Pairing: Elsa x Sesshomaru

Chapter 15: Inquiry

Elsa POV:

Elsa peered around the corner, quite unsure of herself. 'This is ridiculous..' She thought, 'Weren't you going to give Sesshomaru a chance?' Her subconscious prodded. Elsa was feeling quite conflicted, ever since that meeting with the maid a week prior. Since then, it seemed she was tip-toeing around Lord Sesshomaru and the castle. Speaking of which, the coast seemed to be clear. The long hallway stretched before her. She had been trying to keep tabs on that elusive Lord. He was proving to be quite a difficult target. If anything she had half a mind to believe he was aware of what she was doing. Elsa couldn't explain why she suddenly felt so nervous around Sesshomaru...

Although from all her tab keeping, her actions seemed to have an annoying effect on him. His effect being precisely nothing. She was beginning to think he was ignoring her, not the other way around. All the while servants gallivanted around the castle in preparation for Anna and Kristoff's wedding. Which Elsa thoroughly convinced Anna that under no circumstances was there to be a double wedding. Besides Elsa would only ruin such an idea with her sour attitude about it.

Elsa slowly crept down the hallway, her eyes shifting back and forth. Honestly why was she so paranoid?! Her mind was full of foreboding, for whatever reason. The bleak hallway did not help her senses.

"Joou."

Elsa quite startled at the Japanese remark swiftly turned to face her impending doom. Her frantic expression was probably quite clear on her face.

"Lord Sesshomaru…" She practically whispered. She gazed up at his face, his brown eyes sparkling with a hint of amusement. A singular eyebrow raised in question.

Elsa tried to school her expression, but her rapidly beating heart would not calm. Ever since she told herself she would give him a chance; her emotions became harder to control.

'I must look quite dumb to him…' She thought. 'Wait since when did I care about what he thought of my person?'

Her thoughts broke apart when, she quickly realized that Sesshomaru was still staring at her. It seemed as if he had all the time in the world to do so. Her face flushed.

She coughed, "Ehem...Uh, Do you require something M'Lord?"

"Hn." He stated quite obviously, that eyebrow of his still raised, a slight smirk on his lips.

"Come, walk with me Joou." He said simply. It took a while for his remark to settle in her head. That is until he turned and began walking down the hallway.

Cautiously she began to follow in his path, slowly catching up. Once she caught up she gave him a quick glance out of the corner of her eyes. His aristocratic features displayed nothing, as per usual. She gazed ahead of herself. Trying to come up with a reason as to why he would suddenly decide to make contact with her. She had been obviously avoiding him all week.

It had been silent between them for quite some time now. They passed another corridor, for her the silence was absolutely killing her. How could he go on for so long with no need for conversation?!

"Why do you hide yourself from me Joou?"

'Did he read my mind or something?' She sweatdropped. What a loaded question. He certainly didn't beat around the bush.

She furtively glanced at him again, his attention still seemed to relay nothing. His eyes only looking ahead to the endless hallways.

"I, er…" What answer could she possibly give him that didn't sound pathetic?

"It is under my assumption that you are uncomfortable in my presence." He said rather blandly. She looked down at the ornate carpet, embarrassed she was so easy to figure out.

As they passed another hallway, some servants were dusting the windowsill and cleaning the glass. Their eyes immediately averted back to their duty, but she could tell they were surprised that they were in the same proximity to each other.

Elsa felt embarrassed again. What kind of Queen was she? How could she get so overwhelmed just by a mere presence of a male? She scolded herself, she had to be more upfront with Sesshomaru. If she were going to go along with this marriage for the time being, she may as well give him a chance.

"What's your favorite color?" She blurted loudly.

Instantly her face reddened, the whole castle could probably hear that asinine question. Elsa's mind reeled, could she really only come up with that? Years spent in isolation certainly did not help her in social conduct and conversation. Elsa also began to realize a trend, that being constant embarrassment. She fumbled around him like some child figuring out how to walk.

"Red."

She quickly looked up, shocked he even thought to answer her. She didn't deem him one to answer such silly questions.

He met her gaze evenly, "Do you prefer a certain color as well?" He asked with a tone of voice she couldn't quite understand. Was it mocking, sarcastic, amused, or all three? Goodness she dwelled to much on this Lord. With all this constant thought she assumed she'd probably get a headache soon.

She cleared her throat, "I prefer the color yellow M'Lord."

"Hn...Erin has the same preference." Elsa couldn't take her eyes off of Sesshomaru. This was probably their first decent conversation. Without anger or distrust clouding her thoughts, she began to really wonder about this foreign wonder asking for her hand in marriage.

"Erin seems like such a sweet girl, are you both related?" Elsa asked.

"No." Elsa's eyebrows furrowed, she had assumed they were related in some way. Why else would he decide to bring a child to a foreign land?

"What is she to you then?"

"She is my daughter, I made a promise to protect her with my life."

Silence reigned between the two, Elsa stopped walking. All she could do was openly stare as he stopped and gazed back at her.

She stared deeply into his brown eyes, confused. She had made so many assumptions. She had assumed him to be quite arrogant and uncaring. A cold-hearted man intent on dragging her away from her family. But the significance of his statement was not lost on her. Noble families rarely, if ever, accepted children into their household much less call them their own. Most gave them away to a lesser class or completely ignored them to begin with.

Her view of him had changed as they continued to look upon each other. His expression was that of honesty and commitment. He did not say it so flippantly. He was earnest. And that honestly scared her.

What if it turned out that she began to like this man?

She broke eye contact, mumbling, "That is very generous of you."

"Hn."

He looked away from her as well, as if remembering something nostalgic. Elsa was unsure of the mood, so perhaps it was best to redirect her line of questioning?

"Why do you prefer the color red?" She said simply, a small smile upturning her lips.

His eyes met hers once more, "It is the color of my noble clan. We are known across Japan for our ferocity." He cocked his head sideways, "Why do you like the color yellow?"

Elsa was still processing his answer that she almost didn't hear his follow up.

"I like the color so much because it reminds me of the summer sun, and warmth. It is a calming color for me." They began to walk down the hallway again, this time coming upon a door that lead to a conservatory. Elsa realized she had not come down these hallways in quite some time, they were in the south wing.

Elsa peered at the door wistfully, all the while saying, "My Mother loved these greenhouses. They brought so much joy for her in the winter months." Sesshomaru was silent as he listened.

Elsa thought back to years ago when she was a child confined in her room. On rare occasions her Mother would bring her here. It was almost a place of escape, where she didn't feel so cold. Looking back on her childhood she had missed out on so much. She didn't grow up as other children her age did. Even if she were royalty her lonely childhood room was the bane of her existence besides those wretched gloves. She would never go back there.

But here knowing that gardners still took care of her Mother's conservatory warmed her heart.

"Do you enjoy plants Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Yes...I suppose so." He said slowly. His own thoughts remembered a little girl with a bruised smile and glowing eyes.

Elsa entered the sunroom with cautious steps. It really had been years, she couldn't believe she almost forgot about this place.

There were many flower arrangements and fruits of different kinds. Some foreign some native to her land. The greenery bloomed with an elegance only nature could possess. They opened up their petals almost daintily. So fragile, yet beautiful. The greenhouse was mostly full of primrose, a tribute to her Mother's memory. They were her favorite, her Mother sometimes adorned her head with such flowers.

As they walked through the garden, the gardener's excused themselves to leave the couple alone. Reaching the center of the garden where a large simple fountain resided, Elsa sat on its edge. She peered at her reflection. Sesshomaru stood a few feet away studying the variety of plants.

Elsa stared at her appearance, she didn't know why she felt so compelled to do so. She was by no means a vain woman. Her face in the reflection looked very concentrated, what exactly was she looking for?

In her mind's eye her subconscious brought forth a mental image she had nearly forgotten. A crescent moon decorated her forehead, iris colored stripes upon her cheeks. Glowing amber eyes.

Elsa gasped and stumbled away from her reflection. She was just about to lose her balance and fall into the flowing fountain.

Her heart rate had picked up as her eyes found those of Lord Sesshomaru. She almost screamed when she thought she saw those same amber eyes. But his eyes were as brown as ever. Her hand was over her heart, as if it could stop it from thumping against her chest so quickly.

Sesshomaru was simply staring at her, his hand resting over a sword-

Wait, had he always worn his sword on his hip? She remembered seeing it on his first day here, but since then she never saw them again.

She tried calmed her breathing, "I'm...sorry...for startling...you." She said with a slight pant.

When she got no reaction from the Lord she explained, "I only startled myself. There is no danger, I simply remembered a nightmare from a week or so ago."

He gave her a level look, his hand releasing his hold on the weapon, "A nightmare you say?"

"Yes. And a silly one at that." She shook her head trying to dispel the imagery, why did such an appearance disturb her so?

"Hn." He looked away. Silence once again fell upon them, but this time Elsa did not mind so much.

"I have some news to relay to you." Sesshomaru said, Elsa raised her eyebrows. It was usually her who broke the ice.

"My Half-Brother plans to visit the castle soon. He plans to meet his new sister-in-law."

Elsa noticed a rather strange thing.

'Is Sesshomaru angry?' She thought. She had never really seen him angry before. Annoyed yes. But anger?

His eyes were slit with distaste, as if I had offered him something raw to eat. His whole expression was awash in irritation. Even his hands clenched slightly.

Now that she thought about it he looked frigid, like a cold statue.

Elsa chose not to comment on such behavior, instead she replied, "How solicitous of him."

Sesshomaru sneered.

"Indeed."

A/N:

Helloooooooooo~ *peaks out of the corner* Been a while huh...hehehehe don't kill me pls - My life has been rather, how should I say this? Depressingly exciting? A lot of things have been changing in my life recently. A major one being the death of a dear friend of mine. Then leaving my home for two months...and now my best friend is going away for two months too...As well as opportunities in Japan. So this story I feel has been pushed under the table for a while now. But like I said before in previous chapters, I'm not giving up on this story. Even if it takes me ages, I'm determined to see it finished. Also I'll update whenever I can, but I hold no promises updates will be quick. (I guess you already knew that….T-T)

So as always, see you in the next update.

-Fluffy, previously known as Feline Predator.