had seen the Tensaiga lying neatly in front of her, just a foot to the right of the door.

"Oh hell..." Kagome muttered as she looked up to stare at the ceiling, "It never ends..."

For several hours, Kagome sat sulkily in her room; moving restlessly about now and then, and always trying terribly hard to get a grip on things. She had taken to snooping around her chamber, and contentedly pawed at the furnishings.

After a long search, Kagome ended up discovering five formal kimonos laying neatly in her wardrobe (complete with all necessary accessories of course) that the largest door opened onto the mountains, and another door, which led to a private bathroom.

But this was hardly enough to satisfy her, and Kagome soon found herself becoming increasingly bored, and eager to be released form such confining walls.

"I'm going out." She said decidedly to no one in particular after an hour of lying around. "I'm going out, because I should eat something, yes." She nodded to give the statement more emphasis. Despite being her excuse to step out should anyone ask, it was also true. Kagome had surrendered her stomach to the pond the night before, and even then, she had hardly eaten anything for hours.

So with determined gusto, Kagome gathered herself and stomped to the door; ready to rip it open and charge into the wide world.

But as her hand fell upon the handle, it was torn open for her, revealing Sango bearing a large tray of food.

"Kagome-chan!" She exclaimed happily as she rushed into the room.

"Oh, Sango, um, chan-Why are you here?" Kagome stuttered as Sango brushed past her to set the tray down.

She whirled around suddenly, pulling Kagome into a tight embrace. "Kagome-chan! I was worried, you were gone for hours!

Kagome patted her friend's back comfortingly, "Sorry Sango-chan, I fell asleep I the garden."

"Garden?" Sango peered at her curiously. "All that we heard from Sesshomaru was that he had escorted you to your own room late in the night. Why did you leave Inu-Yasha so early?

Kagome smiled, "Well, I'll fill you in, but," and she cast a hungry glance at the tray of food, "You're going to have to let me have a bit of that, I'm starving!"

"HE WHAT?" Sango shouted, slamming her cup down and sending drops of tea flying.

Kagome had just finished describing the nights' events, leaving bits out about her dream and such like that. She expected Sango would have to have it all explained to her someday, and after witnessing her break-down in the woods, probably really wanted to know, but not until Kagome had figured it all out for herself first.

As of this moment, she had timidly come out with her whole reason for running out to the garden: Inu-Yasha's confession.

"That twit..." Sango growled, "He really doesn't have a clue when it comes to women, does he? Almost as bad as Miroku... Did he have any real emotion in his voice when he said it?"



"Not much," Kagome giggled, " he actually seemed kind of proud of himself!"



The two girls laughed over their tea, and Kagome was suddenly very grateful for Sango's consoling presence. It was wonderful to have such a close friend in the feudal era.

"So," Sango chuckled as she settled back down, "Why do you think Sesshomaru put you next door to him, huh?" She was carefully avoiding the subject of Kagome's odd behavior, though questions burned through her skull; Sango could tell that Kagome was shy of it.

"Dunno," she mumbled as she quietly sipped her drink.

Sango nodded, "Will you, go to see Inu-Yasha today?" Kagome froze.

"I think I have to..." Her hand gripped Sango's shoulder suddenly, "But Sango-chan, what am I going to say?" Her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Do you love him?"

"I-I don't know!" Kagome cried despairingly. She buried her head in her hands and sobbed. Truly, it wasn't the fact that she didn't know that troubled her, it was the fact that five or six days ago she knew she would've said yes in a heartbeat. All of a sudden, she just wasn't sure...

"There, there," Sango cooed, "It'll be okay Kagome-chan."

Kagura pressed her fan to her nose in disgust, "The hanyou's blood," she growled.

She was standing rigidly, staring at the obvious scene of a battle: trees were decimated in all directions, scattered like kindling on the wind. Immense craters fanned out in the shape of raking claws, and some still were still smoking faintly. Blood was spattered everywhere and although it was dry, it still held a distinct scent.

"He left such a clean trail, Naraku will be pleased about this." She smiled and leapt into the air, alighting gently on her feathery transport, and scooting into the distance.

Alright kids! That's chapter six! I realize it's a little short, but the last chapter was eleven pages, so cut me some slack. I have lovely surprises in store for chapter seven, so keep reading.