Disclaimer: This is my last one. I'm not writing it anymore because it depresses me too much!! I DON'T OWN THEM.

Enchanted Orbs

Chapter 5~Understandings and Affection Lines

A/N: This is IMPORTANT to the story!! It has come to my attention that some don't believe Sess would be clueless as to who Kag is. "Hasn't he seen her before...Can't he smell her...etc." Yes, he has seen her before, BUT in my opinion (which may be wrong, but its my story so...) the almighty demon lord would NEVER deem a human worth a spare glance. Even when she broke his armor, he didn't really notice her as anything except someone else to kill. So no, in this story, he's never really seen her before, or at least not well enough to recognize her by anything beyond scent. Sorry bout the confusion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute, Inuyasha?" He looks up from his sitting position, they lock eyes for an endless moment before he nods. Sango and Miroku watch as they rise and walk to the springs. When they arrive, they sit facing each other. Kagome takes a deep breath and begins.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner, but I wanted to surprise you with . . ."

"Your magic, yes I know."

Her jaw drops. "What? How did you know, you couldn't have seen me practicing and..."

"Magic has a very distinct smell. Its not usually a strong smell, but the more power there is behind it, the stronger the scent. Yours has nearly knocked me over a couple of times. I can actually smell it now, even though my sense of smell is inferior tonight."

Kagome is silent for a second. 'Maybe that's why...' "Hey Inuyasha, does the smell of magic interfere with other scents? Would it cover my scent if I tried to hide or runaway from a demon?"

"If the scent is strong enough, yeah. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering." 'That's why I was able to fool him, but I guess the charade ends tomorrow night.' "Are you mad?"

"I knew you were trying to improve your skills. I figured if you wanted me to know you'd tell me, but Sango and Miroku were a mad that you didn't trust them enough to tell them. I told them so they would leave you alone to practice."

"I just wanted to surprise you. I wanted you all to be shocked at how strong I've gotten." Kagome said with a downcast look. Tears started to form in deep blue eyes. She looked up at him, "Please forgive me"

Shocked that he upset her so much, he reached forward, wrapped his arms around her hunched back, and drew her towards him. Kagome put her hands on his chest to cushion the collision into him, and sobbed.

(A/N: I know this may seem a little OC, but in my reasoning...Inuyasha is human tonight, and he always seemed a bit more sensitive to human emotions on those nights.)

"I'm sorry, Kagome, I didn't know it would upset you this much."

"Its not just what you said, I'm just...I'm just so scared."

He squeezed her gently and remained silent, 'If she wants to tell me, she'll tell me.'

Kagome; however, took his silence as a lack of concern and stayed quiet. A little mad at the thought that he didn't care, she pushed away from him. When she looked into his eyes, she saw gentleness and concern.

"Kagome..."

"Inuyasha, I don't think I can handle my power anymore. I'm afraid I'll die at my own strength."

His eyes widened slightly, but he consoled her, "Your power wouldn't have developed to that point if you couldn't...Now lets get back to the others." Silence.

Silence.

"You go. I need to be alone for a bit before I face them." He nodded and stood to leave. As he reached the trees, he turned.

"This changes nothing, I still owe her my life." When he was gone, she broke down again.

'Why? Kami, why must he play with me so? Countless times he's held me like a lover, then again, in his mind he's probably seeing and holding her.' After a few minutes pass, she pulls together the pieces of her shattered emotions. "I was warned. I was told about his feelings. I am a shadow, but at least now I have the power to stand on my own. I could venture out on my own. No, I have a responsibility, duty to fulfill. I must stay with him. Help him, but I can no longer give him my heart for fear of getting it back in pieces. Plus, that's what Naraku wants." Remembering what the woman told her about his plan to twist her love of the hanyou in order to defeat her pure soul. With sorrow in her heart she rose and began to walk back to camp. Before entering she donned a brilliant smile which didn't reach her eyes.

"Hey guys. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I wanted to surprise you in battle. I guess it was callous of me to keep it from you." She bowed her head as she spoke.

Sango crushes Kagome against her chest in a fervent hug. "Of course, you are forgiven. Now, cheer up and give us a show." Kagome pulled back enough to look into her eyes as Sango winked at her. A huge smile graced Kagome's face as she nodded enthusiastically.

'I'm really not in the mood to demonstrate my weapons, plus, I think they would be horrified if they saw me practicing on myself. Well, that only leaves...'

Four small orbs of white light appeared circling Kagome's shoulders. They slowly circled around her once then flew to the other members of the group, one to each of them. Sango, with Kirara in her arms, found one caressing her face and sifting through her ponytail. It mischievously untied her hair and made it fall to her shoulders.

Miroku's light treated him as he treats the girls. His eyes widened as he felt a warm caress travel down his back and rest on his cheeks. Kagome laughed when she saw him blush. 'That's a first' she thought.

Inuyasha's orb darted around his head like a fly. The hanyou swatted at it trying to det it to leave him alone. He finally managed to catch it in his palms, but his hands snapped back. The light in front was now pink, and his hands were slightly burned.

Shippo's light was leaping in front and behind him as the fox cub chased it as if it were a butterfly. This continued for a few minutes as Kagome laughed with her friends at the display then summoned the orbs back to her. Once again they circled her. The lights multiplied and headed towards the trees to light up the camp.

She smiled and winked at Shippo as two orbs floated to him, circled around him, lifted him off the ground, and carried him to her. When she held him in her arms, the orbs that trailed him rocketed into the sky. Higher and higher until they could not be seen. A fireworks-type display rained down towards the campers, sparkling and shimmering in the night sky as the on- lookers gaped.

As the display ended, Kagome asked "Well, what did you think?"

"That was marvelous, Kagome. I have never seen anything so beautiful." Sango replied as she gazed at the twinkly lights in the trees.

"I have to agree with Sango, your power is intense to be able to have such firm control on so many orbs at once." Miroku agreed. Shippo only beamed at Kagome and snuggled into her waist.

"Feh! Yeah that's great if we need a torch, but you are still weak when it comes to battle." Inuyasha's snide reply made Kagome a bit ticked!

Sango and Miroku glared at Inuyasha, and looked toward Kagome to comfort her only to step back in apprehension.

Kagome's eyes narrowed as a purple light appeared in front of her chest. It flattened into the shape of a disk, and shot towards him, grazed his cheek, and continued into the woods behind him. Miroku and Sango's eyes widened.

Inuyasha looked at them as his hand reached up to touch his cheek. "What the hell?" he asked as he looked at his blood-stained fingers.

"Is that more what you were looking for, Inuyasha?"

"Ok, first you try to purify my hands and then you cut my face!! What's your problem, wench?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you wanted a little bloodshed. Here I'll fix it since you are weak tonight." Kagome stressed the last sentence as she closed her eyes. Two yellow orbs floated towards him. He flinched as one whirred around his two hands and the other stroked his cheek. When they disappeared, no trace of his injuries where left, not even the blood on his face and fingers.

All stood amazed at Kagome's abilities.

************

Hours had passed. Everyone was asleep except Inuyasha who refused to sleep on his weak night and Kagome who could not sleep.

Her thoughts would not let her rest. 'I never decided how to deal with Sesshomaru. To refuse him is death, but I can't abandon my duty. Being a demon lord he must have some sense of honor, maybe he will allow me to finish before I join him. Join him... who am I kidding? I want to go home once the jewel is repaired. Wait, what does he want me for anyways? He said I have great power and does not want another to use me against him. Maybe if I explain that I will be in another time he'll understand that I'm not a threat...but he acted like he wanted to use my magic. Why? He is already so strong. Is he really that greedy and power hungry? I really hope not. If that's the case then I'm dead!! This isn't getting me anywhere. I'll just have to ask what he will use me for, but he might not deem me worthy of telling his plans. ... Well Tough!!! If he wants my power I need to know what his intentions are! What if he wants to kill me for asking? Dang, well what about a bargaining chip? Yeah! That's it, but, wait, what would a demon lord possibly want that I could give? Hmmm...yes, that's perfect!' Kagome's thoughts calmed as she thought up a plan to handle the taiyoukai. Soon she was fast asleep.

*************

The next day as the group was traveling, Kagome reflected on the previous evening's events. 'I can't believe it. I mean one minute he's holding me like there is no tomorrow and today he does not even look at me. How can you be so hot and cold, Inuyasha? Well, maybe I should try to do what I was told. Now how did she put it? Focus on the relationship between us, then mold it into something else. That could be useful!! No, more heartache for Kagome...hey, maybe I could even get Hojo to stop bugging me without hurting him!! I like this already!!'

She was walking in the group, Inuyasha leading, Miroku in front of her, and Sango standing beside her. Shippo was riding Kirara who was walking a bit behind Sango. Kagome began to concentrate on the relationships between the members of the group.

She noticed Sango sneek a long glance at Miroku. As Kagome focused on the two she saw a faint line appear connecting them together. The line became brighter and it appeared to be made solely of light. Its shade was a brilliant pink. 'Hmm...pink. I guess that would be an appropriate crush color. Sango would never admit to harboring a crush on Miroku, but she doesn't have to SAY anything anymore. I have proof!!'

A smirk crossed Kagome's face as she looked at her friend. Meeting her gaze, Sango saw her smirk, and blushed. At this Kagome giggled, "Sango you can't hide it from me, I know you like him, why don't you go walk with him instead of acting like I didn't catch you watching him."

Sango's blush darkened, "I don't know what you're talking about, Kagome."

Kagome continued to smile as she focused her mind elsewhere. She noticed when Sango broke her gaze from the monk, the line faded away.

'Hmm, it must only work when their looking at someone. Maybe. I'll test that theory.' Kagome focused on Miroku also. As she looked at him, she noticed a vibrant green light in the form of a line connecting the two of them.

'Green, a passive yet vivid color, peaceful and serene, but noticeable. Yes, I guess that would be an excellent color to represent friendship. This is fun.' She then turned her gaze to Inuyasha and her heart fell. "I guess its now or never" she mumbled.

"What did you say, Kagome?" Sango asked concerned for her friend.

"Oh, nothing. I was just talking to myself. I didn't even realize I was speaking aloud. Sorry!!"

Kagome concentrated and once again focused on Inuyasha. A beautiful light caught her attention. The line connecting them was a vivid pink as Sango's was, but the thread had a silver lining braided with it. 'Silver, is that the color of love? It doesn't seem right. I don't know...well, on to the task at hand.'

She mentally grasped the line connecting her to Inuyasha. Tears started to form in her eyes as she willed the line to turn green. It was a hard fought battle that lasted several minutes. Sango noticed her tears. While she had no clue why Kagome was actually crying, she thought she did when she saw who Kagome was staring at.

"Kagome, are you ok?"

"Yes, Sango, its just harder to say goodbye than I thought I would be."

Sango stared at her. Not sure of what you meant she questioned, "What do you mean?"

Kagome dropped her gaze to the ground and replied, "He's just a friend."

Sango decided to drop the subject and placed a comforting hand on the small of her friend's back. The group continued to walk in the direction of the nearest shard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She could feel them all. There were five shards left. One to the north, two north west, and the other two due west. She could feel the shards calling to her, giving her information on the current owners. One was being used by human bandits, the leader gaining strength to raid villages. Two owned by minor demons who just used the jewel shards to boost their abilities. The fourth was installed in a very strange creature. He was not physically strong, but something told her he was very dangerous and used people's own abilities against them.

'How? I don't understand that one.'

Just as she was focusing on the fifth, it disappeared from her 'radar.' One thing crashed into her mind... 'Naraku. He must have captured that one, but why can't I feel it anymore? He must have some sort of cloaking spell on the shards he carries. We will have to try to break that. It would be very convenient to know where he was at all times. Let's see feel out the magic used to cloak the sh...'

"Let's set up camp here. The sun is going down, and we've made good time today." Miroku interrupted her thoughts as he and Inuyasha began clearing a campsite for them.

They all sat by the fire. Kagome was lost to her thoughts. 'Sesshomaru will be coming for me tonight. That thought is scary. I might not be alive tomorrow. Well, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.' "I'm going to go bathe, thanks for stopping by a spot with hot springs, Inuyasha. Miroku, thank you for offering to help me make dinner. Sango, thank you for letting me know your secret. I'll be practicing for a while, so you don't have to wait up for me." Sango shot her a questioning stare. Kagome looked at Miroku and gave her a mischievous smirk, then turned to walk away.

Kagome took a quick, but relaxing, bath. She dressed herself, and found a suitable clearing.

"Well, if what Inuyasha said is right, Sesshomaru does not know what my personal scent is, so he can not track me. But, if I ever used my magic, he would recognize that scent, hunt me down, and kill me for ignoring his proposition. So I guess my only choice is to call him here. No more games." She concentrated and sent a wave of power sweeping across the clearing. Afterwards she sent two white orbs straight into the sky, like flares.

"If that doesn't get him here, I don't know what..." Then she felt him approaching. He hovered on the outskirts of the clearing for a moment, then stepped into view. 'Here we go.'

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Yes I know that was an evil place to stop, but its not like I won't be faithful in updating!!! Anyways, what do ya'll want her to do? There are two branches I could take with this. I have one that I like better, BUT input is enjoyable. Hey, and you might actually guess what I'm doing. Although I hope I'm not that predictable.

Kay -Hoped this chapter straightened things out a bit. I didn't want Kagome to be too in control (knowledge-wise) of what was happening. That seems a bit OC for her. As for Sess having seen her before. . .I left an author's note at the beginning of the chapter because a couple of other people felt the same.

***It has come to my attention that I made a promise I could not keep. . .this ticks me off because its not my fault I can't keep it!!! I recently said that if you review me I would respond to everyone who did. Well guess what people. . . if your email address is not on your profile, I can't respond. This sux in the extreme. I really like 'talking' to the people who took the time to send me a review, but I can't if there's no way to get in touch with you!!! So if you review me and don't have a listed email address or account at ff.net, and you want to get a response for your review, you have to leave me a way to get in touch with you!! Love to all!!~Syrinx