Author's Note: Oh, hey, have something I wrote last March. Featuring a little guest introduced in 'Avenoir', so um, reread that if you don't remember her.

Keyframe
by Tsuki no Tennyo

Smiles

It was an hour past noon when Sesshoumaru was walking through the hospital halls, finally finding some available time to rest. He paused momentarily, catching a pleasant floral scent among the sterile environment, which he recognized instantly was Kagome. He headed in her direction, pondering all the while about whether or not he had forgotten about meeting her today.

He would never forget. He was positive of that. She must be here on her own accord then, he decided.

He kept up a brisk pace as he headed in the direction of his wife, pausing only when he picked up another familiar scent. Frowning, he wondered why it seemed like the two scents were intermingling in the same spot. He walked faster, and just as he was about to turn at a corner, he stopped, hearing a bright young girl's voice.

"Are you Dr. Nishimura's wife?" he heard his young patient, Asako, asked curiously, "You are very pretty."

He took a glance from around the corner, seeing his wife stooped low so she was at eye-level with the little curly-haired girl. The skirt of her yellow sundress draped around her as she smiled brilliantly and nodded. "Thank you and I am. My name is Kagome," she introduced herself to the little girl, "Are you Dr. Nishimura's patient?"

"I am," the girl answered in the same tone as Kagome, smiling just as bright. "My name is Asako! I'm eight years old." She grinned widely, and from the look on Kagome's face, Sesshoumaru surmised that his kindhearted wife had already fallen under the charms of one of the hospital's younger patients.

"Do you like Dr. Nishimura?" Kagome leaned in and whispered softly, though Sesshoumaru managed to pick up every single word. "It's alright if you don't. He can be a big meanie."

Asako grinned at the latter comment, and then feeling suddenly shy, she clasped her hands behind her and rocked back and forth on her heels. "I like Dr. Nishimura," she said, face turning a bit bright, "He is very handsome and nice."

Kagome quirked a brow at the latter comment, never once having heard "nice" as being attributed to her stoic husband in all of the years she had known him. She realized he had had centuries of growth and changes, but not enough to be attributed as "nice".

"Is he now?"

"Well," Asako said, feeling like she had just fibbed a bit, "he's nice to me. The other doctors say he can be a…well, I'm not supposed to use that word. But the nurses like him a lot too!"

Kagome laughed at this, "Well, he does have a soft spot for sweet little girls, even if he won't admit it aloud."

At this, Sesshoumaru left his hiding spot, walking across the tiled floor to meet his wife and his little patient, who both seemed to be enjoying themselves quite well at his expense.

"Kagome," he greeted, startling her.

She stood up, straightening her dress, as she sighed at him, exasperated. "A little warning would have been nice, you know."

"I could say the same, my dear," he answered back, casting his young patient a quirk of his brow when she stood up, grinning at him. "Asako, why are you not in your room? Nurse Ito will be upset with you again."

Asako pouted. "I met Kagome when I was on my way to the gift shop." She hurried along in her explanation before Sesshoumaru could question her about why she was heading to the hospital gift shop in the first place. "She was asking a nurse where you were, so I stopped to talk with her."

Then she gestured for Sesshoumaru to stoop down lower so she could whisper a secret to him. He humored her, kneeling on one knee, so she could share her secret with him.

"Kagome is very pretty," she said in a hushed tone, though it was still loud enough that even Kagome caught the secret being shared, but she pretended to be ignorant for Asako's sake.

"I know," Sesshoumaru whispered back, looking at Kagome out of the corner of his eye, "That is one of the many reasons why I had married her."

He smirked inwardly when Kagome turned away not-so-discreetly, face appearing flushed.

Asako grinned. "Kagome said she was here to take you out to lunch! Oops…!" She covered her mouth instantly when she remembered something she had promised earlier. "I'm sorry, Kagome, I ruined your surprise, didn't I?"

Kagome shook her head gently. "It's alright, Asako, he probably already knew it anyway." She paused, seeing the young girl looking a bit sullen. "I know, let's all have lunch together here then."

"Here?" Sesshoumaru and Asako both asked simultaneously, with the younger of the two wrinkling her nose in disgust.

She nodded. "It can't be that bad, right?"

.

"It's tofu again," Asako sighed, grimacing as she stared at the cold food on her tray, having hoped that today's lunch would include chicken katsu instead. She reached for the small plate of orange wedges on her tray, which was the only food she deemed decent.

Kagome laughed. "Tell you what, Asako," she started, smiling at the girl and not looking at her husband seated next to her, who had already sensed what she was about to say, "how about we have lunch again tomorrow, and I'll make bento for all of us?"

The little girl gasped in excitement. "Will you make the little octopus sausages? Those are my favorite!"

"Of course," Kagome grinned. "I knew someone else who liked them, too."

"Was it Dr. Nishimura?" Asako asked, wide-eyed and looking at her doctor from across the table. Her face scrunched up in deep concentration as she tried to imagine her serious doctor enjoying the little whimsical food. She gave up after a moment, deciding that image was too absurd to even be possible.

"No," Kagome giggled, earning a brief dirty look from Sesshoumaru, who found nothing amusing about the situation. "It was a little boy I knew once."

"Well," Asako started, holding up an orange in her small hands, "What happened to him?"

"Hm," Kagome thought for a moment, searching for a decent response to the little girl's question, "I guess he must be all grown up now." She had never really considered Shippou's whereabouts, mostly out of fear of assuming the worst. If she never asked, then she could go on believing in her head that the little fox demon she loved was now all grown up and strong, happily living his life among humans.

Asako lowered her spoon, noticing how wistful Kagome suddenly seemed. She felt a bit guilty for making the pretty lady sad. "I'm sorry," she said, earning a surprised look from both Kagome and Sesshoumaru, "I didn't mean to make you sad, Kagome."

Kagome's face instantly became red from embarrassment as she hurried to reassure the little girl. "No, no, it's not your fault, Asako, dear! Don't feel bad."

"But I…"

"Kagome is right, Asako," Sesshoumaru spoke up, though the little girl didn't look at him. She was staring at the three orange wedges on her plate with zero interest now. Sesshoumaru picked up his own plate and set it next to the little girl, knowing very well it was one of her favorite fruits to eat. "You did not do anything wrong, so wipe that look off your face."

Asako stared at the plate Sesshoumaru set in front of her. She looked up, lips quivering, but she mustered up the strength to force back her tears. "I didn't?"

"You did not, I promise," Kagome reassured gently. "Will you smile for me now?"

Asako nodded, slowly smiling and revealing a missing tooth. She turned her attention back to her orange. She licked it for a moment, pondering, and then asked aloud, "Will you two have babies someday?"

At this, both Sesshoumaru and Kagome froze, with the latter blushing brightly. Asako innocently tilted her head to the side, the little curls on her head seemed to bounce along with the movement. She looked at them expectantly with bright brown eyes.

"Yes, someday," Sesshoumaru said, being the first to compose himself.

Kagome gave him a surprised look, her face still a pretty shade of pink, and then she smiled.

"Yeah, someday," she repeated, slipping her hand under the table to reach for her husband's, who returned the gesture with a gentle squeeze of the hand.

Asako gave the two adults a knowing look, seeing they had both temporarily forgotten her in favor of their sudden admission. She grinned, and stuck an entire orange wedge into her mouth, happy to see her favorite doctor and his pretty wife smiling.