Thx 4 the reviews n stuff I hope y'all r enjoying the story so far, I know its movin a lil slow :P jus bear w/ me till we get 2 the exciting stuff, k?


Sesshomaru was eating calmly and slowly at his big dinner table. His head flicked up as Kagura entered the room. He didn't think he would ever get used to eating with other people. It bothered him that others could sit at the same table, the same level as him. It as a trait he had acquired from his father: hautiness. He wasn't quite as bad as the late business guru, who hadn't even allowed his servants to eat underneath the same roof as him, but he disliked anyone who placed himself or herself equal to his status. However, he would tolerate Kagura because he owed her. Sesshomaru didn't like that thought either, but it was the truth.

"Kagura, I need to speak with you." Sesshomaru stated briefly.

"So speak." Kagura pulled up a chair and stared to dig through her food. Her bluntness was something that Sesshomaru both admired yet detested.

"You see, this mansion is home to many, many big festivals and other celebrations." Kagura nodded. She reckoned that he wanted her to hide during each festivity so that no one would question him about her. It could be arranged. She wasn't one for those lavish parties anyway. "I am hosting a very big ball party in a few days. There will be many important figures attending."

"So you want me to stay upstairs and to keep quiet. Got it. Next?"

Sesshomaru bristled. It was so like this young girl to be naïve and think that she was right in every single way. Though the idea was tempting though, he did not like deceiving and hiding. And that was precisely what Kagura was expecting him to do. "No." Besides, someone was bound to find out sooner or later and it would be even bigger news than if they found that he was just keeping a young girl on the premises with him. Keeping not hiding. "I would like you to attend."

At this, Kagura stared up at him, her spoon stopping where it was, inches away from her mouth. "You- you want me to go to your big ball party? Why?" She was no good at these kinds of things and…and what would she wear? She didn't know anyone, didn't know what to do, and how in the world would Sesshomaru explain her presence at his home?

"Before you bombard me with questions, let me just explain my motives." Sesshomaru stared her square in the eye and made her calm down a little. "You will attend the ball because it will be a good experience for you."

"A good EXPERIENCE for me? Do you have any idea what you're-"

"Listen." She fell once more. "As I have said before, this mansion is home to many parties and celebrations. You are going to stay here for a very loooonng time. So someone is bound to find out about you staying here. We might as well bring it upfront." He saw Kagura's uncertainty and smiled lightly. "Don't worry, no one will think less or more of you and this party is strictly private."

"Fine, but…" Kagura trailed off. "But what am I supposed to wear? I just about didn't bring ANYTHING from where I used to live." Truth be told, even if she had, she wouldn't have anything to wear anyway.

"That is why you will need new clothes."

Kagura stared. "But- but I don't have any money!"

Sesshomaru chuckled. "Kagura, you expect me to let you pay for anything? From now on, all your expenses will be paid for on my account." Seeing her protesting face, he assured her, "Kagura, you could buy half the malls in Tokyo and not make a dent on ONE of my credit cards." She stared at him in awe.

"Thank you." She whispered quietly. "But I'm really not one for shopping."

Sesshomaru nodded. "I figured that. I have an entirely new wardrobe for you upstairs. Go have a look."

Kagura hesitated. She didn't want to rush up and shriek like a little girl, but…she did like new things. Especially new clothes, since she didn't get much of them. Oh, screw it! She smiled widely at Sesshomaru and raced upstairs to check out her closet.


"Oh my God." Kagura covered her mouth with her hands. It was beautiful. No, not a shirt or a pair of pants, just the entire thing. She had never seen so many beautiful things…in her entire life. Kagura whipped around and saw Sesshomaru leaning against the doorframe. With all the strength in her, she flung herself at him and embraced him. Ignoring his very surprised yet still look, she turned around and just walked back slowly to her new wardrobe. "I can't believe you bought all this." There were piles and piles of beautiful clothes. It was a mix of famous labels and a blur of emotion. Everything was gorgeous and there was also a big display of expensive looking jewelry, but one thing caught her eye. Out of all the clothes, casual and fancy, sparkling or witty, there was this one dress. A dress that she had only seen a precious few times. It had been in her family for generations, but after Kikyo's death, Naraku had sold it off in an auction. Kagura felt her throat tighten.

Picking up the dress, she asked Sesshomaru, "Where did you get this?" She was bravely trying to push back her tears, but it wasn't working. "How?"

"I thought you'd like it," Sesshomaru told her. Without answering her question, he turned and walked away. He left her standing there, looking so incredibly dazed and confused. Truthfully, he didn't even have to get her all that stuff, but he did it anyway.

"Why do you always do that?" Kagura asked him quietly. Sesshomaru stopped.

"Do what?"

"Walk away." With that he turned back at her, and stared. It- it was something that he couldn't explain. He just liked to leave in the middle of things, to find silence. Silence was something that he found… most comforting. He had never had much of it as a child, with his idiot brother always flying around him and his father's executives dropping in all the time. Now, at the age of thirty, he disliked noise. Before, when his mother was alive, he had been like any other child, playing and being careless. But after his father remarried, he had to grow out of being a kid. Inu Yasha had taken his childhood years from right underneath him. Both him and his stupid mother. Sesshomaru didn't even understand why his father would marry such a poor woman, a woman who had no money, no inheritance, no class, no status! His mother had been highborn, a relative of Japanese royalty. She had been born and raised into a high-class society. His mother had had everything anyone could possibly want in a wife. But even during her marriage, she had been desperately sick and sad.

Flashback

"Mama. Mama, are you all right?" A young Sesshomaru asked. His mother lay on her big queen sized bed, coughing. "Father! Father, please come, I think mother's getting worse!" But his mother shook her head, still coughing.

"He…he will not come, Sesshomaru." She closed her eyes, tears brimming and dripping off her eyelashes. "No…" She was rasping, her voice nowhere near the calm, soothing tone that sung lullabys to Sesshomaru until he fell asleep. "He will not come." Sesshomaru stared at her, biting his lip, not understanding.

"But why, Mama?"

"You do not understand." She grasped her son's warm hands tenderly. "He must be with his mistress…"

"Mistress?"

Nodding, Sesshomaru's mother started coughing again, her slim shoulder's heaving. Sesshomaru swallowed at his mother's disheveled appearance. He could see the droop of her shoulders, the shadows of sleepless nights beneath her beautiful eyes. The sadness that constantly lay awake in her. "But do not blame him… I am older now. She is young. Young and beautiful. And- and she can bear him more children." His mother smiled kindly at him. "He loves children, Sesshomaru." A moment later, Sesshomaru detected sadness beneath her eyes once more. "I- I cannot give him more children. But I am happy with you, darling. I love you."

"I love you too Mama."

His mother smiled down tenderly at him. "I know you do. Now go to sleep."

"Goodnight Mama."

"Goodnight." After a slight pause, she added. "Goodbye."

End Flashback

At the time, Sesshomaru had found it very strange, the fact that his mother would add that "Goodbye." But now he understood. She had known all along that she would die. That goodbye in her dim, stuffy room was for all time. His mother died in the middle of the night. His father was on the other side of town, bedding with his mistress.

"I don't know why I do." Sesshomaru answered Kagura, who was still staring at him, puzzled.

"Well, it doesn't do any good and it confuses me." Kagura scowled. "Thanks for all this though. I know it must have taken some time to track down this dress. My- my great-great-grandmother's cocktail dress. Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

Sesshomaru cocked an eyebrow. "So then you throw yourself at me and hug me?"

Kagura blushed. Shrivelling a little bit, she said, "Sorry about that. It's just that no one has ever done this for me. No one's bothered to think about me." That note of sadness in her voice. Sesshomaru turned his hair and studied her intensely. It was the same note of sadness that his mother had had the night before her death. When she was speaking to him. From that moment on, he realized that Kagura was just a fragile, just as delicate, as his late mother was. And his mother, being that fragile, delicate piece of glass, had died because his father had dropped her and let her shatter. He would never let that happen to Kagura.

For her sake and his own.