Disclaimer: It's not fair, I don't own Inuyasha!

A/N: I would like to personally thank all of you who reviewed: kiddy586, deAth to KoOKie, Idiots make me sneeze (love the name), Shessysmate, seshhomaru's babe, pure-sweet, scorpion's lady, spiritoftomoe (thank you for the lovely review), Cancer, Sakura-Blossom-Goddess, venusserenade, LynGreenTea, searing-wind-alchemist, Dream Bandit, BloodyHues, All Things Anime, sesshoumaru's-secret-mate, Touch Inuyasha and you die, artemisgirl, aninaig, Jade the Fairyness, and Lady Psyche.

Last time:

When the person removed the hood, Sesshomaru's thin eyebrows rose to his hairline and gasped inaudibly.

"Well, this was certainly unexpected." Kagome said with a smile.

Chapter 2: Collect

"What is the meaning of this wench?" Sesshomaru demanded through gritted teeth. He was fast losing his patience after seeing who had brought him, the son of the Great Dog Demon, here.

Completely ignoring his question, the priestess began to circle his suspended figure with a wide smile on her face. She walked completely around him twice before stopping behind his tall form where he could not turn his head to see what she was doing. He was becoming more annoyed and angry since she still did not respond to his inquiry.

"Wench, if you do not answer me, you will suffer a slow death by my hands." He knew it was useless to make a threat when he could not move, but damn it, he was pissed and she still was paying him no attention (well, as far as he could tell since she remained behind him). He had no idea what she wanted, and with her lack of responses it was starting to shred what little patience he had left.

'What is she doing out of my view? What is she thinking? But most of all, what does she want from me?'

&&&&

Kagome's mind was racing a mile a minute, and so was her heart.

When she first entered the clearing, she did not expect to have a full-blooded demon stuck in the sphere. As soon as she recognized the demon, she could not help but feel superior for having caught Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands. It was a nice feeling after all those times he acted better than her and her friends.

As she faced him, Kagome could not stop the smile coming and staying on her face. She had to saunter around his prone figure to keep from laughing in his face. The smile lingered because of the amusing thoughts going through her mind, so she had to circle him a second time.

'Ha, this is too funny for words. Sesshomaru is stuck in the orb and can't get out. This is great! Who would have thought the 'almighty' Lord Sesshomaru would get caught in my trap? Nobody that's for sure. I bet he didn't even think he would be captured by my trap. Well, good thing he's confined in there, because I think he's going to kill me this time if he gets out.'

She stopped behind him, because she wanted to compose herself before she answered his questions. Kagome looked at the nature around her to gather her thoughts.

'I guess I better tell him why he's here.' A small smile came to her lips, 'Yeah, I'll just say you happened to fall into my trap, so that means...'

The young priestess could not finish that last thought when the realization of the situation hit her. 'HOLY SHIT! SESSHOMARU IS IN MY TRAP!' She turned back to look at his immobilized figure to be sure of it. 'SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT! HE'S REALLY IN MY TRAP! SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!'

She started to pace back and forth at her rapid thoughts. 'This can't be happening! I do not have Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, half-brother to Inuyasha, and powerful full-blooded dog demon in my trap. Maybe there was something wrong with the spell.' Hope filled her being, 'That's it! Something must have gone wrong for him to be summoned here by the orb. There is no way that Sesshomaru is my... is my sooo... is my soooouuuu...' choking on the word, 'my soul... mmmate.' Shaking her head vigorously and waving her arms around, 'Uh huh! No way! Can't be true!'

Falling to her knees, she pleaded to the skies, 'Please tell me this is some kind of sick joke. You surely have to be kidding me. Why, oh, why are you mocking me?' A ridiculous idea came to her, 'Is this my punishment for stealing that pocky from Sota? COME ON! I didn't even get to eat it; because Inuyasha stole it from me then Shippo stole it from him and ate it to rub it in his face. If this is karma biting me in the ass, it's just plain cruel.'

Looking at the sphere, the swirling color flared slightly which made Kagome sigh with defeat. How could she argue with her own soul? Yes, her soul. In order for the spell to work, she had to place some of her soul's essence into it, and then it would seek out its 'other half.' It was a no fail spell, because the incantation and spirit would only find the one that would compliment and complete the owner of the soul.

'It seems to be true. Sesshomaru is the other half of my soul. I think either the Kami or the Shikon No Tama is playing with my fate. Only they would be responsible for having him as my soul mate. I bet you they're laughing at me right now just thinking of what I have to go through to get him to believe me and stay with me.'

Her anger rose at that. 'Why the hell should I convince him to stay? My spell worked and there is nothing that can change that. I'm not going to pussyfoot my way around anyone anymore. My reasons for doing this are mine and mine alone. All he needs to do is acknowledge his fate, and all will be well for the both of us. I'm going to have to show him that I'm not some weak individual; that I will be seen as his equal, and nothing less.'

Standing up and straightening her clothes, 'My best course of action for now is to show him who's boss around here until he accepts the situation.' Eyeing his figure, 'I'm a girl from the 21st century, so I doubt I can't pull it off. He'll just have to learn that we are meant to be and for life.'

Steeling her resolve, Kagome marched back to face Sesshomaru.

&&&&

When Kagome returned to Sesshomaru's front, she was greeted by a red-eyed, growling demon.

"Hello Sesshomaru. How are you doing this fine evening?" A growl was her answer. "Well, that's good."

"Bitch, I do not care for your idle talk. You will release me at once!" His anger was threatening to turn into rage.

Tapping her index finger against her chin, "What if I don't want to?" Hearing more growls, her wide smile reappeared. "Tsk, tsk, is that the proper way to have a conversation?"

Sesshomaru forced his breathing to calm, but it was difficult. This priestess was driving his sanity to the limit with her cheerful disposition and her refusal to answer his questions. He also did not appreciate her insinuation that he could not hold an appropriate discussion. He was Lord of the Western Lands which meant he was able to keep conversations going with the finest of philosophers and scholars. He was no simpleton by any means, and he would show her that no one can make a fool out of him.

"Priestess," there was slight growl to his voice as his eyes returned to their golden color, "would you care to finally explain as to why I am here?" His eyes traced the glowing sphere, "In this orb?"

"Well, you see, you were called here by that orb." She received a glare from him when he wanted more of an explanation. "Fine, I cast a spell to help me find a husband, or in your case a mate."

The dog demon found his eyes widening a second time that night. 'This wench actually thinks that I would allow her and her foolish spell to dictate my life.' Scowling at her, 'Just because I aided her in defeating Naraku, it does not mean we will be anything more than one-time allies. I do not want to even be in her presence, let alone be her mate.'

"Do you truly believe I would consent to be your mate? That I would lie down like the dog I am, and agree to your ridiculous notion?" His anger was returning with each word. "I, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, would never, NEVER, mate with the likes of you, HUMAN." The last word was said with clear hate and disgust.

Kagome was never so furious in her life. Inuyasha pissed her off plenty of times over the years, but not like this. Sure, she expected Sesshomaru to be a little angry and look at her in disbelief, but she didn't think he would be so outraged with her. 'Ooh, the nerve of him! He will not get away with this. If I can deal with one brother, I can certainly handle the other.'

"Listen here, you JERK! I don't care what you say, you will be my husband, mate, or whatever the hell you want to call it, because you have no choice. This," placing her hands on the orb, where it glowed when she moved them along it, "says you're the one for me as I am for you." He started to growl again, but she cut him off. "The spell I cast needed to have some of my soul for it to work. Its purpose was to seek out the one person with a soul that would be compatible with mine, basically my 'other half.'"

"Surely, you do not mean..." He didn't want to complete the sentence.

"Yes Sesshomaru, we are soul mates." She paused for a moment as she thought her words over. "Actually, that's not correct. We're soul matches, not soul mates yet." Waving her hand dismissively, "I'll explain it to you another day. I don't feel like talking about it at the moment."

The red began to seep into eyes again. "I refuse to hear any more of your nonsense. I a full-blooded demon and you a human priestess could never be soul mates. Not only is it impossible, it is ludicrous to believe that I would take your word for truth. You are most likely doing this to gain something from me. What ever it is, you will never obtain it."

The young girl from the future sighed loudly. 'Why did I even bother? I knew he was not going to accept my explanation. I guess I'm gonna have to teach this old dog some new tricks.' A smirk formed on her mouth with the last thought.

"I'm sorry I had to hear you say that, because what I said is the truth." With a mock sigh, "You just made it harder on your self."

The Western Lord observed as the priestess pulled a necklace from underneath her cloak and started to chant a little prayer. The necklace, as far as he could tell had beads and some kind of teeth on them, began to brighten in a soft glow. When she was done, the beads shot apart in light and came at him. He did nothing since he was still paralyzed, so he could only watch as the necklace reformed itself around his neck.

After the necklace was secured on him, the sphere flared and disappeared, and he landed softly on his booted feet. He lifted the chain to his face where he could see the beads were a deep blue color while the teeth were off white.

Chuckling to himself, Sesshomaru had to point out her stupidity. "You believe some prayer beads can control a demon of my caliber. I did not know you wished for a quick death." With that said, he began to take a step in her direction to punish her, but he was stopped with one word.

"Heel!" This word brought him to a standstill and prevented any further movement.

Now Sesshomaru was infuriated. Not only had the priestess captured him, she could control him as well. He attempted to lift his arms to pry the beads off, but he still could not move. Snarling inwardly, the dog demon vowed he would punish her severely for this humiliation.

"I warned you, Sesshomaru. Until you realize that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together, the rosary will stay on." Seeing the affects of the spell wearing off, she decided to let him know a little tidbit about the necklace. "Just so you know, this rosary is different than the one Inuyasha has. While only one word activates that one, the one you wear has many commands. So don't make it any harder than it is for you, and just do what I tell you until I can trust that you won't kill me." Mumbling to herself, "which might be a while."

Silence filled the little clearing as Sesshomaru stood in deep thought. 'Hmm, she seems quite determined to make me her mate. But why did she cast such a spell? What has happened for her to do this?' Now his curiosity was peaked. 'Even though the wench has angered me greatly, I am intrigued to see what she will do to make me believe her absurd idea of soul mates. I also would like to find out how far she will go to convince me, but I will not let her get too far. Once I have my answers, she will be given her punishment and I will be ridden of her.' Nodding to himself, the Lord of the Western Lands returned his face to one of indifference and quietly waited for the priestess. 'Perhaps she will provide some amusement.'

Kagome placed the hood back on her head and glanced back at her new companion. 'He sure is quiet all of a sudden. I wonder what he's thinking.' Smiling at him, 'Maybe, he decided to hear me out and give this a try. I hope so, because I don't think I can handle any more crap in my life. Just maybe, things are looking up for me.'

"All right Sesshomaru, it's getting late, and we should head back to my place." She swung her arms nervously at her sides. "So, let's go."

Except Sesshomaru did not move, because he wanted to see if what she said about the rosary was true.

The young priestess's eyes flared bright pink while she spoke her command. "Come Sesshomaru." And with that, he followed her.

Both could not help but think, 'What will happen?' But more importantly, 'Will we be mates?'

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

A/N: Well, what do you think? I struggled a little with this chapter, but I think it came out all right. I hope I didn't confuse anyone with the whole 'soul matches' vs 'soul mates.' There is a difference and I will explain later on, but I don't want to give it away just yet. I will say that Kagome is not really looking for the strongest, wisest, or overall best male out there for her, like Sesshomaru sort of did in "Ensnared." She's looking for someone that not only can she love, but who will love her in return.

I know it may seem Sesshomaru caved in at the end, but that's on purpose. Yes, he is angry with her, but he is curious at the same time. He wants to know her reasons, so that's his only reason for going with her. He did not miraculously fall in love with her like that.

As for Kagome, her reasons for doing this will not be revealed just yet. She set up a spell to get a husband, so even though it's Sesshomaru she accepts that he's the one and will do anything to make it work out. That's all I'll say for now. Also, the purpose of the beads should be pretty obvious. It's not because she wants to control him or anything, it's just a precaution to help defend herself against his superior strength.

Anyway, next chapter we'll see where Kagome's living now and will be titled "Examine." Hmm, I wonder who will be examining what; or rather I should say who will be examining who. ;o)

DOTS

Please rate and review!