Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha...

A/N: Hi! Yes, I'm still alive, but I've been quite busy for while and couldn't continue the story. Sorry for not updating sooner. Anyway, I hope you'll like my next chapter.

Please RR!

Chapter 4: Dreams

Kagome knelt down at the stream and cleaned her bowl. After washing and redressing herself, she refilled it with fresh water and started her way back to the clearing. Two days had passed since the sword-incident, as she liked to call it, and luckily the demon lord had in the end refrained from killing her. There hadn't been any other problems with stray youkai and Sesshoumaru's condition was improving rapidly. The broken bones were already mended and Kagome was sure that she could remove the stitches today.

There still hadn't been any signs of Inuyasha and her friends up to now and Kagome was despairing slowly. Although she came up with every possible explanation why they had been delayed, the feeling of dread and worry just wouldn't vanish. What would she do, if Inuyasha was dead? How could she go on living? 'Oh Kami, please let him be alright,' she pleaded in her thoughts.

When she arrived at the camp, Sesshoumaru was sitting on the ground, leaning against the tree trunk as usual. Putting her bathing supplies and dirty clothes near her backpack, she knelt down next to him and gave him a weak smile. He just looked at her, raising an eyebrow questioningly. During the last two days she had somewhat gotten used to his ways, and he wasn't as scary as he had been in the beginning.

"I have to take a look at your injuries, my lord. I can probably remove the stitches today." she said politely.

Inclining his head slightly, he started to remove his haori. Kagome was still very proud of her work – all things considered, the mended garment looked quite acceptable. Although Sesshoumaru had given her one of his "I'd rather die" looks when she had bestowed him with the repaired piece of clothing, he had eventually accepted it.

Carefully, she unwound the bandage from around his stomach. The two gashes had healed very nicely, and all what remained were two thin, slowly fading scars. Kagome cut the threads and removed them with her tweezers. Tossing the bandages aside, she began to unwind the one on his upper arm. The injury was healed as well as the ones on his stomach and she was able to remove the thread there, as well.

"Well, all of your injuries are healed properly. I think you're well again" she told him when she had finished, smiling slightly.

"I think so, too, miko." he said, while rearranging his clothing.

The demon lord referred to her as "miko" most of the time now and only called her "wench" or "human" when she had angered him somewhat. Although it was unimportant, Kagome took it as a kind of improvement in their relationship.

She started to collect the abandoned bandages and threw them into the fire. Then she took her other items and stuffed them into her pack. Sitting down, she stared into the fire.

What would happen now? Sesshoumaru was completely healed again and he could leave any moment. 'What will I do when he leaves? I will never find back the way to the well or Kaede's village on my own,' she mused.

"What will you do now, miko" Sesshoumaru asked on cue, as if reading her thoughts. 'Well, he is still creepy at times,' she thought.

Kagome shrugged. "I'll try to find Inuyasha and my friends" she replied a bit uncertainly.

Giving her one of his unreadable looks he continued"Why are you travelling with my worthless half-brother"

'Because I love him and...'

She paused shortly before saying"And, because I broke the Shikon No Tama. It is my duty to bring its shards back together and make sure that Naraku doesn't gain its powers."

The demon lord gazed at her quizzically for a moment. He knew by her scent that she had not spoken the full truth. But what else could be there?

"What do you want with the jewel of power" He demanded smoothly.

This time Kagome didn't have to think about her answer.

"To rid the world of its presence."

He arched an elegant eyebrow at her. Although he was sure her words were true this time, they were hard to believe.

"You do not crave for the immense powers of the Shikon, miko? Its strength is legendary."

Shrugging, she said "You don't want it either, do you"

Sesshoumaru smirked at her arrogantly. "I have no use for it. My own powers are more than adequate, miko. The jewel is for the weak and as you are weak, you should keep it…if you ever get your hands on it."

She glared at him for a moment. How dare he call her weak? Well, maybe he had a certain point, but still...

"I would rather be weak and still be me, my lord. The curse of the Shikon is to turn anyone who wants to use its powers selfishly into an evil, mindless creature. I don't want to be like that. Power without compassion and love isn't worth anything" she stated with conviction.

Sesshoumaru continued to just stare at her for a few minutes. His amber eyes were boring into her blue ones, trying to make sense of her strange words. Kagome looked back at him almost comfortably. She had gotten used to him staring at her like this, as if he wanted to see right into her soul.

"There is no such thing as love, miko; it is but a ludicrous illusion humans came up with to make the world more bearable to them. Love is not real, but power…power is." he told her calmly, the detached indifference of his voice making his words sound even more cruel and all Kagome could do was gape at him in shock.

Sesshoumaru got up in a fluid, graceful movement and tied his swords to his side.

"I am going to hunt. I shall be back shortly" he informed her stoically and walked into the woods without waiting for her reply, leaving a baffled Kagome behind.

Kagome shook her head. She had already experienced that his talkative moods vanished as abruptly as they came, but what he had said bothered her.

'He can't mean that, can he? But maybe this is what things are like for him.' she mused idly. What would her life be without love? She lay down on her sleeping bag and stared at the brilliant blue sky. The clouds were moving lazily, as there was almost no breeze. Musing over her current situation and her life in general, her eyes eventually drifted shut.

She woke because something sharp and cold was nudging her throat. By now it was late in the afternoon and the sun was already sitting quite low. Sleepily, Kagome blinked and looked down at her throat. When she saw the tip of a large sword pressed against her delicate skin she shrieked and sat up with admirable speed. Breathing heavily, she looked up at her attacker and saw Sesshoumaru looming over her, smirking wickedly.

"You jerk! What did you do that for? You scared me half to death" she yelled, glaring daggers at him.

Sheathing his sword he turned away without giving her a second glance. "You are lucky that it was me, miko, otherwise you would be dead by now" he said nonchalantly.

Kagome was furious. Although he was right that she shouldn't have fallen asleep unprotected in the middle of a forest, it wasn't a reason enough to scare her like that.

He inwardly smirked at her anger. It was so easy to provoke her that it was almost boring. Almost.

He liked the way that she defied him at times, although he would rather die than admit it. It had been ages since anybody had affronted him openly and it was quite amusing…for the time being. After the few days he had had to spend with her, he had found out that the girl wasn't as idiotic as most humans were. In the contrary, she was fairly intelligent, although very clumsy at times. Her every emotion played on her youthful features constantly. The girl changed feelings so very quickly that he sometimes almost got dizzy from her ever-changing scent.

"Where have you been so long anyway" Her voice brought him out of his reverie. Obviously she was still fuming with anger but was trying to suppress it for her own good.

"I hunted and had a bath" he replied plainly"it took some time."

"I see" she murmured and blushed as a very detailed picture of the bathing demon lord popped up in her mind. Quickly she turned and started to dig through her pack to cover her blush. 'How can you think such things about him!' she scolded herself mentally before she pulled out some instant ramen. It was time for dinner anyway.

Sesshoumaru had seated himself in front of his tree and watched her preparing her dinner. At times he still wondered about her strange equipment. The strange colors and forms of her clothes and containers, her curious food…it was almost like she came from another world. Yesterday he had watched her reading a book and he had never seen such flawless paper, nor had he ever seen such accurate writing before. Although the most surprising fact had been that she was able to read at all. Few demons were educated in the art of writing and reading, but the literate human was an even rarer creature. As far as he knew only humans of noble heritage were taught at all, but he was almost positive that she wasn't of noble blood. Would this miko never cease to amaze him?

Kagome started to eat her dinner greedily. She hadn't eaten all day and was practically starving. She knew that he was staring at her, but she didn't mind too much. Although she was still a bit angry at him, she dreaded the moment he would leave her. In an odd way he was all she had at the moment. But it was a miracle that he hadn't left as soon as she had removed the stitches and she wondered what in the world was keeping him here. Maybe she could talk him into bringing her back to the well tomorrow? From there she could go to Kaede's village and the old miko would most likely know about the whereabouts of her friends.

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Kagome nocked an arrow onto her bowstring and shot it towards one of the many demons that were attacking them. Naraku's forces seemed to have doubled since he was in the possession of the nearly completed Shikon no Tama. There were simply too many demons to fight. Hastily she fumbled for her next arrow and took aim, but before she could let it fly, one of the demons appeared out of nowhere directly in front of her and started to attack. Kagome shrieked when she hardly managed to dodge the first blow and stumbled backwards clumsily. In a blur of red and white, Inuyasha was by her side, charging at the demon, Tessaiga ready for battle.

"Kagome, listen to me, you gotta run away. This is far too dangerous for you" he yelled while fiercely battling the demon.

She gazed at him desperately. "I would never leave you" she shouted back. Looking around her, she saw Sango and Miroku engaged in battle. Kirara and Shippo were nowhere in sight.

"Dammit, wench, I can't fight when I have to worry about you! Run, as fast as you can! I'll find you later, just go" He shouted while cutting the demon's head clear of his torso with a single swipe of his massive blade.

Kagome had no idea why, but she obeyed him. Shooting one last arrow she turned and ran towards the forest. Just when she had reached the first tree, she heard a scream that made the hairs on her neck raise. She turned around and saw in utter horror how a huge demon held Inuyasha's lifeless body by his throat with its ugly, clawed hand. Blood was flowing freely from the hanyou's mouth, his eyes were wide from shock and his face was contorted in pain.

Kagome was too horrified to move or do anything else. So she just stood there and watched helplessly as the demon used the claws of its free hand to tear open Inuyasha's ribcage. Blood splashed out in all directions and Kagome screamed in pure terror. She screamed and screamed and just couldn't stop it, when her world narrowed to the pain and the horror she was experiencing, while she looked transfixed at the terrible scene before her.

Kagome was still screaming when she saw the beast rip out Inuyasha's pulsating heart and squeeze it hard with a triumphant howl.

"INUYASHA! Noooooo"

Kagome woke with a start, sitting upright immediately, still screaming. Her eyes were wide with panic and her heart was drumming against her chest. Looking around her frantically, she tried desperately to determine where she was. She was shaking all over and her body was convulsing slightly. Absentmindedly she felt somebody shake her shoulders and then she heard a familiar voice talking to her.

"Girl, listen to me. It was but a dream. Calm down, before you hurt yourself" it said with stoic calm.

Slowly she started to return to reality and stopped her screaming and thrashing. Breathing heavily she looked into the amber eyes of Inuyasha. No, not Inuyasha's, he was dead, gone forever and it was all her fault. The pain was too much to bear and it threatened to rip her soul apart.

Without thinking she launched herself at Sesshoumaru, who was kneeling in front of her. Kagome threw her arms around his neck and started to sob desperately into his mended haori.

The demon lord looked down at her raven head in shock. Was she embracing HIM? Then he remembered that Rin did the exactly same thing when she woke from a nightmare. Obviously humans tended to draw comfort from every possible source, no matter how unlikely it was, seeking security and protection.

The miko must have dreamed about horrible things considering the way she had screamed in pure terror and her scent told him that she was frightened and sad. But this was actually something he could handle, after more than one year of regular practice with Rin.

Acting out of instinct and routine, Sesshoumaru put his arms around her trembling form and started to rub small circles on her back. Her light body felt soft and fragile against him.

Absentmindedly he wondered why he was doing this, but didn't pursue the thought any further. He noticed that her tears were slowly soaking his garment and she was still shaking badly with the force of her crying.

Although he knew it was inappropriate, he couldn't suppress how good it made him feel to hold her like that, to feel her soft body pressing against his own. It was the same strange sensation he had felt when she had touched him earlier. Although the fact that a mere ningen girl could make him feel that way was quite odd, he simply couldn't help it. Warmth was spreading through his body and he felt tiny tingles at the places she touched him. For a moment he was completely lost in the pleasant feeling and he closed his eyes, resting his head on hers.

Tightening his hold on the girl, he pulled her closer and started to stroke her hair with his other hand. It felt astonishingly silky and soft against his fingers and cheek. Sesshoumaru had wanted to know what it felt like for some time, but had never had an opportunity to touch it before. When he inhaled her scent deeply, he noticed that it was still tainted with fear and sadness and the salt of her tears. He wanted her to smell as pleasant as she usually did; she definitely had to stop the crying.

"Why are you still crying" He inquired quietly.

"He's dead...be...because I...I...didn't help him" the girl whimpered between sobs.

"Who is dead" Sesshoumaru asked, raising a perfect eyebrow slightly.

"I...Inuyasha...he was killed by one of Naraku's creatures." she sobbed brokenly.

Sesshoumaru signed inaudibly. "He is not dead, miko. It was just a dream." the demon lord lectured her in his calm, collected voice.

Slowly, she lifted her head from his shoulder to look at him desperately, feeling completely lost and weak. Kagome's eyes were red from crying and the tears were still rolling down her cheeks.

"How can you know that" She asked him disbelievingly. Her voice was faint, almost inaudible, but with his heightened senses it was no problem to hear her words clearly.

"I would know, if he was dead. Inuyasha is my half-brother." he stated indifferently, acting as if this would explain everything.

Kagome continued looking at him for a while, searching his face and eyes for any signs of a lie. But then it occurred to her that Sesshoumaru would never lie about something so trivial, so unimportant, to him.

Such behaviour was beneath him.

Completely exhausted, she let her head slump back on his shoulder. Kagome just didn't think about moving away from him. It felt far too good to stay like this.

After a while she noticed that Sesshoumaru was playing with her hair and stroking her back almost tenderly. Despite herself, she found that his touch didn't feel as unpleasant as she had thought it would. Actually, it didn't feel unpleasant at all, more the contrary. Warmth spread slowly throughout her body and she started to relax into him completely. Leaning her whole weight on him, she clumsily untangled her legs from the sleeping bag. She could feel him shift position to accommodate her better and she instinctively nuzzled closer to him.

It felt wonderful to be like that. Her mind was blank now, the crying had subsided and she was just enjoying the feelings of comfort and safety. Kagome could hear the demon's heart beating steadily and the heat radiating off his body, even through all the layers of his clothing, was pleasantly warming. Suddenly she wanted to touch him, too. Carefully, she raised one hand to his neck and moved her fingertips gently over his surprisingly soft skin.

She heard his sharp intake of breath and suddenly her hand was covered by his. Then it hit her. 'Kami, what am I doing? Cuddling Sesshoumaru of all people! I've completely lost it, haven't I? I've got to stop this, before I make even more a fool of myself than I already have.' she thought and lifted her head to look at him again.

What she saw made her heart skip a beat. Sesshoumaru was gazing at her intensely, his usually cold, indifferent eyes shining with wonder and a mix of raw emotion she wasn't able to decipher. He was even more gorgeous like this, his luminous eyes staring at her, his perfect face for once not completely devoid of all emotion.

He stared at her with his eyes of molten gold, shining brightly in the dark. His touches felt like fire to her body and when he bent down his head to lick her exposed neck without any warning she let out a startled gasp at the sudden spark of desire his touch caused.

For a short moment fear gripped her, as her mind screamed in panic to do anything, run away, fight, cry, just anything, but she couldn't move a muscle. She wanted, with all her being she longed for something she wasn't able to name. Her world narrowed down to the feeling of his hot, demanding mouth on her sensitive skin. There was nothing left for her to do other than melt into his touch. Distantly she felt his furry tail tightening around her waist, steadying her against him. His inquisitive hands roamed all over her body, caressing her, setting her completely on fire. Moaning quietly she held onto him for dear life when he started to caress her breasts through her clothes. Sesshoumaru's head was buried in the crook of her neck, tasting every inch of her skin.

'Oh crap.' Kagome thought distantly. 'What have I gotten myself into?'

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BR/N: This chapter has been censored to adhere to Fan Fiction . Net's submission guidelines. If you would like to read the full lemon, please visit A Single Spark: Kagome Sesshoumaru (the addy is http : kagsess.forsaken-faith. org/ fanficstories.php?aid885 , just remove the spaces).

I'd like to be the first to say that it is quite good, and an excellent read, so if you are of age and like lemons, you really should check it out. M'eyari

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Much, much later…

After some time Sesshoumaru regained enough presence of mind to remove his weight from the young miko's body. Slowly the red mist cleared from his view as he moved to lie next to her. He gazed at her nude form in awe for a moment. She looked so fragile to him now. Her eyes were closed and from her breathing he could tell that she was almost asleep. Her hair was mussed and a bit damp, her cheeks were still flushed, her shockingly long eye lashes lay as a shadow against her smooth, slightly tanned skin.

In this moment she was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in his long life and for once he realized what had so fascinated him about this girl: Purity. She literally glowed with it, wore it around her like a shield. Touching her, hurting her seemed almost like a crime. If he had known how, he probably would have felt sorry...

When she started to shiver from the cold night air, he grabbed the other sleeping bag and used it to cover her naked form. Sighing contentedly, she slowly opened her eyes. Kagome smiled at him sleepily and reached for his hand to pull him towards her. Complying with her wishes, he lay down next to her propped up on his elbow. She lifted her hand to his face and stroked his striped cheek gently, pulling his head further towards her. Again he complied and when he was almost nose to nose with the miko she pressed her velvety lips against his in a soft, fleeting caress. Kagome didn't see the confused expression on the demon lord's face, as she had already closed her eyes. Slowly Sesshoumaru moved a clawed hand towards his lips and touched them curiously. 'What did she do that for?'

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Sesshoumaru awoke to the singing of a particularly noisy bird, which was sitting atop of the tree he had slept under. It was early, but the sun had already risen. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept this long. After he had checked the area for any signs of danger and found none he started to think about the situation he was in. He was currently lying on his back with the ningen girl half atop of him, both of them were nude and his tail was wrapped securely around her. He had stooped so low as to mate with a mere human girl, Inuyasha's wench on top of that! What the hell had gotten into him!

Cursing himself for losing his hard obtained control so completely, he replayed the events of last night in his mind. Sesshoumaru had never been with any female who had been like her. Youkai mating was usually a quite violent act, a fight for dominance, mindless rutting to fulfil a basic need. But with this girl it had been different. She had been accepting, compliant and almost encouraging, obviously enjoying the attention he had bestowed upon her. The demon lord mentally shook himself; she was still only a ningen wench, completely unworthy of his company.

Her raven-haired head lay on his chest and her face was nuzzled in the crook of his neck. Looking further down he noticed that their entwined hands rested on his stomach. He wrinkled his nose in distaste of the position he was in, but why did it feel so good to be so close to her? Inhaling her pleasant scent deeply, he brought their hands up to his face for a careful inspection.

Her hand looked very small and fragile in his bigger one. Her fingers were slim and elegant. Sesshoumaru was surprised to find that humans had claws, too, but obviously far too dull and short to be of any use. Doubtless, they were weak creatures and he wondered how this girl could have survived that long, but then again she had had the half-breed to protect her. Sudden anger rose in him at this thought, although he couldn't for the world figure out why. But he wasn't able to stop the low growl which erupted from his throat. The girl atop of him stirred, obviously awoken by the noise he had made. Dropping her hand unceremoniously, he let his own to rest on the ground next to him.

Kagome felt better than she had in a long time. She had slept well and felt very rested and comfortable. Although she remembered her pillow to be softer, the furry blanket was warming her pleasantly. 'Wait a minute, since when have I had a furry blanket?' she wondered sleepily. She moved a bit to nuzzle closer to the source of warmth next to her. Slowly her mind started to process her situation. 'Why am I naked in bed?' she was musing idly when realization hit her like a ton of bricks. In the flash of a second she opened her eyes, and when she saw her suspicion confirmed her head shot up in shock, almost hitting Sesshoumaru's jaw. Luckily he was fast enough to move his head out of the way in time so that they were now face to face.

Amber eyes stared bemusedly into haunted blue ones. Kagome gulped hard and shook her head slowly. Two words escaped her in a small whisper:

"Oh shit."

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A/N: Sorry for the cliffy, but I couldn't resist. So, I hope you enjoyed reading this and I wanted to say "thank you" to all my nice reviewers. You're a great audience!

Again special thanks go to my wonderful beta-reader M'eyari. What would I do without her?

By the way, if you're interested in a good story then take a look at her new one "An American Werewolf in Sengoku Jidai", it is really amazing!