Hey! Sorry it took so long for me to update… I was really busy, what with Thanksgiving and all… anyway, we've just finished off the turkey, so here goes!

I couldn't stand it anymore… I'm one of those people who believes that a fanfic isn't a fanfic unless Inu and Kagome are together, and I just HAD to make this the fluff chap… hope you like!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Inu. Or Miroku. Or Sesshie. In fact, since my OC isn't here yet, I don't own anybody. Oh, well… on with the story…

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It was late at night and the moon had risen high in the sky. There were only a few hours until dawn. Kagome rolled over, trying to sleep, but she had too much on her mind.

Everyone else was alseep besides her and Inuyasha. Kagome sighed and rolled over, glancing up at the silent form of the hanyou, sitting quietly with his eyes raised to the heavens, deep in thought.

A soft voice startled him a moment later. "Inuyasha?" Kagome said. He glanced down at her, his golden eyes focusing in the darkness to see that she had moved to the base of his tree and was sitting up, her eyes on him. "Can't sleep?"

"No," he answered quietly.

"Me neither." She was silent for a moment. "Listen, thanks for agreeing to this. I know how much you hate your brother, and it's nice to see that you'll do this for us."

"It's for the jewel," he muttered crossly.

Kagome glanced sadly back up at him again, her eyes reflecting her disappointment. "Oh."

Inuyasha flinched at the simple hurt in that one word, but before he could apologize, Kagome had risen and started to leave. "I'm going for a walk," she murmured quietly.

He jumped down in front of her, his gaze apologetic. "I'm sorry, Kagome," he said quickly.

She pressed past him, fed up with his constant obsession. "No, you're not," she shot back over her shoulder. "It's always about the jewel. That's all I am to you – a shard detector. That's all I'll ever be."

He whipped around and grabbed her wrist. "Kagome," he said desperately, "that's not true. I know I say that a lot more than I ought to, and I'm sorry." She didn't turn around, but listened as he went on. "You were the first one I could trust, the only person I could talk to. You didn't see me as a hanyou, a half-breed, you just saw me as me. I was thankful for that. I just…"

"Didn't have a good way of showing it?" Kagome supplied, turning back to smile slightly at him.

He moved his hand to hold hers and squeezed it. "Yeah," he agreed, his eyes begging her to believe him. "It's not easy for me to say that I care about anyone, 'cause I'm not used to anyone caring about me."

Kagome smiled and cupped his face in one hand. "That's changed now," she said comfortingly. "You've got us to count on. We care about you. Even Shippo. You know that." Inuyasha smiled slightly, his eyes never leaving hers, caught up in the feel of her cool skin against his. He knew, deep down, his feelings for her, but it was so hard to say them out loud.

"Kagome…" he started, his hand moving up to cover hers. She hesitated, then moved a step back.

"Don't start this," she pleaded nervously. Occasionally he would start to show some affection for her, when he couldn't help it any more, but she wasn't welcoming the thought at the moment. "We both know you love Kikyou."

Inuyasha winced at her tone of voice. "Kikyou…" he said thoughtfully. "The Kikyou that roams the lands today is not the Kikyou I loved fifty years ago, Kagome. She's changed. She no longer has the spirit or the cheer she did back then. I promised to protect her because I owe it to her, after all she did, but I don't love her."

He hesitated for a split second. "I love you, Kagome," he said finally, and those four words took more courage than facing down any demon in the world did.

Kagome's eyes widened. She blinked once, twice, and suddenly broke into a smile and threw herself towards him, clutching him tightly in a breathtaking embrace. He returned the hug, stroking her ebony hair. When her head turned up to look at him, he met her blue-gray eyes with his golden ones and smiled back at her. Suddenly, to his surprise, she leaned up on tiptoe and kissed him.

He froze, too amazed to react for a second. Then he pulled her tighter against him and closed his eyes in contentment. When she broke away, beaming up at him, his eyes gentled and he buried his face in her hair, enjoying her scent.

He gently trailed kisses up the side of her neck, to her throat, all the way up to her jaw. She shivered slightly, her eyes closed, savoring the feeling. Finally his lips met hers again in a gentle, chaste kiss before he broke off, his eyes smiling down at her.

She sighed happily. Inuyasha swiftly scooped her up and leapt into the tree he was in before, settling down on a branch a short ways above the ground. He sat against the trunk with Kagome in front of him, leaning against his chest comfortably. He rested his head on her shoulder, gazing up at the stars, his hands around her waist. She let a contented smile cross her face and turned her head, kissing his cheek softly before turning back to the stars. He held her tighter against him, his love bounding higher with every move she made, reaching distances he'd never thought it could.

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Well? Too much fluff? Too little? Review, people, review!

Anyway, before I go on, remember to check out my sister's fanfic when you get time. She's socialkween (the name fits her more perfectly than you could imagine). It's called Captive. She's been making me read it, and it's not all that bad.

Ok, I might as well start writing the next chapter… r&r pleez! Bye!