I have been very remiss in not thanking katanna tagurasha for suggesting the Koga solidograph in the last chapter. Many thanks, katanna!

More lemonade, anyone?

Chapter 23:

A week later, Inuyasha had observed yet another quarrel between Kagome and David, and it seemed that this would be the last one. Kagome had gotten out of the car and slammed the door so hard that Inuyasha had winced, expecting it to come off its hinges. David had burned rubber all the way down the private road, causing both Tamisé and Jonathan to come to their respective front doors to see what was going on.

Kagome was crying – Inuyasha could smell her tears easily from where he sat in the boughs of the giant maple. She was also furious. Not a good combination if one wanted to keep one's head attached to one's shoulders. Kagome bypassed the Windrows' house and headed down the path to the ravine park at a dead run. Inuyasha was worried she might trip on something and hurt herself, for it was getting quite dark out and she could not see as well in the dark as he could. And how would she get across the creek? There were stepping stones that could be easily managed if one knew where to look, but what if she missed one in the dark?

Inuyasha chewed his lip, then climbed down from the tree. Jonathan had come out on his front porch and was clearly wondering if he should go after the girl.

"What happened?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "They had another fight, I guess. I'll go find her."

"Yasha…" Jonathan came forward and put a hand on the half-demon's shoulder. "What she needs to hear right now is how much you care about her. She needs to know she has your support, no matter what."

"I think I left my courage up in the tree."

"Well – go get it." Jonathan grinned at him. "She's just one small female."

"Yeah but… when her temper's up, she's one small scary female."

"Scary or not, you need to go get her before she hurts herself in the dark. I'll tell Kirsten to heat up the kettle and put out some of those oatmeal chocolate chip cookies you guys like."

"Thanks."

It was not hard to find Kagome. She had somehow gotten across the creek without a wetting and had headed for their favourite willow tree. She was sitting at the base of the tree. Inuyasha's sharp ears could hear her sobs, and his keen nose picked up the scent of her tears.

"Kagome?"

He pushed aside the willow fronds and stood watching her for a moment.

"Oh, hi, Inuyasha." She dashed a hand across her eyes.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Keh. Sure you are." He let the fronds fall behind him and sat down beside her. "What happened?"

"Nothing."

"I thought only I could make you cry like this." He smiled as she smacked his shoulder.

"You guys… you're all…stupid."

"Oh – something David said or did, huh? And you can't 'sit' him like you do to me."

"He… dumped me, Inuyasha. Because… because I wouldn't…" Fresh tears spilled out of her eyes. "He called me a baby!"

"What wouldn't you do?"

Kagome stared at him for a moment and he could see the answer to his question in her eyes. Anger filled him, but he suppressed it quickly, remembering the advice that Tamisé and Jonathan had given to him.

"I see," he replied. "Shall I tear out his liver for you?"

"Inuyasha! No, of course not."

"I'll put his guts in a bowl for you. I'll wrap it up in paper with little bunnies on it and put a big bow…"

Kagome giggled and punched his shoulder again. "Inuyasha!"

He smiled. Well, at least he had gotten her to laugh. He put an arm about her shoulders.

"He's not worth all these tears, Kagome. You know that."

"Yeah. He's just a big jerk." She sniffed and leaned into him. "Inuyasha, you don't think I'm a baby, do you?"

"No. That's one thing you're definitely not."

Well, it was now or never. He leaned over and delicately licked a tear from her cheek. His heart was in his mouth. Gods above! How would she react?

She giggled a little at the soft, wet touch. He touched a finger to her other cheek and wiped another tear away. He stared into her eyes as he slowly put the finger into his mouth to suck the moisture off. She stared back, enraptured by the sensuous gesture and his golden eyes that seemed to glow in the gloom under the tree.

"Mmm. And there's another…right…here."

He licked off the tear that had tracked down her cheek perilously close to her mouth. Her lips parted slightly and he could hear her make a soft sound.

"But I like sweet better than salt," he whispered and drew his tongue lightly across her bottom lip.

"Oh my god. What are you doing to me?"

"Making you feel better, I hope." He could almost hear the acceleration of her heart. His own had begun to pound.

Kagome put her head on his shoulder. She could not look at him right now. There was too much of … something in his eyes. She put her hand over his heart and felt its strong, steady beat. He held unnaturally still, as if he were waiting for her to tell him what he should do.

Inuyasha waited patiently for Kagome to decide what she wanted to do next. If all she wanted was a comforting arm about her shoulders, that would be all she'd get. He'd done his best to show her he was interested in furthering their relationship – the rest was up to her.

The hand that rested on his heart began a hesitant exploration of his chest and shoulders. When the wandering hand cupped his cheek, he turned his head and brushed his lips against the palm.

Kagome giggled at the touch on her hand. "You know – I always wondered why you never kissed me again after we fought Kaguya."

"Did you want me to?"

"Oh yes," she sighed. "Many times." She straightened suddenly. "Hey! So you do remember! You always acted like it never happened, so I thought that maybe you didn't remember doing it."

Inuyasha smiled. "Oh – I remembered all right! But you were so weird afterwards, I thought you didn't like it."

The small caressing hand balled into a fist and hit him in the shoulder.

"Didn't like it! Inuyasha… it was the sweetest thing you've ever done. Whenever I'm really angry at you and I think 'okay, this is it, I've had it!', I remember that kiss and I know that I can't ever be away from you for too long. I can't leave you, Inuyasha, because deep down in my heart, I love you."

Inuyasha felt like howling at the moon in that moment. He knew he had stopped breathing because Kagome began to look concerned and was tapping his cheek. He took a breath and flung his head back.

"Ah, gods! Kagome!"

"Inuyasha? I'm sorry – I just… just wanted you to know. I mean, if you'd rather be with Sharon instead…"

"Don't be stupid! Sharon… well, she and I were trying to make you jealous, if you must know."

"Oh really…!"

He captured her hand and kissed her fingers, then pressed her hand again to his heart.

"Don't start with me, woman. There's stuff I want to say."

Kagome stared into his golden eyes. "What stuff?"

Inuyasha swallowed hard. Courage

"I never wanted to be with Sharon – not in that way. She's fun to go out with and she's shown me a lot of the city that I wouldn't have been able to see otherwise. And the other girls have been nice to me too. But they are all just friends and nothing more.

"There's a woman who's done things for me that no one else would ever do. She's stood by me when it would have been easier to walk away. And she's the only one who's tried to understand me – and more than anything else, accepted me the way I am. I love her with every fibre of my being, but telling her is the hardest thing in the world."

"Kikyo?"

"Gods, no! Kagome, I lo…lo… Aw hells! See what I mean?"

Inuyasha dropped a kiss on the top of Kagome's dark head. He drew both arms about her and cradled her to his chest. "I don't always know the right words, koibito. I don't always know if I'm doing the right thing. But I do know that this… this feels right, that it's meant to be. Somewhere, the gods have decided that this is what should be. If you turn away from me now, I know that my heart will break irrevocably. It will shatter into more pieces than the Shikon no Tama did – and there will be no way to ever put it back together.

"It's you I love, Kagome. Only you. Forever and always, come what may."

Kagome looked up at him then, her dark eyes wide. She gasped as a tear fell on her face, and then another.

"Inuyasha… are you … are you crying?"

Inuyasha whimpered. "Yes. That damn Tamisé's a bad influence on me. He says it's no shame for a man to cry." He dashed tears out of his eyes with one hand. "I haven't cried so much since I was Shippo's size. Don't know what's wrong with me."

Kagome smiled up at him, a sweet, gentle smile. "I know what's wrong with you."

"Yeah?" He sniffed, and squeezed her tight. "What's wrong with me, wench?"

"I think you're in love."

"Now what would ever give you that idea?" He smiled, then cupped her chin to tilt her face up to his.

"Are you gonna just stare at me, or are you gonna kiss me?" she whispered to him.

"Oh, definitely kiss you, I think. It's the only way I know to shut you up."

Kagome smiled and that was all the invitation he needed. The gentle kiss he had planned rapidly became more impassioned and his arms tightened around her. The delicious scent arising from her caused fire to bloom in his belly and he moaned her name. He trailed small kisses across her cheek and nipped gently at her earlobe before nibbling his way down the sensitive skin of her neck. Her responses were all he could have asked for. It was tempting to go further, but he pushed away from her with a reluctant sigh.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Well…something. I'd like more from you, Kagome. A lot more. But you've had a big upset tonight, and it might be better to let things settle for a bit. And… and I promised your mother some time ago that I wouldn't let things go too far before you were ready."

"I'm ready right now…"

"I know. I can feel it… smell it… But, I don't want you coming to my arms when you've just made it plain to David that you didn't want to… to…" He shrugged. "I need you to be sure of what you want before we go any further than a few kisses. And I want to honour the promise I made your mother."

Kagome's disappointment was almost palpable. He smiled down at her.

"Your mother made me a promise, too."

"She did? What promise did she make you?"

He grinned and shook his head. "It's between her and I. But for now, lady mine, there's a limit to what you and I may have together."

Kagome gasped. She had often heard Jonathan and Tamisé use the phrase when talking to their wives, and had asked Kirsten about it. In a nutshell, Inuyasha had just laid claim to her. Her heart swelled until she thought it might burst. This…this was what she had hoped for!

"Inuyasha…" She gulped. Then took a deep breath and told him what he had been waiting to hear. "Warrior mine."

His response was all that she could have hoped for. It was the first time she had seen him truly happy and it transformed him more completely than the Jewel ever could. He crushed her into his arms, beginning to weep with joy.

"Gods above, how I love you, woman!"

"Inuyasha…"

"I know. I'm crying again. We should get you home."

"I want to stay here… with you."

"Kirsty and Jon will be worried. Let's just go home, so they can see that you're alright."

"Okay."

They went back to the house with their arms about each other. When they reached the vegetable garden, Inuyasha drew Kagome into his arms and kissed her gently.

"Koibito…I'm so glad I finally told you how I feel."

"Me too, anata."

"Well… let's go in." Inuyasha let his arm settle about Kagome's shoulders.

When they entered the kitchen, they found a pot of tea on the counter and a plate of cookies. But Kirsten and Jonathan were no where in sight. Inuyasha could smell them in the house, but he was not certain just where they were.

"Oh – cookies," sighed Kagome.

She poured tea for both of them and brought the plate of cookies to the kitchen table.

Inuyasha was tempted to laugh suddenly. It just seemed so surreal! One moment, they were declaring their feelings and on the verge of consummating their love, and the next, they were eating cookies and drinking tea as if they'd been out merely for a stroll.

Kagome seemed to sense it too, and began to giggle. Inuyasha gave in to temptation and began to chuckle.

Kirsten stuck her head into the kitchen. She and Jonathan had apparently been in the basement.

"Hi kids! Everything okay, Kagome?"

Kagome laughed harder. "Oh – Kirsty. What timing." She pounded the table with a small fist. "David dumped me."

"And you're laughing…" Kirsten came into the kitchen and folded her arms. "Inuyasha didn't hurt him, did he?"

"Didn't lay a finger on him," Inuyasha choked out. "He got away clean."

"Inuyasha was going to… going to… put his guts in a bowl for me."

"And wrap it up in paper with bunnies on it."

"And don't forget the big bow!"

Kirsten began to grin. "What did Jon put in that tea?"

"And we… we finally told each other how we felt."

Kagome's laughter began to subside. She laid a hand over Inuyasha's. The half-demon lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, his golden eyes full of love.

"I love this idiot half-demon, and he loves me."

"Hey! Is that any way to speak to your man?"

"Well," Kagome said, "only an idiot would have let his woman date another man because he was too scared to tell her how he felt."

"I just wanted you to see that you were better off with me." Inuyasha grinned. "Who said I was scared?"

Both Kirsten and Kagome had sudden coughing fits.