"You lose your grip, and then you slip

into the masterpeice..."


As he sped through the sky, Sesshomaru felt it again.

It was unexpected; he'd been gliding through the afternoon clouds when it suddenly burst in his chest and curled around his limbs, wrapping his body in warmth and calmness. The yellow backpack shifted over his skin as he dipped down, then spiraled upwards through the blue air. Kagome's hands tightened across his neck. She gasped at the sudden movement and laughed a moment after.

He liked to hear her laugh.

A smile overtook his lips as he raced towards his castle, his eyes on the sun. The feeling washed over him: it was hot and strong, with beauty and heartbreak buzzing in the background.

Sesshomaru tunneled through the afternoon wind and smiled with love. For once, he didn't think about it leaving him--that seemed unimportant, because Kagome was in his arms and he was happy. The future was a million kisses away.


By nightfall, they were in the courtyard.

Although she was wearing a large coat, Kagome wished she wasn't so cold. She wondered if she'd still be in the castle once summer arrived.

Sesshomaru's arm was around her waist in a possessive gesture. Their hips were touching. He'd led her by the arm outside, and was standing still, staring at the moon. His face was blank and white, matching the clouds drifting across the dark sky. Slowly, he lowered his head and surveyed the barren courtyard. The moon's glow glinted off of fangs as he said, "This is where my father's gravestone was."

Kagome's dark eyes swept across the smooth field of dead grass. "Where'd it go?"

"I removed it." He paused, and then stepped away from her. "Right there…" He was staring at the cold stretch of ground between them.

Kagome thought of her father's grave, laying in between neatly trimmed plots with plastic flowers. "Don't you miss having a place to remember?"

His words were so quiet that they almost drowned in the night wind. "I don't like to remember."

Scenes of her and Inuyasha streamed before her eyes. Her sadness was less; still, her heart felt heavy and her stomach dropped.

"You're thinking of Inuyasha," he stated. He was at her side again, with his fingertips brushing her wrist.

"Yeah." Her throat was hot and tight.

He held her hand and looked down at her sad face. "I still think of my father," he admitted.

She pressed her side into his; she liked being close to him when they spoke. She thought of the invisible grave beneath their feat, and the empty space in the world where a hanyou should be. "Does it ever get easier?" 'Does anything ever fill up the hole?'

Sesshomaru nodded. "With time. It never goes away, though."

Kagome swallowed her tears. "At least I'll have something to look forward to."

The taiyoukai glanced down at the girl at his side. She was tightening her lips and holding back tears. All of a sudden he marveled that the invincible Inutaisho was dead, and in his courtyard stood a small human. She, in all her frailty, was beside him where his father wasn't. In that moment in time, she was stronger than his father. Perhaps it was a sign that the present is what matters; Kagome was a hundred times more important than his 'what ifs', because she was close enough for him to touch. She was real.

Sesshomaru kissed her again.


Images of Inuyasha ran rampant through her head, even as his lips touched upon hers. Amid the noise in her head, she heard one sentence screaming above the chaos. 'Inuyasha would have wanted to hear you laugh.'

For the first time, Kagome kissed back.


He led her into the castle. They wound through the shaded halls into his bedroom. The fireplace was on and casting dancing shadows on the walls' soft fabrics. His grip on her slipped away as he walked ahead, through the flickering light and to the bedside. The sheet was a clean, pale blue. He laid a hand on it and felt it's smoothness. Then, in slow, gentle motion he sat down and looked at her with bright eyes.

She could hear her heart beating as she walked through foggy warmth to stand over the bedspread. She wanted him to touch her so badly; yet she was numb with indecision. The fire warmed her back, and she could only stare at Sesshomaru's red-tinged lips. "Do you love me, Sesshomaru?"

The question was small in the large room. "You're insecure," he teased with a sharp grin.

She stood still and waited for a serious answer. The embers crackled loudly. Her lungs felt tight and stiff, her skin tingled, and she was acutely aware of the layers of clothing separating their bodies.

The taiyoukai shifted, all of his power contained in the small movement. He faced her with his shoulders and raised his chin to meet her gaze. His lips were slightly parted, and his response rose up above smooth, warm breaths. "Yes."

She sunk onto the bed and curled into his love.


A million kisses later, the sun rose and time restarted.

She woke up; he hadn't slept, but pretended to. When she rose to consciousness she felt his warm arms and soft hair. The sheets were wrinkled and silky. She cracked open her eyes to greet sunlight pouring through the window and washing the room in soft yellows.

He was staring at her in his detached way. "Good morning," he murmured.

"Good morning." She tried not to convey her nervousness; still, he sensed it and instinctually attempted to soothe her.

"Thank you," he said. "For trusting me."

She smiled and bit her lip, before inching close and leaning against his bare skin. "Sesshomaru?"

He said nothing, but she knew that he was listening.

She gathered her courage and pushed through layers of guilt and decaying memories. She swam out of the sea of the past and into her future. "I love you."

His silence was filled with the song of winter birds, perched on the ledges of the empty courtyard beyond the window. A few seconds passed before he nuzzled the nape of her neck, breathing in her human smells. He wanted to lay forever by her side and touch her salty skin as the morning broke. Longing filtered through his mind and into his heart. He floundered for a few moments in fear of the inevitable course time would take, before Kagome moved in his arms and he remembered that she was with him in his bed, enveloped in love and the morning's joy.

Reopening his father's death had awakened in him feelings that life will twist and change. The future was an empty space to be filled--nothing more. Kagome was with him that morning, at that point in time. That was how Sesshomaru learned that that was enough.


A/N-- my apologies for the chapter's brevity. I've been very busy with schoolwork lately. This is NOT the end!